Friday to Sunday Jul 7-9, 2023

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.

Senate to take up Education secretary’s confirmation, 15 other nominees

By THE STAR STAFF

Days after some Popular Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers rejected the appointment of Ángel Toledo López as Education secretary, the PDPcontrolled Senate convened to vote on his confirmation Friday, along with 15 other nominees.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia nominated Toledo López following the resignation of former Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés.

As previously reported by the STAR, PDP Rep. Héctor Ferrer Santago and Sen. Migdalia González Arroyo criticized the nomination because of tweets Toledo López posted 10 years ago in which he criticized the governorship of Alejandro García Padilla (2013-2016).

One of the posts said: “I have concluded that AGP is on drugs in addition to common idiocy. [He says] the economy is better than a year ago.”

INDEX

Promote the Uniformity of Legislation in the States and Territories of the Union.

6. Javier Figueroa Sosa as commissioner of the Puerto Rico Pilotage Commission.

7. Hiram Pagani Díaz as chairman of the Industrial Commission of Puerto Rico.

8. Ramón Cruz Alicea as commissioner of the Industrial Commission of Puerto Rico.

9. Melissa Massheder Torres as commissioner of the Industrial Commission from Puerto Rico.

10. Samuel A. Silva Rosas as commissioner of the Industrial Commission of Puerto Rico.

11. Alberto J. Castañer Padró as member of the governing board of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority.

12. Iván E. López Báez as a member of the governing board of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority.

“These statements, which have recently come to light, reveal a character incompatible with the integrity required to occupy a position in the constitutional cabinet,” Ferrer Santiago said earlier this week. “This appointment is far from achieving the goal of depoliticization that the country aspires to within the system and generates concern about the approach that will be taken toward educational policies.”

Amid remarks that suggested Toledo López may not be confirmed, Pierluisi noted that the Senate was just acting for the sake of annoyance.

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón praised Toledo López and several New Progressive Party lawmakers urged the Senate, which has been moving at a snail’s pace on confirmations, to act.

Toledo López publicly said he did not believe the posts would have an impact on his confirmation.

The document convening the session also lists 15 other nominations that the upper chamber will take up on Friday:

1. Jaime M. Nünez Acosta as representative of the interests of employers in The Minimum Wage Evaluating Commission.

2. Brig. Gen. Miguel A. Méndez as adjutant general of the Government of Puerto Rico.

3. Jaime F. Rivera Emmanuelli as executive director of the Gaming Commission of the Government of Puerto Rico.

4. Agustín Montañez AIlman for a new term as veteran’s advocate.

5. From the attorney María del Mar Ortiz Rivera as commissioner of the Board of Commissioners to

13. Lilliam Rodríguez Capó as member of the board of directors of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration.

14. René Acosta Benítez as member of the board of directors of the Corporation for the Promotion of Puerto Rico as a Destination.

15. Jorge Jorge Flores as member of the board of directors of the Corporation for the Promotion of Puerto Rico as a Destination.

Banker seeks dismissal of charges that he tried to bribe Gov. Pierluisi

By THE STAR STAFF

Lawyers for Julio M. Herrera Velutini, the former chairman of Bancrédito International Bank & Trust who was indicted along with former Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced on corruption-related charges, sought dismissal Thursday of counts five, six and seven of the indictment citing the government’s failure to establish an essential element of the charged offenses.

“Herrera, aware of the high hurdle defendants face when attacking the sufficiency of an indictment, would not bring this motion if the facts and controlling legal precedent were not clearly on his side,” the petition reads. “Aside from its failed attempt to criminalize Mr. Herrera’s lawful campaign contributions to former Governor Wanda Vazquez Merced, the Government also targeted Mr. Herrera through an undercover operation relating to purported campaign contributions to Governor Pedro Pierluisi.”

In count five, the government charges a conspiracy between Herrera Velutini, John Blakeman, who worked in Vázquez Garced’s campaign, and bank president Frances Díaz to offer and give a bribe to Pierluisi, in the form of a campaign contribution, in return for a promise by Pierluisi to use his influence as governor to ensure a favorable outcome for the bank from an ongoing examination by the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF by its Spanish initials).

The indictment also charges, in count six, a substantive violation of Section 666, which is related to federal funds, and, in count seven, a violation of the wire fraud and honest services fraud statutes. Herrera Velutini’s lawyers said prosecutors have not established the element of a quid pro quo or that there was a favor or advantage granted in return for the contribution to Pierluisi.

According to the official indictment,

from December 2019 through June 2020, Vázquez Garced, 62, of San Juan, allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with various individuals, including Herrera Velutini, Díaz, former FBI agent Mark Rossini, and Blakeman to finance Vázquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign.

According to the indictment, beginning in 2019, Herrera Velutini’s bank was the subject of an examination by OCIF, a regulatory agency that oversees financial institutions operating in Puerto Rico. Through intermediaries, Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly promised to provide funding to support Vázquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign in exchange for Vázquez Garced terminating the OCIF commissioner and appointing a new commissioner of Herrera Velutini’s choosing. The indictment alleges that Vázquez Garced accepted the offer of a bribe and, in February 2020, took official action to demand the resignation of the OCIF commissioner and, in May 2020, to appoint a former consultant for the international bank owned by Herrera

Velutini – who had been personally selected by Herrera Velutini. In return, Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly paid more than $300,000 to political consultants in support of Vázquez Garced’s campaign.

Vázquez Garced, Herrera Velutini, and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, federal programs bribery, and honest services wire fraud.

The motion filed by Herrera Velutini on Thursday notes that for years, the FBI purposely interfered with the operations of Bancrédito International Bank & Trust, a United States corporation where Herrera was the chairperson, including surreptitiously intervening in and subverting privileged relationships with bank counsel who were negotiating with OCIF.

“And yet, after having failed to establish that the Bank committed any crimes, and in recognition that Mr. Herrera had not engaged in any criminal activity concerning Governor Vazquez, the FBI ultimately resorted to engaging in a five-month sting operation, by tasking Joseph Fuentes, a confidential informant who had engaged in campaign-related crimes, with masquerading as a person with access to Governor Pierluisi and making repeated, unrequested overtures to representatives of the Bank – including Frances Diaz, the Bank’s President – with the false representation that Mr. Fuentes could assist the Bank in its negotiations with OCIF,” the motion notes.

In so doing, Fuentes requested a contribution not for Pierluisi, but for an independent expenditure committee (a Super PAC) that Fuentes controlled, according to the motion.

“As with its prior efforts, the FBI’s fivemonth sting operation ultimately failed,” the document notes. “Undeterred, the Government nonetheless filed charges against Mr. Herrera. The sheer, unfettered degree of Mr. Fuentes’s misconduct as a confidential infor-

mant for the FBI cannot be understated and should be judicially noticed by this Court.”

The misconduct, the document says, included but was not necessarily limited to: “(i) purchasing and concealing ‘burner’ phones following receipt of a Government warrant; (ii) secretly informing third-parties of the Government’s investigation, in an effort to aid them in avoiding scrutiny; and (iii) refusing to provide cooperative assistance against certain individuals who were highly relevant – if not utterly integral – to the Government’s claims, including most notably Pierluisi himself.”

“Nonetheless, and contrary to how the Government may seek to characterize the involvement of Mr. Fuentes and/or the alleged actions of the Bank, the Indictment fails entirely to allege any actual quid pro quo arrangement between Mr. Herrera and Governor Pierluisi,” the document notes. “In fact, Governor Pierluisi – the lone ‘public official’ of the purported bribery and wire-fraud scheme, and therefore the only person who could have manifested the required mutual understanding to exchange money for favor – was entirely unaware of Fuentes’s actions and representations.”

Moreover, the petition says, “and what the Government has consistently refused or otherwise failed to recognize, are that campaign contributions are constitutionally protected expressions of free speech.”

“Recognizing the threat unfounded charges of bribery can pose to free speech, controlling precedent imposes a heightened evidentiary standard and requires the Government – where it alleges a bribery scheme predicated upon campaign contributions – to prove that such campaign contribution was part of an explicit and contemporaneous agreement, between the donor and public official,” the document notes.

Managers’ Purchase Index increased in May

By THE STAR STAFF

The Managers’ Purchase Index (PMI by its Spanish initials) for Puerto Rico’s manufacturing sector registered an increase in May, reaching the value of 61.5.

The index, a joint project of the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association and the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, indicates an expansion in the manufacturing sector with respect to the previous month, exceeding the threshold of 50.

The most prominent challenges manufacturing companies faced over the previous month included sales, raw material shortages, material costs, lead times, employment, absenteeism, staff turnover, high energy costs and unreliable utilities.

In May, new orders at manufacturing facilities exceeded those in April, as indicated by the new orders PMI, which increased to 60.0. Similarly, manufacturing production and employment in the sector showed growth over the previous

month, reaching 67.5 and 60.0, respectively, in their PMIs.

In addition, the inventory index at manufacturing facilities grew, reaching a value of 65.0, while the velocity of supplier deliveries decreased, with the supplier deliveries PMI reaching 55.0.

Since the first survey was conducted, Puerto Rico’s PMI has been at or above the threshold level in 97 of the 156 months, indicating the relative strength and resilience of the island manufacturing sector despite challenges.

Julio M. Herrera Velutini

New team, new goals

Governor, US official appoint new members to Conservation Trust board of trustees

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

Puerto Rico is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. Its natural resources and nature reserves are very important to many residents. That is why, besides the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the island has many groups, either private, nonprofit, or public, that dedicate their work to the conservation of its natural reserves and most valuable lands.

The private and nonprofit Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico is one of these organizations. The Trust works hard to protect natural areas, establishing conservation easements among many other efforts that involve protecting and creating awareness regarding the conservation and importance of natural resources on the island.

On Thursday, three new members were appointed to the Conservation Trust’s board of trustees. U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau traveled to Puerto Rico to assist in the joint appointment between Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The new trustees each will serve a three-year term and help carry out the Trust’s mission on behalf of the people of Puerto Rico.

“It is an honor to share these nominations and continue to support the mission of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico,” the governor said at a press conference held at the Botanical Gardens in Río Piedras. “The Trust is a key player in protecting our natural resources as well as helping to educate our people on the importance of environmental conservation efforts.”

The nominees are Blas Fonalledas, who has been nominated for a second term, Dr. Ana María García Blanco and Roberto Serrallés. Although both García Blanco and Serrallés will be new trustees, the governor pointed out that they have had a longstanding relationship with the Conservation Trust.

Fonalledas, meanwhile, has been working with the Trust since 2012 and has been part of the board of trustees since 2019. He is a well-known lawyer and has been intensively

active in natural resource conservation projects in Puerto Rico, Peru and New Zealand. He is also an active member of the board of directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.

García Blanco is a prestigious educator who graduated from Harvard University and a pioneer of Montessori education in Puerto Rico. She is also the executive director of the New School Institute.

Serrallés serves as a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit organization Para la Naturaleza (For Nature). He is also an executive in the spirits industry and a member of the well-known Serrallés family, whose company has been producing Puerto Rican rum since 1865. He has a doctorate degree in environmental science from the University of Oregon, is well known for using aquatic energy in his rum company’s facilities and has received many awards from international communities.

Beaudreau, meanwhile, had some noteworthy thoughts to share regarding the new Trust board members.

“For more than 50 years, The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico has preserved Puerto Rico’s rich and diverse ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources. The new members of the board of trustees will continue this long legacy and will serve as shepherds of the Trust’s mission to protect and conserve Puerto Rico’s lands and waters, inspire stewards of natural and historical heritage, and promote conservation across the archipelago,” Beaudreau said. “Because of the work of the conservation trust, generations today and long into the future will be able to enjoy the richness that this land offers.”

On Wednesday, the deputy secretary traveled to the Cabezas de San Juan Nature Preserve in Fajardo, home of Laguna Grande, one of three bioluminescent bays found in Puerto Rico. The Trust acquired most of the lands and waters that make up the nature preserve in 1975, safeguarding the area’s natural ecosystems and unique biodiversity. Through decades of conservation and preservation works, visitors to Cabezas de San Juan and Laguna Grande now enjoy a variety of recreational activities, including kayaking, snorkeling, hiking and bird watching.

The visit also highlighted the recovery of the Puerto Rican boa and palo de rosa, an iconic Puerto Rican tree that, through

a robust interagency effort, was brought back from near extinction. When the palo de rosa was listed as endangered in 1990, there were only nine known trees. Last year, after more than three decades of collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army and local groups and with efforts propelled by the Endangered Species Act, the tree was down-listed and reclassified from endangered to threatened.

University of Puerto Rico (UPR) President Luis Ferrao Delgado, who was also part of the visit, stated that UPR has set itself up as a partner in conservation with the Trust and emphasized that the Trust can count on UPR for anything it may need.

“Please count on us with this effort,” he said. “There is a large group of scientists and investigators who support conservation efforts; once again, please count on us.”

The Conservation Trust cares for nearly 38,000 acres of natural areas and historically preserved facilities all over Puerto Rico. These include: Hacienda Buena Vista in Ponce, Las Cabezas de San Juan in Fajardo, San Cristóbal Canyon in Aibonito, Hacienda La Esperanza in Manatí and La Parguera in Lajas. Pierluisi noted that the executive director of the Trust has an ambitious goal, which is to conserve 33% of the lands in Puerto Rico by 2030. The governor said he will work so that the Trust achieves this goal, and that he believes there are measures that can be taken over time to achieve an even larger percentage.

draws condemnation from press groups

By THE STAR STAFF

The National Press Photographers Association, the Overseas Press Club and the Puerto Rico Journalists Association this week condemned derogatory comments directed at Puerto Rican journalists who were deported from Mexico while covering the FIBA Women’s Americup basketball tournament.

A few days ago, Natalia Meléndez and Jaime Delgado, a journalist and photojournalist, respectively, were forced to leave Mexico after facing problems with the National Customs Agency of that country, where they traveled to cover the tournament.

The Mexican authorities confiscated the journalists’ equipment and demanded money for its return. When the

journalists refused to pay, they were deported.

Having learned of the event, comedian Alejandro Gil, in the company of Danilo Beauchamp, made defamatory statements about the reporters and all island photojournalists on his radio program “El Reguero,” which is transmitted by the radio station 94.7 FM.

“In what seems to be an unfortunate joke, Gil questioned whether the arrest of the press colleagues was due to the possibility that they were carrying marijuana, since, he said, ‘all cameramen are stoners. All cameramen use drugs,’” the Journalists Association said in a statement. “These statements, which may well be the product of a joke in bad taste, do not cease to be defamation against the press that, responsibly, plays a fundamental role of informing and documenting the daily events of the country, with seriousness and commitment.”

The group said it understood the humorous context in which Gil tried to frame his statements.

