Thursday Jul 16, 2020

Thursday, July 16, 2020

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Study: DNA of Native Americans in Some Polynesians

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PREPA Workers Give Governor an Ultimatum

Unions Consider General Strike if Vázquez Garced Doesn’t Void Luma Deal P4

‘Knock, Knock’: Oversight Board Seeks Another Extension for FBI Visits Debt Adjustment Plan Rep. Charbonier P3 P6 NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

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July 16, 2020

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.

Fiscal board seeks another extension for commonwealth debt adjustment plan

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he Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico said Wednesday that the primary focus of the government and the oversight board should be to protect the health and welfare of the people of Puerto Rico from COVID-19 and asked the federal court to give it until September to provide an updated status report on the future of the commonwealth debt adjustment plan.

Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring has been on pause for several months because of the coronavirus pandemic. The oversight board had approved budgets and fiscal plans for various bankrupt entities despite not fully knowing the impact on the economy of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

“While the Oversight Board has resumed plan discussions, because of the fluid situation on the Island, the Oversight Board is unprepared at this time to propose a schedule for the Debtors’ plan of adjustment and disclosure statement processes,” the oversight board said.

As of Wednesday, there were 8,714 confirmed and likely cases of COVID-19 and 157 deaths caused by the disease on the island. Furthermore, worsening drought conditions in Puerto Rico forced the governor to declare a state of emergency on June 29.

The island Department of Labor and Human Resources has publicly said there are 600,000 claims for unemployment benefits.

“The Oversight Board continues to work with the Government to develop solutions as these conditions and their effects persist,” the board said.

The board said it is engaging in discussions with creditors that will take into account, among other things, the court’s June 26 decisions in connection with certain motions for relief from the automatic stay filed by holders and insurers of Highway and Transportation Authority bonds, Convention Center District Authority bonds, and Puerto Rico Infrastructure Authority rum tax bonds, as well as the outcome of the ongoing Employee Retirement System (ERS) bonds litigation that will impact the debt adjustment plan.

Due to the restrictions imposed by various executive orders issued by Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced in response to the coronavirus pandemic and their impact on the people of Puerto Rico, along with the inability to open and operate tax collection centers, the oversight board on June 10 requested extensions for deadlines by which creditors of the bankrupt Public Buildings Authority (PBA) must file proofs of claim. Collection centers reopened on July 1.

“Accordingly, neither the PBA nor the ERS intend to seek a further extension of the deadline to submit proofs of claims or information forms,” the board noted.

The commonwealth has been in bankruptcy under the federal Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act to restructure some $70 billion debt not including pension liabilities.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

PREPA unions consider general strike if governor doesn’t scrap Luma Energy deal

By PEDRO CORREA HENRY Twitter: @PCorreaHenry Special to The Star

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he Alliance of Retired and Active Employees of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), along with their member unions, are in conversations to declare a general strike if Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced does not void the 15year Luma Energy deal before Aug. 9, said Electrical Industry and Irrigation Workers Union (UTIER by its Spanish acronym) President Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo on Wednesday.

As the authority’s unions and other organizations from the public sector occupied the streets and both the UTIER and the Insular Union of Industrial and Electrical Construction Workers decreed a 24-hour strike against the Luma Energy contract, the power authority’s privatization and the alleged rate increase, Figueroa Jaramillo said this protest is only the beginning of actions until the deal gets annulled.

“The governor has until August 9, a precise and clear date, to void this deal that is not appropriate for the Puerto Rican people,” Figueroa Jaramillo said. “This [contract] will increase your rates, it will create a private monopoly, there won’t be any investment from the privatizer, which is very clear in the contract terms. The citizens will reimburse this company, so what’s the change?”

When a member of the press asked if having a dialogue with the executives and the governor would be an option, Figueroa Jaramillo insisted that the main solution is to void the deal first.

Likewise, he said that even though he recognizes that PREPA is in need of a transformation, Luma, the governor, or even Popular Democratic Party gubernatorial hopeful Sen. Eduardo Bhatia should not support the transition.

“If the government insists on destroying the Authority and its syndicates, we will not allow that from Luma, Wanda or Bhatia, let’s make that very clear. We are protesting against the rate increase, we are going against the private monopoly, yet we are aware that the Authority must transform,” the union leader said. “A solution would be for the governor to void the deal, and then we can sit down and analyze what lies ahead for PREPA.” As for presenting proposals to innovate the electric power grid around the island, Figueroa Jaramillo has insisted that the government listen to organizations such as Queremos Sol, which recommends achieving 50 percent renewable energy production by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050 based on a model that uses the sun as the main source and uses renewable distributed generation with storage capacity for individuals, communities, municipalities and corporations. However, when asked if PREPA would consider collaborating with private businesses, he said it was also an option to consider.

“We built this [system] under the public business model;

we were effective for 70 years under this model,” Figueroa Jaramillo said. “When they started to denationalize in different ways, that is what led us to the failure we have on our hands. So collaborating with private businesses is an alternative, there are [other] proposals, such as the one from Queremos Sol, which is a well thought out and analyzed, economic and operational proposal. There have been proposals, but they don’t care; they only care about grabbing power and destroying the business.”

Other syndicates such as the PREPA Retirees Association, the Puerto Rican Workers’ Movement, the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors (APPU) and the Brotherhood of Non-Teaching Employees (HEEND) of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) have shown solidarity during the first strike as it is a public matter. HEEND Vice President José Torres said he recognized PREPA workers’ efforts to serve Puerto Rico and the challenges they face, and that this issue should matter not only to them, but to all the country.

“We recognize how much the authority employees have worked and strived to provide good service to our people,” Torres said. “We, in every sector of our country, will end up affected by this privatization in the long run. We must be present and show solidarity on events like this.”

APPU President Ángel Rodríguez said meanwhile that his union and many others should be fighting next to the PREPA workers under every condition and circumstance.

“This process should matter to the people of Puerto Rico. We, as part of this country, will be in the fight full time,” Rodríguez said. “This is a situation that gets into the roots of Puerto Rico’s socioeconomic system, which consists of privatizing public services. You see it done at PREPA, you see it with the UPR, you see it at every public entity. It should matter to all of us.”

Brown sees nuclear power as an option for PREPA

By THE STAR STAFF

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he federal coordinator for the reconstruction of Puerto Rico, Rear Adm. Peter Brown, said Wednesday that he supports the law requiring the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to draw power from renewables in its entirety by 2050, but not the ban on other energy technologies.

The U.S. Department of Energy is analyzing the island’s energy needs and supports a varied mix that steers Puerto Rico away from fossil fuels and that includes solar, wind, hydro or water as well as cogeneration, natural gas and even small modular nuclear reactors.

Rear Adm. Peter Brown

Puerto Rico took nuclear energy out of its energy mix in the 1990s.

“And again I am not referring to the 1970s style nuclear power plants, but small modular reactors with a much smaller footprint,” Brown said during the PR Grid Revitalization Forum.

A 2019 law stipulates that Puerto Rico must draw 40 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025, 60 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050.

Brown said the 100 percent renewable goal was not realistic because no renewable energy alternative exists to provide energy without the need for a conventional fuel backup.

“I think articulating that as a goal rather than putting in place strict prohibitions on other technologies, I think it is probably the right move and brings aspirational aims without analyzing currently viable and economical technologies,” he said.

Brown said he and the federal Department of Energy support an “all of the above approach” using resilient alternatives to steer Puerto Rico away from the use of oil.

An agreement between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the local government is expected to be unveiled in the coming months to rebuild the power grid using industry standardproven technologies.

Brown did not say how much money the federal government will put forward to renew Puerto Rico’s energy grid. Brown said once the “fixed cost estimate” for the restoration is in place, money

will start flowing to pay for projects to build Puerto Rico’s grid.

Meanwhile, several officials, including attorney Fernando Agrait, reiterated that PREPA’s restructuring support agreement is not viable now because of the damage to the economy caused by earthquakes and the global coronavirus pandemic. A status report on the plan is scheduled to be submitted in federal bankruptcy court on July 30.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

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PDP develops safety measures for political activities as COVID-19 cases increase

By PEDRO CORREA HENRY Twitter: @PCorreaHenry Special to The Star

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s hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are on the rise and confirmed cases stack up, Popular Democratic Party (PDP) President Anibal José Torres presented on Wednesday the safety measures that the party will implement immediately to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the disease, at political activities.

Torres said the PDP held a meeting at which the gubernatorial hopefuls’ campaign directors, the Mayors’ Association vice president and the head of the party’s municipal presidents agreed on which determinations and rules would be followed in order to prevent infection at political activities where party members and supporters gather. For the sake of compliance, the party prepared a document with 13 items that will go into effect immediately.

“We considered it necessary to establish these guidelines that will govern every activity from our collective to guarantee the health and security of all Puerto Ricans,” Torres said. “We are in the middle of primary campaigns that are being carried out under an atypical scenario and in the face of the rise of confirmed COVID-19 cases. We took action immediately.”

The document lists the following items: * All PDP members must protect themselves and others, as the health of each Puerto Rican is a priority for the party. * The use of face masks or any other effective measure that protects the mouth and nose will be mandatory at every PDP activity. * There will be no mass activities that promote crowds of people.

* Every meeting must comply with physical distancing restrictions; there must be a minimum of six feet of distance between people. * At every event, to the extent possible, the party will take people’s body temperature and will apply hand sanitizer. * Every place where meetings and other activities of the PDP will be held must guarantee the use of face masks, physical distancing restrictions and areas of sanitation and disinfection, such as stations with alcohol-based disinfectants and sanitary services where frequent hand washing is permitted * In case of possible infection, every authority will be informed and the PDP will collaborate by providing all the necessary information to identify and trace any case. * All candidates must designate compliance officers, who will be held responsible for guaranteeing every corresponding safety measure.

* The PDP urges the cancellation of any event or assembly in high-risk places. * Every PDP candidate will emphasize the use of face masks, physical distancing, hand washing and will strive to prevent any circumstance that compromises any sanitation conditions that the emergency demands. * All activities must be held in open places or outdoors, must absolutely comply with the start and end time established, according to the curfew in force. * No children or minors should be exposed to campaign activities during this health emergency. * Use online platforms for meetings and campaigns Torres: ‘At the slightest suspicion, get tested’ Meanwhile, as a member of the press asked why the party did not comply with safety measures against COVID-19 in the case of PDP district representative candidate Armando Lagarreta, who

tested positive for the disease, Torres said Lagarreta had no suspicion that he was infected because he was asymptomatic, even though family members had been infected and passed away as a result.

Furthermore, he called for all party members to be tested if they have the slightest suspicion.

“Once he [Lagarreta] knew, he informed all his colleagues on Saturday. There was another PDP member, Representative Luis Vega Ramos, who also participated in the past event. They took all the necessary measures to be in quarantine and get tested once they were alerted by him,” Torres said. “From what I can report here, he [Lagarreta] was asymptomatic, he had no suspicion if he held the virus, although he had family members who were infected and, unfortunately, have passed away. My call to action for all my colleagues is that, at the slightest suspicion, get tested. Protect your loved ones.”

New municipal curfew limits access to Old San Juan for visitors

By THE STAR STAFF

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an Juan Mayor CarmenYulín Cruz Soto issued a decree on Wednesday ordering the closure of Old San Juan to visitors after hours, as part of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“It is not a limitation on entry and exit, it is to enforce the curfew in a neighborhood that other Puerto Ricans have certainly decided not to respect,” Cruz Soto said at a press conference.

San Juan Municipal Police Commissioner Col. José Luis Caldero López added that “[n]o person who is not a resident of Old San Juan should go there after 10 at night.”

The mayor also announced that if Gov. Wanda

Vázquez Garced does not adjust curfew hours, then she will.

“If the governor does not reduce the schedule tomorrow, we are going to reduce it under the authority that the Autonomous Municipalities Law gives us,” she said.

Cruz Soto said the market squares in Río Piedras and Santurce will operate from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., and no one will be able to consume food in the dining room area.

The capital city’s cemeteries will remain closed with visits limited to Saturdays, she said.

El Escambrón beach, meanwhile, will be closed during the months of July and August. The mayor also said she will impose fines of $50 to $100 on individuals and businesses for failure to wear a mask.

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Thursday, July 16, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

FBI searches home of Rep. Charbonier

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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he Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched the home of New Progressive Party Rep. María Milagros Charbonier on Wednesday.

During a press conference, Charbonier confirmed that the FBI had executed a search warrant on her Río Grande residence.

“I am at peace. I have nothing to fear; I am an attorney and the questions they asked me show that they are implicating me in absolutely nothing,” Charbonier said.

“They were very nice people.”

FBI spokeswoman Limary Cruz Rubio confirmed that the FBI had executed two search warrants in Río Grande, but declined further comment on an ongoing investigation.

Charbonier said the federal agents only told her that the search was part of an investigation that involved “processes in the House [of Representatives].”

Uncertainty over school reopening

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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ducation Secretary Eligio Hernández could not confirm on Wednesday whether classes in the public education system will be face-to-face or online.

In a radio interview, Hernández said teachers are scheduled to report to schools on Aug. 4, while students are slated to report to schools on Aug. 17, instead of Aug. 10 as previously established.

“Today there is another reality in terms of managing the [coronavirus] pandemic,” Hernández said.

“To that end, there was a meeting with scientists on Tuesday at the Medical Center [in Río Piedras], where they did some data analysis. They agreed to complete another type of analysis and submit it to the governor and agency heads, in order to establish a new public policy in accordance with the new data we have in Puerto Rico today.”

When asked if classes are going to be face-to-face or online, Hernández replied that “at this moment there is no answer for the people of Puerto Rico.”

“We are going to wait for the scientists to give us the data for the final decision making,” he said, stressing that the decision making must be based on data.

Meanwhile, the parents of hundreds of thousands of students are waiting for the Education Department to decide.

Thousands of families in Puerto Rico do not have internet service or computers. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether they can stay at home to care for their children rather than work.

“At 7 [a.m.] they called me. I missed the call. Then I called back and it was two agents who were at the entrance of my house,” Charbonier said. “I asked if I was under investigation to answer questions. I proceeded to answer.”

When asked about the subject of the investigation and the questions asked by the agents, the two-term legislator declined to comment on the details.

“I am going to reserve [comment on] the details,” Charbonier said. “I am going to follow what they are asking me to do and that is not to divulge any more than that; where the investigation is coming from and for whom, I don’t know, but it has nothing to do with me.”

The agents confiscated Charbonier’s cellular telephone, she said.

“I don’t know what the investigation involves,” she said. “They asked me about the federal processes in the Legislature and I explained them to them one by one.

I don’t want to make additional comments because I don’t want to not comply with them.”

Charbonier acknowledged that the intervention could have an unfavorable impact on her re-election campaign. She said she also asked the agents why they didn’t investigate after the Aug. 9 primary.

Mayors urge action on hospitalization of COVID-19 patients

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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uis Javier Hernández and Nelson Torres Yordán, vice presidents of the Puerto Rico Mayors Association, recommended on Wednesday on behalf of members from 45 municipalities, that immediate action be taken on the hospitalizations of citizens infected with the novel coronavirus and the limited supply of reagents to perform tests for COVID-19, as requested by professionals from clinical laboratories.

“The rise in positive cases is already a fact recognized by everyone,” said Hernández, the mayor of Villalba, in a written statement. “Our call is for us to go to the next step and it is related to hospitalizations and the available tests.”

