Tuesday Feb 7, 2023

GOOD MORNING

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

Rep. Aponte Hernández: Manchin proposal for stateside referendum on PR status is ‘discriminatory’

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

Veteran New Progressive Party Rep. José Aponte Hernández has dismissed as discriminatory U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) proposal to hold a national plebiscite before granting statehood to Puerto Rico.

“That’s not the path that other states, like Alaska and Hawaii, took to achieve statehood,” Aponte Hernández said Monday in a press release. “Those who have to be consulted are the 3.2 million U.S. citizens who reside in Puerto Rico. Proposing a nationwide referendum on the future of a jurisdiction is an undemocratic exercise that not only goes against the values of our nation, but also discriminates against its citizens, in this case those of us who live on the island.”

“All states have broad representation in Congress, so those who vote for an admissions consultation do so for their respective states,” the pro-statehood leader and former speaker of the island House of Representatives added. “Putting such a broad, bureaucratic and totally unnecessary requirement on the table was an act of discrimination against the United States citizens of Puerto Rico, in addition to going against the Constitution of the United States. It also goes against the position of the Democratic Party on this issue embodied in H.R. 8393.”

Manchin said any statehood legislation being considered by the U.S. Senate, currently controlled by Democrats, would have to come under a national referendum on the issue.

“For Puerto Rico, Senator Manchin wants a national consultation, to be voted on in all 50 states, but that did not happen in the other 37 territories that sought and achieved statehood, most recently with Alaska and Hawaii,” Aponte Hernández said. “It is an anti-democratic discourse focused on the extremism of some sectors. Statehood for Puerto Rico is a fact already; it’s only a matter of time. We will continue to dialogue with federal senators, including Manchin, to present the truth: 125 years of colonial rule must end; our people, for the most part, want statehood and the Constitution of our nation, the United States, empowers Congress to provide admission, does not require a national consultation, because Congress already represents the states.”

Home construction vouchers reach eligible residents of northeastern towns

By THE STAR STAFF

Carolina District Sen. Marissa “Marissita” Jiménez Santoni delivered more vouchers to residents of the municipalities of Carolina, Loíza, Luquillo, Río Grande and Canóvanas on Monday for the purchase of building materials for homes.

“We continue to deliver vouchers to people with very specific needs throughout the District of Carolina,” the senator said. “In this way, we are helping many residents who, for one reason or another, still do not qualify for financial aid, of any kind, after the passage of hurricanes Maria and Fiona through the region.”

“So, this represents a great relief for many of them,” she added. “Well, the reality is that, in some cases, they still do not have the [proof of] ownership required by the different

agencies.”

“This makes it largely impossible for constituents to obtain or retain any form of state or federal aid,” Jiménez Santoni stressed. “In addition, we attended to, responsibly, other types of cases, including fires or very particular events …” she said “We will continue to help our people so that they can have homes in optimal condition.”

The New Progressive Party legislator noted that the voucher recipients were selected after a rigorous process of evaluation and analysis of cases.

“This financial aid is exclusively for the purchase of building materials and represents great blessings for people who qualify,” Jiménez Santoni said. “We visited the cases and we evaluated them one by one; after that we required some documents of people in order to help them.”

Rep. José Aponte Hernández

Bidding process for medical center microgrid to be published Friday

By THE STAR STAFF

On Friday the island government will publish the bidding process to develop, operate and maintain a solar panel-powered microgrid for the Río Piedras Medical Center, according to a press release.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, island Housing Secretary William Rodríguez Rodríguez and the head of the Puerto Rico Medical Services Administration (ASEM by its Spanish acronym), Jorge Matta González, recently announced the signing of an agreement that will allow the construction of the electrical microgrid at the island’s primary health complex, the first project under the Energy Reliability and Resilience Program (ER-2).

The agreement between the Housing Department and ASEM establishes the allocation of $1.3 million for the administration of the project. The primary objective of the ER-2 program is to assist subrecipients in creating greater reliability and resiliency of the electrical system and equitable access to electricity throughout the island.

The project will be posted on the cdbg-dr.pr.gov website, according to a Feb. 3 press release.

“As we have announced, the first project of the ER-2 program will be the microgrid for the Puerto Rico Medical Center. It is a critical facility, particularly in times of emergency,

which is why we have prioritized this project, which will help us avoid running out of power and thus be able to provide non-stop medical services to our people,” the governor said. “This is the first of multiple microgrids these funds will help develop around the entire island.”

Pierluisi added that “the energy demand of the Medical Center complex is estimated at approximately 40 megawatts.”

“To cover it, a project will be built that maximizes the spaces available for using solar panels on roofs and in parking lots, combined with high-capacity battery systems, efficient generation, and advanced control systems,” he said.

The microgrid will help improve the reliability of the power systems at the Medical Center, which hurricanes Irma and Maria hit hard. It will reduce power costs at the Trauma Center and Emergency Room, the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, the Cardiovascular, Industrial, Oncological, University, Pediatric and Psychiatric Hospitals, and the Forensic Psychiatry Hospital, as well as the San Juan Municipal Hospital, the Comprehensive Cancer Center and its Research Center, various Department of Health facilities and the Institute of Forensic Sciences.

The U.S. Department of Energy and its national laboratories will provide technical assistance and expertise to the ER-2 program and all related initiatives, including the bidding processes and implementation of the Medical Center’s

PR & USVI public housing chiefs, HUD official visit San Juan residential complex

By THE STAR STAFF

Island Public Housing Administrator Alejandro Salgado Colón received a visit Monday from Robert Graham, the executive director of the U.S. Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA), and Antonio Córdova, the director of the Office of Public Housing of HUD Caribbean, in which Salgado Colón discussed his agency’s work in favor of the development of Puerto Rican communities and the wellbeing of its residents.

As part of the meeting, Salgado Colón and the officials visited the Ernesto Ramos Antonini public housing complex in San Juan and the non-profit organization Boys & Girls Club, which is located in the residential complex, to see firsthand the services that children, youth and adults are receiving.

“The purpose of this visit is to share the good initiatives we are developing in our public housing complexes, as well as experiences and success stories, with our peers in HIVA, with a focus on collaborating in the development of programs and services for the residents of the Virgin Islands,” Salgado Colón said. “It motivates us to continue working to achieve more success stories, so that the projects of the Public Housing Administration can become references for other jurisdictions and the Caribbean.”

During the visit, the officials participated in a rehearsal of the play “Frontera,” written by Ernesto Ramos Antonini community leader Orlando Merced, which has a cast composed entirely of members of various public residences in Puerto Rico and intends to highlight the importance of recognizing values that are essential to the human

experience and coexistence among neighbors.

They also visited the facilities of the Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico and Vimenti, a project that is distinguished by its different programs and services offered to residents of public housing, to the community and in particular to the population of children and young people.

microgrids.

Island Public Housing Administrator Alejandro Salgado Colón, right, along with housing officials from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Virgin Islands, visited the Ernesto Ramos Antonini public housing complex in San Juan on Monday.

A planned solar-powered microgrid at the Río Piedras Medical Center is expected to help improve the reliability of the power systems at the medical center, which hurricanes Irma and Maria hit hard.

Proposed tax reform would provide estimated overall tax relief of $545 million

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia announced on Monday a tax reform proposal that would provide tax relief to individuals and corporations of close to $545 million, and simplify tax structures.

The proposed legislation has yet to be introduced in the Legislature and would need the green light of the Financial Oversight and Management Board. Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés Alicea and Secretary of State Omar Marrero Díaz were present at the meeting. A study on the impact of the proposals is still pending.

“As I have expressed on several previous occasions, my vision for the future of Puerto Rico includes that our island be a jurisdiction with low taxes and easy compliance with tax liability, so that we can compete favorably with other states and territories, as well as with other parts of the world, by attracting population, commercial activity and capital investment,” the governor said. “Our proposal represents a step in the right direction to achieve a more equitable tax system for our residents. We are lowering the tax rates for citizens and companies that do business in Puerto Rico. Our island is very well on the way in its economic recovery, and the statistics clearly show it.”

The proposed reform would reduce the individual’s maximum rate paid to 30% from 33%, which is much lower than stateside.

“In addition, we are lowering to 24 percent the tax rate for people with incomes from $41,500 to $61,500 -- which today pay at a tax rate of 25 percent,” Pierluisi said. “This is important since, currently, the maximum tax rate of 33 percent is for people with incomes of $61,500 or more. The 24 percent rate will apply to income from $41,500 to $81,500, which could mean a seven percent reduction for some taxpayers and, consequently, a great tax relief for the working class who did not benefit from the Work Credit.”

Meanwhile, the 5% and 3% discounts established by Law 257-2018 and Law 40-2020, respectively, for taxpayers with income of $100,000 or less, remain unchanged. “Senior” taxpayers, or people 65 years of age or older, will have a $400

credit and thus the condition that they must exceed certain collection figures for payment of an additional $200.

The fiscal impact of the proposed tax changes to individual taxpayers is approximately $262.5 million.

The governor proposed simplifying taxes for corporations. Currently corporations are subject to a marginal tax rate of 37.5%, which is made up of a fixed normal tax rate of 18.5%, and an additional marginal tax rate up to 19%.

“Our proposal contemplates replacing the current combined regime with a much simpler and more progressive regime starting at a rate of 17 percent for companies with net income of up to $275,000,” the governor said. “For businesses with income from $275,001 to $3 million, a rate of 27 percent is proposed, which represents a reduction of 10.5 percent in the tax rate. Finally, those businesses with incomes greater than $3 million would be subject to a maximum rate of 33 percent.”

Pierluisi noted that out of a universe of 53,000 corporate taxpayers, only 27,411 (or 51.7%) have tax liability. He added that under this proposal, around 23,747 corporate taxpayers would pay at a maximum rate of 27%, which would be at a tax rate similar to the average at the national level.

“The maximum rate of 33 percent that we propose represents a reduction of 4.5 percent, compared to the current rate,” Pierluisi said. “But the maximum rate of 27 percent that would apply to small and midsize businesses represents a reduction of 10.5 percent compared to the current rate. These changes have an estimated fiscal impact of approximately $283 million.”

Regarding the sales and use tax, the reform proposes to eliminate the payment in the distribution chain (import and purchase of inventory for resale).

He claimed that the change would have the effect of eliminating the value added tax (VAT) features of the current system to achieve a pure sales tax system.

“This new exemption system proposes to establish an electronic mechanism for merchants to report their inventory sales to resellers and create a digital Exemption Certificate for merchants who import or purchase inventory for resale,” Pierluisi said.

Parés Alicea, meanwhile, discussed the results of the

control efforts and actions to combat tax evasion that the government has carried out and how they are being perceived. He stressed that much remains to be improved to achieve a more equitable system and the latest proposal is a step in that direction.

The Treasury chief said the effectiveness of the measures to increase compliance has been reflected in the net revenues to the General Fund over the past five years, which have consistently exceeded the Fiscal Plan projections certified by the Financial Oversight and Management Board. The trend suggests that General Fund revenues will remain at a level similar to that of the past two fiscal years.

“Considering that the average excess in collections, compared to what was projected, is approximately $790 million, this tax relief will have the effect of redistributing the tax burden of individuals and corporations by more than $500 million,” Parés Alicea said.

The official added that the simplification measures that are being proposed are also the result of the work and recommendations of the Advisory Group to simplify and improve the tax system of Puerto Rico, created by the governor in October 2021.

The Financial Advisory Authority and Fiscal Agency and the Treasury Department are collaborating on the preparation of an economic study on the impact of the tax proposals.

Governor: Fiscal board will change thinking on ‘revenue neutral’ spending

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia anticipated on Monday that the vision of the Financial Oversight and Management Board on the issue of tax benefits versus income will change soon.

So far, the oversight board has required that the government, in order to put into effect any benefit to taxpayers, must identify the fiscal means of recovering the cost. The government has had to pass a tax or generate savings in the budget. This is known in the accounting world as “revenue neutral.”

“All the conversations I’ve had with the [oversight] board, there’s been receptivity from the board. The only crucible the board is currently looking at is that it doesn’t affect the govern-

ment’s ability to balance its budgets going forward,” the governor said at a press conference. “I admit that in the past we had in the tax plan the language of ‘revenue neutral;’ that is, that no tax measure impacted collections. That is, if you reduced a tax on the one hand, you had to increase something on another. That was the board’s inflexible rule in the past.”

“I have already said that this is in the process of being changed,” Pierluisi said. “Right now, we are working with the board so that in mid-March, a Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico is certified and we anticipate that this area [of the neutral collection] will be one of the areas of change.”

The governor said his proposal for tax changes is one of the changes that the oversight board will make in the Fiscal Plan, by eliminating the “revenue neutral” requirement.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

PREPA creditors object to ‘unconfirmable’ bankruptcy disclosure statement

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) creditors have filed numerous objections to the utility’s bankruptcy disclosure statement, alleging, among other flaws, that the plan of adjustment is “unconfirmable” because it will not generate sufficient revenues to pay debt.

The Ad Hoc group of PREPA bondholders, Syncora Guarantee, Assured Guaranty, bond trustee U.S. Bank National Association and the Unsecured Creditors Committee all filed objections to the disclosure statement, which is the document that explains in layman’s terms the essential information regarding the debt restructuring so creditors can understand its key elements.

The Electrical Industry and Irrigation Workers Union (UTIER by its Spanish acronym), also filed an objection by the Feb. 3 deadline because the disclosure statement makes no mention of the privatization of the operations of the utility and contemplates the rejection of the collective bargaining agreements that require PREPA to maintain PREPA Employees Retirement System as a defined benefit plan. If the federal Title III court determines that PREPA is unable to reject the collective bargaining agreements, the plan of adjustment may not be confirmable or feasible without material amendments.

Among the reasons given by the Ad Hoc Group of PREPA bondholders for rejecting the disclosure statement are: the Financial Oversight and Management Board’s rejection of the 2019 restructuring support agreement done in bad faith, the oversight board’s abuse of power during the mediation process, and that the plan is not in the best interests of creditors, isn’t feasible, contains no valid impaired accepting class, and cannot satisfy so-called cramdown requirements.

PREPA’s debt offer would require bondholders to choose between being in a settling class or litigating whether the bonds are or not secured by utility revenues. Depending on the outcome of the litigation and the number of bondholders who choose to be in the settling class, settling bondholders will be paid between 50% and 100% of the amount owed, according to a notice to holders of uninsured bonds. Litigating bondholders will be paid no more than 52.81%, and as little as 0.21%, depending on the outcome of the litigation and the size of each group.

“The Plan would arbitrarily limit creditors’ total recovery, on the nearly $15 billion that PREPA owes them, to

around $5.4 billion (most of it payable over three to five decades). The Oversight Board maintains that it would be unaffordable and unsustainable for PREPA to repay its creditors even a penny more than that sum,” the Ad Hoc Group said. “But the same day the Oversight Board filed its Plan and Disclosure Statement, it publicly released its own recent proposal for PREPA to repay its creditors approximately $7.8 billion.”

Ignoring Puerto Rico’s booming economy and strong financial position following the commonwealth’s exit from Title III and the allocation of billions in federal funds, the Ad Hoc Group said, the oversight board posits throughout the disclosure statement that bondholders should be prepared to recover significantly less from PREPA than they were offered a year ago, and four years ago, and eight years ago.

The creditors noted that information in the disclosure statement is incomplete and unclear. The plan does not address how distributions will be made to creditors in the likely event that litigation necessary to determine distributions remains unresolved for years. Currently, the oversight board is in litigation disputing the claims of bondholders that their bonds are secured by PREPA’s revenues. The board has said they are only secured by an estimated $8 million to $16 million in a sinking fund and other subordinate accounts.

There are other factors, creditors said, that could hold up distributions, including the potential need for the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) to approve any proposed legacy charge that will be used to pay creditors.

Regarding the legacy charge, the creditors noted that

the disclosure statement does not adequately explain the nature and structure of the legacy charge that will fund the debt service payment, or how the different parts of the legacy charge will be allocated among classes of ratepayers, including individual customer class charges and aggregate charges.

The debt adjustment plan, they said, offers most creditors Series B Bonds that are effectively unenforceable. They are talking about bonds that would provide payment of their principal and interest only if PREPA sets total rates, including the so-called legacy charge for debt service, high enough to generate revenues sufficient to pay both operating expenses and debt service.

“But the Plan offers no assurance that Series B bondholders can enforce payment of their bonds if PREB fails to approve total rates sufficient to pay all operating expenses and debt service,” the creditors said.

PREPA’s retirement system also objected to the plan for lacking sufficient information as to the fate of the pensions.

“The Disclosure Statement describes the proposed governance of the PREPA PayGo Trust, which requires an initial deposit of one million dollars to fund administrative fees, costs, and expenses, in addition to ongoing funding,” retirement system officials said. “Yet, the only information on where the funding will come from refers to PREPA’s available cash flow generally. This creates doubt as to the source of the funding, and whether it is sustainable or even available; different, for example, from the clear guide to funding sources of bond payments.”

A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders contends, among other things, in objecting to the utility’s bankruptcy disclosure statement, that the plan of adjustment is not feasible and is not in the best interests of creditors.

Lic. Michelle M. Colón Naturópata/Iridióloga

7

Pair is charged with plotting to ‘destroy Baltimore’ by attacking electrical grid

By GLENN THRUSH and MICHAEL LEVENSON

Federal law enforcement officials have arrested two people accused of conspiring to “completely destroy Baltimore” in what they described Monday as a racist plot to demolish the power grid in a predominantly Black city.

Sarah Clendaniel, 27, of Catonsville, Maryland, and Brandon Russell, 34, of Orlando, Florida, planned to inflict “maximum harm” by targeting facilities operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric, which serves 1.2 million customers in central Maryland, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

While prosecutors suggested the arrests did not appear linked to recent attacks on the electrical grid in North Carolina, Washington state and Oregon, Russell is active in a neo-Nazi group called Atomwaffen that discussed attacks on electrical and nuclear facilities in Florida in 2017. He was released in August from federal prison after a conviction for bomb making.

“Russell provided instructions and location information,” Thomas J. Sobocinski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Baltimore, said at a news conference. “He described attacking the power transformers as the greatest thing somebody can do.”

Clendaniel, who was responsible for carrying out the attacks, boasted that she wanted to “lay this city to waste,” Sobocinski said, adding that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies disrupted the plot before it could be carried out.

The charges came a few days after the FBI offered two $25,000 rewards for information on those responsible for shooting and damaging two substations in Moore County, North Carolina, on Dec. 3 and for targeting another substation in Randolph County, North Carolina, on Jan. 17. The attack in Moore County caused 45,000 people to lose power, some for five days.

In December, Russell used encrypted messaging apps to detail his long-term plans to attack the electrical grid, telling a confidential FBI informant that he had recruited Clendaniel — who had served three years for robbing a convenience store with a butcher’s knife — as a possible accomplice.

Clendaniel said that striking all five, in rapid succession, with a “good four or five shots,” would “completely destroy this whole city” by setting off a cascade of power failures and prompting a wave of destructive civil disturbances, according to the complaint.

The communications from Clendaniel veer from grandiose predictions about the plot to jarring details of her personal and physical travails.

Prosecutors obtained a photograph of Clendaniel trying to appear fearsome in a death’s-head mask that covered her mouth and nose, as she held a semi-automatic rifle and brandished a holstered 9 mm pistol.

But just last month, Clendaniel confided to the informant that she had a terminal kidney ailment, did not expect to live more than a few months and wanted to accomplish “something worthwhile” before she died.

To her, that meant destroying Baltimore, prosecutors said.

Clendaniel told associates she had identified several potential locations near the Delaware state line, including one substation that was “literally like a life artery.” But she also said she had trouble finding a suitable weapon, had just obtained a driver’s license and was nervous about driving herself to the attack sites in Norrisville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall.

Russell, who began an email correspondence with Clendaniel when both were behind bars, advised her to carry out an attack “when there is greatest strain on the grid,” like “when everyone is using electricity to either heat or cool their homes,” prosecutors said.

He also provided Clendaniel with publicly available information about BGE’s facilities, according to the complaint.

There is “no indication” the Maryland plot was related to other attacks or plans, Sobocinski said Monday.

The charges came as researchers and homeland security officials have warned that the energy grid, and electrical substations in particular, has become a popular target for far-right extremists.

From 2016 to 2022, white supremacist plots targeting energy systems “dramatically increased in frequency,” according to a study released in September by researchers at the program on extremism at George Washington University

Over that period, 13 people associated with white supremacist movements were charged in federal courts with planning attacks on the energy sector, the study said, and 11 of those defendants were charged after 2020.

In February 2022, three men pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to a planned attack on substations after they had “conversations about how the possibility of the power being out for many months could cause war, even a race war, and induce the next Great Depression,” the Justice Department said.

That same month, a Department of Homeland Security bulletin warned that domestic violent extremists had recently aspired to disrupt electrical and communications systems as “a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals.”

The San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, February 7, 2023

A car is driven through a darkened Moore County, N.C., during a power outage on Dec. 5, 2022. Prosecutors have suggested that the arrests of two people accused of conspiring to demolish the power grid in Baltimore does not appear linked to recent attacks on the electrical grid in North Carolina, Washington State and Oregon.

For Biden, a chance for a fresh start in a new era of divided government

to quality education, jobs and opportunity for all,” she added.

Biden wants to use tonight’s speech to make the case that government works, citing legislation to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges and broadband, jump-start the semiconductor industry and expand health benefits for veterans, all of which passed on bipartisan votes. And he plans to discuss defending democracy at home and abroad at a time when Trump is talking about “termination” of part of the Constitution to restore himself to power and Russia is waging a war of conquest in Europe.

“The president’s message is made for this moment,” said Jon Favreau, who was President Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter when he lost the House in 2010. “He’s the guy who’s been working with both parties to get stuff done that matters to people, while Republican leaders have been working to appease the most extreme wing of their party. I would bet that he’ll emphasize policies that have broad, bipartisan appeal and ask for good faith cooperation instead of cheap political stunts. And if Republicans refuse, he can take that case to the American people in 2024.”

Biden is not the first president to face the challenge of taking on ascendant congressional opposition after a midterm defeat. All four of the most recent presidents lost at least one house of Congress during their tenures, forcing them to recalibrate, each in his own way and with varying degrees of success.

By PETER BAKER

President Joe Biden probably will not put it quite this way when he gets up before Congress to address the nation tonight, but the state of America’s union is disunion. To see that, he will need only turn around to find a Republican House speaker seated behind him, determined to block his every move.

So Biden’s message of unity, a hard sell already during his first two years in office, may prove even more out of sync tonight as he delivers his first State of the Union address of this new era of divided government. Yet for a president who prides himself on working across the aisle, a unity pitch may paradoxically be a useful cudgel to hammer his newly empowered opponents.

Biden plans to present himself to what is likely to be his largest television audience of the year as the adult in the room, willing and able to reach bipartisan compromises in an age of deep partisanship, according to advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the speech in advance. He will point to legislation he signed with Republican support since taking office and call on Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the GOP majority that won control of the House in November’s midterm elections to follow that example.

But knowing that any such cooperation is unlikely from a caucus that claims a mandate to resist him at every turn, Biden’s advisers expect him to try to draw a mature contrast to squabbling, angry Republicans divided over the election of McCarthy as speaker and more intent on investigating Hunter Biden than advancing the nation’s business.

“Sometimes having divided government actually helps you politically because it allows you, as president, to present your agenda as eminently reasonable, meaning that only unreasonable people would oppose what you’re trying to do,” said Peter

H. Wehner, who was director of strategic initiatives for President George W. Bush when Republicans lost both chambers of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections.

“Biden’s been dealt a pretty good hand if you want to portray the opposition party as extreme and radical — because they are,” Wehner added. “Let’s call it a target-rich environment.”

