Tuesday Mar 14, 2023

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

Historically low unemployment rate continued in January

Labor participation rate ticked down from December but remained ahead of year-ago

By THE STAR STAFF

Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH by its Spanish initials) Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González said Monday that statistics published jointly by his agency and the federal government for January continue to reflect a historically low unemployment rate and employment levels not seen for more than a decade.

9,000 more people compared to December 2022 (1,117,000). On the other hand, compared to January 2022 (1,137,000), there was a decrease of 11,000 workers. Still, compared to January 2021 (1,018,000), the employment level registered an increase of 108,000 employed people.

Regarding the number of unemployed people, seasonally adjusted, in January 2023, 72,000 individuals were registered, the same number as in December 2022. However, that number represents a decrease of 6,000 people compared to January 2022 (78,000) and 28,000 when contrasting with January 2021 (100,000).

INDEX

“We started 2023 with the same positive trend in our labor market that we saw last year,” Maldonado González said. “Therefore, these new reports also contemplate the annual review of data carried out by the DTRH together with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the federal Department of Labor and the estimates and seasonal adjustments for September 2022 onwards that were delayed because of the passage of Hurricane Fiona.”

The agency continues to bring more people to the labor market, out of a pool of 1.5 million individuals who, for some reason, do not form part of it, the labor chief said.

“We have enormous potential in women, people with functional diversity, ex-convicts, citizens who receive government benefits, young people, and older adults,” he said.

In January 2023, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was recorded at 6%, the same as December 2022. Compared to January 2022 (6.5%), the unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points, and was three percentage points less than January 2021 (9%).

The seasonally unadjusted labor participation rate during January 2023 was 44.4%, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared to December 2022 (44.7%). However, comparing it with January 2022 (44%), there is an increase of 0.4 percentage points. Comparing it with January 2021, the growth is four percentage points.

In January 2023, meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted estimate of the island labor force was 1,198,000 people, thus meaning an increase of 9,000 citizens compared to December 2022 (1,189,000). The comparison with January 2022 (1,215,000) showed a reduction of 17,000 people in the labor force, while when compared to January 2021 (1,118,000), there was an increase of 80,000 people.

Total employment in Puerto Rico for January 2023, seasonally adjusted, was 1,126,000. The data equals

Maldonado González also highlighted the figures from the Non-Agricultural Salaried Employment publication corresponding to January 2023. The seasonally adjusted data stood at 939,500. Compared with December 2022 (934,300), salaried employment reflected an increase of 5,200 employees. Compared with January 2022 (911,800), the growth is 27,700, while when contrasting with January 2021 (850,900), the increase is 88,600.

All economic sectors registered monthly increases, except the government, which had a reduction, and the information sector, which showed no changes. In the year-on-year comparison, all sectors increased their level of employment, except information, which had no changes, according to a statement.

Labor and Human Resources Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González

Caguas swears in volunteers for emergency assistance

By THE STAR STAFF

The municipal administration of Caguas announced Monday that in a ceremony held at the Fine Arts Center, a group of citizens was sworn in as volunteers to help out in case of emergencies and to be assigned to the Municipal Office of Emergency Management (OMME by its Spanish initials).

“The extraordinary work that Caguas volunteers have done during Hurricane Maria, the pandemic and Hurricane Fiona, among other situations, shows us that we have an army of brave citizens willing to help when we need them

most,” Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres said. “The collaboration of our volunteers has resulted in the restoration of electrical services and debris removal after the impact of Fiona, as well as the rescue of people in the midst of the onslaught of atmospheric events. Thanks to the volunteers and teamwork with the staff of the municipality. we have been able to have results for the benefit of the communities and the city.”

Municipal volunteers take workshops and training on safety issues, and serve the public for free.

The swearing-in was conducted by OMME Director Ángel Crespo,

with assistance from engineer Andrés Rodríguez of Emergency Management Zone 10.

“Volunteering gives you a sense of protection and obligation. When you volunteer, you have the ability to take all your words further to turn them into concrete practice,” Miranda Torres said to the volunteers. “And it is that volunteering can not remain only in words, since the ideal is to accompany it with actions that demonstrate the empathy that one has toward other people. I give you the most infinite thanks for this great gesture of love and social commitment. “

Senate panel hearing for new women’s advocate slated for Thursday

By THE STAR STAFF

Senate President José Luis Dalmau

Santiago announced Monday that the Appointments Committee over which he presides will be evaluating the appointment of Vilmarie Rivera Sierra as women’s advocate on Thursday.

Dalmau Santiago said Rivera Sierra completed the delivery of the documents required by the committee, so the public hearing was scheduled and will be held in Leopoldo Figueroa Hall at the Capitol starting at 1:30 p.m.

At the public hearing, the senators who are members of the Appointments Committee will have the opportunity to ask questions of the appointee and evaluate her performance in the position she currently occupies on an interim basis.

Meanwhile, the Senate president announced that today at 1 p.m. the Appointments Committee will also evaluate several appointments to the Industrial Commission.

The nominees are Melissa Massheder Torres, Samuel Silva Rosas, and for a new term, Ramón Cruz Alicea. The hearing will be held in Leopoldo Figueroa Hall.

