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.
With a cost of $937,000 and a contribution of more than $530,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, the island Housing Department began a project to install solar panels at the El Zorzal Apartments multifamily public residential complex in San Juan.
Accompanied by La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Noelia García, Housing Secretary William Rodríguez Rodríguez made the announcement from the housing complex that is managed by the nonprofit organization Lucha Contra el Sida Inc., and that provides transitional housing to people in situations of vulnerability and in need of special accommodations.
Rodríguez pointed out that “affordable housing is a right of all and … these vulnerable populations who receive assistance from projects like El Zorzal, know that they have the support of the government of Puerto Rico.”
“Through the recovery funds we are contributing to the development of an island with more housing opportunities that improve the quality of life of those who need it most,” he added.
The CDBG-DR Social Interest Housing Program cre-
ates and rehabilitates housing units for homeless people, older adults, victims of domestic violence, those with disabilities, and those living with HIV or recovering from addictions.
The $537,057 investment will include the installation of photovoltaic (PVS) systems for the benefit of residents.
El Zorzal Apartments consist of 22 permanent housing units with one- and two-bedroom units and support services for the homeless.
The improvements to El Zorzal’s electrical systems and the implementation of renewable energy systems are part of an initiative to allow populations in social housing to have a modern, resilient and safe place to live and receive the services they require.
Those in-home and other services include, according to the resident’s situation, case management, primary health care and medical evaluations, mental health services, education and outreach programs, support groups, job training and transportation, among others.
The Social Assistance Housing Program is managed by the Housing Department and implemented by eligible nongovernmental organizations that submitted their proposals and were evaluated according to their ability to manage CDBG-DR funds.
Legislation that would replace the nearly $240 million inventory tax is slated to be presented to the island Legislature in mid-March, Municipal Tax Revenue Collections Center (CRIM by its Spanish acronym) Executive Director Reinaldo Paniagua Látimer said Tuesday.
The figure represents 55% of the tax collected from personal property and is a key source of income for municipalities. However, the business sector contends it is losing money because of the tax.
CRIM’s governing board will evaluate the bill’s text on March 9. If it gets the board’s green light, the entity will share it with legislative leaders.
The New Progressive Party-controlled Mayors Federation discussed the inventory tax at its regular meeting.
“The elimination of the inventory tax is not being considered. However, the modification of this tax is being considered,” Paniagua Látimer told the press. “The claim made from the start by the business sector was to eliminate the recurrence of the payment of this tax for the same item
year after year, and that is being addressed.”
Paniagua Látimer indicated that an item or piece of merchandise will pay the tax only once, which is when it is sold.
“Another thing that we are doing is that we are suggesting that, in a base year, by mutual agreement what the business pays in inventory tax year after year be frozen so that the business knows how much it is going to pay and the municipality knows how much it is going to receive,” Paniagua Látimer said without specifying how the tax would be collected if an item were only taxed on a single occasion.
Paniagua Látimer stressed that it is not correct that the inventory tax is somehow contributing to a lack of any material goods or food on the island.
“All our analysis and the information reach the same conclusion: this tax is paid by 80%; around 80 companies in Puerto Rico,” he said.
The CRIM director said small businesses participate in the voluntary chain with standard storage. The inventory is exempted from taxes until it is placed on the businesses’ shelves.
District 3 (San Juan) Rep. José “Cheito” Hernández Concepción filed legislation on Tuesday to create a sales and use tax (IVU by its Spanish acronym)-free zone in the traditional urban area of Río Piedras with the purpose of promoting commercial activity there.
“There is no doubt that for decades the urban area of Río Piedras has been going through a difficult time in the face of economic and demographic realities, as well as the rise of closed shopping centers and online sales,” the freshman New Progressive Party lawmaker said. “We have to diversify and do it immedi-
ately if we want to save this historic area. That is why we filed a measure that seeks to create an IVU-free zone in the area surrounding the urban center of Río Piedras, in which small and midsize enterprises would be exempt from the collection of the IVU for a term of five years.”
“We understand that the Municipality of San Juan is implementing strategies to reactivate the economic activity of Río Piedras,” the former San Juan municipal assemblyman added. “Likewise, the municipal administration requires tools that allow it to work with the range of problems faced by businesses and residents of the urban area. This measure aims to strengthen the path toward the economic recovery of Río
Piedras and contributes to solving the problem of spaces with commercial potential that remain empty in the area.”
House Joint Resolution 449 orders the island Treasury Department, in collaboration with the Municipality of San Juan, to demarcate an “IVU Free Zone” in the urban area of Río Piedras with the aim of stimulating the flow of people and commercial activity.
The measure also makes it clear that the beneficiary businesses would continue to submit their monthly IVU forms and carry out the other procedures in accordance with Law 1-2011 (Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico), and any other applicable statute.
Historically there were many years in which Río Piedras was one of the busiest places in the capital city and the economic engine of the area.
“Beyond the quantifiable economic or tax effect, under this measure it will be possible to promote a rebirth of an area that needs and deserves it, creating an environment that favors the return of economic activity and the movement of people,” Hernández Concepción said. “At the end of the road, the intended benefits, both economic and social, far exceed what can be generated through the IVU in these specific areas while they remain mostly inactive, deteriorating and in disuse.”
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Sen. Javier Aponte Dalmau charged Tuesday that more than $100 million in annual federal funds earmarked for the protection of minors could be at risk of being lost due to the Legislature’s stubbornness in not approving Senate Bill 537.
The legislation would establish the “Law for the Prevention of Abuse, Preservation of the Family Unit and for the Safety and Well-Being of Minors,” which guarantees compliance
with the Family First Prevention Services Act.
“In March last year, the Senate endorsed this legislation with a majority vote. In April of that same year, the House of Representatives also approved the bill, but with amendments. However, in the past two legislative sessions, reaching a consensus and reconciling a language that satisfies both legislative bodies has not been possible,” Aponte Dalmau said.
“Meanwhile, the services offered to hundreds of children and young people in the country are in danger because it has not been possible to harmonize such an important public policy
per the federal government’s requirements.”
The legislator emphasized that in his Carolina senatorial district alone, which includes the municipalities of Trujillo Alto, Carolina, Canóvanas, Loíza, Río Grande, Luquillo, Fajardo, Ceiba, Vieques and Culebra, there are at least eight residential homes that provide shelter for some 250 minors under the island Family Department, to guarantee their well-being and so that they feel in an environment that is as close to a natural home as possible.
“If we extrapolate this to the entire country
and other services of the Family Department, there are hundreds of homes and minors that are being affected by this political war between the two legislative bodies, which is intolerable,” Aponte Dalmau said.
The senator added that the social effect of the delay in approving such critical public policy legislation is incalculable.
“I invite the comrades of both bodies to put the well-being of our children and youth above any consideration,” he said. “It is time for us to act with the political maturity that these times require and the country demands.”
By THE STAR STAFF
U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled Tuesday that the disclosure statement for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s debt adjustment plan restructuring some $9 billion in debt contains enough information for creditors to make an informed decision when they vote on it.
The judge who is overseeing Puerto Rico’s Title III bankruptcy cases did ask for the inclusion of information to the effect that the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau is the entity in charge of making decisions as to rate increases, but dismissed most objections presented to the effect that the plan was unconfirmable. She also said she would analyze further down the road whether there had been some “gerrymandering” or manipulation of creditors to obtain a majority for approval of the plan.
The judge did not discuss plans from the government to turn the current retirement system into a pay-go system.
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia insisted on Tuesday that
there should be no talk of imposing additional charges on the electricity bill at a time when the discussion in the federal court of the public corporation’s debt adjustment plan is beginning.
“What I’m saying is don’t cross the bridge until you get to it,” the governor said in response to questions from the press. “At the time, it must be included in the budget and at the time the Energy Bureau is the one that sets the base charge that is paid. Something that I am sure that we are going to continue doing is honoring the subsidies that low-income people have received in Puerto Rico.”
The document that the Financial Oversight and Management Board submitted for Judge Swain’s consideration includes a hybrid charge for residential and commercial customers, as well as an increase in the cost of a kilowatt-hour of electricity.
Pierluisi Urrutia insisted that it will be up to the Energy Bureau to evaluate the imposition of additional charges and the Electric Power Authority should include the costs of those payments in its budget.
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia told New Progressive Party (NPP) mayors on Tuesday that he will insist that the Financial Oversight and Management Board allow the disbursement of $1 million to each municipality as promised after Hurricane Fiona.
“What I’m doing now is trying to make the [oversight] board not block all that allocation but at least allow a partial use of the funds that were allocated for this purpose in the law that I signed,” the governor said in response to questions from the press.
Pierluisi met in Bayamón with the members of the Puerto Rico Mayors Federation, which groups NPP mayors. Among the issues discussed was the
contribution of the municipalities to the Vital Health Plan that the oversight board insists must continue.
In this regard, the Mayors Federation Gabriel Hernández Rodríguez, who is the mayor of Camuy, said the board should not oppose the exemption of that payment by the municipalities after Congress approved additional funds for five years for that program.
Other topics discussed included the need for increased input to the housekeeping program, the status of recreational area repairs with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-allocated funds, and the installation of street lights by LUMA Energy.
Rep. Jocelyne Rodríguez Negrón on Tuesday expressed her opposition to the closure of the Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayagüez, calling the government’s decision “wrong.”
“The announcement of the closure of the Puerto Rico Zoo represents a hard blow to the economy of the western region and directly affects the research that is done for the preservation of species,” Rodríguez Negrón said. “The government’s decision is wrong and they must exhaust all available resources to rescue and preserve these facilities.”
The District 19 (Mayagüez and San Germán) legislator noted that as chairwoman of the House Committee for the Development and Supervision of Public Funds of the Western Region she held public hearings, visual inspections and multiple negotiations with the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) in order to improve the infrastructure of the zoo, safeguard the life and safety of animals, give continuity to the research center and keep operating the facilities, which are so important for the region.
“Yours truly has not rested in efforts to seriously and responsibly address the situation of the zoo,” she said. “We got the Department of Treasury to transfer the funds for the DNER to buy the necessary equipment. We identified resources to improve the infrastructure of the place, we placed ourselves at the willingness of this agency and the federal government to be among the officials present to conduct inspections at these facilities and we made ourselves available to look for all viable options for the reopening of the zoo, and now, without further ado, they decide to permanently close the zoo.”
“To say that the transfer of animals to sanctuaries will take several months puts their health and safety at risk, so we must also take into account such an important factor,” Rodríguez Negrón added. “I know that the zoo workers do a great job and we are called to protect their jobs, which is the livelihood of their families.”
The lawmaker vowed “to stop this closure announced by the secretary of the DNER.”
“Our people from Mayagüez and the entire western region can be sure that we will continue the battle so that
Rep. Jocelyne Rodríguez Negrón, second from left, seen during an on-site inspection of the Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayagüez, said “the government’s decision [to close the zoo] is wrong and they must exhaust all available resources to rescue and preserve these facilities.”
our zoo does not close its doors and we can make this a prosperous, safe place for species and continue to be a center of economic development for the region,” she said.
Puerto Rican Psychology Alliance President David Alcalá Pérez charged on Tuesday that the Health Services Administration (ASES by its Spanish acronym) and its administrator, Edna Marín, are ignoring the fact that APS Healthcare refuses to hire psychologists with a master’s degree to provide mental health services to Vital Plan beneficiaries. Such conduct, Alcalá Pérez says, violates the contract provisions that APS manages and that ASES must monitor and enforce.
“The contract administered by APS allows hiring psychologists with a master’s degree duly certified by the Psychologists Regulatory Board,” Alcalá Pérez said in a written statement. “However, APS only hires psychologists with PhDs, in open violation of the current contract. This dramatically limits the population’s access to mental health services.”
Alcalá Pérez added that the Marín is aware of this situation and has not taken action. He also pointed out that although Marín publicly reiterated on more than one occasion during 2022 that the Vital Plan provider network was open and available to any skilled and certified health service supplier, it was not until February 2023 that the process began for the recruitment of mental health service providers.
Alcalá Pérez noted that last December a report from ASES itself came to light, dated May 2022 and that had not been disclosed, which makes severe accusations against APS. The report states that APS and its service through the Vital Plan have “clear areas of concern.” It also revealed that some 15 island municipalities do not have psychologists, and another 32 do not have psychiatrists.
“I call on Edna Marín to express herself publicly and explain why she allows APS to violate the provisions of the current contract to the detriment of the mental health of our people,” Alcalá Pérez said.
Afederal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment late last week charging Zuleika Molina Orozco with eight counts of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
According to court documents, Molina Orozco was the comptroller of Company A, a not-for-profit sports and social club located at a resort in Humacao, and had access and control
over Company A’s bank account. Between October 2019 and March 2022, Molina Orozco allegedly made 39 unauthorized wire transfers from Company A’s bank account to three of her credit cards and two unauthorized wire transfers to another bank account, all totaling $1,100,283.36. The money the defendant obtained from the fraud scheme was used to pay the defendant’s personal credit card expenses, to purchase a 2020 Ford F-150 truck, and to transfer money to other individuals. The defendant was scheduled for her initial court appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marshal D.
Morgan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico and Joseph González, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office made the announcement. The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott H. Anderson is prosecuting the case.
The Biden administration earlier this week announced a wide crackdown on the labor exploitation of migrant children around the United States, including more aggressive investigations of companies benefiting from their work.
The development came days after The New York Times published an investigation into the explosive growth of migrant child labor throughout the United States. Children, who have been crossing the southern border without their parents in record numbers, are ending up in punishing jobs that flout child labor laws, the Times found.
The White House laid out a host of new initiatives to investigate child labor violations among employers and improve the basic support that migrant children receive when they are released to sponsors in the United States. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, called the revelations in the Times “heartbreaking” and “completely unacceptable.”
As part of the new effort, the Department of Labor, which enforces these laws, said it would target not just the factories and suppliers that illegally employ children, but also the larger companies that have child labor in their supply chains. Migrant children often use false identification and find jobs through staffing agencies that do not verify their Social Security numbers.
Companies have escaped fines in the past by blaming those agencies or other subcontractors when violations are discovered.
“Too frequently, employers who contract for services are not vigilant about who is working in their facilities,” the Labor Department said in a statement.
The department will also explore using a “hot goods” legal provision that allows it to stop the interstate transport of goods when child labor has been found in the supply chain.
The Times found products made with child labor in the American supply chains of major brands and retailers, including J. Crew, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, Ben & Jerry’s, Fruit of the Loom, Ford and General Motors. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, children worked late nights at plants operated by Hearthside Food Solutions, which makes and packages food for other companies, including General Mills, Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats.
The Department of Labor has begun an investigation into Hearthside, administration officials said.
Officials also plan to initiate investigations in parts of the country more likely to have child labor violations and ask Congress to increase penalties. Federal investigators have long complained that the maximum fine for violations — about $15,000 per occurrence — is not enough to deter child labor. The new effort also establishes a joint task force between the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for child migrants, to better share information.
At least a dozen underage migrant workers have been killed on the job since 2017, including a 16-year-old who fell from and was crushed by an earthmover he was driving in Georgia. Others have been seriously injured, losing legs and shattering their backs in falls.
In a speech on the House floor Monday, Rep. Hillary
Scholten, D-Mich., called on Congress to act.
“Stories of kids dropping out of school, collapsing from exhaustion, and even losing limbs to machinery are what one expects to find in a Charles Dickens or Upton Sinclair novel, but not an account of everyday life in 2023, not in the United States of America,” Scholten said.
A spokesman for Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, “cut corners on vetting procedures to prioritize the expedited release of minors, and as a result more migrant children are being handed off to traffickers and exploited.”
Republicans on Capitol Hill immediately began launching investigations and discussing legislation, including plans to demand the Department of Health and Human Services track and provide better care for children after they are released to sponsors. Democrats are also considering new measures.
Both the House Judiciary and Oversight committees pledged investigations, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Judiciary chair, demanded in a letter sent Monday that Robin Dunn Marcos, the director of the division of HHS in charge of child migrants, submit to a transcribed interview.
A representative for Hearthside said last week that it had found workers through a staffing company and would implement better controls. After The Times’s story was published, the company said it had hired a law firm and consultant to review its employment and safety practices and begun requiring government identification from any worker entering its 39 plants nationwide.
Most of the companies identified by the Times as having child labor in their supply chains said last week that they were investigating the findings or had ended contracts with suppliers. PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, whose brands are sometimes manufactured at Hearthside, did not respond to repeated requests for comment until after the Biden
administration’s announcement on Monday, when it said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned” and had prohibited its suppliers from hiring underage workers. Whole Foods, which also did not comment until after the story was published, said it would investigate the Times’s findings of child migrant labor at one of the company’s chicken suppliers.