Still, White House advisers have been debating in recent days how hard to go after House Republicans after what they considered a decent meeting between Biden and McCarthy, RCalif., on the debt limit and spending restraints. While the two leaders remained at loggerheads, both sides deemed the session an important step and advisers said the president cannot give up the idea of making deals, however unlikely they may seem.

The president huddled at Camp David over the weekend to go over the latest draft of the address with top advisers, including Mike Donilon, Bruce Reed, Anita Dunn and Steven J. Ricchetti, as well as Vinay Reddy, the chief White House speechwriter, and Jon Meacham, the historian, who often helps craft some of Biden’s most significant speeches.

Republican leaders have little incentive at the moment to seek common ground with Biden, pushed by their conservative wing to stand up to what they characterize as an administration that has taken the country too far to the left with big-spending programs that have fueled inflation and deficits.

To respond to Biden’s address, GOP officials have selected Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, the former White House press secretary under President Donald Trump, who made clear she planned to use her platform to highlight “the failures of President Biden,” as she put it in a statement.

“We are ready to begin a new chapter in the story of America — to be written by a new generation of leaders ready to defend our freedom against the radical left and expand access

After a Republican sweep in 1994, President Bill Clinton pivoted toward the middle, confronting Speaker Newt Gingrich before eventually forging compromises to overhaul welfare and balance the budget. Bush defied the new Democratic Congress elected in 2006 by sending more troops to Iraq, but teamed up with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to tackle the financial crisis of 2008. Obama gave up his most expansive legislative ambitions after the House went Republican in 2010, turning instead to executive actions to pursue his goals.

Trump relished waging war against Pelosi’s Democrats after they seized the House in 2018 and made no effort to move to the political middle, although he did agree to bipartisan relief packages once the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Trump ended up being impeached by House Democrats — twice — although he was never convicted by the Senate.

The difference for Biden is that while Democrats lost the House in November, it was not perceived as a repudiation the way it was for his four most recent predecessors because the election did not produce the Republican “red wave” many had anticipated. Although Republicans took the House, they did so with the barest of majorities.

Yet the border crisis has inflamed many Republican voters and a new investigation into the mishandling of classified documents has sapped some of his momentum. More profoundly, Americans remain unmoved in their views of Biden. His approval rating stands at 42%, barely above the 41% at his last State of the Union address, according to an aggregation of surveys by FiveThirtyEight — and lower at this stage than any president in 75 years of polling except for Trump and Ronald Reagan, who was hobbled by a deep recession.

Trump of course went on to lose reelection, but Biden prefers the lessons of Reagan, Clinton and Obama, all of whom rebounded to win a second term. Each of them started out their path to recovery with a State of the Union address.

President Joe Biden arrives to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, March 1, 2022, as Vice President Kamala Harris stands with House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) look on.

In Austin, recovery from winter storm is slow and piecemeal

By DAVE MONTGOMERY and AVA SASANI

Warmer weather has returned to Austin, Texas after the winter storm that began to hit the state early last week. It was a balmy 73 degrees in the city Sunday. But to many residents in and around the capital who were still dealing with the storm’s fallout, progress in the recovery seemed frozen.

More than 30,000 customers in Austin remained without power Sunday night, according to Austin Energy, down from more than 100,000 last week but still a puzzling total to many residents who lost electricity Wednesday. Adding to the misery was the continued presence of fallen trees and downed utility poles throughout the area.

Life without lights, heat and electricity — and, in many cases, water — was a dominant theme of conversations over breakfast and before and after church services. All of it has tested residents’ patience.

“We should have been prepared for something like this,” said Lory Ponce, 58, a South Austin resident whose property was battered by falling trees last week. Her family had power, unlike her neighbors across the street.

Deepak Swamy, 57, a technology executive who lives in southwest Austin with his wife, Priya, 52, and their 12-year-old twin daughters, was finally notified early Sunday that the power was back on after being without electricity since Wednesday. But as he and his family worked to get their life back to normal, his frustration had not faded.

“I’m past the point of madness,” he said.

Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy, which powers the city, said in a news conference Sunday that she could not provide an estimate on when the remaining outages would be resolved.

“I want you to know we have not forgotten you,” she said, addressing residents. She added that the storm left “hurricane-level devastation.”

The power issues reminded some people of the outages in Texas in 2021, when more than 4 million customers lost electricity and more than 200 people died during a major power grid failure in one of the worst winter storms in the state’s history. But this time, the state’s power grid has maintained “ample supply,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, who added that the current outages in the Austin region, a metropolitan area of about 2.2 million people, were caused by fallen trees and power lines.

Spencer Cronk, Austin’s city manager, said at Sunday’s news conference that the ice that initially covered Austin’s trees weighed down branches and toppled some trees at the root.

The city’s major electrical circuits have been restored, according to Matt Mitchell, a spokesperson for Austin Energy, but the fallen trees have created a

maze of hazards that crews must navigate to pinpoint the circuits that are still damaged. In one area, Mitchell said, two blocks of the city were covered in seven different hazards.

On Sunday, Ponce sat with her mother, Clara Ponce, 79, in the kitchen of their home on Berkeley Avenue, recalling the ordeal that turned their front yards and backyards into a jungle of splintered trees.

Outside, a tree crew with chain saws was taking apart a giant oak that fell into the front yard from their next-door neighbor’s home. Looking through a glass door into the backyard, the women pointed out where trees from neighbors on three different sides crashed over different sections of the backyard cedar fence.

“Thank God, we’re all OK,” said Lory Ponce, a receptionist for a car dealer. Clara and Lory Ponce have lived in the house for 30 years and share the residence with Clara’s 28-year-old granddaughter Omnee.

Lory Ponce said she was at home with her mother Wednesday night when they heard the first crack. The three Ponce women remained hunkered down, collectively worrying with the sound of each falling branch, until the storm abated at about 6 p.m. Thursday.

In many neighborhoods across the city, which Abbott on Saturday designated a state disaster area along with surrounding Williamson County, stacks of

chain-sawed tree trunks and limbs made many front lawns look like wooden fortresses. Homeowners, many aided by paid tree services, continued to lament the destruction of once-beloved green canopies that shaded their yards.

Andrew Morris, a marketing manager, spent his Sunday afternoon hauling limbs from his South Austin backyard to the front curb for pickup, a scene repeated across the city and surrounding suburbs. He paused to describe the “cracking and pinging” that accompanied the sound of ice and falling tree limbs during the storm.

More than 30 traffic lights throughout Austin are still without power, according to Cronk, but city officials have placed temporary stop signs at those intersections.

“There have been concerns of people not treating dark signals as all-way stops,” said Jeff Stensland, a spokesperson for the Austin Transportation Department.

The pace of restoration could be slowed by this week’s weather: Another round of rain and high wind is forecast to hit Austin early Tuesday.

“These weather conditions could slow crews’ work and even produce additional damage to the electrical system,” Mitchell said in a statement. He added that customers who were still experiencing outages Sunday afternoon “may want to seek alternative accommodations for at least the remainder of the week.”

Omar Hernandez takes a chainsaw to branches of a fallen tree outside the home of Lory Ponce in Austin, Texas, Feb. 5, 2023.

A foreign spy craft. Superpowers on edge. But it was 1960, not 2023.

By PETER BAKER

Aforeign spy craft miles above the earth. A missile fired to bring it down. A flimsy cover story — just a weather plane! A high-stakes diplomatic meeting ruptured and tense superpower relations inflamed.

History, like good television, may not repeat, but sometimes it reaches back to earlier seasons for inspiration. To students of the Cold War, the saga of the Chinese balloon crossing American airspace seemed eerily reminiscent of the U-2 spy plane incident that provoked a tense confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.

It was one of the most fraught moments of the four-decade conflict pitting East against West, with enduring consequences. In that case, the nation spying on a rival was the United States, which regularly sent the high-altitude U-2 surveillance planes over Soviet territory confident that they were beyond the reach of Russian surface-to-air missiles — until just such missiles knocked one of its planes out of the sky on May 1, 1960.

All the Americans knew at first was that the plane had not made it to a base in Norway. Assuming that it had crashed and its pilot was killed, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration put out a “cover” statement asserting that a weather plane had gone missing during a flight over Turkey.

But what the administration did not realize was that the 30-year-old pilot, Francis Gary Powers, had actually survived the crash and been captured. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, then revealed that Powers was in their custody, exposing the American lie.

Embarrassed, Eisenhower took responsibility and suspended further flights but refused to apologize. A long-planned summit meeting in Paris with Khrushchev just days later turned into a debacle as the Soviet leader denounced the United States and stormed out. Eisenhower’s plans to visit Moscow were dashed, and a chance to ease friction and perhaps even broker an arms control treaty between the two nuclear rivals vanished. “Thanks to the U-2,” Khrushchev said, “the honeymoon was over.”

Whether the Chinese balloon episo -

de will have a similar ending is yet to be written. But China’s insistence that it was merely a weather craft seems no more credible than the American cover story was 63 years ago. And as it was then, an important diplomatic mission has collapsed as a result, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken scrubbing a trip to Beijing.

Most Americans have no firsthand memory of the U-2 incident, of course, although President Joe Biden is an exception because he was 17 at the time. But it was brought to modern audiences in 2015 in “Bridge of Spies,” a movie starring Tom Hanks as James Donovan, the American lawyer who negotiated the spy swap that freed Powers.

The echo from the episode, though, serves as a reminder that powerful countries regularly spy on one another, which generally becomes a problem when it goes public or leads to misunderstanding or tragedy.

In 1983, a Soviet warplane shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 after it veered into Russian airspace at night, killing 269 passengers and crew members, including an American congressman. Moscow said the plane had been mistaken for a spy plane. In 2001, a Chinese fighter plane got too close to an American EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance plane gathering intelligence over the South China Sea, forcing it to make an emergency landing at a Chinese base.

“The United States and its allies sent espionage balloons over the Soviet Union back to the late 1940s,” said Michael Beschloss, author of “Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U-2 Affair,” published in 1986. “They did this to detect any danger of an imminent Soviet surprise attack and to assess the size of the Soviet military complex so that Truman and Eisenhower could gauge how much they needed to spend on defense.”

Eisenhower, he added, “believed that such intelligence-gathering served the peace by averting an unnecessary arms race that could lead to war.” Starting in 1956, Eisenhower authorized the CIA to secretly send U-2 planes over Soviet territory, gambling that their altitude of 70,000 feet would keep them undetected. At the same time, Eisenhower understood that the flights could be seen as an act of war and insisted on personally approving each one.

In fact, the flights were being detected. Khrushchev knew about them and was furious at the intrusions into Soviet airspace, but he made no public protest because he did not want to reveal his military’s inability to stop them until a more sophisticated missile was developed.

As the Paris meeting approached in 1960, Eisenhower wanted to avoid any chance of disrupting the gathering and ordered U-2 flights halted well in advance. But after bad weather postponed a mission

before the meeting, Richard Bissell, the father of the CIA program, persuaded the president to authorize a final flight on May 1, barely two weeks before the meeting scheduled for May 16.

“Even in the less conspiracy-minded age of 1960, some Americans wondered whether warlike figures in our Pentagon had deliberately sent the flight to destroy the summit,” Beschloss said. “Such questions will now be asked of the Chinese military.”

Questions will also be asked about the American government, especially given a report by the Pentagon that China has sent spy balloons over American territory before, under both Biden and President Donald Trump.

“We need to know a lot more about the real mission of the Chinese spy balloon and why the Trump administration did not down other earlier such balloons and why it may have taken extraordinary measures to keep those incursions secret from the American public,” Beschloss said.

But the latest incident may also prompt a change in spying. John McLaughlin, a former acting CIA director, recalled that the downing of the U-2 meant the United States had to develop better satellites to make up for the lost intelligence. “One lesson is when you lose the capability to use a collection tool,” he said, “you start to think of more ingenious ways to get at the target. The Chinese are undoubtedly doing such an analysis.”

One main difference between 1960 and 2023 is that the Chinese craft was unmanned, sparing a drama over what to do with a pilot. The Soviets convicted Powers of spying and sentenced him to three years in prison and seven more years of hard labor before releasing him in February 1962 in the trade arranged by Donovan.

Powers was not a hero to everyone; some faulted him for not using a poisoned suicide pin to avoid being taken alive, even though he was not in fact ordered to do so as many assumed. After his return, he and his wife divorced and he quit the CIA. He later wrote a book and sought a congressional investigation to clear his name.

While he survived being shot down by the Soviets, he did not survive working as a weather helicopter pilot for a Los Angeles television station, dying in a chopper crash in 1977.

A U-2 spy plane, similar to the one pictured here, was shot down by the Soviet Union in May 1960, triggering a diplomatic crisis.

How a drug company made $114 billion by gaming the US patent system

By REBECCA ROBBINS

In 2016, a blockbuster drug called Humira was poised to become a lot less valuable.

The key patent on the bestselling anti-inflammatory medication, used to treat conditions like arthritis, was expiring at the end of the year. Regulators had blessed a rival version of the drug, and more copycats were close behind. The onset of competition seemed likely to push down the medication’s $50,000-a-year list price.

Instead, the opposite happened.

Through its savvy but legal exploitation of the U.S. patent system, Humira’s manufacturer, AbbVie, blocked competitors from entering the market. For the next six years, the drug’s price kept rising. Today, Humira is the most lucrative franchise in pharmaceutical history.

Last week, the curtain was expected to come down on a monopoly that has generated $114 billion in revenue for AbbVie just since the end of 2016. The knockoff drug that regulators authorized more than six years ago, Amgen’s Amjevita, was to come to market in the United States, and as many as nine more Humira competitors will follow this year from pharmaceutical giants including Pfizer. Prices are likely to tumble.ts including Pfizer. Prices are likely to tumble.

The reason that it has taken so long to get to this point is a case study in how drug companies artificially prop up prices on their bestselling drugs.

AbbVie orchestrated the delay by building a formidable wall of intellectual property protection and suing would-be competitors before settling with them to delay their product launches until this year.

The strategy has been a gold mine for AbbVie, at the expense of patients and taxpayers.

Over the past 20 years, AbbVie and its former parent company increased Humira’s price about 30 times, most recently by 8% this month. Since the end of 2016, the drug’s list price has gone up 60% to over $80,000 a year, according to SSR Health, a research firm.

One analysis found that Medicare, which in 2020 covered the cost of Humira for 42,000 patients, spent $2.2 billion more on the drug from 2016 to 2019 than it would have if competitors had been allowed to start selling their drugs promptly. In interviews, patients said they either had to forgo treatment or were planning to delay their retirement in the face of enormous out-of-

pocket costs for Humira.

AbbVie did not invent these patentprolonging strategies; companies like Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca have deployed similar tactics to maximize profits on drugs for the treatment of cancer, anxiety and heartburn. But AbbVie’s success with Humira stands out even in an industry adept at manipulating the U.S. intellectual property regime.

“Humira is the poster child for many of the biggest concerns with the pharmaceutical industry,” said Rachel Sachs, a drug pricing expert at Washington University in St. Louis. “AbbVie and Humira showed other companies what it was possible to do.”

Following AbbVie’s footsteps, Amgen has piled up patents for its anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel, delaying a copycat version by an expected 13 years after it won regulatory approval. Merck and its partners have sought 180 patents, by one count, related to its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, and the company is working on a new formulation that could extend its monopoly further.

Humira has earned $208 billion globally since it was first approved in 2002 to ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. It has since been authorized to treat more autoimmune conditions, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Patients administer it themselves, typically every week or two, injecting it with a pen or syringe. In 2021, sales of Humira accounted for more than onethird of AbbVie’s total revenue.

An AbbVie spokesperson declined to comment. The company’s lawyers have pre-

viously said that it is acting within the parameters of the U.S. patent system. Federal courts have upheld the legality of AbbVie’s patent strategy with Humira, although lawmakers and regulators over the years have proposed changes to the system to discourage such tactics.

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act created a pathway for the approval of so-called biosimilars, which are competitors to complex biologic drugs like Humira that are made inside living cells. Unlike generic equivalents of traditional synthetic medications, biosimilars usually are not identical to their branded counterparts and cannot be swapped out by a pharmacist.

The hope was that biosimilars would drastically drive down the cost of pricey brand-name biologics. That is what has happened in Europe. But it has not worked out that way in the United States.

Patents are good for 20 years after an application is filed. Because they protect patent holders’ right to profit off their inventions, they are supposed to incentivize the expensive risk-taking that sometimes yields breakthrough innovations. But drug companies have turned patents into weapons to thwart competition.

AbbVie and its affiliates have applied for 311 patents, of which 165 have been granted, related to Humira, according to the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge, which tracks drug patents. A vast majority were filed after Humira was on the market.

AbbVie has been aggressive about

suing rivals that have tried to introduce biosimilar versions of Humira. In 2016, with Amgen’s copycat product on the verge of winning regulatory approval, AbbVie sued Amgen, alleging that it was violating 10 of its patents. Amgen argued that most of AbbVie’s patents were invalid, but the two sides reached a settlement in which Amgen agreed not to begin selling its drug until 2023.

Over the next five years, AbbVie reached similar settlements with nine other manufacturers seeking to launch their own versions of Humira. All of them agreed to delay their market entry until 2023.

Some Medicare patients have been suffering as a result.

Sue Lee, 80, of Crestwood, Kentucky, had been taking Humira for years to prevent painful sores caused by a chronic skin condition known as psoriasis. Her employer’s insurance plan had helped keep her annual payments to $60. Then she retired. Under Medicare rules, she would have to pay about $8,000 a year, which she could not afford.

“I cried a long time,” she said.

For months, Lee stopped taking any medication. The sores “came back with a vengeance,” she said. She joined a clinical trial to temporarily get access to another medication. Now she is relying on free samples of another drug provided by her doctor. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if that supply runs out.

AbbVie executives have acknowledged that Medicare patients often pay much more than privately insured people, but they said the blame lays with Medicare. In 2021 testimony to a congressional committee investigating drug prices, AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez said the average Medicare patient had to pay $5,800 out of pocket annually. (AbbVie declined to provide updated figures.) He said AbbVie provided the drug for virtually nothing to nearly 40% of Medicare patients.

The drug’s high price is also taxing employers.

Soon after she started taking Humira, Melissa Andersen, an occupational therapist from Camdenton, Missouri, got a call from a human resources representative at her company. The company directly covers its employees’ health claims, rather than paying premiums to an insurer. Her Humira was costing the company well over $70,000 a year — more than Andersen’s salary.

A Humira syringe in Brook Park, Ohio, Jan. 24, 2023. AbbVie has for years delayed competition for its blockbuster drug at the expense of patients and taxpayers. The monopoly on the market is about to end.

Vice, a beleaguered avatar of new media, hangs a ‘for sale’ sign

By BENJAMIN MULLIN

After Vice Media secured a new round of financing in 2017 that valued the company at $5.7 billion, Shane Smith, one of its founders, teased the potential for “hockey stick” growth and a “sexy” stock market debut.

But that once-grandiose talk at Vice has run into reality. The media company, which has undergone several rounds of staff cuts in recent years, is putting itself up for sale in a rocky media market — where it will almost certainly fetch much less than executives had once hoped for.

Nancy Dubuc, the CEO hired in 2018 to replace Smith after a reckoning over workplace sexual harassment, said that the company had “turned a corner” and that she and the company’s investors had decided to sell to a company that could help it grow.

“Has it been difficult?,” Dubuc said of the company’s travails in an interview. “Yeah. Has anybody in my chair had a difficult ride at any company? I would say yes. We tend to be a little bit more public than most because of the curiosities and palace intrigue. But I’m about getting a job done, and we have a job to do, and I intend to do it.”

Vice, which started as a punk magazine in Canada in the 1990s before relocating to New York, is a prominent example of the bullish-tobearish outlook for new media companies over the past decade. Backed by major companies such as Disney and 21st Century Fox, which wanted to tap into Vice’s young, hip and digitally savvy audience, Smith struck deal after deal that expanded the company into a big digital presence, a TV network and a film-production company.

But in recent years, Vice has not kept that momentum, struggling to live up to the promise of its lofty valuation. Several other media companies, including BuzzFeed and Vox Media, have run into headwinds in the digital advertising market. Vice is likely to lay off additional

Vice Media’s offices in Brooklyn, June 10, 2019. Vice, which has undergone several rounds of staff cuts, is as of January 2023 up for sale in a rocky media market — where it will almost certainly fetch much less than executives had once hoped for.

staff, according to a memo to employees from Dubuc on Jan. 20, the same day that Vox Media said it was cutting roughly 7% of its workforce.

Ken Doctor, a local media entrepreneur and media business analyst, said Vice’s approach to news, often focusing on undercovered stories, had been overshadowed over time by its financial difficulties and pressure from investors.

“It’s undeniable that it created real value through that innovation, but the hype ate the reality,” Doctor said. “That was fueled by irrational investment, from the likes of Disney and others, sensing that there was something new here, but ignoring some of the fundamentals of news media business realities.”

Dubuc said the company’s board was determined to sell for several reasons. Even though Vice is still unprofitable, the company cut its losses in the past year by about 50%, she said, and it is aiming to break even this year.

Dubuc also said the company saw single-digit increases in its revenue this year, despite a bearish ad market.

In the interview, Dubuc said Vice’s studio business had grown beyond its roots as an independent film financier and had struck deals with major programmers, including Sky, Netflix and The CW. She added that the company’s news business had improved after securing increased international distribution and launching projects such as its show on the streaming network Twitch.

The company generated about $600 million in revenue last year, short of its $700 million target, according to one person with knowledge of the company’s financials. The Wall Street Journal reported those figures last month.

Dubuc also acknowledged that Vice’s backers were ready to cash out on their investment. In addition to the investments from

a drug company made $114 billion by gaming the US patent system

From page 11

The HR employee asked if Andersen would be willing to obtain the drug in an unconventional way to save money. She said yes.

As soon as March, her company plans to fly Andersen, 48, to the Bahamas, so that a doctor can prescribe her a four-month supply of Humira that she can pick up at a pharmacy there. Humira is much cheaper in the Bahamas,

where the industry has less influence than in it does in Washington and the government proactively controls drug pricing.

It is not yet clear how much the knockoff products will cost and how quickly patients will switch over to them. Billions of dollars in drug spending will ride on the answers to those questions.

“We price our products according to

the value they deliver,” said Jessica Akopyan, a spokesperson for Amgen, whose biosimilar product comes to market Tuesday. She added that the company would “employ flexible pricing approaches to ensure patient access.”

Even now, as AbbVie prepares for competitors to erode its Humira sales in the United States, the company will have a new way to make more money from the drug. Under the

other media companies, its big investors have included the private-equity giant TPG and media mogul James Murdoch. She added that the company would benefit from having one owner, instead of numerous investors, that could take a long-term view.

The decision to restart its sales process, first reported by CNBC on Jan. 19, is the latest chapter in a yearslong quest by Vice and its investors to find a buyer. Two years ago, the company planned to go public through a blankcheck company known as a SPAC, a financial vehicle to take private companies public. But that plan fizzled amid cooling investor sentiment.

Last year, the company hired the investment banks PJT and LionTree to explore selling some or all of its assets after suitors approached Vice to buy parts of the company, including its Virtue advertising agency and its studio business.

That process led to conversations with Antenna, a Greek media company that is a major buyer of Vice content. But those discussions stalled before the end of the year. Antenna is still a potential suitor for Vice, according to one person familiar with the company’s interest, but it is no longer holding extensive negotiations with the company.

Last month, after the earlier sale process stalled, Vice Media’s board of directors formed a special committee to direct the sales process of some or all of the company.

Media valuations are down amid an uncertain ad market, giving buyers more leverage during negotiations. Even the giants of the industry, such as Disney and NBCUniversal, are being tested by declines in traditional TV viewership and video-streaming business that hemorrhage cash.

Dubuc said Vice had made significant strides toward improving its culture and business operations since she joined.

“When I walked in here, it was unclear whether the company could survive,” she said.

terms of the legal settlements it reached with rival manufacturers from 2017 to 2022, AbbVie will earn royalties from the knockoff products that it delayed.