The case identification and tracking project that was created in Villalba, a municipality in the south-central part of the island, was so effective that it served as an example for the rest of Puerto Rico and was adopted by the island Health Department.

Guayanilla Mayor and former lawmaker Torres Yordán, who recently dealt with the case of a family that contracted COVID-19 after a visit from a relative who came from the mainland United States, said the arrival of flights from jurisdictions in the United States where there is a serious increase in COVID-19 infections must be carefully managed.

“Mayors, as has been the case in past catastrophic events, are ready and available to continue helping in this very worrying situation,” Torres Yordán said.

The Guayanilla mayor added that the Health Department must share with the municipalities information on arriving flights and cases of travelers with COVID-19, so that mayors can do the necessary follow-up in the towns.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic we have insisted

that we are the ones who know [our towns] community by community and the particular situation of each one,” Torres Yordán said. “That knowledge must be used to manage cases and help families.”

Another proposal presented by the Mayors Association, which groups the island’s Popular Democratic Party mayors, was related to the management of public health and the needs of the business sector.

“We promote that there be a balance between the priority, which is the health of the people, and economic activity,” said Hernández, the Villalba mayor. “To achieve this objective, it is important that there is effective coordination between the municipalities and the state police, the Health Department and the Treasury Department. In order to have a good control of the situation, it is important that there is such coordination.”

Luis Javier Hernández, Mayor of Villalba

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

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Sessions pays the price for incurring Trump’s wrath, losing Alabama Senate race

By ELAINA PLOTT and JONATHAN MARTIN

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s a longtime senator from Alabama, Jeff Sessions did nothing less than legitimize Donald Trump as a credible Republican candidate for president, endorsing him when no other big names did and championing him to conservative voters. As Trump’s star rose, Sessions’ rose, too.

But Tuesday night, as he sought once again to become a senator from Alabama, a job he loved, Sessions came crashing to the ground — and all at the hands of Trump, his ally-turnedpatron-turned-antagonist-turned-sworn enemy.

Sessions was soundly defeated in Alabama’s Republican primary, The Associated Press reported, losing to a political neophyte, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, whom Trump had enthusiastically supported while denigrating Sessions.

With almost 100% of the vote counted, Tuberville had 60.7% of the vote, to 39.3% for Sessions.

“We’ve fought a good fight in this race,” Sessions said, addressing supporters at a small conference room at a Hampton Inn in Mobile.

“I want to congratulate Tommy Tuberville,” Sessions said, fighting back tears. “We must stand behind him in November. Doug Jones does not need to be our voice in Washington. He wishes to see the policies of Nancy Pelosi prevail over conservative Alabama principles.”

Sessions said he had no regrets about his decision as attorney general to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — an act that infuriated Trump and turned the president against him. “I followed the law,” he said, adding “and I saved the president’s bacon in the process.”

Tuberville will now face Doug Jones, the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for election in November. Jones narrowly defeated Roy Moore, a former state Supreme Court justice, in the 2017 special election to fill the seat vacated

by Sessions.

Tuberville’s victory was the most prominent result in voting across three states Tuesday. In Maine, Sara Gideon easily won the Democratic nomination for Senate and will challenge Sen. Susan Collins in November, in what would be one of most closely contested, and expensive, races in the country this year. And in Texas voters in both parties went to the polls to decide runoffs in several House races and Democrats were picking a nominee to challenge Sen. John Cornyn in November.

endorsement.

The former coach “is going to do a job like you haven’t seen,” said the president, adding: “He’s going to have a cold, direct line into my office. That I can tell you.”

Tuberville, addressing his own supporters Tuesday night, accused Jones of upholding “New York values, Chicago values, liberal Democrat values” while calling Trump “the best president of my lifetime.”

In Maine, Gideon, the state House speaker, fended off nominal opposition from the left, which she largely ignored as she built a recordsetting war chest. The race has already become the priciest Senate campaign in Maine history, thanks to a fundraising surge from liberals angered

by Collins’ support for the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court two years ago.

Collins’ prospects will weigh heavily on the balance of power in the Senate, where Democrats are seeking to pick up the three seats that would give them a majority under a President Joe Biden. Collins, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans, is facing perhaps her most difficult campaign as she seeks a fifth term.

Collins is trying to build a coalition that includes both Trump’s enthusiasts and detractors at a time when centrists like her are growing scarce.

Sessions had spent much of his campaign urging Alabama voters to remember that he was running against Tuberville — not Trump.

“The president has a right to speak up, but the president is not on the ballot,” Sessions told

reporters after voting Tuesday in Mobile, while his granddaughters, wearing red Sessions campaign T-shirts, stood off to the side. “He’ll be on the ballot in November, and Alabama is going to vote for him, and I will be voting for him. But Tommy Tuberville is on the ballot now.”

As he did for much of the final stretch of the runoff, Tuberville avoided reporters Tuesday and let Trump’s endorsement speak for his candidacy.

Many who cast their votes in Sessions’ precinct Tuesday morning spoke fondly of the former attorney general. Kay Rehm, 69, said she voted for Sessions “mainly because he is so moral and ethical.”

“We know what we’re getting in Sen. Sessions,” Rehm said. “He’s been vetted, he’s been in government for over 30-something years. I personally have nothing against Tuberville, but we don’t know anything about him.”

In Texas, M.J. Hegar, an Air Force veteran who had the support of Senate Democrats, defeated state Sen. Royce West in a Democratic runoff to determine who will take on Sen. John Cornyn.

Trump scored a victory in an open West Texas House seat, where his preferred candidate, former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, won a runoff.

In the race for the seat currently held by Rep. Will Hurd, who is not seeking reelection, Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz were on opposite sides of the runoff. The president offered a late endorsement ofTony Gonzales, the establishment favorite, while Cruz backed Raul Reyes, a more conservative candidate.

The most surprising news Tuesday came in a contest that won’t even be decided until next month. Shortly before he was to debate his primary opponents, Steve Watkins of Kansas, a first-term congressman, was indicted on felony charges related to whether he voted illegally in 2019.

In terms of determining the balance of power in Washington, though, no race Tuesday may have been more consequential than the Maine primary. The Senate race there is one of a handful that could determine control of the chamber, where Republicans have a majority, 53-47.

Gideon has already raised nearly $23 million, much of it from Democrats who are angry at Collins for confirming Kavanaugh and not taking a harder line against Trump.

And now that Gideon is officially her party’s nominee, she will receive $3.7 million, which Senate candidate Jeff Sessions fist bumps supporter and voter Kay Rehm at his polling place has effectively been sitting in escrow for the Deduring primary elections in Mobile, Ala. on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. mocratic nominee since Collins’ Kavanaugh vote.

Few Republicans had tied their political fortunes to Trump as Sessions did. As one of the loudest Senate voices for taking a hard line on immigration, Sessions had few allies among past GOP presidential candidates. Then came Trump, who not only ran on Sessions’ agenda but won on it — then brought Sessions forth from the backbench and installed him in what was supposed to be his dream job: attorney general.

What came next was a one-man cautionary tale about the risks of linking one’s career to a mercurial president to whom loyalty meant everything. Enraged that Sessions did not block the investigation, but instead recused himself, Trump made it his mission to humiliate his attorney general. He mocked Sessions’ Southern accent, hectored him on Twitter and belittled him in interviews — and only after all that did he fire him, days after the 2018 midterms.

When Sessions decided to try to reclaim his Senate seat, Trump, after initially resisting, did it all over again, unleashing his brand of personal vengeance to derail Sessions’ attempted comeback..

In perhaps the most trying stretch of his presidency, with his own poll numbers plummeting, the president made the most of the Republican runoff.

On Monday night, by which point it was clear Tuberville would triumph, Trump held a conference call with the candidate and his supporters, during which he again savaged his former attorney general — “He had his chance and he blew it” — and offered Tuberville a ringing

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Thursday, July 16, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Trump to weaken environmental rules to speed infrastructure permits

Nurses 5 masks. A view of the Motiva refinery looking over the rooftops of home in Port Arthur, Texas, in April.

By LISA FRIEDMAN

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resident DonaldTrump on Wednesday is set to unilaterally weaken one of the nation’s bedrock conservation laws, the National Environmental Policy Act, limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines.

In doing so, the Trump administration will claim hundreds of millions of dollars of savings over almost a decade by significantly reducing the amount of time allowed to complete reviews of major infrastructure projects, according to two people familiar with the new policy.

The White House confirmed that the president plans to announce the final changes to the rule at an afternoon event at the UPS Hapeville Airport Hub in Atlanta. Trump will make the case that lengthy permit processes have held up major infrastructure projects across the country, including a lane expansion to Interstate 75 in Georgia.

Revising the 50-year-old law through regulatory reinterpretation is one of the biggest deregulatory actions of the Trump administration, which to date has moved to rollback 100 rules protecting clean air and water, and others that aim to reduce the threat of human-caused climate change.

Because the action is coming so late in Trump’s term, it elevates the stakes in the November elections. Under federal regulatory law, a Democratic president and Congress could

eradicate the NEPA rollback with simple majority votes on Capitol Hill and the president’s signature.

Republican lawmakers, the oil and gas industry, construction companies, homebuilders and other businesses have long said the federal permitting process takes too long, and accused environmentalists of using the law to tie up projects they oppose.

“This will modernize and rationalize the permitting process so that we can get these projects built at a state and local level,” said Martin Durbin, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute. The expected final rule, he said, “is a big step forward and it’s about our nation maintaining its global competitiveness.”

The final rule sets new hard deadlines of between one and two years to complete environmental studies, according to two people who have seen the document but were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

The rule will also allow agencies to develop categories of activities that do not require an environmental assessment at all.

And in one of the most bitterly contested provisions, the rule would free federal agencies from having to consider the impacts of infrastructure projects on climate change.

It does so by eliminating the need for agencies to analyze a project’s indirect or “cumulative” effects on the environment and specifying they are only required to analyze

“reasonably foreseeable” impacts.

“This may be the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. He accused the Trump administration of “turning back the clock to when rivers caught fire, our air was unbreathable and our most beloved wildlife was spiraling toward extinction.”

With the economy still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, the president has repeatedly said we must loosen environmental rules to get the country back on its feet. In June he signed an executive order allowing energy and infrastructure projects to bypass parts of certain laws like the National Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, with the justification that it will “strengthen the economy and return Americans to work.”

Belinda Archibong, an assistant professor of economics at Barnard College of Columbia University, said if the Trump administration wanted to improve the economy, the president would actually call for more regulations to protect vulnerable communities already highly susceptible to coronavirus from the threat of increased air pollution.

“Saying ‘We’re going to pull back on regulation’ does not mean that firms are going to start hiring more people.

That’s complete nonsense. All that’s going to happen is it’s going to lead to more pollution, period,” Archibong said.

Conservationists like to call the National Environmental Protection Act the “Magna Carta” of environmental law. Just as the charter of rights protected English citizens from monarchical rule, activists note, the foundational environmental policy gives U.S. citizens a voice in every federal road, housing project, airport or major infrastructure development.

It requires agencies to analyze and disclose the extent to which proposed federal actions or infrastructure projects affect the environment, from local wildlife habitat to the projected levels of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

But despite tasking at least a half dozen people from various agencies to finish the regulation this summer, the final rule is not likely to be safe from the Congressional Review Act, a law that had hardly been used until Trump took office. Under the law, Congress can overturn a federal agency’s rule-making within 60 days of its finalization, something Democrats have pledged to do next year if they have the votes. Otherwise, the rule is expected to be subject to a lengthy court battle.

The revisions, if they hold up in court, are expected to lead to more permitting for pipelines and other projects that worsen global greenhouse gas emissions. It could also make roads, bridges and other infrastructure riskier because developers would no longer be required to analyze issues like whether sea-level rise might eventually submerge a project.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

9

‘Coming out of the woodwork’: Black Lives Matter in small-town America

By CAMPBEL ROBERTSON

N

ikki Wilkerson was used to thinking of herself as the “small brown girl” growing up in rural Pennsylvania.

She has been eyed skeptically while out shopping and questioned by police for no clear reason at all. But she had resigned herself to keeping quiet about racism, which her white friends never seemed to notice even when it happened right in front of them.

Nobody around here ever talked about any of this. It’s just what it was.

And yet there one afternoon in early June, right in the middle of the county seat, she happened upon it: a crowd of white people demanding justice for Black lives.

They would be joined by Black high school students, children of Latino farmworkers, “gays, lesbians, queer, transgender, whatever,” Wilkerson, 34, said. “This was not the Chambersburg I grew up in. I had no idea.

All of these people are just coming out of the woodwork.”

The sight was inspiring, she said. But also frustrating. “Why weren’t we doing this a long time ago?”

Black Lives Matter could be responsible for the largest protest movement in U.S. history, springing up in countless cities and small towns after George Floyd was killed by police in May. While the street protests have tapered off in most places, newly minted activists in small towns are still discussing plans for new events or standing in the back of otherwise empty City Council meetings to make their demands for police reform.

But beyond any policy changes, which could be slow in coming, a significant consequence of recent weeks could be the realization for many Americans in small towns that their neighbors are more multiracial and less willing to be quiet about things than most anyone had assumed.

Across the state in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, a town that is 95% white, Montreo Thompson, 26, pulled a lawn chair into his driveway in early June and held up a Black Lives Matter poster. Within days he was helping lead marches in towns all over the region and also protesting alongside Black people he had never seen before — some of whom lived down the street.

“They were literally walking distance from our house and I never knew they were

there,” Thompson said.

Small-town America has never been racially and politically monolithic. After the 2016 election and especially in places where President Donald Trump romped, thousands of women who were aghast at the result became politically active for the first time, meeting in library basements and organizing small but regular rallies. Still, that movement, powered chiefly by middle-aged, middleclass women in the suburbs and exurbs, was in many ways just a preamble to the mass wave of protests following Floyd’s death.

For weeks, protesters in Chambersburg gathered on the sidewalk in front of Central Presbyterian Church, a bronze-steepled landmark dedicated in 1871, just seven years after the town was burned to the ground by Confederate soldiers. The Rev. Scott Bowerman, who has been pastor of the church for eight years, called Trump’s election “an apocalyptic moment.” It was a deliberate word choice, he said, based in the root meaning of apocalypse: a revelation.

The 2016 election, Bowerman said, revealed that Franklin County, where Chambersburg sits, was not only conservative but enamored of a brand of America-first politics that truly electrified many of the white voters, who unfurled flags for Trump in a way they never had for any another candidate. Trump won the county by more than 45 points, 71% to 25%.

But the election also revealed a silent minority, long quiet about their politics.

Many already knew one another (“the usual suspects,” Bowerman said), but they began forming overtly liberal groups — Franklin County Coalition for Progress, Community Uniting, Concerned Citizens of Franklin County — planning events to celebrate Pride month, for instance, and digging into issues like redistricting reform. A new organization called Racial Reconciliation began holding discussion groups at the Presbyterian church, with mostly white attendees.

But then the George Floyd demonstrations began. These protesters were not the Trump faithful, nor were they members of the so-called resistance. At first, nobody recognized them at all.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Linda Thomas Worthy, a founder of Racial Reconciliation and one of the county’s most outspoken figures on racial issues.

She would drive through downtown

A Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Chambersburg, Pa., on June 20, 2020. during the first week of the protests to try to understand who all of the people coming out to decry racism were.