“However, every person who has the privilege of being in front of a microphone and the power to communicate to an audience must be aware of the social responsibility they carry and assume for everything they say, even in humor,” the association said. “Comedy, good or bad, should not be an excuse or license to defame. Therefore, as a body that brings together the photojournalists of Puerto Rico, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues and strongly reject the defamatory statements of the comedians mentioned. We urge them to retract this comment and to reflect on the impact, scope and responsibility they have, as communicators, as well as the respect we must have for the audience and for colleagues from all media.”

‘Joke in bad taste’ aimed at cameramen

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

Vieques residents protest auction of housing lots

By THE STAR STAFF

Vieques residents demonstrated in front of the island’s multipurpose center on Thursday morning to protest the auction by the municipality of 10 coveted lots.

Marlilyn López, leader of the group and a local teacher, said the high cost of the land, which ranged from $39,015 and $39.840 per lot, was prohibitive for working people in the offshore island municipality.

Protesters feared further displacement of the local population, as most of the area’s residents are non-locals. They wanted the auction to stop and alternatives to be sought so that the residents of Vieques would have the opportunity to acquire the land.

“If the land was divided into smaller pieces and the bid was for less than $39,000, local workers would have the possibility of acquiring land for their homes,” López said.

Vieques Mayor José “Junito” Corcino Acevedo said meanwhile on Thursday that the auctioning of land without a habitable structure or that has no title in the Puerto Ferro neighborhood is the continuation of a process that began in 2017 during the previous administration, and what is being sought is to reverse the development plan

of that administration, which restricted the development of housing on former U.S. Navy.

“Today continues, because that is what it is, the auction process of nine plots in the area of the Puerto Ferro neighborhood, which began under the previous administration,” the mayor said. “It was done under the parameters established by that administration prior to the beginning of the process in 2017. We want our people, the Vieques people, to have greater opportunity to acquire land and develop their homes. In this auction, so far, Vieques has taken two of the plots.”

“I want to emphasize that the funds that come from these sales will be used for the hiring of a group of experts, including planners, with the purpose of reversing, with verifiable data, the old plan for the development of Vieques, which does not adhere to the reality of our island municipality,” Corcino added.

For example, he said, the United States Navy returned about 4,000 acres of land, and of that acreage, about 350 acres were destined for residential projects.

“However, the previous administration changed its zoning to an agricultural one, in essence blocking off [those acres] from being used by our people,” the mayor added.

Resident commissioner joins disaster preparedness caucus

By THE STAR STAFF

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, along with seven other members of Congress from both parties representing areas commonly impacted by natural disasters, will serve in the re-formed Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus for the 118th Congress.

Along with Reps. Troy A. Carter Sr. (D-La.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Carlos A. Giménez (R-Fla.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.)

and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), González Colón (R-P.R.) noted that for this Congress, the caucus aims to promote legislation and policies that provide efficient and equitable relief for disaster survivors and promote measures that pave the way for disaster survivors in affected communities to recover completely.

The caucus will also advocate for disaster preparedness measures and programs that help save lives, while preparing American communities for the disasters ahead, González Colón said in a press release.

The co-chairs of the caucus represent regions experiencing a wide variety of natural disasters, from hurricanes to wildfires to floods, and all have gone straight through the disaster recovery process. The caucus is made up of leaders from across the political spectrum and across the country to advocate for better disaster preparedness and recovery systems.

“Communities across the nation are affected by a variety of natural disasters each year, putting citizens at risk and impacting our health and economy. Puerto Rico is no exception, as it recently experienced disasters including devastating hurricanes and earthquakes,” González Colón said. “As members of Congress, we must continue to engage with relevant stakeholders, including federal agencies, to develop legislation and leverage resources that will help those affected. I am proud to serve as cochair of this bipartisan caucus to ensure greater disaster preparedness and response.”

“Storms know no borders, and neither should our nation’s disaster preparedness or recovery systems,” added

Carter. “As the climate crisis makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense, we must work together to save lives and strengthen our systems. This bipartisan caucus is committed to advocating for effective preparedness and recovery measures and programs that better serve the American people and leave no one behind.”

Protesters in Vieques said they fear further displacement of the local population, as most of the area’s residents are non-locals.

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón

Prosecutors face conspiracy theories in Jan. 6 trial

By ALAN FEUER

Almost from the moment that a proDonald Trump mob stormed into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, conspiracy theories have ricocheted from the fringes of the internet to the corridors of Congress. Republican officials and others on the right have dismissed the attack as the work of mere tourists, or sought to depict it as a false-flag operation by shadowy leftist groups — or even the federal government.

These baseless claims have seeped into dozens of criminal cases stemming from the riot, and for more than two years, the government has had to beat them back.

On Thursday, prosecutors were to face possibly their stiffest challenge yet on that front as Alan Hostetter, a former police chief turned yoga instructor from Southern California, was to go on trial in U.S. District Court in Washington. Few people connected to the Jan. 6 attack have embraced conspiracy theories about the attack as fully as Hostetter, who is planning to place them at the heart of his defense.

Acting as his own lawyer, Hostetter has said that he intends to fight charges of conspiracy and obstruction based on what he calls “three fundamental pillars”: that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump; that he and other rioters had no desire to disrupt the challenges to the vote results that were taking place inside the Capitol on Jan. 6; and that, therefore, the assault on the building had to have been staged by “federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.”

To prove all this, Hostetter had initially told the judge who will hear his trial that he wanted to call as many as 30 witnesses as part of his defense.

Among those on his list were former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her daughter; Jacob Chansley, a fellow rioter better known as the QAnon Shaman; a New York Times reporter who wrote an article about his wife; and the general manager of the Kimpton George Hotel near the Capitol, where Hostetter stayed on Jan. 6 and which, as one of his motions said, was probably the place that the “feds” used to surveil him.

While Hostetter eventually backed away from his request, the trial is likely to draw together many of the disparate strands of conspiracy theories that have stubbornly taken root on the right in the 2 1/2 years since the Capitol was attacked.

Prosecutors have warned for weeks that the proceeding could devolve into chaos.

“The defendant’s goal with this trial — rather than a genuine engagement on the elements or the evidence — is to create a circuslike atmosphere and to promote his own brand,” they wrote last month to Royce Lamberth, the presiding judge.

The vast majority of the more than 60 Capitol riot cases that have gone to trial in Washington so far have fallen into one of two buckets: They have either been brief and straightforward assault or trespassing matters, or longer and weightier conspiracy cases involving complex charges like sedition against members of extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia.

Every now and then, the trials have veered from this normal course as defendants have taken the stand to offer unusual — and generally unsuccessful — arguments like blaming Trump for their decision to storm the Capitol. But while some of the trials have at times been dramatic, most have been relatively uneventful and largely trouble-free.

A leader of a group called the American Phoenix Project, which was founded to fight the “fear-based tyranny” of coronavirus-related restrictions, Hostetter was accused of plotting with several members of the Three Percenter militia movement to storm the Capitol and stop the certification of Trump’s defeat.

Shortly after the election, prosecutors

said, Hostetter and another leader of the American Phoenix Project, Russell Taylor, began to use the group “to advocate violence” against people that “supported the 2020 election results.” At the end of November, for example, Hostetter posted a video on the group’s YouTube channel accusing those who had not challenged the results of committing treason.

“Some people at the highest level,” he said, “need to be made an example of with an execution or three.”

Prosecutors say that Hostetter and Taylor communicated with their Three Percenter co-defendants mostly through a group chat on Telegram called “California Patriots-DC

Brigade.” Taylor once described the channel as being for “able bodied individuals that are going to DC on Jan. 6” and are “ready and willing to fight.”

Hostetter went to Washington on Jan. 3, 2021, prosecutors said, checking into a room at the Kimpton George. Three days later, carrying a hatchet in a backpack, he accompanied Taylor — who also had a hatchet as well as a knife and a stun baton — into a restricted area on the Capitol grounds.

In April, in a nod to the unusual nature of Hostetter’s proposed defense, Lamberth severed his case from the four co-defendants who stood accused of being Three Percenters and conspiring to disrupt the certification of the election on Jan. 6. By that time, Taylor had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and under a deal with the government had agreed to serve as a witness and testify against Hostetter at trial.

Prosecutors have said that they intend to bolster their case with testimony from FBI agents who conducted the investigation and police officers who witnessed the violence at the Capitol. But this standard presentation could be upended if Hostetter tries to pursue the more outrageous parts of his defense.

Last month, for instance, during a routine pretrial hearing, he went on a tirade, accusing the government of having prosecuted Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, on sedition charges in order to disguise the fact that Rhodes had been working with authorities on Jan. 6. Lamberth cut him short and dismissed his baseless claims.

“You don’t have any facts to support your allegations,” he said.

Alan Hostetter was to go on trial on Thursday in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The glaring blind spot in college admissions: Economic diversity

By DAVID LEONHARDT

The University of Virginia, one of the country’s top public universities, enrolls a strikingly affluent group of students: Fewer than 15% of recent undergraduates at UVA have come from families with incomes low enough to qualify for Pell Grants, the largest federal financial aid program.

The same is true at some other public universities, including Auburn, Georgia Tech and William & Mary. It is also true at a larger group of elite private colleges, including Bates, Brown, Georgetown, Oberlin, Tulane and Wake Forest. The skew is so extreme at some colleges that more undergraduates come from the top 1% of the income distribution than from the entire bottom 60%, one academic study found.

It’s worth remembering that this pattern has existed despite affirmative action. Nearly every college with an affluent enrollment has historically used race-based admissions policies. Those policies often succeeded at producing racial diversity without producing as much economic diversity.

After the Supreme Court decision last week banning race-based affirmative action, much of the commentary has focused on how admissions officers might use economic data, such as household income or wealth, to ensure continued racial diversity. And whether they figure out how to do so is important.

But racial diversity is not the only form of diversity that matters. Economic diversity matters for its own sake: The dearth of lower-income students at many elite colleges is a sign that educational opportunity has been constrained for Americans of all races. To put it another way, economic factors such as household wealth are not valuable merely because they are a potential proxy for race; they are also a telling measure of disadvantage in their own right.

As colleges revamp their admissions policies to respond to the court’s decision, there will be two different questions worth asking: Can the new system do as well as the old one at enrolling Black, Hispanic and Native

The

students? And can it do better at enrolling lower-income students? So far, the public discussion has tended to ignore that second question.

The F&M model

Creating more economically diverse selective campuses is both difficult and possible.

It is difficult because nearly every aspect of the admissions system favors affluent applicants. They attend better high schools. They receive help on their essays from their highly educated parents. They know how to work the system by choosing character-building extracurricular activities and taking standardized tests multiple times. In many cases — if the applicants are athletes or the children of alumni, donors or faculty members — they benefit from their own version of affirmative action.

Nonetheless, some colleges have recently shown that it is possible to enroll and graduate more middle- and low-income students.

These newly diverse colleges include several with

multibillion-dollar endowments (like Amherst, Harvard, Princeton, Swarthmore and Yale). The list also includes colleges with fewer resources — like Franklin & Marshall, Macalaster, Vassar and Wooster — which have had to make tough choices to find the money to increase their scholarship budgets. Crucially, these campuses have not sacrificed one form of diversity for another: They also tend to be racially diverse.

Admissions officers at such colleges have recognized that talented students from humble backgrounds usually don’t look as polished. Their essays may be less impressive — perhaps because they received less editing from adults. The student’s summer activity may have been a job in her own impoverished neighborhood — rather than a social justice trip to an impoverished area overseas.

Many of these students have tremendous promise. By admitting them, an elite college can change the trajectories of entire families. A college dominated by affluent students, by contrast, is failing to serve as the engine of opportunity that it could be.

I’m not suggesting that economic diversity is an adequate replacement for racial diversity. The United States has a specific history of racial discrimination, especially against Black and Native Americans, that continues to restrict opportunities for today’s teenagers. The Supreme Court ruling that banned race-based affirmative action at times seemed to wish away this history, imagining that the country had moved beyond racism. In truth, students of color, at every income level, face challenges that white students do not.

But many of the people who run elite colleges have had their own blind spot in recent decades. They have often excluded class from their definition of diversity. They enrolled students of every race and religion, from every continent and U.S. region, without worrying much about the economic privilege that many of those students shared.

Now that colleges are legally required to change their approach, they have a new opportunity to broaden their definition of diversity.

University of Virginia, one of the country’s top public universities, enrolls a strikingly affluent group of students: Fewer than 15 percent of recent undergraduates at UVA have come from families with incomes low enough to qualify for Pell Grants, the largest federal financial aid program.

El Paso gunman is confronted by victims’ families at sentencing

By ERIN COULEHAN and EDGAR SANDOVAL

Emotional testimony from survivors and victims’ families began earlier this week in the federal sentencing hearing for the gunman who killed 23 people and injured dozens more at a Walmart store in El Paso, one of the deadliest attacks targeting Latinos in modern U.S. history.

The gunman, Patrick Crusius, pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in February after federal prosecutors notified the court that they would not be seeking the death penalty. State authorities have made it clear that they could pursue it in a separate capital murder case that is still pending.

In the federal case, where testimony on a possible sentence was expected to last at least two days, prosecutors agreed with the defense on a proposed sentence of 90 consecutive life terms to reflect the 90 charges, including 45 hate crimes.

Emotions have remained raw in the four years since Crusius stormed a Walmart in the predominantly Latino border city, unleashing a fury of firepower just minutes after publishing a hate-filled manifesto online that deplored the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

El Paso, which regularly attracts shoppers and workers from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez just across the

border, has long been seen as a refuge for migrants from Mexico and other countries. Immigrants make up about a quarter of the population.

Family members of the victims packed the courtroom in downtown El Paso on Wednesday and loudly sobbed when Crusius entered the room in a navy jumpsuit. He swiveled idly in his seat as the magistrate, David Guaderama, read the charges on which he was convicted, and occasionally smiled or rolled his eyes as family members shared stories of grief and anger.

“Why is it us in pain and not you?” said one of the survivors, Genesis Davila, addressing the gunman. She was raising money with her soccer team outside the Walmart when the attack occurred, injuring her father and mother and killing her coach. “No one invited you to our quiet city,” she said.

Prosecutors said that Crusius, 24, who is white, drove 700 miles from his home in Allen, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, to the Walmart supercenter near a popular mall. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle he had purchased online, the gunman stalked shoppers and workers in the parking lot, down the aisles and behind the cash registers.

In his anti-immigrant manifesto, Crusius promoted a claim, widely espoused by white supremacists, that elites in the United States and Europe

are replacing white Europeans and their descendants with immigrants from nonwhite-majority countries.

Crusius told investigators that he killed and wounded the people at the store because he believed they were of “Hispanic national origin,” prosecutors said in describing a statement of facts associated with the guilty plea.