Fire breaks out on roof of Minillas Gov’t Center’s Southern Tower

By THE STAR STAFF

Afire broke out Monday afternoon on the roof of the Southern Tower of the Minillas Government Center in San Juan.

A firefighting unit from the San Juan Fire Department was at the scene. The building as well as the Northern Tower were both evacuated, it was reported.

No one was impacted by the fire, according to reports.

At the time of the fire, officials said, roof sealing work was being carried out on the roof of the Southern Tower, but there was no information regarding whether the work caused the fire.

Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control.

Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres

Interim Women’s Advocate Vilmarie Rivera Sierra

Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control. The cause of the fire had not been specified as of press time.

Free health clinics to be held at UPR Mayagüez Campus

By THE STAR STAFF

The Medical Sciences Campus (RCM by its Spanish initials) of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) will offer free health clinics to the community on Saturday, March 25 at the Mayagüez University Campus (RUM) as part of RCM Vital, an initiative of the General Council of Students at RCM.

As part of the event, educational talks are also to be given on topics related to disease prevention, effective treatments and promotion of healthy lifestyles. Among the health services that will be provided are the taking of blood pressure and vitals, calculation of body mass index, and guidance on adherence to medications and resistance to antibiotics.

“RCM Vital is a project created by our students, from the six schools that make up the RCM, to make a community impact and extend the reach of our services to citizens,”

Prof. Carlos Ortiz, interim chancellor of RCM, said in a written statement. “Members of the faculty and the campus community also participate in the activity.”

UPR President Dr. Luis Ferrao Delgado noted that “the RCM has a firm commitment to provide health services to the community.”

“Activities like RCM Vital allow us to expand our field of action while creating real practice spaces for our students,” he said. “I congratulate the RCM General Council of Students for this excellent initiative.”

Jorge Rivera, coordinator and student representative of the General Council of Students said “RCM Vital represents the importance and relevance of our institution, not only in the training of health professionals, but also in the number of services we provide to the people of Puerto Rico, despite the challenges we have faced over the past few years.”

The clinics will take place in the nursing building of the UPR Mayagüez Campus from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Senator files resolution to stop Medicare Advantage cut

By THE STAR STAFF

In order to stop the proposed 2.27% cut to the budget of the Medicare Advantage (MA) programs in Puerto Rico proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the federal fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2024, Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera announced Monday the filing of a concurrent resolution for the island Senate and House of Representatives to join the fight to stop the cut estimated at over $840 million.

“This cut proposed by CMS represents a direct blow to seniors, as well as those with special needs, who are the beneficiaries of MA plans,” Riquelme said. “These plans are essential for 640,000 beneficiaries because they supplement their basic Medicare Part A coverage. With this concurrent resolution we send a clear and forceful message that the Legislature of Puerto Rico is united behind the rejection of this unnecessary cut that will have as an immediate effect a significant loss of people with these plans.”

On March 7, CMS established a real reduction of 2.27% to MA programs beginning with the federal fiscal year 2024.

According to the Advance Rate Notice for fiscal year 2024 issued by CMS, the dramatic cut was recommended based on a series of calculations centered on the concept of a “savings trend” related to the 1.03% increase announced for the program.

However, the aforementioned increase is not correlated with demographic changes and the availability of new health care platforms in Puerto Rico, Riquelme noted. Moreover, the notice also fails to take into consideration projections developed by the Federal Medicare Trustees on Medicare beneficiary costs for fiscal year 2024, which will grow to a minimum of 5% as a result

of several factors, including the historic inflation rate, the New Progressive Party senator pointed out.

Due to the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, residents of the island eligible for Medicare, which includes seniors, as well as those citizens with special needs, are only approved for Part A of the program, which provides assistance to defray the costs of hospitalizations. Part B of the program, which provides medical coverage for appointments, among other expenses, does not apply fully to U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico. The same applies to Parts C and D of the aforementioned program.

A concurrent resolution expresses the position of the legislative body on a particular issue.

Attorney Rivera-Medina to lead Committee for Human Rights

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Committee for Human Rights (CPDHPR by its Spanish initials) has chosen Kevin Miguel Rivera-Medina, a lawyer, as its new spokesperson, said Eduardo “Tuto” Villanueva Muñoz, another lawyer. “The responsibility of directing our committee falls on Kevin Miguel Rivera, a prominent jurist, who has led several campaigns in favor of our country’s human and constitutional rights,” Villanueva Muñoz said.

The new spokesman chaired the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, based in Paris, and for more than a decade has directed the Puerto Rico Bar Association’s Commission on the Death Penalty.

“It is an honor that those who make up the committee have had the confidence to discharge this enormous responsibility on me for several reasons,” Rivera Medina said. “First, for the sacrificial dedication to just causes on the part of those who make up the committee; second, because there is a legacy of the spokesperson for Tuto

Villanueva, who carried this work on his shoulders in an exemplary manner for so many years; and third, because it is a charge that Edgardo Román Espada had welcomed,

until the moment of his death, injecting all his energy and wisdom into it.”

“Now it is our turn to honor a historical work and renew our vows to continue in the first line of defense of the fundamental rights of the people at a time when they are threatened by problems such as displacement, the looting of public services, and their natural resources, or the socioeconomic and undemocratic control exercised by a fiscal board not elected by the people,” Rivera-Medina added.