The exact sizes of the royalties are confidential, but analysts have estimated that they could be 10% of net sales. That could translate to tens of millions of dollars annually for AbbVie.

How

US STOCKS-Wall St edges lower as Fed fears mount

U.S. stock indexes edged lower on Monday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech for clues on when the central bank would start cutting interest rates.

The latest report highlighted the resilience of the U.S. labor market and stoked fears of rates staying higher for longer.

Focus will be on comments from Fed officials this week, including Powell on Tuesday, for clues on any change in the central bank’s dovish rhetoric after data last week showed services activity were strong in January.

“Right now everything is about what interest rates’ expectations are doing, and today they are up a decent amount,” said George Cipolloni, portfolio manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management.

“The Fed had initially pulled rates’ (expectations) down on Wednesday, but then the jobs number came out and it offset everything that the Fed said.”

Money market participants now see the benchmark rate peaking at 5.1% by July, in line with what most policymakers have backed repeatedly. 0#FEDWATCH

Yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note US10YT=RR extended gains to a month’s high. US/

After being bruised in 2022, U.S. equities have recovered strongly in 2023, led by megacap growth stocks amid short-lived hopes that the Fed will temper its aggressive rate hikes, which in turn could alleviate some pressure on equity valuations.

Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N slipped 4.7% on missing analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue and profit. Analysts expect quarterly earnings of S&P 500 firms declining 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv.

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc TSLA.O bucked the overall trend with a 2.1% gain after a U.S. jury found Chief Executive Elon Musk and his company were through Musk’s tweets in 2018 saying he had “funding secured” to take the electric-vehicle maker private.

At 12:44 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 81.03 points, or 0.24%, at 33,844.98, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 25.44 points, or 0.62%, at 4,111.04, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 91.59 points, or 0.76%, at 11,915.36.

All of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes were in the red, with a 1.3% fall in materials .SPLRCM leading declines.

Miner Newmont CorpNEM.N slid 5.0% on its $16.9 billion offer for Australian peer Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX to build a global gold behemoth.

U.S.-listed Chinese stocks such as Pinduoduo Inc PDD.O and Baidu Inc BIDU.O fell 3.1% and 1.0%, respectively, on geopolitical concerns after a U.S. military

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.

Traders will also await earnings reports from Walt Disney Co DIS.N, PepsiCo Inc PEP.O and Abbvie Inc ABBV.N this week.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.95to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.91-to-1 ratio on the Nas-

COMMODITIES

CURRENCY

daq.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 65 new highs and 17 new lows.

Friday’s data showing U.S. employment growth accelerating sharply in January renewed the inflation concerns that hammered stocks last year and ignited bets on a more hawkish Fed.

“The January employment report was unambiguously strong and should be the start of a series of data points showing stronger activity and inflation in early 2023,” analysts at Citi wrote. “We expect this emerging trend should push back on too-dovish market pricing.”

By MURAT GURES, SAFAK TIMUR, BEN HUBBARD and RAJA ABDULRAHIM

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria were desperately combing the rubble in search of survivors after a powerful earthquake collapsed thousands of buildings, killed at least 3,000 people and raised the specter of a new humanitarian disaster in an area of the world already wracked by war, a refugee crisis, deep economic troubles and nearfreezing temperatures.

The initial magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit at 4:17 a.m. local time Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey, and was also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. Dozens of aftershocks, including an unusually strong

7.5 magnitude tremor, struck Turkey in the aftermath, the USGS said.

The initial earthquake, centered near Gaziantep in south central Turkey, was the deadliest to hit the country in more than 20 years and was as strong as that of 1939, the most powerful ever recorded in Turkey.

Here are other key developments:

— Almost 3,000 buildings collapsed across Turkey alone after the initial quake, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. At least 1,760 people died and 5,000 people were injured. “We do not know where the number of dead and injured can go,” he said.

— About 1,250 people in Syria were also reported dead in the northwestern part of the country. Turkey also hosts

3.6 million Syrian refugees, the most in the world from that conflict, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which runs one of its largest operations from Gaziantep.

— Videos shared on social media from Turkey and across the border in Syria showed destroyed buildings and rescue crews searching through piles of rubble for survivors. Some people fled their homes in the rain and took shelter in cars in near-freezing temperatures.

— Governments around the world quickly responded to Turkey’s request for international assistance, deploying rescue teams and offers of aid.

— Earthquakes occur frequently in Turkey, which sits on fault lines. Recent quakes in the region have caused deadly landslides.

A frantic search for survivors as quake death toll tops 3,000 Ukrainian military reports attacks at dozens of points across the eastern front

By MARC SANTORA

Russian forces attacked dozens of Ukrainian positions across the eastern front, the Ukrainian military said on Monday, as Russia’s assaults widen and intensify before what Ukraine has warned could be the Kremlin’s largest offensive since the first weeks of the war.

The Ukrainian General Staff, which is responsible for military strategy, said in its daily battlefield update that the Russians fired on some two dozen towns and villages

around Bakhmut, the ruined city that has become the focal point of Moscow’s campaign to seize all of the eastern area known as Donbas.

But the general staff said that the chaotic nature of the Russian effort — including waves of inexperienced recruits and former convicts belonging to the Wagner paramilitary group — was limiting its effectiveness.

“There was a complete lack of coordination and interaction among the servicemen of Russian occupation troops and the so-called Wagner Group’s mercenaries,” it

said.

Just as Russia used its overwhelming advantage in artillery early in the war to grind out gains in eastern Ukraine, it is now deploying hundreds of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers, in small groups, to probe for vulnerabilities in Ukrainian defensive lines. That has forced Ukraine to stretch its forces to meet the threat.

But while the fighting has been brutal — with hundreds of soldiers being killed or wounded daily on both sides, according to U.S. and European estimates — neither side has achieved any significant territorial gains in months. The eastern front has remained largely the same, running along a 140-mile stretch of territory that forms the shape of a jagged crescent moon.

It remains unclear where and when Russia will mount a large-scale offensive, but Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said on Sunday that tens of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers have been dispatched to northeastern and southeastern Ukraine. He said that Russia is determined to break through Ukrainian defensive lines before the anniversary of its invasion, on Feb. 24.

At the northern edge of the crescent is the Russian-held city of Kreminna, where heavy battles are playing out in surrounding forests. Kreminna is where the Ukrainian counteroffensive in September stalled after driving the Russians from the northeastern Kharkiv region, and it is now one of the areas where Ukrainian officials have said Russia is massing troops for a renewed assault.

At the center of the crescent is Bakhmut, the site of one of the war’s most prolonged

and bloody battles, where Russia has made slow progress in its monthslong attempt to encircle the city. Lt. Roman Konon, who is fighting in the city with the “Freedom” battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard, said Russia continued to attack with “an unprecedented force.”

“First, the infantry units of the occupiers go on reconnaissance by combat, then a massive barrage of artillery begins and the infantry assault is repeated again,” he said in a video message played on Ukrainian national television.

Despite Russian forces’ “minor successes in advancing,” he said, Ukrainian forces still controlled a highway that allows supplies to get into the city.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine met with his military leadership Monday to get updated on the current situation on the front lines. “Special attention was paid to the positions of the defense forces in the Bakhmut direction and their provision with necessary munitions,” his office said in a statement.

At the southern edge of the crescent, near the town of Vulhedar, Ukraine says Russian attacks have been repulsed. But Ukrainian officials warned that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been deployed to the region and could be gathering for a more coordinated assault.

Zelenskyy said on Sunday night that Russian forces were determined to avenge their setbacks in the first year of the war, and that the “fierce battles” raging on the front will likely grow in intensity.

“We have no alternative but to defend ourselves and win,” he said.

A Ukrainian soldier evacuates a woman from her home in the village of Makiivka, near the Russian-held city of Kreminna, in eastern Ukraine, on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Musharraf’s legacy: A conflicted Pakistan and a bristling military

By DECLAN WALSH

In the nine years that he led Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf sometimes called himself a “tightrope walker” — someone who could balance opposing forces, or straddle Pakistan’s dizzying political and ideological divides.

Contradictions abounded. Musharraf was the darling of the West who played footsie with the Taliban; he was the whiskey-swilling liberal who made concessions to extremists or the swaggering army commando who tried to make peace with India.

But the tragedy for Musharraf, who died in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday at the age of 79, is that he is now mostly seen as the leader who couldn’t keep his footing and ultimately fell off the tightrope: the last military general who overtly held power in Pakistan.

As plans were being made Monday to fly Musharraf’s remains home from exile — a journey he could not make in life — historians and others in Pakistan began to grapple with his conflicted legacy as a central figure in the post-Sept. 11 world who ultimately lost his grasp on any Pakistani constituency.

“Today’s Pakistan is the product of Musharraf,” said Adil Najam, a professor of international affairs at Boston University. “The forces that shape the country today were unleashed during his time in power. But I don’t think he intended it that way.”

It’s been over four decades since Pakistanis mourned a leader who died in bed. The last two funerals were for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007; and military dictator Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, who died in a mysterious plane crash in 1988 — both unforgettable emblems of the country’s perilous politics.

Even so, there has been little hesitation to pass judgment on Musharraf in recent days. Some squarely blame him for the precarious state of the country — a nucleararmed nation of 220 million with tottering institutions, fractious politics, a crumbling economy and empowered religious extremism. “Much of the ills of today can be traced back to the Musharraf era,” Cyril Almeida, a political commentator, wrote on Twitter. His legacy is most uncomfortable for the military he once led.

Since his ouster in 2008, the army had sought to shield Musharraf from the full wrath of Pakistan’s justice system. As angry Pakistanis pursued him through the courts with accusations of abuses during his time in power, including murder and treason, he

never spent a night in jail. That was largely because the military made sure he was allowed to slip into exile several times, most recently in 2016.

Yet the army has also seemed happy to have Musharraf fade into obscurity in Dubai. Many within the country’s security sector blame him for troubles that battered the army’s reputation and, ultimately, caused the military leadership to radically change the way it exerts power in Pakistan.

Some point to his alliance with the United States and President George W. Bush after the al-Qaida terrorist attacks of 2001 that brought in billions of dollars in military aid but also triggered a militant uprising within Pakistan that led to vicious fighting, suicide bombings and tens of thousands of deaths.

Others were resentful of the cooperation that Musharraf gave the Americans, allowing the CIA to set up a secret drone base for several years — only to be humiliated, in 2011, when a Navy SEAL team swooped into a house in Abbottabad and killed the founder of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, barely a few hundred yards from a major Pakistani military base.

Still others have condemned what they see as Musharraf’s “double game” — with his intelligence services hunting some militants to earn American favor and money, while they quietly coddled others who were deemed to serve Pakistan’s strategic interests in Afghanistan or Kashmir.

Harsh public criticism of the military became louder and more frequent, altering a relationship with a Pakistani public that had previously been characterized by deference — or at least silence.

“The military in Pakistan has gone through a major change in the past two decades,” Najam said. “It has gone from being an institution that most people respected, or kept quiet about, to one that is now very publicly under attack — and that shift started with Pervez Musharraf.”

That era changed the calculus of power for the Pakistani military, which has dominated the country one way or another since the country’s independence in 1947. No longer bent on seizing power directly after Musharraf’s tenure, it allows civilians to be elected in democratic polls, while retaining a hold on the levers that count: control

of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons; steering the country’s policy toward Afghanistan and India; and directing the relationship with the U.S. and, increasingly, China.

It is not, probably, the country that Musharraf hoped to forge after he seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999. He portrayed himself as a swashbuckling modernizer who was determined to steer Pakistan away from the dour Islamism of its previous military ruler, Zia.

For a time, the West lapped it up. The United States lavished billions in aid on Pakistan. In return, Musharraf handed over for detention at the Americans’ Guantánamo Bay hundreds of suspected al-Qaida members — some of whom turned out to be innocent.

But it soon became clear that Musharraf couldn’t keep his promises, and frustrations began to build. Schisms emerged inside his own military about how to counter Islamist extremism. There were disagreements about how to fight the Pakistani Taliban or whether to cut army support to militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which in 2008 carried out terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 175 people.

Massive street protests rose against Musharraf, and he was forced to resign in 2008.

The dysfunctional relationship between civilian and military leaders has taken a new twist. Imran Khan, the cricket legend turned politician, came to power in 2018 with the lightly disguised support of the military, which saw him as a biddable ally.

But after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year, he directed his supporters’ anger against foes inside the military whom he blamed for his downfall. Since then, he has devoted his energies to a public excoriation of senior military figures that would have once been unthinkable.

“Imran Khan came to power touting that he was on the same page as the military,” said Madiha Afzal, a Pakistan expert at the Brookings Institution. “And he has ended on a stunning anti-establishment note in a way that no Pakistani politician has done before.”

Still, she added, it would be unfair to blame Musharraf for all of Pakistan’s problems or even for the military’s continued hold on power. Those, she said, are rooted in pathologies that go back to the country’s split with India in 1947.

“It traces back to two pillars — reliance on Islam and opposition to India — that all of the country’s leaders have tried to follow,” she said. “Musharraf wasn’t responsible for that — he was a product of it.”

Pakistani police officers stand guard on May 5, 2011, outside the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound where Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces.

Returning from Africa, Pope Francis and Christian leaders condemn anti-gay laws

By JASON HOROWITZ

Pope Francis on Sunday doubled down on his assertion that homosexuality should not be criminalized, saying on the papal plane returning from South Sudan, a country that penalizes homosexual acts, that “to condemn a person like this is a sin.”

But Francis, 86, also turned his attention back toward Rome, lacing into “unethical” conservative critics who he said had “instrumentalized” the death of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and then told lies to promote their own ideological and partisan interests.

Francis made the comments in a remarkable joint in-flight news conference with the head of the Anglican Communion and Scotland’s top Presbyterian minister after spending six days in Africa, first in the Congo and then in South Sudan. During the trip, he used his global clout and moral authority to draw attention to and foster peace in the plundered and war-torn countries.

He also reiterated his condemnation of great powers exploiting Africa. The continent’s booming population and vibrant Catholic Church make it critical to the faith’s future, as well as to Francis’ legacy as a pope trying to make the church more global and focused on the needs of its poor, hungry and downtrodden.

But Africa is also vehemently opposed to the more progressive aspects of Francis’ pontificate, especially an increased inclusion of gay people.

That tension is not unique to the Catholic Church. While the Church of Scotland allows same-sex marriages, and its Presbyterian leader, the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, said on the flight that Jesus never turned anyone away, the Anglican Church is struggling, like the Vatican, to navigate a tightrope. It has a conflict between its more liberal Western churches that are happy to bless same-sex civil marriages, and that want to allow such marriages in churches, and its conservative African bishops who consider recognizing same-sex marriage a red line that must not be crossed.

And so it was fitting that Francis was joined on the flight back to Rome by the Most Rev. Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury and the symbolic head of the global Anglican Communion, who acknowledged that the question of homosexuality — and the degree to which it is accepted and legitimized — had roiled his own church.

Welby said on the plane that his church had issued multiple declarations against the criminalization of homosexuality, “but it has not really changed many people’s mind.”

That was apparent for both faiths during

the pope’s six days in Africa, where the mere mention of gay people prompted immediate condemnation.

“For me, it’s like a witch,” said Phaneul Ladu, 37, a Catholic who joined a crowd of more than 70,000 faithful for Francis’ final event of the trip: an open-air Mass on Sunday morning in Juba, South Sudan’s capital.

“If you do a crime, you should be penalized,” Ladu said, but he added that it was not worth talking about whether or not homosexuality should be criminalized, “because it doesn’t exist.”

Abraham Duot, the Anglican bishop from Jonglei state, struck a similar note as he walked toward the stage and in front of the grandstand where the country’s political leaders, including South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, surveyed the crowd.

“South Sudan is different because of the culture,” said Duot, who also said that he did not believe that the country criminalized homosexuality or that it was “in our Constitution.”

“It is better for you to get two wives than to become a gay or become a lesbian,” he said.

On Friday evening at the presidential palace, where Francis and Kiir met to discuss steps toward peace, the archbishop of Juba, Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, argued that, while he believed in change, with all of the calamities facing the country — and Africa as a whole — the issue of homosexuality was not a priority.

But he was skeptical of the West’s inflicting its views of sexuality on African cultures. “I believe that these situations cannot be equalized,” Ameyu said. “It should be treated from country to country.” He added that Francis had made clear that it was most important to respect human dignity.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, the former primate of the South Sudanese Episcopal Church, who took his seat of honor at the Presidential Palace, took a harder line when asked about whether African churches could shift their position on homosexuality to more closely align with those in Europe.

“We don’t accept that one because it’s not part of our life,” he said, stating, “We are against it” and “we don’t want it” and “the wickedness of a human cannot be considered as something to be discussed.”

Asked specifically about the pope’s call for governments not to criminalize homosexuality, he added, “That is the pope — but I’m telling you it is a sin.”

On the papal plane, a reporter asked Francis what he would say to families in Congo and South Sudan who rejected their gay children because they followed the teachings of their local churches, which held that homosexuality was an unacceptable sin, and what he would say to those priests and bishops.

Francis responded, reminding reporters that he had said in 2013 on a flight back from Brazil, “Who am I to judge” a faithful and gay person, and that in 2018 he had made it clear when returning from Ireland that families

should not reject their gay children.

He also cited an interview last month with The Associated Press in which he acknowledged that some Catholic bishops around the world supported laws that criminalize or discriminate against homosexuality. He said at the time that bishops needed to recognize the dignity of every person, but that it would be a process.

On Sunday, Francis repeated that “criminalization of homosexuality is a problem to let pass.” Speaking of countries that do criminalize homosexuality, and especially those that apply the death penalty, he reiterated, “It is not just.”

Welby then seized the moment to acknowledge that the issue had split his own church and would be “our main topic of discussion” at the Church of England’s bishops meeting this week.

On the plane, Francis also broached the issue of same-sex couples when he expressed frustration, and even anger, with the way Benedict XVI — who died Dec. 31 and was a north star to conservatives, including in Africa, for upholding traditional church teaching — had been exploited by some acolytes in death.

Francis recalled that when he publicly recognized civil unions, someone tried to denigrate him to Benedict, who instead conferred with theologians and did nothing.

He said he brought it up to show the goodness of Benedict, who, he said, “I could talk with about anything” and who “was always by my side.” Francis rejected the notion, spread by conservative opponents, most prominently in a new tell-all book by Benedict’s former secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, that Benedict was “embittered” on this and other occasions. “It’s bunk,” Francis said, using an Italianization of a Spanish expression.

“On the contrary,” he said, “I consulted Benedict on several decisions, and he agreed.”

“The death of Benedict, I believe, has been instrumentalized by people who are carrying their own water,” Francis added. “These are people of party politics, not of the church.”

He also repeated his condemnation of a mentality among great powers and financial interests that “Africa is for exploiting.” Vatican officials said on Sunday that China was one of the principal offenders of that mentality in Africa.

Ladu, one of the faithful who attended the Mass, agreed. “What China is doing is negative for Africa,” he said. “They feel that when a system is weak, they can cheat it.” He recalled how Francis, speaking in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, had declared, “Hands off Africa.”

“I think he meant developed countries,” he said. “But I also think he meant China.”

Members of the Roman Catholic Church at the Cathedral of St. Therese in Juba, South Sudan, on Feb. 4, 2023.

Classified US report highlighted foreign power surveillance with advanced technology

By JULIAN E. BARNES and EDWARD WONG

The Chinese spy balloon that floated across the continental United States before it was shot down by the U.S. military generated deep concern on Capitol Hill in part because it came on the heels of a classified report that outlined incidents of U.S. adversaries potentially using advanced aerial technology to spy on the country.

The classified report to Congress last month discussed at least two incidents of a rival power conducting aerial surveillance with what appeared to be unknown cutting-edge technology, according to U.S. officials. While the report did not attribute the incidents to any country, two U.S. officials familiar with the research said the surveillance probably was conducted by China.

The report on what the intelligence agencies call unidentified aerial phenomena focused on several incidents believed to be surveillance. Some of those incidents have involved balloons, while others have involved quadcopter drones.

The Chinese government said Friday that the Chinese balloon discovered over the United States was mainly for weather research. However, U.S. officials said they have assessed it to be a collection device, although not one that could gather the kind of sensitive information that advanced Chinese reconnaissance satellites already collect.

Many countries use aerial spying technology to gather data on rival nations as well as allies and partners, and to look at remote parts of the globe. But the practice can lead to diplomatic crises and greater military tensions when it goes awry.

On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a weekend trip to Beijing, which would have been the first visit by the top U.S. diplomat there since October 2018, after American news organizations began reporting on the Chinese spy balloon on Thursday, when it was drifting over Montana. On Saturday, the U.S. military shot down the balloon after it entered skies over the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2001, a U.S. Navy signals intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese interceptor jet near the Chinese island of Hainan; the incident left a Chinese pilot presumed dead and led to a diplomatic crisis involving the leaders of the two nations.

China spends about $209 billion, or 1.3% of gross domestic product, on its military overall, according to a Pentagon report. But policymakers in Washington have been especially worried about its investments in technologies that could have military or intelligence applications.

U.S. defense officials believe China is conducting surveillance of military training grounds and exercises as part of an effort to better understand how America trains its pilots and undertakes complex military operations. The sites where unusual surveillance has occurred include a military base in the United States and a base overseas, officials said.

The classified report mentioned Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan as sites where foreign surveillance was believed to have occurred, but did not explicitly say China had been behind the actions, a U.S. official said.

Since 2021, the Pentagon has examined 366 incidents that were initially unexplained and said 163 were balloons. A handful of those incidents involved advanced surveillance balloons, according to a U.S. official, but none of them were conducting persistent reconnaissance of the U.S. military bases. (However, spy balloons that the U.S. government immediately identifies are not included in unidentified aerial phenomenon tracking, according to two U.S. officials.)

Because spy balloons are relatively basic collection devices and other balloons have not lingered long over U.S. territory, they previously have not generated much concern with the Pentagon or intelligence agencies, according to two officials.

The surveillance incidents involving advanced technology and described in the classified report were potentially more troubling, involving behaviors and characteristics that could not be explained.

Officials said that further investigation was needed but that the incidents could potentially indicate the use of technology that was not fully understood or publicly identified. Of the 171 reports that have not been attributed to balloons, drones or airborne trash, some “appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis.”

Officials cautioned that imperfect radar and sensor readings could cause confusion, making an ordinary object appear to be something threatening.

The Pentagon has released images of some of the suspected surveillance incidents that were initially unexplained. The images showed green triangles in the air taken near two different Navy exercises. At a congressional hearing last year, Pentagon officials said the triangles were simply small drones. The use of night-vision gear had made them look otherworldly.

While the drones had not been officially attributed to any country, in one incident a Chinese ship was in the vicinity.

It is not clear how strong the evidence is that China is using an advanced technology that the United States does not possess. Some U.S. officials remain skeptical that China would risk exposing some of its most advanced technology in any surveillance activity that could be detected by the United States.

The surveillance balloon stirred outrage on Capitol Hill. Some officials said the information about adversarial spying contained in the classified report on unidentified aerial phenomena had already driven up concern earlier.

Both Republicans and Democrats hawkish on China called the surveillance balloon a violation of U.S. sovereignty that highlighted the threat from Beijing.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a member of the House Intelligence Committee and chair of a new House committee on China, said the administration needs to tell lawmakers more about what it knows about surveillance of military facilities.

“This is all the more reason for the House Intelligence Committee to receive a full briefing on this matter,” Gallagher said Friday. “There is a documented history of unidentified — and now identified — objects near sensitive military

facilities, and we need to move with a sense of urgency to get to the bottom of this.”

When China tested a hypersonic missile in 2021, Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that it was something close to a Sputnik moment, referencing the Soviet Union’s successful Cold War satellite launch. Hypersonics has been a key technological focus of Beijing and is one area where China has demonstrated capabilities equal or exceeding those of the U.S. military.