They said he told the authorities that he identified himself as a “white nationalist, motivated to kill Hispanics because they were immigrating to the United States.” He said he selected El Paso “in order to dissuade Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants from coming to the United States,” the prosecutors’ statement said.

Prosecutors said the attacker appeared to have drawn direct inspiration from the mass murder of Muslims at two mosques in New Zealand in March 2019, an attack that left 51 people dead.

Witnesses described how a barrage of fire filled the store with smoke as workers and customers, many of them covered in blood, ran for their lives. Crusius fled in his car, but surrendered moments later after he was pulled over by a state trooper, admitting “I’m the shooter.”

The victims included an Army veteran, a mother shielding her 2-month old son, a German national living on the Mexican side of the border, Mexican nationals and many others.

The defense has said it would make its statements at the conclusion of the victims’ presentations, possibly on Thursday.

In court Wednesday, relatives of the victims came forward with a series of emotional impact statements, a combination of letters honoring the lives lost and angry statements directed at the gunman. Crusius at times bobbed his head and swiveled in his seat, appearing as if he were listening to a song only he could hear.

“They were happy people who bothered no one,” said Alfredo Hernandez, a family member of two of the victims, Maribel Loya and Leonardo Campos. “They woke up early that Saturday morning to get their dogs groomed but didn’t know they’d be killed.”

The FBI brought in a certified emotional support dog, a hearty black Labrador named Beaumont, to stand at the podium with a young victim, Kaitlyn Melendez, who was 9 in 2019.

She said she and her grandparents had stopped at the Walmart for candy and had planned to go from there to a nearby movie theater.

Her grandfather, David Johnson, 63, died shielding her and her grandmother.

“You and your sick, messed-up brain. Do you know how pathetic you are?” Kaitlyn said, addressing the gunman. “I hope you get what you deserve. I was 9 years old when you took away my childhood; because of you, every person with a backpack that I see is a threat.”

At that point, Crusius rolled his eyes, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“You can roll your eyes, smile and smirk all you want,” Kaitlyn said. “I hope you rot in there.”

Mourners at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 23 people in 2019.

How Tom Brady’s crypto ambitions collided with reality

musicians including Soulja Boy and Lil Yachty with illegally promoting crypto assets. And in late May, after months of failed attempts, a process server delivered court papers to Shaquille O’Neal, the retired basketball star, who was sued for promoting FTX, according to legal filings. O’Neal was served while broadcasting from a National Basketball Association playoff game.

Representatives for Brady, BankmanFried and MoonPay declined to comment. A spokesperson for Yuga Labs said the company had “never paid a celebrity to join the club.” Representatives for Bündchen and O’Neal did not respond to requests for comment.

Tech startups and celebrities have long had a symbiotic relationship. The startups offer stars a way to make money while staying on the cutting edge of internet culture; the celebrities help young companies gain credibility and reach a larger audience.

ball team someday with Brady. Bündchen also appeared at the conference as FTX’s head of environmental and social initiatives.

When FTX collapsed in November, the company’s $32 billion valuation — including Brady and Bündchen’s $48 million in shares — plummeted to zero. The couple had also received a small amount of ethereum, bitcoin and solana tokens to trade on the platform, one of the people said, which disappeared in FTX’s bankruptcy.

Brady has not commented publicly on FTX or his relationship with Bankman-Fried. After FTX’s crisis meeting in November, Nader called him back.

“He was concerned,” Nader said. “The very first thing he asked me was: ‘Sina, how are you doing? I know you put your heart and soul into this.’”

By ERIN GRIFFITH and DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY

As the FTX cryptocurrency exchange imploded last fall, Tom Brady, the seventime Super Bowl-winning quarterback, made an urgent phone call.

He dialed Sina Nader, FTX’s head of partnerships. The exchange’s staff was in the middle of a crisis meeting with its beleaguered founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Nader couldn’t answer. “I never would’ve expected to decline a call from Tom Brady,” he said.

Brady had reasons to be concerned. As an “ambassador” for FTX, he had appeared at the company’s conference in the Bahamas and in TV commercials that promoted the exchange as “the most trusted” institution in the loosely regulated world of crypto.

His money was also at stake. As part of an endorsement agreement Brady signed in 2021, FTX had paid him $30 million, a deal that consisted almost entirely of FTX stock, three people with knowledge of the contract said. Brady’s wife at the time, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, was paid $18 million in FTX stock, one of the people said.

Now FTX is bankrupt, and BankmanFried is facing criminal fraud charges. Brady, 45, and Bündchen, 42, have been sued by a group of FTX customers seeking compensation

from the celebrities who endorsed the exchange. On top of it all, the terms of the deal would have required the former couple, who divorced last year, to pay taxes on at least some of their now worthless FTX stock, two people familiar with the endorsement deal said.

Their situation is the highest-profile example of a humiliating reckoning facing the actors, athletes and other celebrities who rushed to embrace the easy money and online hype of cryptocurrencies. During the boom times, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Reese Witherspoon and Matt Damon all gushed about or invested in crypto projects, bringing a mainstream audience to the wonky world of digital currencies. It was fun — and lucrative — while prices soared.

But last year’s crash ended the celebrity crypto bonanza.

In October, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered Kim Kardashian to pay $1.26 million for failing to make adequate disclosures when she endorsed the EthereumMax crypto token. In December, a lawyer in California sued two crypto companies, MoonPay and Yuga Labs, accusing them of using a “vast network of A-list musicians, athletes and celebrity clients” to mislead investors about digital assets.

In March, the SEC charged actress Lindsay Lohan, online influencer Jake Paul, and

Of all the startups that recruited celebrities to endorse crypto, FTX was perhaps the most eager. As Bankman-Fried tried to turn FTX into a household name, he made a list of celebrities he could envision promoting the company, recalled Nader, the former FTX executive. Brady’s name was at the top.

A former college football player, Nader was in charge of recruiting Brady and other stars. In June 2021, Brady and Bündchen agreed to a deal with Bankman-Fried, praising the “revolutionary FTX team.” Brady seemed genuinely interested in crypto, Nader said, and occasionally had conversations with Bankman-Fried.

“Imagine a tiger and a lion talking,” Nader said. “They’re slightly different, they do different things, but they’re really formidable in their own arenas.”

In 2021, Brady also co-founded Autograph, which helps famous people sell the crypto collectibles known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Autograph raised more than $200 million from investors, and Bankman-Fried joined the board.

That same year, Brady and Bündchen starred in a $20 million advertising campaign for FTX, with commercials that ran during NFL games. Brady also posted TikTok videos with Bankman-Fried from FTX’s headquarters in the Bahamas, where he spoke at a conference in front of hundreds. Backstage, Bankman-Fried remarked that he could imagine buying a foot-

Bündchen said in a March interview with Vanity Fair that she had “trusted the hype” and felt “blindsided.”

Brady’s other crypto venture has also struggled. Autograph’s revenue sank last year amid the crypto meltdown, a person familiar with its finances said. The startup has shifted its strategy to focus more on helping celebrities find ways to foster loyalty with their fans, and less on marketing crypto tokens to consumers, the person said. The firm has also removed some crypto language from its marketing, downplaying terms like NFT, another person with knowledge of the company said.

Autograph has also cut more than 50 employees in layoff rounds, a third person said. The reductions were reported earlier by Insider. An Autograph spokesperson declined to comment.

Brady has also faced legal trouble. In December, Adam Moskowitz and the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida accusing him and Bündchen of misleading investors. Among the other defendants are comedian Larry David, NBA star Steph Curry and tennis player Naomi Osaka, all of whom endorsed FTX.

“None of these defendants performed any due diligence prior to marketing these FTX products to the public,” the lawsuit said.

Some celebrities narrowly escaped the crypto mess. Katy Perry, the pop star, held talks about a partnership with FTX that never came to fruition, three people familiar with the situation have said.

Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Western Conference Semifinals in San Francisco, May 4, 2023. Curry is among the defendants in a lawsuit accusing celebrities of misleading crypto investors.

Stocks sink as bond yields rise, U.S. jobs data fuels rate hike fears

MSCI’s global index of stocks fell on Thursday, on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline since April, while Treasury yields rose as a surge in U.S. private payrolls fueled concerns that interest rates would stay higher for longer.

Payroll company ADP said June private payrolls rose 497,000, far exceeding economists’ expectations for a 228,000 increase and 267,000 in May. The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000 for the week ended July 1, but the prior week was revised to show 3,000 fewer applications than reported.

Compounding worries that this would lead to a more hawkish central bank, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan said on Thursday that a continued above-target inflation outlook and a stronger-than-expected labor market “calls for more-restrictive monetary policy.”

U.S. Treasury yields climbed after the labor market data boosted expectations for aggressive Fed rate hikes to rein in stubbornly high inflation. The U.S. dollar had pared losses against other major currencies after the report while stock indexes were in the red across the board.

“There’s just there’s a lot of uncertainty right now in terms of how strong the economy is and what the Fed might have to do to try to deal with inflation pressures,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson.

While ADP’s report is not always a good guide for the government’s monthly jobs data, due out on Friday, the private payrolls data was so much higher than expected that raised concerns that Friday’s report would also bring upside surprise, Ragan said.

“Given we’d such a strong end of June the market is, at least for today, taking a more conservative view,” he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 340.82 points, or 0.99%, to 33,947.82; the S&P 500 lost 32.11 points, or 0.72%, at 4,414.71; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 105.76 points, or 0.77%, to 13,685.89.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 2.34% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe pared losses to 1.21%. It had fallen as much as 1.7%, which would have been its biggest one-day decline since December.

“All of it paints a picture of a market that’s concerned about the economy and a Fed that is still dead set on tightening monetary policy,” said Alex Coffey, senior trading strategist at TD Ameritrade.

With “no signs of deterioration in the labor market,” Coffey said that increasingly tight monetary policy will “all but assuredly cause some sort of economic slowdown.”

Money market traders now see an 94.9% chance of a quarter-point hike at the bank’s July 26 meeting and was betting on a 28.5% chance of another hike in September, compared with 19.1% on Wednesday, CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed.

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

And D.A. Davidson’s Ragan noted that futures indicate few bets on rate cuts until June of 2024 compared to recent bets on many as two rate cuts later in 2023.

What 120 degrees looks like in one of Mexico’s hottest cities

By ELDA CANTÚ

People in Hermosillo are used to the heat: Enduring scorching temperatures is a local point of pride in this northwestern Mexican city known for its blistering weather and nicknamed the “city of sun.”

But on a recent Sunday in June, temperatures reached a record high when thermometers registered 49.5 degrees Celsius, or 121 Fahrenheit.

“It was like I was being thrown balls of fire,” said Isabel Rodríguez, a gas station attendant on the road to Hermosillo. At a local fountain in the city, a father used his hat to pour water over his daughter as a reprieve from the heat.

Searing temperatures swept through the rest of the country, too.

June tends to be a rainy month in Mexico, but this year, El Nino, the global weather pattern often tied to intense heat, caused hotter, less rainy days. With temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 23 Mexican states were under weather alerts last month. More than 110 people have died of heat-related causes this season.

In the northeastern part of the country, many schools ended classes early and others moved online to protect children from the intense heat. Cattle ranchers reported hundreds of deaths and millions of pesos in losses as their animals collapsed from heat exhaustion, unable to hydrate properly.

“It’s very atypical, and it’s due to an anticyclone,” said Dr. Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

This phenomenon, which creates air circulation in a clockwise direction, prevents the formation of clouds and, Domínguez Sarmiento added, “allows radiation to hit directly, as the sky is completely clear, and thus temperatures on the surface rise.”

The Madden-Julian Oscillation, a cluster of thunderstorms that travel the Equator regularly, was also at play, further preventing cloud formation, explained Domínguez Sarmiento.

The researcher added that land use also contributed to the heightened sensation of the heat: “If we had much more forest cover,” she said, referring to urban sprawl, “we might feel lower temperatures, but we are really surrounded by asphalt, and that also contributes to that discomfort feeling.”

In Hermosillo, a city of about 936,000 people, that feeling translated to burning eyes, throbbing heads and dripping sweat.

“Even with an umbrella,” said Luis Grande, a lone student walking on the campus of Sonora University, “I felt as if my eyes wanted to burst of the heat.”

And yet, in Hermosillo, long used to scorching temperatures, life seemed to go on: Schools remained open, and women walked children to class; soccer games were still scheduled to be played at noon.

“It hit you, as if it were cooking your skin,” María Ángeles López, a housewife, said of the heat. She sat at Madero Park in downtown Hermosillo while her daughter, Aitana, played under a sprinkler.

“I felt desperate because of how unpleasant it felt,” she said, adding that her family owned three air conditioning units at home but that she tried to turn them off because electricity bills tended to increase during the hotter months.

Power outages have been reported throughout Mexico in recent weeks, a result of the high temperatures.

Half of all small grocery shops in the country had been affected by outages, and about 15% of those businesses lost refrigerated products, the National Alliance of Small Shopkeepers told local media.

In Mexico City, the capital, there was a shortage of ice, and some convenience stores rationed ice sales.

Authorities in Hermosillo distributed water to homeless people and advised the population to wear hats and loose clothes, to cook less and avoid sun exposure. Some families sought solace in the waters of a nearby river, a one-hour drive from Hermosillo.

In Paseo El Molinito, a local recreation site outside the city, children splashed and parents sipped beer. A lazy hammock rocked to the faint rustle of leaves, while the music of an accordion radiated from a loudspeaker. A man in charge of collecting admission fees to the site planned on staying open past the usual time.

Smoke from a few small wildfires rose along the road leading from Hermosillo to El Molinito, making an unbearable day even more unpleasant. The Mexican state of Sonora, where Hermosillo is, has registered 89 wildfires so far in 2023, the highest number in more than two decades, according to the National Forestry Commission.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has criticized the media’s coverage of the heat wave, calling it overstated and sensationalist. He recommended that people “drink a lot of water, don’t get too exposed to the sun” and instructed citizens “to get up earlier,” like “rural farmers do.”

People in the rural areas of Sonora start working at 4 a.m. to avoid the sweltering heat and pause at noon. They break until 4 p.m., when weather conditions are again manageable.

And it’s not just humans who can’t tolerate the heat. Some electronic devices will shut down if they are exposed to high temperatures for too long.

“We still have July, August and September ahead,” said Refugio Estrada, who lives outside Hermosillo. People know the canícula, the dog days, are not yet here.

A brush fire in Hermosillo, Mexico, Sunday, June 25, 2023. During the most recent heat wave, residents of the northern city of Hermosillo struggled to breathe in the scorching temperatures.

‘Dig, dig, dig’: A Russian soldier’s story

By THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF and NATALIA YERMAK

The Russian soldier was captured only days after arriving on the front line in eastern Ukraine. He had little training. But he knew how to disassemble and fire his rifle and where to put a tourniquet.