The CPDHPR has stood out for promoting the cessation of repression against the people and their social justice organizations. Within this framework, it educates, mobilizes and denounces, in a broad and united way, in national and international forums, regarding the persecution and violation of the rights of those who fight colonialism, as well as those who work for an equitable society, for accessible public education, for the protection of natural and environmental resources and the gender perspective, among other social causes.

Fiscal board files preliminary list of witnesses to speak in favor of PREPA DAP

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board has presented to the Title III bankruptcy court its list of witnesses who will speak in favor of the debt adjustment plan (DAP) to restructure almost $10 billion in Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) debt, and none are local officials.

On March 3, the court entered an order requiring PREPA “to file a preliminary fact witness list and topics about which each witness will testify.” The final confirmation of the plan is slated for July.

The oversight board said it reserves the right to amend the preliminary list.

The list is as follows:

1) David A. Skeel Jr., chairman of the oversight board: May provide fact testimony showing that the DAP complies with the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) including, without limitation, that it complies with the provisions of Bankruptcy Code sections. Skeel may also provide testimony about facts showing the Fuel Line Lender PSA, the National PSA, the Vitol Settlement Agreement, and Uninsured Bondholder Settlement Agreement are reasonable; the releases, injunctions, and exculpation provisions provided in the DAP are reasonable and appropriate, integral to the DAP, and constitute an essential component of the compromises identified above and in the DAP; and that certain of the commonwealth statutes that the oversight board contends are preempted, or portions thereof, are inconsistent with PROMESA.

2) Robert F. Mujica Jr., executive director of the oversight board: May provide testimony showing that the DAP complies with the provisions of PROMESA and federal bankruptcy laws.

3. David Brownstein, managing director, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.: May provide testimony showing the DAP complies with the provisions of PROMESA and the Bankruptcy Code. Brownstein may also provide testimony about facts showing some or all of the plan settlements are reasonable; that the DAP’s structuring and consummation fees and professional reimbursement fees are fair and reasonable; and that the terms and structure of the new bonds and CVI, and the calculation of creditor recoveries, are fair and reasonable.

4. Christina Pullo, managing director and head of restructuring administration and issuer services at Kroll Restructuring Administration: May provide testimony showing which classes of claims voted to accept the DAP, which impaired classes of claims voted to accept the DAP, and the tabulation of validly tendered bond claims pursuant to the settlement offer.

5. Sheva Levy, principal at Ernst & Young LLP: May provide testimony showing the historical and recent contributions to and funded status of the pension system maintained for employees of PREPA SREAEE, a description of the estimated claim amount and proposed treatment of the claim of the pension system pursuant to the DAP, a description of the estimated proposed recovery of pension claim, the estimated timeline for SREAEE insolvency absent additional funding or reform, and the funding needed for and structure of the PayGo Trust pursuant to the DAP.

6. Juan Santambrogio, managing director at Ernst & Young LLP: May provide testimony regarding the sources and uses of PREPA’s cash at or around the effective date of the DAP.

7. Ojas Shah, a partner at McKinsey & Co.: May provide testimony explaining the best interest test analysis in the disclosure statement and showing the DAP is in the best interest of the creditors.

8. Mark Shankweiler, managing director of Berkeley Research Group: may provide testimony showing the reasonableness of the assumptions made with respect to the estimated total amount of allowed general unsecured claims asserted against the debtor; the estimated total amount of allowed eminent domain/inverse condemnation claims asserted against the debtor; and the estimated total amount of allowed federal claims asserted against the debtor, which is PREPA.

9. William P. Zarakas, principal at Brattle Group Inc.: May provide testimony showing the derivation of the legacy charge proposed in the DAP, and that the DAP is feasible.

10. Ellen S. Smith, senior managing director at FTI: May provide testimony regarding the condition of PREPA, including the transmission & distribution system and generation plants & systems, and the capital improvements necessary to bring the performance of the systems to industry standards.

Kevin Miguel Rivera-Medina

David A. Skeel Jr., chairman of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

How 31 presidential budgets compared with reality

By JOSH KATZ, ALICIA PARLAPIANO and MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

President Joe Biden’s budget was released this week, with splashy policy proposals and many, many pages of detailed tables of dollars to be spent. Workers in every corner of the federal government toiled to create this document, which has received extensive attention from Congress and news reporters.

But a detailed review of past presidential budgets shows that, for all the seriousness and industry of the professionals who make them, they very rarely align with the trajectory of federal spending, revenue or the deficit.

You have probably heard of the main reason for this: The president’s budget has no force of law. It’s a request for Congress to follow its instructions, and Congress doesn’t always do the president’s bidding. President Donald Trump didn’t succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act, though he proposed to do so in his budgets. Biden didn’t pass paid family and medical leave, as he proposed earlier in his term. And presidents’ preferred policies are even less likely to become law when their party doesn’t control both houses of Congress — the situation now, but not in the year Trump wanted to repeal the ACA or when Biden wanted to expand paid leave.

But the president’s budget is often not predictive for another reason: Unexpected, cataclysmic events change the trajectory of federal spending far more than shifts in any line item in a budget table. The Sept. 11 attacks, the Great Recession and the coronavirus pandemic radically reshaped the path of spending, revenue and deficits in ways no presidential budget could have foreseen.