Under a 2008 federal anti-trafficking law, children arriving alone from countries other than Canada and Mexico are allowed to stay in the United States and apply for asylum or other legal protections. The Department of Health and Human Services is supposed to ensure sponsors will support them and protect them from trafficking or exploitation.
But as more and more minors have crossed the border, the Biden administration has ramped up demand on HHS staff members to release the children from shelters as quickly as possible. Becerra has urged staff members to move with the speed of an assembly line, the Times found. The department rolled back protections that had been in place for years, including some background checks and reviews of children’s files.
A spokesperson for the department said last week that it was in the best interest of children to be quickly moved out of detention and that the department had not compromised safety.
Préstamos Personales Pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 25 de febrero de 2023
to evade taxes.
Latino workers were handcuffed and transported to a National Guard Armory, where most were put in deportation proceedings. At least 20 immigrants were swiftly deported. Others were released and have been fighting in court to remain in the United States.
In February 2019, several nonprofit organizations, including the National Immigration Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a lawsuit against the federal agents and the U.S. government, accusing them of targeting workers based on their ethnicity and violating their civil rights. (Last August, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee certified the case as a class action, paving the way for relief for all the Latino workers.)
A search warrant had authorized entry into the plant by federal agents, but it did not authorize the arrest of any workers, even if they were living in the country illegally, according to court documents.
“They used the pretext of a tax investigation of the plant’s owner to plan and carry out a full-blown operation targeting the Latino workers,” said Michelle Lapointe, deputy legal director for the National Immigration Law Center and lead attorney in the lawsuit.
Nataly Luna, whose father, Reniel, was detained in the federal raid at Southeastern Provision’s meat processing plant, during a march in Morristown, Tenn., April 12, 2018. Nearly 100 immigrants who were rounded up at the plant in 2018 have reached a $1.17 million settlement with the U.S. government and the federal agents, who the workers said used racial profiling and excessive force during the raid.
By MIRIAM JORDANNearly 100 immigrants who were rounded up during a 2018 raid at a meat-processing plant in Tennessee have reached a $1.17 million settlement against the U.S. government and federal agents, who they said used racial profiling and excessive force during the operation, stepping on a person’s neck and punching another in the face.
The agreement, approved earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, is very likely the first class settlement over an immigration enforcement operation at a work site, according to immigration experts. In the past, only individual immigrants have reached settlements related to immigration raids.
Under the terms of the settlement, members of the lawsuit will receive $550,000, or more than $5,700 each. Six named
Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 25 de febrero de 2023
Tasa Mínima (%) 33%
Promedio Ponderado (%)
Máxima (%)
plaintiffs will receive a total of $475,000 from the federal government to resolve their claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows individuals to be compensated for negligent or wrongful acts by agents of the federal government.
The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but neither the federal government nor the agents admitted wrongdoing in the case.
Legal experts called it a rare victory for immigrants living in the country illegally. “It is very hard to win a settlement from the U.S. government and agents in immigration enforcement cases,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a law professor at Cornell Law School who specializes in immigration. “The outcome is particularly important because federal agents were held accountable for overreaching and racial profiling.”
In April 2018, armed agents with the Homeland Security Department and the IRS burst into the Southeastern Provision meatpacking plant in Bean Station, a rural town in northeastern Tennessee, and rounded up all but one Latino worker, including at least one U.S. legal resident and one American citizen. The only exception was a man who had hidden in a freezer.
The raid, which federal agents called “The Great American Steak Out,” was part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration — at the border and inside the country — with high-profile work-site raids that had last occurred when George W. Bush was president.
The operation followed an IRS investigation that had found evidence that the owner of the company, located outside the city of Morristown, was paying plant workers in cash
A video, reviewed by The New York Times, showed agents separating Latino workers and frisking them. “White workers were allowed to walk free,” Lapointe said.
More than 150 children were directly affected by the detention of their parents, and the next day, about 600 children were absent from school, as fear gripped the immigrant community. Teachers, lawyers, clergy and other Morristown residents rallied around the immigrants in the ensuing days.
“Everything was normal, and then, in an instant, everything changed,” recalled Martha Pulido, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, who spoke Monday at a news conference.
The settlement will not automatically allow the workers to remain in the country indefinitely. But they will receive a letter from the federal government confirming that they are class members in the lawsuit, which they can submit to help their immigration cases. And one of the deported plaintiffs will be allowed to return to the United States.
Workers not in the country will receive their settlement through money-transfer services, such as Western Union. Advocacy organizations will now try to secure permanent legal residency for the immigrant workers.
”Our next step is to ensure that the workers who were part of the class action can obtain immigration relief — to obtain work permits and legal authorization to remain in the country,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Morristown, a town of 30,000 northeast of Knoxville, has drawn migrants workers from Latin America since the early 1990s, when they first arrived to toil in the tomato farms, often coming and going mainly from Mexico each year.
The workers were part of a swelling wave of migrants bypassing traditional gateway states such as California to find opportunity in fast-growing southern states. As stronger security at the border made it more difficult for people to move back and forth, many workers settled in the area and had children.
First a North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species, washed ashore in Virginia. Then a humpback floated onto a beach in New Jersey. Not long afterward, a minke whale, swept in on the morning tide, landed on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City.
And that was in just a single week in February.
In all, 23 dead whales have washed ashore along the East Coast since early December, including 12 in New Jersey and New York, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The pace of the deaths is worrisome to federal scientists, even if the total numbers are below some prior years.
Most of the fatalities have been humpbacks, and postmortem examinations have suggested that ship strikes are probably the cause of many of the deaths.
Scientists believe the mortality rate may be tied to an unlikely confluence of factors.
The population of humpbacks, hunted legally until 1985, has rebounded, thanks in part to decades of efforts to clean the Atlantic Ocean and heavily polluted tributaries such as the Hudson River. As the climate changes and oceans warm, whales and a favored prey, menhaden, are migrating and feeding in new locations, often closer to shore.
Online pandemic buying habits are also fueling a record-setting surge in cargo shipments that last year made ports in New York and New Jersey the nation’s busiest. Much of the merchandise is now toted on far-bigger ships — some of which have altered their routes to help alleviate the supply-chain chaos that last year left some store shelves bare.
As a result, more whales appear to have found themselves in the direct path of more ships.
“When the whales are in these channels,” said Paul Sieswerda, executive director of Gotham Whale, a New York City-based whale research group, “you have to cross your fingers and hope there are no collisions.”
This winter’s quick succession of stranded whales also coincides with work being done in advance of the installation of roughly a dozen large offshore wind farms from Massachusetts to Virginia. Opponents of offshore wind have said that the sonar used by energy companies to map the ocean floor or the noise from seabed rock sampling might be contributing to the whale deaths, although NOAA and the Marine Mammal Commission say there is no evidence that this is true.
The humpback whale found on Feb. 13 in Manasquan, New Jersey, had been spotted about a month earlier feeding in the Raritan Bay, 30 miles from where it washed ashore.
Sheila Dean’s phone at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey, rang that day, as it often does when dead whales turn up. It had been an exceptionally busy few weeks for Dean, who joined the center in 1978 after years working as a sea lion and dolphin trainer on Atlantic City’s famed Steel Pier.
She and a team of 10 volunteers arrived on the beach the next morning and found a whale known by her mar-
kings as NYC0298.
There is no way to X-ray a creature as large as a school bus on a beach, so researchers check for injuries manually, pulling back thick layers of blubber and reaching up to a foot into the body cavity to look for parasites, scarring or bruises, a telltale sign of a vessel strike. The work is strenuous, and the smell is foul.
“Our job is to find out what is killing them,” Dean said.
On Feb. 17, another volunteer necropsy team was called to the Rockaways, in Queens, to investigate the death of the minke found with deep propeller gashes in its side.
For more than half of all whales found stranded, investigators are not able to determine a definitive cause of death. Most of the animals are too decomposed; others may have died of infections that are impossible to detect or differentiate from the bacteria that quickly begins to form on dead tissue.
Some of the loudest voices drawing attention to the uptick in whale deaths are longtime opponents of offshore wind energy, who have found in the gruesome images of rotting whale carcasses a new 40-ton mascot.
Several local groups have found common cause with national organizations that have accepted funding from the fossil fuel industry, including the Caesar Rodney Institute, a right-leaning nonprofit that David Stevenson helps to lead.
Stevenson, who opposes offshore wind farms, is not convinced that it is greenhouse gases that have caused
Earth to heat up, contradicting settled science. He believes offshore wind energy will be too expensive, and he recently founded the American Coalition for Ocean Protection, which now has chapters in coastal communities in New Jersey and New York.
“If an emotional response is what it takes,” he said about concern for the whales, “I’m not going to turn them down.”
Over the past month, Republican members of Congress, conservative talk-show hosts and dozens of Jersey Shore mayors have called for an immediate moratorium on wind-energy projects.
“It’s not reasonable that it’s not going to cause real ecological damage,” said Cindy Zipf, director of Clean Ocean Action in New Jersey, which is calling for additional study before offshore wind projects receive final authorization.
But environmental protection organizations have largely supported wind energy. Thirteen such groups in New Jersey have reiterated support for offshore wind, a pillar of President Joe Biden’s ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change.
“The organizations that are serious about protecting marine life recognize there are trade-offs,” said Matthew Eisenson, who runs a legal defense initiative at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “Climate change can impact marine life — and we need renewable energy to mitigate climate impacts.”
But opponents of the bureau, including Republican lawmakers, countered that the agency was uniquely problematic and hoped the case would resolve a recurring question.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that a different part of the law creating the consumer bureau was unconstitutional, saying that Congress could not insulate the bureau’s director from presidential oversight given the scope of the job’s authority.
“The director has the sole responsibility to administer 19 separate consumer-protection statutes that cover everything from credit cards and car payments to mortgages and student loans,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
He mentioned the bureau’s funding in passing, noting that its budget had exceeded half a billion dollars in recent years.
“Unlike most other agencies,” the chief justice wrote, “the CFPB does not rely on the annual appropriations process for funding. Instead, the CFPB receives funding directly from the Federal Reserve, which is itself funded outside the appropriations process through bank assessments.”
Roberts made the same point when the case was argued. “They don’t even have to go to Congress to get their money,” he said.
In the administration’s petition seeking review, Prelogar wrote that “the CFPB’s funding mechanism is entirely consistent with the text of the Appropriations Clause, with long-standing practice and with this court’s precedent.”
By ADAM LIPTAKThe Supreme Court agreed earlier this week to hear a case that could hobble the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and advance a key project of the conservative legal movement: to limit the power of independent agencies.
A ruling against the bureau, created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act after the financial crisis, could cast doubt on every regulation and enforcement action it took in the dozen years of its existence. That includes extensive rules — and punishments against companies that flout them — that the agency has written to govern mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans and banking.
The central question in the case, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, No. 22-448, is whether the way Congress chose to fund the agency violated the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution, which says that “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.”
A unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, ruled in October that the bureau’s funding mechanism ran afoul of that clause.
“Wherever the line between a constitutionally and unconstitutionally funded agency may be, this unprecedented arrangement crosses it,” Judge Cory T. Wilson wrote in an opinion joined by Judges Don R. Willett and Kurt D. Engelhardt in
the ruling.
three judges on the panel.
The bureau is funded by the Federal Reserve System, in an amount determined by the bureau so long as it does not exceed 12% of the system’s operating expenses. In the 2022 fiscal year, the agency requested and received $641.5 million of the $734 million available. The 2010 law said the bureau’s funding requests “shall not be subject to review by” the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
The 5th Circuit’s decision was at odds with ones from other courts. In 2018, for instance, the District of Columbia Circuit said there was nothing unusual about the funding mechanism.
In urging the Supreme Court to hear the Biden administration’s appeal, Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar said the ruling “threatens to inflict immense legal and practical harms on the CFPB, consumers and the nation’s financial sector.”
A decision against the consumer bureau could imperil other agencies.
“If the Supreme Court accepts this deeply flawed argument against CFPB funding, it would set a dangerous precedent that would be used to challenge agencies with legally indistinguishable funding, including the Federal Reserve, FDIC, Medicare and Social Security,” said Nadine Chabrier, a senior policy and litigation counsel at the nonpartisan research group Center for Responsible Lending.
She added that barring congressional committees from reviewing the funding “simply allocates authority among different congressional bodies” and that “the Appropriations Clause is not concerned with such matters of internal congressional housekeeping.”
The case was brought by two trade groups representing payday lenders. They challenged a regulation limiting the number of times lenders can try to withdraw funds from borrowers’ bank accounts. The 5th Circuit struck down the regulation, saying it was “wholly drawn through the agency’s unconstitutional funding scheme.”
The Supreme Court turned down a request from the Biden administration to decide the case in its current term, which ends in late June or early July. The justices will instead hear arguments in the fall and probably not issue a decision until 2024.
That could complicate the agency’s operations as other challenges mount. More than a dozen companies have cited the 5th Circuit ruling in seeking to have lawsuits or penalties the bureau has filed against them thrown out.
“A delay in hearing this case only hurts consumers, as this is an urgent issue that has horrifying implications for consumers and our entire financial system,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.
House Republicans have previously introduced legislation that would bring the CFPB into the traditional appropriations process and remain committed to passing such a bill, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., chair of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.
te on Taxation and Economic Policy. (The precise amount is difficult to determine, given that the amounts and eligibility criteria for the payments vary widely from state to state.)
While that figure is just a small fraction of the $4.9 trillion of revenue the government collected last fiscal year and a tinier blip still compared with the $31.4 trillion of national debt, the agency’s decision comes as the Treasury Department is engaging in a series of accounting maneuvers to ensure the United States can keep paying its bills and avoid defaulting on its debt.
Last week, the Bipartisan Policy Center warned that the Treasury Department could exhaust those measures and run out of cash by early summer if Congress did not lift or suspend the nation’s borrowing cap. The think tank noted that the actual date when the United States would run out of cash was highly dependent on tax receipts, which are incredibly volatile given the state of the economy.
“In the event of much-lower-than-expected revenues through tax season, there is a small chance of a ‘too close for comfort’ situation prior to quarterly tax receipts due on June 15,” the policy center warned.
By LINDA QIU and ALAN RAPPEPORTMore than 20 state governments, flush with cash from federal stimulus funds and a rebounding economy, shared their windfalls last year by sending residents one-time payments.
This year, the Biden administration added a sweetener, telling tens of millions taxpayers that they do not need to pay federal taxes on those payments.
That decision by the Internal Revenue Service, while applauded by some tax experts and lawmakers, could cost the federal government as much $4 billion in revenue when Washington is struggling with a ballooning federal deficit and entering a protracted fight over the nation’s debt limit.
The IRS ruling, after bipartisan pressure from lawmakers, was the latest move by the agency to forgo revenue this tax season.
In December, the agency delayed by a year a new requirement that users of digital wallets like Venmo and Cash App report income on 1099-K forms if they had more than $600 of transactions. That requirement, part of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, was projected to raise nearly $1 billion in tax revenue per year over a decade. The last-minute decision to delay it followed intense lobbying from business groups and political backlash directed at the Biden administration, which was accused of breaking its pledge not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000.
Taken together, the moves by the IRS run counter to two big economic issues bedeviling Washington — rapid in-
flation and concerns about the government’s ability to avoid defaulting on its debt.
Allowing residents to avoid paying taxes on their state rebates means more money in their pockets to spend when the Federal Reserve is trying to rein in consumer and business spending to cool rising prices. A report on Friday showed that, despite the Fed’s efforts to slow the economy, personal spending sped up in January.
Government data released in December showed how “one-time refundable tax credits issued by states” were propping up incomes nationwide. More than 20 states enacted individual tax rate cuts or rebates last year. They were able to do so in part because of $350 billion that was allocated to states and cities as part of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that passed in 2021 and left many states with record budget surpluses.
When tax filing season began in late January, the IRS had yet to rule on whether the payments were taxable, confusing and frustrating millions of recipients — and their elected representatives. After the agency told taxpayers to hold off filing their returns as it made its decision, lawmakers from California and Colorado urged the IRS to exempt the payments and not add to their constituents’ tax burden.
The agency quickly obliged.
Altogether, payments in 22 states subject to the IRS decision totaled over $25 billion, according to a New York Times tally. That amounts to roughly $3 billion to $4 billion in lost tax revenue, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations from the conservative Tax Foundation and the nonpartisan Institu-
The IRS’ past policies on taxing state payments have added to the complexity of the situation. In previous years, the IRS deemed certain payments such as annual dividends paid out to residents in Alaska as subject to federal taxes. But certain direct cash payments by states and cities responding to the coronavirus pandemic were deemed nontaxable in 2021.
In its guidance on state payments this season, the IRS clarified that payments made by states “in general” should be included for federal taxation, but many of the payments made in 2022 were “related to general welfare and disaster relief” and thus exempt.