But the incidents potentially involving advanced technology described in the classified report are not believed to involve any sort of hypersonic propulsion, U.S. officials said, nor does the Chinese spy balloon that generated a diplomatic crisis.

“We don’t need any more evidence than this that we are in a Cold War-like long-term competition that will be expressed in military and intelligence terms for the coming decade,” Evan Medeiros, a Georgetown University professor and senior Asia director on the White House National Security Council in the Obama administration, said of the balloon episode involving China. “And what the relationship lacks is the mechanisms to manage this.”

A drone in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens in New York, Dec. 4, 2018.

Can the State of the Union match ‘White Lotus’?

Will there be any points in this speech for which both congressional teams applaud? Who will deign to sit with the House’s new serial fabulist, George Santos? And will Rep. Matt Gaetz be so characteristically obnoxious that his Republican colleague Mike Rogers comes at him again, as happened during last month’s historically awkward election for speaker?

The entire spectacle is an elaborate exercise in political signaling by the president, his congressional allies, the opposition and even bit players like the Supremes. Every clap, grimace and eye roll tells us something about the prevailing mood among the nation’s top leaders — and the level of discord and dysfunction we can look forward to in the coming months.

grade school report cards. So even pressing legislative matters with bipartisan appeal will likely languish.

Even so, the president needs to lay out his vision. He is expected to make clear his reelection intentions very soon, and the SOTU is seen by many as an early pitch for a second term. Biden will likely walk people through some of his prouder achievements thus far, on issues from infrastructure to climate change to gun safety. This is also his moment to give his take on a host of hot-button issues such as inflation, the debt ceiling, gun violence, the war in Ukraine and police reform. (Among the event’s invited guests are the parents of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis, Tennessee, man whose death after a brutal beating by the police has horrified the nation.)

By MICHELLE COTTLE

Get that popcorn ready, people. It’s State of the Union week!

Already, I can hear some of you grumbling: Nope. No way I’m blowing my Tuesday night on that snoozefest when there are episodes of “The Last of Us” to re-watch. I get the lack of enthusiasm. It’s tempting to dismiss the president’s annual address to Congress as old-fashioned, heavy-handed political theater — largely because it is old-fashioned, heavy-handed political theater. You’ve got the stuffy setting, the strict staging, the meticulous scripting, the hackneyed performances and even the occasional audience member nodding off — either from boredom or because they liquored up before the show. But this does not mean that the State of the Union, more adorably known as SOTU, is empty political theater. Far from it — especially this year, when there is so much real-life drama to watch for. With President Joe Biden assumed to be gearing up for a reelection run, he will be test-driving issues and messages with campaign potential. What will resonate — or not? Having finally groveled his way into the speaker of the House’s seat just behind the president, how will Kevin McCarthy comport himself on this big night, especially if his members start getting balky?

This will be the first SOTU for the Supreme Court justices after the conservative majority torpedoed the constitutional right to abortion last summer. Will Biden mention their ruling? Will they register a response?

One question that always carries with it a frisson of unease during big presidential addresses: On a scale of 1 to Lauren Boebert, how disrespectfully will members of the opposing party behave? Normally, the out party is content to express its disagreement by withholding applause — or vaguely grumbling. But you never know when someone will go big, as when Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shrieked “You lie!” at President Barack Obama during a September 2009 speech before a joint session of Congress. Or last year, when Boebert, the pride of Colorado, interrupted a somber part of Biden’s SOTU to holler something about him putting service members in coffins. (Stay classy, Lauren!)

Of course, when it comes to throwing low-key SOTU shade, it would be tough to top Nancy Pelosi’s condescending opera clap at President Donald Trump in 2019, not to mention her ripping up a copy of his speech in 2020. (The former speaker really, really doesn’t like “whatshisname,” as she delights in calling him.)

This time, anything feels possible. Tuesday will be Biden’s first appearance before the Republicancontrolled House, and with MAGA wing nuts dominating the conference. Will the chaos monkeys be on their best behavior, or will the compulsion to act out prove overwhelming? Notably, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been engaged in a brand makeover of late, dialing down the crazy and snuggling up to leadership in an effort to sell herself as an intraconference bridge builder. This new stab at quasi respectability could have her playing nicer than usual, if for no other reason than to avoid embarrassing her new BFF, McCarthy. Alternatively, Biden could be lucky to make it through Tuesday night without being spattered in rotten produce — at least metaphorically.

When it comes to the president’s policy wish list portion of the speech, there’s no point sweating the details, especially this year. House Republicans have made clear that they plan to spend their time in power investigating everything from Biden’s foreign policy decisions to his

Most basically, with all the chatter about the president’s age and fitness, Biden needs to come across in a way that reassures people he is still up for this job, for the next two and possibly six years. Because it’s not just the opposition fretting over the question.

The SOTU may not rank as the week’s most electrifying televisual experience. But it has plenty to offer, especially for anyone concerned about the health and well-being of American democracy. And who knows? Maybe we’ll luck out and The Talented Mr. Santos will show up posing as a character from “White Lotus.” That would really set the tone for the evening.

Telephones: (787) 743-3346 • (787) 743-6537 (787) 743-5606 • Fax (787) 743-5100

LA FORTALEZA – El director ejecutivo del Centro de Recaudaciones de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), Reinaldo Paniagua Látimer dijo el lunes que en las próximas dos semanas van a presentar un borrador de legislación con el cual pretenden sustituir los 240 millones de dólares anuales que genera el Impuesto al Inventario.

“El reclamo del sector privado comercial en Puerto Rico era eliminar la recurrencia del pago de este impuesto año tras año por un mismo artículo que no se vendiera a final de año. Lo que estamos buscando es una manera de que se reduzca dramáticamente el costo de hacer negocios en Puerto Rico pagando por ese artículo una sola vez, luego de haberse vendido”, dijo Paniagua Látimer a preguntas de la prensa, previo a reunirse con el gobernador en La Fortaleza.

“Llevamos tiempo haciendo el análisis para

poder mostrarle al gobernador que es lo que ayudaría a que los comercios tengan esta vía de que tengan disponible todo el inventario que quieran sin que les cueste más dinero”, añadió.

Según el director del CRIM, “aquí no se puede hablar de eliminación, hay que hablar de sustitución. Porque habría entonces, que echar hacia atrás y volver a empezar otra vez el Plan Fiscal. Porque esto está predicado en unos recaudos de mil cien millones de dólares que es lo que hace el CRIM anual y esto haría un boquete de 240 millones de dólares”.

En conferencia de prensa, el gobernador Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia mencionó que lo que quería del CRIM era “encontrar la forma y manera de eliminar el Impuesto al Inventario o modificarlo, sin que se afecten adversamente las finanzas municipales”.

De otra parte, el presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Mon-

tañez, tiene, como parte de sus propuestas de enmiendas contributivas, eliminar el tributo municipal. El también expresidente cameral y portavoz de la minoría del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez apoya la eliminación del cobro.

PONCE – Los Cachorros de Ponce y los Criollos de Caguas están listos para el retorno del Béisbol Superior Doble A a sus ciudades despues de cuatro décadas de ausencia.Ambos equipos presentaron sus uniformes y trabajan a todo vapor en sus prácticas de pretemporada, a solo días de que se cante ‘playball’.

“Retomamos el camino con esfuerzo, con gente que tiene voluntad para que haya cambios, porque es gente que ama el deporte. Hay una fe colectiva dentro del equipo que hace posible que, aunque a veces haya escollos que podamos encontrar en el camino, esto sea posible”, expresó Eric Vega, apoderado de los Cachorros.

Vega agradeció el compromiso con el deporte ponceño y respaldo a la franquicia del alcalde de Ponce, Luis M. Irizarry Pabón, quien al reunirse con él para escuchar sus planes para el regreso de Los Cachorros, le dijo “cuenta con mi apoyo”. El alcalde aseguró que el regreso de los Cachorros “es un sueño hecho realidad”.

“Aunque la pelota profesional nos gusta, la Doble A es de pueblo. Ponce es la segunda ciudad más grande de Puerto Rico, pero somos particulares, nos comportamos como pueblo porque disfrutamos el deporte”, resaltó Irizarry Pabón.

El primer juego de los Cachorros será el viernes, 17 de febrero, cuando reciban la visita de los Brujos de Guayama en el Estadio Francisco ‘Paquito’ Montaner a las 7:30 p.m.

Por su parte, los Criollos visitarán a los campeones defensores Toritos de Cayey este domingo en el Estadio Pedro Montañez para inaugurar la temporada 2023 a las 3:00 pm. El primer juego en el Estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales de Caguas será el 18 de febrero a las 7:00 pm, cuando reciban a los Polluelos de Aibonito.

“Para nosotros es un sueño hecho realidad. El poder concretar este regreso ha sido un proceso de mucho trabajo y sacrificio, pero finalmente hoy podemos decir que lo logramos. Con mucho entusiasmo declaramos lo afortunados que nos sentimos de traer de regreso a esta novena, que por cuatro décadas no vio acción”, dijo el licenciado Julio Osuna,

apoderado de los Criollos. “Les aseguro que estos muchachos están más que listos para competir y poder disputar las primeras cuatro posiciones de la sección central”, añadió.

El alcalde de Caguas, William Miranda Torres, reiteró su respaldo a la nueva franquicia.

“Fueron 40 años de inactividad que hoy culminan, porque estamos de vuelta y en nuestra casa, el renovado estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales, hogar de deporte Criollo. Para nuestra administración y para mí, es un éxito total el que en Caguas se juegue béisbol todo el año”, expresó Miranda Torres.

POR CYBERNEWS

Ponce y Caguas listos para su regreso después de 40 años

Alcaldes insisten en que no se puede eliminar el Impuesto al Inventario y buscarán sustituirlo

The San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, February 7, 2023 20

Beyoncé makes history at a star-powered Grammy awards ceremony

By BEN SISARIO

Beyoncé made Grammy history Sunday night, setting a record at the awards’ 65th annual ceremony for the most career wins by any artist, after picking up a string of trophies for “Renaissance,” her hit album that mined decades of dance music.

But she was once again shut out of the major categories, winning all four of her prizes for the night in down-ballot genre categories. Harry Styles took album of the year for “Harry’s House,” Lizzo won record of the year for her retro dance anthem “About Damn Time,” and song of the year went to Bonnie Raitt for “Just Like That.” It was Beyoncé’s fourth career loss for album of the year.

Styles seemed at a loss for words as he accepted his Grammy, opening his remarks with a stunned profanity.

Still, Beyoncé’s accomplishment resonated throughout the evening. Accepting her 32nd career award, Beyoncé thanked God and her family, and honored her “Uncle Jonny,” a gay relative whom she has described in the past as her “godmother” and as the person who exposed her to LGBTQ culture.

“I’d like thank the queer community for your love, and for inventing the genre,” she said to roars of applause from the crowd at the Crypto.com Arena as she won best dance/electronic music album for “Re naissance,” which was widely seen as a love letter to gay culture. (Even so, Beyoncé faced a backlash recently when she performed a private concert in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where homosexuality is illegal.)

With her latest wins, Beyoncé surpassed Georg Solti, the Hungarianborn classical conductor who died in 1997 and had long held the title of the most career wins by any artist.

Even Beyoncé’s competitors cheered her on. Accepting record of the year, Lizzo told a story of being inspired by seeing Beyoncé in concert (while skipping school).

“You clearly are the artist of our lives!” she shouted. (In 2017, when Adele beat Beyoncé for album of the year, she said almost the same thing.)

Beyoncé also won best dance/electron ic recording (“Break My Soul”), traditional R&B performance (“Plastic Off the Sofa”) and best R&B song (“Cuff It”). She had been the most nominated artist of the eve ning, with nine nods.

Gender freedom was a theme run ning through the night. Not long before Beyoncé’s win, Sam Smith, a nonbinary

singer, and Kim Petras, a trans woman, won the award for pop/ duo group performance for “Unholy,” and Petras drew cheers when she said she was “the first transgender woman to win this award.”

“I hope that there’s a future where gender and identity and all these labels don’t matter that much,” Petras told reporters backstage. “Where people can just be themselves, and not get judged so hard and not be labeled so hard.”

After two years of shows that were disrupted and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Grammy ceremony returned in full swing to its home court in Los Angeles (Crypto. com is the renamed Staples Center), bringing the music world together for glitz, competition and, behind the scenes, plenty of business schmoozing.

“We made it!” exclaimed its host, Trevor Noah. “We’re back!”

The power of stardom was another of the night’s major underlying themes. The show opened with a blast of brass and the hip-swaying rhythms of Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar who represents the music industry’s hopes — he is a young celebrity with global appeal and massive numbers, both on streaming services and on the road.

Walking through the aisles of the arena flanked by dancers in festive dress, he played two songs from his blockbuster album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” bringing both social commentary and party vibes, and getting stars like Taylor Swift dancing amid the bistro-style seating in front of the stage.

Accepting the award for best música urbana album for “Un Verano,” Bad Bunny gave his speech in Spanish and English.

“I just made this album with love and passion,” he said. “When you do things with love and passion, everything is eas-

Old-fashioned song craft remains a key touchstone for Grammy voters. Raitt, 73, was the surprise winner of song of the year — beating Adele, Beyoncé, Swift, Lizzo and Styles, whose songs were huge hits — for “Just Like That,” a tender meditation about an organ donation that had only modest commercial success. She accepted it as a recognition of the job of songwriting itself, and thanked other writers for providing her with material

throughout her career.

“I would not be up here tonight,” Raitt said, “if it wasn’t for the great soul-digging, hard-working people that put these songs and ideas to music.”

Samara Joy, a singer who brought fresh interpretations to jazz classics, and began her career posting them online, won best new artist.

Styles performed his bubbly, pensive hit “As It Was” in a silvery sequined suit with tassels that shook as he danced. “Harry’s House” also won Styles the award for pop vocal album.

Kendrick Lamar won three rap prizes: best performance and best song, for “The Heart Part 5,” and best album, for “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.” Accepting the album award, he thanked his family “for giving me the courage and giving me the vulnerability to share my truth and share these stories.”

Brandi Carlile, a Grammy darling in recent years, won best rock performance and best rock song for “Broken Horses,” as well as best Americana album for “In These Silent Days.”

The 89-year-old Willie Nelson, who was not present, won for best country album for “A Beautiful Time,” and best country solo performance for the song “Live Forever.”

Swift ended the night with one victory, best music video for “All Too Well: The Short Film,” but lost her three other nods — including her sixth career loss in song of the year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” an extended remake of a song she first released in 2012.

The first lady, Jill Biden, announced the winner of a new award, best song for social change, which went to 25-yearold Iranian songwriter Shervin Hajipour, whose song “Baraye” became an anthem for the women’s rights protests there last year. The prize was chosen by what the academy described as a “blue-ribbon committee.”

Actress Viola Davis won best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her memoir “Finding Me,” making her the newest EGOT — the coveted acronym for the winner of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

Among the new categories this year was songwriter of the year (non-classical), intended to recognize the writers who work behind the scenes. It was won by Tobias Jesso Jr., who has written songs for Adele, Styles and others. Stephanie Economou was the first winner for best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media for her work on the game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok.

Below the superstar level, the Grammys have the power to transform artists’ careers. The Tennessee State University Marching Band was the first college marching band ever nominated for best roots gospel album, and it won with “The Urban Hymnal.”

Accepting that award, Sir the Baptist, one of the album’s producers, addressed the straitened finances of historically Black colleges and universities. “HBCUs are so grossly underfunded to where I had to put my last dime in order to get us across the line,” he said. “We’re here with our pockets empty but our hands aren’t.”

Beyoncé became the artist with the most career Grammy wins as her album “Renaissance” picked up several trophies on Sunday.

THIS YEAR’S GRAMMY AWARDS WINNERS

Record of the Year

“About Damn Time,” Lizzo Album of the Year

“Harry’s House,” Harry Styles

Song of the Year

“Just Like That,” Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best New Artist

Samara Joy

Best Pop Solo Performance

“Easy on Me,” Adele

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

“Unholy,” Sam Smith and Kim Petras

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

“Higher,” Michael Bublé

Best Pop Vocal Album

“Harry’s House,” Harry Styles

Best Dance/Electronic Recording

“Break My Soul,” Beyoncé

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album

“Renaissance,” Beyoncé

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

“Empire Central,” Snarky Puppy

Best Rock Performance

“Broken Horses,” Brandi Carlile

Best Metal Performance

“Degradation Rules,” Ozzy Osbourne featuring Tony Iommi

Best Rock Song

“Broken Horses,” Brandi Carlile, Phil

Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)

Best Rock Album

“Patient Number 9,” Ozzy Osbourne

Best Alternative Music Performance

“Chaise Longue,” Wet Leg

Best Alternative Music Album

“Wet Leg,” Wet Leg

Best R&B Performance

“Hrs & Hrs,” Muni Long

Best Traditional R&B Performance

“Plastic Off the Sofa,” Beyoncé

Best R&B Song

“Cuff It,” Denisia “Blu June” Andrews, Beyoncé, Mary Christine Brockert, Brittany “Chi” Coney, Terius “TheDream” Gesteelde-Diamant, Morten Ristorp, Nile Rodgers and Raphael

Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

Best Progressive R&B Album

“Gemini Rights,” Steve Lacy

Best R&B Album

“Black Radio III,” Robert Glasper

Best Rap Performance

“The Heart Part 5,” Kendrick Lamar

Best Melodic Rap Performance

“Wait for U,” Future featuring Drake and Tems

Best Rap Song

“The Heart Part 5,” Jake Kosich, John-

ny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar and Matt Schaeffer, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)

Best Rap Album

“Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” Kendrick Lamar

Best Country Solo Performance

“Live Forever,” Willie Nelson

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

“Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde

Best Country Song

“’Til You Can’t,” Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis, songwriters (Cody Johnson)

Best Country Album

“A Beautiful Time,” Willie Nelson

Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album

“Mystic Mirror,” White Sun

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

“Endangered Species,” Wayne Shorter and Leo Genovese, soloist

Best Jazz Vocal Album

“Linger Awhile,” Samara Joy

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

“New Standards Vol. 1,” Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Linda May Han Oh, Nicholas Payton and Matthew Stevens

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

“Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra,” Steven Feifke, Bijon Watson, Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra

Best Latin Jazz Album

“Fandango at the Wall in New York,”

Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring the Congra Patria Son Jarocho Collective

Best Gospel Performance/Song

“Kingdom,” Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, Jonathan Jay, Chandler Moore & Jacob Poole, songwriters

Best Contemporary Christian Music

Performance/Song

“Fear Is Not My Future,” Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, Nicole Hannel, Jonathan Jay, Brandon Lake and Hannah Shackelford, songwriters

Best Gospel Album

“Kingdom Book One Deluxe,” Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin

Best Contemporary Christian Music

Album

“Breathe,” Maverick City Music

Best Roots Gospel Album

“The Urban Hymnal,” Tennessee State University Marching Band

Best Latin Pop Album

“Pasieros,” Rubén Blades and Boca Livre

Best Música Urbana Album

“Un Verano Sin Ti,” Bad Bunny

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

“Motomami,” Rosalía

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

“Un Canto por México — El Musical,” Natalia Lafourcade

Best Tropical Latin Album

“Pa’lla Voy,” Marc Anthony

Best American Roots Performance

“Stompin’ Ground,” Aaron Neville with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Best Americana Performance

“Made Up Mind,” Bonnie Raitt

Best American Roots Song

“Just Like That,” Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best Americana Album

“In These Silent Days,” Brandi Carlile

Best Bluegrass Album

“Crooked Tree,” Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway

Best Traditional Blues Album

“Get On Board,” Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder

Best Contemporary Blues Album

“Brother Johnny,” Edgar Winter

Best Folk Album

“Revealer,” Madison Cunningham

Best Regional Roots Music Album

“Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,” Ranky Tanky

Best Reggae Album

“The Kalling,” Kabaka Pyramid

Best Global Music Performance

“Bayethe,” Wouter Kellerman, Zakes

Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode

Best Global Music Album

“Sakura,” Masa Takumi

Best Children’s Music Album

“The Movement,” Alphabet Rockers

Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording

“Finding Me,” Viola Davis

Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

“The Poet Who Sat by the Door,” J. Ivy

Best Comedy Album

“The Closer,” Dave Chappelle

Best Musical Theater Album

“Into the Woods (2022 Broadway Cast Recording),” Sara Bareilles, Brian d’Arcy James, Patina Miller and Phillipa Soo, principal vocalists; Rob Berman and Sean Patrick Flahaven, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist) (2022 Broadway Cast)

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media

“Encanto,” Various Artists

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

“Encanto,” Germaine Franco, composer

Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok,” Stephanie Economou, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto”; Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Carolina Gaitán — La Gaita, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and “Encanto” — Cast)

Best Instrumental Composition

“Refuge,” Geoffrey Keezer, composer (Geoffrey Keezer)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

“Scrapple From the Apple,” John Beasley, arranger (Magnus Lindgren, John Beasley and the SWR Big Band featuring Martin Aeur)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

“Songbird (Orchestral Version),” Vince Mendoza, arranger (Christine McVie)

Best Recording Package

“Beginningless Beginning,” ChunTien Hsia and Qing-Yang Xiao, art directors (Tamsui-Kavalan Chinese Orchestra)

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition

Package

“In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81 ’82 ’83,” Lisa Glines, Doran Tyson and Dave Van Patten, art directors (The Grateful Dead)

Best Album Notes

“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition),” Bob Mehr, album notes writer (Wilco)

Best Historical Album

“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition),” Cheryl Pawelski and Jeff Tweedy, compilation producers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Wilco)

Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical Tobias Jesso Jr.

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

“Harry’s House,” Jeremy Hatcher, Oli Jacobs, Nick Lobel, Mark “Spike” Stent and Sammy Witte, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Harry Styles)

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical Jack Antonoff

Best Remixed Recording

“About Damn Time (Purple Disco Machine Remix),” Purple Disco Machine, remixer (Lizzo)

Best Immersive Audio Album

“Divine Tides,” Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; Stewart Copeland, Ricky Kej and Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej)

Best Engineered Album, Classical “Bates: Philharmonia Fantastique

— The Making of the Orchestra,” Shawn Murphy, Charlie Post and Gary Rydstrom, engineers; Michael Romanowski, mastering engineer (Edwin Outwater and Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical Judith Sherman

Best Orchestral Performance

“Works by Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman,” Michael Repper, conductor (New York Youth Symphony)

Best Opera Recording

“Blanchard: Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Angel Blue, Will Liverman, Latonia Moore and Walter Russell III; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)

Best Choral Performance

“Born,” Donald Nally, conductor (Dominic German, Maren Montalbano, Rebecca Myers and James Reese; The Crossing)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance

“Shaw: Evergreen,” Attacca Quartet

Best Classical Instrumental Solo

“Letters for the Future,” Time for Three; Xian Zhang, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

“Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene,” Renée Fleming, soloist; Yannick Nézet-Séguin, pianist

Best Classical Compendium

“An Adoption Story,” Starr Parodi and Kitt Wakeley; Jeff Fair, Starr Parodi and Kitt Wakeley, producers

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

“Puts: Contact,” Kevin Puts, composer (Xian Zhang, Time for Three and the Philadelphia Orchestra)

Best Music Video

“All Too Well: The Short Film,” Taylor Swift; Taylor Swift, video director; Saul Germaine, video producer Best Music Film

“Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” Various Artists; Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern, video directors; Frank Marshall, Sean Stuart and Ryan Suffern, video producers

A new view of the most explosive moon in the solar system

By OLIVER WHANG

Io, the third largest of Jupiter’s moons, is caught in a pressurized, explosive dance.

Orbiting near Ganymede and Europa, two of the other largest Jovian moons, and the planet itself, Io’s mineral composition is constantly pulled and pushed by gravity, creating frictional heat deep inside the moon. This makes it extremely volcanically active — there are hundreds of volcanoes and extensive networks of lava flows marking Io’s surface.