“I wanted to see how this unfolds,” she said.

The protesters were mostly white but not exclusively so, not in a town where more than a third of the students in the local schools are minorities. Lexi Leydig, 23, who is mixed race and was raised by a Guatemalan stepfather, was there, as was Maricruz Cabrera, 26, a Mexican American who waits tables down the street at Falafel Shack.

Protests followed in nearly every town in Franklin County: Shippensburg up the road, little Greencastle and Mercersburg, and Waynesboro, where a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan showed up to jeer.

The politics of the protesters were deeply eclectic. Many of those at the demonstrations in Chambersburg were avowedly apolitical, with little faith in either major party or electoral politics at all. In Shippensburg, a young Black nursing assistant who announced the rally there was joined by a Republican, a libertarian, a Democrat and a young man who described himself as a “radical Christian,” all committed to defunding the police.

The most unexpected champion, perhaps, has been the Franklin County district attorney, Matt Fogal, a Republican. For weeks he had been stewing, unhappy about how

partisan the pandemic response had become and about the president’s provocations. Then one afternoon he heard the protest out of his office window.

“I’m listening to them out there and just people honking in support, absolutely peaceful, a contrast to some of the images that we had been seeing,” he said. He sent a statement to local media. “Black lives matter.

Period,” it said, going on to urge people to put country over party in November. The former chairman of the local Republican Party called the statement “thoroughly disgusting.”

Few involved in the protests believe that the politics of the county had somehow been transformed overnight. Trump flags still hang from front porches all over the county, and on local Facebook pages, many commenters mock the protesters as ignorant and wasting their time. Many of the young people doubt much will come of this at all.

“Once everything slows down,” said Leydig, “people will just go back to their ways.”

Still, there are some developments.

The district attorney is forming an advisory group on racial matters. The meetings of Racial Reconciliation, which held a large demonstration in late June, are markedly bigger than they were. The liberal groups have begun letter-writing campaigns to downtown businesses, urging them to publicly support Black Lives Matter.

10

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

The first Coronavirus vaccine tested in humans shows early promise

By DENISE GRADY

A

n experimental coronavirus vaccine made by the biotech company Moderna provoked a promising immune response against the virus and appeared safe in the first 45 people who received it, researchers reported Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Moderna’s vaccine, developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in humans, and the company announced on Tuesday that large Phase 3 tests of it would begin on July 27, involving 30,000 people. Half of the participants will be a control group who will receive placebos.

This large clinical trial is expected to be completed by late October. But it’s not clear whether it will be possible to

prove the vaccine is safe and effective by then. The trial will need to show that those who were vaccinated were significantly less likely to contract the virus than those who got a placebo. The fastest way to get results is to test the vaccine in a “hot spot” with many cases, and the study is looking for people at high risk because of their locations or circumstances.

Vaccines and improved treatments are the only hope of returning lives back to anything close to normal, and dozens of companies are racing to develop vaccines. Experts agree that more than one vaccine will be needed, because no single company could produce the billions of doses needed.

“None of us are safe unless all of us are safe,” said Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York. “It’s not just us. It’s everybody in the world.”

The Moderna vaccine uses genetic material from the virus, called mRNA, to prompt the immune system to fight the coronavirus.

The report Tuesday confirmed and provided details on findings the company announced May 18 in a news release that was criticized for lacking data.

Moderna defended itself at the time, saying that as a publicly traded company it had a legal obligation to disclose results that could affect its share price, and that the actual data would be published later.

The results are from an early Phase 1 study that was designed to test low, medium and high doses of the vaccine and to gauge their safety and ability to create immunity to the virus. The participants were 45 healthy adults, ages 18 to 55, who received two vaccinations 28 days apart.

After the second shot, all of the participants developed so-called neutra-

The 45 people who were vaccinated in the early stage test of Moderna’s vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies to the coronavirus, an encouraging sign.

lizing antibodies, which can inactivate the virus in lab tests. The levels of those antibodies were similar to those in the upper range in patients who had recovered from coronavirus infections. The vaccine also produced a favorable response involving T-cells, another part of the immune system.

“It exceeds all expectations,” said Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, a viral immunologist and leader of a team that developed the vaccine at the infectious disease institute.

More than half of the participants had side effects, including fatigue, chills, headaches, muscle aches and pain at the injection site. Some had fever. One person who received the low dose developed hives and was withdrawn from the study. None of the side effects were considered serious.

Experts not involved with the study said the results were encouraging, but early. “Just because you have antibodies doesn’t mean you’re completely immune,” Rasmussen said.

It is possible, she said, that a vaccine might not totally prevent infection, but that it might make the illness less severe. “If it’s a choice between a bad cold and being on a ventilator, I’ll take the bad cold,” she said.

Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said that the neutralizing antibodies and other immune responses were a good sign, but that it was not known yet whether they would actually protect people against the virus, or how long they would last. The side effects were a “small price to pay” for protection against a potentially severe disease, he said, though fever may be a cause for concern once the vaccine is given to large numbers of people.

“You always worry that fever, especially high fever, could lead to other things,” Offit said, adding that only a large controlled study can determine whether the vaccine is truly safe and effective.

Otherwise, “it’s reading the tea leaves,” he said. “You just don’t know anything until you do a Phase 3 trial.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

11

Automakers are making cars, but virus surge puts that at risk

By NEAL E. BOUDETTE

A

utomakers are back to building cars and trucks at full speed — at least for now. But as coronavirus cases rise across much of the country, it may become difficult for the companies to keep at it.

This week, General Motors will lay off a third shift of workers — about 1,250 people — at its truck plant in Wentzville, Missouri, where absenteeism has been rising because workers are concerned about the spread of the virus. Union workers at a GM plant in Texas, where hospitals have been inundated, have called on the company to shut down their factory.

The auto industry, which accounts for about 4% of the country’s economic output, came to a near standstill in mid-March for nearly two months as the first wave of coronavirus cases spiked. Fiat Chrysler, Ford Motor, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and other manufacturers are now running almost all of their plants in the United States on two or three shifts, which amounts to full capacity.

The revival has helped automakers restock depleted dealer lots and cater to a rebound in demand that has been driven in part by people who feel they need a car for social distancing during the pandemic. Car sales in June were down from a year ago but were more robust than what analysts had expected.

But conditions are changing fast. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Monday ordered restaurants, wineries, movie theaters and other businesses to halt indoor operations. He stopped short of closing factories — such as the Tesla plant in Fremont, which employs some 10,000 workers — but he suggested that he was open to restricting economic activity further if the pandemic worsened.

“We’re going back into modification mode of our original stay-at-home order,” Newsom said. “This continues to be a deadly disease.”

Regardless of what governors, mayors and other policymakers order companies to do, auto manufacturers will most likely be forced to make changes like reducing shifts and temporarily closing plants, said Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan.

“Every plant has a lot of workers, so there will be at least a few workers at every plant that come down with COVID,” he said. “When that happens, other workers will fear that they will be next. No matter what the states allow, it will be hard to keep the plants operating.”

Last month, members of the United Auto Workers union called on GM to shut down an SUV factory in Arlington, Texas, in response to the rapid spread of the virus in that state. On Monday, Toyota said it had seen an increase in coronavirus cases among workers at its plant in San Antonio, but the company declined to dis-

Arriving for first shift at the Fiat Chrysler plant in Warren, Mich. Automakers are running almost all of their plants in the United States on two or three shifts. close how many people had taken ill.

Auto plants bring several thousand workers together under one roof every day. Manufacturers have taken a range of precautions to prevent infections among workers, including the use of masks, gloves and face shields.

Companies are also monitoring the body temperatures of workers, making time for sanitizing work areas and adding barriers to shield people who need to work close to one another to complete certain tasks.

Car companies are reluctant to halt production again, fearing what it would do to their finances just as they were recovering from the shutdown in the spring.

Layoffs would also be difficult for workers. The extra $600-a-week supplement to unemployment insurance authorized by Congress in March, which helped many autoworkers, ends July 31. It is not clear if lawmakers will extend the benefit.

Shortly after factories reopened in May, some automakers temporarily shut down plants after workers — usually just one or two — tested positive for the coronavirus. No automakers have reported widespread outbreaks like those that have affected meat-processing plants.

“Since restarting our operations, we have not had any spread of the virus in our plants,” said Jodi Tinson,

a spokeswoman for Fiat Chrysler. “Where we have had an employee test positive, social distancing, mandatory use of personal protection equipment, and cleaning and disinfecting have been in full use.”

Some of the most closely watched plants are in Texas, which has had more than 265,000 cases and has been averaging more than 9,000 new cases a day for the last seven days.

A GM spokesman, Dan Flores, said the company was confident that the many safety measures it had put in place at factories would protect employees.

“People on our team should not be concerned about coming to work,” he said. “All of our facilities are following protocols that are working very well to keep people safe by reducing the possibility that COVID-19 can enter the plants and spread within the plant.”

GM encourages all employees to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash hands frequently.

The company said it would eventually restart a third shift at the Wentzville factory but can’t say when that might happen.

Toyota has idled its plants in Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Canada this week as part of a planned summer shutdown.

12

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Stocks

S&P 500 beating Nasdaq for fourth day as investors shift focus

T

he S&P 500 index on Wednesday was on track to beat the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite for a fourth straight session, a feat scored only twice since Wall Street launched its massive recovery last March.

The recent outperformance of the most-followed U.S. stock market benchmark reflects a rotation away from companies viewed as benefiting from the economic lockdown caused by coronavirus, and into those crippled by the pandemic.

Data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine drove the S&P 500 0.3% higher early Wednesday afternoon, with strong gains in cruise ship lines, airlines and other companies that investors in recent months have worried might not remain solvent.

The S&P 500 financial and energy indexes, two of the weakest performers since the coronavirus ended Wall Street’s 11-year bull market in February, each rose over 1%.

“The notion of maybe getting a vaccine and getting the economy restarted has really pushed investors toward the weaker value and leveraged names on hopes that we can end this shutdown,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Wealth Advisors.

The last time the S&P 500 outperformed the Nasdaq for four consecutive sessions was June 5, and before that, March 27, according to Refinitiv data.

The S&P 500 has climbed about 2% since last Thursday, compared to the Nasdaq’s 0.7% dip. Still, the Nasdaq hit an intraday record high on Monday, while the S&P 500 remains 5% below its February record high close.

Keeping the Nasdaq down 0.2% on Wednesday was a 2.6% drop in Amazon.com Inc , as well as losses in Alphabet Inc , Nvidia Corp , Netflix Inc and other companies that have outperformed in recent months on bets they would outgrow rivals due to the coronavirus.

Netflix’s quarterly report after the bell on Thursday will show how well the leading streaming video service has fared as a result of the coronavirus, and could affect investors’ expectations for other recent market leaders ahead of their reports in the next several days.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

13

China vows to retaliate after Trump signs Hong Kong sanctions bill

By STEVEN LEE MYERS

C

hina on Wednesday sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s moves to strip Hong Kong of its preferential trading status with the United States and clear the way for new sanctions on officials and companies there, vowing to retaliate with punitive measures of its own.

The response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing promised to continue a pattern of tit-for-tat punishments that have accompanied the sharp downward turn in relations between the two countries on a variety of fronts, from trade to technology to human rights.

China was swift to criticize Trump’s latest actions, which he announced at a rambling White House news conference on Tuesday. Those moves, along with his remarks, underscored the extent to which relations with Beijing have become intertwined with the U.S. presidential election.

Trump said he had issued an executive order revoking the special trading status that Hong Kong had enjoyed for more than two decades, following the Chinese government’s imposition of a sweeping new national security law there. The law came into force on June 30, and its chilling effect on political freedoms in the city — which, under a formula called “one country, two systems,” is supposed to have a high degree of autonomy from China — has already been evident in a series of arrests and police raids.

Trump also signed legislation, adopted overwhelmingly in May by Congress, that authorizes the administration to impose sanctions on officials or institutions, including banks, that were found to have undermined Hong Kong’s semiautonomous status.

His executive order, besides revoking the territory’s special trading status, calls for sanctions against people deemed to have

been involved in a variety of acts in Hong Kong, including arrests made under the new security law and actions that undermine democratic processes or limit the news media’s freedoms.

Officials in Beijing had clearly anticipated the moves, but they reacted harshly nonetheless.

“The act on the United States side maliciously denigrates Hong Kong’s national security legislation, threatens to impose sanctions on China and gravely violates international law and basic rules of international relations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on Wednesday morning in China, not long after Trump finished speaking.

“It is gross interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs,” the ministry said.

The impact of the new powers detailed in the U.S. law and Trump’s executive order remain to be seen. Congress has authorized similar measures before, only to have the administration delay imposing them as it weighed other foreign policy considerations, including Trump’s signature trade deal with China.

With relations deteriorating badly and the pandemic’s toll mounting in the United States, the administration has acted more aggressively in recent weeks.

When the United States imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials over China’s crackdown on Uighurs and other Muslims in the far western region of Xinjiang, Beijing reciprocated by announcing travel bans and sanctions on prominent Republican members of Congress.

Lau Siu-kai, a senior adviser to the Chinese government on Hong Kong policy, said the U.S. actions would have limited effect on Hong Kong and would, contrary to the intent of the United States, drive the territory closer to mainland China.

“The overall damage to Hong Kong and to China is rather

The New York Times building, on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, Feb. 8, 2020. minimal and can be absorbed,” said Lau, a former senior Hong Kong government official who is now with the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.

He said Hong Kong was becoming “increasingly detached from the United States and the West, and increasingly attached to China and Asia.”

Others said the U.S. actions could have more significant effects by hurting the city’s reputation for openness and rule of law.

That could affect companies as well as academia.

“The only way we can regain the respect and favorable conditions that we deserve is if Beijing fulfills its original promise to the world and Hong Kong people, which is the genuine implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ and our high degree of autonomy,” said James To, a pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker.

Seoul will investigate #MeToo accusations against dead mayor

By CHOE SANG-HUN

S

eoul City Hall officials said on Wednesday that they would create a joint fact-finding team with women’s groups and legal and human rights experts to investigate accusations that Mayor Park Won-soon had sexually abused a secretary for four years.

The team’s members ​will ​have no power to subpoena or indict those they want to q​ uestion because Park, 64, killed himself Thursday, a day after the secretary filed a complaint against him to the police. By law, the criminal case against Park was automatically closed upon his death.

But women’s rights activists, as well as the unidentified secretary, who spoke to the news media through her lawyer, have called for an investigation even if prosecutors cannot bring charges against Park.

In a survey conducted ​by Realmeter a ​day after Park’s funeral Monday, more than 64% of respondents said they considered an investigation necessary, the company said Wednesday.

“The most important thing is to find the truth,” said Hwang In-sik, a spokesman for the city of Seoul, during a news conference

Wednesday where he announced the fact-finding investigation.

But Hwang indicated that the investigators might be able to ask City Hall for disciplinary actions or even ​request that ​the police begin a formal investigation if they find enough incriminating evidence against any ​City Hall o​ fficials other than Park.

Besides the secretary’s allegations​of sexual harassment​, the investigators will look into when and through whom Park learned of his secretary’s complaint to the police. Women’s rights activists have said that the filing was leaked to Park, giving him an opportunity to potentially destroy evidence before he died by suicide.