Still, experts broadly agreed that the IRS had made the correct decision, given that it did not tax the federal government’s own stimulus checks, the cost of exempting the one-time state payments was fairly negligible and the delays had added confusion to the filing season.
“The IRS is right not to insist on strict applications of the rules given the need to resolve the uncertainty without further disruption,” said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation.
Ultimately, the IRS deemed payments from 16 states not taxable. Some rebates were narrowly tailored, including $35.5 million to about 59,000 families with children in Florida, while others covered nearly every taxpayer in a state, such as the $9 billion paid to more than 31 million residents in California.
Taxpayers in Alaska do not need to report a one-time energy relief payment on their tax returns, but do need to report the regular dividend the state sends to residents.
Residents in four other states — Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Virginia — do not need to report payments if they take the standard deduction, but do if they itemize. The IRS reasoned that these four states had structured their payments as refunds rather than rebates.
groups surged on the platform. (Musk has denied claims that hate speech on Twitter has increased under his ownership.) Adams, in a text message, wrote: “I didn’t see Musk’s comment as supporting me so much as saying something needs to be fixed.”
Representatives for several Twitter advertisers did not respond to requests for comment Monday. But the episode left some Madison Avenue executives privately shaking their heads.
In recent weeks, Twitter seemed to make headway in persuading some brands to return to its platform. Mark Read, CEO of WPP, one of the world’s largest ad companies, told Bloomberg TV last week that Twitter appeared “a lot more stable the last few months than perhaps it was toward the end of last year.” He added, “I think clients want to start to look about how they can come back onto Twitter.”
“That’s great to hear!,” Musk tweeted in response.
WPP declined to comment Monday.
Hundreds of newspapers, including USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and the international edition of The New York Times, said they would stop running the syndicated “Dilbert” comic strip in response to Adams’ rant.
Musk seemed to respond by criticizing the papers for abandoning Adams, a view in line with his usual concerns about censorship of alternative viewpoints.
By LORA KELLEY, MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and TIFFANY HSULast fall, shortly after completing his purchase of Twitter, Elon Musk sent a message to a skittish corporate community: Trust me.
“Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world,” Musk wrote in an open letter, contrasting himself with a so-called traditional news media that, in his telling, had fueled societal divides in the pursuit of profit.
On Sunday, Musk leaped to the defense of “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams, whose career has been upended in recent days after he called Black people “a hate group” and urged white people to “just get the hell away” from them during a YouTube livestream.
Musk, no fan of major news organizations, then appeared to criticize the hundreds of newspapers that have since dropped “Dilbert” from their pages, asserting: “The media is racist.”
It was another example of Musk blithely inserting himself into the sort of incendiary situation that most CEOs would run away from. And it built on his history of attacking
what he views as a misguided commitment to diversity by the political left, which Musk, in line with some conservatives, sees as itself a form of discrimination.
In linking a scandal over a cartoonist’s racist remarks to a critique of the news media, Musk, 51, also reiterated his contempt for mainstream journalists. The billionaire often denounces major news outlets for censoring alternative viewpoints, even as he temporarily barred some of the journalists who cover his companies from Twitter last year.
The frenetic, provocative and sometimes contradictory tenor of Musk’s public remarks has won the Twitter and Tesla leader millions of fans. Twitter’s advertisers may take a dimmer view, questioning the stability of his leadership as the social media company struggles financially.
“He’s playing a version of fantasy CEO around Twitter, without any real expertise or commitment to dealing with the complications,” said Rashad Robinson, president of the civil rights organization Color of Change, one of the groups that met with Musk last year to discuss Twitter’s handling of problematic and offensive posts.
Robinson said Musk’s behavior had left Twitter advertisers in a bind. “These companies, with their diversity programs, are all saying things that are in direct opposition to what Elon Musk is saying,” Robinson said in an interview. “These companies actually have a really good opportunity to leave both as a moral decision and as a business decision.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment. He has called himself a “free speech absolutist,” and he offered “amnesty” to thousands of suspended Twitter users last year. Researchers found that within months of his takeover of the service, slurs against Black Americans and other minority
“For a *very* long time, US media was racist against nonwhite people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians,” Musk tweeted Sunday. “Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist.”
Musk later seemed to approve of a Twitter user’s comment that “Adams’s comments weren’t good. But there’s an element of truth to this ... it’s complicated.”
“Exactly,” Musk replied.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said Monday that he was “deeply disturbed” by Musk’s comments. “As the prominent leader of a social media platform,” he said, “Musk’s words carry great influence, and he should be condemning bigotry, not defending it.”
Twitter has faced an exodus of advertisers since Musk signaled early in his tenure that he would loosen its contentmoderation rules. Some brands sharply curtailed their spending: More than half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers from last year have not spent anything on the platform in 2023, according to recent estimates from research firm Sensor Tower.
At first, Musk sought to reach out to some critics.
He met with leaders from several civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, in early November, and some of the attendees described Musk as receptive to their feedback. He also spoke with advertising executives to assuage their concerns that their brands would start appearing alongside toxic material on the platform.
Robinson said Musk had pledged to form a council, which would include leaders of civil rights groups, to help advise Twitter on how to handle tricky content issues. Months later, the council has not materialized.
Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip “Dilbert.” Hundreds of newspapers said they would stop running the comic strip in response to Mr. Adams’s tirade.Alate burst of buying erased some of the stock market’s losses Thursday, leaving indexes mixed on Wall Street though still on pace to end lower for the week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after having been down 1.3% earlier in the day. The benchmark index’s positive turn in the last 10 minutes of trading ended a four-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also bounced back from an early slide to finish with a 0.5% gain, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Several measures of small and mid-size companies also lost ground, including the Russell 2000, which closed 1.2% lower.
The mixed finish for stocks comes as traders look ahead to the Labor Department’s latest monthly job market snapshot Friday. The Federal Reserve will consider the August update on job and wage growth as it determines further interest rate hikes in its bid to slow the economy enough to bring down inflation.
“We’ll be able to get a better read on markets tomorrow after that number comes out,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “At least right now, the path of least resistance for markets remains lower.”
The S&P 500 rose 11.85 points to 3,966.85, while the Dow added 145.99 points to 31,656.42. The Nasdaq slid 31.08 points to 11,785.13, its fifth straight drop. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 21.30 points to 1,822.82.
Gains in health care stocks, companies that rely on direct consumer spending and communications services providers helped lift the market. Johnson & Johnson rose 2.5%, Target gained 2.8% and Netflix added 2.9%.
Technology stocks were once again one of the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia dropped 7.7% after the chipmaker said the U.S. government imposed new licensing requirements on its sales to China.
Energy stocks fell as the price of U.S. crude oil, which is coming off its third month of declines, dropped 3.3% to $86.61 a barrel. Chevron slid 1.6%.
Major indexes in Europe and Asia closed lower. Treasury yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, rose to 3.26% from 3.20% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to track expectations for Fed action, rose to 3.52% from 3.50% and is now at the highest level since 2007.
Bond yields have been rising along with expectations for higher interest rates, which the Federal Reserve has been increasing in a bid to squash the highest inflation in decades.
Stocks have been mostly racking up losses in recent weeks, wiping out much of the gains the market made in July and early August. Traders remain remain wary of how the economy will hold up as the Fed ratchets up interest rates to fight inflation.
The selling accelerated beginning last week, when
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank will likely need to keep interest rates high enough to slow the economy “for some time” in order to bring inflation down.
The Fed has already raised interest rates four times this year and is expected to raise short-term rates by another 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting later this month, according to CME Group.
Wall Street is worried that the Fed could hit the brakes too hard on an already slowing economy and veer it into a recession. Higher interest rates also hurt investment prices, especially for pricier stocks like technology companies.
The S&P 500 ended August with a 4.2% loss after surging 9.1% in July on optimism that the Fed might be able to ease back on raising rates following signs that inflation, while still high, was leveling off.
The July and early August market rally marked a brief positive turn for Wall Street after a weak first half of the year where the S&P 500 dropped 20% from its most recent high and entered a bear market. September may not offer much of a respite for investors, as historically it tends to be the worst month for stocks.
By ERIKA SOLOMON, STEVEN ERLANGER and CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE
Nearly a month after Berlin gave European allies permission to send German-made tanks to Ukraine, the flow of tanks so many leaders vowed would follow seems more like a trickle.
Some nations have discovered that the tanks in their armory don’t actually work or lack spare parts. Political leaders have encountered unanticipated resistance within their own coalitions, and even from their defense ministries. And some armies had to pull trainers out of retirement to teach Ukrainian soldiers how to use old-model tanks.
The struggle to provide Leopard tanks to an embattled Ukraine is just the most glaring manifestation of a reality Europe has long ignored: Believing that large-scale land war was a thing of the past and basking in the thaw of the Cold War, nations chronically underfunded their militaries. When Russia launched the largest land war on the continent since World War II, they were woefully unprepared.
Hints of the problem have surfaced repeatedly since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, through shortages of weapons and ammunition. But now, as Germany and its allies struggled for weeks to scrape together enough Leopard 2s to fill two battalions of tanks — 62 vehicles in total — the extent of their quandary has become even clearer.
The irony of this situation is not lost on Germany.
For weeks, Chancellor Olaf Scholz resisted an intense public pressure campaign from Ukraine’s leaders, European politicians and security experts to supply Ukraine with tanks, and to permit other nations to send some of their own Leopards, despite German concerns that it could be perceived by Russia as a NATO escalation. Many goaded Scholz with a social media campaign: #Freetheleopards.
The Leopards may be free now, but they are scarce on the ground. And some countries that clamored for permission to send them to Ukraine are having difficulties doing so, or second thoughts of their own.
Despite Europe having an estimated 2,000 Leopard 2 tanks of different models — they are among the most commonly used main battle tanks across the continent — pledges for Ukraine are still short of the hundreds it says it needs.
Germany has offered 18, and Poland another 14, but the numbers drop from
there. And once the currently pledged tanks go into battle and get hit or break down, it is not clear which Leopards — or which country — will replace them.
“Of course some nations have delivered, or at least announced that they will,” Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said at the Munich Security Conference this month. “But others have not done that.”
“That is what I’m a bit shocked about,” he added. “Clearly there were some nations — and I will never name names here — but we had some nations that preferred to hide behind Germany. To say: We would love to, if we were allowed. But when we allowed it, they didn’t do anything.”
Privately, many German and European officials involved in the negotiations over tank deliveries say the situation is more complicated. It is not so much that nations are unwilling to make good on their promises but rather that they have faced a rude awakening as to just how difficult it is.
Finland, where many outspoken members of parliament led the calls for Germany to allow Leopard deliveries, announced Thursday that it would supply three Leopard mine-clearing vehicles — but none of its estimated 200 Leopard main battle tanks.
For decades, European countries en -
joying a post-Cold War “peace dividend” had seen war as almost a thing of the past, regularly cutting military support. Now, the shrunken armies tend to be protective of what they still have. At NATO, European militaries are sometimes called “bonsai armies,” after the miniature trees.
For years, the United States has been nagging Europe to increase military spending, and in 2014, after Russia grabbed Crimea, NATO members agreed to spend 2% of gross domestic product by 2024. Yet even today, by current NATO estimates, only nine of the alliance’s 30 members are spending that much, while a 10th is close. Thirteen countries, including Germany, were spending around 1.5% of their GDP or even less.
In Germany, which for years clung to a foreign policy that emphasized aid and development more than hard power, some saw the problem as uniquely German. Yearly military reports to parliament offered sometimes comical glimpses of the shortages. Commandos conducted water training at local public pools, because their own facilities were shut down. Planes could not fly. Soldiers trained with broomsticks instead of rifles. Even newer Puma infantry fighting vehicles recently broke down en masse.
But other European nations are now realizing their own militaries may have similar troubles.
“The trend across the board in European armies has been cutting, cutting, cutting,” said Christian Mölling, a defense expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “But at the end of the day, many were on the same track as Germany: War is a theoretical thing. So we have theoretical tanks.”
(As politicized as the Leopard issue has become, Gustav Gressel, a security analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, argued that there were plenty of solutions if European nations worked together.
The Dutch, for instance, lease 18 Leopards from Germany. Officials are discussing whether it would be possible for Germany to take some of them to use in place of its own Leopards in Lithuania and then send those to Ukraine.
Switzerland, sticking to its constitutional neutrality, refuses to send any of its 134 Leopard tanks to Ukraine. But it is willing to give the tanks to European Union members, Gressel said. Countries like Finland or Poland, he said, could request the Swiss tanks and send their own to Ukraine.
Another option would be for countries to simply buy more Leopards, made by the German companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, and send their current models to Ukraine. But European governments and the defense industry are currently in a standoff over production.
State leaders want industry to move first, while weapons makers want longer-term government orders before they step up production. If more government orders are made, analysts say, the more capacity may increase, thus speeding up production of weapons like tanks.
At current rates, militaries would face a serious tank shortage for the two to three years it would take the industry to make the new vehicles, security experts say — a long waiting period politicians across Europe are learning their armies are fiercely resistant to accept.
That is why Gressel argued the tanks should be sent now anyway.
“Yes,” he said, “Russia will reconstitute itself as a military threat to NATO after this war. But it will take years for them to come back as a military threat. They have to rebuild an army which is shattered and almost destroyed in Ukraine.”
By JASON HOROWITZ and GAIA PIANIGIANI
Adecade ago, a rickety trawler overstuffed with desperate migrants caught fire and capsized just off the coast of Italy, killing 368 men, women and children. In the aftermath, the European Union delivered tens of millions in financial aid to Italy, vowed to strengthen rescue operations and hammer out a more effective bloc-wide migration and asylum policy.
“We will do anything we can, with the means that we have, to change the situation,” José Manuel Barroso, then the president of the European Commission, said at the time.
But a horrific shipwreck Sunday about 100 yards from Italy’s Calabrian coast, which killed at least 63 people, including many children, has made it painfully clear that the situation has not changed. If anything, the bloc’s consensus against migrants has broadened and hardened.
Coastal nations have transitioned from an emphasis on search-and-rescue ships. Italy has talked of naval blockades, and Greece has secretly expelled refugees on inflatable and sometimes overburdened life rafts. European officials, while once again expressing sorrow over the weekend and making promises, have sought to outsource the issue, at great expense, to countries with worrisome human rights records across the sea.
All the while, asylum-seekers keep coming. Despite tough new measures by the hard-right Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose political rise was in part fueled by anti-migrant language, the number of arrivals to the country this year has increased sharply.
Migrant arrivals have returned to levels last seen in 2017, with 14,437 landing in Italy in the first two months of this year. It’s unclear what has driven the rise in numbers at a time in the year that has recently been relatively quiet.
But Sunday’s tragedy off the coast of Calabria, for which Meloni expressed “deep sorrow” and anger at the smugglers, has not created a political problem for her. Instead, it has increased calls from across the political spectrum for Europe to finally do something to address a chal-
lenge that promises to shape the continent’s immediate politics and long-term future.
“On immigration, Europe should probably do something more,” Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s interior minister, said during a news conference late Sunday, adding, “It is fundamental to move from words to facts.” Piantedosi on Monday met with his French counterpart in Paris, where they agreed on a common agenda, including joint trips to Tunisia, and to make sending migrants back easier.
Meloni said on Italian television Monday evening that she had sent a letter to Brussels urging the European Union to “hurry up and act,” adding that to “face with seriousness and humanity” the migrant issue, it was necessary to “stop the departures.”
But even as countries call on Europe to finally address the issue, they have for years taken matters into their own hands and closed their once-open arms.
Greece, which has already cracked down on migration with a fence on its border with Turkey and denied that it is sending back migrants at sea, is ramping up land and sea patrols ahead of general elections expected in April “to protect European territory from illegal flows,” said the country’s migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, at a European conference on border security near Athens on Friday.
He added that arrivals in Greece were
already down 80% since 2019, but that the country would effectively double the size of a nearly 40-kilometer (nearly 25mile) fence along the Turkish border with or without EU funds.
In 2016, the European Union agreed to pay billions of euros to Turkey to shelter migrants who reached Turkish soil. The following year, the bloc, and Italy separately, struck a similar, if much smaller, deal with Libya, giving money, resources and training to officers in the Libyan coast guard — and tribal leaders — to prevent migrants from crossing. Many migrants have endured horrendous abuses there.
Survivors of Sunday’s shipwreck, who departed from Izmir in Turkey, have said that their destination was always Italy. But migrant advocates say the closed borders in Greece and along Eastern Europe, where Hungary has built a wall and Croatia and Serbia have violently pushed back migrants, have made the longer and often more treacherous journey to Italy the more viable option for migrants.
“This particular tragedy is the end result of all these border-guarding policies,” said Christina Psarra, who runs Greece’s Doctors Without Borders office.