“The economy is much more powerful than the budget,” said Richard Kogan, a veteran budget staffer who is now a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. We examine the proposed budgets and fiscal realities from the last 30 years.

Bill Clinton

Aided by stability and cooperation

Clinton’s budgets matched actual spending and revenue far more than those

of the presidents who followed him. He benefited from a stable, growing economy as the internet took off. The major source of error in his budgets was faster-thanexpected economic growth that led to high tax revenue. He had policy ideas that never became law because of disagreements with a Republican-led House. But he also cooperated with Republicans to trim government spending and reduce the deficit, changes that were partly reflected in his budgets.

“We did not have any unexpected catastrophes,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who was a top policy aide for former Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.

“Those years were very lucky.”

Of course, the last Clinton budgets didn’t predict the recession that would come after he left office.

George W. Bush

Derailed by recession and war

Bush arrived with a large government surplus, and he wanted to return that money to taxpayers. The large tax cut he proposed was passed. But his first budget couldn’t have anticipated a recession, the Sept. 11 attacks and the accompanying military buildup. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, drove federal spending significantly above budgeted levels, and an economic slowdown depressed tax revenue.

Bush’s budgets also did not foresee the financial crisis that started in 2007 or the Great Recession that followed.

Barack Obama

Hampered by miscalculations

Obama’s budgets were wrong about how long the Great Recession would depress tax revenue — and his early budgets incorrectly assumed that Congress would allow the Bush tax cuts to expire after 10 years, as they were designed to do.

But his budgets also overestimated how much the government would spend, an error that cut in the opposite direction. A chief source of those miscalculations was a sustained slowdown in health care spending growth that economists still struggle to explain. Another was the Budget Control Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced

federal spending across the government that Obama had not proposed.

Donald Trump

Hit by slower growth and a pandemic

Trump’s first budget missed big. It assumed outsize economic growth that did not materialize. It called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and major cuts to Medicaid that Congress rejected. And it estimated that a large tax cut proposal would pay for itself. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggested the tax bill Congress passed in 2017 would increase the deficit by $1.9 trillion.

But that was dwarfed by the effect of the pandemic. Multiple COVID relief

bills expanded public health resources and provided financial assistance to individuals and states. Those dollars helped stave off economic catastrophe. They also caused a huge increase in the federal deficit.

Joe Biden

Helped, somewhat, by Democratic control Biden didn’t get everything he asked for in his early budgets, but he benefited from unified Democratic control of government in his first two years while passing many programs. Those that didn’t pass included proposed taxes and spending, which have somewhat balanced out in their deficit effect.

But it’s too soon to tell how well his budgets will hold up over time. This year’s proposal includes many things that the Republican House will not embrace. And his calculations assume that Trump’s tax cuts will expire in 2027, which conflicts with his promise not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000.

There could always be a hard-topredict economic shock. His budget office is not planning for a big recession, despite continued actions by the Federal Reserve that make some economists warn of a slowdown. An avian influenza epidemic or a military conflict could all throw off his projections by even more.

Overall, unexpected economic changes have tended to make deficits larger than expected, and caused federal debt to grow.

Why the Budgets Still Matter

The various ways a presidential budget can be wrong might make you think they’re not worth publishing or discussing. But even inaccurate budgets are still a key to governance. Underneath the big new policy proposals are detailed requests from agencies for every program they operate. When it comes time for Congress to set spending levels, appropriators rely heavily on those numbers.

“It’s true that there’s a lot of sturm und drang associated with the president’s budget,” said G. William Hoagland, a former Senate Budget director who is now a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “But in the basic work that has to get done every year for government funding, those budgets are critical.”

A detailed review of past presidential budgets shows that, for all the seriousness and industry of the professionals who make them, they very rarely align with the trajectory of federal spending, revenue or the deficit.

A trip to Ukraine. A jab at Ron DeSantis. What is Phil Murphy up to?

debt by billions of dollars, resulting in several upgrades to the state’s credit ratings.

But after being reelected in 2021 by a narrower margin than expected, Murphy has made an overt effort to appeal more to moderate voters, leaving some of his left-leaning base frustrated by what they see as a lack of urgency to finish strong.

Michael Feldman, a communications consultant and friend of Murphy, said none of the governor’s policy victories had been “a layup.”

“His ambition now is to try to help advance the agenda that he’s pursued in New Jersey — to help advance some of these issues at a national level,” said Feldman, who was a senior adviser to former Vice President Al Gore.

“I don’t know what the job is or will be, but there’s plenty of places that a person with his experience could be helpful in getting some of these things done.”

New Jersey governors cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. And for the past year observers wondering about Murphy’s next move have taken note of his suddenly youthful hairdo, hip new glasses and shifting rhetoric.

There are younger Democratic governors with bigger names or bigger bank accounts, including Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.

By TRACEY TULLY

It was a whirlwind few days for New Jersey’s term-limited governor, Phil Murphy.

On a Tuesday in mid-February, he publicly chided Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican, by name, calling his education policies “shameful.” The next day at noon, he proposed requiring all new cars sold after 2035 to be electric, following California’s lead. By early Thursday, Murphy, a Democrat, had made an unannounced stop in Ukraine en route to a security conference in Germany.