They also said that the secretary’s initial appeals to city officials for help had been ignored as officials tried to protect Park’s reputation. ​ “I am so crushed that I can hardly find a word to say to the people,” Lee Hae-chan, the head of the Democratic Party, said Wednesday about the accusations against the late mayor. “I once again say we are sorry to the people.”

The suicide of Park, as well as the accusations against him, have dominated headlines in South Korea for several days.

As mayor of Seoul, a city of 10 million, Park was South Korea’s

second-most-powerful elected official, credited with making the city safer and more friendly toward women and often c​ ited as a possible presidential candidate​. ​ Before becoming mayor, ​Park had been one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyer​s​, ​championing women’s rights throughout his career​ and winning the country’s first sexual harassment case.

The accusations against Park were also a blow to ​President Moon Jae-in’s governing liberal Democratic Party​, of which Park had been a member. Two other party members have​recently​become the focus of the #MeToo movement.

In April, Oh Keo-don, the mayor of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, admitted to sexual misconduct and resigned after a public servant accused him of sexually assaulting her in his office.

In 2018, Ahn Hee-jung, a rising star in Moon’s party and a presidential hopeful, stepped down as governor of South Chungcheong province after his secretary went on television to accuse him of repeatedly sexually assaulting her. He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on rape charges

14

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Monsoon rains pummel South Asia, displacing millions

The village of Gagolmari, in Assam, India, on Tuesday. The country’s northeast is among the areas ravaged by the flooding.

By SAMEER YASIR

W

hen heavy floods started inundating her riverside home last week in the village of Madarganj, northern Bangladesh, Habiba Begum chose to stay put with her family instead of moving to shelter.

Begum’s family, desperate to save what few possessions they had, chained their only suitcase to their house, a makeshift structure of bamboo and banana leaves constructed after the last devastating flood in the area, just two years ago.

As the waters rose, the house was marooned in muddied waters, and the family had to cook meals on a raised area of dry ground nearby.

Then tragedy struck. Begum left her 1-year-old daughter, Lamia Khatun, on a patch of higher ground while she washed clothes in floodwaters on Tuesday. But the waters kept rising.

“When I came back, she was gone,”

Begum, 32, said. “We found her body hours later.”

Across southern Asia, more than 4 million people have been hit hard by monsoon floods that have destroyed homes and structures, drowned entire villages and forced people to crouch on rooftops hoping for rescue.

The monsoon season — usually June to September — brings a torrent of heavy rain, a deluge that is crucial to South Asia’s agrarian economy.

But in recent years, the monsoon season has increasingly brought cyclones and devastating floods, causing the internal displacement of millions of people in lowlying areas, particularly in Bangladesh.

Last year, at least 600 people were killed and more than 25 million affected by flooding because of the torrential monsoon rains in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal, according to the United Nations.

And in 2017, more than 1,000 people died in floods across South Asia.

Rainfall has been heaviest this year in northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal, according to the Southeast Asia Flash Flood Forecast System, which is affiliated with the United Nations.

Bangladeshi authorities say that the flooding started in late June, inundations are expected to continue this month, and more areas will be affected.

Enamur Rahman, the Bangladeshi minister for disaster management, said the inundations were the worst in decades and that hundreds of thousands of families had been marooned, forcing the authorities to open more than 1,000 emergency shelters.

“We are fighting the catastrophe with every possible resource available,” Rahman said. “It seems rains and floods will be prolonged this year.”

Researchers have warned that within a few decades, Bangladesh, with a population of more than 160 million people, may lose more than 10% of its land to sea-level rise, caused by a warming climate, displac-

ing as many as 18 million.

India has also suffered immensely.

Floods have swept across the states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and other areas in the eastern part of the country. Authorities have said that at least 85 people have died, with more than 3 million affected by the deluge.

In the northeastern state of Assam, Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage site that is a home to the one-horned Indian rhinoceros, a species listed as vulnerable by the WWF, has been completely inundated. Officials said that more than 50 animals had died in the flooding, though some wildlife had been rescued.

With more than a dozen rivers and tributaries swelling above the danger mark, rescue operations have been carried out in at least 22 districts across Assam.

In Nepal, 67 people have died and 40 others are missing, according to the National Emergency Operation Center.

That is in additional to the monsoons that have battered Bangladesh. Low-lying and densely populated, with 165 million people, the country is chronically ravaged by flooding.

In Jamalpur, in the north, the flood situation has become critical, with rivers flowing well above the danger level.

Muneeb-ul-Islam, 42, who lives in the area with his wife and three children, said he had lost his home several times in 10 years, leaving him with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.

Muneeb-ul-Islam and his family are among more than 1 million people in Bangladesh left displaced or homeless by the floods.

“It is as if we have committed some sin,” he said. “This is the third time in the last few years that we will have to rebuild our lives from scratch.”

Begum, who lost her 1-year-old, said her life had been completely destroyed.

She has now moved to a nearby shelter, a school building, where hundreds of people were crammed in. Fear of the coronavirus spreading in such cramped quarters looms large. Begum’s family said there had not been enough warning about the magnitude of the flooding.

“I will never go back to the place where we used to live,” she said, “The water has snatched everything from us.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

15

In rare surge of online unity, Iranians call for halt to executions

By FARNAZ FASSIHI

I

ranians from all walks of life — teachers, doctors, designers, cooks, actors, directors, artists, homemakers, bloggers — have taken to social media with a message for the government: Stop the executions.

The online campaign, which took place Tuesday and which analysts said was remarkable for its scope and the breadth of its support, was in response to the judiciary’s announcement earlier in the day that it had upheld the death sentences of three young men who joined anti-government protests in November.

Iran put 251 people to death last year, more than any country but China, according to Amnesty International. In recent weeks, many Iranians have been rattled by a series of executions based on murky charges, from drinking alcohol to political activism to allegedly spying for the CIA. “I’m next, you’re next, we’re next,” read a meme that was widely shared online.

It was a rare moment of solidarity among Iranians of varying political views around a single issue. Human rights activists said it suggested that Iranians were seeking new ways to be heard, with the government having brutally crushed street protests and other forms of dissent.

By midday Tuesday, the most-tweeted hashtag within Iran was #DontExecute in Persian, according to Twitter. Iranians all over the world joined the campaign, and the hashtag trended globally, with nearly 4.5 million tweets.

“I’ve never seen a hashtag with this level of participation from Iranians everywhere,” said Amir Rashidi, a digital researcher with a focus on internet security. Past issues, including political prisoners and Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, had generated considerable social media engagement but not like what was seen Tuesday, he said.

The call to end executions also generated tens of thousands of posts on other platforms popular in Iran, like Instagram and Telegram.

NetBlocks, which tracks global internet usage, reported significant internet disruption within Iran on Tuesday night, as did individual Iranians. The government routinely disrupts or shuts off the internet and mobile services when faced with demonstrations or significant internal dissent.

The three condemned men, Amirhossein Moradi, 25, Saeed Tamjidi, 27, and Mohammad Rajabi, 27, were part of a nationwide uprising in November as people took to the streets to protest rising gasoline prices. Rights organizations say that the security forces killed at least 500 protesters and that 7,000 people were arrested.

The three were found guilty of “participation in vandalism and arson with the intent to confront and

engage in war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In an open letter, the men’s lawyers said their clients had been forced to confess under “aberrant conditions.” The Supreme Court turned down an appeal and upheld the death sentences Tuesday, the judiciary announced.

A broad range of Iranians joined the online campaign denouncing the sentences. “Every human life is precious. #DontExecute,” Mojgan Rezaei, a lifestyle blogger in Tehran, wrote on Instagram, where she has more than 200,000 followers.

“We are overwhelmed with grief, running out of time to mourn. #DontExecute,” tweeted a Tehranbased economist, Siamak Ghasemi.

Well-known figures followed, some of them with millions of followers: Mohsen Chavoshi, a pop singer; Azar Mahisefat, a grandmother and a food blogger; Taraneh Alidousti, an actress; Asghar Farhadi, a filmmaker who has won two Oscars. Hossein Mahini, a player for Iran’s beloved national soccer team, sent a tweet with the #DontExecute hashtag written three times, once for each of the men facing death.

Ordinary internet users who rarely weigh in on political issues shared photos of the three men. Sara, a homemaker with two young daughters who asked that her last name not be reported, posted a photo of three bleeding red roses and wrote: “Enough. Don’t execute life.”

Politicians took notice. Former Vice President

Mohamad Ali Abtahi, a cleric, warned in a tweet that the government should not be stubborn in the face of such strong public opinion. A former member of Parliament, Parvaneh Salahshouri, tweeted a line of poetry about oppression with the #DontExecute hashtag.

“Nothing shakes and weakens the foundations of the government and provokes public retaliation like spilling the blood of innocent people,” Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent reformist politician, wrote on Twitter, also using the hashtag.

Iranians, including advocates for human rights, said the government was making an example of the three men to intimidate the public and pre-empt future uprisings, amid widespread discontent over the dismal economy and the authorities’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Iran’s currency has been in a daily free fall. This week, rials were trading at 23,000 to the dollar; a month ago, the figure was 13,000. Prices for basic goods have been fluctuating drastically. And the pandemic continues to rage, with daily case numbers climbing and 25 provinces having been declared “red zones.”

“The society is boiling so they are increasing the number of executions,” said Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, which lobbies for human rights in Iran. The message, she said, was “remember we can kill.”

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Thursday, July 16, 2020

In rare surge of online unity, Iranians call for halt to executions

By NORIMITSU ONISHI

G

rowing up in France, Maboula Soumahoro never thought of herself as Black.

At home, her immigrant parents stressed the culture of the Dioula, a Muslim ethnic group from Ivory Coast in West Africa. In her neighborhood, she identified herself as Ivorian to other children of African immigrants.

It was only as a teenager — years after the discovery of Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, “The Cosby Show” and hip-hop made her “dream of being cool like African Americans” — that she began feeling a racial affinity with her friends, she said.

“We were all children of immigrants from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Africa, and we are all a little bit unlike our parents,” recalled Soumahoro, 44, an expert on race who lived in the United States for a decade. “We were French in our new way and we weren’t white French. It was different in our homes, but we found one another regardless, and that’s when you become Black.”

Besides fueling heated debates over racism, the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis has underscored the emergence of a new way of thinking about race in the public discourse in France, a nation where discussion of race and religion has traditionally been muted in favor of elevating a colorblind ideal that all people share the same universal rights.

That ideal has often fallen short in reality, especially as French society has become more diverse and discrimination

Binetou Sylla, left, and Rhoda Tchokokam, co-authors of “Le Dérangeur,” a book about race in France, in a radio studio in Paris, on July 1, 2020.

remains entrenched, leading some to wonder whether the universalist model has run its course.

Today it is being challenged perhaps most vociferously by the many Black French who have gone through a racial awakening in recent decades — helped by the pop culture of the United States, its thinkers, and even its Paris-based diplomats who spotted and encouraged young Black French leaders a decade ago.

To its opponents, Black and white, the challenge to the universalist tradition is perceived as part of the broader “Americanization” of French society. This challenge risks fragmenting France, they say, and poses a threat far more central to the modern republic’s founding principles than familiar complaints about the encroachment of McDonald’s or Hollywood blockbusters.

Even those Black French who have been inspired by the United States also consider America to be a deeply flawed and violently racist society. In France, people of different backgrounds mix far more freely, and while Black people occupy fewer high-profile positions than in the United States, like all French citizens they enjoy universal access to education, health care and other services.

“When I consider both countries, I’m not saying that one country is better than the other,” said Soumahoro, who has taught African American studies at Columbia University and now teaches at the Université de Tours. “For me, they’re two racist societies that manage racism in their own way.”

Most of France’s new thinkers on race are the children of immigrants from the former colonial empire. Growing up in households with a strong sense of their separate ethnic identities, they gradually began to develop a shared sense of racial consciousness in their neighborhoods and schools.

Pap Ndiaye — a historian who led efforts to establish Black studies as an academic discipline in France with the 2008 publication of his book “La Condition Noire,” or “The Black Condition” — said he grew aware of his race only after studying in the United States in the 1990s.

“It’s an experience that all Black French go through when they go to the United States,” said Ndiaye, 54, who teaches at Sciences Po. “It’s the experience of a country where skin color is reflected upon and where it is not hidden behind a colorblind discourse.”

The son of a Senegalese father and a Frenchwoman, Ndiaye is a “métis” in the French context, or of mixed race, though he identifies himself as a Black man.

His views of the world and himself were a radical challenge to the French state. Rooted in the Enlightenment and the

Revolution, France’s universalism has long held that each person enjoys fundamental rights like equality and liberty. In keeping with the belief that no group should be given preference, it remains illegal to collect data on race for the census and for almost all other official purposes.

But the unequal treatment of women in France and of nonwhite people throughout its colonies belied that universalist ideal.

“Universality could work easily enough when there weren’t too many immigrants or when they were white Catholics,” said Gérard Araud, France’s former ambassador to the United States. “But faced with Islam on one side and Black Africans on the other, this model has evidently reached its limits.

And so the debate is that on one side is this universalism, which is a beautiful ideal, but on the other is how to say at the same time that, yes, it’s not working.”

Tania de Montaigne, a French author who has written about race, said that Black French will fully integrate only through the rule of law and citizenship. Emphasizing a racial identity, she said, would make Black French perpetual outsiders in a society where the overwhelming majority aspires to a colorblind universalism.

“They say that there’s something, wherever you are in the world, whatever language you speak, whatever your history, this Black nature endures,” said de Montaigne, 44, whose parents immigrated from Martinique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “But that’s exactly how you make it impossible to become a citizen, because there will always be something in me that will never be included in society.”

For younger Black people in France, their awareness of race partly grew out of the work of the older generation. Binetou Sylla, 31, a co-author of “Le Dérangeur,” a book about race in France, said she vividly remembers buying the first edition of Ndiaye’s “The Black Condition,” which helped established Black studies in France, and “had devoured” it.

Another co-author, Rhoda Tchokokam, 29, grew up in Cameroon before immigrating to France at the age of 17. While her racial awareness emerged in France, it evolved in the United States, where she went to study for two years, watched all of Spike Lee’s movies and discovered the works of Toni Morrison and Black feminists like Angela Davis and Audre Lorde.

“When I started meeting Black people in France, I started broadening my outlook a little,” Tchokokam said. “I still didn’t think of myself as Black because that’s a long process, where today I define myself as Black politically. Back then, I started becoming aware and when I arrived in the United States, it’s in fact there that I was able to put it in words.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

17

Congress, do your job: Help Americans without one

By THE NYT EDITORIAL BOARD

U

nemployment benefits provide people who lose jobs with a little help for a little while. The money is not really enough to live on, by design: People are supposed to find a new job.

During an economic crisis, however, people can’t find jobs.

They need money to live on.

Congress recognized this reality in March when it responded to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic by increasing unemployment benefits. But the expansion expires at the end of this month, even as the pandemic continues to rage. Congress, after dragging its feet for months, has all but run out of time to prevent a lapse in the distribution of extra aid.

The nation’s elected representatives need to act immediately to extend emergency benefits, and to authorize the extra aid to continue for the duration of the crisis.

Because crises are both inevitable and unpredictable — and because the federal government is slow to react whenever a crisis begins to unfold — the government also needs a set of rules that automatically switches the unemployment benefits program from normal mode to crisis mode, and back again, based on the evolution of economic conditions.