“It’s being squeezed like an anger ball,” said Jeff Morgenthaler, an astrophysicist at the Planetary Science Institute.

Despite a number of close-flying spacecrafts over the past few decades — including the Voyager 1 and Galileo missions — as well as constant observation from Earth, there are lasting mysteries about the kind of volcanic activity on Io and how the moon’s fiery energy interacts with Jupiter and other nearby bodies.

Last year, Morgenthaler, who studies gases Io emits and the cloud said gases create around Jupiter, picked up signs that a different kind of eruption — a more powerful or more persistent one — was occurring.

“It’s an exciting observation,” said Ashley Davies, a planetary scientist and volcanologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was not involved in Morgenthaler’s study. “It’s showing that Io is certainly one of the most energetic bodies in the solar system, and you have no idea how it’s going to appear when you turn your telescope on it.”

The observation could help to guide future study of Io, including preparations for NASA’s Juno space probe, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 and is scheduled to fly only a couple hundred miles from the Jovian moon this December.

Because Io is far from the sun and has a very thin atmosphere, its surface, on average, sits at around minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is coated in a frosty layer of sulfuric compounds. Volcanic eruptions there, which come in many different forms and intensities, can reach temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. When super hot meets super cold, molecules like sulfur dioxide and sodium can be shot into space. Some of the most explosive eruptions come from fissures in the surface and throw fountains of lava half a mile

into space. The charged molecules create what is known as a “plasma torus” in Io’s wake: a doughnut-shaped cloud of ionized gas that collects in Jupiter’s magnetic field.

It is possible to look directly at Io’s volcanic hot spots with infrared telescopes. However, since 2017, Morgenthaler has taken a different approach, focusing on the moon’s plasma torus through the Planetary Science Institute’s Io Input/Output observatory (IoIO), in Arizona. Instead of using infrared light, Morgenthaler uses IoIO to block light from Jupiter and measure the gas around it.

Davies said that while infrared telescopes can tell us where volcanoes are erupting on Io and how powerful they may be, studying the plasma torus can tell us when an eruption is chemically rich — signaling that it may be more powerful, more persistent or just more peculiar. One eruption could push more ionized gas into the torus. Another could send out a lot of neutral gas. “It doesn’t happen every time, and it’s an interesting link,” Davies said.

Each year Morgenthaler has monitored volcanic activity through IoIO, he has noticed some kind of increased

concentration, or brightening, of gases in the plasma torus. These changes correlate with volcanic outbursts, the intensities of which can be measured by the levels of sodium emitted from the moon. But, in September through December 2022, after a large volcanic outburst, he noticed that the torus contained much less sulfur dioxide than the size of the eruption would suggest. The torus wasn’t as bright as it should have been.

This could mean that the eruption had a different chemical composition from the others, or that different kinds of minerals had been disturbed. It would be like Mount St. Helens, a steep stratovolcano that can erupt explosively, sending dirt, rock and sodium into the atmosphere, erupting on Earth, rather than Mauna Loa, a gently-sloped shield volcano that erupts with liquid lava flows. Or it could mean that the torus was rapidly diffusing in response to the intense eruption.

More than anything, Morgenthaler said, it is a call for more research.

“I’m just raising the flag, and saying, ‘This has happened,’ ” Morgenthaler said after announcing the observation this month.

Studying the anomaly might draw out, in better detail, the different kinds of volcanoes on Io, as well as the interactions between the plasma torus and other massive moons around Jupiter. However, much more data will have to be gathered to put all the pieces together, including from other powerful telescopes on Earth, like the James Webb Space Telescope as well as from the Juno space probe.

For the moment, to study gases from Io, Morgenthaler said that his method, which is cheap and could be adapted by small research organizations and even some backyard astronomers, is often underutilized. But his work may open the door for similar and widespread research that could provide data to help understand the Jovian system.

Davies said that this kind of piecemeal research is integral to understanding Io. “You can think of it like looking at different parts of an elephant,” he said.

The fact that Morgenthaler’s most recent observation was made with largely accessible instruments opens the possibility of more studies, similar and different, in kind. “The more monitoring we can get, the better it will be,” Davies said.

In an image provided by NASA, Io, a moon of Jupiter, captured by the Juno spacecraft as it flew by at a distance of about 50,000 miles on July 5, 2022.

LEGAL NOTICE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO LIME HOMES LTD.

Plaintiff V. JOSE ORLANDO AYALA PEREZ A/K/A JOSE O. AYALA PEREZ, ANA MARIA GARCIA ARROYO A/K/A ANA M. GARCIA ARROYO AND THEIR CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Defendants

Civil Núm.: 19-CV-1696. (ADC).

Re: FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE IN REM. NOTICE OF SALE.

TO: JOSE ORLANDO AYALA PEREZ A/K/A JOSE O. AYALA PEREZ, ANA MARIA GARCIA ARROYO A/K/A ANA

M. GARCIA ARROYO AND THEIR CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ANY OTHER PARTY WITH INTEREST OVER THE PROPERTY MENTIONED BELOW, GENERAL PUBLIC.

WHEREAS: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff to recover from defendants the sum of $264,649.23 in principal, interest rate of 5.625% per annum since September 1, 2015. Such interest will continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. An additional deferred balance of $71,205.89 does not accrue interest at this time. In addition, the defendants owes the Plaintiff the late charges amounting to 5.000% of each and any monthly installment not received by the note holder within 15 days after the installment was due. The Defendants also owe the Plaintiff all of the advances made pursuant to the provisions and/or dispositions of the Mortgage Note and the Mortgage Deed. The Defendants also owe an amount equivalent to 10% of the original principal balance, or $34,505.58 as liquidated amount to cover costs, expenses and attorney’s fees. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master

was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property (as described in the Property Registrar in the Spanish language): URBANA: Solar número 95 de la Urbanización Ciudad Jardín I (La Providencia) localizada en el Barrio Piña del municipio de Toa Alta con una cabida superficial de 547.37 metros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, en una distancia de 20.09 metros y un arco de longitud de 6.11 metros con la Calle Número 7; por el SUR, en una distancia de 19.83 metros con el lote número 110; por el ESTE, en una distancia de 21.22 metros con la Calle B y por el OESTE, en una distancia de 25.00 metros con el lote número 96. Contiene una casa de concreto diseñada para una sola familia. The mortgage is recorded at page number page number 226 of volume number 342 of Toa Alta, in the Property Registry of Bayamón, Section III. On March 1, 2018, the note and Deed of Mortgage were modified pursuant to Deed of Modification of Mortgage number 40 executed before Notary Ernesto M. Rovira Gandara to increase the principal balance to $345,055.80 and modify the annual interest rate. The Deed of Modification is recorded at page number page number 176 of volume number 518 of Toa Alta, in the Property Registry of Bayamón, Section III, eleven inscription. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: None. Junior Liens: Federal Attachment vs. Ana Garcia, social security #xxx-xx-1126 for the amount of $39,952.47 notification #322679918, filed and recorded on October 2, 2018 entry 2018-007699-FED under Karibe information system for Judgments and Attachments. Other Liens: None. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the

responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 14TH DAY OF FEBRUARY OF 2023, AT: 8:50 AM. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $345,055.80. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the 21ST DAY OF FEBRUARY OF 2023, AT: 8:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $230,037.20, which is two-thirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the 28TH DAY OF FEBRUARY OF 2023, AT: 8:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $172,527.90, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. Should there be no award or adjudication at the third public sale, the property may be awarded to the creditor for the entire amount of its debt if it is equal to or less than the amount of the minimum bid of the third public sale, crediting this amount to the amount owed if it is greater. The Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied. WHE-

REAS: Said sale to be made by the Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 28th day of December of 2022. Pedro A. Vélez-Baerga, Special Master, specialmasterpr@gmail.com, 787-672-8269.

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE JUSTINA CORTIJO GARCÍA COMPUESTA POR LEGNA AIXA ALMODÓVAR CORTIJO, ÁNGEL EDGARDO ALMODÓVAR CORTIJO, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS, SUCESIÓN DE KAREN ALMODÓVAR CORTIJO COMPUESTAPOR SUTANO Y PERNCEJO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: PO2021CV02847. Sala: 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia dictada el 23 de mayo de 2022, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 6 de septiembre de 2022 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 12 de septiembre de 2022 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 14 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 4:15 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina, localizada en la Oficina del Alguacil, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Ponce, Sala Superior, en 2150 Ave. Santiago de los Caballeros, Ponce, Puerto Rico, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal; todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar Número 7 del Bloque “F” radicado en la Urbanización Santa Rita, localizada en el Barrio Sabana Llana del término municipal de Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico con un área superficial de 353.57 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en 29.41 metros con el solar Número 6 del bloque” F” de la misma Urbanización; por el Sur en 24.99 metros con el solar Número 8 del bloque “F” de la misma Urbanización; por el Este, en 13.73 metros con terrenos de la Estación Expe-

rimental Agrícola de la Universidad de Puerto Rico”; y por el Oeste en 13.00 metros con la calle número 5 la misma de Urbanización. Sobre lo antes descrito se halla construida una casa de hormigón y bloques para fines residenciales. Afecta una servidumbre a favor de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company de 1.52 metros de ancho a todo lo largo de la colindancia Oeste. Inscrita al Folio 291 del Tomo 397 de Juana Díaz, Finca Número 14,918 Registro de la Propiedad de Ponce, Sección I. La Hipoteca consta inscrita al Folio 291 del Tomo 397 de Juana Díaz, Finca Número 14,918, Registro de la Propiedad de Ponce, Sección I. Dirección Física: Urb. Santa Rita F7 JUANA DÍAZ, PR 00795. Número de Catastro: 64-366085-523-06-000. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $53,630.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 21 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 4:15 DE LA TARDE en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $35,753.33. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, El día 28 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 4:15 DE LA TARDE en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $26,815.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $27,762.77 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 7% anual desde el 1 de octubre de 2018 hasta su completo pago, más $462.94 de recargos adeudados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta su saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $5,363.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que sobre esta propiedad pesan los siguientes gravámenes posteriores a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar: a) BITACORA: Al Asiento 2021-159974- PO01,el 13 de diciembre de 2021, Demanda de fecha 8 de diciembre de

2021, ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Ponce, en el caso civil número PO2021CV02847, seguido por la Sucesión de Justina Cortijo García compuesta por Legna Aixa Almodóvar Cortijo, Ángel Edgardo Almodóvar Cortijo, Fulano y Mengano de Tal, Sucesión de Karen Almodóvar Cortijo, compuesto por Carlos Javier, Ángel Gabriel, Karen Alexandra y José Alberto de apellidos Colón Almodóvar, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $27,762.77 y otras cantidades, o la venta en pública subasta de la propiedad. Pendiente de anotación. b) EMBARGO FEDERAL: Anotado contra José A. Colón & Iara M. Figueroa, seguro social XXX-XX- 4772, por la suma de $8,983.73, según notificación número 341586919, Anotada el 30 de abril de 2019, al Asiento 2019-003409-FED del libro de Embargos Federal Karibe. c) EMBARGO FEDERAL: Anotado contra José A. Colón & Olga Ocasio, seguro social XXX-XX-0490, por la suma de $ 98,503.36, según notificación número 164060615, presentada el 15 de julio de 2015, a la página 1, asiento 1 del Libro de Embargo Federal Número 10. Fecha de Renovación el 1 mayo de 2023. Nota: Los siguientes dos embargos surgen contra José A. Colón, no podemos precisar si José A. Alberto Colón Almodóvar (persona mencionada en la presentación de Anotación de Demanda) sean la misma persona. Se le advierte a los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de Subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en el expediente del caso que obra en los archivos de la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana; y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate y que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal como

lo expresa la Ley Núm. 2102015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy 4 de enero de 2023. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO CIELO VIVIENDA LLC

Plaintiff, V. ÁNGEL ALFONSO RAMOS HERNÁNDEZ AND HIS WIFE CAROLINE OCASIO HENRÍQUEZ, AND THE CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THEM

Defendants

Civil No.: 16-01456-(CVR). FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE; COLLECTION OF MONIES. NOTICE OF SALE.

To: ÁNGEL ALFONSO RAMOS HERNÁNDEZ AND HIS WIFE CAROLINE OCASIO HENRÍQUEZ, AND THE CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THEM, GENERAL PUBLIC, AND ALL PARTIES THAT MAY HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY.

WHEREAS Judgment in favor of Plaintiff was entered for the principal sum of $282,452.07 in principal, accrued interest in the amount of $42,933.62, accrued late charges in the amount of $2,337.60, accrued escrow advance in the amount of $9,047.74, and expressly agreed upon attorney’s fees and legal costs in the amount of $28,327.31, for a total amount due of $365,098.34, which will continue to accrue interest at the contractual rates. Such interests continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. WHEREAS, pursuant to said judgment, the undersigned SPECIAL MASTER, Joel Ronda Feliciano, was ordered to sell at public auction for US currency in cash or certified check, without appraisal or right to redemption to the highest bidder. The public sale shall be held at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Federal Building Office 150, 1st. floor, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918.

The public sale will be of the following property: “URBANA: Parcela de terreno identificada como solar 97 del bloque SJ de la Urbanización Sanjuanera, radicada en el barrio Cañabón, término municipal de Caguas, cabida 577.042 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en 16.42 metros, y distancia en arco de 2.96 metros, con plaza Morenilla (calle #13); por el SUR, en 23.55 metros, con solar 98; por el ESTE, distancia en arco de 25.19 metros, con vía Morenilla (calle #2); y por el OESTE, en 24.75 metros, con solar 96. Enclava una casa.” Recorded at page 200 of volume 1655, property 55,154 of Caguas, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, First Section of Caguas. The property described above es encumbered by three junior liens: a) MORTGAGE: In favor of RBS Mortgage Corp., in the original principal amount of $105,250.00, with 8.375% annual interests, due on November 1st, 2022, constituted by deed #328, executed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on October 16th, 2007, before Notary Public René Aviles Perez, recorded at page 192 of volume 1736 of the Registry. Modified by Deed number 157 executed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 26, 2014, before Notary Public Eduardo J. Navarro Pluguez, recorded at page 192 of volume 1736 of the Registry; b) Lawsuit Annotation dated November 9th, 2009, executed in the Superior Court of Caguas, civil case ECD20091987, by Doral Bank, recorded at page 192 of volume 1736 of the Registry, annotation A; and; c) Judgment issued by the Caguas Superior Court, case EHEI2012-01072, in favor of Hacienda San José Homeowners Association, recorded at page 120, lawsuit 357, book 3 of the Registry. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It is understood that the potential bidders acquire the property subject to any and all the senior liens that encumber the property. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax liens (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts then and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and the bid price shall not be applied toward the cancellation of the senior liens. WHEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE will be held on MARCH

3, 2023, 2023, AT 9:50AM and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $283,273.09. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on MARCH 10, 2023, 2023, AT 9:50AM and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $188,848.72. If said second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on MARCH 17, 2023, 2023, AT 9:50AM and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $141,636.54. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued canceling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the aforementioned office of the Clerk of the United States District Court. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 17th day of January, 2023. Joel Ronda Feliciano, Special Master, Email: rondajoel@me.com, Tel: 787-565-0415.

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO CIELO VIVIENDA LLC

Plaintiff V. CARMEN HERNIDHIA COLOMBANI LATORRE

Defendant

Civil No.: 18-cv-01499. (ADC). FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE AND COLLECTION MONIES. NOTICE OF SALE.

To:

CARMEN HERNIDHIA COLOMBANI LATORRE, GENERAL PUBLIC, AND ALL PARTIES THAT MAY HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY.

WHEREAS Judgment in favor of Plaintiff was entered for the principal sum of $116,611.16,accrued variable interests starting at 6.95%, and deferred balance of $9,373.33 for a total of $125,984.49 from February 1, 2016 until full payment, plus mortgage and risk insurance premiums, late fees and any other amount expressly agreed-upon in the mortgage deed, from the date stated above until full payment thereof, plus 10% for attorneys’ fees and legal costs in the amount of $12,800.00. Such interests continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. WHEREAS, pursuant to said judgment, the undersigned SPECIAL MASTER, Joel Ronda Feliciano, was ordered to sell at public auction for US currency in cash or certified check, without appraisal or right to redemption to the highest bidder. The public sale shall be held at and at the office of the Clerk of the United States

District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Federal Building Office 150, 1st. floor, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918. The public sale will be of the following property: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número Seiscientos Siete (607) en el bloque LC-35 (607 LC-35) en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización La Cumbre, radicado en el Barrio Monacillos de Rio Piedras, término municipal de la Capital de Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de trescientos cuarenta y ocho metros cuadrados con cuatro centímetros cuadrados (348.04). Y colinda por el NORTE: en veinticuatro metros con ochenta centímetros con el Solar número Seiscientos Seis del bloque LC-Treinta y Cinco del mencionado plano; SUR; en veintitrés metros con cuarenta centímetros con el Solar número Seiscientos Ocho del bloque LC-Treinta y Cinco del mencionado plano; ESTE; en dieciséis metros con cincuenta centímetros con la calle denominada “Madison Street” del mencionado piano; OESTE; en doce metros con veinticinco centímetros con terrenos propiedad de la Corporación de Renovación Urbana y Vivienda de Puerto Rico. Enclava en dicho solar una edificación para usos residenciales. PROPERTY NUMBER: 3,541, recorded at page 161 of volume 112 of Monacillos Este y el Cinco, Property Registry of Puerto Rico, Fifth Section of San Juan. The aforementioned mortgage has one senior lien: i. MORTGAGE: In favor of Doral Mortgage Corporation, in the original principal amount of $20,000.00, with 9.95% annual interests, due on February 1, 2012 constituted by deed #53, executed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 28, 2002, before Notary Eric Hernandez Batalla, recorded at mobile volume 267 of Monacillos Este y el Cinco, property #3,541. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It is understood that the potential bidders acquire the property subject to any and all the senior liens that encumber the property. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax liens (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts then and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and the bid price shall not be applied toward the cancellation of the senior liens. WHEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE will be held on MARCH 3, 2023, 2023, AT 9:55AM and the minimum bidding amou-

nt that will be accepted is the sum of $128,000.00. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on MARCH 10, 2023, 2023, AT 9:55AM and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $85,333.33. If said second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on MARCH 17, 2023, 2023, AT 9:55AM and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $64,000.00. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued canceling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the aforementioned office of the Clerk of the United States District Court. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 19th day of January, 2023. JOEL RONDA FELICIANO, SPECIAL MASTER, E-MAIL: RONDAJOEL@ ME.COM, TEL: 787-565-0415.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. DOMINGO ROBLES CHICO; MARÍA DELIA SERRANO ROSA; LA SUCESIÓN DE AURELIA MORÁN DE ROBLES

COMPUESTA POR SUS

MIEMBROS FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, MENGANO DE TAL, MENGANA DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL, SUTANA DE TAL Y DOMINGO ROBLES CHICO EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; LA SUCESIÓN DE CARMEN

ROSA SERRANO COMPUESTA POR

MARIA DELIA SERRANO ROSA; LA SUCESIÓN DE HÉCTOR ROBERTO

SERRANO RIVERA

COMPUESTA POR MARIA

DELIA SERRANO ROSA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: FA2018CV00514.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA.

A: LOS CODEMANDADOS DE EPIGRAFE Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de una

Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe el 10 de octubre de 2019, notificada el 17 de octubre de 2019 y publicada el 22 de octubre de 2022; y de un Mandamiento de Ejecución emitido el día 10 de enero de 2023, que le ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo, procederá a vender en 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, dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, o letra bancaria, con similar garantía de todo título, derecho o interés de los demandados de epígrafe sobre el inmueble que adelante se describe. Se anuncia por la presente que la primera subasta habrá de celebrarse el día 7 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Fajardo, sobre el inmueble que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Radicado en la Urbanización Baralt, situada en el barrio Quebrada de Fajardo, Puerto Rico, que lleva el #36 de la manzana “A”, con un área de 231.44 metros cuadrados, resultando del plano, con un área de 334.67 metros; en lindes: Por el NORTE, con el solar #37, distancia de 22.79 metros; por el SUR, con el solar 35, distancia 24.39 metros; por el ESTE, con los solares 13 y 14, distancia de 14.11 metros y por el OESTE, con la calle marginal, distancia de 14.00 metros. ENCLAVA: Una casa de concreto reforzado, diseñada para una familia. FINCA: Número 3617, inscrita al folio 169 del tomo 114 de Fajardo, inscripción 1ra. (Sección de Fajardo). Dirección física: A36 Calle Marginal, Urb. Baralt, Fajardo PR 00738. El siguiente pagaré consta inscrito en la propiedad antes mencionada y es el que se pretende ejecutar:

HIPOTECA: Por $58,000.00, con intereses al 9.95% anual, en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, que vence el 1 de julio de 2017. Según escritura #360, otorgada en San Juan, el 7 de junio de 2002, ante Eric Hernández Batalla, inscrita al folio móvil de Fajardo, inscripción 9na. MODIFICACION DE HI-

POTECA: Modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 9na., por la suma principal de $58,000.00, en cuanto a lo siguiente: La cantidad principal será de $68,042.45, el interés será de 9.95% anual y los pagos mensuales serán de $594.61, comenzando el 1ro de febrero de 2005 y terminando el 1ro de enero de 2035. Según escritura #136, otorgada en San Juan, el 21 de diciembre de 2004, ante Claribel Toro Hernández, inscrita al folio 190 del tomo 483 de

Fajardo, inscripción 10ma. con fecha de 18 de febrero de 2010. La referida hipoteca grava el bien inmueble antes descrito. Que según surge del estudio de título, la propiedad se encuentra afecta a lo siguiente: AVISO DE DEMANDA: De fecha 18 de febrero de 2010, dictada en el Caso Civil NSCI2004-00152, Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo, sobre cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca; seguido por Doral Financial Corporation (demandante) versus Domingo Robles Chico, su esposa Aurelia Morán de Robles t/c/c Aurelia Morán Ocasio y la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por ambos (demandados). Se reclama la suma de $60,308.45 y otras sumas. Según Sentencia antes mencionada, inscrita al folio 190 del tomo 483 de Fajardo, anotación A, con fecha de 18 de febrero de 2010. AVISO DE DEMANDA: Dictada en el Caso Civil #FA2018CV00514, Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo; seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (demandante) versus Domingo Robles Chico, su esposa Aurelia Morán de Robles y la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por ambos (demandados). Se reclama el pago de la deuda garantizada con hipoteca de la inscripción 9na. (modificada por la inscripción 10ma.), reducida a $57,249.40, más intereses y otras sumas, o la venta de esta finca en pública subasta. Anotada al tomo Karibe de la Sección de Fajardo, finca #3617 de Fajardo, anotación B y última, con fecha de 13 de enero de 2021. La subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al demandante, total o parcialmente según sea el caso, de la referida sentencia que fue dictada por las siguientes sumas: $57,249.40 por concepto de principal, más recargos por atraso, más intereses al 9.95% anual, más 5% de todo pago en atraso, más $6,804.20 como cantidad estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato de préstamo. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LAS PARTES INTERESADAS y del público en general, se advierte que los autos de este caso y demás instancias están disponibles para ser inspeccionadas en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de Fajardo, durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, incluyendo el gravamen por las contribuciones sobre la propiedad inmueble adeudadas, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose

que el rematante los acepta y queda responsable de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá Libre de Cargas y Gravámenes posteriores. Los tipos mínimos a utilizarse para la subasta son los siguientes: El inmueble antes descrito ha sido tasado en la suma de CINCUENTA Y OCHO MIL DÓLARES ($58,000.00) para que dicha suma sirva de tipo mínimo en la primera subasta a celebrarse. De no producirse remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del antedicho inmueble, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado, el día 14 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, sirviendo como tipo mínimo para dicha segunda subasta, una suma equivalente a las dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de TREINTA Y OCHO MIL SEISCIENTOS

SESENTA Y SEIS DÓLARES CON SESENTA Y SEIS CENTAVOS ($38,666.66) para la finca antes descrita. De no producirse remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta del antedicho inmueble, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado, el día 22 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, sirviendo como tipo mínimo para dicha tercera subasta, una suma equivalente a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo fijado para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de VEINTINUEVE MIL DÓLARES ($29,000.00) para la finca antes descrita. En testimonio de lo cual, expido el presente aviso, el cual firmo y sello, hoy 20 de enero de 2023, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico. DENISE BRUNO ORTIZ, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #266, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE FAJARDO. JORGE A. ORTIZ ESTRADA, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO #622.