The soldier, who went by the call sign Merk, was lured into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers near Bakhmut last month when he heard cries for help from a comrade, he said.

With permission from his Ukrainian captors, Merk, 45, agreed to an interview by New York Times journalists just hours after his capture. A Ukrainian soldier sat in the next room during the interview.

Over the course of an hour, the prisoner provided a rare account of the invasion of Ukraine from a Russian perspective, a viewpoint that rarely emerges in Western news media and that the Kremlin tries to define for the world in its effort to sway public opinion.

We met Merk on a bloodstained floor in an otherwise tidy and well-lit basement in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. He was mostly uninjured, and his eyes were covered by tape and gauze. His hands were bound. The restraints were removed by his captor upon our arrival.

For journalists, interviewing any prisoner of war takes place under a peculiar set of circumstances, even with the prisoner’s consent. Throughout the process — from deciding whether to participate in the interview to what he might say during it — he is most likely weighing the reaction of his captors, or the prospect of physical violence or other miseries.

The Times is identifying Merk by his call sign to protect his identity for security reasons, including the possibility that he could be harmed if he is returned to the Russians in a prisoner exchange. The Times verified his identity through court documents and social media accounts.

The United Nations has found ill-treatment of prisoners — including executions, beatings and torture — on both sides of the war, though Ukrainian accounts from Russian detention point to far more widespread and severe abuses by the Kremlin’s forces at every level.

Merk was an inmate-turned-soldier, he said, having joined the Russian army’s newly formed Storm Z prisoner unit after serving two months of a 2 1/2-year prison sentence. He had previously spent several years in prison

after killing someone unintentionally while intoxicated, he said.

The interview below is condensed and annotated with analysis of his comments by the Times. It takes into account the International Committee of the Red Cross’ guidance regarding publishing information about prisoners of war.

Merk: “I served the first term of 5 1/2 years. Was released on parole. Then I wasn’t showing up for check-ins. I was put behind again for 2 1/2 years. Full term.”

Before Merk was imprisoned, he worked in a machine factory, and then worked briefly as a handyman before his second term. After two months in prison, a man in a “green suit” from the Russian Ministry of Defense arrived, looking for recruits. Merk said that more than half his prison had volunteered to fight with the Wagner private mercenary group before he returned to prison in March.

“They came, the Defense Service. To ‘the colony.’ They said: ‘Do you want a new life? Do you want to start with a blank sheet? Come, there is enough work for everyone.’ They said: ‘There is enough work for everyone. You can build houses there.’”

Merk explained that he had interpreted the offer as a way to become an army construction worker. He said his only understanding of the war had come from the television in prison. He said he did not realize early on that he would be sent to battle.

“They didn’t say anything about that — that there would be shooting, war. We were told, ‘We will need to build up Ukraine.’ That’s it. They put us in a car, took us to the airport. In a police car. The plane was waiting for us. There were about eight cars of prisoners. They put us under escort into the plane. And we departed. We were brought into the hangar. We signed the contract — when we read it, we already understood.”

Merk had unknowingly joined a Storm Z company, a Russian military unit filled with inmates. It was created in recent months in the image of Wagner’s inmate program, which was used extensively in eastern Ukraine.

He guessed he was recruited with about 300 other prisoners. He was given no form of personal identification. But when he signed the six-month contract, with an option to extend, there was a photocopy of his passport so he could get a bank card and receive his salary. At the time of his capture, Merk said, he had yet to be paid.

“I was a fool. Everyone went here, and why wouldn’t I? I’m a man, after all. I thought I

would serve my time. But I didn’t know where to go after that. My sister wouldn’t let me in the house. I thought if I would go here, I would at least be building something. At least I’ll make some money, buy me some sort of a room. I’ll live. I’d make a family, find myself one, at least I’d be with a family. Well, I wanted a life. I thought it would be a clean slate. I’ll find a woman with a kid, at least, I’ll live.”

Merk arrived somewhere in eastern Ukraine in late May and was stationed at a training camp. There, he learned how to use a rifle and received sparse medical training. His commanders were also former prisoners, and had gained their rank simply through longevity, he guessed.

“We trained to dig trenches. Learned how to disassemble and reassemble an automatic rifle. How to evacuate with a stretcher. How to turn someone over so they don’t get injured. They showed what to do when one gets shot in the neck, and how to use an injection that kills pain.”

When Merk was handed a rifle, he knew he would be going to the front line, unlike some of the other inmates who had been sent to work in the base’s mess hall.

“Then I understood everything. I am heading for death. They would point the finger: ‘You, you and you go digging.’ They gathered us together, 25, 30 people at a time. They said you are going to the firing range, to learn how to shoot. And instead of the firing range, we were brought straight here. We had two rations each — and there was no water. Some soldiers were starving. They were just forced to dig, dig, dig, dig, and that was it. Day and night. We were given an order. We were new; we had just come in. They told us, ‘You’re going in as meat.’”

Merk had spent only a few days digging and had no idea where he was on the front line when he was captured. Ukrainian soldiers said he had surrendered near Bakhmut. The city, captured by the Russians in May, sits mostly on low ground.

“They brought us in at night. At night, no bushes there, just clear sky. Almost in a field. Well, there are trees, ditches and greenery. We found a place, laid down to get through the night and start digging in the morning. The morning came — there were only corpses from before. Corpses, only corpses. It was after everybody was killed there. The trenches that were there were blown up. We had to dig new trenches. We were looking for a place to dig somewhere.”

Merk said that when the Ukrainian attack began, there were nine soldiers digging alongside him. Four were captured. He does not know what happened to the others.

“We thought we were going to be sent to work, but they just sent us to die.”

A captured Russian soldier known by the call sign Merk during an interview.

Charles is crowned again, but this time it’s in a less friendly setting

By MARK LANDLER

For most royals, one coronation would be enough.

But not for King Charles III, sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. On Wednesday, he took part in a second ceremony in Scotland that bore all the regal trappings of a coronation, if not the same legal status.

Charles was presented with a scepter, sword of state and the crown first worn at a coronation by Mary Queen of Scots in 1543. He and Queen Camilla participated in a solemn religious service at St. Giles’ Cathedral, gazing at the ancient Stone of Destiny, used in the inauguration of Scottish kings. Afterward, a squadron of Royal Air Force jets streaked across the cerulean skies above Edinburgh’s royal mile.

Scotland has not been a kingdom since 1707, when the Act of Union brought it together with England, so the rituals and pageantry that played out in the Scottish capital were ceremonial rather than statutory.

But they had deep political resonance in a proud land where pro-independence passions still run deep. Like his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles is eager to assert his personal ties to Scotland, not just to win the support of Scots but also to bind them closer to the union. Elizabeth traveled to Edinburgh after her coronation in 1953 for a similar presentation of the Scottish crown jewels.

“This is all about trying to shore up the union, which was arguably one of Elizabeth’s great successes as monarch,” said Ed Owens, a royal historian. “The challenge for King Charles is that historically, he’s been more closely associated with Wales, and polls have shown there’s no great love for him north of the border.”

Protesters brandishing black-and-yellow signs that said “Not my King” were conspicuously visible along the parade route in Edinburgh. That was in stark contrast to coronation day in May in London, when the police rounded up members of an anti-monarchy group before they could assemble near Trafalgar Square.

Charles left little to chance at the service. He and Camilla wore the ermine robes and plumed hats of the Order of Thistle, perhaps recalling his mother’s decision in 1953 to wear a businesslike dress and carry a handbag at the service, which offended some Scots, who viewed it as too casual.

Buckingham Palace reminded the news media that in 2007, Charles led investors in

buying an endangered Scottish country estate, Dumfries House, which he then refurbished through his charitable foundation.

The service showcased a diverse Scotland but also one recently torn by political upheaval. Humza Yousaf, a son of Pakistani immigrants who rose to be first minister, gave the first reading, from the Old Testament. Yousaf took his post in March after Nicola Sturgeon, the long-serving leader of the Scottish National Party, abruptly resigned.

The party, which has led the campaign to break away from the United Kingdom, spiraled into scandal. Last month, police arrested Sturgeon in an investigation of the party’s finances, releasing her several hours later without charges. The crisis has set back the

cause of Scottish independence, though polls show that nearly half the population still favors another independence referendum.

The last time Scots held such a referendum, in 2014, the queen played a subtle, but arguably significant, role in the outcome. Breaking from her usual silence on political issues, she urged Scots “to think very carefully about the future.” In the end, they voted 55% to 45% to stay part of the union.

Whatever their ambivalence about the monarchy, Scots by and large embraced Elizabeth. She spent her summers at her Highlands castle, Balmoral, and after she died there in September, huge crowds lined the route to bid her farewell as a hearse bore her coffin to Edinburgh. Her body lay in state in St. Giles’ in what amounted to a dress rehearsal for the state funeral in London.

Feelings for Charles are more mixed. In a recent poll by the research firm YouGov, 46% of respondents expressed a positive opinion about him, while 42% were negative. Nearly three-quarters said they did not care about the coronation in May, while only 46% said Britain should continue to be a monarchy. And 40% preferred an elected head of state, while 14% said they did not know.

Still, the king seemed at ease during the service, which took heed of two of his prime causes: religious diversity and climate change. Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders offered blessings. The Right Rev. Sally Foster-Fulton, a South Carolina native who is the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said the Scottish people would join Charles in working to save the planet for future generations.

“It is our duty to return it still singing and surging and bathing, not baking to a crisp,” she said as Charles bowed his head.

King Charles III faced anti-monarchy protesters as he headed to a ceremony at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, where he was presented with the Scottish crown jewels.

America is living on borrowed money

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The federal debt is as old as the nation, and adding to it is sometimes prudent. For governments confronting existential crises like wars or pandemics, borrowing makes sense as a way to mobilize national resources, as the economist Barry Eichengreen wrote in the 2021 book “In Defense of Public Debt.” Government borrowing and spending are necessary to stimulate the economy during recessions. And Treasurys, safe and liquid, play a critical role in the global financial system — so much so that in the late 1990s, when a period of economic growth and reduced military spending allowed the government to sharply reduce borrowing, economists and bankers raised alarms about the consequences of too little federal debt.

The United States, however, now borrows heavily during periods of economic growth to meet basic and ongoing obligations. It’s increasingly unsustainable. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projects that annual federal budget deficits will average around $2 trillion per year, adding to the $25.4 trillion in debt the government already owes to investors.

Borrowing is expensive. A mounting share of federal revenue, money that could be used for the benefit of the American people, goes right back out the door in the form of interest payments to investors who purchase government bonds. Rather than collecting taxes from the wealthy, the government is paying the wealthy to borrow their money.

By 2029, the government is on pace to spend more each year on interest than on national defense, according to the Congressional Budget Office. By 2033, interest payments will consume an amount equal to 3.6% of the nation’s economic output.

Before the pandemic, a decade of very low interest rates meant that even as the federal debt swelled, interest payments remained relatively modest. Measured as a share of the national economy, the federal debt was roughly twice as large at the beginning of 2020 as it was at the beginning of 1990, but the burden of interest payments was barely half as large.

The era of low interest rates has ended, however. The cost of living on borrowed money is rising. It is imperative for the nation’s leaders to chart a new course.

Although one wouldn’t know it from the celebrations in Washington last month, the deal reached to raise the debt ceiling does not amount to a meaningful start. Democrats agreed to modest spending cuts; Republicans refused to consider any measures to increase revenue. The result? Before the deal, the Congressional Budget Office projected the debt would reach roughly $46.7 trillion in 2033. After the deal, it projected the total would be only marginally smaller, at $45.2 trillion. That would equal 115% of the nation’s annual economic output, the highest level on record.

Both parties say they understand the need for larger changes.

“We’re going to do even more to reduce the deficit,” President Joe Biden declared in a speech from the Oval Office after Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, acknowledging that the legislation didn’t amount to much, said after the vote that he intended to form a bipartisan commission “so we can find the waste and we can make the real decisions to really take care of this debt.”

The talk, however, is hard to take seriously. Republicans evidently are not concerned about the debt. Every time they have had the opportunity in recent decades, they have passed tax cuts that force the government to borrow more money. They’ve already got a new tax cut package in their sights. Democrats, for their part, have grown wary of calls to curtail spending because predictions of dire consequences have not come to pass and because they have learned the bitter lesson that agreeing to spending cuts simply creates room for Republicans to justify another round of tax cuts.

The debt ceiling is part of the problem. It was never intended to limit the federal debt. It was actually created to facilitate borrowing. During World War I, Congress got tired of authorizing each new round of bonds, so it gave the Treasury permission to borrow up to a specific limit. Its current use, as a means for Republicans to extort spending cuts from Democrats by threatening to push the nation into default, is even less productive. Larger changes are going to happen

only if both political parties are willing participants.

A first step in resetting the conversation is to eliminate the debt ceiling before its next scheduled appearance in 2025. Biden has brushed aside calls for his administration to pursue a legal ruling that the ceiling is unconstitutional. In doing so, he is repeating the mistake he made last fall, when he failed to press for legislation to repeal the ceiling. A case pending in federal court in Boston, brought by federal workers concerned that a default would come at the expense of their pensions, offers a potential vehicle. Other legal avenues also should be explored. It makes sense to pursue a ruling while there is no imminent danger of hitting the ceiling. If courts reject the legal challenges, that would also be clarifying.

Any substantive deal will eventually require a combination of increased revenue and reduced spending, not least because any politically viable deal will require a combination of those options. Both parties will have to compromise: Republicans must accept the necessity of collecting what the government is owed and of imposing taxes on the wealthy. Democrats must recognize that changes to Social Security and Medicare, the major drivers of expected federal spending growth, should be on the table. Anything less will prove fiscally unsustainable.

That will require painful choices. But the failure to make those choices also has a price — and the price tag is increasing rapidly.

Abren periodo de candidaturas para elegir Representante Distrito 26

POR EL STAR STAFF

SAN JUAN – El Secretario General del Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), Gerardo “Toñito” Cruz anunció el jueves la apertura de candidaturas para seleccionar al nuevo Representante del Distrito 26 (Villalba, Coamo, Barranquitas y Orocovis). Cruz dió a conocer que luego de conversaciones con los alcaldes y Presidentes municipales del distrito y la aprobación de la Junta de Gobierno se determinó que la elección para llenar la vacante que dejó el ex representante Orlando Aponte se realizará mediante el método de Asamblea de De-

legados. La elección, se realizará el próximo 6 de agosto de 2023.

“En vista de la cercanía de una elección general y luego de conversar con el liderato popular del Distrito 26, estaremos celebrando una elección especial por delegados. Nuestro partido, tiene alrededor de 111 delegados en esa zona y serán los encargados, de ser necesario, de elegir quien será el próximo Representante de su Distrito. De igual manera, informó que el periodo para radicar candidaturas será desde hoy jueves 6 de julio a las 3:00 pm hasta el lunes 10 de julio al mediodía en la Sede del PPD en Puerta de Tierra”, explicó.