The need for more unemployment benefits is just part of a broader set of measures Congress must take to shore up the economy.

State and local governments urgently need help, including funding for schools. So do businesses that the pandemic has shuttered, and health care providers it has overwhelmed.

But those who have lost jobs are singularly vulnerable — especially because pandemic job losses have been concentrated among low-wage workers with little money in the bank.

The program created in March has two main components.

First, Congress expanded eligibility for unemployment benefits to include self-employed workers, gig workers and others who were previously ineligible. Americans deserve to have that adjustment made permanent: It moves the safety net of unemployment benefits more squarely beneath the modern workforce. As of the end of June, more than 14 million American workers had qualified for benefits under the expansion out of a total of 33 million workers drawing unemployment benefits.

The second component of the rescue package gave unemployed workers a $600 weekly payment from the federal government on top of their standard unemployment check, which averages $373 a week, although the amount varies widely by state. The average recipient is thus getting nearly $1,000 a week. People also can collect the benefits for up to 39 weeks, up from as little as 13 weeks before the crisis.

Federal aid, including the expansion of unemployment benefits, has helped to stabilize the finances, and thus the lives, of millions of American households and the communities of which they are a part. It’s not as good as a job: Among other things, millions of people have lost their health insurance. But even as the pandemic has pushed unemployment to the highest levels since the Great Depression, research suggests the aid is preventing any meaningful increase in the share of families living in poverty.

These are individual benefits with societal impact. Workers

on federal aid can afford to make rent payments, easing the pressure on landlords. They can afford to shop at local stores, supporting hard-pressed small businesses.

When Congress slapped a July expiration date on the program, there was reason to hope that the United States might have brought the pandemic under control by now. Other nations have done so. But the United States has failed to control the spread of the virus, and fear continues to curtail economic activity. The need for continued aid is undeniable.

The House of Representatives passed a bill in May that would extend the aid program through January, but few economic analysts expect the economy to recover by then — particularly as the first wave of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the Sun Belt. While any arbitrary deadline risks another battle over reauthorization, a January deadline would be particularly fraught. After the Republican Party lost control of the White House in 2009, during the last economic crisis, congressional Republicans decided it was politically expedient to oppose federal spending that was needed to revive the economy. Democrats would be wise to take the lesson.

The size of the $600 bonus is also a subject of controversy.

The figure was chosen because lawmakers wanted to provide workers with the money they would have earned, but the antediluvian conditions in many state unemployment offices made it impossible to tailor benefits. Instead, Congress picked a figure that would make the average worker whole.

The White House, and some congressional Republicans, are upset that some workers are getting more money than they earned in their former jobs. They argue this could discourage workers from seeking new jobs.

This is not an immediate problem: At the moment, the United States is suffering a lack of jobs, not a lack of willing workers. Moreover, there is a ready solution: a plan to reduce the payments as

the economy recovers.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced legislation early this month to continue the emergency aid on a state-by-state basis until the jobless rates in each state recede. Expanded eligibility would last until unemployment dropped to 5.5%. Expanded benefits would drop by $100 when the rate fell below 11%, and by another $100 each time the rate dropped by another percentage point, ending when the rate hit 6%.

Congress can avoid the need for similarly ad hoc policymaking during future crises by providing funding for states to fix the problems that have impeded the distribution of benefits — and by adopting rules to automatically expand and contract supplemental benefits.

Claudia Sahm, then a Federal Reserve economist, wrote in a paper published last year that the movement of the unemployment rate could be used as a reliable indicator. She found that since the 1970s, when a three-month average of the unemployment rate rose half a percentage point above the lowest rate during the previous year, the economy was in a recession.

Sahm, now the director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, has proposed using this “Sahm rule” as a trigger to initiate aid programs such as supplemental unemployment benefits. The emergency aid would then continue until the unemployment rate fell back to that threshold. In the current crisis, emergency aid would continue until the unemployment rate, now 11.1%, receded to 5.3%.

That would be a smarter way to provide workers with necessary and timely aid.

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Thursday, July 16, 2020

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NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Please don’t call them heroes

By FARHAD MANJOO

I

n America, you should always get a little suspicious when politicians suddenly start calling you a hero. It’s a well-worn trick; they’re buttering you up before sacrificing you to the gods of unconstrained capitalism and governmental neglect.

A few months ago, it was nurses, doctors and other essential workers who were hailed as heroes — a perfectly accurate and heartwarming sentiment, but also one meant to obscure the sorry reality that the world’s richest country was asking health care workers to treat coronavirus patients without providing adequate protective gear.

“Please don’t call me a hero,” a nurse in Brooklyn wrote on a protest sign at the time. “I am being martyred against my will.”

Now, it’s America’s parents and teachers who are being valorized for doing a job that really should not require putting their lives on the line.

At a White House event last week to encourage the nation’s schools to reopen, Vice President Mike Pence laid the heroism on thick. Parents and teachers, he said, were “two categories of heroes that emerged” in the crisis. Since the pandemic is all but over, at least in the magical thinking of the Trump administration, Pence wants parents and teachers to again put on our capes and save the day. “To open up America again, we got

to open up America’s schools,” he said.

I want schools to reopen as much any parent does. My wife and I were driven to the verge of breakdown this spring while trying to home-school our kids while working from home, and I am freaking out about having to do that again in the fall.

But parents and teachers would be wise to reject any invitation to unnecessary heroism. I don’t want educating my kids to be a heroic act of American defiance — I want it to be ordinary.

And I’d rather not sacrifice my children’s teachers, either, so that America’s economy can begin humming once more.

Again and again in this crisis, the federal government’s callous incompetence has left Americans with no good options.

Early research on school reopening suggests that classrooms can be safe when the virus is contained or declining, and as long as schools take necessary precautions to minimize the chance that classrooms become superspreaders. But in much of the nation, the virus remains uncontained, and so we face a grim future. There will likely be danger and chaos if the schools do not reopen, and there will be danger and chaos if they do.

The needs of children and working parents have long been ignored by American lawmakers, but I’ve never felt the government’s neglect as viscerally as in its inability to make school safe again during a pandemic.

Shouldn’t getting our kids back to school have been a primary goal of the federal government throughout the summer?

What possible excuse can anyone muster for falling down on this job?

I’m reminded of that famous presidential call to sacrifice: Ask not what your country can do for you … because, honestly, it probably won’t do much of anything, and your best bet when facing a crisis is to just learn to live with it. (This sounds like a joke, but it’s the actual plan: “The virus is with us, but we need to live with it,” one anonymous administration official recently told NBC News.)

Experts say there are many ways to mitigate the risks of the coronavirus while reopening the schools. The most obvious of these would have been to reduce the spread of the virus, but you know how well that’s going.

The federal government could also have provided the hundreds of billions of dollars that school district officials say is necessary to remake education during a pandemic. We could have funded hazard pay for teachers and paid time off for parents, and come up with a plan to repurpose office buildings or gyms for the space required to teach students while social distancing.

In May, Democrats in the House passed a bill that calls for $58 billion in new funds for schools. But the Republican Senate has not taken up the measure, and President Donald Trump has done little more than post several all-caps tweets demanding that they reopen. In cable-news interviews this weekend, Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, refused to say if schools should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s health guidelines, which calls for strict social distancing, masks and the installation of physical barriers and improved ventilation to reduce the spread of the virus.

DeVos’ plan, like Trump’s, appears to be little more than wishful thinking: Go to school. Don’t worry about it. Things will be fine. You’re a hero!

Forgive me if I feel less like a hero than like a chump.

This week several large school districts, including Los Angeles and San Diego, announced that it’s too dangerous to open for in-person instruction. I expect that we’ll see a wave of others deciding the same, leaving parents across the country in an impossible bind.

There is a danger that frustrated parents blame teachers for the crisis. After all, distance learning has been a disaster. It’s unfair, and likely impossible, for kids to learn by themselves off a screen, and in my experience, remote learning requires a great deal of parental oversight, which is difficult or impossible for most overburdened parents.

But as I tried and failed to educate my kids during months under quarantine, I gained new appreciation for my children’s teachers, and I’m wary of asking more of them. Spending a day teaching kids has got to be one of the most difficult and most thankless job our society asks professionals to do. It doesn’t strike me as fair to demand that teachers now risk their lives, too, just because our government couldn’t be bothered to protect them. Teachers shouldn’t have to be heroes to do their jobs; educating our children should be heroism enough.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

19

Informe final sobre manejo de almacenes se presentará después del 9 de agosto, dice representante Rodríguez Aguiló Por THE STAR l presidente de la Comisión Especial para E la Reconstrucción de Puerto Rico, Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló, dijo el miércoles, que des-

pués del 9 de agosto, retomará la investigación sobre el manejo de los almacenes de suministros del gobierno de Puerto Rico durante los terremotos del sur y suroeste del país.

“La Comisión se va a activar nuevamente luego del 9 de agosto. Vamos a estar dirigidos en la reconstrucción. Cuáles son los asuntos relacionados al programa de Vivienda, el Departamento de Desarrollo Económico con los pequeños y medianos comerciantes, cómo se están atendiendo las peticiones de los municipios, carreteras y todo lo que es la reconstrucción”, dijo el representante Rodríguez Aguiló a su salida del Departamento de Justicia.

El representante había sido invitado al Departamento de Justicia para que compartiera la información recopilada durante las vistas

públicas y ejecutivas que, al momento, convocó.

Cuestionado sobre cuándo será presentado el informe final, Rodríguez Aguiló mencionó que tiene tiempo todavía hasta el final del

año, pero si la gobernadora Wanda Vázquez Garced convoca la sesión extraordinaria, el documento podría ser presentado, aprobado o evaluado por el pleno en ese momento.

“Sobre el manejo de la emergencia que tiene que ver con los suministros, nosotros podemos concluir que sí hubo irregularidades. Eso lo estoy diciendo yo como presidente de la Comisión”, dijo.

Rodríguez Aguiló le entregó ocho folios de documentos que incluyen, entre otras cosas, la información confidencial que ofreció el destituido comisionado del Negociado de Manejo de Emergencias y Administración de Desastres (NMEAD), Carlos Acevedo.

Hasta el momento, se rindió un informe parcial sobre supuesto perjurio de varios funcionarios y exfuncionarios del gobierno como, la exsecretaria de Justicia, Dennise Longo Quiñones (que fue referida al FEI), el secretario de Estado, Elmer Román, y el excomisionado del NMEAD, general José Burgos.

Alcalde de Orocovis confirma que reducirán el horario de los negocios en ese pueblo Por THE STAR l alcalde de Orocovis, Jesús Colón Ela mañana Berlingeri, afirmó en entrevista en de hoy que limitarán el horario de los negocios en ese pueblo para evitar el contagio del COVID-19, ante el alza en los casos en ese municipio en la última semana, de uno a 24.

“Nosotros vamos a estar limitando el horario de los restaurantes de nuestro pueblo. Lo vamos a bajar a las 7:00 de la noche (el cierre al público.

Y vamos a hacer otra serie de medidas”, dijo Colón Berlingeri.

“Los domingos vamos a estarlo limitándolo a que solamente sea ‘carry out’ (recogido de órdenes). Y no pueden haber bares abiertos los domingos. Vamos a tomar una serie de medidas. Y vamos a estar visitando definitivamente (al área recreativa de) Toro Verde, para asegurarnos que están cumpliendo con el protocolo debido”, en cuanto al uso de máscaras y el distanciamiento social.

En cuanto a los horarios de servicio, Colón Berlingeri dijo “que se quedará igual”. Si modificarán el tiempo para usar los salones de los restaurantes para “bajarlo de 9:00 (de la noche) a 7:00” (de la noche) y a partir de esa hora será para recoger órdenes.

El Alcalde de Orocovis confirmó que los casos de COVID-19 aumentaron de uno a 24.

Peñuelas Por su parte, el alcalde de Peñuelas, Gregory González, confirmó en la mañana de hoy miércoles que en ese municipio el toque de queda iniciará a las 7:00 p.m., extendiéndose hasta las 5:00 a.m., para prevenir el contagio del COVID-19.

Podrán transitar por las calles de ese pueblo las personas que laboren en los centros autorizados por la orden ejecutiva de la gobernadora Wanda Vázquez.

Cabo Rojo Ayer martes el Municipio de Cabo Rojo enmendó una Orden Ejecutiva para imponer un toque de queda y cerrar sus playas, entre otras medidas, para evitar contagios de coronavirus.

Según decretó el alcalde, Roberto Ramírez Kurtz, el toque de queda iniciará desde el 15 de julio hasta el 26 de julio de 7:00 p.m. a 5:00 a.m.

Explicó que durante el horario de toque de queda, podrán transitar todo ciudadano cuyo trabajo lo requiera bajo autorización patronal. Asimismo, personas identificadas en agencias de seguridad pública o privada, a nivel estatal, federal y municipal; profesionales de la salud y personal

que labora en hospitales, farmacias, farmacéuticas, instalaciones de biociencia o centros de salud; personal que se encuentre trabajando en la cadena de distribución al por mayor y manufactura de bienes y alimentos; aquellos ciudadanos que estén atendiendo situaciones de emergencias o de salud; y ciudadanos que salgan a recoger o comprar alimentos mediante carry out o servicarro en los

comercios de ventas de alimentos y supermercados.

‘En cuanto a los comercios, desde el 15 de julio al 26 de julio, los comercios en el término jurisdiccional de Cabo Rojo operarán dentro del período de toque de queda decretado.

Además, los domingos, 19 y 26 de julio de 2020, todo comercio permanecerá cerrado con excepción de gasolineras, farmacias y panaderías.

20

Thursday, July 16, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Famous paintings go on show, without a canvas in sight

A scene from the “Gustav Klimt: Gold and Color” show at “Bassins de Lumières” in Bordeaux, France, in June.

By VALERIYA SAFRONOVA

O

n the walls inside of a former World War II submarine base, a huge Gustav Klimt tree expands its branches and a gold Paul Klee fish floats by. The bright, changing colors of these projections are reflected by four saltwater pools. Visitors walk along gangways, watching the floor-toceiling digital animations based on famous works by Klimt, Klee and Egon Schiele.

The show, called “Bassins de Lumières,” or “Basins of Light,” opened June 10 after a delay caused by France’s coronavirus lockdown. It is the fourth immersive art space created

by Culturespaces, a Paris-based company that manages cultural sites and produces digital exhibitions. Its second, “L’Atelier des Lumières,” has been a huge hit in Paris, drawing 1.2 million visitors in 2018 and nearly 1.4 million the next year.

At the end of 2018, Culturespaces opened the third of these immersive shows in a bunker on Jeju Island in South Korea. The company plans to create more of them in Dubai, New York City and Chicago.

The formula is straightforward: Culturespaces finds a structure with a notable history, like a former foundry or a bunker; renovates it; and adds offices, control rooms and a reception area. Then the venue opens with a flashy exhibition of digitized works by famous artists, projected onto the walls and animated to a soundtrack. A team of producers has so far

created 15 digital exhibitions for Culturespaces, using works by artists including Marc Chagall, Yves Klein, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh.

Sylvie Pflieger, an associate professor at the University of Paris who studies the cultural economy, said in an email that Culturespaces was “the true pioneer of ‘immersive art,’ which transports the individual to a dreamlike location.”