Meloni has sought to force ships run by charities to rescue migrants and then return to an Italian port after each mission, limiting time at sea and the number of migrants they pick up. But the Ionian coastline where a blue fishing boat carrying at least 130 people broke apart on Sunday is not patrolled by those aid ships.
That doesn’t mean, however, that migrants have not been arriving there.
Last year, 18,000 of the 30,500 migrants who took the dangerous route from Turkey through the Aegean Sea landed in Italy.
“We are sad that people are only now talking about this route,” Roberto Occhiuto, the governor of the Calabria region, said on Italian television Monday, announcing that the region would observe a day of mourning for the 63 victims, as many towns in the area already had. He said he hoped that the tragedy would bring “renewed awareness by Europe regarding this problem.”
The southern Italian newspaper, Il Mattino, put it more succinctly.
“Where is Europe?” read a front-page
headline Monday.
“Europe has now a chance to offer a humanitarian approach, which means making search and rescue a priority,” Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson with the International Organization for Migration, said Monday. “Such a rickety boat has sailed a long way. This shows that we need to strengthen the European patrolling and search-and-rescue system.”
Marco Bertotto, a top official at Doctors Without Borders in Italy, attributed the rise in deaths to the weakening of those patrols.
“When Italy and the EU had naval assets at sea, they increased their searchand-rescue capacity and diminished the likelihood of such tragedies,” he said.
The hundreds of lives lost in the shipwreck off the coast of Sicily in 2013 prompted a far-reaching Italian searchand-rescue mission for migrants in the Mediterranean. It lasted a year. It was replaced by less ambitious programs that morphed into border control. In the meantime, populist politicians, including Meloni, who has talked about “ethnic replacement,” constantly played on the fears of Italian voters by spreading videos of migrants acting criminally or arriving in throngs.
The issue became a clear loser for liberal politicians, who, seeing their numbers plummet, blamed Europe for leaving Italy out to dry and for opening the door to right-wing populists antagonistic to the bloc. By 2017, Italy’s center-left government itself began cracking down on charity ships for attracting migrants to sea.
In national elections last year, Italians made it clear that they preferred the harder line of the Italian right, but critics of those policies argued Monday that the loss of life on the Calabrian beach of Steccato di Cutro demanded a response beyond slamming doors shut.
“Those who think that the migration phenomenon can be addressed only by force or naval blockades should bow down before the lifeless body of this child who has been denied her future,” said Nicola Fiorita, the mayor of the Calabrian town of Catanzaro, referring to a dead girl, name unknown, who he said had become “a boulder on the conscience of all Europe.”
Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday that the city would lift its mask mandate, one of the last such policies in the world, effectively ending what had been one of the pandemic’s strictest COVID-19 regimes.
“Evidence shows that the coronavirus is under control in Hong Kong, without major signs of rebound,” Chief Executive John Lee said at a news briefing.
Starting Wednesday, people in Hong Kong will no longer be required to wear masks indoors, outdoors or on public transportation, though facilities like hospitals and nursing homes can still require them, Lee said. Under the mandate, which took effect in July 2020, people who failed to wear masks in public could be fined about $635.
Hong Kong’s tough COVID controls, which until last year also included limits on group gatherings, flight bans and long hotel quarantines, were criticized by business leaders and others, who said they were needlessly damaging people’s livelihoods, as well as the city’s status as a finance center and a tourist destination. Macao, the nearby gambling hub, which like Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, ended its outdoor mask mandate Monday.
“With the removal of the mask mandate, Hong Kong will return to normal all around, and in this year and the coming year will go all out for the economy and development at full speed,” Lee said.
Hong Kong largely avoided mass outbreaks in the first two years of the pandemic by imposing tight border controls and social distancing policies, in an attempt to bring its caseload as close to zero as possible. But those measures could not contain the spread of the more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus as 2022 began. Thousands died, many of them seniors who had not been vaccinated.
The controls, which changed frequently and with little warning, came at a heavy cost to residents and contributed to an exodus from the city. Schools were closed for months on end, residents of nursing homes were denied visitors, and restaurants and bars saw their hours restricted or had to shut entirely. Overall, Hong Kong’s economy contracted 6.1% in 2020; it rebounded in 2021, but shrank again in 2022.
Hoping to revive tourism, the city recently announced plans to give away half a million plane tickets to foreign visitors, and authorities have continued to roll back the remaining restrictions. In recent days, officials announced that visitors to hospitals and nursing homes would no longer have to show PCR test results, and that starting in March, students would not be required to take daily rapid antigen tests before attending school.
Health Secretary Chung-mau Lo said the government would recommend that people who are immunocompromised or have upper respiratory issues continue to wear masks. But like Lee, he said the end of the mandate signified a return to normalcy. “Everyone can show their smiles and say, ‘Hello, Hong Kong,’” he said, repeating the city’s new tourism slogan.
Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical virologist at the University of Hong Kong, noted that when the virus began spreading in the city in early 2020, its residents almost universally wore masks, even before they became
mandatory. He added that while well-fitting masks were highly effective in hospital settings, they were often removed in crowded restaurants and at home, limiting the protection they provided when community transmission was widespread.
“Mask mandates stretching for years
on end are going to run out of steam in terms of how effective they are,” Sridhar said. “People deserve choice in terms of how they are protecting themselves, and they have been doing this since the very first days of the pandemic, and they are going to continue to do that.”
When a Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli settlers Sunday afternoon in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, residents of nearby Palestinian towns knew from long experience to await sporadic acts of revenge.
But few anticipated the systematic ferocity with which mobs from nearby Israeli settlements responded that night.
Settlers burned and vandalized at least 200 buildings in four Palestinian villages, according to initial tallies from Israeli rights groups and Palestinian officials, and a Palestinian official said that one Palestinian had been killed in the settler attack.
It was one of the most intense episodes of settler-led violence in memory, standing out even in a year with the deadliest start in the West Bank since 2000. It came on a day when Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their regional neighbors met in Jordan to try to calm the crisis.
The scale of the violence has put increased pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing government includes settlers among its ministers. On Sunday, he condemned vigilantism, but his words were ignored not just by the Israeli settlers but by some lawmakers from his own coalition. “I want to see that place in flames, metaphorically,” one said after the arson attacks.
On Monday, the Israeli army said it would send two additional battalions to the occupied West Bank, and another Israeli was reported shot to death in an attack in the southern West Bank.
The rampage against the Palestinian villages followed the shooting of two settler brothers as they drove through the town of Huwara earlier Sunday. The Israeli military said some of the settlers who waged the attacks had been arrested, but witnesses said — and video showed — troops standing by as they proceeded.
Hundreds of settlers, some of them armed with knives and guns, set ablaze hundreds of cars and homes in the five-hour rampage.
“We usually say ‘God help the neighbors,’ because we aren’t usually affected,” said Ammar Damedi, 37, a gold trader in Huwara whose family lives beyond the areas habitually targeted for reprisals by settlers, who are rarely convicted.
But Damedi’s family compound was one of the worst hit. On Monday morning, the embers were still burning in his guesthouse.
“This is the tax for living in Palestine,” said Damedi, his arm in a sling. He was wounded when a settler threw a stone, he said.
The extraordinary spasm of violence came
in an already deadly year. About 60 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of 2023, mainly in gunbattles between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli soldiers, and at least 13 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The violence is increasing despite U.S.-led efforts to calm the situation.
On Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials, along with U.S., Egyptian and Jordanian representatives, met at a rare one-day summit in the Jordanian resort of Aqaba. The goal was to ease tensions before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in late March, but the talks ended with no concrete plans.
The same day, the settlers began to surge through the West Bank, undermining the work of the conference while making clear its necessity.
“These developments underscore the imperative to immediately deescalate tensions in words and deeds,” Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson, said Monday. “The United States will continue to work with Israelis and Palestinians and our regional partners towards restoring calm.”
But more violence seemed inevitable Monday as armed Palestinian groups warned of further attacks; protesters in the Gaza Strip held demonstrations at the edge of the enclave, risking confrontations with Israeli soldiers; and settler activists — backed by some far-right members of the governing coalition — called for Israelis to gather at friction points in the West Bank after the funerals of the two brothers.
Some senior government ministers called for calm. “I ask — even when the blood is boiling — not to take the law into one’s hands,” Netanyahu said Sunday night.
But other figures in the coalition set a different tone.
One far-right lawmaker, Limor Son HarMelech, traveled Sunday night to the area where the brothers were killed and where settlers later attacked Palestinians to “support the righteous cry” of settlers who “came out to protest and demand security.”
A second lawmaker, Tzvika Foghel, said the settler violence was a deterrent. “I am very pleased with the result,” he said. “Wherever terrorists come to murder me, I want to see that place in flames, metaphorically.”
Among Palestinians attacked Sunday night, there was a strong perception that the settlers had been galvanized by the governing coalition, which includes several settler leaders in key ministries, including finance and national security.
The government was “the main reason” for the settler violence, Damedi said. Even during earlier periods of heightened violence, in the late 1980s and early 2000s, he said, violent settlers “never came this far into the town and never went from one village to another like they went last night.”
Asked why the Israeli army did not prevent the settler violence, and even stood by as some attacks took place, a military official, who requested anonymity in line with protocol, acknowledged mistakes and said commanders had not expected the settlers to fan out through Huwara’s backstreets instead of remaining on the main thoroughfare.
The official said that the army and other security services, including police, were scaling up efforts to arrest the settlers involved in the attacks, and that 10 had already been apprehended. But he said there were no plans to install additional checkpoints outside nearby settlements to detain suspects — even though similar posts were placed outside nearby Palestinian towns after the brothers’ killing, creating
hourslong traffic jams.
The brothers, Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, were buried in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon. Both in their early 20s, they were residents of Har Bracha, a Jewish settlement built in the hills above Nablus in 1983 and considered illegal under international law by most countries. Israel captured the territory during the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.
Hillel Yaniv, a student at a religious seminary, had served as a staff sergeant in the Israeli navy. His younger brother, Yagel, was also a seminary student.
Hillel was the “hardest-working man we knew — whatever he could do, he would,” his aunt, Tamar Naumburg, said in a eulogy Monday. Yagel, she said, was “filled with life and fun.”
Long-running tensions between residents of settlements such as Har Bracha, which have expanded considerably since their creation, and surrounding Palestinian towns such as Huwara have led to frequent outbreaks of violence.
More than 100 Palestinians were reported injured in the settler rampage Sunday, most from inhaling smoke or tear gas. One man, Moataz Deek, 28, said he had been stabbed multiple times by several settlers, narrowly avoiding serious injury, and held up his shirt to show at least 22 knife marks.
Palestinian officials said another person had been hit with an iron bar.
Israel’s two-month-old government had vowed a more aggressive stance toward Palestinian attackers and more support for Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But Sunday night, as fires raged in Huwara, many Israelis expressed the sense that the security forces had been unprepared and that things were spinning out of control.
Israel is already in turmoil, deeply divided over the new government’s plans for a drastic judicial overhaul that critics say will undermine the country’s democratic foundations and, indirectly, its armed forces. Reservist soldiers have increasingly expressed concerns about serving a country undergoing such judicial change.
Settlers also returned Sunday night to an unauthorized Jewish settlement outpost, Evyatar, another West Bank friction point, which was evacuated by the previous government. Israeli forces were trying to evacuate the outpost again Monday.
In Huwara, Palestinians were bracing for more violence.
The Damedis recounted how four generations of the family had taken shelter in bathrooms and bedrooms to avoid stones being thrown through their windows by settlers. But worse is to come, predicted Jamelah Damedi, 59, Ammar’s mother.
likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Last week, one of DeSantis’ legislative allies filed House Bill 999, which would, as The Tampa Bay Times reported, turn many of DeSantis’ “wide-ranging ideas on higher education into law.” Even by DeSantis’ standards, it is a shocking piece of legislation that takes a sledgehammer to academic freedom. Jeremy Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, described it as “almost an apocalyptic bill for higher education,” one that is “orders of magnitude worse than anything we’ve seen, either in the recent or the distant past.”
Echoing Orban, House Bill 999 bars Florida’s public colleges and universities from offering gender studies majors or minors, as well as majors or minors in critical race theory or “intersectionality,” or in any subject that “engenders beliefs” in those concepts. The bill prohibits the promotion or support of any campus activities that “espouse diversity, equity and inclusion or critical race theory rhetoric.” This goes far beyond simply ending DEI programming, and could make many campus speakers, as well as student organizations like Black student unions, verboten.
bureaucratic obstacles. Young believes that House Bill 999 would sweep many of those obstacles away.
The bill, of course, is only one part of DeSantis’ culture war. His administration has already limited what can be taught to K-12 students about race, sex and gender. (Some teachers removed all books from their classroom shelves while they waited for them to be reviewed for forbidden content.) When The Walt Disney Co. spoke out against one of DeSantis’ education measures, the governor punished the corporation. And he is pushing legislation taking aim at the news media by making it easier for people — especially those accused of racial or gender discrimination — to sue for defamation.
Last year, a court blocked parts of DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE” act, a ban on critical race theory that a federal judge called “positively dystopian.” In the likely event that House Bill 999 passes, the courts may block it as well. But the governor, a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has made his political program very clear.
By MICHELLE GOLDBERG
In 2017, the government of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban passed a law intended to drive Central European University, a prestigious school founded by a Hungarian refugee, George Soros, out of the country. At the time, this was shocking; as many as 80,000 protesters rallied in Budapest, Hungary, and intellectuals worldwide rushed to declare their solidarity with the demonstrators. “The fate of the university was a test of whether liberalism had the tactical savvy and emotional fortitude to beat back its new ideological foe,” wrote Franklin Foer in The Atlantic.
Liberalism, sadly, did not: The university was forced to move to Vienna, part of Orban’s lamentably successful campaign to dismantle Hungary’s liberal democracy. That campaign has included ever-greater ideological control over education, most intensely in grade school, but also in colleges and universities. Following a landslide 2018 reelection victory that Orban saw as a “mandate to build a new era,” his government banned public funding for gender studies courses. “The Hungarian government is of the clear view that people are born either men or women,” said his chief of staff. In 2021, Orban extended political command over Hungarian universities by putting some schools under the authority of “public trusts” full of regime allies.
Many on the American right admire the way Orban uses the power of the state against cultural liberalism, but few are imitating him as faithfully as Florida governor and
There’s more. Under House Bill 999, general education core courses couldn’t present a view of U.S. history “contrary to the creation of a new nation based on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence,” creating obvious limits on the teaching of subjects like slavery and the Native American genocide. The bill also says that general education courses shouldn’t be based on “unproven, theoretical or exploratory content,” without defining what that means. “State officials would have unfettered discretion to determine which views are ‘theoretical’ and banned from general education courses,” says a statement by the libertarian-leaning Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Finally, the bill centralizes political control over hiring by allowing faculty to be cut out of the process. Right now, some boards of trustees have the power to veto hiring recommendations made by faculty and administrators, though Young says they rarely use it. Under House Bill 999, rather than an up-or-down vote on candidates vetted by university bodies, trustees could just hire whomever they want. “They don’t even have to hire someone who applied through the regular process,” said Young. “They can just say, ‘Here’s my friend Joe, he’s going to be the new history professor.’”
This would give DeSantis’ cronies enormous power over who can teach in Florida’s colleges and universities. Last month, I wrote about the governor’s campaign to transform the New College of Florida, a progressive public institution, into a bastion of conservatism. At the time, some faculty members suspected that DeSantis’ new trustees might find their grandiose plans stymied by
“DeSantis seems to be putting into practice some of the political lessons Orban has to teach the American Right,” Rod Dreher, an American conservative living in Budapest, recently wrote with admiration. If you want to see where this leads, Hungary has a lot to teach us.
PO BOX 6537 Caguas PR 00726
Telephones: (787) 743-3346 • (787) 743-6537 (787) 743-5606 • Fax (787) 743-5100
Dr. Ricardo Angulo Publisher“Many on the American right admire the way Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban uses the power of the state against cultural liberalism,” writes The New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, “but few are imitating him as faithfully as the Florida governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – La comisionada residente, Jenniffer González Colón, junto otros congresistas y legisladores de Puerto Rico, conmemoraron el 106 aniversario del advenimiento de la ciudadanía americana para los puertorriqueños, reclamando acción por parte del Congreso para resolver el tema del estatus.
“Aunque somos ciudadanos americanos, el gobierno federal puede tratar a la isla de manera desigual, y a menudo lo hace, según las leyes y los programas federales. Y si bien es cierto que el Congreso podría aprobar legislación hoy para atender algunas de estas disparidades, también es cierto que un futuro Congreso podría deshacer tales esfuerzos. Como simple territorio, nunca disfrutaremos verdaderamente de los mismos derechos y responsabilidades que nuestros conciudadanos en los estados. Solo la estadidad puede garantizar nuestra plena igualdad como ciudadanos americanos”, expresó la comisionada residente en la actividad frente al Capitolio de los Estados Unidos.