Mientras, Cruz informó que el miércoles 12 de julio a las 2:00 pm se realizará el sorteo de las posiciones en la papeleta, de ser necesario.

“Estamos abriendo una ventana de espacio de tres días para que todos los interesados en convertirse en Representante por el Distrito 26 tengan la oportunidad de radicar la documentación necesaria. Hay premura para llenar la vacante en la Cámara de Representantes, por lo que nuestra intención es que el primer día de la próxima Sesión el nuevo Representante pueda ocupar su cargo y ejercer todos los deberes que así le correspondan”, concluyó diciendo.

El cineasta isabelino Esteban Mundo destaca en festivales internacionales con su cortometraje The Makalister

ISABELA – Esteban Mundo, músico independiente y cineasta emergente de Isabela, está conquistando la escena cinematográfica internacional con su segundo cortometraje, The Makalister, anunció el propio Mundo el viernes pasado.

“Me apasiona traer a la luz temas incómodos, situaciones reales que son necesarias hablar, pero no se hablan. La salud mental es un tema que debe ser abordado y los cortometrajes me permiten traer este tema de manera tal que podamos crear conciencia”, dijo el joven director y productor, Esteban Mundo Hernández en declaraciones escritas.

The Makalister, que aborda el tema de la salud mental, ha sido seleccionado para participar en dos prestigiosos festivales de cine internacionales: el Festival de

Tolosa en Francia y el Festival Oned en China. Esta última selección es especialmente notable, ya que de entre 200 cortometrajes presentados, sólo los mejores 20 son seleccionados para ser exhibidos.

La historia en blanco y negro sigue a tres hermanos que sufren de abusos psicológicos por parte de sus progenitores, lo que les causa daños profundos en su vida adulta. El impactante relato ha resonado con audiencias y jurados alrededor del mundo, demostrando el talento y visión de Mundo.

Wang Xiaowey, programador del Festival Oned, contactó personalmente a Mundo para notificarle de la selección de su obra, la cual será presentada en Beijing, China, en agosto de este año. Para seguir de cerca la carrera de este prometedor cineasta, puedes encontrarlo en Facebook y YouTube, o contactarlo a través de su correo electrónico: jigsone-69@hotmail.com.

Presidente del PPD insiste gobernador debe firmar enmiendas al C ódigo Electoral

POR CYBERNEWS

S AN JUAN – El presidente del Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), Jesús Manuel Ortiz González, instó el jueves al gobernador Pedro Pierluisi a firmar las enmiendas al Código Electoral. Reafirmó que dichas modificaciones no alteran la edad para el voto por correo según el código electoral actual. Además, exhortó al gobernador a “no seguir buscando excusas” para justificar su rechazo a los cambios sustanciales propuestos al Código Electoral vigente.

“Durante los últimos días, el gobernador Pedro Pierluisi ha cuestionado las enmiendas al Código Electoral aprobadas la semana pasada. Estos cuestionamientos se dan en el vacío, ya que él mismo asegura no haber leído ni analizado las enmiendas que fueron aprobadas por cuatro de las cinco delegaciones políticas representadas en la Legislatura y los legisladores independientes”,

indicó Ortiz González en declaraciones escritas.

El presidente del PPD enfatizó que la edad para solicitar el voto adelantado está contenida en el Artículo 9.37 (g) del Código Electoral, tal y como lo aprobó el PNP en el 2020. Esta aclaración demuestra que el Gobernador o bien no le dice la verdad al pueblo o no ha sido bien informado al respecto.

El Código Electoral vigente permite el voto adelantado a todo elector con impedimentos, limitación de movilidad, condición médica que le impida asistir a su colegio de votación o a cualquier elector con ochenta años de edad a partir del Ciclo Electoral 2020. Sin embargo, el Gobernador comete un error al decir que la edad actual es a los 60 años y peor aún, ha mencionado que las enmiendas alteraron dicha disposición. Ortiz considera esto como totalmente incorrecto.

Ortiz recordó que las Resoluciones Conjuntas son medidas legislativas aprobadas en la Cámara y en el Se-

nado que pierden fuerza de ley y vigencia al cumplirse el propósito por el que fueron creadas. Estas no forman parte de leyes, códigos o estatutos permanentes.

“Exhorto al gobernador a abrir un diálogo franco sobre este asunto. Las enmiendas aprobadas la pasada semana garantizan, tal y como establece el código actual, el voto a cualquier elector con ochenta años o más”, indicó.

POR CYBERNEWS

‘Out of Sight,’ 25 years later

By JASON BAILEY

In a journal entry dated Jan. 30, 1997, (and published in his book “Getting Away With It”), director Steven Soderbergh writes of a meeting with Casey Silver, the chair of Universal’s film division, who “asked if he could secretly slip me a copy of ‘Out of Sight,’” a screen adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel the studio was set to produce with George Clooney in the leading role. “I said sure, I’d read it right away, and I did,” Soderbergh wrote. “It’s a terrific script and all the people involved are good, so of course I called Casey the next day and turned it down.”

Had Silver not pushed back, the ensuing 25 years might have been very different for Soderbergh, who was coming out of a wilderness period of poorly received (or barely seen) projects after the critical and commercial success of his debut film, “Sex, Lies and Videotape” (1989). In other hands, “Out of Sight” might not have proved to be such a game changer for Clooney, who was having a rough time making the transition from “E.R.” heartthrob to movie star. And another director might not have cast Jennifer Lopez, whose movie-star stock also rose considerably after her tough, sexy turn in the film.

“Out of Sight” (streaming on Peacock) was part of a mini-bonanza of Leonard adaptations, following the success of “Get Shorty” (1995). Leonard was so pleased with that film that he offered the producers of “Shorty,” Jersey Films, first crack at the movie rights to the new novel. Universal hoped to bring back Barry Sonnenfeld and Scott Frank, the director and screenwriter of “Shorty,” as well; Frank wrote the crackerjack script, but Sonnenfeld (deep in

production on “Men in Black”) declined to return.

Soderbergh was not initially at the top of the list. But when Cameron Crowe and Mike Newell passed, Soderbergh stepped in. (“‘I’m so lucky,” he told The New York Times upon the movie’s release. “I mean, I got this job on the heels of five bombs in a row. How many people get that?’’) His biggest challenge: finding a way not only to set his film apart from the glut of post-“Pulp Fiction” crime movies, but also from Quentin Tarantino’s own Leonard adaptation, “Jackie Brown,” which would hit theaters for Christmas 1997. (Tarantino told him that “Jackie Brown” was “nothing like ‘Out of Sight,’” Soderbergh wrote in March. “I hope not, for my sake.”)

Clooney was already locked in to play the charming bank robber Jack Foley. Jennifer Lopez, fresh off the back-to-back hits of “Selena” and “Anaconda,” reportedly beat out Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts and Mira Sorvino for the role of Karen Sisco, the federal marshal who apprehends Foley during a jailbreak and finds herself inconveniently attracted to him. (Soderbergh would direct Roberts to an Oscar two years later in “Erin Brockovich,” and cast her opposite Clooney, the first of several onscreen team-ups, in “Ocean’s Eleven.”) Soderbergh filled out the cast with a rogues’ gallery of ace character actors, including Albert Brooks, Don Cheadle, Viola Davis, Dennis Farina, Luis Guzman, Catherine Keener, Ving Rhames and (in unbilled cameos) the “Jackie Brown” co-stars

Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton. Reviews were ecstatic. “Variety” called it a “reflexively witty crime caper.” The Times’ Janet Maslin wrote, “As directed with terrific panache by Steven Soderbergh, these two sultry stars take an intricate Elmore Leonard crime tale and give it steam heat.” Anthony Lane of The New Yorker proclaimed, “Soderbergh has done Elmore Leonard proud,” and the magazine devoted a playful sidebar to the Zippo lighter so crucial to the action.

But audiences didn’t show up, and the $37 million domestic gross didn’t even cover the film’s $48 million budget. However, “Out of Sight” proved Clooney and Lopez could carry a picture with grace and pizazz, and it was the comeback vehicle Soderbergh needed — by 2001, he was competing against himself for best director at the Academy Awards, doublenominated for “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic.” He won for the latter; its ingeniously striking cinematography, using deeply saturated and distinctive color schemes to clarify its narratives, began as an experiment to separate the timelines and locations of “Out of Sight.” The picture’s use of freeze frames, displaced dialogue and narrative loop-the-loops would further point the way toward the experimentation of his films to come.

In his review, Roger Ebert called it “the first film to build on the enormously influential ‘Pulp Fiction’ instead of simply mimicking it. It has the games with time, the lowlife dialogue, the absurd violent situations, but it also has its own texture.” That texture — of intelligence and wit and playfulness — was the Soderbergh touch, which came to define his work in the new century. “‘People don’t have to pick one or the other,” he contended in 1998. “You can have a film like ‘Out of Sight’ that operates well on a mass-entertainment level and also has quirky, interesting cinematic elements.” That felt like a novelty in 1998; in 2023, it feels like a miracle.

From left, Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney in “Out of Sight,” which was released 25 years ago.

In ‘The Horror of Dolores Roach,’ the empanadas are to die for

By ERIK PIEPENBURG

You know those days when you would kill for an empanada? Well.

It was a cool and sunny morning last month in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, and actress Justina Machado and writer Aaron Mark had agreed to meet there to talk about their new Amazon series, “The Horror of Dolores Roach.” An eight-part horror-comedy, starting Friday on Prime Video, the show makes the neighborhood a central focus, which was why I took the train uptown. It does the same for cannibalism, though there was nothing like that on the schedule as far as I knew.

But we had all day to talk about eating people. First, empanadas. Grabbing a park bench, Mark and Machado fueled up on the hot, crisp hand-held pastries — guava and cheese, carne de res — from Empanadas Monumental, near 157th Street and Broadway, around the corner from where Mark lived for a decade as what he called a “broke, broke, broke” playwright.

I drooled a little watching Machado and Mark take bites of the face-sized empanadas, which were perfectly golden brown, bubbly in the right spots and oozy, not greasy. They were tasty, Machado said, but she was partial to the chicken-and-cheese pastelillos, fried turnovers similar to empanadas, that her Puerto Rican mother used to make.

“She would make them with a cafe con leche,” said Machado, known best for her roles in the “One Day at a Time” reboot and “Jane the Virgin.” “I could kill, like, four of them.”

Empanadas devoured, we moved to a nearby cafe — this time, to talk over cinnamon buns — and got right to the macabre meat of “Dolores Roach.” Mark, who created the show, serves as showrunner with Dara Resnik. Based on his fictional Gimlet Media podcast of the same name (201819), the series itself is an adaptation of the one-woman play he wrote, “Empanada Loca.” A New York Times review of its 2015 off-Broadway production by the LAByrinth Theater

Company called it an “exuberantly macabre” show.

Machado stars as Dolores, who returns to a gentrified Washington Heights after 16 years in prison for taking the rap for her drug-dealer boyfriend. Rattled by her new surroundings, she tries to start life over as a masseuse in the basement of an empanada shop run by her old friend Luis (Alejandro Hernández). But after her jerk of a first client gropes her, and she snaps, killing him in a sudden rage, she can’t seem to stop murdering.

To the delight of his unsuspecting customers, the deranged Luis decides to make empanadas stuffed with the kibbled dead body parts of her victims, leaving Dolores to wonder how her life has taken such a monstrous path.

Mark, a self-described “Jew from Texas” and a longtime horror fan, said the idea for a “contemporary genderflipped ‘Sweeney Todd’” started percolating in 2013, when he and actress Daphne Rubin-Vega developed the idea in New York. (She played Dolores in the play and podcast and is an executive producer of the series.) Mark moved four years ago to Los Angeles, where he had no luck pitching it as a TV series.

But the theater world is small: Mimi O’Donnell, a former artistic director of LAByrinth, was tapped to head scripted podcasts at Gimlet, and she brought the project over as her first fiction podcast. (She is now the head of scripted fiction at Spotify Studios.) In 2019, horror producer Blumhouse Television came aboard to help develop it for TV.

The show features some high-profile names in supporting roles, including Cyndi Lauper as a Broadway usher who moonlights as a private investigator and Marc Maron as the empanada shop’s landlord.

But the series also has two uncredited stars: empanadas and Washington Heights. Mark said the show’s food stylist, Rossy Earle, tapped into her Panamanian roots to choreograph how Hernández rolled out, stuffed and fried the empanadas. She crafted distinct recipes for Dolores’ victims so that each corpse-meat filling had its own flavor.

For Dolores’ first victim, Earle braised pork shoulder and butt in Achiote oil to give the filling an unctuous mouth feel — “Greasy and obnoxious,” like the character, Earle wrote in an email.

Much of the series was shot in Ontario, but parts were filmed in Washington Heights, including on Mark’s old stoop on West 156th Street, where he recalled days spent “listening to what gentrification was doing to the humans who had been here for decades.”

“That’s really what got me to ‘Sweeney Todd,’” he said. “I thought, this neighborhood is cannibalizing itself.”

(Mark acknowledged in an email that he himself had been “very much an interloper uptown”; that awareness, and a growing “sense of culpability,” he said, had fueled his urgency to write about what he had seen and been a part of.)

Machado, who grew up in Chicago, had a personal connection to Washington Heights, as well. In 2009, she made her Broadway debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout musical, “In the Heights,” which is set there.

“I guess there’s something about the Heights that’s calling me,” she said.

As our conversation wrapped up and Machado and Mark eyed their doggy bags of empanadas, they were mum on whether a second season was in the works. But Roach isn’t Dolores’ last name for nothing. “She’s unkillable,” Mark said.

Is she a coldblooded monster? Or a victim of circumstances? Machado and Mark didn’t entirely agree.

“She’s not a maniac,” Mark said. “She wants to be a good person.”

“She’s a survivor,” Machado offered. “But she’s a sociopath.”

Either way, Machado called it “liberating” to be in a show about Latinos that wasn’t afraid to be comically sinister and eye-poppingly gory.

“When we try to tell our stories, we feel a responsibility to make it a happy ending because we want to change the narrative, we want people to know that we have human experiences, that we are human beings,” she said. “But we love horror, too.”

On playing Dolores, she added, with a laugh: “I’m a Latina serial killer, and I’m proud of it. I really am.”

Justina Machado and Aaron Mark in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, where “The Horror of Dolores Roach” is set. Machado stars; Mark is the show’s creator.