Back home in Jersey, the message was clear: The governor’s slow-windup romance with Washington was now a full-boil courtship, although his primary audience might have trouble finding Trenton on a map.

“You don’t fade into the woodwork if you have national ambitions,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Polling Institute at Monmouth University, who for decades has watched New Jersey politicians use the state’s quirky off-year election cycle and proximity to New York’s media market as a springboard toward higher office.

“You never know when opportunity might strike.”

The 2024 presidential contest is well underway. President Joe Biden is expected to run for a second term, and the list of Republicans who have announced campaigns or are expected to run includes DeSantis (who did not respond to Murphy’s criticism), former President Donald Trump, formerVice President Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina.

Murphy has consistently said he would be Biden’s No. 1 booster if he runs again, and he recently signed on to an advisory board of Democratic loyalists who are expected to be deployed as Biden surrogates when the campaign ramps up.

Still, Murphy, a wealthy former Democratic National Committee finance chair and ambassador to Germany who amassed a fortune at investment bank Goldman Sachs, has never com-

pletely closed the door to running for the White House should the president’s plans change.

And, either way, he appears as intent as ever at cultivating a national image, aware, perhaps, that there are often consolation prizes.

On Saturday, Murphy will try to spit-polish his resume with humor when he takes the mic at the annual Gridiron Club dinner, a famously irreverent white-tie-and-tails roast that draws Washington’s top journalists and political insiders. (The other speaker will be Pence.)

Close associates say Murphy, who declined to comment for this article, is genuinely unsure about the job he might want next, but they speculate that he could be interested in again being an ambassador or perhaps even secretary of state.

A graduate of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania who grew up outside Boston, he now counts musician Jon Bon Jovi among his closest friends. But he comes from humble means, the youngest of four children in a working-class Irish-Catholic family. Only his mother graduated from high school; his father worked for a time managing a liquor store near their home.

Always social, Murphy has become a retail politics pro. He gamely drapes his arm around shoulders when asked to pose for selfies, his grin wide and pointer finger aimed, showman-style, toward the new best friend at his side.

But it is the hundreds of off-camera calls he made to families that lost relatives to COVID-19 that his chief of staff, George Helmy, cites when calling him “one of the most authentic human beings I’ve ever seen.”

Murphy came to Trenton with few allies, yet has managed a notable share of wins.

During his first term, New Jersey lawmakers increased taxes on income over $1 million, approved a $15 minimum wage, legalized marijuana, strengthened gun control laws, locked in paid sick leave for workers and reduced long-ignored pension

But during Biden’s presidency, New Jersey has been a regular stop for members of the administration, with at least two visits apiece by the president, the first lady, Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

If Biden were to win reelection and tap Murphy for a job he found enticing enough to take, it could mean leaving Trenton before his term ends in 2026, making the race for governor — shaping up to be a grab-the-popcorn thriller — even livelier.

Still, even among liberals inclined to support him, Murphy’s second-term reviews have grown increasingly mixed.

Last year he reinstituted a bear hunt he had vowed to outlaw, enraging animal welfare activists. He opened the door to private development in Liberty State Park, the state’s largest and busiest public oasis, at the urging of groups funded by the billionaire owner of an adjacent golf club. And there are so many judicial vacancies that some counties have had to halt divorce trials.

A coalition of environmental groups is suing the state to force Murphy to follow through on ambitious climate change rules he ordered as part of a 2019 law. “A poster child for actions not meeting the rhetoric,” said David Pringle, a leader of the coalition.

And residents of communities as disparate as Jersey City, Newark and Gibbstown, in the rural southwest portion of the state, are furious over Murphy’s support for expanding the turnpike near New York City and failing to stop six new fossil fuel projects, which are expected to worsen air quality in minority communities overburdened by pollution.

“The governor has a lot of words for environmental justice but does not actually demonstrate leadership on behalf of our community,” said Maria Lopez-Nuñez, who lives in Newark and is fighting to block the construction of a backup power plant in the city’s Ironbound neighborhood.

Lopez-Nuñez is also a member of Biden’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

“I would love to cheer on the governor,” she said. “But I need to see the work.”

Phil Murphy has consistently said he would be Biden’s No. 1 booster if he runs again.

‘History will hold Donald Trump accountable’ for Jan. 6, Pence says

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

Former Vice President Mike Pence, delivering his strongest public rebuke yet to the president who made him his running mate, said Saturday night “that history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which he called “a disgrace.”

The annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington is usually a venue for lighthearted ribbing among political figures, government officials and the district’s media veterans, but Pence used the occasion Saturday to dig into Trump at a moment when conservative media commentators and some Republicans in Congress have again tried to dismiss the seriousness of the Capitol riot.

“Tourists don’t injure 140 police officers by sightseeing,” Pence said, according to media reports from the event, an implicit rebuke of Fox News host Tucker Carlson and other conservatives who have used selective security camera footage to reframe the riot as a largely peaceful demonstration. Thousands of hours of that footage were released to Carlson by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “Tourists don’t break down doors to get to the speaker of the House or voice threats against public officials.”