Entre los miembros del Congreso presente, junto a la comisionada, estaban el representante de origen puertorriqueño por Florida, Darren Soto; el representante por California Eric Swalwell; la representante por Florida, María Elvira Salazar; el representante por Acumulación en Puerto Rico José “Che” Pérez; el representante por Acumulación y expresidente de la Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico, José Aponte; los delegados congresionales Roberto Lefranc Fortuño y Zoraida Buxó y representando a la comunidad, Irma Rodríguez presidenta de la organización Puerto Rico Escogió la Estadidad.
El liderato reunido reclamó al Congreso que continúe y complete los procesos iniciados en términos an-
teriores para adelantar la culminación de los derechos de la ciudadanía americana en Puerto Rico a través de la admisión como estado.
“La estadidad para Puerto Rico y la acción del Congreso para poner fin al estatus de territorio beneficiaría a nuestros veteranos y a los miles de puertorriqueños que actualmente sirven en las Fuerzas Armadas al proporcionarles una democracia real a través de un voto y una representación equitativa en el Congreso, así como la capacidad de elegir a su Comandante en Jefe, a través de una Unión permanente con sus conciudadanos en los Estados. No se trata de obtener más beneficios o concesiones bajo el statu quo o bajo la estadidad. Se trata de la dignidad de un ciudadano para poder ejercer los derechos y deberes de ciudadanía. Y sí, eso incluye la igualdad de trato donde hay discriminación contra nosotros”, añadió la comisionada.
“Al conmemorar 106 años desde que a los puerto-
rriqueños se les otorgó la ciudadanía americana, debemos continuar trabajando en el mejor interés de la isla. Estoy orgulloso de lo que hemos logrado para garantizar que nuestros hermanos y hermanas puertorriqueños reciban el mismo trato y espero impulsar estos esfuerzos en el Congreso 118”, expresó Darren Soto.
“Hoy se cumplen 106 años desde que los residentes de Puerto Rico se convirtieron en ciudadanos americanos”, dijo Swalwell. “Sin embargo, a pesar de que los puertorriqueños votaron tres veces en las urnas por su deseo de tener la representación plena que todos los ciudadanos americanos necesitan y merecen, el Congreso no ha adoptado legislación para otorgar formalmente a Puerto Rico la condición de estado. Los ciudadanos americanos no deben recibir un trato diferente según el lugar donde vivan. Es hora de que el Congreso actúe y apruebe la Ley de Admisión a la Estadidad de Puerto Rico”.
PONCE
– El activista Pedro Julio Serrano se unirá el miércoles 1 de marzo a las 11 de la mañana, a la manifestación —convocada por el Colegio de Actores de Puerto Rico— frente a la Alcaldía de Ponce por las expresiones “homofóbicas” de la Primera Dama y el Alcalde de dicho municipio.
“Me solidarizo con la convocatoria hecha por los actores y actrices de nuestro país, sobre todo con los hacedores del arte y la cultura de Ponce. Ya basta de discriminar contra nuestro patrimonio cultural y basta de censurar a artistas abiertamente LGBTQ+. Invito al público a que se una a esta manifestación en defensa de nuestra gente”, aseveró Serrano en declaraciones escritas.
El portavoz de Puerto Rico Para Todes denunció que Luiz Irizarry Pabón aún no ha expresado cuál será el curso de acción sobre las ordenanzas municipales y órdenes ejecutivas vigentes en contra del discrimen por orientación sexual e identidad de género en el municipio que rige.
“Como si esto fuera poco, Miyady Velázquez publicó una convocatoria a un congreso de mal llamados ex-gays como para seguir insistiendo en lo que el Alcalde defendió como ‘terapias de amor’. Lo indignante es que en realidad son terapias de conversión, prohíbidas por orden ejecutiva en Puerto Rico. Esto es insólito. Nunca ha habido intención de detener el discrimen a personas LGBTQ+ en el Municipio de Ponce, sino todo lo contrario”, concluyó Serrano.
Miembros del Congreso conmemoran el 106 Aniversario de la Ciudadanía Americana al pueblo de Puerto Rico
While it beats out “M3gan” in levels of gruesomeness, “Cocaine Bear” doesn’t have that film’s mean streak or moments of acid weirdness. Or its steadily building momentum. In fact, “Cocaine Bear” too often feels like a one-joke movie, stretched thin. Gifted dramatic actors are tasked with thankless roles, including Keri Russell as a protective mom, Isiah Whitlock Jr. as an irritated cop with a bland side plot involving a pet; and by far the best, Margo Martindale as a love-hungry park ranger, who takes more punishment than anyone. The plot twists can seem irrelevant, including a betrayal that has the impact of a soft sneeze. And the script becomes dutifully sentimental at the end with characters forced to say things like “You’re more than a drug dealer. You’re my friend, my best friend.”
By JASON ZINOMANWhen you were in high school or college, did you know someone who would stay up late, get stoned and wonder what would happen if you got a pet high? That person went to Hollywood. How else to explain “Cocaine Bear,” a chaotic, blood-splattered major studio horror-comedy whose greatest joke is that it exists.
The title, which has drawn comparisons
to the equally functional “Snakes on a Plane,” says it all. The year is 1985. After a pratfall in a plane leads a smuggler to drop a ton of drugs on the mountains of Georgia, a bear discovers it, snorts it up and turns into a mix of Tony Montana and Jason Voorhees.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks from a script by Jimmy Warden, this movie arrives in theaters with considerable anticipation, based on the title and its terrific trailer. For an audience desperately looking for a good
time, they’ll find it. More discerning fans of junk might see an opportunity missed.
At its best, “Cocaine Bear” has the feel of an inside joke. It consistently invites you to laugh at it. The producers are clearly aiming to capture the lightning in a bottle that “M3gan” pulled off earlier this year, another Universal horror-comedy whose slick special effects elevated its B-movie conceit. Whereas “M3gan” steered clear of too much onscreen violence, angling for a PG-13 rating, “Cocaine Bear” wallows in it. Viewers with a taste for tastefulness (those weirdos) will balk. But gorehounds, myself among them, appreciate a studio playing around in the muck. Inspired by the slasher films of the 1980s, not to mention great horror-comedies from that era like the “Evil Dead” films, Banks grasps the comic potential of the gross-out.
In the blunt spirit of the title, let me get right to the point: Two severed legs, two fingers shot off, a decapitation, some splattered brains, a grotesquely contorted wrist and all kinds of guts and blood and human innards. Banks doesn’t always dole out the viscera artfully (better to follow a leg with an arm, not another leg) but she commits to the toomuchness necessary for comedy.
Nothing comes close to upstaging the bear, an animal perfect for this genre-blurring role, because it moves so seamlessly in the public consciousness between cute (teddy, Yogi) and terrifying (“The Revenant”). At one point, Cocaine Bear sniffs a hint of white powder and emerges with renewed strength. A gutsier movie might have drawn this out and given us an ursine Popeye, with cocaine as spinach.
As fun as this movie can be — one chase scene in an ambulance makes up for a few rote jump scares — there are frequently hints of a better one inside it. The best version is a raucous, transgressive comedy, the kind they supposedly don’t make anyone. Banks does seem to get away with some giddy, dangerous moments, like a scene in which two preteens try to do cocaine. It gets a few laughs, but leaves plenty more on the table.
The actor who does not is a snarling, gun-toting Ray Liotta (in one of his final roles) as a desperate man trying to regain cocaine for his cartel bosses. But making the drug dealer the one truly villainous character gives “Cocaine Bear” the morality of an after-school special. Early in the movie there’s a clip of the old “This is your brain on drugs” ad, a reminder that the story takes place against the backdrop of the drug war of the 1980s, a catastrophic policy failure with severe human ramifications that we are still living with. That “Cocaine Bear” is cautious about touching on this theme is understandable, maybe even preferable. But it’s also symptomatic of a studio sensibility that seems only willing to risk so much.
Keri Russell in “Cocaine Bear.” The San Juan Daily Star Wednesday, March 1, 2023 20Huey “Piano” Smith, whose two-fisted keyboard style and rambunctious songs propelled the sound of New Orleans R&B into the pop Top 10 in the late 1950s, died Feb. 13 at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was 89.
His daughter Acquelyn Donsereaux confirmed his death.
Smith wrote songs that became cornerstones of New Orleans R&B and rock ’n’ roll perennials, notably “Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” “Don’t You Just Know It” and “Sea Cruise.”
As a pianist and bandleader, Smith was known for strong left-hand bass lines, splashy right hand and forceful backbeat. He didn’t take center stage; his band, the Clowns, was fronted by a group of dancing lead vocalists, among them Bobby Marchan, who often performed wearing women’s clothes.
Smith’s lyrics were full of droll wordplay and irresistible nonsense-syllable choruses. “I use slangs and things like that,” he was quoted as saying in John Wirt’s biography, “Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and the Rockin’ Pneumonia Blues” (2014), “When you put the music with words and things together, the songs just make themselves. And after you listen at it, it says something its own self, that you hadn’t planned.”
Smith’s songs have been covered by Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, Johnny Rivers, Patti LaBelle, Deep Purple and many others. But he struggled to collect royalties through more than a decade of lawsuits, and in the 1990s he filed for bankruptcy. His song “Sea Cruise” was handed over by his label to a white singer, Frankie Ford, whose voice was overdubbed atop the backing track recorded by Smith and his band.
Huey Pierce Smith was born Jan. 26, 1934, in New Orleans, the son of Arthur Smith, a roofer and sugar cane cutter, and Carrie Victoria (Scott) Smith, who worked at a laundry. He taught himself to play boogie-woogie piano, strongly influenced by the New Orleans master Professor Longhair, and by his teens he was performing regularly at the Dew Drop Café, a top Black club in what was still a segregated city. He formed a duo with Eddie Lee Jones, who performed and recorded as Guitar Slim and who gave him the “Piano” moniker. He also backed Lloyd Price and other New Orleans performers onstage.
Smith also became a regular session player at J&M, the recording studio owned by Cosimo Matassa, where the sound of classic New Orleans R&B was forged. His piano opens the Smiley Lewis hit “I Hear You Knocking,” and he was also heard on recordings by Earl King, Little Richard and many others.
He formed the Clowns in 1957 and had a nationwide hit that year with “Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” (later versions often rendered
it as “Rockin’”), which reached No. 5 on Billboard’s rhythm-and-blues chart and No. 52 on the pop chart. A medical-minded follow-up, “Tu-Ber-Cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues,” didn’t fare as well.
With his new career as a bandleader thriving, Smith married Doretha Ford in 1957. They had five children before they divorced in the mid-1960s.
Smith and the Clowns reached the pop Top 10 in 1958 with the wry “Don’t You Just Know It.” The title was a phrase often used by the band’s bus driver, Rudy Ray Moore, who would go on to a career as a bawdy comedian and the star of the “Dolemite” movies.
That same year, Smith recorded “Sea Cruise.” Johnny Vincent, the owner of his label, Ace Records, was a partner in a distribution company, Record Sales Inc., with Johnny Caronna. The day after Smith recorded the music for “Sea Cruise,” planning to have the Clowns add vocals, Caronna claimed the song for a teenage singer he was managing, Frank Guzzo, professionally known as Frankie Ford.
According to Wirt’s biography, Smith was told,
“Johnny Vincent agreed that if you can sell a million on this record, Frankie can sell 10 million” — and, he later recalled, “It hurt me to my heart when he told me he was taking that.”
Vincent, who died in 2000, also claimed co-writing credits on many songs Smith wrote and recorded for Ace, including his hits, although he later relinquished those credits. Smith moved to Imperial Records as the 1950s ended, but he returned to Ace to record a rollicking holiday album, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” on which he declaimed the title poem over a jaunty horn section.
With the British Invasion of the 1960s, guitardriven rock supplanted piano-centered New Orleans R&B on the pop charts. Smith continued to record on the Pitter Pat and Instant labels through the late 1960s, under his own name and others, and he had some regional hits. He also wrote and produced songs for other performers, notably Skip Easterling, who had a hit across the South in 1970 with Smith’s funk reworking of the Muddy Waters standard “Hoochie Coochie Man.”
Smith married Margrette Riley in 1971. She survives him, along with his children Donsereaux, Sherilyn Smith, Huerilyn Smith, Hugh Smith, Katherine Smith, Tanisha Smith, Tyra Smith and Glenda Bold; his stepson, James L. Riley Jr.; 18 grandchildren; and 47 greatgrandchildren.
Barely able to make a living from his music in the early 1970s, Smith turned to other work. He started a gardening business, Smith’s Dependable Gardening Service. He also became a Jehovah’s Witness and gave up drinking and smoking.
Meanwhile, the value of his old songs was increasing. In 1972, Johnny Rivers’ remake of “Rocking Pneumonia” reached No. 6 on the pop chart. Dr. John included a medley of Smith’s songs on his album “Dr. John’s Gumbo,” and Ace Records rereleased Smith’s songs on compilation albums.
Smith performed occasionally as the 1970s ended. At the New Orleans club Tipitina’s and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1979 and 1981, he reunited with singers from the Clowns’ peak years. At the 1981 festival, his musicians included the Meters’ rhythm section: George Porter on bass and Zigaboo Modeliste on drums.
Smith moved to Baton Rouge in 1980 and stopped performing soon after that. His catalog continued to be heard — in cover versions, on movie soundtracks, in commercials and in reissues — but bad deals deprived him of much of his royalty income.
The Rhythm & Blues Foundation gave Smith its $15,000 Pioneer Award in 2000, and he gave his last major performance at the foundation’s gala. He was inaugurated into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 20
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 22
By IRIS EDÉN SANTIAGO Special to The STARGlitz and glamour. Feathers and lace. Leave it to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to put on a show. That’s exactly what we love. They took Milan Fashion Week by storm. Amid all and every fabulous fashion house presenting this week in Milan, the italian label captured all the attention with barely any clothes at all.
Leggy models paraded down the runway wearing sheer and semisheer leotards, corsets, tank tops, miniature bralettes and thongs under sheer mesh cocktails or transparent untied gowns. There was a lot of tulle, satin, chiffon, silk and skin. And the color palette is limited to black, scarlet, a little bit of white and some gold.
Welcome to “Sensuale, a new dimension of sensuality that draws on the internal experiences that make women spontaneous and natural. An intriguing interplay of weights and volumes, iconic colors and meticulous tailored cuts bring together a collection in celebra tion of a woman’s au
We missed their signature and elab
orate florals, the animal prints, the clever suiting and the fantastic dress es cinched at the waist. Although the collection is mostly about luxe lingerie, a category they created 30 years ago, there are other looks worth commenting on. We loved the incredibly beautiful coats, and sophisticated sheer blouses with accent lapels and cuffs, trimmed with fur or plumes. Absolutely adored the intriguing 3D satin roses at the neck and in belts; the fur collars, feather collars, fur lapels and opera gloves. Accessories rocked. Feathers followers rejoice! Trouser suits as well as cropped jackets, almost like tiny bo leros, were favorites with the crowd. Loose masculine-cut wool pants were presented with lace and tulle bras, and cashmere capes. A new jacket silhouette was introduced in Milan: A body jacket with satin buttons and lapels. The Dolce jacket has a new sculptural interpretation. It was modeled with a jersey midi or longish skirt, the label calls it “longuette.” Also win ning? The draped tulle dresses, micro-dresses, and the liquid gold effect stretch dresses in jersey. Other garments in liquid gold: briefs, exuberant gala coats, and a sexy form-fitting strapless midi over a contrasting bralette in black chantilly
en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables.
Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, 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. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente
Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a 3 de febrero de 2023. ÁNGEL DE JESÚS TORRES PÉREZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #770.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-
NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE CAROLINA
APEX BANK
Demandante V. SUCESION DE CARLOS
RAFAEL MENDOZA
BAEZ COMPUESTA
POR LUIS ALBERTO
MENDOZA MALAVE, CRUZ MENDOZA BAEZ Y LA SUCESION DE MANUEL ANTONIO
MENDOZA MALAVE
COMPUESTA POR AIDA
JOSEFINA MENDOZA
RIVERA, CRUZ MANUEL
MENDOZA RIVERA Y LAURA JOSEFINA
RIVERA SOSA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS (“CRIM”)
Demandado (s)
Caso Núm.: CA2022CV02524.
Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO-
TECA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA.