With its “Lumières” experiences, Culturespaces is pushing the boundaries between entertainment and art, and between real life and virtual reality. Gone are the frames and the meditative stillness viewers are used to in museums, replaced by huge images that transform to the music of artists as varied as Beethoven and Janis Joplin.

Culturespaces is used to operating outside the norm: For many years, the company’s business has been the management of cultural and heritage sites in France for profit, an unusual setup in a country where the arts rely on significant state funding.

Though Culturespaces can replicate its digital shows around the world without the financial burdens of handling real-life artworks, there are other major costs: Preparing the Bordeaux submarine base, for example, cost 14 million euros, about $15.9 million. Some of what this money paid for is 80 speakers, 90 projectors in climate-controlled boxes, 75 miles of optical fiber cables and on-site servers handling approximately 10 terabytes of data.

Digital shows are only one part of what Culturespaces does. Founded in 1990 by Bruno Monnier, who worked at France’s culture ministry before that, Culturespaces also manages arts and heritage sites across France, such as the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in the south of France and the amphitheater in the city of Nîmes. Often, the owners of these monuments, châteaus or museums are towns and regions and, by extension, the taxpayers who live there.

When Culturespaces takes over, its goal is profitability: Owners receive 5% to 15% of any profit they turn. Monnier, the company’s president, explained the four streams of revenue that his team focuses on: “First, classic visitor activities like guides and ticketing services. Second, the library and the gift shop. Third, the restaurant. Fourth, events.”

“Events” include exhibitions, and for some of the venues Culturespaces runs, such as the Maillol Museum and the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris, those are crucial. The Musée Jacquemart-André is currently showing paintings by J.M.W. Turner on loan from the Tate museums in Britain.

Monnier said that drawing visitors with exhibitions had become harder over the years as heavy hitters like the Louvre in Paris have spent a great deal to produce blockbuster shows: The museum’s once-in-a-lifetime Leonardo show, which ran from November through February, had 1.1 million visitors.

Competition has also come from museums funded by luxurygoods billionaires Bernard Arnault, whose Fondation Louis Vuitton opened in 2014, and François Pinault, who is set to open a showcase for his art collection next year.

“These large exhibitions are expensive,” Pflieger said. “It is necessary to obtain loans from museums, particularly foreign ones; ensure the transport of works in good condition, which implies gigantic insurance costs, and so on. It is clear that small museums cannot do this.”

The thinking behind Culturespaces’ turn toward immersive art spaces was simple, Monnier said: “We can work with images of the painting and not the real painting itself. That means no transportation, no security service, no insurance.”

When “L’Atelier des Lumières” opened in Paris, it brought in a broader demographic than Culturespaces’ other venues, Monnier said: “People who never go to museums, younger generations, guys and girls who are 16-year-olds walking around hand in hand, families, grandparents, young parents.”

So-called immersive experiences are not necessarily new. Constance DeVereaux, the director of arts leadership and cultural management at University of Connecticut, said they were “something you find at Disneyland,” adding, “I was going to those in the 1960s.” DeVereaux said that though there was nothing wrong with turning art into entertainment, the format of “Lumières” might prevent viewers from thinking too deeply about what they saw. “There’s so much going on when you observe a work of art that could be dimmed by the giant digital experience,” DeVereaux said.

But Monnier thinks the scale of the “Lumières” shows is exactly why they leave an impression. “You are completely inside. It’s completely emotional. It’s not just paintings on the wall,” he said.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Billboard tweaks, but doesn’t repeal, a chart rule over album ‘Bundles’ T

By JOE COSCARELLI

his spring, country singer Kenny Chesney narrowly beat typically chart-dominating rapper Drake to a Billboard No. 1 debut using a marketing tactic that has been increasingly common in recent years — the ticket bundle, which includes an artist’s new album as a redeemable bonus when fans pony up to see them in concert.

Seen by some skeptics as an effort to pad first-week sales numbers — especially in genres, like rock and country, that lag behind hip-hop and pop in online streaming — the ticket bundle was especially fraught in Chesney’s case, given that no major concerts were likely to happen during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A few days after Chesney won the top Billboard spot, largely on the strength of his ticket-and-album sales, his Chillaxification Tour was canceled for the year and moved to 2021.

This was the latest mini-tempest in the chart-obsessed music business as Billboard, still the main arbiter of commercial popularity, has attempted to adapt its methods to reflect the way listeners consume music today without alienating major artists and labels. Now, for the second time this year, Billboard says it is changing the rules on how these bundles — which, in rap and pop, more often pair albums with merchandise like T-shirts, or even condoms — can be presented to customers in order to still count toward chart placement.

An announcement from Billboard in a news story on its website Monday night said that the company would “eliminate” bundles from its charts altogether, but the fine print was far less definitive: Albums can still be sold with merchandise and concert tickets, the article said, but the music must be promoted as an explicit add-on, with the cost disclosed to the consumer, rather than “as part of a baked-in, single-price option.”

As before, the added-on album needs to cost at least $3.49 to count on the chart. The story did not provide a date for the rule change but said the policy would go into effect this fall.

“We are eliminating the one-click, oneprice bundle,” said Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard’s senior vice president of charts and data development, in a phone interview. “We had hoped that the changes we made at the beginning of the year would lessen the influence of bundles on the charts, but that hasn’t been the case.”

In January, Billboard adjusted its merchan-

dise bundle rules by requiring that any item for sale with an album also be available for purchase at a lower price without the album. Bundles were also mandated to be sold by an artist directly to the consumer, not via a third party.

For ticket bundles, which were not affected by the January rule change, Billboard had previously allowed the cost of the album to be baked into the ticket price as long as it was “promoted to the customer at the beginning of their purchase experience,” and the customer went on to actively redeem the album, either via mail (for physical copies) or download. Now, fans must opt in to paying more for the ticket-and-album combos.

Although online streaming now accounts for a great majority of music consumption, and album sales have dropped by more than 10% over each of the past four years, many acts and labels have leaned heavily on these bundling options because sales continue to be worth more than streams on the Billboard charts. Artists who reached No. 1 last year with the help of such packages included Ariana Grade, Kanye West, Celine Dion, Madonna, Thomas Rhett and more.

(This week’s No. 1 album, by Brooklyn, New York, rapper Pop Smoke, was aided by T-shirt bundles.)

The Hot 100 singles chart will also be affected by the new tweaks. Whereas previously an artist could sell a physical album or single on vinyl or CD, bundle it with an immediate download and have that download count as a “digital sale” in first-week tallies, now the sale will only count when the physical item is actually shipped.

In the past few months alone, rapper 6ix9ine, along with duet partners Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, used this tactic to help debut new singles at No. 1, only to have those songs tumble down the chart in subsequent weeks.

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Thursday, July 16, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

‘The Old Guard’ review: Fighting to the death, and beyond

From left, Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlize Theron, Luca Marinelli and KiKi Layne in “The Old Guard.”

By SANDRA E. GARCIA

“T

he Old Guard” could just as well have been called “The New Blood,” since that’s what it tries to pump into the weary superhero genre, with a reasonable degree of success and quite a lot of, well, blood. With the familiar movie-studio franchises in lockdown, Netflix has the opportunity to introduce a new squad of specially empowered warriors, drawn from the pages of Greg Rucka’s graphic novel series, brought to life by director Gina PrinceBythewood and set loose against an evil tech-bro Big Pharma CEO and his heavily armed minions.

The fighters — led by the fearless, furious Andy (Charlize Theron) — don’t have fancy costumes or alter egos, and they all share the same superpower, which is not dying. Or not staying dead. When those minions hit them with automatic-rifle barrages, Andy and her colleagues fall down and bleed, but then they jump up again, wounds quickly fading, to finish off their surprised attackers.

Andy is the boss because she’s been doing this the longest — since antiquity, when she went by Andromache. The others include Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), lovers who met cute on opposite sides of the Crusades, and Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), who joined up during the

Napoleonic Wars. Much of “The Old Guard,” which gently clears a path for possible sequels, has to do with the initiation of the newest member of the team, a young U.S. Marine named Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne).

There have been a few others over the centuries. One thing Nile learns, as she struggles to understand her immortality, is that it comes with some fine print. Not a stake-throughthe-heart vampire escape clause but something more subtle and philosophical. Time comes for everyone, sooner or later, and Andy’s crew lives in the shadow of both perpetual loss — they are doomed to outlive anyone they might care about — and constant uncertainty. They are powerful but also vulnerable.

Which is a good look nowadays. Nobody needs arrogant, swaggering heroes, and the tone of hard-boiled melancholy that Theron in particular sets is welcome. Like a gunslinger in a certain kind of Western, Andy is having doubts about her vocation, wondering how much fight she has left in her and whether her efforts have been in vain. The world, she bitterly notes, hasn’t gotten much better, and it’s not always possible to tell the good guys and the bad guys apart.

She and the others see themselves as a kind of nongovernmental humanitarian intervention force, though what they mostly do is kill people. This contradiction bothers Nile

and represents an ethical circle that “The Old Guard” doesn’t quite square. It’s nice to hear about the helpful things these immortals have done, but what we really want to see them do is throw punches, swing axes, break bones and blow stuff up.

Prince-Bythewood obliges, keeping the action fast and fierce and avoiding CGI-heavy, overdone set pieces. She is a filmmaker who never condescends to her material, but whatever the genre — romantic comedy (“Love & Basketball”), coming-of-age story (“The Secret Life of Bees”) or showbusiness melodrama (“Beyond the Lights”) — her movies are anchored in humane, shrewd curiosity about the people they depict.

In this case, the emotional axis is the uneasy mentorprotégé bond between Andy and Nile. Andy is wise but also weary, in danger of losing the sense of purpose that has sustained her for who knows how many years. Nile, for her part, has been drafted into a cause she didn’t choose and doesn’t understand, and she wavers between self-confidence and panic. Layne, a standout in Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” is a quiet, intense presence, with a knack for the kind of small gesture — an eye roll here, a shrug or a grimace there — that Prince-Bythewood has a knack for noticing.

The story — Rucka wrote the script — doesn’t feel wildly original, but it’s good enough to activate a lively interest in the characters. An ex-CIA guy, Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), recruits the team for a mission that turns out to be a trap. That pharma boss, Merrick (Harry Melling), whose hooded sport coats are perfect signifiers of 21st-century rich-guy awfulness, wants to harvest immortal DNA for new medicines. The do-gooder veneer he puts on his megalomania fools nobody, except maybe Copley. You do hope that the anonymous gunmen Merrick employs have decent health insurance.

And also that future installments will build on the promise of this beginning, which suggests all kinds of possible developments. There’s a lot of backstory to cover and also various future conflicts within the old guard and between them and the rest of the world. I’m not usually someone to hope for sequels, but I guess if you live long enough …

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

23

Some Polynesians carry DNA of ancient Native Americans, new study finds

By CARL ZIMMER

A

bout 3,000 years ago, people on the eastern edge of Asia began sailing east, crossing the ocean to reach uninhabited islands. Their descendants, some 2,000 years later, invented the doublehulled canoe to reach places like Hawaii and Rapa Nui. Archaeologists and anthropologists have long debated just how far the Polynesians’ canoes took them. Did they make it all the way to the Americas?

The results of a new study suggest that they did. Today, people on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and four other Polynesian islands carry small amounts of DNA inherited from people who lived in Colombia about 800 years ago. One explanation: Polynesians traveled to South America, and then took South Americans onto their boats to voyage back out to sea.

This new report bolsters work that archaeologists and anthropologists have been doing for years. Previous genetic studies had also hinted that people on Rapa Nui had some ancient South American ancestry.

But the new study offers a more compelling case because the researchers looked at more than 800 people using a number of sophisticated new statistical tools.

“This is the most convincing evidence I’ve seen,” said Lars Fehren-Schmitz, an anthropological geneticist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study.

The new study emerged from a decadelong project to create a map of the genetic diversity in modern Latin Americans.

After Asians crossed the Bering Land Bridge 16,000 years ago, they spread across the Americas, reaching the southern tip of South America by 14,000 years ago.

Since then, the populations of Latin America have gained unique genetic mutations, which have gotten mixed as they interbred. When European colonists brought African slaves to the region, the genetic landscape of Latin America changed again.

Andrés Moreno Estrada, a geneticist, and his wife, Karla Sandoval, an anthropologist, have worked with Indigenous populations in Latin America to understand their genetic makeup.

Estrada and Sandoval traveled to Rapa Nui and met with residents to describe their

Today, people on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and four other Polynesian islands carry small amounts of DNA inherited from people who lived in Colombia about 800 years ago. project. Eighty islanders eventually joined the research, curious to learn about their ancestry. “They were interested to know if they really belonged to the Polynesian islands,” said Sandoval, who works with Estrada at the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity in Irapuato, Mexico.

In an earlier study on Rapa Nui, led

by Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas of the University of Lausanne, researchers analyzed DNA from 27 islanders. They found evidence that the participants had a mixture of Polynesian and Native American ancestry.

Some of their Native American DNA appeared to have been inherited by recent immigrants from Chile. But other pieces were different, suggesting they originated from Native Americans many generations earlier.

To test that finding, Estrada, Sandoval and their colleagues compared the DNA of 809 people from Rapa Nui and other Polynesian islands, as well as in countries along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Chile.

The researchers found that most of the

people on Rapa Nui had some recent Chilean forebears. From them, they inherited both Native American and European DNA. But six people had no European ancestry. Their Native American ancestry had a different source: the Zenu population of Colombia. The scientists then found some of the same pieces of DNA in people on four other islands in eastern Polynesia.

“When I first saw that, I thought there was something going wrong and we needed to fix what we were doing,” said Alexander Ioannidis, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and a co-author of the study. “So then we dove in deeper. It took a while to really realize that this was real.”

The researchers were then able to estimate how long ago these Native American ancestors lived by measuring the size of the DNA fragments. Stretches of shared DNA get smaller with each passing generation.

The researchers found that all of the Zenu-like stretches of DNA in the Polynesians were roughly the same size. They estimated that they came from Zenu relatives

who lived about eight centuries ago.

“It’s quite amazing that they can come up with this evidence for contact between these populations,” Malaspinas said.

Lisa Matisoo-Smith, a biological anthropologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand who was not involved in the new study, cautioned that the history of Polynesia was so complex that the new results might not reflect it accurately.

“Is it possible? Yes, it certainly is,” she said. But, she added, “I’m not convinced.”

Malaspinas said that since Polynesians had already traveled so far across the Pacific, there was no reason to think they couldn’t go to South America. “This last step would have been easy for them,” she said.

Patrick Kirch, a University of Hawaii archaeologist, said that this fit with other lines of evidence, including the food that Polynesians eat.

A staple across Polynesia is the sweet potato, which originated in South America.

Kirch and his colleagues have found remains of sweet potatoes centuries before Europeans arrived in the Pacific.

But the authors of the new paper emphasize another possibility: South Americans traveled on their own to a Polynesian island, where Polynesians sailing from the east encountered them.

In their paper, Estrada and his colleagues draw parallels between this scenario and the claims of Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer who sailed on a raft in 1947 from South America to Polynesia.

Heyerdahl championed the idea that Polynesia was settled by South Americans.

In an email, Haunani Kane, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Hawaii, criticized the scientists for championing such “outdated” ideas.

Kane has sailed thousands of miles in double-hulled canoes as the scientific coordinator of the Polynesian Navigation Society. She took issue with “the author’s assumption of the capabilities or lack thereof, of Pacific Island peoples to purposely migrate across the Pacific.”