Dayanara Torres 30th Anniversary

Champagne flowed, and sumptuous culinary delicacies complemented a spectacular evening commemorating Dayanara’s win as one of the most beautiful Miss Universes hailing from Puerto Rico in 1993. Friends, family, and guests celebrated with the iconic beauty at the Don Rafa boutique hotel, making it even more special was the pres-

ence of her mother Lucy Delgado, and her sons Cristian y Ryan Adrian Muñiz. Unique touches that elevated the festivities included a unique commemorative virtual presentation of Dayanara’s colleagues and friends from close and far away in the industry, as well as a one-of-a-kind artist onsite that drew caricatures of the guests as a special giveaway token.

Yolanda Rosalyn, Claudia Ferrer, Carla Campos

Sigfredo Rodriguez, Gustavo Arango

Jennifer Nieman, Leyra Gonzalez, Claudia Ferrer

Leyra Gonzalez, Betty Martinez

Christian Diez-Muro and Gil Lopez

Maria Mendez, Claudia Madrid

Clemente Maranges, Claudia Madrid, Alexandra Malagon, Ana Guzman

Dayanara Torres, Lucy Delgado

Ryan Muñiz, Dayanara Torres, Cristian Muñiz

Alexandra Malagon, Dayanara Torres, Gilberto Santa Rosa

3 vaccines for fall: What you need to know

By APOORVA MANDAVILLI

Most Americans have had one or more shots of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines. New this year are the first shots to protect older adults from respiratory syncytial virus, a lesserknown threat whose toll in hospitalizations and deaths may rival that of flu.

Federal health officials are hoping that widespread use of these three vaccines will head off another “tripledemic” of respiratory illnesses like the one seen last winter. For people with insurance, all of the vaccines should be available for free.

“This is an embarrassment of riches,” said Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the precision vaccines program at Boston Children’s Hospital and an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration.

Here’s what he and other experts say about who should receive which vaccines and when.

What respiratory illnesses are coming our way?

The coronavirus, flu and RSV are all likely to resurge this fall, but exactly when and how much damage they will do are unknown. That’s in part because the restrictions in place during the pandemic altered the seasonal patterns of the viruses.

This past winter, the flu peaked in December instead of in February, as it typically does. The virus may have caused as many as 58,000 deaths, a higher number than usual. COVID kept up a steady number of infections and deaths most of the season, with a peak in January.

Compared with its pattern before the pandemic, RSV peaked several weeks earlier last year, and it circulated for longer than usual.

RSV is increasingly recognized as a major respiratory threat, particularly to older adults, immunocompromised people and young children. “RSV has a burden of disease similar to flu in older adults; it can make you very, very sick,” said Dr. Helen Chu, a physician and immunologist at the University of Washington.

Scientists expect respiratory viruses

to return to their pre-pandemic patterns eventually, but “it’s going to be unpredictable for the next two years,” Chu said. Which vaccines should I seek out?

Everyone should have at least the flu and COVID shots this fall, experts said.

The annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older, but it is most important for adults ages 65 and older, children younger than 5 and people with weak immune systems.

Updated COVID shots are coming this fall from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, and all are designed to target XBB.1.5, the omicron variant that currently accounts for roughly 27% of cases. The full recommendations will not be available until the FDA authorizes the shots and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviews new data.

Federal health officials aren’t talking about a primary series of shots followed by boosters. (Officials aren’t even calling the shots “boosters” anymore.) Instead, they are trying to steer Americans toward the idea of a single annual immunization with the latest version of the vaccine.

“Like a seat belt in a car, it’s a good idea to keep using it,” Dr. Camille Kotton, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an adviser to the CDC, said

of the COVID vaccine.

RSV is a frequent cause of respiratory illness among older adults, particularly those 75 or older who have other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease or diabetes.

The new RSV vaccine is not approved for Americans younger than 60. The CDC recommends that people ages 60 and older sign up for the shot after consulting with their doctors.

While it’s true that risks posed by any of the three viruses increases with age, remember that “65 is not a magical cutoff point,” Chu said.

“Even those with no preexisting conditions can become quite sick with all three of these viruses,” she said.

When should I get the vaccines?

No one knows when these viruses will reemerge, so you should get the shots early enough in the fall to build immunity against the pathogens. Most people will not want or be able to make multiple trips to a clinic or pharmacy to space the shots apart.

That probably means September or October. Most Americans may want to consider receiving the flu and COVID shots at the same time so they are prepared to face either virus. Older adults who are in poor health — who have

heart or lung disease, for example, or are on home oxygen — should get all three shots, some experts said.

They should “get them as quickly as possible and definitely before the season, and do it all at once,” Chu said.

Adults 50 and older should also get the vaccine for shingles, if they haven’t already, and those 65 and older should sign up for the pneumococcal vaccine. But those vaccines don’t need to be given in the fall and should be scheduled for a different time, Chu said.

Is it safe to get these vaccines at once?

The flu and COVID shots were often given together last fall and seemed to work well. Because the RSV vaccine is new, however, there is little information on how it might interact with the other two vaccines.

“The available data pertaining to the administration of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time do not indicate safety concerns,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement to The New York Times.

“FDA and CDC systems monitor vaccine safety year round and will remain in place,” the department said. “If any new potential safety signals are identified, the FDA and CDC will conduct further assessment and inform the public.”

Some research suggests that the RSV and flu vaccines produce lower levels of antibodies when given together than when delivered one at a time. But those levels are probably still high enough to protect people from the viruses, experts said.

There is also limited data on the safety of the two RSV vaccines. Clinical trials recorded six cases of neurological problems, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, compared with none in the placebo groups.

But the numbers were too small to determine whether the cases were a result of the inoculations. More clarity will come from surveillance while the vaccines are administered on a large scale, Chu said.

The CDC is expected to make recommendations on administration of the vaccines together in the coming weeks.

Lauren Rymer and her son, Jack, entering a CVS in Lawrenceville, Ga. for Jack to receive his COVID-19 vaccination, on Nov. 15, 2021. Most Americans have had one or more shots of the flu and COVID vaccines.

El Niño and La Niña, explained

warm up more than usual.

A huge mass of warm water in the ocean transfers a lot of heat high into the atmosphere through convection — warm, moist air rising from the sea surface and forming thunderstorms. The heat in turn affects atmospheric circulation, both in the north-south direction and east-west.

The location of all that convection is important. In El Niño, because the warm water stays in the eastern Pacific, the convection occurs there. In La Niña, the eastern Pacific stays colder, and the convection occurs much farther to the west.

What are the effects?

The changes in atmospheric circulation can result in changes in weather in various parts of the world, what meteorologists call teleconnections. Much of this is related to the position of the jet stream, the high altitude winds that sweep across the planet from west to east.

In El Niño, the jet stream tends to shift to the south. That can bring rainier, cooler conditions to much of the Southern United States, and warmer conditions to parts of the North. Elsewhere, El Niño can create warm, dry conditions in Asia, Australia and the Indian subcontinent. Parts of Africa and South America can be affected as well.

In La Niña, the jet stream shifts northward. That can lead to warm and dry conditions in the Southern United States, and cooler, wetter weather in parts of the North, especially the Pacific Northwest. Parts of Australia and Asia can be wetter than normal.

La Niña can also lead to more hurricanes in the North Atlantic because there is typically less wind shear, the changes in wind speed and direction that can disrupt the structure of cyclonic storms as they form.

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

If you follow the weather — and who doesn’t? — you will hear about El Niño and La Niña from time to time. Weather forecasters will talk about how a developing El Niño, for example, may bring a wetter, or perhaps a drier, winter. Or they’ll describe how an established La Niña is making for a more active hurricane season.

But sometimes there’s no El Niño-La Niña talk at all.

On June 8, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the expected El Niño had arrived. Forecasters at the National Weather Service noted that El Niño conditions were present and were expected to gradually strengthen into the winter, increasing the chances of more heat, especially in the northern United States, later this year and next.

Here’s a basic guide to help you sort out what they are talking, or not talking, about.

What are El Niño and La Niña, exactly?

They are both intermittent climate phenomena that originate in the equatorial Pacific Ocean but can have wide-ranging effects on weather around the world.

The two are related: They are the opposite phases of what is called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. Thus they can never occur simultaneously. And there are plenty of times when neither occurs.

What’s ENSO?

ENSO describes the fluctuation of two things in the equatorial Pacific: the surface temperature of the ocean and the pressure of the air above it.

The temperature component is pretty straightforward, and most news reports focus on it. When sea-surface temperatures are above average by about 1 degree Fahrenheit or more, El Niño can develop. When temperatures are below average, La Niña can form. When temperatures are at or near average — what’s called ENSO-neutral — neither develops.

The air pressure part is a little more complicated. It refers to the difference in air pressure between the western and eastern parts of the equatorial Pacific. Scientists use readings from Darwin, on the north-central coast of Australia, and from Tahiti, more than 5,000 miles to the east.

When the pressure is lower than normal in Tahiti and higher than normal in Darwin, conditions favor the development of El Niño. When the opposite occurs, La Niña may develop.

The two components are strongly related, and conditions of both must be right for either El Niño or La Niña to form. If sea-surface temperatures favor El Niño but air pressure conditions don’t, for instance, El Niño will not develop.

Why does one or the other form?

Scientists aren’t sure exactly what starts the process. But from time to time, air pressure conditions change over the equatorial Pacific, affecting the trade winds, which normally blow from east to west. The winds act on the surface of the water, which is warmed by the sun, pushing it along.

If the trade winds strengthen, as occurs during La Niña, more warm water is pushed westward. And in the eastern Pacific cold, deep water rises up to replace it.

If the trade winds weaken, as happens during El Niño, less water moves westward and the central and eastern Pacific

It’s important to note that these are just typical effects. El Niño and La Niña sometimes don’t follow the expected patterns.

And strength matters: A strong El Niño, for instance (as measured by how high sea-surface temperatures are above normal) can have greater effects than a weaker one.

How often do they occur, and how long do they last?

Both El Niño and La Niña occur on average about every two to seven years, with El Niño occurring a little more often than La Niña.

They can last for the better part of a year, though they occasionally last longer. La Niñas sometimes “double dip” — one occurs, ends as sea-surface temperatures rise to ENSO-neutral conditions, and then a second one forms as temperatures fall again.

Where do the names come from?

El Niño got its name first, from South American fishermen in the 17th century. They noticed warmer water off the coast from time to time, usually around Christmas. Thus El Niño — “little boy,” or in the context of Christmas, the Christ child.

La Niña was something of an afterthought. Since it is more or less the opposite of El Niño, it became La Niña, “little girl.”

What about climate change?

Scientists are unsure about how El Niño and La Niña might change as the world continues to warm from emissions of greenhouse gases. Some research suggests that exceptionally strong episodes will occur more frequently than they do now. But how or if that might affect wet or dry patterns in the United States and elsewhere is uncertain.

If you’re wondering why scientists and weather forecasters are talking about El Niño and La Niña, the New York Times has some answers, including how they got their names.

LEGAL NOTICE EN RE: HERENCIA DE: CECILIA PAGAN

EN EL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CONDADO DE CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA DIVISIÓN DEL JUZGADO DE HUÉRFANOS.

NO. 21-18-1254.

DECRETO PRELIMINAR.

El día de hoy el 30th día del mes de May, 2023, después de analizar la Petición para Declarar al Beneficiario como Difunto y Distribuir los Fondos del Acervo Hereditario entre los Beneficiarios Vivos Abintestatos, y de acuerdo con 20 Pa. C.S.A. § 5704, el Tribunal ordena al Peticionario a que deberá proceder con un aviso publicado en un periódico de difusión popular en el Estado de New York, y en un periódico jurídico apropiado en New York y en Puerto Rico, una vez por semana por cuatro semanas consecutivas, anunciando el hecho de la solicitud de que Milton Pagan sea declarado como un presunto difunto, y que la Sucesión puede distribuir su proporción de la herencia a los herederos abintestatos que aún viven. Este anuncio incluirá un aviso de que el July 24, del 2023, a las 9:30 a.m, en la Sala 3 del Tribunal del Condado de Cumberland, 1 Courthouse Square, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 17013, el Tribunal va a oír evidencia en relación a las supuestas absencias, incluyendo las circunstancias y la duración de tal ausencia.

Por el Tribunal:

Judge Guido

CC:

Chad Julius, Jacobson, Julius & Harshberger, 8150 Derry Street, Harrisburg, PA 17111, Representante Legal del Peticionario

Dominic A. Montagnese, Chereweka Law, 524 N. Front Street, Womleysburg, PA 17043,

Representante Legal para Hamilton Pagan, Jr., James Pagan, and Marcos Pagan *

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SALINAS SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. EDGARDO TOMÁS NOGUERAS ORTIZ

Demandado

Civil Núm.: SA2021CV00151.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE

AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, Centro Judicial de Salinas, Salinas, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 7 de junio de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Vistas de Salinas, localizada en el barrio Pueblo del término municipal de Salinas, Puerto Rico, que se describe en el Plano de Inscripción de la urbanización: con el número, área y colindancias que se relaciona a continuación: solar número 17 del Bloque B. Área del solar: trescientos veintisiete punto seiscientos sesenta y cinco metros cuadrados (327.665 m.c). En lindes por el NORTE, con la calle número 3 de la Urbanización, en una distancia de 13.00 metros; por el SUR, con los solares B-3 y B-4, en una distancia de 13.00 metros; por el ESTE, con el solar B-18, en una distancia de 25.205 metros; y por el OESTE, con solar B-16, en una distancia de 25.205 metros. En este solar se ha construido una vivienda de bloques y hormigón reforzado para una familia. En su colindancia Norte está afecto a una servidumbre para la distribución de Telecomunicaciones y de televisión por cable a favor de la Junta Reglamentadora de Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico de 1.50 metros de ancho. Inscrita al folio 209 del tomo 292, finca número 12,967 de Salinas. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Guayama. La propiedad ubica según pagaré en: Vistas de Salinas #3 St. B 17, Salinas, PR. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada en este caso el 18 de octubre de 2022, archivada en autos y notificada el 18 de octubre de 2022 en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $97,554.76 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 4.50% desde el 1ro de abril de 2017; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $10,721.10 para costas, gas-

tos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 6 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Salinas, Salinas, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $107,211.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 13 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $71,474.00, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $53,605.50, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está eje-

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

EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Salinas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 20 de junio de 2023. ROLANDO RODRÍGUEZ RIVERA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #037, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE SALINAS.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN MIGUEL ANIBAL GARCIA

ALGARIN; ROSA MARIA CABRERA SANCHEZ Peticionarios EX-PARTE Civil Núm.: BY2023CV02767. (605). Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO CONTRADICTORIO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: TODOS LOS QUE TENGAN CUALQUIER DERECHO REAL

EN LA FINCA QUE MÁS ADELANTE SE DESCRIBE, PERSONAS IGNORADAS, NATURALES O JURÍDICAS, A QUIENES PUEDA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN DE DICHA FINCA A FAVOR DE LOS PETICIONARIOS

Y

A LAS PERSONAS DESCONOCIDAS, NATURALES O JURÍDICAS QUE TUVIEREN DERECHO A OPONERSE O SE CREYERON CON DERECHO A OPONERSE A LA INSCRIPCIÓN DEL INMUEBLE QUE SE DESCRIBE MÁS ADELANTE.