A: SUCESION DE CARLOS RAFAEL
MENDOZA BAEZ
COMPUESTA POR LUIS
ALBERTO MENDOZA
MALAVE, CRUZ
MENDOZA BAEZ Y LA
SUCESION DE MANUEL
ANTONIO MENDOZA
MALAVE COMPUESTA
POR AIDA JOSEFINA
MENDOZA RIVERA, CRUZ
MANUEL MENDOZA
RIVERA Y LAURA
JOSEFINA RIVERA SOSA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS (“CRIM”);
Y AL PUBLICO EN
GENERAL:
El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior, Centro Judicial de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, hago saber a la parte demandada, y al PUBLICO EN GENERAL: y a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante a saber: CONDADO 3, CFL LLC: A cuyo favor aparece una anotación de demanda, expedida el 4 de julio de 2018, en United States Distric Court for the Distric of Puerto Rico, caso civil # 18-1192 por concepto de Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Condado 3, CFL LLC versus Carlos Rafael Mendoza Báez, por la suma de $98,470.78 y otras sumas. Anotado el 25 de junio de 2018, en Karibe de Carolina, finca #43,779, Anotación A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 20 de enero de 2023, por la Secretaria del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: Dirección de la Propiedad:
305 Cond Metromonte Carolina, PR 00985. URBAN: Residential unit number three hundred five (305) of Metromonte Apartment Building “A”, located at “A” Avenue of Metropolis Development at Martin Gonzalez
Ward of the Municipality of Carolina, Puerto Rico, which family unit is located on the third (3rd) floor level being an irregular shape apartment with an area of eight hundred fifty two point ninety four (852.94) square feet, equivalent to seventy nine point two hundred forty three (79.243) square meters. This unit consist mainly of the following: two (2) bedrooms, one (1) bathroom, combined li-
ving-dining room, kitchen, laundry area, four (4) closets and small entrance hall. The main entrance to the exterior and it boundaries are as follows:
NORTH, in thirty nine point nine hundred seventeen (39.917) lineal feet equivalent to twelve point one hundred sixty seven (12.167) lineal meters, with exterior common elements of the building and proper elements of the apartment such as concrete bearing walls and block partitions separating it from exterior open space facing “A” avenue.
SOUTH, in thirty nine point nine hundred seventeen (39.917) lineal feet equivalent to twelve point one hundred sixty seven (12.167) lineal meters, with interior common elements of the building such as concrete bearing walls and block walls, separating it from apartment number three hundred four (304);
EAST, in twenty three point seventy five (23.75) lineal feet equivalent to seven point two hundred thirty nine (7.239) lineal meters, with interior and exterior common elements of the building and proper elements of the apartment such as concrete load bearing walls separating it from the exterior open space and receiving stair platform where the main entrance door is located to provide access from apartment to the stair and WEST, in twenty three point seventy five (23.75) lineal feet equivalent to seven point two hundred thirty nine (7.239) lineal meters, with interior and exterior common elements of the building and property element of the apartment such as concrete load bearing walls separating it from the multipurpose center facilities. Le corresponde una participación en los elementos comunes generales equivalentes a cero punto novecientos nueve por ciento (0.909%) y en los elementos comunes limitados equivalentes a veintidós punto novecientos setenta por ciento (22.970%). Consta inscrita al folio 103 del tomo 1043 de Carolina, Finca numero 43,779, Registro de la Propiedad Sección Segunda de Carolina. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante, hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor, en el presente caso civil, a saber, ascendente a $98,470.78 de principal, intereses al 2.5% anual, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la deuda, cargos por demora, según pactados, más cualquier adelanto adicional realizado por la demandante, conforme a los términos pactados en los documentos de préstamo, costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado según pactados, disponiéndose que si quedare algún remanente luego de pagarse las sumas antes mencionadas del mismo deberá ser depositado en la Secreta-
ria del Tribunal para ser entregado a los demandados previa solicitud y orden del Tribunal. La venta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca. 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 13 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Carolina, Carolina , Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $102,886.56. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, la misma se llevará a efecto el día 20 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $68,591.04, 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 27 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $51,443.28, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el
presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 7 de febrero de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE MANUELA TORRES RIVERA COMPUESTA POR FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE ARNALDI FIGUEROA NIEVES COMPUESTA POR SUTANO Y PERENCEJO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA, POR CONDUCTO DE LA DIVISIÓN DE CAUDALES RELICTOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: FBCI201700800. Sala: 403. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE
ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia en Rebeldía dictada el 21 de agosto 2018, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 5 de julio de 2022 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 22 de julio de 2022 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 13 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Carolina, Sala Superior, en la Avenida 65 Infantería, Carretera Número Tres (3), Kilómetro 11.7 (Entrada de la Urbanización Mansiones de Carolina) Carolina, Puerto Rico, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal; todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad:
RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número 852 en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Campo Rico del Barrio Hato Puerco del término municipal de Canóvanas, Puerto Rico, con cabida superficial de 390.41 metros cuadrados.
En lindes por el NORTE con la parcela número 853 de la comunidad; por el SUR con la parcela número 851 de la comunidad; por el ESTE con la Calle Número 7 de la comunidad; y por el OESTE con la parcela número 673 de la comunidad.
Inscrita al folio 280 del tomo 288 de Canóvanas, finca número 12904, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III. La hipoteca consta inscrita como asiento abreviado al folio 1 del tomo 341 de Canóvanas, finca número 12904, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III. Inscripción sexta. Dirección
Física: Alturas de Campo Rico, 852 Calle 7, Canóvanas, PR 00729. Número de Catastro: 80-146-017-520-35-000. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $72,988.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, día 20 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $48,658.66. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 27 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $36,494.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima
conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $67,689.25 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 5% anual desde el 1 de octubre de 2014 hasta su completo pago, más $70.56 de recargos adeudados desde el día 1 de noviembre de 2014 hasta su total pago, más la cantidad estipulada de $7,298.80 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 pesa el siguiente gravamen posterior a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar: Aviso de Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Vs. Sucesión de Manuela Torres Rivera compuesta por Fulano y Mengano de Tal, Sucesión de Arnaldi Figueroa Nieves compuesta por Sutano y Perencejo de Tal, Departamento de Hacienda por conducto de la División de Caudal Relicto y el Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), ante el Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, en el Caso Civil Número FBCI201700800, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $67,689.25 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 7 de julio de 2017. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Canóvanas. Anotación A. Se notifica al acreedor posterior o a su sucesor o cesionario en derecho para que comparezca a proteger su derecho si así lo desea. Se 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. 210-2015. Y para el conoci-
miento 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 Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 9 de febrero de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA, SALA SUPERIOR. LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE LLC Demandante Vs. SUCESION HAYDEE MORALES BORGES T/C/C HAYDEE MORALES COMPUESTA POR EDGARDO CESAR TORRES MORALES, HECTOR EDGARDO TORRES MORALES, CESAR EDGARDO TORRES MORALES, JOSE EDGARDO TORRES MORALES; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados Civil Núm.: CG2022CV01492. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO GENERAL: Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 3 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a
ELVIN LUIS GONZÁLEZ TORRES, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO IRVING GONZÁLEZ TORRES COMPUESTA
POR SU HIJO IRVING LUIS GONZALEZ, JR.;
A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Yo, ROSAMARIE MELÉNDEZ
PEÑA, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 12 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA
MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Toa Alta, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Toa Alta durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 26 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue:
URBANA: Solar marcado con el número Cinco (5) del Bloque “EJ” en la URBANIZACIÓN LEVITTOWN del Barrio Sabana Seca del término municipal de Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, con un área de TRESCIENTOS DIECISÉIS PUNTO VEINTICINCO (316.25) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, en TRECE PUNTO SETENTA Y CINCO (13.75) METROS, con el solar número Dieciséis (16); por el SUR, en TRECE PUNTO SETENTA Y CINCO (13.75) METROS, con María Bibiana Benítez, según plano con la Calle número Seiscientos Veintiuno (621); por el ESTE, en VEINTITRÉS PUNTO CERO CERO (23.00) METROS, con solar Número Seis (6); y por el OESTE, en VEINTITRÉS
PUNTO CERO CERO (23.00) METROS, con el solar número Cuatro (4). Enclava una casa de concreto para fines residenciales. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 207 del tomo 513 de Toa Baja, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Segunda, finca número 10,255, inscripción Octava. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urbanización Levittown, EJ5, Calle María B. Benítez, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $22,414.19, de principal, intereses al 6.75% anual, desde el día 1ro. de mayo de 2018, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $3,900.00, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más recargos acumulados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $39,000.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $26,000.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $19,500.00. Si se declara desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación y que todo licitador acepta como suficiente la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Podrán concurrir como postores a todas las subastas los titulares de créditos hipotecarios vigentes y posteriores a la hipoteca que se cobra o ejecuta, si alguno o que figuren como tales en la certificación registral y que podrán utilizar el montante de sus créditos o parte de alguno en sus ofertas. Si la oferta aceptada es por cantidad mayor a la suma del crédito o créditos preferentes al suyo, al obtener la buena pro del remate, deberá satisfacer en el mismo acto, en efectivo o en cheque de gerente, la totalidad del crédito hipotecario que se ejecuta y la
de cualesquiera otro créditos posteriores al que se ejecuta pero preferente al suyo. El exceso constituirá abono total o parcial en su propio crédito. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, hoy 17 de febrero de 2023. ROSAMARIE MELÉNDEZ PEÑA, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC.
Demandante V. DORAL FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK AND LOAN BANK; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO Demandado(a)
Civil: SJ2022CV09366. Sala: 802. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: JOHN DOE y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGAREEXTRAVIADO.
(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 21 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 23 de febrero de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 23 de febrero de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. Elsie Pratts Meléndez, Secretaria Auxiliar.
DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS ORIENTAL BANK
Demandante V. SUCESION DE FRANCISCO GANDHI HERNANDEZ TORRES, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ TORRES Y COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, COMPUESTA POR SUS
HIJOS JUAN CARLOS
HERNANDEZ, MARIA HERNANDEZ Y FRANCES HERNANDEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (“CRIM”)
Demandado(a)
Civil: BY2022CV01540. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.
A: JUAN CARLOS
HERNANDEZ, MARIA HERNANDEZ Y FRANCES HERNANDEZ, COMO MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESION DE FRANCISCO GANDHI
HERNANDEZ TORRES, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ TORRES Y COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE FRANCISCO GANDHI
HERNANDEZ TORRES, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ TORRES Y COMO FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ.
(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 15 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días
siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 22 de febrero de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 22 de febrero de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL INTERINA. KATHERINE CARRASQUILLO HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC.
Demandante V. SUCN. ROSA MARIA SANTIAGO BONILLA
T/C/C ROSA SANTIAGO BONILLA COMPUESTA
POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Demandado(a)
Civil: CA2022CV03256. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCN. ROSA MARIA SANTIAGO BONILLA
T/C/C ROSA SANTIAGO BONILLA. (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 22 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual
puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 22 de febrero de 2023. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 22 de FEBRERO de 2023. Marilyn Aponte Rodríguez, Secretaria Regional. Denisse Torres Ruiz, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAGUAS FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION T/C/C
FANNIE MAE
Demandante V. ASTRID VIERA APONTE
Demandada
Civil Núm.: CG2022CV00890.
Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, hago saber a la parte demandada ASTRID VIERA APONTE y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 26 de enero de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta por el precio mínimo de $73,600.00 y al mejor postor, pagadero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o giro postal, a nombre del alguacil del tribunal, la propiedad que se describe a continuación: F-17 CALLE PITIRRE, URB. REPARTO SAN JOSÉ, CAGUAS, PR 00725, y que se describe de la siguiente manera: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Reparto San José, situada en el barrio Cañaboncito del Municipio de Caguas, Puerto Rico, marcada con el número 17 del bloque F con un área de 294.664 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en una distancia de 16.822 metros y arco de 5.50 metros con la calle número 4 de la Urbanización; por el SUR, en una distancia de 20.322 metros con el solar número 16 del bloque F de la Urbanización; por el ESTE, en una distancia de 11.00 metros con la calle número 4 de la Urbanización; y por el OESTE, en una distancia de 14.00 metros con remanente de la finca principal. Enclava una vivienda de cemento para una familia. Finca 50729 inscrita al folio 40 del
tomo 1452 de Caguas, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) HIPOTECA en garantía de pagaré a favor del Scotiabank de Puerto Rico por la suma principal de $73,600.00 con intereses a razón del 4.625% y vencimiento el 1 de septiembre de 2048. Constituida por la Escritura 356 otorgada en San Juan el 18 de agosto de 2018 ante la notario Georgette M. Rodríguez Figueroa. Inscrita el 20 de abril del 2021 al Tomo Digital Karibe de la finca 50729 de Caguas, inscripción 4ª. La hipoteca objeto de esta ejecución es la que ha quedado descrita en el inciso (i). Será celebrada la subasta para con el importe de la misma satisfacer la sentencia dicta el 27 de junio de 2022, mediante la cual se condenó a la parte demandada pagar a la parte demandante la suma de $70,698.90 de principal, más $3,542.37 de interés al 4.625% anual, desde el 1 de febrero de 2012 al 1 de marzo de 2022, que continuarán acumulándose $8.9583 diario hasta el saldo total, $259.12 de otros cargos, $94.79 de cuenta escrow, $7,360.00 de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otro desembolso que haya efectuado o efectúe la parte demandante durante la tramitación de este caso para otros adelantos de conformidad con el Contrato Hipotecario, incluyendo primas de seguro de hipoteca, prima de seguro de siniestro y cargos por demora. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 11 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:15
DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del Alguacil, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la cantidad de $73,600.00, sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 18 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la que servirá como tipo mínimo, dos terceras (2/3) partes del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $49,066.67. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el día 25 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:15
DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $36,800.00. El Alguacil que suscribe hizo constar que toda licitación deberá hacerse para pagar su importe en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América, de acuerdo con la Ley y de acuerdo con lo anunciado en este Aviso de Subasta. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secre-
taría del Tribunal durante horas laborables. Se entiende que todo licitador que comparezca a la subasta señalada en este caso acepta como bastante la titulación que da base a la misma. Se entiende que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si la hubiere al crédito que da base a esta ejecución continuará subsistente, entendiéndose, además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción cualquier parte del remanente del precio de licitación. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Vendida o adjudicada la finca o derecho hipotecado y consignado el precio correspondiente, en esa misma fecha o fecha posterior, el alguacil que celebró la subasta procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura pública de traspaso en representación del dueño o titular de los bienes hipotecados, ante el notario que elija el adjudicatario o comprador, quien deberá abonar el importe de tal escritura. El alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la confirmación de la venta o adjudicación. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS LICITADORES Y DEL PUBLICO EN GENERAL y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley, expido el presente Edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 22 de febrero de 2023. ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE CAGUAS.
The
San Juan Daily Star
GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA PROFESIONAL CLOSING AGENCY
Demandante V. SECRETARIO DE LA VIVIENDA Y DESARROLLO URBANO DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS Y OTROS
Demandado(a)
Civil: CA2022CV03259. Sala:
409. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE O SEA LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS QUE PUEDAN SER TENEDORES DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO.
(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 17 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 21 de febrero de 2023. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 21 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYA-
MÓN SALA SUPERIOR DDR RÍO HONDO LLC, S.E.
Demandante V.
DANNY & DANIELS MANAGEMENT LLL H/N/C CASA MONFONGO; CARLOS DANIEL AYALA NIEVES
Demandada
Civil Núm.: BY2022CV05942.
(701). Sobre: DESAHUCIO SUMARIO Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR
EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS
DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO
LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUER-
TO RICO, SS.
A: CARLOS DANIEL AYALA NIEVES. DIRECCIONES
CONOCIDAS: 9426
RANDAL PARK BLVD. 7118 ORLANDO, FL 32832
Y 12001 AVALAON LAKE
DR., ORLANDO, FL 32828. Por la presente se le notifica que se ha radicado en su contra una Demanda de Desahucio Sumario y Cobro de Dinero. Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a: Ferrraiuoli
P.O. Box 195168
San Juan, PR 00919-5168
Tel.: (787) 766-7000
Fax: (787) 766-7001
Roberto A. Cámara Fuertes
R.U.A. Núm. 13,556
Email: rcamara@ferraiuoli.com
Elizabeth Villagrasa Flores
R.U.A. Núm. 16,877
Email: evillagrasa@ferraiuoli.com
Abogados de la parte demandante, con copia de respuesta a la Demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto Usted deberá presentar alegación responsiva a través del Sistema
Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el sello del Tribunal. DADO hoy en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, 23 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARÍA E. COLLAZO
FEBUS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA MUNICIPAL / SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN ASOCIACIÓN DE RESIDENTES LOS MONTES, INC.
Demandante V. JESÚS MANUEL VICENTY
GARCÍA, YENISCA RUÍZ
DÍAZ, AMBOS POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Demandados
Civil Núm.: BY2022CV006526.
Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (R. 60). EMPLAZAMIENTO
POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNI-
DOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
A: JESÚS MANUEL VICENTY GARCÍA, YENISCA RUÍZ DÍAZ, ambos por sí y en representación de la Sociedad Legal de Gananciales compuesta por ambos. Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante ha presentado ante este Tribunal Demanda contra usted(es), solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: Demanda de COBRO DE DINERO, por concepto de cuotas de mantenimientos vencidas y no pagadas por la suma de $619.00 al 14 de diciembre de 2022. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:
LCDO. MELVYN E. FONTAN LOZADA
Colegiado Núm.15768, RUA: 14519 PO Box 124, Bayamón, PR 00960-0124 Tel. 787-340-6604 Fax 787-261-9168
e-mail: melfonloza@live.com, melvynfontan@gmail.com
Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de haber sido diligenciado este Emplazamiento, Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deje de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 22 de febrero de 2023. LCDA.
LAURA I. SANTASÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LUREIMY ALICEA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ
COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: OLGA ALMODOVAR SANTANA.
(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 02 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 24 de febrero de 2023. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 24 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. NILDA TORRES ACEVEDO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ
ORIENTAL BANK
COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE THE MONEY HOUSE INC.
Demandante V. LAS SUCESIONES DE RICARDA ORTIZ
PESANTE T/C/C
RICARDA ORTIZ Y RUPERTO VELEZ ORTIZ COMPUESTA POR RUPERTO VELEZ; FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL; MENGANO Y MENGANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LAS SUCESIONES; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)
Demandado(a)
Civil: MZ2022CV01030. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: LAS SUCESIONES DE RICARDA ORTIZ
PESANTE T/C/C RICARDA ORTIZ Y RUPERTO VELEZ ORTIZ COMPUESTA POR RUPERTO VELEZ; FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL; MENGANO Y MENGANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LAS SUCESIONES.
(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 03 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 24 de febrero de 2023. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 24 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. NILDA TORRES ACEVEDO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC
Demandante V. HORACIO V. VELEZ VELEZ
Demandado(a)
Civil: CA2022CV02788. Sala: 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: HORACIO V. VELEZ VELEZ - VILLA CAROLINA
109-18 CALLE 81 CAROLINA PR 00985 /. VILLA CAROLINA 92-65 CALLE 90 CAROLINA PR 00985 / 1554 CALLE CALVIERI, SAN JUAN PR 00927.
(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 23 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia,
Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 24 de febrero de 2023. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 24 de febrero de 2023.
LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE SAN JUAN
CARLOS IVÁN BETANCOURT BENÍTEZ, ILANOVA BETANCOURT BENÍTEZ, RANDY BETANCOURT BENÍTEZ Y YADIRA BETANCOURT DEL VALLE
Demandantes Vs. HIGHLAND REALTY INC.
Y SKY TOWER III, INC, JOE DOE Y RICHARD DOE
Demandados
Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV10409. Salón de Sesiones: 803. Sobre: ADQUISICIÓN, EXTINTIVA EXTRAORDINARIA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR.
A: HIGHLAND REALTY INC., CON ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS EN AVE. MUÑOZ RIVERA 994, SAN JUAN, PR 00927 Y AVE.
POR LA PRESENTE: Se les notifica que en el caso de epígrafe se ha presentado una demanda solicitando el Tribunal ordene que finca número 9637, inscrita a favor de Sky Tower III, lnc. al folio 21 del tomo 300 de Río Piedras Sur, Sección IV de San Juan, sea inscrita en comunidad proindivisa a favor de los demandantes por la vía de prescripción extraordinaria. Se les apercibe y advierte a ustedes, como titulares registrales o personas con interés propietario o real en la finca arriba mencionada que de no contestar la demanda presentada en este caso, radicando el original de su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: HTTPS:// UNIRED.RAMAJUDICIAL.PR, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva ante la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, y notificando copia de la misma a la parte demandante, por conducto de la licenciada Dalmaris Betancourt Betancourt, a su dirección en Urb. Baldrich
200 Calle Manuel F. Rossy, San Juan, PR 00918, teléfono número (787) 630-1296, dentro de los próximos treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este emplazamiento por edicto, que será publicado una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citarle no oírle. Extendido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 23 de febrero de 2023, en San Juan, PR. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IRIS OLIVO NÚÑEZ, SECRETARIA SE SERVICIOS A SALA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE CAROLINA
WILFREDO TOLEDO
TORRES; ALEXIS
TOLEDO TORRES; IDALMIS TOLEDO
GORRA; CAROL TOLEDO
GORRA, GEORGINA
G. GORRA GONZÁLEZ
T/C/C GEORGINA GORRA DE TOLEDO T/C/C
GEORGINA GORRA
GONZÁLEZ
Demandante Vs. BENEDICTO
TOLEDO RODRIGUEZ
Demandado
(Causante: BENEDICTO
Civil Núm.: CA2023CV00354. Re: NOMBRAMIENTO, ADMINISTRADOR JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRELSIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.
POR MEDIO del presente edicto se le notifica de la radicación por Wilfredo Toledo Torres y otros de una Demanda donde se solicita el nombramiento de administrador judicial de los bienes de la Sucesión de Don Benedicto Toledo Hernández. POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le emplaza y requiere que para que conteste a la Petición radicando el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan y notificándole con copia de dicha contestación a la abogada de la Peticionaria, Lcda. Dirma M. Valentín Capeles, PO Box 79165, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00984-9165, teléfono: (787) 667-9199, dentro del término de treinta días siguientes a la fecha de publicación de este edicto; usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejos de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal; si dejare de así hacerlos se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia contra usted concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. Se le advierte que no es posible enviarle a usted por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, una copia del emplazamiento y de la Petición presentada al lugar de su última residencia conocida dentro de diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del edicto, debido a que no hay dirección conocida. Para obtener copia de la Petición y los documentos relacionados, comuníquese ese con la Lcda. Dirma M. Valentín Capeles. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 09 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. MARLIYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA.
STATE OF CONNECTICUT.
NOTICE OF HEARING (Newspaper). TEMPORARY CUSTODY/REMOVAL OF GUARDIAN
PC-532 NEW 7/18. COURT OF PROBATE. CONFIDENTAL COURT OF PROBATE, New London Regional Children’s Probate Court DISTRICT NO. PD57 State of Connecticut
Court of Probate, New London Regional Children’s Probate Court District.
NOTICE TO Zyleyka Resto, whose last known address is unknown to the court.
Pursuant to an order of Hon.
Charles K. Norris, Judge, a hearing will be held at New London Regional Children’s Probate Court, One Union Plaza, New London, CT 06320 on March 9, 2023 at 10:30 AM on a petition for Removal of Guardian of the Person concerning a certain minor child born on July 14, 2014. The court’s decision will affect your interest, if any, as in the petition on file more fully appears. RIGHT TO COUNSEL: If the above-named person wishes to have an attorney, but is unable to pay for one, the court will provide an attorney upon proof of inability to pay. Any such request should be made immediately by contacting the court office where the hearing is to be held. By order of the court, Kristen Brunelle, Clerk.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL
GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA
SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
FINANCE OF AMERICA
REVERSE, LLC
Demandante Vs SUCESION DE CARMEN LYDIA
APONTE MARTINEZ
T/C/C CARMEN NIDIA
APONTE MARTINEZ
T/C/C CARMEN LIDIA
APONTE MARTINEZ
T/C/C CARMEN
APONTE T/C/C CARMEN
APONTE MARTINEZ
T/C/C CARMEN LIDIA
APONTE COMPUESTA POR JUNIOR
VAZQUEZ, CARLOS
VAZQUEZ, CARALINA
VAZQUEZ, CAROLINE
VAZQUEZ, FULANO DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL. CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Y A LOS ESTADOS
UNIDOS DE AMERICA
Demandado(a)
Civil Núm.: SL2022CV00152.
Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPO-
TECA - IN REM. NOTIFICA-
CIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR
EDICTO.
A: FULANO DE TAL Y
SUTANO DE TAL COMO
POSIBLE MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESION
DE CARMEN LYDIA
APONTE MARTINEZ
TIC/C CARMEN NIDIA
APONTE MARTINEZ
T/C/C CARMEN LIDIA
T/C/C CARMEN APONTE
T/C/C CARMEN APONTE
MARTINEZ T/C/C CARMEN LIDIA APONTE. (Nombre de las partes a las que se les notifica la sentencia por edicto)
EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 27 de febrero de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 27 de febrero de 2023.
LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA. VIONNETTE ESPINOSA CASTILLO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE FLOIRAN RODRÍGUEZ
FONT, T/C/C FLOIRAN ANTONIO RODRÍGUEZ
COMPUESTA POR DAVID
RODRÍGUEZ COLÓN; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; SUCESIÓN DE LUZ
COLÓN COLÓN, T/C/C
LUZ DELIA COLÓN
COLÓN COMPUESTA
POR DAVID RODRÍGUEZ COLÓN; FULANO DE TAL
Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE
AMÉRICA Demandado(a)
Civil: HU2022CV01264. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA, PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO DE LA SUCESIÓN DE FLOIRAN RODRÍGUEZ FONT, T/C/C FLOIRAN ANTONIO RODRÍGUEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRE DESCONOCIDO DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LUZ COLÓN COLÓN, T/C/C LUZ DELIA COLÓN COLÓN. A SUS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: 137
EUSTAQUIO HERNÁNDEZ ST., PASEO DE LOS ARTESANOS, LAS PIEDRAS, PR 00771. (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 23 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 27 de febrero de 2023. En HUMACAO, Puerto Rico, el 27 de febrero de 2023.
IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MICHELLE GUEVARA DE LEÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR 807 DELKIS APOLINAR COLLADO M
Demandantes Vs. ROSALIZ SANCHEZ MALDONADO
Demandada
Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV01518.
Sobre: DESAHUCIO Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
A: ROSALIZ SANCHEZ MALDONADO. SE NOTIFICA a usted que la parte demandante presentó en la Secretaría de este Tribunal una Demanda de DESAHUCIO Y COBRO DE DINERO. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se presenté por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Lcdo. IVÁN OCTAVIO MALAVÉ DE JESÚS a: Urb. Park Gardens P1-9 Calle Chapultepec, San Juan, P.R. 00926-2126; Teléfono: (787) 767-3293, correo electrónico: ivanoctaviomalave@ gmail.com. SE LE APERCIBE que, de no hacer su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, hoy día 16 de febrero de 2023. GRISELDA GODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JESSICA RODRÍGUEZ PAGÁN, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO PR RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT JV, LLC.
Demandante V.
GILBERTO TORRES ZENO, MAIRILINE DE JESÚS GARCÍA & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE ORDINARIO GANANCIAES COMPUESTA POR
AMBOS H/N/C AQUAMAR STEAKHOUSE Demandado(a)
Civil: YB2019CV00273. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: GILBERTO TORRES ZENO, MAIRILINE DE JESÚS GARCÍA & LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE ORDINARIO GANANCIAES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS H/N/C AQUAMAR STEAKHOUSE A SUS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: PO BOX 1055, MAUNABO, PR 00707-1055, PO BOX 744, MAUNABO, PR 00707-0744 Y CARR. 901 BARRIO EMAJAGUAS, SECTOR LOS PINOS, PARCELA 73, MAUNABO, PR 00707. P/C LCDO. JOSÉ FRANCISCO AGUILAR VÉLEZ. (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 22 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 27 de febrero de 2023. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 27 de febrero de 2023. IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MICHELLE GUEVARA DE LEÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SEBASTIÁN
LEGACY MORTGAGE
ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1
Demandante Vs DORAL BANK AHOA BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS
Demandado (a) Civil Núm.: SS2022CV00480.
Sobre: CANCELACIÓN PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS. EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 22 de febrero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 27 de febrero de 2023. En San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, el 27 de febrero de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVELISSE ROBLES MATHEWS, SECRETARIA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA
JORGE
BRIGNONI NIEVES Demandante Vs. MABEL RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ, EDUARDO L. TOSADO RODRÍGUEZ
Y/O OCUPANTES EN SU NOMBRE
Parte Demandada
Civil Número: CA2023CV00331. Sala: 406.
Sobre: DESAHUCIO POR FALTA DE PAGO Y COBRO DE DINERO/ DESAHUCIO POR INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
A: EDUARDO L. TOSADO RODRÍGUEZ.
Por el presente edicto se le notifica que se ha radicado una demanda en este Tribunal, en la cual Eduardo L. Tosado Rodríguez es la parte demandada en el caso de epígrafe y se solicita el desahucio por falta
de pago y cobro de dinero y el desahucio por incumplimiento de contrato. Se le requiere que en el término de treinta (30) días, contados a partir de la publicación de este edicto, usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le advierte que, si no contesta la demanda presentando el original de la contestación ante el tribunal correspondiente, con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. La abogada de la parte demandante lo es:
LCDA. ANGELY M. LUNA GARCÍA RUA 18580
452 Avenida Ponce de León Asociación de Maestros Suite 401 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918. Teléfono (787)503-1003 Cel. 787-601-7739
Correo electrónico: info@lunalegalpr.com
EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DE TRIBUNAL, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 21 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN
BAUTISTA REO PR CORP.
Demandante Vs. JUAN RAMÓN
ZALDUONDO VIERA
T/C/C JUAN R. ZALDUONDO VIERA, MAGDALENA EMILIA
MACHICOTE RAMERY
T/C/C/ MAGDALENA
E. MACHICOTE
ZALDUONDO, POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES POR
AMBOS COMPUESTA; JOSÉ ALBERTO
MERCADO FERNÁNDEZ, SONIA ORTIZ
TORRES, POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES
COMPUESTA POR
AMBOS; MULTIPLAZA DE PUERTO RICO, INC. (ANTES RIOCE INVESTMENT, INC.), ET ALS.
Demandados
(701). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. AVISO DE SUBASTA.
A: AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; JUAN RAMÓN ZALDUONDO VIERA t/c/c JUAN R. ZALDUONDO VIERA, MAGDALENA EMILIA MACHICOTE RAMERY t/c/c/ MAGDALENA E. MACHICOTE ZALDUONDO, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES POR AMBOS COMPUESTA; JOSÉ ALBERTO MERCADO FERNÁNDEZ, SONIA ORTIZ TORRES, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; MULTIPLAZA DE PUERTO RICO, INC. (ANTES RIOCE INVESTMENT, INC.), VERDEGALES, INC. Y A LOS ACREEDORES DE GRAVÁMENES ANTERIORES Y/O POSTERIORES A LOS QUE SE EJECUTAN. Yo, EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, Alguacil del Tribunal de Bayamón, al Público hago saber: En cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 7 de febrero de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre las siguientes propiedades pertenecientes a Multiplaza de Puerto Rico, Inc. (antes Rioce Investment, Inc.) y Verdegales, Inc. las cuales se describen a continuación: A - Finca Número
19,037: URBANA: Solar número seis del Bloque E de la Urbanización Héctor A. Piñero situada en los Barrios Martín Peña y Hato Rey de San Juan, Puerto Rico, con un área o cabida superficial de setecientos treinta y dos metros con diecinueve centímetros cuadrados y colinda por el NORTE, en veintiocho metros con dieciséis centímetros con un área de viraje privada de los propios solares cuatro (4), cinco (5), seis (6), siete (7) y ocho (8) del Bloque E; por el SUR, en catorce (14) metros, con cincuenta (50) centímetros con el solar número veinticinco (28) (así surge) del Bloque E; en quince (15) metros con cinco (5) centímetros con el solar nú-
performance-enhancing-drug suspension April 20, he is expected to play right field. Soto, who played right field for the Padres after a trade from the Washington Nationals last season, will move to left.
It is the type of situation that could lead to confusion, bruised egos and what may feel like a 1,000-piece box of unhappy players.
Cronenworth downplayed that idea.
“We all can’t wear the same glove at the same position, but we can all contribute wherever we’re playing that day,” he said earlier this week at the team’s spring training facility in Peoria, Arizona.
That attitude is most likely the result of Melvin’s having begun a lengthy series of sensitive conversations many weeks ago. He has been pleased at the overall reaction so far.
season, Tatis, 24, addressed some of his health concerns. He underwent surgery to repair the shoulder and a revision procedure on his left wrist, which he fractured in a motorcycle crash in December 2021. He is fully healthy this spring, but he has not played in a major league game since Oct. 3, 2021.
Bogaerts, 30, pointed out that playing shortstop can take a huge toll on the body and cited Tatis’ previous injuries as a good reason to try something new, because, he said, “this is a guy that the team, and the game in general, wants to see on the field as much as possible.”
By SCOTT MILLERBob Melvin could not have known that puzzle-building was going to be a vital skill when he signed on to manage the San Diego Padres. But with a rollicking roster stuffed with topshelf talent, and an almost absurd abundance of shortstops, here he is, pieces tumbling from the box and strewn all over the table.