LEGAL NOTICE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

REVERSE MORTGAGE

SOLUTIONS, INC

Plaintiff V. OSCAR GONZALEZ NIEVES; MARIA CRISTINA PICORELLY LOPEZ; CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP GONZALEZ-PICORELLY; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Defendants

Civil Action No.: 18-cv-1718. (ADC). NOTICE OF SALE. To: OSCAR GONZÁLEZ NIEVES; MARIA CRISTINA PICORELLY LOPEZ; CONJUGAL

PARTNERSHIP GONZALEZ-PICORELLY; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

GENERAL PUBLIC.

WHEREAS: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal sum of $240,000.00, plus interest at a rate of 5.810% per annum until the debt is paid in full. The defendant Oscar González Nieves; Maria Cristina Picorelly Lopez; Conjugal Partnership Gonzalez-Picorelly to pay Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc., all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes, and inspections as well as 10% ($24,000.00) of the original principal amount to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master, or a person authorized to act in his name and authority, was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property: “URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Santa Juanita (Sección Doce) situada en el Barrio Guaraguao de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, marcado con el número FO trece, compuesta de seiscientos doce punto veinticinco metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en treinta y cuatro punto seiscientos diez metros, con el Solar doce del mismo Bloque, por el SUR, en treinta y dos punto doscientos treinta metros con el Solar catorce; por el ESTE, en dieciocho punto trescientos sesenta metros con Amelia Diaz viuda de Espina; y por el OESTE, en dieciocho punto trescientos veinte metros, con la Calle Polaris. Contiene una casa de cemento diseñada para una familia.” The mortgage foreclosed is recorded in the Registry of Property of Puerto Rico, at overleaf page 144 of volume 956 of Bayamón Sur, property number 42,902 Bis, 5th inscription. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens:

Senior Liens: None.

Junior Liens: Reverse Mortgage securing a note in favor of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or to its order, for the original principal amount of $240,000.00, due on September 1, 2097, constituted by Oscar González Nieves y su esposa María Cristina Picorelli López, pursuant to deed number 69, issued in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, on April 13, 2010, before notary Fernando E. Doval Santiago, and recorded at overleaf page 144 of volume 956 of Bayamón Sur, property number 42,902 Bis, 6th inscription, as as an Abbreviated Entry on December 18, 2012, by virtue of Law 216 of December 27 27, 2010. (Presented on April 28, 2010, at Entry 1,213 of Diary 1,287). Notice of Lis Pendens dated September 24, 2018, issued by the United States Districts of Puerto Rico, in the civil case number 2018-CV01718-ADC, by Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc., versus Oscar González Nieves and his wife María Cristina Picorelly López; Conjugal Partnership González-Picorelly; United States of America, for monies owed and foreclosure of mortgage, in the amount of $93,362.90, plus interest and other amounts, or the sale of the property at public auction, annotated on January 25, 2019, at the Karibe volume of Bayamón Sur, property number 42,902 Bis, Annotation A. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 14TH DAY OF MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:30 AM. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $240,000.00. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the 21ST DAY OF MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:30 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $160,000.00, which is twothirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the 28TH DAY OF MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:30 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $120,000.00, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first

public sale. The Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied. WHE-

REAS: Said sale to be made by the Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 23rd day of January of 2023. Pedro A. Vélez-Baerga, Special Master.

LEGAL NOTICE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE, LLC.

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

M. SUÁREZ ARISTUD

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

Defendants

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

To: CARMEN MARÍA

SUÁREZ ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN M. SUÁREZ

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

WHEREAS: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal sum of $138,060.89, plus the annual interest rate convened of 5.060% per annum until the debt is paid in full. The defendant Carmen María Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen M. Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen María Suárez to pay Finance of America Reverse, LLC., all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% ($22,200.00) of the original principal amount to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s

fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property

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

Property Number 31,199 filed at page 203 of volume 776 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. The mortgage deed is recorded at page 132 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: None. Junior Liens: Reverse mortgage securing a note in favor of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or its order, in the original principal amount of $222,000.00, due on August 1, 2087 pursuant to deed number 50, issued in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 27, 2013, before notary David Garcia Medina, and recorded, at page 134 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, property number 31,199, 5th inscription. Other Liens: None. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being unders-

tood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the

FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 14TH DAY MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:35 AM. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $222,000.00. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a

SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the the 21ST DAY MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:35 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $148,000.00, which is two-thirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the the 28TH DAY MARCH OF 2023, AT: 8:35 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $111,000.00, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. The Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied. WHE-

REAS: Said sale to be made by the Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 23rd day of January 2023. Pedro A. Vélez-Baerga, Special Master.

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, AS INDENTURE TRUSTEE, FOR THE CSMC 2015-PR1 TRUST, MORTGAGE-BACKED NOTES, SERIES 2015-PR1 Plaintiff V. GLADYVIRG RIVERA JIMENEZ, ALSO KNOWN

AS GLADYVING RIVERA

JIMENEZ

Defendant(s)

Civil No.: 3:18-CV-01978. (FAB). FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE AND COLLECTION OF MONIES. NOTICE OF SALE.

To: GLADYVIRG RIVERA JIMENEZ, ALSO KNOWN AS GLADYVING RIVERA JIMENEZ. APT. 1303-B, COND. PARQUE DE SAN FRANCISCO, BAYAMÓN, PR 00959; APT. 1303 B BOX 126, BAYAMÓN, PUERTO RICO 00959; THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

WHEREAS: On March 23, 2022, this Court entered Default Judgment in favor of Plaintiff, against Defendant. On August 10, 2022, this Court entered Order for Execution of Judgment, stating that Defendant has failed to pay the sums of monies adjudged to be paid under the judgment. The In the Judgment, this Court stated that Defendant has defaulted on the repayment obligation to WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, AS INDENTURE TRUSTEE, FOR THE CSMC 2015-PR1 TRUST, MORTGAGE-BACKED NOTES, SERIES 2015PR1, and ordered to pay the Plaintiff the principal sum of ONE HUNDRED TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND THIRTY-TWO CENTS ($102,334.32), plus interest at 7.000% per annum from January 1, 2016, which will continue to accrue interest at the contractual rate. The defendant also owes and the Court ordered to pay Wilmington Savings all advances made in accordance with the mortgage note, including, but not limited to, insurance premiums, taxes and inspections, as well as 10% of the original principal balance, or $9,500.00, to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed by the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by the parties at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Federal Building, Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHERAEAS, Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned judgment and the order of execution thereof, the following property belonging to Defendant will be sold at a public auction: HORIZONTAL PROPERTY: San Francisco Condominium, Apartment B-1303: Rectangular shape, three bedroom unit with a total construction area of 865.46 square feet, equivalent to 80.40 square meters, distributed in 798.06 square feet, equivalent to 74.14 square meters of enclosed area and 67.40 square feet, equivalent to 6.26 square meters of

porch. The main entrance is located on the South side. This apartment is located in Building B of the Condominium and occupies part of the thirteenth floor of the building. The maximum length of this unit is 25’5” and the maximum width is 44’ 4”. Its boundaries all: by the NORTH, in a distance of 44’4”, equivalent to 13.52 meters, with the common wall that separates it from apartment number 1304 and the common interior areas; by the SOUTH, in a distance of 44’ 4”, equivalent to 13.52 meters with exterior common areas; by the EAST, in a distance of 24’ 1”, equivalent to 7.34 meter with the common wall that separates it from apartment number 1302 and interior and exterior common areas and by the WEST, in a distance of 25’ 3”, equivalent to 7.70 meters with the exterior common areas. This unit contains a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, three bedrooms with closet, two bathrooms and a covered porch. Se le asigna a este apartamento el estacionamiento número 85 como elemento común limitado. Este apartamento tiene una participación de .61792% en los elementos comunes del condominio. Property recorded at page 61, volume 1708 of Bayamón Sur, property number 71489, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section I of Bayamón. WHEREAS: The property is subject to the following lien: HIPOTECA en garantía de pagaré a favor de RG Premier Bank de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $95,000.00 con intereses al 7.00% anual y vencimiento 1ro de agosto de 2036. Constituida por la Escritura 571 otorgada en San Juan el 31 de julio de 2006 ante el notario Antonio José Cruz Bonilla, e inscrita y extendido su asiento abreviado el 4 de mayo de 2011 bajo la Ley 216 del 27 de diciembre de 2010 para Agilizar el Registro de La Propiedad, al folio 161 del tomo 1846 de Bayamón Sur, finca 71489, inscripción 5ª. AMPLIADA en una suma adicional de $12,209.77 y MODIFICADA en cuanto a su interés y vencimiento, siendo ahora su principal por $107,209.77 con intereses al 7.00% anual y vencimiento 1ro de enero de 2042, según consta de la escritura 12 otorgada en San Juan el 20 de enero de 2012 ante la notario Ileana Quintero Aguiló, e inscrita al folio 161 del tomo 1846 de Bayamón Sur, finca 71489, inscripción 6ª. Senior Lien: None. The above-described property is subject to the following junior lien: HIPOTECA en garantía de pagaré a favor de la Corporación para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $24,700.00 sin intereses y vencimiento 20 años. Constituida por la Escritura 48 otorgada en San Juan el 23 de enero de 2001 ante el notario Miguel A.

García Rivera, e inscrita al folio 62 del tomo 1708 de Bayamón Sur, finca 71489, inscripción 2ª. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential lien with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential lien to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, lien (express, tacit, implied or legal), shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. The present property will be acquired free and clear of all junior liens. WHEREAS: For the purpose of the First Judicial Sale, the minimum bid agreed upon by the parties in the mortgage deed will be $107,209.77 for the property and no lower offers will be accepted. Should the first judicial sale of the abovedescribed property be unsuccessful, then the minimum bid for the property on the Second Judicial Sale will be two-thirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the First Judicial Sale, or $71,473.18. The minimum bid for the Third Judicial Sale, if the same is necessary, will be onehalf of the minimum bid agreed upon by the parties in the aforementioned mortgage deed, or $53,604.89 (Known in the Spanish language as: “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, 2015 Puerto Rico Laws Act 210 (H.B. 2479), Article 104, as amended. WHEREAS: Said sale to be made by the appointed Special Master is subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. NOW THREFORE, public notice is hereby given that the appointed Special Master, pursuant to the provisions of the Judgment herein before referred to, will on MARCH 3, 2023 AT 10:30 AM, in the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Building, Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2001 will sell at public auction to the highest bidder, the property described herein, the proceeds of said sale to be applied in the manner and form provided by the Court’s judgment. Should the first judicial sale set hereinabove be unsuccessful, the SECOND JUDICIAL SALE of the property describes in the Notice will be held on MARCH 10, 2023 AT 10:30AM, at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court located at the address indicated above. Should the second judicial sale set hereinabove be unsuccessful, the

THIRD JUDICIAL SALE of the property described in this Notice will be held on MARCH 17, 2023 AT 10:30AM, at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, located at the address indicated above. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 25th day of January 2023. JOEL RONDA FELICIANO, APPOINTED SPECIAL MASTER.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

CASITAS BLANCAS LLC

Demandante V. JULIO ALEXIS MOLINARI TORRUELLAS, MYSTIQUE FELI FUSSA HOLZHEIMER Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES POR ESTOS COMPUESTA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TJ2019CV00419. 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 Superior de Carolina, hago saber a la parte demandada JULIO ALEXIS MOLINARI TORRUELLAS, MYSTIQUE FELI FUSSA HOLZHEIMER Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES POR ESTOS COMPUESTA, y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 16 de noviembre de 2022, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta por el precio mínimo de $167,000.00 y al mejor postor, pagadero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o giro postal, a nombre del alguacil del tribunal, la propiedad que se describe a continuación: APT 9 CIMA DE VILLA, TRUJILLO ALTO, PR 00936, y que se describe de la siguiente manera: URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Villa identificada con el número 9 la cual es de forma irregular y tiene un sólo nivel, localizada en el Condominio Cima De Villa, situada en el barrio Carraízo del término municipal de Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. Tiene una cabida aproximada de 2782.715 pies cuadrados, equivalentes a 258.5227 metros cuadrados, la cual incluye el área de estacionamiento asignada a la misma. Colinda por el NORTE, en una alineación que totaliza 11.848 metros lineales con la villa identificada con el número 15; por el SUR, en tres alineaciones que totalizan 16.075 metros lineales con la villa identificada con el número 4 y con elemento co-

mún del condominio; por el ESTE, en tres alineaciones que totalizan 21.917 metros lineales con elemento común del condominio y por el OESTE, en tres alineaciones que totalizan 21.815 metros lineales con elemento común del condominio y con la villa identificada con el número 8. La puerta de entrada de esta villa está situada en su colindancia Sur a través de la cual se llega a los elementos comunes generales del condominio por los cuales se tiene acceso a la vía pública. Sobre este solar enclava una estructura de vivienda remodelada de hormigón y cemento la cual tiene sala-comedor, cocina, tres habitaciones, dos baños, lavandería, jardín semi-cerrado, patio y un espacio de estacionamiento identificado con el número 9. Tiene una participación de 0.013593% en los elementos comunes generales del condominio. Finca 32247 al folio 189 del tomo 784 de Trujillo Alto, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección IV. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) Hipoteca en garantía de pagaré a favor de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $167,000.00 con intereses al 6.750% anual y vencimiento 1 de octubre de 2037. Constituida por la Escritura 660 otorgada en San Juan el 13 de septiembre de 2007 ante el notario Rafael J. Vilá Sellés, aclarada por la Escritura 279 otorgada el 23 de mayo de 2008 ante el mismo notario, e inscrita al folio 190 del tomo 784 de Trujillo Alto, finca 32247, inscripción 6ª. CANCELADA PARCIALMENTE en una suma de $5,013.78 y MODIFICADA en cuanto a su interés y vencimiento, siendo ahora su principal por $161,986.22 con intereses al 4.50% comenzando el 1 de septiembre de 2013 al 1 de agosto de 2018, e intereses al 6.750% comenzando el 1 de septiembre de 2018 al 1 de agosto de 2053 y vencimiento 1 de agosto de 2053, según consta de la escritura 154 otorgada en San Juan el 22 de julio de 2013 ante el notario Luis Yamil Rodríguez San Miguel, e inscrita al folio 190 del tomo 784 de Trujillo Alto, finca 32247, inscripción 7ª. 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 dicta el 2 de agosto de 2022, mediante la cual se condenó a la parte demandada pagar a la parte demandante la suma de $159,308.80 de principal, más $427.85 de cargos por atrasos, más intereses que continuarán acumulándose desde el día 1 de diciembre de 2017 hasta el saldo total al 4.5% anual, $16,700.00 de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más

cualquier otro desembolso que haya efectuado o efectúe la parte demandante durante la tramitación de este caso para otros adelantos de conformidad con el Contrato Hipotecario, incluyendo primas de seguro de hipoteca, prima de seguro de siniestro y cargos por demora. La parte demandada presentó petición de quiebra ante el Tribunal de Quiebras. En la corte de quiebra se autorizó a la parte demandante para que ejecute la garantía hipotecaria del préstamo. Habiéndose autorizado, no hay impedimento alguno para que la parte demandante ejecute de la hipoteca y venda en pública subasta de la propiedad, para que con el producto de la venta de la propiedad se satisfaga el balance del préstamo. La parte demandante no está solicitando el cobro de dinero a la parte demandada, sino la ejecución de la hipoteca para que se venda la propiedad en pública subasta. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 6 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 1:00 DE LA TARDE, en la oficina del Alguacil, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la cantidad de $167,000.00, sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 13 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 1:00 DE LA TARDE el mismo lugar, en la que servirá como tipo mínimo, dos terceras (2/3) partes del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $111,333.33. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el día 20 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 1:00 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $83,500.00. 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 los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción cualquier parte del remanente del precio

de licitación. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Vendida o adjudicada la finca o derecho hipotecado y consignado el precio correspondiente, en esa misma fecha o fecha posterior, el alguacil que celebró la subasta procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura pública de traspaso en representación del dueño o titular de los bienes hipotecados, ante el notario que elija el adjudicatario o comprador, quien deberá abonar el importe de tal escritura. El alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la confirmación de la venta o adjudicación. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS LICITADORES Y DEL PUBLICO EN GENERAL y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley, expido el presente Edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 12 de diciembre de 2022.

SAMUEL GONZÁLEZ ISAAC, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE CAROLINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs.

ISMAEL PARIS AYALA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO

COMO ISMAEL PARIS

GUZMAN; SUCESION DE CARMEN SYLVIA SIMONS

CALDERON, COMPUESTA

POR SUS HIJOS

CARMEN IVETTE ALICEA,

TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA

COMO CARMEN IVETTE ALICEA SIMONS, ROBERTO ALICEA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO ROBERTO ALICEA SIMONS

Y MIRIAM ALICEA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA

COMO MIRIAM ALICEA

SIMONS Y POR

ISMAEL PARIS AYALA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO

COMO ISMAEL PARIS

GUZMAN, EN CUANTO

A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; GURUSHARAN PERSAD

Y SU ESPOSA BLANCA

IRIS TORRES PERSAD Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: FA2022CV00234.

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

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: ISMAEL PARIS AYALA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO

COMO ISMAEL PARIS

GUZMAN; SUCESION DE CARMEN SYLVIA SIMONS

CALDERON, COMPUESTA

POR SUS HIJOS

CARMEN IVETTE ALICEA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA

COMO CARMEN IVETTE

ALICEA SIMONS, ROBERTO ALICEA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO

COMO ROBERTO

ALICEA SIMONS

Y MIRIAM ALICEA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA

COMO MIRIAM ALICEA SIMONS Y POR

ISMAEL PARIS AYALA, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO

COMO ISMAEL PARIS

GUZMAN, EN CUANTO

A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; GURUSHARAN PERSAD Y SU ESPOSA BLANCA

IRIS TORRES PERSAD Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

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

Yo, SANDRALIZ MARTÍNEZ 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 3:00 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 3:00 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 3:00 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 marcada con el número Ciento Cuarenta y Nueve (149) en el plano de parcelación de la COMUNIDAD RURAL LUIS M. CINTRÓN del Barrio Quebrada Vueltas del término municipal de Fajardo, con una cabida superficial de MIL SETENTA Y SIETE PUNTO VEINTICINCO (1,077.25) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, con parcela número Ciento Cuarenta y Ocho (148) de la Comunidad; por el SUR, con parcela número Ciento Cincuenta y Dos (152) de la Comunidad; por el ESTE, con parcela número Ciento Cincuenta (150) de la Comunidad; y por el OESTE, con Caretera Estatal número Tres (3). La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 184 del tomo 417 de Fajardo, finca número 16,995, inscripción segunda. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Comunidad Luis M. Cintrón, Parcela 149, Calle 3, Fajardo, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $56,091.72 de principal, intereses al 7.25% anual, desde el día 1ro de marzo de 2020, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $8,800.00estipulada 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 $88,000.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $58,666.67 y de necesitarse una tercera subasta la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir la suma de $44,000.00. 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 31 de octubre de 2022. SANDRALIZ MARTÍNEZ TORRES, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #737, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO. JORGE A. ORTIZ ESTRADA, AGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN LUNA RESIDENTIAL II, LLC

LA SUCESIÓN DE IRMA NYDIA VÁZQUEZ RIVERA COMPUESTA POR JACKELINE RODRÍGUEZ VÁZQUEZ, FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV07971. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. EDICTO.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL como miembros desconocidos de la Sucesión de Irma

Nydia Vazquez Rivera APT. 1109 COND. BORINQUEN TOWERS III, SAN JUAN PR 00920

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 60 días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante el Lcdo. Javier Montalvo Cintrón, Delgado & Fernández, LLC, PO Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750. Tel. [787] 274-1414. DADA en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 25 de enero de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. FERNÁNDEZ DEL VALLE, LUZ E., SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

CREDIT UNION

Demandante V. ROBERTO DANIEL DELGADO PADIN

Demandado(a)

Civil: SJ2022CV07326. 807.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: ROBERTO DANIEL DELGADO PADIN.

(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 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 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 30 de enero de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. VIRGEN Y. DEL VALL DÍAZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGIÓN JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN AGUADILLA SOL INÉS MERCADO SÁNCHEZ EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE RASHEL MARIE MERCADO

Demandantes Vs LA SUCESIÓN DE ALBERTO JOSUÉ MORALES JORGE; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL

Demandados

Civil SUMAC. Núm.: SS2022RF00095. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS. Sobre: FILIACIÓN.

A: JULIE MORALES, JOMETH MORALES POR CONDUCTO DE JULIE MORALES, FULANO DE

TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL.

Por la presente se notifica que la parte DEMANDANTE ha presentado una Demanda cuya naturaleza es en la materia de Filiación en el caso SS2022RF00095. El abogado de la parte peticionaria es el Lcdo. Nelson Esteban Vera Santiago, P.O. Box 810, Moca, Puerto Rico 00676. 787-8773516. De ser un demandado señalado, se le apercibe que deberá contestar la demanda dentro del periodo de 30 días de haberse publicado este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le advierte de los efectos de no contestar la demanda, lo cual redundará en que se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. Este edicto será publicado en una (1) ocasión en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quieren alegar su derecho. Se identificará en letra negrillas tamaño 10 puntos toda primera mención de persona natural y/o jurídica que se menciona en el mismo, conforme a lo dispuesto en las Reglas de Procedimiento Civil, 2009. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, a 26 de enero de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGIÓN JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR JOSE ALBERTO CORCHADO JURABE; ET. ALS.