And Pence made his reprimand of Trump personal when he said, “President Trump was wrong; I had no right

to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”

The timing of the remarks was significant. Trump and his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, are the only two major declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, but other potential challengers

are edging closer. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is on a swing through early primary and caucus states, including Iowa and Nevada. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is on a “listening tour” in the same states. Pence is also considering a run.

But until Saturday, any rival jabs at the former president and presumed front-runner for the nomination have been implicit. Pence called him out by name, setting a new bar for other Republicans hoping to replace Trump as the party’s leader.

Early this month, a group of men imprisoned for their participation in the Capitol attack released a song titled “Justice for All” — the national anthem interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance — and House Republicans on the party’s right flank have started what they are calling an investigation into the treatment of such “political prisoners.” Pence was unsparing in his condemnation of such efforts, as well as the selective editing of thousands of hours of security footage.

“The American people have a right to know what took place at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” he said. “But make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way.”

He also jokingly hinted at his presidential ambitions. “I will wholeheartedly, unreservedly support the Republican nominee for president in 2024,” he said. “If it’s me.”

‘Potent’ nor’easter to bring heavy snow this week, forecasters say

By CHRISTINE CHUNG

Starting Monday night and lasting into Wednesday, a late-winter nor’easter was expected to bring widespread heavy, wet snow, rain and gusty winds to parts of the Northeast that had otherwise had a largely snowless season, according to the National Weather Service.

Heavy snow rates and strong winds will likely produce dangerous or near-impossible travel in parts of the Northeast, the Weather Prediction Center said.

The storm is expected to bring severe thunderstorms to the Southeast and Gulf Coast on Sunday night before intensifying. Then, on Monday, the storm, which forecasters described as “potent,” will most likely strengthen over the Northeast, where the heaviest snowfall is expected across inland areas of the region, the weather service said.

Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said the weather system will probably start with rain that may transition into heavier snow in some places.

“At the moment, there’s predominantly rain forecast for New York City and for Boston, rain changing over to snow with some accumulation,” Oravec said, adding that this system would probably not be the winter event of the season for the New York metro area, where snow has been scarce.

“It just happens to be that the storm track has been such that it has not favored the Northeast so far and, in a sense, we’re running out of time,” Oravec said. “We are definitely

fighting the calendar and fighting the season.”

Nor’easters, which most frequently occur between September and April, are storms where winds off the East Coast collide with surface winds from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states amid areas of low pressure.

With this nor’easter, snow rates of up to 2 inches per hour are possible, and in higher elevation areas, snowfall could ultimately surpass 1 foot of accumulation, the weather service said.

Total snowfall could be even higher in the Catskills and southern Adirondacks in New York, the Berkshires in western Massachusetts and the southern Green Mountains in Vermont.

Five to 10 inches of snow could accumulate in interior portions of the Lower Hudson Valley, northeastern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut, the weather service in New York said.

Driving conditions are expected to be hazardous, and “widespread minor coastal flooding” may occur, forecasters said.

The greatest uncertainty in snow amounts is in coastal areas, including New York City, Long Island and New Haven, Connecticut, and will depend on how close to the coast the low pressure intensifies, the weather service in New York said.

Around Tuesday night, wind gusts could reach up to 50 mph along the eastern portion of Long Island, the weather service said.

“Strong winds from this nor’easter will likely produce dangerous to near impossible travel,” the weather service said, adding that the storm could cause power failures and damage trees.

The storm may linger into Wednesday, Oravec said, adding that precipitation would probably begin to wind down that morning.

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters at The New York Times DealBook Summit 2022 at Jazz At Lincoln Center, in Manhattan on Nov. 30, 2022.

A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows part of the U.S. northeast, on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

At least 8 dead after boats capsize in human smuggling attempt in San Diego

By EMILY SCHMALL and SARA CLEMENCE

Along a San Diego beach chewed away by winter swells, at least eight people died after the small boats they were in capsized in what authorities said Sunday was a human smuggling operation gone awry.

Capt. James Spitler, sector commander of the U.S. Coast Guard in San Diego, said that one boat carrying about eight people made it ashore, while the other, carrying an estimated 15 people, overturned in the surf.

James Gartland, head of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s lifeguard division, called the deaths “one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies” in recent years.

“Often these boats are poorly maintained and overloaded,” Gartland said.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguards responded to a 911 call around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, according to department spokesperson Monica Muñoz.

The caller, a woman speaking Spanish, said she and other passengers of a panga boat, a small fishing vessel, had reached the shores of Black’s Beach, a secluded strip of sand beneath the bluffs of Torrey Pines on the Pacific Ocean.

The caller said that another panga boat had capsized.

By the time lifeguards arrived, their attempts to reach the beach were hampered by high tide and a heavy fog. They found both boats were capsized and inside the shore line. No survivors were found.

Lifeguards found “lifeless bodies and two overturned pangas spread over an area of about 400 yards,” Muñoz said. “Several life jackets and fuel barrels were also found.”

At

“Lifeguards pulled victims from knee-deep water and from the waterline up the beach to dry sand,” she added.

Gartland said he could not confirm demographic details of the dead or surviving passengers. It was not immediately clear how many people officials believed remained unaccounted for. It was also unclear where the boats were coming from.

Survivors could have taken one of several steep trails up the beachside cliffs, including one that arrives at La Jolla Farms, a wealthy San Diego enclave of gated, multimillion-dollar homes.