Xander Bogaerts’ arrival as a free agent this offseason made clear that one of the spring’s trickiest aspects would be fitting all those pieces together. The Padres have what will be one of MLB’s four highest payrolls in 2023, according to Spotrac, yet the team will frequently be playing as many as four players out of position.
They have been so aggressive that today’s plan often changes with tomorrow’s sunrise. The latest example came Sunday when a looming storyline for the team — Manny Machado’s expected opt-out after the season — was eliminated by his agreeing to terms on a new 11-year, $350 million deal, the details of which were confirmed by a person on condition of anonymity because the deal has yet to be officially announced.
Now, Machado (signed through
2033), Bogaerts (2033) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (2034) will presumably grow old together in San Diego as both Machado and Bogaerts have full no-trade clauses. Those deals, and the potential for an even bigger one for outfielder Juan Soto, who is two seasons away from free agency, have led many to wonder how the Padres can possibly afford to pay for all of those stars on a long-term basis.
The Padres’ owner, Peter Seidler, pointing out that “there is a risk to doing nothing, too,” is working to fend off criticism about how “sustainable” this plan is.
“People love that word,” he said of sustainability. “Let’s find a different one. Do I believe our parade is going to be on land or on water or on both?
“Putting a great and winning team on the field in San Diego year after year is sustainable.”
First, the team will need to sort out its various pieces. The domino effect begins with the installation of Bogaerts at shortstop, which means last year’s shortstop, Ha-Seong Kim, will slide over to second base. And last year’s second baseman, Jake Cronenworth, will move to first base.
When Tatis, the team’s starting shortstop from 2019 to 2021, returns from his
“They said, ‘Look, we just want to help our team win,’” Melvin said. “And just because Kim’s going to get a lot of reps at second doesn’t mean he might not end up with shortstop on days Xander gets off. And then Croney’s going to play second again as opposed to first. So in the overall look right now, there are some conversations. But there haven’t been any difficult ones to this point.”
For years, teams with sleek, athletic outfields have favored the old cliché: “It’s like we have three center fielders.” Uniquely, the Padres will line up a team of shortstops. Not only is that the natural position of Bogaerts, Kim and Tatis, but Cronenworth also played shortstop at the University of Michigan. Even Machado was a star shortstop in his Baltimore days.
The glut of infield options makes Tatis’ move to the outfield feel fairly permanent, and, unlike the last time the team tried this, it is not contentious. Back in 2021, after a dislocated shoulder popped out multiple times, Tatis was sent by the Padres to the outfield for 24 games during the second half of that season in hopes of keeping him healthier.
He did not appear to enjoy the move, and his normally energetic game dimmed.
“I was frustrated with myself because of my health issues,” Tatis said of the notable downturn.
During his suspension, which along with injuries cost him the entire 2022
Bogaerts, who endured his own stint of being moved off his primary position in 2014, said he was initially stunned when the Padres, who already had Tatis signed to a long-term deal, approached him with what became an 11-year, $280 million offer. But Tatis, thanks to his myriad issues over the past two seasons, had lost any leverage to quibble about where he plays on the field.
“I knew from the beginning that they were trying to make the team better,” Tatis said of the acquisition of Bogaerts. “Xander is a great player. I knew he would be a key to us winning a World Series.”
Regardless of how the pieces fit together, the collection of stars had led to a feeling in San Diego that the team, which played in the National League Championship Series in October, is on the verge of something special. The club capped season ticket sales for the first time in history, at roughly 24,000, and has a waiting list. The Padres appear poised to draw 3 million fans for only the second time in club history and could set a club record.
It is the type of surge that has Machado, 30, scoffing at team owners who complain about the Padres’ soaring payroll.
“They all have the means for it,” Machado said on his first day in camp. “To me, it’s just if they want to or if they want to win. So, Peter has shown an interest that he wants to win.”
And if that shakes up positions or egos, so be it.
“Hopefully it all works out, man,” Bogaerts said. “It’s supposed to be a fun, special season. Hopefully the outcome is something really special.”
When someone scores 71 points in an NBA game, that’s remarkable, of course. Scoring 71 points is hard. Doing it against professional defenders is harder still.
But there have been so many high-scoring games in the league recently that Damian Lillard’s 71-point performance in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night wasn’t even the first of its kind this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell also scored 71 points in a game Jan. 2, the same day Klay Thompson poured in 54 for the Golden State Warriors. Luka Doncic has had games of 60, 51 and 50 this season. In all, there have been 21 games of 50 or more points this season.
“I think any hooper enjoys those moments when you’re hot, you’re in attack mode, you’re feeling good,” Lillard told reporters after Sunday’s game. “But it’s the stuff afterward that I struggle with, like: When I walked off the court, was I supposed to be overly excited, or what?”
He should be. Here’s why.
Lillard is developing a habit of big games. His 71 points matched the season’s single-game high, set by Mitchell in January. But unlike Mitchell, Lillard already had put up a 60-point game in January, giving him two of the four 60-point games in the league this season. (He also has a 50-point game.)
That’s a lot of points. Only eight players have scored 70 points in an NBA game. Seven of them are Kobe Bryant (81); David Thompson (73); Lillard, Mitchell, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson (71); and Devin Booker (70). The only player to do it more than once was Wilt Chamberlain, who accomplished the 70-plus feat six times, topped by his legendary 100-point game in 1962.
Lillard scored his 71 points in only 39 minutes and didn’t need overtime. Mitchell’s 71 came in 50 minutes in an overtime game. Doncic’s 60-point game came in overtime, too. In Lillard’s second big game this year, he also filled it up quickly, scoring 60 in 40 regulation minutes.
Lillard made 13 3-pointers Sunday. That’s tied for the second most in a game behind Thompson’s 14 for the Warriors in a 52-point game in 2018. Lillard attempted 22 3-point shots Sunday, tied for fourth most single-game attempts behind Thompson’s 24 and two 23-shot games by James Harden. Lillard’s signature shot of the night came with 50 seconds left in the first half, when he casually crossed half-court then stunningly fired up a 36-foot bomb that went in.
Lillard was 14 for 14 on his free throws. Of the players who tallied the 20 other 50-point games this season, only Jayson Tatum — in a 51-point game for the Boston Celtics — had as many free throws without missing one.
The game was part of an ongoing great season In a career with seven All-Star selections, Lillard, 32, might be having his best season yet. His scoring average of 32.3 points is a career high and is third in the NBA behind Joel Embiid and Doncic. He also has career highs in field goal percentage (.472) and free throw percentage (.919) and in most of the all-inclusive stats like player efficiency rating.
If there’s a downside, it has been Lillard’s team’s performance. The Blazers had a disastrous 2021-22, ending an eight-season playoff appearance streak, and are only 29-31 after Sunday’s victory. While the team is better and scrapping for a play-in spot, it is still a long way from contention despite Lillard’s performances.
“I feel like I’ve got to do my best to be aggressive and just to try to do what I can to get some wins,” Lillard said after the game, “and that’s all the case was tonight. I wanted to be in attack mode. I got it going, and I just stayed aggressive.”
“Having 41 at the half was insane,” Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said of the performance.
By then, most of Lillard’s teammates realized their job was to stay out of his way. Only two other Blazers scored in double figures, and only one — Jerami Grant — hit double figures in shots. Billups, a former NBA scorer in his own right, said he understood his other players’ reluctance.
“You feel guilty taking a shot,” he said, “when you know guy is having a night.”
York to promote fitness. And he was perfect on the Wheaties box: a muscular all-American with a smile that radiated confidence, health and upright living. In fact, as a youth Richards, the son of a broken home, had run with a gang of thieves and brawlers, and five of his friends went to prison for robbery. But he escaped the street life into religion and athletics.
In his life after sports, Richards portrayed himself in a television biography, “Leap to Heaven” (1957); hosted a weekly children’s television program in Los Angeles; reported for NBC, CBS and ABC on the Olympic Games in Rome; Innsbruck, Austria; Tokyo and Montreal; and delivered some 12,000 motivational speeches to corporate sales forces, high school students and community organizations.
Robert Eugene Richards was born on Feb. 20, 1926, in Champaign, Illinois, the third of five children of Leslie and Margaret (Palfrey) Richards. His father was a telephone lineman.
Bob showed early abilities in basketball and was a polevaulter and a star quarterback at Champaign Central High School. His parents were divorced when he was a teenager, but a minister gave him a home, steered him away from the streets and awakened his interest in religion. He graduated from high school in 1943, and in 1944 he enrolled at the Brethren-affiliated Bridgewater College in Virginia.
He married the college president’s niece, Mary Leah Cline, in 1946. That marriage ended in divorce. In 1970 he married Vonda Joan Beaird, an actress. She died in 2019.
By ROBERT D. McFADDENBob Richards, the only male two-time winner of the Olympic pole vault, who in the 1950s became a hero of American Cold War competition with the Soviet Union and a breakfast-table hero to millions as the first champion on the front of the Wheaties box, died Sunday at his home in Waco, Texas. He was 97.
His son Paul confirmed the death.
Long before modern athletes began riding fiberglass poles to unimaginable heights, the Rev. Robert E. Richards, an ordained minister nicknamed the Vaulting Vicar, won Olympic gold medals in 1952 at Helsinki and in 1956 at Melbourne, Australia, using aluminum poles to clear bars set at just under 15 feet.
Although he broke Olympic records and Russian hearts, and although he became one of America’s most lionized and familiar celebrities — a motivational speaker and Wheaties pitchman who personified wholesome values and once ran for president of the United States on a third-party ticket — Richards, even at the peak of his athletic power, was not the greatest American pole-vaulter of all time.
That distinction, as Richards acknowledged, belonged to Cornelius Warmerdam, a Californian who used bamboo poles to set world records of about 15 feet 8 inches in the early 1940s. Warmerdam, known as Dutch, might have been an odds-on Olympic favorite, but he never got to compete because the quadrennial Games were suspended in 1940 and 1944 for World War II, when he was serving as a Navy officer.
Today’s top male vaulters, with refined techniques and springy fiberglass poles that bow almost to U shapes, routinely soar over crossbars set above 19 feet. The world record is held by Armand Duplantis, an American-born Swedish athlete known as Mondo, who on Feb. 25 vaulted 20 feet 4-3/4
inches. That mark (pending official ratification) surpassed his own previous five world records, all over 20 feet and all set since 2020.
Even Richards’ son Brandon, as a teenager using a fiberglass pole in 1985, vaulted 18 feet 2 inches, which was then a national record for a high schooler and stood for 14 years.
Richards himself never vaulted more than 15 feet 6 inches. But from 1947 to 1957, he dominated national and international competitions by clearing 15 feet more than 125 times. Besides winning two gold medals in the Olympics in the 1950s, he took a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics in London and gold at the Pan American Games in 1951 and 1955. He also won 17 AAU championships in indoor and outdoor vaulting competitions, and United States decathlon championships in 1951, 1954 and 1955.
Capitalizing on his fame, Richards became director of the Wheaties Sports Federation, founded in 1958 after President Dwight D. Eisenhower called for a national physical fitness campaign. Richards became the face and voice of the cereal known as the “Breakfast of Champions.”
His image was on Wheaties boxes from 1958 to 1970, and from 1958 to 1972 he was a ubiquitous presence on television and radio and made numerous national tours, speaking to school and community groups, presenting awards at athletic banquets and generating torrents of publicity.
“The family that plays and prays together stays together,” Richards intoned on countless occasions. At 20, he had been ordained a minister of the Church of the Brethren, an Anabaptist denomination, and the news media had reflexively called him the Vaulting Vicar and the Pole Vaulting Pastor. He had been a pastor in California only briefly, but the dual image of minister and champion athlete was irresistible on the speaking circuit.
In 1970, he bicycled 3,300 miles from Los Angeles to New
Richards is survived by two sons, Paul and Robert Jr., and a daughter, Carol Stasiewicz, from his first marriage; two sons, Thomas and Brandon, and a daughter, Tammy Richards LeSure, from his second; a brother, Kenny; 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
He received the Sullivan Award in 1951 as the nation’s best amateur athlete. He won 11 championship titles at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.
The 1952 Olympic Games were a symbolic watershed in the Cold War. Russian athletes were participating for the first time since the czarist days before the 1917 Russian Revolution, and Helsinki was alive with tensions as the United States rolled to 76 medals (40 gold) to the Soviet Union’s 71 (22 gold).
The pole-vault competition lasted more than four hours. When Richards finally triumphed with an Olympic record of 14 feet 11-1/4 inches, a defeated Soviet rival, Viktor Knyazev, clasped him in a bear hug. Richards hugged him back, for which he was criticized by some American officials and members of the news media.
“These people who want to wave the flag and play the band, that’s not the real spirit of the Olympics,” he told The New York Times years later. “One day, we’ll get out of all this flag-waving and nationalism. That’s not what the Olympic spirit is all about.”
Cold War tensions again played out in the 1956 Melbourne Games. The Suez crisis and the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolution led some nations to withdraw in protest. Soviet athletes won the medals competition, 98 (37 gold) to 74 (32 gold) for the United States. And Richards made history, becoming the only male two-time winner of the Olympic pole vault, and with another record: 14 feet 11-1/2 inches.
“He emerged from the pit smiling for the first time during the day,” the Times reported. “His hands were pointed toward heaven in an attitude of prayer.”
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
Answers on page 38
Aries (Mar 21-April 20)
The Moon in chatty Gemini can find you eager to interact and acquire information. With an emphasis on the spotlight and gaining a sound reputation, you can use this influence to promote your plans and attract attention. The urge to connect with people on your wavelength is a good one, as one conversation could be a revelation, giving you fresh ideas you’ll be keen to use, Aries.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
Ready to help others? You may be eager to back a cause or idea that touches your heart, and that has changed others’ lives. Key influences can find you ready to make that commitment, and to feel so pleased that you have done so. Mercury and Saturn in a prominent zone, suggest others may take your actions seriously, and if they like what you’re doing, they’ll follow your example.
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
You could gain plaudits for bringing a fresh approach to a task or project. And if you need to persuade others that your ideas will work, you’ll easily be able to do so. Your mind is sharp and focused, making it a simple matter to take advantage of opportunities and get the best deals. You continue to benefit from making wise choices, but understanding your motives can also help.
Cancer (June 22-July 23)
Perhaps all you want is some peace, but responsibilities could make it difficult for this to happen. The Moon in a quiet zone, can find you naturally inclined to take a step back and reflect on your current situation. If people are making demands, then you don’t have to agree to anything. If you tend to give in too easily, it’s time to be strong and let them know you’re no pushover.
Leo (July 24-Aug 23)
The Gemini Moon in your social sector, could find you spilling your secrets without a care in the world. And yet doing so can water down your intentions, weakening them and making it less likely that you’ll act on your best ideas. If you have a plan, keep it to yourself until you’ve got off to a good start and are carried along by the momentum. Then you’ll hit the success button.
Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Need to get something off your chest? If you openly spill the beans, you’ll get a lot more support than you reckoned on. Friends will easily empathize with you, and may be keen to share their experiences. You’ll quickly realize that you’re not the only one who’s had such problems, and this could leave you easier. Input from others who have found a solution may be comforting.
Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)
The Moon in Gemini forges an upbeat angle with Mercury, which hints at a positive encounter. You may find you have so much in common, inspiring you to take things further. If you’re looking for work, business or a collaboration, today’s line-up can find you eager to make a proposal and see how things pan out. Want to succeed? It helps to be more decisive, Libra.
Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)
Upbeat Jupiter in your lifestyle zone, encourages you to harness a sense of adventure. Follow the urge to make discoveries and enjoy fresh experiences. Other factors encourage you not to give up on something that doesn’t seem to be working out that well. If you’re at a low ebb with it, put it on the back burner for a while until you start fizzing and bubbling with enthusiasm again.
Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)
A chat with someone could generate amazing ideas. If you have an entrepreneurial streak, then you may be keen to leap into action with a plan that might enhance your income or benefit you in other ways. You can be quite tough when it comes to money and business matters, so as Mercury prepares to align with prudent Saturn, you could drive a hard bargain today, Archer.
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)
In two minds about what to do next? The idea of taking a small risk by spending money on something you want, could boost your morale. And yet you may feel that any small luxuries, even certain leisure activities, should be cut back so you can build up financial security. Finding the right balance will leave you happier. It really will pay to be kinder to yourself, Capricorn.
Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)
While you could take the more cautious route, a side of you seems determined to prove just how brave and courageous you can be. And yet there’s a suggestion that you might end up being more reckless than bold, and this is something to watch out for. Right now, a restless urge could find you hurrying things along or making an impulsive decision that you may regret later.
Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)
If you’ve fallen out with someone you care about, it’s not too late to reach out and say sorry. The Moon’s tie with the planet of talk and thought, means a healing discussion could work wonders. Plus, with Mercury moving through a private zone, you’ll be very aware of the subtle nuances in key bonds. You may need to be stronger with certain people and give more leeway to others.