Demandante Vs. WANDA IVETTE RODRÍGUEZ ROBLEDO

Demandada Civil Núm.: ACD2017-0117. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Aguadilla, me dirijo al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL y les hago saber que en cumplimiento con la Sentencia dictada el 5 de septiembre de 2018, la orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 17 de junio de 2022 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia del 22 de junio de 2022, procederé a vender el 12 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, localizada en el Segundo Piso del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de

Aguadilla, Sala Superior, Calle Progreso (al lado del Coliseo Luis T. Díaz), Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, todo título derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad:

RÚSTICA Parcela de terreno radicada en el Barrio Jobos de Isabela, Puerto Rico, identificada en el plano de segregación para inscripción como SOLAR DOS (2), con una cabida superficial de SETECIENTOS

TREINTA Y TRES PUNTO NOVENTA Y UNO CUARENTA Y CUATRO METROS CUADRADOS (733 9144 MC), en lindes al NORTE, con calle de uso público al SUR con Miguel Angel Acevedo Anazagasty, al ESTE, con remanente de la finca principal, y al OESTE, con el solar uno (1) a segregarse. Inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Isabela, Finca núm. 29747, inscripción primera. Es segregación de la finca número 18,026, inscrita en el Registro de la Propiedad Sección de Aguadilla, al folio 70 del tomo 333 de Isabela. Catastro 02-007-022-344-09. Hipoteca inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Isabela, Finca núm. 29747, inscripción cuarta. Dirección física Carretera 472, Puesta Del Sol núm. 5, Barrio Jobos, Isabela, PR 00662. El tipo mínimo de la PRIMERA subasta será de $114,500.00. De no comparecer postor alguno que se adjudique la primera subasta, se llevará a cabo una SEGUNDA

SUBASTA el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA

MAÑANA en la referida oficina, y el precio mínimo será la cantidad de $76,333.33, ósea. 2/3 partes del tipo mínimo de la primera subasta. De no comparecer postor alguno que se adjudique la segunda subasta, se llevará a cabo una TERCERA

SUBASTA el día 26 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA

MAÑANA en la referida oficina, y el precio mínimo será la mitad del precio de la primera subasta, o sea, $57,250.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima conveniente Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a los demandantes, la suma de $114,500.00 de principal adeudado, más $114,500.00 de intereses sobre dicho principal al 10% anual. desde el día 6 de octubre de 2011 y hasta la fecha de su total pago, más la suma estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes al 15% del

principal, ósea, equivalentes a $17,175.00, más la suma de $261.72 por las costas concedidas por el Tribunal de Apelaciones en el caso José A Corchado Juarbe v otros vs. Wanda I Rodríguez Robledo, KLAN201801250, más intereses provisto por la Regla 44.3 de las de Procedimiento Civil, a computarse dicho interés legal a partir de la fecha de la Sentencia y hasta que la misma sea satisfecha en su totalidad, más cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. Surge del Estudio de Titulo que sobre esta propiedad no pesan gravámenes posteriores a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar. Se les advierte a los interesados lo siguiente (1) que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes a la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de subasta, estarán de disponibles para ser examinados en la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe durante las horas laborables, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana, y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley, (2) 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, continuaran subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate, y (3) que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal y como lo expresa la Ley Núm. 210 del 2015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta, en Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, hoy día 24 de enero de 2023. GERARDO MÉNDEZ VILLANUEVA, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #036, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. BENJAMIN RIVERA RIVERA, FULANA DE TAL & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: DO2022CV00110. Sobre: COBRO DINERO ORDINARIO INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: BENJAMIN RIVERA RIVERA, FULANA DE TAL & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE 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 31 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 1 de febrero de 2023. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, el 1 de febrero de 2023. LAURA

I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante V. SAMUEL DEL VALLE FUENTES

Demandado(a)

Civil: CG20222CV01534. 502.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SAMUEL DEL VALLE FUENTES - 1700 CALLE FEDERICO MONTILLAS

S APT 1211 BAYAMÓN PR 00956 / PO BOX 5534 CAGUAS, PR 00725. (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 01 de febrero 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 02 de febrero de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 02 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. SANDRA I. BÁEZ HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AÑASCO COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE RINCON (ANTES COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE AÑASCO)

Demandante V. ELIAS CRESPO MERCADO (SOCIO NUM. 31108490)

Demandado(a)

Civil: AÑ2022CV00121. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (VÍA ORDINARIA). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: ELIAS CRESPO MERCADO (SOCIO NUM. 31108490). (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 Puer-

to 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 2 de febrero de 2023. En Añasco, Puerto Rico, el 2 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. LUZ NELDY CHICO ACEVEDO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOT ICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. WANDA IVETTE COLON RODRIGUEZ, T/C/C

WANDA I. COLON

RODRIGUEZ

Parte Demandada

Caso Núm.: CG2021CV03271. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: WANDA IVETTE COLON RODRIGUEZ, T/C/C WANDA I. COLON RODRIGUEZ. (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 31 de agosto 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, el 1 de febrero de 2023.

LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA RE-

GIONAL. JESSENIA PEDRAZA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. 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

6,238 DE LA CALLE AMPARO, DEL TÉRMINO MUNICIPAL DE FAJARDO; JOSÉ VÍCTOR VÁZQUEZ CARRASCO, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Parte con Interés Civil Núm.: FA2022CV00756. Sobre: EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JOSÉ VÍCTOR VÁZQUEZ CARRASCO Y FULANA DE TAL 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 AMPARO del término municipal de Fajardo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de aproximadamente 107.00 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en 12.95 metros, con un solar ocupado por Genara Félix; por el SUR, en 13.35 metros, con otro solar ocupado por Petra Guerra; por el ESTE, en 8.00 metros, con otro solar ocupado por Esteban Vázquez y por el OESTE, en 8.15 metros, con la calle Amparo. FINCA NÚMERO 6,238,

INSCRITA al FOLIO 290 del TOMO 176 de Fajardo. Catastro Número: 150-046-044-22001. Existiendo una Deficiencia de Deficiencia de $2,173.31, se consignaron $4,826.69 por la expropiación de la propiedad, la cual se tasó en $7,000.00. 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 00728Email: josephine.rodriguez@ gmail.com. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a la Petición de Expropiación Forzosa dentro de los TREINTA (30) DÍAS contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dar por admitidas las alegaciones y dictar Sentencia, previo a escuchar la prueba de valor de la parte peticionaria en su contra, sin más citarle ni oírle, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Petición, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Este Tribunal ha señalado la vista del caso para el día 26 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 3:00 DE LA TARDE, mediante videoconferencia, 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 1 de febrero de 2023.

WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. KATHERINE ROBLES TORRES, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN SASTRE T/C/C HERNÁN F. ROMÁN SASTRE COMPUESTA POR MARITZA ROMÁN CRUZ, NILDA ROMÁN CRUZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; Y SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN CRUZ COMPUESTA POR CHRISTIAN ROMÁN, JONATHAN ROMÁN, JEAN PAUL ROMÁN, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE NILDA CRUZ DE ROMÁN T/C/C NILDA CRUZ RIVERA COMPUESTA POR MARITZA ROMÁN CRUZ, NILDA ROMÁN CRUZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, Y SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN CRUZ COMPUESTA POR CHRISTIAN ROMÁN, JONATHAN ROMÁN, JEAN PAUL ROMÁN, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV05208. (604). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN SASTRE T/C/C HERNÁN F. ROMÁN SASTRE COMPUESTA POR NILDA ROMÁN CRUZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE

TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; Y SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN CRUZ COMPUESTA POR CHRISTIAN ROMÁN, JONATHAN ROMÁN, JEAN PAUL

ROMÁN, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE NILDA

CRUZ DE ROMÁN T/C/C

NILDA CRUZ RIVERA COMPUESTA POR NILDA

ROMÁN CRUZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, Y SUCESIÓN DE HERNÁN ROMÁN CRUZ COMPUESTA POR CHRISTIAN

ROMÁN, JONATHAN

ROMÁN, JEAN PAUL

ROMÁN, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; LA SECRETARIA que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 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 60 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 2 de febrero de 2023.

En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 2 de febrero 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

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIETY, FSB, AS TRUSTEE OF FINANCE OF AMERICA

STRUCTURED SECURITIES

ACQUISITION TRUST

2018-HB1

Demandante V.

SUCESIÓN DE ELÍAS

OLAVARRÍA FIGUEROA, T/C/C ELÍAS OLABARRÍA

FIGUEROA, T/C/C ELÍAS

OLABARRÍA, T/C/C ELÍAS

OLAVARRÍA COMPUESTA

POR AURORA PIÑERO

MALDONADO, T/C/C

AURORA PINERO

MALDONADO, T/C/C

AURORA PIÑERO, T/C/C

AURORA PINERO, FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS;

AURORA PIÑERO

MALDONADO, T/C/C

AURORA PINERO

MALDONADO, T/C/C

AURORA PIÑERO, T/C/C AURORA

PINERO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES

MUNICIPALES Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandado(a)

Civil: NG2019CV00057. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ELÍAS

OLAVARRÍA FIGUEROA, T/C/C ELÍAS OLABARRÍA

FIGUEROA, T/C/C ELÍAS

OLABARRÍA, T/C/C

ELÍAS OLAVARRÍA.

A SUS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: PO BOX 1167, NAGUABO, PR 00718. P/C LCDA.

GENEVIEVE LOPEZ STIPES.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 14 de 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 02 de febrero de 2023. En HUMACAO, Puerto Rico, el 02 de febrero de 2023.

IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MICHELLE GUEVARA DE LEÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE UTUADO SALA SUPERIOR DE LARES

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS SAÚL TORRES SIGURANI

COMPUESTA POR:

STEPHANIE TORRES MUÑIZ COMO ÚNICA Y UNIVERSAL HEREDERA DE LA SUCESIÓN; CASA REALTY CORPORATION; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO

Demandados

Civil Núm.: LR2022CV00062.

(1). Sobre: INTERPELACIÓN; COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

El Alguacil del Tribunal que suscribe anuncia y hace constar: A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Lares, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor de contado y en moneda de curso legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América y cuyo pago se efectuará en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, todo derecho, título o interés que tenga la Parte Demandada en el bien inmueble que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Solar radicado en el Barrio Pueblo de Lares, Puerto Rico, compuesta de ochocientos noventa y siete metros

cuadrados con noventa y seis centímetros cuadrados de otro (897.96 m.c.). En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar “B”; por el SUR, con el remanente de la finca principal; por el ESTE, con carretera número cuatrocientos cincuenta y tres (453); y por el OESTE, con Marcolina Del Valle. Ubica una casa de vivienda construida en columnas de hormigón armado y bloques de hormigón. Dirección Física: PR 453 km. 0.3 Pueblo WD, Lares PR 00669-0000. Finca 8,915, inscrita al folio 200 del tomo 204 de Lares, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Utuado. B. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables bajo el epígrafe de este caso. C. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. D. Que la propiedad se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes posteriores: Embargo a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, contra Casa Realty Corp., seguro social patronal xx-xxx0270, por la suma de $1,413.50, por concepto de Contribuciones sobre Ingresos, según Certificación de fecha 24 de agosto de 2012, Embargo número ARE-12-2290, presentado el día 13 de septiembre de 2012, anotado al folio 50 del Libro del ELA número 1, Demarcación Utuado. Embargo a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, contra Casa Realty Corp., seguro social patronal xx-xx0270, por la suma de $6,285.15, por concepto de Contribuciones sobre Ingresos, según Certificación de fecha 5 de agosto de 2013, Embargo número ARE-13-9101, presentado el día 29 de agosto de 2013, anotado al folio 77 del Libro del ELA número 1, Demarcación Utuado. Embargo a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, contra Casa Realty Corp, seguro social patronal xx-xx0270, por la suma de $17,303.56, por concepto de Contribuciones sobre Ingresos, según Certificación de fecha 19 de junio de 2014, Embargo número ARE-14-1106, presentado el día 2 de julio de 2014, anotado al folio 115 del Libro del ELA número 1, Demarcación Utuado. Embargo a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, contra Casa Realty Corp, seguro social patronal xx-xxx0270

en la suma de $24,905.90, por concepto de Contribuciones Sobre Ingresos, según Certificación de fecha 10 de junio de 2019, Embargo número ARE19-0270, presentado el día 27 de junio de 2019 y anotado al Asiento 2019-005174-EST del Sistema Karibe. E. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a la suma principal de $68,721.91, más la suma de $19,314.83, por concepto de atrasos acumulados que incluye intereses según pactados, cargos por demora y otros cargos, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma de 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, pactados con en el pagaré y en la escritura de Hipoteca de la parte demandante pactados en el pagaré y en el contrato de hipoteca. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se celebrará el día 4 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Lares, por el tipo mínimo de $100,800.00. De declararse desierta dicha subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 11 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la segunda subasta lo será 2/3 partes del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $67,200.00. De declararse desierta dicha segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 18 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la tercera subasta lo será 1/2 del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $50,400.00. Y PARA QUE ASÍ CONSTE, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general y por un término de catorce (14) días en los sitios públicos conforme a la ley, expido la presente bajo mi firma y sello de este tribunal, hoy 2 de febrero de 2023 en Lares, Puerto Rico. JAVIER MARTÍNEZ OLIVENCIA, ALGUACIL PLACA #911. JOSÉ RIVERA PÉREZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

CHRISTOPHER LEE BRUNNER

Demandante, V. LAIRD FORET

Demandado

Caso Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV09201. Sobre: INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS

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

A: LAIRD FORET.

Por la presente, se le notifica a usted que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría la demanda de epígrafe. Se le emplaza y se requiere que notifique al Lcdo. Luis Marini Biaggi, Marini Pietrantoni Muñiz LLC, 250 Ponce de León Avenue, Suite 900, San Juan, PR 00918, Tel: 787-705-2171, abogado de la parte demandante con copia de la contestación a la Demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto, que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general. Se le apercibe que, si no contesta la demanda dentro del término antes indicado, radicando el original de la contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notificando con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado a favor de la parte demandante sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy 03 de febrero de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. DIANA C. PÉREZ SIERRA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA

SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS

FUND, LLC

Demandante (a) Vs. WILLY SEGURA SENA Demandado (a)

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV01445. Sala: 503. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: WILLY SEGURA SENA. EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 1 de febrero de 2023 este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publica-

ción 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 2 de febrero de 2023. En San Juan , Puerto Rico, el 2 de febrero de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KAROLYN RIVERA NAVARRO, 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. NELLY YOLANDA ENCARNACIÓN

T/C/C

NELLY ENCARNACIÓN VARGAS

Demandada

Civil Núm.: SJ2021CV08106.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM”. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, 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: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 837 de la Manzana M-20 de la Urbanización Reparto Metropolitano, radicada en el Barrio Monacillos del término municipal de San Juan, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de doscientos sesenta y un metros, sesenta y seis decímetros cuadrados. En linderos: por el NORTE, en veintiún metros, con el solar ochocientos treinta y cinco; por el SUR, en veintiún metros, con el solar ochocientos treinta y nueve (839); por el ESTE, en doce punto noventa y dos metros, con una quebrada denominada Josefina Creek; por el OESTE, en doce metros con la calle denominada One West Street. En este solar enclava una casa de concreto armado de una sola planta, con divisiones de Duratex, que consta de tres dormitorios, sala, cocina, comedor, cuarto de baño y balcón. Inscrita al folio 86 del tomo 287 de Monacillos, finca número 11,009, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de San Juan. La pro-

piedad según pagaré ubica en: Lot 1132 52 SE Street Reparto Metropolitano, San Juan, PR 00926. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante: Aviso de Demanda del día 14 de febrero de 2020, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, en el Caso Civil número SJ2020CV01369, sobre Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico versus Nelly Yolanda Encarnación también conocida como Nelly Encarnación Vargas, por la suma de $72,836.16, anotado el día 20 de marzo de 2020 al tomo Karibe de Monacillos, finca número 11,009, Anotación A. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 23 de mayo de 2022, este Honorable Tribunal dictó Sentencia en contra de la parte demandada, notificada a las partes el 24 de mayo de 2022, por la suma de $72,836.16 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 6.00%, anual desde el 1ro de agosto de 2019, 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 $10,830.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente (“Sentencia”). La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 7 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V.

JORGE L.

LOPEZ VELAZQUEZ

Demandado

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV09019.

504. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA.

EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDIC-

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

A: JORGE L. LOPEZ VELAZQUEZ.

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: Urb.

Floral Park, 64 Calle Betances, San Juan, PR 00917-3821. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 30 de enero de 2023. 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 CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. LA SUCESION DE MARÍA GÓMEZ CORTÉS COMPUESTA POR

ANTÓN GEORGE SABA

GÓMEZ, SABAH YASSIN

GÓMEZ, YOUSEF MUSA

YASSIN T/C/C YOUSEF

MUSA YASSIN GÓMEZ

T/C/C YUSEF MUSA

YASSIN GÓMEZ, MERIAM

YASIN T/C/C MIRIAM

YASSIN GÓMEZ, FULANO y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA POR CONDUCTO DE LA DIVISIÓN DE CAUDALES RELICTOS, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: CA2022CV04043. (402). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO

POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: ANTÓN GEORGE

SABA GÓMEZ, SABAH

YASSIN GÓMEZ, YOUSEF MUSA YASSIN

T/C/C YOUSEF MUSA

YASSIN GÓMEZ T/C/C

YUSEF MUSA YASSIN

GÓMEZ, MERIAM YASIN

T/C/C MIRIAM YASSIN

GÓMEZ HEREDEROS DE MARÍA GÓMEZ CORTÉS

A LAS SIGUIENTES

DIRECCIONES: URB.

COUNTRY CLUB, HA51 CALLE 217, CAROLINA, PR 009822618, 290 ABERDEEN

ST., DAVENPORT FL 33896-6860, 6641 EAGLE

ST., FORT MYERS, FL 33966-1142, 2540 HAWKS

PRESERVE DR., FORT MYERS, FL 33905-2427, Y 655 SAND CREEK

DR., CAROL STREAM, IL 60188-9135.

FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES

HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS.

Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre ejecución de hipoteca por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega se adeuda las siguientes cantidades: $70,550.64 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 6.125% anual desde el 1 de marzo de 2020 hasta su completo pago, más $280.93 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $11,000.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo, incluyendo pero sin limitarse a gastos de mantenimiento, inspecciones y otros adelantos “corporate advances”. La propiedad que garantiza hipotecariamente el préstamo es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 51 del bloque HA del plano de inscripción de la Tercera Extensión de la Urbanización Country Club, situada en el Barrio Sabana Abajo de la Municipalidad de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 397.20 metros cuadrados. Colinda por el NORESTE: en 20.04 metros, con la calle número 260 de dicha urbanización; por SUROESTE: en 23.00 metros con el solar número 52 del bloque HA de dicha urbanización; por el SURESTE: en 12.60 metros, con la calle número 217 de dicha urbanización; y por el NOROESTE: en 18.99 metros, con los solares números 49 y 50 del bloque HA de dicha urbanización; por el ESTE: en 5.08 metros, con la intersección de las calles número 217 y 260 de dicha urbanización. Inscrita al folio 218 del tomo 84 de Carolina, Finca 3143, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 1 del tomo móvil 932 de Carolina, Finca 3143, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. Inscripción undécima. La demandante es la tenedora por endoso, por valor recibido y de buena fe del referido pagaré objeto de la presente acción. Se interpela a los demandados para que acepten o renuncien a la herencia de la causante dentro de los 30 días subsiguientes a la fecha que fuesen emplazados o requeridos que contesten, para darle cumplimiento al Artículo 959 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico, 31 L.P.R.A. § 2787 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 demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acce-

der 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 advierte que si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la parte demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo PR 00970-3922, Teléfonos: (787) 789-1826 y (787) 7080566, correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 27 de enero de 2023 en Carolina, Puerto Rico. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOT ICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JESÚS GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, GLORIMAR BUITRAGO CARRIÓN Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA Demandados

Civil Núm.: VA2022CV00177.

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: JESÚS GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA CON GLORIMAR BUITRAGO CARRIÓN Y A GLORIMAR BUITRAGO CARRIÓN, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA CON JESÚS GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ. 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 009366603. Tel. (787) 919-0073, Fax (787) 641-5016. Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 24 de enero de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVETTE M. MARRERO BRACERO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. LA SUCESIÓN DE NAZARIA CRUZ

LÓPEZ COMPUESTA

POR FRANK AYALA

CRUZ Y JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS DE ESTA Y ADMINISTRACIÓN

PARA EL SUSTENTO DE MENORES Y CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Parte Demandada

Caso Civil Núm.: CA2022CV03551. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO Y NOTIFICACIÓN DE INTERPELACIÓN POR EDICTO.

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

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE NAZARIA CRUZ LÓPEZ.

POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema

Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda. Marjaliisa Colon Villanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732; Teléfono: 787-8434168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de ejecución de hipoteca y cobro de dinero bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de octubre de 2020 hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $12,310.87 de balance de principal, en cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $3,360.00, más la suma de $8,950.82 de balance de principal diferido, más los intereses sobre la suma de $3,360.00 al 9.1/2% anual desde el día 1 de septiembre de 2020 de así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo $2,000.00 pactado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número C guión cuatro (C-4) del plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Estancias del Río, radicado en el Barrio Mediana Baja del término municipal de Loíza, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de TRESCIENTOS DIECISIETE PUNTO OCHENTA Y SEIS METROS CUADRADOS (317.86 M). En lindes por el NORTE, con calle cuatro (4), distancia de trece punto treinta y seis metros lineales (13.36); por el SUR.; solar C guión cinco (C-5), en una distancia de catorce punto veintiocho metros lineales (14.28); por el ESTE, terrenos de Ricardo Rincón, en una distancia de veintitrés punto cero dos metros lineales (23.02) y por el OESTE, con solar C guión tres (C-3), en una distancia de vein-

titrés punto cero cero metros lineales. Enclava estructura de hormigón y bloques dedicada única y exclusivamente a uso residencial. Inscrita al Sistema Karibe de Loíza, finca número dieciocho mil doscientos dos (18,202), Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina Ill, inscripción

2. SE LES APERCIBE que, de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Además, como miembro de la Sucesión de NAZARIA CRUZ LÓPEZ se ha presentado una solicitud de interpelación judicial para que sirva en el término de treinta (30) días aceptar o repudiar la herencia. Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a expresarse dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto en tomo a la aceptación o repudiación de la herencia, se presumirá que han aceptado a beneficio de inventario la herencia de NAZARIA CRUZ LÓPEZ y por consiguiente, responderán por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone del Código Civil de Puerto Rico. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, a 19 de enero de 2023. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE MAYAGÜEZ ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LOURDES BARRIOS LUGO

Demandados Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV01902. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA E INTERPELACIÓN/ ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. EDICTO.

A: ANTHONY CARDONA BARRIOS COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LOURDES

BARRIOS LUGO. 646 ARIES URB. VILLAS DEL OESTE, MAYAGÜEZ, PR 00680; VILLA DEL OESTE, 646 CALLE ARIES, MAYAGÜEZ, PR 006821506.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días de haber

sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante el Lcdo. Javier Montalvo Cintrón, Delgado & Fernández, LLC, PO Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750, Tel. [787] 2741414. DADA en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a 31 de enero de 2023. LIC. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JAZMÍN SANABRIA TORRES, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE MAYAGÜEZ ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LOURDES BARRIOS LUGO

Demandados Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV01902. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA E INTERPELACIÓN/ ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. EDICTO.

A: RICHARD ROE COMO MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LOURDES BARRIOS LUGO. 646 ARIES URB. VILLAS DEL OESTE, MAYAGÜEZ, PR 00680; VILLA DEL OESTE, 646 CALLE ARIES, MAYAGÜEZ, PR 006821506. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 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 Adminis-

tración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante el Lcdo. Javier Montalvo Cintrón, Delgado & Fernández, LLC, PO

Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750, Tel. [787] 2741414. DADA en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a 31 de enero de 2023. LIC. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA

REGIONAL. JAZMÍN SANABRIA TORRES, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAGUAS

FORTALEZA EQUITY

PARTNERS I, LLC

Demandante V.

YAMILETTE FLORES

GARCIA, FELIX XAVIER

CAMACHO CASIANO

T/C/C FELIX CAMACHO

CASIANO, ESTADOS

UNIDOS DE AMERICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CG2022CV03703.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA.

EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., S.S.

A: FELIX XAVIER

CAMACHO CASIANO

T/C/C/ FELIX CAMACHO CASIANO.

POR LA PRESENTE, se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los TREINTA (30) días de haber sido publicado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día de publicación. Se le advierte que dentro de los diez (10) días de hacerse la primera publicación de este edicto se le estará enviando por correo certificado una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda al lugar de su última dirección conocida. 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 represente por

derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido termino, 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 sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le requiere que notifique su contestación a la parte demandante, por conducto de sus abogados, Lcdo. Francisco Fernández Chiqués a su dirección Fernández Chiqués LLC PO Box 9749 San Juan, PR 00908, Tel. (787) 722-3040, Fax (787) 722-3317, Email: ffc@ffclaw.com, dentro del término provisto o se le podrá anotar la rebeldía en su contra y se le dictará sentencia en su contra, conforme se solicita en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO BAJO

MI FIRMA Y SELLO DE ESTE TRIBUNAL. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 1 de febrero de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA. JESSENIA PEDRAZA ANDINO, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

E.J. GLOBAL INVESTMENT, LLC.

Parte Demandante Vs. ENRIQUE CÉSAR

CABASSA SANTIAGO

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV01096.