POR LA PRESENTE se le notifica que se ha presentado ante este Tribunal el expediente arriba mencionado con el fin de justificar el dominio a favor de los Peticionarios sobre la siguiente propiedad: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno identificado como solar 9 en el Plano de Inscripción Sustituto, radicado en el Barrio Guaraguao Arriba del término municipal de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 3,575.3620 mc., equivalentes a 0.9097 cuerdas, en lindes: por el NORTE, en 10.65 metros lineales, 26.34 metros lineales y 31.94 metros lineales, con la Carretera Estatal P.R. 812 que le sirve de acceso, el remanente de la finca de la cual se segrega y el solar 8, respectivamente; por el SUR, en 18.91 metros lineales con terrenos del Dr. Jesús F. Soto; por el ESTE, en 61.18 metros lineales con terrenos de la sucesión Federico Sufront; y por el OESTE, en cuatro alineaciones que totalizan 158.96 metros lineales, con terrenos de Jesús Soto y Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados. Los Peticionarios adquirieron la propiedad por Compraventa de Rafael Algarín Erazo y Elisa De Jesús Alvelo mediante escritura 11 otorgada el 22 de mayo de 1993 ante el Notario Público Elliot Merced Montañez. La propiedad antes descrita surge de la finca matriz que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Compuesta de 6.1377 cdas., equivalentes a 24,123.4080, ubicado en el Barrio SANTA OLAYA del término municipal de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, colindando por el NORTE, con el Dr. Alberto Sánchez, por el SUR, con el Dr. Jesús E. Soto, Por el ESTE, con el Sr. Baltazar Nieves Rodríguez, y el Sr Federico Sufront y Roberto Mercado, y por el OESTE, con el Dr. Alberto E. Sánchez. Enclava una estructura de hormigón para fines residenciales. La finca fue adquirida en dominio por declaración judicial. Consta inscrita al folio 6 del tomo 1551 de Bayamón Sur, finca número 67,914, inscripción primera y única, del Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón Sección I. SE LE NOTIFICA que este

Tribunal ha ordenado que se le cite como persona que está en posesión de parte o todos los predios colindantes de la finca descrita, o tenga interés para que haga oposición a este expediente si se viere perjudicado con la inscripción solicitada; advirtiéndole que de no hacer oposición dentro del término de veinte (20) días a contar desde la publicación de este edicto, los Peticionarios podrán obtener que se apruebe este expediente y se mande a inscribir a su nombre la finca antes descrita en el Registro de la Propiedad. 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:// tribunalelectronico.ramajudicial.pr/sumac2018 salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal, notificando a la representación legal en la dirección de récord:

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA BAYVIEW LOAN SERVICING, COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE ORIENTAL BANK AND TRUST, ANTES EUROBANK

Parte Sustituida por TRIANGLE REO PR CORP.

Parte Acumulada V. JUAN RUIZ VALENTÍN; GUMERSINDA RIVERA MONTALVO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR ELLOS; EDUARDO RUIZ VALENTÍN; Y REYES NORIEGA RAMOS; Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR ELLOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: ACD2011-0114.

(601). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. AVISO DE SUBASTA. YO, el(la) Alguacil que suscribe, por la presente anuncia y hace constar, que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia, expedido el 24

de mayo de 2022 por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Aguadilla, procederé a vender en públicas subastas y al(os) mejor(es) postor(es), quien(es) pagará(n) el(los) importe(s) de las ventas en dinero efectivo o en cheque certificado o de gerente, a la orden del Alguacil del Tribunal, en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, el día 2 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, A LA(S) 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA para la Finca Número 18,785 y para la Finca Número 12,860, A LA(S) 11:10 DE LA MAÑANA, en las oficinas del Alguacil del Tribunal de Mayagüez, todo título, derecho o interés que corresponda a la parte demandada sobre los inmuebles que se describen a continuación: FINCA NÚMERO 18,785: a) RÚSTICA: Parcela número treinta y uno (31) radicada en el Barrio Boquerón del término municipal de Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cinco punto cero cero (5.00) cuerdas, equivalentes a una (1) hectárea, noventa y seis (96) áreas y sesenta (60) centiáreas. En lindes por el NORTE, con servidumbre de paso de diez punto cero (10.00) metros de ancho; por el SUR, con terrenos de José Fas; por el ESTE, con terrenos de José Fass y por el OESTE, con la parcela número ochenta y tres (83). Para uso de fines agrícolas. Consta inscrita al folio 157 vuelto del tomo 864 de Cabo Rojo, Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán, finca número 18,785. Dirección

Física: PR-3301 Km. 2.1, Lot31, Los Pozos Sector, Boquerón Ward, Cabo Rojo, PR 00623. La propiedad descrita anteriormente está afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: Afecta por su procedencia: Libre de Cargas. Por sí: HIPOTECA: En garantía de un pagaré a favor del Portador, o a su orden, por la suma de $370,000.00, respondiendo por $4,625.00, con interés al 5%, y vencedero a la presentación, según consta de la escritura #92, otorgada en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el día 29 de septiembre de 2005, ante el Notario Público José M. Biaggi Junquera, inscrita al folio 157vto del tomo 764 de Cabo Rojo, inscripción 9ª. Al asiento 1343 del diario 773, el día 29 de septiembre de 2010, se presentó la escritura #03, sobre Liberación Parcial de Hipoteca, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 22 de enero de 2007 ante el Notario Público Osvaldo Ortiz Medina, para que se inscriba liberación sobre las fincas 18780, 18783, 18785, 18790, 18701, 18711, 18713, 18715, 18716, 18719, 18720, 18721, 18722, 18723 del térmi-

no municipal de Cabo Rojo todas, Solares en Barrio Boquerón. Con un valor la transacción de $60,000.00, $370,000.00, $70,000.00. HIPOTECA: En garantía de un pagaré a favor de Eurobank, o a su orden, por la suma de $364,000.00, con interés al 12%, y vencedero a la presentación, según consta de la escritura #107, otorgada en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el día 22 de agosto de 2009, ante el Notario Público Nelson W. González Rosario, inscrita al folio 158vto del tomo 864 de Cabo Rojo, inscripción 13ª. EMBARGO ESTATAL contra Juan Ruiz Valentín (6989) por $67,731.02 seguido por el Departamento de Hacienda, caso #MAY20026, presentado al asiento 2019-005629-EST el 12 de julio de 2019 anotado el 12 de julio de 2019 al sistema de Embargos Karibe. EMBARGO ESTATAL contra Juan Ruiz Valentín (6989) y Gumersinda Rivera (3401) por $763,369.38, seguido por el Departamento de Hacienda, caso #MAY20-026, presentado al asiento 2019-005737-EST el 12 de julio de 2019 y anotado el 15 de julio de 2019 al sistema de Embargos Karibe. EMBARGO ESTATAL sobre esta propiedad en contra de Juan Ruiz Valentín y/o Gumersinda Rivera, por la suma de $197,075.54, presentado e inscrito el 28 de marzo del 2011 e inscrito al folio 61, asiento #239 del Libro #25 de Embargos Estatales de Aguadilla. EMBARGO ESTATAL sobre esta propiedad en contra de Juan Ruiz Valentín y/o Gumersinda Rivera, por la suma de $573,820.43, presentado e inscrito el 28 de marzo del 2011 e inscrito al folio 61, asiento #238 del Libro #25 de Embargos Estatales de Aguadilla. EMBARGO ELA LEY 12 contra Juan Ruiz Valentín y Gumersinda Rivera, por $138,698.16 por Ley 8 del 10 de abril de 1964, Embargo de fecha 8 de abril de 2010, certificación del 21 de abril de 2010, presentado y anotado el 16 de abril de 2010 al asiento 91 del folio 23 del libro 1 de Embargos Ley 12 de San Sebastián: También anotado con Certificación de fecha del 8 de abril de 2010, presentado y anotado el 8 de abril de 2010 al asiento 415 del folio 47 tomo 1 de Embargo Ley 12 de Mayagüez. También anotado con Certificación de fecha del 8 de abril de 2010, presentado y anotado el 16 de abril de 2010 al asiento 420 del folio 48 tomo 1 de Embargo Ley 12 de Mayagüez. FINCA NÚMERO 12,860: b) RÚSTICA: Finca denominada Olivari radicada en el Barrio Palmarejo del término munici-

$87,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Comerío, el 25 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $124,852.70 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $101,800.58 en intereses acumulados al 14 de febrero de 2023 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 7% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $10,771.38 en seguro hipotecario; $5,340.00 en tarifas de servicio; $437.07 en contribuciones; $4,560.98 en seguro; $1,750.00 de tasaciones; $660.00 de inspecciones; $3,347.50 en adelantos de honorarios de abogado; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $3,347.50, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Comerío, Puerto Rico, hoy 23 de junio de 2023.

JUAN O. BURGOS BURGOS, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ANDRÉS VÁZQUEZ SANTIAGO, ALGUACIL PLACA #998.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. CARLOS JUAN CINTRÓN

FERNÁNDEZ T/C/C

CARLOS J. CINTRÓN

JUNIOR, MILDRED GALLARDO MARTÍNEZ

Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: CG2022CV04145. (703). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA “IN REM”. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia en Rebeldía dictada el 19 de abril de 2023 y notificada el 25 de abril de 2023, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 1 de junio de 2023 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 12 de junio de 2023 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el 2 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Caguas, Sala Superior, en la Carretera Número Uno (PR 1), Intersección PR 189, Kilómetro 0.4, Barrio Bairoa, (Entrada norte Pueblo Caguas), Caguas, Puerto Rico, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad:

RÚSTICA: Parcela de terreno marcado con el Número nueve (9) del plano de la finca Mi Recreo o del remanente de la finca según plano de parcelación segunda etapa ubicada en el Barrio Beatriz de Caguas, Puerto Rico y que es propiedad de don Víctor Manuel Fernández, con una cabida superficial de .9066 cuerdas, equivalentes a 3,563.57 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE: en 43.00 metros con la Autopista; por el SUR: en 72.05 metros con la Parcela Número diez (10) de Colón Luna; por el ESTE: en 10.00 metros con el redondel del Camino asfaltado y 57.62 metros con la Parcela Número ocho (8); y por el OESTE: en 60.00 metros con don Víctor Rosado. La propiedad consta inscrita al folio 91 del tomo 1436 de Caguas, Finca 50362. Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al 145 del tomo 1679 de Caguas, Finca 50362. Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. Inscripción cuarta (4ta). Las escrituras de modificación de hipoteca constan inscritas al tomo Karibe de Caguas, Finca

50362. Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. Inscripción sexta y séptima, respectivamente. Dirección Física: 9 Beatriz Ward, (Carr 1, Km. 48, Bo. Beatriz), Caguas PR 00725-6013. Número de Catastro: 46-276-077-961-19-000. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $124,735.31. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 9 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $83,156.87. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una

TERCERA SUBASTA el día 16 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $62,367.65. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $122,877.11 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 3.875% anual desde el 1 de junio de 2022 hasta su completo pago, más $406.21 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $12,880.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que sobre esta propiedad pesan el siguiente gravamen posterior a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar: a. Aviso de Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Vs. Carlos Juan Cintrón Fernández t/c/c Carlos J. Cintrón Junior, Mildred Gallardo Martínez y la Sociedad Legal de Gananciales compuesta por ambos, ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el Caso Civil Número CG2022CV04145 sobre Ejecución de Hipoteca por la vía Ordinaria “In Rem”, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $122,877.11 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 15 de diciembre de 2022. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Caguas. Anotación A. Se notifica al acreedor posterior o a su sucesor o cesionario en derecho para que comparezca a proteger su derecho si así lo deseaba. Se les advierte a los interesados que

todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de Subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en el expediente del caso que obra en los archivos de la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana; y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate y que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal como lo expresa la Ley Núm. 2102015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 27 de junio de 2023.

EDGARDO ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCN DE RAFAEL

ANGEL BEY NAZARIO COMPUESTA POR

FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCN DE NORBERTO BEY NAZARIO, COMPUESTA

POR SUS HIJOS

BLANIZZA LORRAINE BEY VIÑAS, BRENDA

LYNETTE BEY VIÑAS Y RAFAEL ENRIQUE BEY

HERNANDEZ Y POR SU

VIUDA BLANCA LUISA VIÑAS RODRIGUEZ; NYDIA ISABEL BEY

NAZARIO, TAMBIÉN

CONOCIDA COMO NIDIA ISABEL BEY NAZARIO;

BLANCA LUISA VIÑAS RODRÍGUEZ

Demandado(a)

Civil: SG2021CV00415. (306). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA.

A: SUCN DE RAFAEL

ANGEL BEY NAZARIO COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; NORBERTO BEY NAZARIO Y SU ESPOSA BLANCA LUISA VIÑAS RODRÍGUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; A BRENDA LYNETTE BEY VIÑAS Y RAFAEL ENRIQUE BEY HERNANDEZ COMO MIEMBROS DE LA SUCN DE NORBERTO BEY NAZARIO. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 6 de junio de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 30 de junio de 2023. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 30 de junio de 2023. GUILLERMINA TORRES PAGÁN, SECRETARIA REGIONAL INTERINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

RICARDO PINEDA

MUÑIZ, GENA CLARIDAD GAYOSO TORRES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR ELLOS

Demandante V. POPULAR MORTGACE, INC; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: MZ2022CV01853. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 29 de junio de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 30 de junio de 2023. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 30 de junio de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. JOSSIE BOBE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HATILLO

WANDA IVETTE

DELGADO RODRIGUEZ

Demandante V. FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERES EN LA OBLIGACION CUYA CANCELACION POR

DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA

Demandado(a)

Civil: HA2023CV00071. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICA-

CIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERES EN LA OBLIGACION CUYA CANCELACION POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de junio de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 29 de junio de 2023. En Hatillo, Puerto Rico, el 29 de junio de 2023. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA. BRENDA LIZ TORRES MUÑIZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

CASCADE FUNDING

MORTGAGE TRUST HB2

Demandante v. SUCESION DE GILBERTO

VELEZ MARTINEZ

T/C/C GILBERTO

VELEZ COMPUESTA

POR GILBERTO VELEZ

BELEN, BELEN ROSADO, FULANO DE TAL TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES

DESCONOCIDOS, SUCESION DE CLEMENTINA BELEN

ROSADO, T/C/C

CLEMENTINA BELEN, COMPUESTA POR GILBERTO VELEZ

BELEN, BELEN ROSADO, FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES, Y ESTADOS UNIDOS DEAMERICA

Demandado(a) Civil: SB2021CV00109. Sobre: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESION DE GILBERTO VELEZ MARTINEZ TICIC GILBERTO VELEZ COMPUESTA POR GILBERTO VELEZ

BELEN, BELEN ROSADO, FULANO DE TAL TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, SUCESION DE CLEMENTINA BELEN ROSADO, T/CIC CLEMENTINA BELEN, COMPUESTA POR GILBERTO VELEZ

BELEN, BELEN ROSADO, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRET ARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que 10 de marzo de 2023 , este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de ~ días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 30 de junio de 2023. En Mayagüez , Puerto Rico , el 30 de junio de 2023. LCDA.