Kirch also dismissed the castaway scenario. If South Americans wound up on the Marquesas Islands, they would have brought some things with them that archaeologists could have later uncovered.

“There’s no evidence of that,” he said.

24 15 en una distancia de 23,600 metros; por el Sur, con el solar ESTADO LIBE ASOCIADO DE numero 17 en una distancia de PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE 23.600 metros por el Este, con PRIMERA INSTANCIA CEN- la calle nUmero 5-33 en una TRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA distancia de 11.230 metros; y SALA SUPERIOR. por el Oeste, con los solares BANCO POPULAR DE numero 40 y 41, en una distancia de 11.230. Enclava una PUERTO RICO casa. Consta inscrita al folio 1 Demandante Vs. del tomo 329 de Carolina, finca Las Sucesiones de Victor numero 13218, Registro de la Manuel Rivera Ortiz, propiedad de Puerto Rico, SecTambién conocido como ción I de Carolina, Se advierte Victor M Rivera Ortiz, y que si no contesta(n) la demandentro del término de treinta Ana D Rodriguez Guzman, da (30) días de la publicación de También conocida como este Edicto, se le anotara la Ana Delia Rodriguez rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo Guzman, Ambas Compuestas por Annette el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. Deberá radicar M Rivera Rodriguez, ci original de la contestación a Victor M. Rivera la demanda a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Rodriguez y Sol Erika Rivera Rodriguez; Doral Administración de Casos (SUal cual puede acceder Mortgage Corporation, MAC), utilizando la siguiente dirección Federal Deposit electrónica: http://unired.ramaInsurance Corporation judicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en (FDIC); Citimortgage, Inc; John Doe y Richard cuyo caso deber presentar su alegación responsiva en la seDoe, identificados con cretaria del tribunal y sala que nombres ficticios por se menciona en el epígrafe de este edicto con copia a la parte desconocerse sus aquí demandante a través del nombres Lcdo. Andres Sáez Marrero, Demandados CIVIL NUM. SJ2019CV12144. Bufete Bellver Espinosa, Cond.

SALA: 403. SOBRE: CANCE- El Centro I, Suite 802, 500 MuLACION DE PAGARE EXTRA- ñoz Rivera Ave., San Juan, PR VIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO 00918. Tel. 787-946-5268. Fax POR EDICTO. Estados Unidos 787-946-0062. Email: andres@ de America Presidente de los bellverlaw.com. Expedido este Estados Unidos, Estado Libre edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 10 de julio Asociado de Puerto Rico. SS. de 2020. Lcda. Marilyn Aponte A: JOHN DOE y Rodriguez, Sec Regional. Ruth RICHARD DOE COMO M Colon Luciano, Sec Aux del POSIBLES TENEDORES Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

DECONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO

Queden emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cancelación de Pagare Extraviado, solicitando la cancelación de un Pagare Hipotecario suscrito a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, por la suma de $88,000.00 interese al 7 5/8% y vencedero el 1ro. de julio de 2016, suscrito y reconocido en San Juan, Puerto Rico el dIa 14 de junio de 2001, ante el notario publico Eric Hernandez Batalla y constituida por la Escritura numero 336, e inscrita al folio 4 vuelto del tomo 349 de Carolina, finca nUmero 13218, inscripción 6ta. La hipoteca fue constituida sobre la siguiente propiedad (en adelante “Propiedad”): URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Villa Fontana, situada en el Barrio Sabana Abajo del termino municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, marcado con el nUmero 16 de la manzana 5-V, con un área de 265.02 metros cuadrados En lindes por el Norte, con el solar numero

@

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

ORIENTAL BANK Demandante V.

LUIS ANTONIO QUIÑONES VARGAS, ANNETTE MARIE ABREU DIAZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES POR ESTOS COMPUESTA; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE;

Demandados CIVIL NÚM. CA2020CV01413.

SOBRE: SUSTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, personas desconocidas que se

designan con estos nombres ficticios, que puedan ser tenedor o tenedores, o puedan tener algún interés en el pagaré hipotecario a que se hace referencia más adelante en el presente edicto, que se publicará una sola vez.

Se les notifica que en la Demanda radicada en el caso de epígrafe se alega que un pagaré hipotecario otorgado el 25 de noviembre de 2005, Luis Antonio Quiñones Vargas y Annette Marie Abreu Diaz otorgó en San Juan, Puerto Rico un pagaré hipotecario por la suma principal de $153,000.00, con intereses a razón del 6.750% anual, a favor de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Puerto Rico (hoy Oriental Bank), con vencimiento el 1 de diciembre de 2036, ante el Notario Andrés J. García Arreguí, mediante el afidávit número 15405, se extravió, sin embargo la deuda evidenciada y garantizada por dicho. pagaré hipotecario no ha sido salda, por lo que la parte demandante solicita que se ordene la sustitución del mismo. En garantía de dicho pagaré el 25 de noviembre de 2005, Luis Antonio Quiñones Vargas y Annette Marie Abreu Diaz constituyeron hipoteca número 73 ante el Notario Andrés J. García Arreguí en garantía de! pago del pagaré antes descrito, inscrita al folio 112 del tomo 1000 de Carolina I, finca 20343, inscripción 6ta, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. La hipoteca que garantiza dicho pagaré grava la propiedad inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Bahía Vistamar (Mansiones de Bahía Vistamar), localizada en el Barrio Sabana Abajo de Carolina, Puerto Rico, que se describe en el #1 de la manzana (VIII -A) 8-A, con un área de 395.12 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar #2, distancia de 24.12 metros; por el SUR, con la Calle Alicante, distancia de 20.60 metros; por el ESTE; con un área de la Iglesia Metodista, distancia de 16.46 metros; y por el OESTE, con la Calle “A”, distancia de 13.02 metros y un arco de 5.51 metros. ----Enclava una casa de concreto reforzado, dedicada a vivienda para una familia. Finca 20343 inscrita al folio 112 deI tomo 1000 de Sabana Abajo, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. 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

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial,pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la 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.

LCDO. JAVIER MONTALVO CINTRÓN RUA NÚM. 17682 DELGADO & FERNÁNDEZ, LLC PO Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750, Tel. (787) 274-1414 Fax (787) 764-8241 E-mail: jmontalvo@delgadofernandez.com Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 10 de julio de 2020. Lcda. Marilyn Aponte Rodriguez, Sec Regional.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.

MWPR, LLC

Demandante, v.

JOSE ANTONIO TORRES MELENDEZ, SU ESPOSA MARISOL RIVERA RAMIREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados CIVIL NÚM. P02020CV00316.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. s.s.

A: JOSE ANTONIO TORRES MELENDEZ, su esposa, MARISOL RIVERA RAMIREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Queda emplazada y notificada que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. Se le notifica para que comparezca ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga, en el presente caso.

(787) 743-3346

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020 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 diligenciando 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.ramaiudicial. pr/sumac/, 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 advierte que si no contesta la demanda radicando en su contra , radicando el original de la misma y enviando copia de su contestación a la parte demandante, Leda. Ana J. Bobonis Zequeira a su dirección PO Box 9749 San Juan, PR 00908, Tel. (787) 722-3040, Fax (787) 722-3317, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de su publicación de este edicto, se le podrá anotar la rebeldía y dictarse 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 Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 9 de julio de 2020. LUZ MAYRA CARABALLO GARCIA, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. AGRONT LEON, Sec Aux del Tribunal I.

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

CONDADO I, LLC Demandante, v.

JOSÉ MIGUEL COLÓN BURGOS, SU ESPOSA, YAR!TZA RODRÍGUEZ NEGRÓN Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados.

CIVIL NÚM. BY2020CV01028.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R.. s.s.

A: JOSÉ MIGUEL

CIVIL NO. 16-03085-GAG. COCOLÓN BURGOS, LLECTION OF MONEIS - FOsu esposa, YARITZA RECLOSURE OF MORTGARODRÍGUEZ NEGRÓN Y GE. NOTICE OF SALE. LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE TO: LILA RITA BIENES GANANCIALES HERNANDEZ CALDERON, COMPUESTA POR General Public, and all AMBOS parties that may have an Queda emplazada y notificada interest in the property que en este Tribunal se ha ra-

WHEREAS, Judgment in favor of Plaintiff was entered for the principal sum of $181,419.48 plus accrued interest annual commencing in 3.00%, and monthly late charges from the 1st day of November, 2016, until the debt is paid in full. Such interests continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. The Defendants was also ordered to pay Plaintiff late charges in the amount of $33.77 of each and any monthly installment not received by the note holder within 15 days after the installment was due until the debt is paid in full. Such late charges continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. The defendant was also ordered to pay Plaintiff all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% of the original principal amount ($18,863.83) to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. 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 and at the office E Street, Lot 3, Section 4, Los Frailes Industrial Park, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00969 (18,3699028-66.1126971) the following property: “URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Ciudad Universitaria, situada en el barrio Cuevas de Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, que se describe en el piano de inscripción de la urbanización con el número cinco de la manzana U, con un área de trescientos veinticinco metros cuadrados.

En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar cuatro, distancia de veinticinco metros; por el SUR, con el solar seis, distancia de veinticinco metros; por el ESTE, con el solar ocho, distancia de trece metros; y por el OESTE, con la calle cinco, distancia de trece metros. El inmueble antes descrito contiene una casa de LEGAL NOTICE concreto, diseñada para una IN THE UNITED STATES DISfamilia. Recorded at page 242 TRICT COURT FOR THE DISof volume 481 of Trujillo Alto, TRICT OF PUERTO RICO. Property Registry of San Juan, ROOSEVELT CAYMAN Fourth Section of San Juan, ASSET COMPANY property number 6,820. The Plaintiff, v. mortgage foreclosed as part of the instant proceeding is recorLILA RITA HERNANDEZ CALDERON ded at page number 242 of volume number 481 of Trujillo Alto, Defendant dicado Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. Se le notifica para que comparezca ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga, en el presente caso.

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 diligenciando 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/sumac/, 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 advierte que si no contesta la demanda radicando en su contra , radicando el original de la misma y enviando copia de su contestación a la parte demandante, Lcda. Ana J. Bobonis Zequeira a su dirección PO Box 9749 San Juan, PR 00908, Tel. (787) 722-3040, Fax (787) 722-3317, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de su publicación de este edicto, se le podrá anotar la rebeldía y dictarse 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 Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 9 de julio de 2020. Lcda.

Laura I Santa Sanchez, Sec Regional. Ana L Lopez Rivera, Sec de Servicios.

in the Registry of Property of San Juan, Fourth Section, property number 6,820. 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 September 4th, 2020 at 9:30 am and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $188,638.34. 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 September 11th, 2020 at 9:30 am and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $125,758.89. If said second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD public auction shall be held on September 18th, 2020 at 9:40 am and the minimum bidding amount that will be accepted is the sum of $94,319.17. 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. San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 9th day of July, 2020. Joel Ronda Feliciano, Special Master. E-mail: rondajoel@me.com. Tel: 787565-0415.

LEGAL NOTICE IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO.

ROOSEVELT CAYMAN ASSET COMPANY IV 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

The San Juan Daily Star 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 the debt is paid in full.

Such interests continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full.

The Defendants was also ordered to pay Plaintiff late charges in the amount of $39.04 of each and any monthly installment not received by the note holder within 15 days after the installment was due until the debt is paid in full. Such late charges continue to accrue until the debt is paid in full. The defendant was also ordered to pay Plaintiff all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% of the original principal amount ($12,800.00) to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. 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 and at the office E Street, Lot 3, Section 4, Los Frailes Industrial Park, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00969 (18,369902866.1126971), 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, termino 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. The mortgage foreclosed as part of the instant proceeding is recorded at page number 161 of volume number 112 of Monacillos Este y el Cinco, property number 3,541 in the Registry of Property 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. and one junior lien: i. AL ASIENTO 151 DEL DIARIO 893, se presentó el día 1 de julio de 2010, mandamiento de fecha 21 de junio de 2010, expedida en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, en el Caso Civil número KCD2010-2223, para que se anote embargo a favor de Doral Bank, por la suma de $122,109.63. 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 September 4th, 2020 at 9:45 am and the minimum bidding amount 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 September 11th, 2020 at 9:45 am 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 September 18th, at 9:45 am 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 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 14th day of July, 2020. JOEL RONDA FELICIANO, Special Master. Email: rondajoel@ me.com. Phone number: 787565-0415.

Thursday, July 16, 2020 Sucesión de Luis Antonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón compuesta por Nitza Pabon Cabrera, Antonio Pabon Cabrera y Ricardo Díaz Sosa como encargado de Fulano Díaz Pabón, Sutano Díaz Pabón (menores de edad) y Perensejo de Tal como miembros conocidos y desconocidos de la Sucesión de Raquel Pabón Cabrera; Sutano de Tal como posibles herederos desconocidos de la Sucesión de Luis Antonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón; Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales y a los Estados Unidos de América

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NUM.: BY2019CV03162.

SOBRE: Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca por la Vía Ordinaria. MANDAMIENTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. Por Cuanto: Se ha dictado en el presente caso la siguiente Orden: “ORDEN” Examinada la demanda radicada por la parte demandante, la solicitud de interpelación contenida en la misma y examinados los autos del caso, el Tribunal le imparte su aprobación y en su virtud acepta la Demanda en el caso de epígrafe, así como la interpelación judicial de la parte demandante a los herederos del codemandado conforme dispone el Artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. sec.

2787. Se Ordena a los herederos del causante a saber, Nitza Pabon Cabrera, Antonio Pabon Cabrera y Ricardo Díaz Sosa como encargado de Fulano Díaz Pabón, Sutano Díaz Pabón (menores de edad) y Perensejo de Tal como miembros conocidos y desconocidos de la Sucesión de Raquel Pabón Cabrera; Sutano de Tal como posibles herederos desconocidos de la Sucesión de Luis Antonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón, herederos de nombres desconocidos a que, dentro del término legal de 30 días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participaLEGAL NOTICE ción que les corresponda en la ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO herencia del causante Luis AnDE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- tonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón. Se le Apercibe a los heSALA DE BAYAMÓN. rederos antes mencionados: (a) Reverse Mortgage Que de no expresarse dentro Solutions, Inc. del término de 30 días en torno DEMANDANTE VS. a su aceptación o repudiación

de herencia la misma se tendrá por aceptada; (b) Que luego del transcurso del termino de 30 días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante y por consiguiente, responden por la cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 957 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. sec. 2785. Se Ordena a la parte demandante a que, en vista de que la sucesión del causante Luis Antonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón, incluyen como herederos a Nitza Pabon Cabrera, Antonio Pabon Cabrera y Ricardo Díaz Sosa como encargado de Fulano Díaz Pabón, Sutano Díaz Pabón (menores de edad) y Perensejo de Tal como miembros conocidos y desconocidos de la Sucesión de Raquel Pabón Cabrera; Sutano de Tal como posibles herederos desconocidos de la Sucesión de Luis Antonio Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón Negrón, t/c/c Luis A. Pabón, proceda a notificar la presente Orden mediante un edicto a esos efectos una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico. DADA en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 18 de marzo de 2020. Fernando L Rodriguez Flores, JUEZ. Se apercibe y advierte a ustedes como personas desconocidas, que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.iamaiudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. De no contestar la demanda radicando el original de la contestación ante la secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, y notificar copia de la contestación de esta a la parte demandante por conducto de su abogada, GLS LEGAL SERVICES, LLC, Atención: Leda. Valerie Nicole Hernández Hernández, Dirección: P.O. Box 367308, San Juan, P.R. 00936-7308 , Teléfono: 787-758-6550, dentro de los próximos 60 días a partir de la publicación de esta interpelación judicial, que será publicado una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general en la isla de Puerto Rico, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitando en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. Por Orden del Honorable Juez de Primera Instancia de este Tribunal, expido el presente Mandamiento, bajo mi firma y sello oficial, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico hoy día 28 de abril de 2020. LCDA. LAURAl. SANTSA SÁNCHEZ,, Secretaria Regional. IVETTE M. MARRERO BRACERO, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal I.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth. COVID testing nightly.