Sobre: LIQUIDACIÓN DE COMUNIDAD DE BIENES. EDICTO.

A: ENRIQUE CESAR

CABASSA SANTIAGO. Por la presente se le emplaza y se le notifica que se ha presentado en la Secretaría de este Tribunal la Demanda de Liquidación de Comunidad de Bienes en el caso de epígrafe contra su persona. Se le apercibe y advierte a usted, que de no contestar la Demanda radicando el original de la contestación ante la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, y notificar copia de la contestación de ésta a la parte Demandante; por conducto de su abogado, Lcdo.

Luis Roberto Santos Montalvo, a su dirección: P. O. Box 1809, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 006811809, Teléfono 787-833-5466, dentro de los próximos TREINTA (30) días a partir de la publicación de este Emplazamiento por Edicto, que será publicado UNA (1) sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general en la Isla de Puerto Rico; se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Deman-

da sin más citarle ni oírle. 31 de enero de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II. WANDA RENTAS BURGOS, 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 COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO ORIENTAL

Demandante Vs. RAMÓN A. MÉNDEZ LECUMBERRI

Demandado(a)

Núm. Civil: LP2022CV00085. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: RAMÓN A. MÉNDEZ LECUMBERRI.

P/C LCDO. RICARDO ACEVEDO BIANCHI.

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 2 de febrero 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 3 de febrero de 2023. En HUMACAO, Puerto Rico, el 3 de febrero De 2023. IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVELISSE M. MONCLOVA CRUZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (FDIC) COMO SÍNDICO

DE DORAL BANK, DORAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION T/C/C DORAL MORTGAGE, LLC, DORAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION, FIRST MORTGAGE CAPITAL, INC. COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHO DE THE MORTGAGE LOAN, CO., INC.; INOCENCIA BORIA ROMERO, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CA2022CV04078. (409). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: FIRST MORTGAGE CAPITAL, INC. COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHO DE THE MORTGAGE LOAN, CO., INC. A LAS ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: 915 AVE ROBERTO SANCHEZ VILELLA (AVE. CAMPO RICO), SAN JUAN, PR 00924, URB SANTA ROSA, 12-34 BOULEVARD DR., BAYAMON, PR 00959-6638, PO BOX 550, BAYAMON, PR 00960-0550, PO BOX 9, BAYAMÓN, PR 00960-0009, FLAMBOYÁN GARDENS DD1 AVE. RAMON LUIS RODRIGUEZ, BAYAMÓN, PR, 009600009, INOCENCIA BORIA ROMERO A LA SIGUIENTE DIRECCIÓN: COND. PARQUE DE PONTEZUELA, 500 AVE FIDALGO DIAZ APT 203, CAROLINA, PR 009831793.

FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ.

Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre cancelación de pagaré extraviado por la vía judicial. El 22 de enero de 2003, Inocencia Boria Romero constituyó una hipoteca en San Juan, Puerto Rico, conforme a la Escritura núm. 10, autorizada por la notario Ana Cristina Díaz Velasco en garantía de un pagaré suscrito bajo el testimonio núm. 3151 por la suma de $59,000.00 a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, o a su

orden, con intereses 11.95% anual y vencedero el 1ro de febrero de 2018, sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Apartamento número doscientos tres (203). Apartamento residencial de forma irregular localizado en la segunda planta del edificio “A” modulo seis (6-A) del Condominio Parque de Pontezuela, situada en el Barrio Sabana Abajo, del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico. El área aproximada del apartamento es de ochocientos setenta y siete punto noventa y cinco (877.95) pies cuadrados, equivalente a ochenta y uno punto cincuenta y seis (81.56) metros cuadrados. Son sus linderos por el NORESTE, en una distancia de treinta (30) pies con área común y espacio aéreo común, por el NOROESTE, en una distancia de veintitrés (23) pies cuatro (4) pulgadas, con el apartamento doscientos cuatro (204); por el SURESTE, en una distancia de treinta (30) pies cuatro (4) pulgadas, con el apartamento doscientos dos (202); y por el SUROESTE, en una distancia de treinta (30) pies, con espacio aéreo común. La puerta de entrada de este apartamento está en su lindero Noreste. Consta de sala-comedor, cocina, tres (3) dormitorios, balcón y un baño. Le corresponde el espacio de estacionamiento identificado con el número trece (13). Este apartamento tiene una participación de uno punto tres tres cinco siete tres por ciento (1.33573%) en los elementos comunes del Condominio. Inscrita al folio 236 del tomo 885 de Carolina, Finca 40162. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 1 del tomo 926 de Carolina, Finca 40162. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. Inscripción tercera. La parte demandada 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. Se le advierte que, si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la parte demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo, PR 00970-3922, 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, se le anotará la rebeldía

y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 25 de enero de 2023, en Carolina, Puerto Rico. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. NÉSTOR PEDRO

RAMOS GERENA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: BY2021CV05035. Sala: 503. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 23 de enero de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Barrio Quebrada Cruz de Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. Parcela de terreno identificada con el número 3. Cabida: 2,255.407 metros cuadrados. Linderos: NORTE, con camino dedicado a uso público “A” y el lote número 2 en parte; SUR, con la Sucesión Basilia Vázquez y el lote número 7 en parte; ESTE, con camino dedicado a uso público “B” en parte y solar número 7 en parte; OESTE, con la Sucesión Basilia Vázquez en parte y el lote número 2 en parte. Inscrita al tomo Karibe de Toa Alta, finca número 29,248. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de Bayamón. Propiedad ubicada, según el pagaré, en: Lot 3 SR 165 KM 3.4, Quebrada Cruz Ward, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico 00953. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables

garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante: Aviso de Demanda del día 19 de diciembre de 2014, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Bayamón, en el Caso Civil número DCD2014-3330, seguido por Doral Bank, contra Néstor Pedro Ramos Gerena, sobre Cobro de Dinero, por la suma de $119,369.76 más intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 26 de mayo de 2021 al tomo Karibe de Toa Alta, finca número 29,248, Anotación A. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor, el día 7 de septiembre de 2022, archivada en autos y notificada el 8 de septiembre de 2022, y publicada en periódico de circulación general, “The San Daily Star”, el 14 de septiembre de 2022 en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $108,973.15 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 5.00% desde el 1ro de diciembre de 2018; 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 $12,538.30 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 12 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $125,383.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $83,588.66, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una

TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 26 DE

ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $62,691.50, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 25 de enero de 2023. Maribel Lanzar Velázquez, Alguacil Placa #735, División De Subastas, Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Sala Superior De Bayamón.

Amanda Serrano gets an undisputed title and a rematch with Katie Taylor

By REMY TUMIN

One by one, boxers streamed into the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, entering from the wings to their walkout music and to plenty of fanfare from a packed house of 4,606 fans. Then came Amanda Serrano.

Serrano, who was seeking to unify the women’s featherweight division titles, entered the theater from the back and made her way through the throng with a trail of championship belts and Puerto Rican flags behind her, setting the tone for the remainder of the night. She then exhausted Erika Cruz of Mexico on the way to an unanimous-decision victory that made her the undisputed women’s featherweight champion.

“I’m just so emotional underneath. I finally did it for my island!” Serrano said in the ring after a bloody and competitive fight.

It was Serrano’s first fight at the Garden since last April, when she lost a split decision to Katie Taylor of Ireland in the main arena in one of the most celebrated women’s matches in boxing history.

Before the sweat and blood could dry from Serrano’s fight against Cruz, Serrano and Taylor’s camps announced a date for a much anticipated rematch. It will be May 20, in Dublin, for Taylor’s lightweight titles.

Saturday’s fight was key to that rematch. Serrano, 34, entered with a record of 43-2-1 and 30 knockouts, one of the best in women’s boxing. Cruz, 32, who turned pro in 2016, came into the fight with a record of 15-1 and three knockouts. Despite having less experience than Serrano, Cruz was relentless. A head butt in the third round had Cruz wiping away blood for the rest of the fight. But every time it appeared she had run out of gas, she continued to fire away, using her low-and-long style to reach for Serrano again and again.

As Serrano began to understand her opponent’s style, she pulled away more and let Cruz tire herself out. Serrano stood firm; Cruz began to flail. By the sixth round, Serrano was in command of the fight. She released a flurry

of combinations that left Cruz on the ropes and disoriented. Serrano’s message was clear: The undisputed title was hers, and hers alone. The Serrano friendly crowd knew it, too.

Serrano, who was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, but grew up in Brooklyn, centered her ring appearance on one

of the original flags of Puerto Rico. Her Jordans were red, white and sky blue, and she wore a sports bra emblazoned with the logo of Econo, a supermarket chain in Puerto Rico. At the end of the fight, she draped herself in a sky blue Puerto Rican flag.

Two judges had Serrano as the

winner by a score of 98-92, and a third judge scored the fight, 97-93. According to CompuBox, Serrano and Cruz combined to land 459 of 1,917 punches per two-minute round. Cruz landed 202 punches of the 968 thrown, the most by a Serrano opponent. But Serrano’s experience won out, and she landed 257 of 949 shots.

Serrano wasn’t the only one walking away with an undisputed title Saturday. In the other main event at the Garden, Alycia Baumgardner, who lives in Detroit, defeated Elhem Mekhaled of France in a unanimous decision to become the undisputed superfeatherweight champion.

Baumgardner has been discarding her competition handily in recent months. She gave Mikaela Mayer her first professional loss in October to become the unified superfeatherweight champion in the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization.

Mekhaled was no exception. In the third round, Baumgardner unleashed her power and took Mekhaled to the mat not once, but twice, within the two-minute round.

“I dug deep,” she said after the fight and was met with a swell of applause when she noted that she had just started her period, “so it’s all good.”

Baumgardner clearly had her eyes on bigger prizes.

“We want Katie Taylor, we want those better fights,” she said. “I want to challenge myself, that’s the only way I’m going to know where I’m at.”

But Serrano will have first dibs.

Serrano went through one of the most intense training camps of her career to prepare for this fight: training twice a day and sparring three times a week consistently — sometimes for 13 rounds at a time — with men. Now, to get back in the ring with Taylor, she will need to add 10 pounds to meet the threshold for the lightweight class.

With heavy breaths left over from her battle with Cruz, Serrano said she was up to the task.

“I learned a lot, and now I know what I need to do,” she said. “I’ve done enough” to beat Taylor, she said, “and I’ll do more.”

Amanda Serrano, left, who was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Brooklyn, defeated Erika Cruz of Mexico via unanimous decision on Saturday night.

Katie Taylor of Ireland, left, was at Saturday’s match in New York and posed with Serrano afterward. They will fight May 20 in Dublin in a rematch of one of the most celebrated fights in women’s boxing history.

Nets trading Kyrie Irving to Dallas Mavericks after his request to leave

By TANIA GANGULI

Kyrie Irving is on his way out of New York after 3 1/2 scandalfilled years in which the Brooklyn Nets fell way short of realizing their aspirations of seriously contending for an NBA championship.

The Nets reached an agreement Sunday to trade Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, according to three people familiar with the situation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been announced and they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.

The Nets were expected to receive Spencer Dinwiddie, 29, a guard who played five seasons with the Nets from 2016-21; forward Dorian-Finney Smith, 29, a first-round pick in 2016; and multiple second-round picks, two of the people said. The Mavericks will also receive veteran forward Markieff Morris from the Nets, one of the people said.

The deal could help the Mavericks (28-26) rise enough in the tightly contested Western Conference to contend for a championship this season.

Irving, a dynamic point guard with a history of social activism, has also embraced controversy and conspiracy. He is in the final year of his contract with the Nets and had been hoping to work out a contract extension. With little progress on a deal, he asked the Nets to trade him last week, according to a person familiar with Irving’s request who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

On Jan. 26, Shetellia Riley Irving, his agent and stepmother, made public that his contract negotiations were not progressing.

“I have reached out to the Nets regarding this,” she told Bleacher Report in January. “We have had no significant conversations to date. The desire is to make Brooklyn home, with the right type of extension, which means the ball is in the Nets’ court to communicate now if their desire is the same.”

Irving and star forward Kevin Durant signed with the Nets as free agents in 2019, hoping their talent could help lead the Nets to an NBA championship. But Irving’s time with the Nets was tumultuous. He played in only 143 of the

Nets’ 278 regular-season games while on their roster.

When the two players signed with the Nets, Durant was still recovering from rupturing an Achilles tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals with Golden State. Durant then missed the entire 2019-20 season. After having an operation on his right shoulder, Irving missed the end of that season, which the NBA ended in a so-called bubble on the Walt Disney World campus in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nets lost a first-round series in the 2020 playoffs. In 2021, they lost an Eastern Conference semifinal series to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in seven games.

Last season, Irving played in only 29 of the Nets’ 82 games because he would not get vaccinated against the coronavirus despite New York City’s vaccine requirement for private sector employees. The Nets initially said they would not allow Irving to play for them at all while he was ineligible for home games. But in January 2021, they changed course and allowed him to join the team on the road.

Irving’s stance irritated a teammate, star guard James Harden, who joked that he would vaccinate Irving himself, but then asked for a trade. Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2022 for Ben Simmons, who did not play for the rest of that season because of his mental and physical health.

The Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics, the eventual conference champions, in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.

After that series, Irving and Durant flirted with leaving the organization. Irving was given the opportunity to find a trade partner, but ultimately he opted into the final year of his contract. Last June, Durant asked for a trade, but the Nets did not find a trade they thought suited them.

Despite having Simmons, Durant and Irving all available for the start of this season, the Nets lost six of their first eight games.

During that time, Irving posted a link to an antisemitic film on his social media accounts. A reporter from Rolling Stone wrote that the film’s message centered on antisemitic tropes, and Ir-

ving was in trouble again. Irving faced backlash from Jewish leaders and Nets owner Joe Tsai, who said on Twitter that he was disappointed Irving had linked to the movie and wanted to sit down with him so that he understood the hurt he had caused.

In a news conference in late October, Irving defended posting the film. The Nets kept Irving away from reporters for the next two games, and on Nov. 2 he released a statement with the Anti-Defamation League saying he would donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes.

But the next day, Irving addressed reporters after a practice and refused to apologize for posting the film or to disavow antisemitism.

The Nets suspended Irving later that day and said the suspension would last at least five games. He missed eight games and was allowed to return to the team after he apologized. Around that time, on Nov. 1, the Nets fired Steve Nash, who had been their head coach since September 2020, and hired Jacque Vaughn, who had been Nash’s assistant.

When Irving has played, he has

shown his value on the court. He has averaged 27.2 points per game since his return, and the Nets have gone 2210 with him in the lineup since then. The Nets (32-20) are fourth in the Eastern Conference. Durant has missed the Nets’ past 12 games with a knee injury. The Nets have gone 5-7 without him.

On Saturday, a day after Irving requested the trade, the Nets sat Irving with what they said was a calf injury. Still, the Nets notched a thrilling 125123 victory over the Washington Wizards with 44 points from a reserve player, Cam Thomas.

The Athletic was first to report Irving’s agreement with Dallas on Sunday. He is leaving one superstar in Durant to join another in the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic. A 6-foot-7 guard, Doncic, 23, has been named an NBA AllStar four times and was the league’s rookie of the year in 2019.

Dallas has won four of its last 11 games. The Mavericks are in sixth place in the Western Conference, but had only one fewer win than the thirdplace Sacramento Kings entering Sunday.

Guard Kyrie Irving has been a Net for the past four seasons.

In the middle of Eagles territory, an oasis for Kansas City fans

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Big Charlie’s Saloon in South Philadelphia seems like a perfect watering hole for watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. It is expected to be packed, but not with Eagles fans. It’s a Kansas City Chiefs bar in a passionate but parochial sports town that doesn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for fans of other NFL teams.

“We’re in a pickle,” said Laura Sessa, the manager. Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be an issue. There is no tense rivalry between the teams. Coaching and family ties bind them.

Andy Reid, the affable Kansas City coach, led the Eagles for 14 seasons and took Philadelphia to the Super Bowl. Travis Kelce, Kansas City’s gregarious tight end, is the brother of Eagles center Jason. Their mother, Donna, has been known to wear a customized jersey that mashes up colors representing both teams.

If an Eagles fan wanders into Big Charlie’s on any given Sunday, it’s no big deal. But the Super Bowl won’t be any given Sunday.

“It’s a little tricky now,” said Sessa, 54. A bench is painted in Kansas City colors outside Big Charlie’s. A team flag flies on Sundays. Inside, the place is stuffed with helmets, mugs, autographed footballs, even an Emmy Award from a feature that NFL Films did on the bar. There’s also a signed jersey from quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a replica of the Lombardi Trophy from the Super Bowl that ended the 2019 season.

For that Super Bowl, Big Charlie’s threw a block party complete with a disc jockey and fireworks as Kansas City defeated San Francisco 31-20. This year, the watch party will be more subdued as a sign of municipal respect; it will be held entirely inside the bar — an island of red in a sea of green.

“I don’t want to instigate anything,” said Paul Staico, 57, the owner of Big Charlie’s. “This city is tough.” So far, there has only been good-natured ribbing from Eagles fans.

“The mailman heckles us,” said John Alessi, 56, a Kansas City fan.

It has been suggested that wearing the jersey of an opposing team in Philadelphia is akin to putting a sign on your back that says, “Hit me.” In 1983, Eagles fans infamously plucked the feathers from the headdress of Washington’s unofficial mascot at the time, tore off his costume like drunken tailors, ditched his rubber spear and gave him a pugilistic send-off that required hospitalization.

But those were the loony days of long-gone Veterans Stadium. Sure, there is still the occasional and regrettable punching of a police horse (2018) and more than occasional taunting that showers visiting fans like vulgar confetti. But Eagles fans are generally better behaved these days.

Before last weekend’s NFC championship game, one 49ers fan was seen on video climbing onto the Rocky Balboa statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and

he appeared to survive the locals without any unexpected dental bills or orthopedic realignments.

But still.

“A Chiefs bar?” said Kevin Meyers, 37, an Eagles fan. “How do they exist?”

Probably because the owner and his regular patrons are not outsiders. They’re mostly guys from the neighborhood. Big Charlie’s is their corner bar. The Kansas City allegiance began during Super Bowl IV in 1970, when Big Charlie himself, Charlie Staico, placed a winning, if not strictly legal, bet on the team.

“The Chiefs won, and the next day I had a bike,” said Paul Staico, Big Charlie’s son, who recalls marveling at the team’s red helmets and arrowhead logo, now tattooed on his arm. “I was a fan ever since.”

Charlie Staico passed away in 1983. Eventually, Paul remade the bar into a Kansas City shrine.

Don’t misunderstand. This is still a Philly hangout. Logos of the Flyers and Phillies are inlaid into the side of the brick building. The place was packed for the recent World Series. But for pro football, the home team is not the preferred team.

Paul Staico’s passion spread to his friends, a number of whom have been converted. Word has spread beyond Philadelphia, and Kansas City fans might drop in on Sundays from New York, Baltimore, Texas and California — and, of course, Kansas City — as the crowd sometimes swells to 150 supporters.

“It’s a family thing, it’s our thing,” said Michael Puggi, 48. “It’s an Eagles city, but this is our corner.”

Anthony Scola, 62, a retired carpenter, built the bench outside the saloon.

“The atmosphere in this bar when the Chiefs play, you don’t care about the Eagles anymore,” Scola said. “I might wear green underwear, but I’m watching Kansas City.”

Tickets will be required to enter Big Charlie’s on Super Bowl Sunday. The vast majority will go to regular customers. Kansas City fans. There could be a sprinkling of Eagles fans, friends from the neighborhood, but no one is expected to show disrespect by wearing visible Eagles’ colors.

Some patrons will surely feel conflicting allegiances.

“I am the biggest Eagles fan around, but this is my family,” Patrick Newcomb, 55, said of his bar mates, reciting the lyrics of that noted football ballad from 1976 by Mary MacGregor: “Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool, loving both of you is breaking all the rules.’’

Others will have no tortured loyalties. Alessi, a Kansas City fan for 30 years, said he did not attend the Eagles’ victory parade after their 2018 Super Bowl win over New England. His wife and daughter went, he said with a laugh, and “they almost had to call a locksmith to get back in my house.”

In the two-week lead-up to this Super Bowl, Alessi added, “We’re not talking.”

Laura Sessa, the manager of Big Charlie’s Saloon, said that plans for Super Bowl Sunday would consider the local opponent. “It’s a little tricky now,” she said.

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

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Mercury in ambitious Capricorn aligns with mystical Neptune, so you may be dreaming of something you can’t have. But you could use this aspect in a more productive way to bring to life an idea you’ve been mulling over. This might involve some practical steps and a little planning. But combine them with your resourceful imagination, and you could go very far, Aries.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

You may be drawn into someone’s world, and find that you resonate with a cause that is important to them. And perhaps you’re ready to volunteer or participate, by getting involved in a practical way. At the same time, a more restless vibe could be a call to explore your unique interests further. It doesn’t matter what others think, it’s what feels good to you that counts.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Your psychological sector is in focus, so if you’re keen to tie up loose ends and erase elements of your life that no longer work, then you are on track. From today though, a subtle aspect may inspire you to get real. You might be ready to deal with an issue that is taking up too much energy, and it’s likely because you won’t say “no”. Now is the time to set firmer boundaries.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

If your intuition tells you to check the time of an appointment or meeting, it’s a good idea to do it. With Mercury linking to hazy Neptune, affirming the details could save you from an embarrassing situation. While you don’t usually miss a trick, the present setup hints there is a tendency for mixed messages. Get it right, and you’ll be there to snap up any opportunities.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

If you needed a boost to help your career to flourish, then a lingering emphasis on a prominent sector can do the trick. If you find yourself in the spotlight, be willing to strut your stuff, and you’ll draw many admirers. Want to impress? Accentuating your unique qualities could get the right kind of attention from those who can help you secure a promotion or career shift, Leo.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Uncertain what to make of someone? You won’t actually know until you get chatting to them, Virgo. A subtle Mercury/Neptune alignment is an opportunity to bust those misleading ideas and find out the truth. You may find they are not at all like you imagined. Keen to pool your talents for a creative project? If so, inspiring conversations can lead to some highly imaginative ideas.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

ou may wish things were different Libra, but this isn’t enough to actually change them. If you want your life to be transformed, you’ll need to act. The current line-up suggests you might either do something on the spur of the moment or hope for the best. You’ll have a better chance if you have a clear idea of what you want, and make a practical plan that will get you there.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

The conversations you have and promises you make can tie you into all kinds of arrangements, so be sure that they work for you before getting too involved. You could also find yourself in the role of mediator, as others look to you to help them solve their most pressing issues. Need to handle a personal issue of your own? Thinking out of the box could help solve it, Scorpio.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

If someone tells you something can’t be done, then don’t believe them. Mercury in grounded Capricorn, suggests that you’ll prove them wrong if you’re willing to have a go. Just don’t let their beliefs influence you. If you know what you want to accomplish, then you’ll do very well. Distractions could override your determination at times though, so try to avoid them, Archer.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Don’t believe everything you hear, even if it’s from someone who claims to be an expert. Mercury’s alignment with slippery Neptune, can coincide with mixed messages and misunderstandings, so whatever someone tells you check for yourself that it’s sound. If you use unreliable information, it could cause a setback, and you’ll need to spend time putting it right.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

With dealmaker Mercury forging an aspect with nebulous Neptune, money can seem an ethereal concept. Before you purchase anything, consider your financial position. Plus, how do you know that an item or service is all it’s made out to be? It could be painted in a wonderful light, which may be far from the truth. Ready for some self-care? Invest in a spa or massage session.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

If you’ve been busy with networking for pleasure and business, then a lively focus on your sector of connection brings good news. If you enjoy meeting new people, you’ll be in your element and the conversations you have could be game-changers too, Pisces. Plus, the coming days may bring an encounter with someone who has influence, and can put in a good word for you.

Speed Bump