NORMA G. SANT ANA IRIZARRY, Secretaria. F/Nilda Torres Acevedo, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

Michelle Wie West wants one more crack at a major

By ALAN BLINDER

You could see the head tilts and darting glances when people peered around Pebble Beach’s Gallery Cafe, or as visitors sat on the patio that looks toward the cypress-guarded 18th green by Stillwater Cove. They surfaced at a luncheon with Brandi Chastain and Kristi Yamaguchi, and during a climb up a flight of stairs, and a stroll through a lobby.

That’s Michelle Wie West, that 6-foot-1 fixture of collective memory and modern golf history.

She did not win as much as she wanted to, and certainly not as much as many people thought she would or should have. But after close to a quarter of a century in the spotlight, she is still one of the savviest stars women’s golf has ever had, a player plenty of people outside golf know as a star even if they do not know golf.

The competitive golf part of Wie West’s life will most likely be done by dusk on Sunday, when the U.S. Women’s Open is scheduled to finish at Pebble Beach. If things don’t go well — and they might not since her husband will be her caddie for the first time and she has barely played lately — it could be over by dusk on Friday. After the Open, she has no plans to return to elite competition, though she dodges the word “retirement” in public (and confesses to sometimes using it in private).

She is 33.

That went fast, didn’t it?

In 2000, when she was 10 and Bill Clinton was president, she played the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. She won the event when she was 13, the same age she made an LPGA tournament cut and had a turn in third place on a major tournament’s weekend leader board. She played a PGA Tour event at 14, turned professional at 15, rattled off three top-five finishes in her first three majors as a pro, battled wrist trouble, won the Open at 24 and then spent years with more injuries, cuts and withdrawals than strong showings.

So it was not that fast, after all. Soon, though, it will apparently be finished. Barring a victory this weekend in California or a surprise in the years ahead, Wie West will finish with five LPGA Tour wins, including the 2014 Open at Pinehurst, tied for 69th on the career victory list. It adds up to a far better career than most players, though short of the mighty expectations that followed Wie West from the start and flowed from a blend of internet-age youth, talent, celebrity and marketability. (By way of comparison, Inbee Park, a 34-year-old player from South Korea, has won seven majors but has long drawn a fraction of the public attention that Wie West commanded.)

“What’s the right word for this?” Wie West said in an interview in a sun-splashed lounge, well out of earshot of any aides.

“I feel very — confident that I had the career that I wanted to,” she continued eventually. “Obviously, I wish I could have done more as well. I think anyone and everyone thinks that.”

But, she said, “the what-ifs and the regrets and the ‘I wish I could have done this better’ can drive you truly insane.”

Even last year’s announcement of a transition, to use her publicly preferred term, got derailed when her husband came down with COVID-19 and Wie West’s parents stayed back to

help with child care. Ready to detail the wind-down she had rolled out on Instagram the previous week, Wie West wound up nearly alone at the 2022 Open in North Carolina.

She had been mulling for years whether it was time to stop playing, frustrated by injuries and, more recently, torn by the notion of her family of three having only so much time together. In 2021, vulgar comments about Wie West by Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, jolted her into a fresh sense of purpose.

But there eventually came a point, she said, when she realized the game’s toll was ultimately too high, when she feared her body would be so broken down she would not even be able to play a round for pleasure with her daughter. Her clubs have been in her bag almost exclusively ever since.

“It’s hard,” she said, “it’s hard to know when the right time is to walk away.”

That is assuredly in part because, for an athlete in any sport, stepping back from competition means the statistics are done and that the résumé is, with few exceptions, frozen. For Wie West, retiring or transitioning or whatever you want to call it meant firing up the inevitable debate about whether she had been a squandered or overhyped talent.

She hears it, of course. She also gets it.

“People love to chirp and have their own feeling and whatnot, and they totally have the right to it: They have been invested in my career,” she said. “I know I haven’t won as many as I, quote-unquote, should have.”

At the same time, she seems to wonder how fair it is. She earned a degree from Stanford University and won a U.S. Open, and those two feats, she figures, are what she wanted to do anyway.

And yet she can still run through all of the ways her career could have been different: if she had held onto a share of the lead at the 2005 Open at Cherry Hills, if her quest that year to earn a spot in the Masters had worked out, if she had made the cut at her first PGA Tour event instead of missing it by a stroke.

She is entering this week’s 156-woman Open with measured expectations against a deep field.

The reigning champion, Minjee Lee, has won two majors since 2021 and is not ranked in the top-five in the world. And there is Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old Stanford student who last month won her debut tournament as a professional. Wie West’s group, which will tee off at 8:28 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, includes three-time major winner In Gee Chun and Annika Sorenstam, who logged 10 major victories in her career and received a special exemption into this week’s field.

This spring, Wie West was musing about how she needed to get her stamina up for the rigors of a major, how she needed to hone her iron and wedge play before returning to one of golf’s biggest stages, especially since it will be played this year on one of the sport’s most beloved courses.

“Just have to believe in myself, just get to a point where I feel confident that I can execute the shots and make the putts,” she said. “And I’m hoping that it all comes very quickly.”

She plans to remain closely connected to the sport — she recently hosted the LPGA tournament that Zhang won — but insisted that she does not think much about how she transformed perceptions of the game that she said still enchants her.

Even now, she said, she will play with her husband and become persuaded that, like every other golfer who has won, lost or never actually contested a major, she has unlocked the sport’s mysteries.

“You get that one feeling and it feels really good, and you’re like, ‘I think I’ve figured out the game. I’ve figured it out!” she said. “I still catch myself saying that almost every time I play, so I know there’s an itch to want to get better.”

Soon enough, after all of this time, it will be happening away from the spotlight.

Michelle Wie West at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.

Jonatan Ramos Director Funerario “Tus sentimientos en las mejores manos”

Tour de France becomes a ‘big, big battle’ between Pogacar and Vingegaard

By VICTOR MATHER

Everyone expected this year’s Tour de France to be a two-cyclist race between the defending champion, Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, and the 2020 and 2021 winner, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia. And everyone expected the first true test for them to come on Days 5 and 6 in the Pyrenees mountains.

Wednesday was Vingegaard’s day, but Thursday was Pogacar’s, and the Tour looks as if it could be a ding-dong battle between them for the next two weeks.

First blood went to Vingegaard on Wednesday. Jai Hindley of Australia won the stage and, temporarily, the leader’s yellow jersey, but the real battle took place a little farther back down the road. Vingegaard powered away from Pogacar with a mile to go to the summit of the Col de Marie Blanque and turned an 11-second overall deficit to his rival at the start of the day into a 53-second advantage.

Thursday brought an even more punishing stage, with climbs up the famed Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet and, crucially, an uphill finish to Cauterets-Cambasque.

Aspin was plenty steep, but knowing there were two stern climbs to come, neither Vingegaard nor Pogacar attacked. Things heated up on the Tourmalet, which has been a part of more than 80 Tours since 1910.

Climbs on the Tour are rated Category

1, 2, 3 and 4 depending on their severity. The Tourmalet is one of a handful rated “Hors Catégorie,” or “without category,” so difficult that they defy classification. Its summit is at nearly 7,000 feet.

Vingegaard, helped by his strong Jumbo-Visma team, attacked with about 2 miles to the top of the Tourmalet, dropping the race leader, Hindley, and others. When his final teammate, American Sepp Kuss, fell behind, it left only the Tour’s two biggest stars together. Vingegaard kept the hammer down. But unlike on Tuesday, Pogacar

was able to cling to him all the way to the top. “You really put Pogacar on the limit,” Vingegaard’s team radio told him, hopefully.

After a speedy ride downhill, eight riders joined together in the lead at the bottom of the final climb, with President Emmanuel Macron of France, a cyclist himself, enjoying the race in an officials’ car behind them.

The group followed the determined pace of Vingegaard’s teammate Wout van Aert until 3 miles to go, when Vingegaard took off. Pogacar followed, and only Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland could hang with

them.

Vingegaard tried again as the climb cruelly hit its steepest part 2 miles from the top. Again, Pogacar matched him, as the best cyclists in the world struggled behind them.

Vingegaard seemed to be the driving force of the stage, but with a mile and a half to go, the tale took a twist when Pogacar made a surprise attack. Vingegaard seemed to be caught unaware and couldn’t keep up. Pogacar raced on to the stage win at the summit.

“I feel a little bit relieved; I feel much better now,” Pogacar said after the stage. “The display Jonas showed yesterday was incredible.”

Kuss, Vingegaard’s teammate, said: “We wanted to make it a tough race, especially on the Tourmalet. But Pogacar was really strong today.”

Because he was ahead of Pogacar by 53 seconds going into the stage, Vingegaard took the yellow jersey as the overall leader, but Pogacar lurks just 25 seconds behind. Hindley fell to third, 1 minute 34 seconds behind.

After a couple of flatter stages, Sunday’s climb of the Puy de Dôme looms large. And there are five more stages with significant mountain climbs after that.

Had Vingegaard left Pogacar behind on both of the big midweek stages, the Tour might have felt all but over. Instead, as Pogacar said, “It’s going to be a big, big battle until the last stage, I think.”

CTE found for first time in female pro athlete

By VICTOR MATHER

For the first time, the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has been diagnosed in a female professional athlete, researchers reported.

Heather Anderson, an Australian rules football player who died last year, was found to have had CTE, researchers said in a paper published in Acta Neuropathologica.

“As the representation of women in professional contact sports is growing, it seems likely that more CTE cases will be identified in female athletes,” the report said. “Given females’ greater susceptibility to concussion, there is an urgent need

to recognize the risks, and to institute strategies and policies to minimize traumatic brain injuries in increasingly popular female contact sports.”

Anderson started playing Australian rules football when she was 5 years old, eventually competing in the top women’s league for the Adelaide Crows. She retired at 23 in 2017 after a shoulder injury. She died by suicide, her family said, at 28. She had one confirmed concussion in her career, and as many as four more suspected by her family but not formally diagnosed.

“It was a surprise, but not a surprise,” her father, Brian, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. program 7.30 of the diagnosis. “And I think now that this re -

port has been published, I’m sort of trying to think about how it might play out for female sportspeople everywhere.”

CTE can eventually lead to depression, memory loss and changes in personality, including aggressive behavior. It is worsened the longer an athlete competes in contact sports. The condition can only be diagnosed posthumously; Anderson’s family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank for research.

Researchers found three lesions on Anderson’s brain. They indicated early stage CTE, which would be expected given her young age.

The vast majority of CTE cases have come in men, especially those who participated in contact sports for many

years. including American football players Junior Seau, Ken Stabler, Frank Gifford, Mike Webster and Andre Waters. as well as boxers and Australian football and rugby players. Aaron Hernández, the NFL player who was convicted of murder in 2015 and who died by suicide at 27, was found to have severe CTE damage like that of a player in his 60s.

The researchers said only a handful of cases had been previously found in women, and none before in a professional athlete.

Contact sports for women, notably rugby, are booming in many regions. A women’s top-flight Australian rules league started in 2017; Anderson played in the league’s first grand final.

Get used to seeing Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar up front at the Tour.

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

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

It may seem like close loved ones are trying to pick a fight with you today, Aries. There may tend to be a “me first” attitude stirring up a pot of trouble. Don’t automatically assume that the other person is wrong. There’s a valuable lesson to be learned in every conflict. Take each disagreement as an opportunity to learn something about yourself.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

A close loved one may express displeasure with the way things are, Taurus. Maybe there’s some tension in the air. Things could get rather explosive. There’s a feeling urging others to act, a certain restlessness that demands that you take action. Unfortunately, this action is likely to meet with opposition if you aren’t careful.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Fire up today, Gemini, and let your spirit fly. You have a great deal of ammunition that encouraging you to take charge. Let your adventuresome spirit roam wherever it pleases. Communication with loved ones will be clear. You can expect all social encounters to go smoothly. You will be the hit of any party.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Put your reservations aside, Cancer, and go for the thing your heart desires most. Throw caution to the wind and make it happen. Today’s energy urges you to take charge of your life and conquer new territory. There’s dynamism about the day that could leave you behind unless you latch onto the trend and make it work for you.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

There may be tremendous changes in store for you, Leo. Connect with something futuristic and far out. There may be some roadblocks in the way. Maybe your heart is impeding your progress. You don’t need another person to fill in any voids in your life. Your confidence is what you need to bolster your self-esteem.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Be bold and aggressive today, Virgo. Even if this isn’t in your nature, dynamic action can be rewarding on a day like this. People will be delighted to hear from you. Your opinion is precious. You have many insights to offer the group. Your adaptable nature will be tested. You may need to make adjustments in order to match other people’s way of thinking.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

Love is on your side today, Libra, and all romantic and social situations are favored. This is the perfect time to take the lead on creative projects or anything requiring a keen eye for beauty. Your mood is apt to be positive and jovial. You can’t go wrong in whatever way you choose to express yourself.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Certain love and romance matters may cause some tension, Scorpio. Inflated egos may get in the way of important communication that needs to take place for harmony between you and your romantic partner. You’re a bit more argumentative than usual. Sparks of disagreement are likely to flare into bonfires if you aren’t careful. Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Take charge of your life, Sagittarius. The more action you take, the more alive you will feel. Maybe you will decide to have a career on the stage. This is the kind of day when you need more variety than usual. Bright and happy people will catch your eye. Jump on the fast track. You’re ready.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Don’t hide, Capricorn. This is your time to come out of the shadows. There’s a spark within that’s urging you to act. Move forward and worry about the consequences later. This isn’t a good time to search every sentence for hidden meaning. People may be careless with their words. Don’t overanalyze them.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

This is a terrific day for you, Aquarius. Your mood is good and everything is flowing your way. The fire within is burning hot. You will take the lead role in every production. Romance and love are definitely in the cards for you. Be yourself and remember that it’s OK to laugh at your mistakes. Humility is good for you.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

This is a terrific day for you, Aquarius. Your mood is good and everything is flowing your way. The fire within is burning hot. You will take the lead role in every production. Romance and love are definitely in the cards for you. Be yourself and remember that it’s OK to laugh at your mistakes. Humility is good for you.

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