By MARC STEIN

A

knock on the heavy brown door of my first-floor hotel room at Walt Disney World finally came Sunday just before 10 p.m.

This was an all-business knock. Three technicians from BioReference Laboratories wearing white coats and face shields, and accompanied by an NBA representative, had arrived to administer my first coronavirus test.

According to the rules in the NBA’s corner of Disney World, no one is allowed inside the 314-square-foot room I am limited to through Sunday. So I slid a chair up to the doorway to receive a swab of each nostril and my throat. The sticks were snapped and placed in a tube, then stored in a crate to take back to the lab. The swabs, roughly five hours after I checked in, took less than a minute.

I took my second coronavirus test Monday night, nearly 24 hours later, even before I had a result confirmed from the first. But the end goal remains unchanged: I need a week’s worth of negative results from daily tests to gain full entry into what everyone refers to as the NBA bubble — even though league officials, as Commissioner Adam Silver put it last week, acknowledge that it is better described as a campus because it is by no means “hermetically sealed.”

Only two reporters are fully inside so far. Once the rest of us are allowed to look around, access restrictions for reporters will be the most onerous in league history. The NBA believes that’s the appropriate approach for what is surely the most complex undertaking in league history, but the strictness makes it difficult to say how much of the bubble we’ll be able to see. Reporters can go to only three places after quarantining — game venues, practice sites and the hotel designated for the news media. The three hotels that house the 22 teams are off-limits.

Yet this first-of-its-kind event, even after accounting for all those deterrents, was simply unmissable.

Regular readers know that for weeks I have voiced concerns about the dan-

gers of the NBA restart, stemming from the virus as well as soft-tissue injury risks. That apprehension hasn’t gone away; how could it when Florida racked up a national record 15,300 new coronavirus cases Sunday as I arrived? But this is the league I’ve been fortunate to cover for nearly 30 years. The moment is just too big, too historic and too different to stay away.

“This is going to be a very unique opportunity to observe the human condition,” said Tommy Sheppard, the general manager of the Washington Wizards.

Closer to 20 journalists, compared to the anticipated 10, have been approved to enter, a reflection of the considerable curiosity surrounding 22 teams living and playing at a single site without fans.

That includes journalists from The Associated Press, The Athletic, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, Southern California News Group, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Times. A like number of journalists from the league’s official media partners, ESPN and Turner, is also expected, including one reporter from each who was allowed to arrive early to complete their quarantines before teams started arriving

July 7: Malika Andrews (ESPN) and Chris Haynes (Turner).

Those outlets will have enjoyed a 12or 13-day jump on the rest of us by the time we can exit our rooms and attend a practice. Yet I learned long ago, from several mentors at The Orange County Register in the 1980s when I was just starting out, that sportswriters shouldn’t bemoan work conditions to readers because they simply don’t want to hear it.

So I will shut up and report from behind that brown door until lockdown ends and report even more on the other side.

A few more highlights and observations to share from the first 48 hours: — The next time you fly, expect to feel disoriented. Being back in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport Sunday for the first time since March 13, even as much as I typically travel, was … tense. Any time a line had to be formed, just figuring out where to stand and how to social distance was awkward.

— On top of the well-chronicled three daily food drop-offs made to everyone in quarantine, room service is available from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. I’ve tested it twice, but I have not yet tried either the New York strip steak or the braised beef short ribs that had the Los Angeles Lakers’

newly signed J.R. Smith excited, amid his various complaints, when he read the menu aloud last week on Instagram Live.

— I am a coffee snob who has zero dexterity to make my own coffee decently, no matter how hard I try. I stuffed one suitcase and two large duffel bags to capacity — but that left no room to bring my own fancy coffee maker. So I purchased some space-efficient Keurig pods that looked interesting online, packed them to use with the machine in my room and hoped for the best. After it was too late, I shared this plan with Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles. “Keurig ain’t it,” Ingles said with a laugh. Utah’s coffee connoisseur was right.

— The biggest inconvenience so far: finding out, after fully unpacking, that we must move to a new room after completing the seven-day quarantine. I couldn’t function until two months’ worth of clothes were all on the extra hangers I brought, or until I found places for the extra work supplies, toiletries, hats, snacks (peanuts mostly) and maybe even a small stash of a glass-bottle soft drink you may have heard colleagues rib me about in the past.

— I can handle the isolation — I think. I can’t leave the room until Sunday night, but I haven’t seen any security presence outside my window. I nonetheless intend to obey the rules and stay put, no matter how badly I would like to walk to the ice machine steps from my room.

Even that is not permitted.

— The thick, gray, rubber MagicBand bracelet that functions as a room key is adorned with two iconic silhouettes: Mickey Mouse and Jerry West, the inspiration for the NBA logo. It may prove to be the best Disney souvenir we take home when this is all over — if we indeed get to keep it.

I am scheduled to be here until early September, before a handoff to my colleague Scott Cacciola. Of course, as we all know by now, planning in 2020 tends to be futile.

So especially in these early stages, for me as much as anyone, bubble life is probably best approached day-to-day.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

27

Tiger Woods returns, without roars

By BILL PENNINGTON

T

uesday morning, in his first appearance at a PGA Tour event in five months, Tiger Woods hit a majestic iron shot during a practice round that soared toward an elevated green 250 yards away. When the ball deftly skirted bunkers protecting the putting surface and settled 8 feet from the 15th hole, one person among the handful of security officers, volunteers and media members watching Woods clapped his hands.

As the faintest possible applause pierced the stillness at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, home to this week’s Memorial Tournament, Woods seemed uncomfortable, or startled. Accustomed to being surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering admirers, even during practice rounds, Woods awkwardly turned to his one fan, offered a sheepish wave and smiled.

The coronavirus pandemic has meant that spectators are no longer allowed at PGA Tour events, including practice rounds, a situation that has led to quiet, uneasy noncelebrations even as a tournament-clinching final putt falls into the hole. Woods has watched the scenes from afar on TV, but Tuesday he got his first taste of the changed environment.

He is still trying to adjust.

“I’ve been there when they’re throwing drinks towards the greens and people screaming, high-fiving, people running through bunkers — that’s all gone,” Woods said to reporters after his practice round. “That’s our new reality that we’re facing.”

As Woods spoke, it was as if he was remembering something he took for granted and now wished he had not.

“It’s a very different world out here — not to have the distractions, the noise, the excitement, the energy that the fans bring,” he said. “It’s just a silent and different world.”

Woods added, “Very stark, really.”

He was asked if he could remember the last time he had played a competitive round without a crowd present. Maybe in college at Stanford?

Woods slightly shook his head. He was having none of it, and deadpanned: “Even in college I had a few people following.” He then grinned.

“I’m used to having so many people around me or even touch me — just going from green to tee,” Woods said after a practice round on Tuesday.

It was perfectly reasonable to expect that Woods might miss his golf kingdom during a five-month tour layoff this year, but who knew he missed his subjects so much?

Even if the course atmosphere Tuesday was entirely different at Muirfield, Woods was still happy to be back and insisted he was far more fit than he was his last tournament appearance in midFebruary, when he finished last among the golfers who made the cut at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles. At the time, Woods’ surgically repaired back was stiff and inhibited his swing.

By May’s made-for-TV match in Florida, where he and Peyton Manning paired to beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady head-to-head, Woods looked both consistently sharp and powerful.

“I’ve been able to train a lot,” Woods said Tuesday. “I’ve been able to do a lot of things that I hadn’t done in a very long time, which is spend a lot of time with my kids and be around them.

“Physically, I feel so much better than I did then. I’ve been able to train and concentrate on getting back up to speed and back up to tournament speed.”

While the five-month break from elite competitive golf was not expected, Woods said he had learned to adapt to such layoffs since they have become a necessity after his many back reconstructions.

“Unfortunately, over the last few years, I’ve been used to taking long breaks and having to build my game to a level where it’s at a tour level at home and play a few tournaments here and there,” he said. “This was a forced break for all of us, but I’m excited to get back into playing again.”

Woods is the last American golfer ranked in the top 30 to return to the tour, and he admitted he weighed whether to come back sooner. (Some top golfers from other countries have not played in the United States because of mandatory quarantine restrictions.) But in the end, it was Woods’ popularity that factored heavily in his decision.

“I’m used to playing with lots of people around me or having lots of people have a direct line to me and that puts not only myself in danger but my friends and family,” he said, adding that he ultimately felt it was safer to remain at home in Florida.

“I’m used to having so many people around me or even touch me — just going from green to tee,” he said. “That’s something that I looked at and said, ‘I’m really not quite comfortable with that whole idea. Let’s see how it plays out first.’”

In returning now, Woods comes back to something of a second home at the Memorial Tournament, a place where he has won five times and he said he felt comfortable.

Until, perhaps, he hit a truly spectacular shot and only one person clapped.

JOSÉ BURGOS Técnico Generadores Gas Propano

787•607•3343

28

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Cristiano Ronaldo poised to set another record as Juve star nears 50 goals in Premier League, La Liga, Serie A

By RT NEWS

C

ristiano Ronaldo is on the verge of setting another record in his remarkable career, standing one short of the 50-goal mark in Serie A following his previous prolific exploits in Spain’s Liga and the English Premier League.

The Juventus ace has his next chance to score his 50th Serie A goal when the league leaders visit eighthplaced Sassuolo tonight, where he will take on a side with a defensive record that is the joint-worst outside of the bottom five teams in the division.

No other player has ever scored at least 50 in the top flights in England, Spain and Italy, although Roma and former Wolfsburg and Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko reached the milestone in England, Germany and Italy.

Ronaldo scored 84 goals in 196 appearances at Manchester United between 2003 and 2009, requiring 194 matches to hit the 50-goal mark before moving to Madrid, where his tally of 311 goals in 292 matches was even more impressive.

During a nine-year stay in Madrid that included four UEFA Champions League trophies, Ronaldo needed just 54 games to reach 50 goals and scored at least 50 club goals in each calendar year between 2011 and 2015.

Ronaldo outscored Barcelona rival Lionel Messi in 2013, 2014 and 2015, although neither star has scored more than 50 club goals in a year since 2016.

His highest total was in 2013, when 59 of his 69 goals came for Madrid, and the following summer he scored his 50th goal for Portugal in his 114th international match, netting in a 2-1 group stage win over Ghana at the 2014 World Cup. He reached 50 goals in all competitions for Juventus in his 70th match at the start of February, meaning he just missed the record set by AC Milan and Ukraine legend

Cristiano Ronaldo is on the verge of setting another record in his remarkable career, standing one short of the 50-goal mark in Serie A following his previous prolific exploits in Spain’s Liga and the English Premier League.

Andriy Shevchenko, who needed 69 games to reach the total.

Had Ronaldo’s first season in Italy been as productive as his follow-up campaign, he would almost certainly have beaten the current Ukraine manager to the speed record for 50 goals.

The $117 million signing scored 21 goals in his Scudetto-winning debut Serie A season, leaving him fourth in the rankings for the season, five goals behind Samp-

doria veteran Fabio Quagliarella.

Should he need any further incentive to reach 50, Ronaldo is currently a goal behind Lazio forward Ciro Immobile’s total of 29 in the race to finish as top scorer in Serie A. With six matches of the season remaining, Ronaldo will be favored to finish ahead of the Italy frontman, who has failed to score as Lazio have lost their last three matches.

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

29

Sudoku How to Play: Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.

Sudoku Rules: Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

30

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

(Mar 21-April 20)

Someone will share some strange footage caught on a webcam with you. Feel free to give your own views about what you see. Someone who fancies you is bombarding you with texts and phone calls. If you aren’t interested, be honest and stop pretending you aren’t getting their messages.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

Give some thought to a workmate’s ideas and proposals. You might see problems where they see opportunities. With your help, they could avoid making a big mistake. You will do all you can to get the best out of a joint arrangement but you aren’t happy with this state of affairs. Don’t take chances if you’re uncertain about facts or figures.

Taurus

(April 21-May 21)

Scorpio

Gemini

(May 22-June 21)

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

You long for more freedom. Life feels restrictive and you want to break out of this rut. A trip out into the countryside or a walk on the beach will help clear away the mental cobwebs. When you look at your life from different perspectives you will realise you have more options for change than you realised.

Invite a friend or relative to join you on a future holiday. They will be grateful for the invitation and planning for the future will bring you both closer together. You want to make things happen and you’re ready to take the initiative.

Add positive action to positive thinking and you will achieve something to be proud of.

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

A friend won’t be happy when you ask for a favour. Even though you’ve always been there for them when they needed you, they seem to have forgotten this. You’re about to find out who your true friends are. A home related issue will be resolved. It will be a relief to have overcome this problem.

You can’t be in two places at once even though it would be great if you could be.

Friends want you to join them in their plans but you’ve made other arrangements. You’re going to have to let them down gently as people have been missing your company and really wanted to see you.

You might jump at the chance of something different early on. Later when you are asked to make another commitment, you will be a little more cautious. Be willing to make some changes, even if it means admitting you were wrong. Sometimes on second thoughts, an idea isn’t as good as it first seemed.

Ignore a partner if they say they don’t need romance or flowers. Everyone needs to feel loved and now is a good time to let them know how much you care. Be honest about your feelings and encourage them to be open with you. This will help relationships grow and bonds will deepen.

Leo

Aquarius

(July 24-Aug 23)

A relationship is on your mind. You feel someone is starting to take advantage of your kindness. Whether this is a romance, friendship or working partnership, there should be an equal amount of give and take. Everyone makes errors. Try to laugh off your mistakes and don’t be distracted from your aims.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

A close bond is in need of some maintenance.

If you don’t put some time into this relationship now, someone else will try to interfere.

Be careful how you word things to friends on social networking sites. One person in particular is unusually touchy and could read your words the wrong way.

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

Contact people who have the experience or qualifications to help you reach your goals.

Don’t feel guilty about reminding someone they owe you a favour. You have been preparing yourself for a change but you hadn’t expected it to occur so quickly. This brings forward an important decision you need to make. There will be benefits from this transition.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

A team of staff will be getting together to look at safeguards being put in place to manage a work or study environment. Working in small groups and having access to specialised equipment will seem like the best way to manage social distancing. You’re prepared, in a good way, for what is to come.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Thursday, July 16, 2020

31

CARTOONS

Herman

Speed Bump

Frank & Ernest

BC

Scary Gary

Wizard of Id

For Better or for Worse

The San Juan Daily Star

Ziggy

32

The San Juan Daily Star

Thursday, July 16, 2020

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