Search efforts at Black’s Beach were continuing Sunday as dozens of surfers in wet suits tackled the waves.

Responders from the Coast Guard and U.S. Border and Customs Protection and lifeguards were working at a site where two boats with outboard motors

were perched on the sand, right side up. In both were strewn life jackets, plastic bags and clothing. One boat had the top of its motor smashed.

A series of sandbars and dangerous rip currents make the water around Black’s Beach particularly treacherous, authorities and local surfers said.

Rescuers have responded to dozens of calls this year involving swimmers, surfers and mariners.

In the first two months of 2023, about 600 people were apprehended on the waters off San Diego, according to Jason Givens, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the prior two years, about 3,500 migrants were apprehended by Border Protection agents off San Diego’s coasts, he said, adding that “the majority, and perhaps all of the incidents, were part of a criminal smuggling operation.”

At least 23 people have died in smuggling cases in Southern California since 2021, Spitler said.

“Sadly, this tragedy continues and has been happening for quite some time,” he said.

“This is not necessarily people trying to find a better life,” he added. “This is part of a transnational criminal organization network to smuggle people into the United States.”

In 2021, three people died and two dozen people were rescued off San Diego after a packed boat that was suspected of being used for human smuggling capsized and broke apart in the surf.

The swell of the waves Saturday reached about 3 feet, not particularly high for Black’s Beach, Gartland said.

“Yesterday was a mild day for surf, though that doesn’t mean for the average person it would be a manageable experience going out in the waves,” said Brian Pickett, a surfer from La Jolla.

“It doesn’t take a giant swell to make Black’s Beach dangerous to the average person,” he added.

least eight people died after two small boats capsized near a San Diego beach in what a local fire-rescue official called “one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies” in California in recent years.

Regulators close another bank and move to protect deposits

By JEANNA SMIALEK and ALAN RAPPEPORT

Federal regulators announced Sunday that another bank had been closed and that the government would ensure that all depositors of Silicon Valley Bank — which failed Friday — would be paid back in full as Washington rushed to keep fallout from the collapse of the large institution from sweeping through the financial system.

The Federal Reserve, Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced in a joint statement that “depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13.” In an attempt to assuage concerns about who would bear the costs, the agencies said that “no losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer.”

The agencies also said that they would make whole depositors at Signature Bank, which the government disclosed was shut down Sunday by New York bank regulators. The state officials said the move came “in light of market events, monitoring market trends, and collaborating closely with other state and federal regulators” to protect consumers and the financial system.

President Joe Biden said Sunday evening that the actions were taken at his direction and that he would deliver remarks about the banking system Monday morning.

“I am pleased that they reached a prompt solution that protects American workers and small businesses, and keeps our financial system safe,” Biden said in a statement. “The solution also ensures that taxpayer dollars are not put at risk.”

He added: “I am firmly committed to holding those responsible for this mess fully accountable and to continuing our efforts to strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again.”

The collapse of Signature marks the third significant bank failure within a week. Silvergate, a California-based bank that made loans to cryptocurrency companies, announced Wednesday that it would cease operations and liquidate its assets.

Amid the wreckage, the Fed also announced that it would set up an emergency lending program, with approval from the Treasury, to funnel funding to eligible banks and help ensure that they are able to “meet the needs of all their depositors.”

Concern over wide-reaching problems in the banking sector started in earnest after the FDIC took over Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, putting nearly $175 billion in customer deposits under the regulator’s control. The bank’s failure was the largest since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008. While its customers with deposits of up to $250,000 were insured by the FDIC, the bank had a large number of accounts over that limit — and there was no guarantee that those clients, which included small

businesses, would receive their money in full.

That reality sent tremors through the banking industry over the weekend. Officials and economists worried that people with uninsured accounts at other regional banks might begin to fear for the safety of their own deposits — which could prompt them to pull their money out and move it to bigger banks in a hunt for safety. That, some warned, could turn what might otherwise be a oneoff bank failure into a full-blown financial crisis.

For example, Signature, like Silicon Valley Bank, had a big share of large and uninsured deposits — the kind that onlookers worried about. It had experienced heavy outflows of deposits Friday, a person familiar with the matter said, though by Sunday the situation appeared to have stabilized.

Fear of contagion and the speed of the unfolding problems prompted the dramatic Sunday night announcement. The government had scrambled to try and sell Silicon Valley Bank to a private company and finding a purchaser is still a possibility. But a Treasury official said Sunday that regulators ultimately decided to move forward with the plan to make depositors whole, in part because it was proving to be challenging for a potential buyer to vet the bank’s books by Monday.

The Treasury official emphasized that the actions should not be considered to be a “bailout,” because the company’s shareholders and those who own its debt would be wiped out.

The aggressive actions to save the failed bank’s depositors from pain and to prop up the banking sector as a whole demonstrated that officials had become worried that the cracks that surfaced at Silicon Valley Bank last

week — ones that tied back to a recent and rapid rise in interest rates as the Fed fights inflation — could morph into a systemwide crisis if not halted.

The FDIC is usually supposed to clean up a failed bank in the cheapest way possible, but regulators agreed that the situation posed a risk to the financial system, which allowed them to invoke an exception to that rule. The regulator will tap the Deposit Insurance Fund, which comes from fees paid by the banking industry, to make sure it can pay back depositors.

The agencies said that “any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.”

And the Fed’s new lending program — backed by $25 billion in cash from the Treasury — could provide an even broader backstop to the banking industry.

The program will offer up to one-year loans to banks, savings associations, credit unions and other eligible depository institutions in exchange for collateral including U.S. Treasuries, agency debt and mortgage-backed securities. In doing so, it will create a workaround to financial institutions that have seen the market value of their long-term asset holdings fall as interest rates have risen.

Many banks are sitting on big “unrealized losses” because of the shift in rates over the past year: That is partly what brought Silicon Valley Bank down. Now, they will be able to borrow against the original value of their asset holdings at the Fed. That will give them bigger cash infusions, and prevent them from having to sell in desperation.

“This is a very aggressive package, at the maximal end of what one might’ve imagined,” Krishna Guha, an economist at Evercore ISI, said Sunday.

Regulators had believed other “peer” banks were poised to face similar outflows of deposits, the Treasury official said, but hoped that the new facility will reduce the chances of runs on otherwise healthy financial institutions.

The government held an auction over the weekend to try to sell off Silicon Valley Bank, according to a person familiar with the matter, and a private-sector solution like that might have stoked less controversy. But several executives at potential acquirers said privately that they had been waiting to see if the government would guarantee that Silicon Valley Bank’s uninsured clients would be made whole in the end.

Besides creating the potential for criticism, the rescue was not clearly a cure-all, at least as of Sunday night.

“Rationally, this should be enough to stop any contagion from spreading and taking down more banks, which can happen in the blink of an eye in the digital age,” Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients. “But contagion has always been more about irrational fear, so we would stress that there is no guarantee this will work.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 10, 2023.

Risky bet on crypto and a run on deposits tank Signature Bank

But on Friday, with customers panicking about their money, Signature saw a torrent of deposits leaving its coffers, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Its stock, along with the stocks of some of its peers, also continued to tank.

Still, the bank’s leaders expected to be able to weather the storm because the outflows had slowed by Sunday morning, the person said. When regulators told bank executives that they were effectively seizing the bank, which had 40 branches across the country, some of them were shocked. In shuttering the bank, New York bank regulators, acting in concert with the FDIC, also removed its executive team.

The demise of Signature, with assets of under $100 billion, is a blow to many of the professional services firms that have come to rely on it. The bank long specialized in providing banking services to law firms, providing escrow accounts for holding client money and other services.

Scott Shay, Joseph DePaolo and John Tamberlane founded Signature in 1999 with backing from Israel’s biggest lender, Bank Hapoalim. On a personal bio page, Shay described himself as a “thought leader, and author of several widely read books on profound issues facing the Jewish community.” The bank went public in 2004.

By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN and EMILY FLITTER

Signature Bank, a New York financial institution with a big real estate lending business that had recently made a play to win cryptocurrency deposits, closed its doors abruptly Sunday, after regulators said that keeping the bank open could threaten the stability of the entire financial system.

To some extent, Signature is a victim of the panic around Silicon Valley Bank, which regulators seized Friday. Its closing underscores the challenges that face small and midsize banks, which often focus on niche lines of business and have a narrower base of customers than Goliaths such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. That leaves them especially vulnerable to old-fashioned bank runs.

Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to startups, imploded Friday after some ill-timed financial decisions left it struggling to meet customer withdrawal requests — and just as slowing venture capital funding prompted fledging companies to tap

their accounts more. Similarly, Signature became one of the few banks to welcome cryptocurrency deposits, just before the overheated industry blew up last year.

As word about Silicon Valley Bank’s troubles began to spread last week, business customers of Signature began calling the bank, asking if their deposits were safe. Many were worried that their deposits could be at risk because, like business customers of Silicon Valley, most had more than $250,000 in their accounts. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the entity that seized Silicon Valley, insures deposits only up to $250,000.

In announcing the closure of Signature on Sunday, regulators said customers of both banks would be made whole regardless of how much they held in their accounts.

“Many depositors at these banks are small businesses, including those driving the innovation economy, and their success is key to New York’s robust economy,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

One of Signature’s specialties was financing the purchase of taxi medallions, which authorize holders to operate cabs. It was known in New York for providing banking services to law firms and real estate companies, and for catering to wealthy families in the area.

Its clients had included some individuals associated with the Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump’s company. The bank lent money to Jared Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, and to Kushner’s father, Charles. It also helped finance Trump’s Florida golf course.

Over the past decade, Signature had begun to expand its business nationally, and to the West Coast in particular.

But Signature ran afoul of some of the same issues that led to the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, in that most of its customers had holdings above $250,000.

Regulatory filings show that more than $79 billion, or close to nine-tenths, of Signature Bank’s roughly $88 billion in deposits were uninsured at the end of last year. As of last week, Signature said more than 80% of its deposits were from law firms, accounting firms, health care companies, manufacturers and real estate management companies.

The bank also said its digital asset-related client deposits stood at $16.52 billion. Signature was one of the few financial institutions that had opened its doors to taking deposits of crypto assets, a business it entered into in 2018.

That ended up being a fateful decision because the bottom fell out of crypto assets after the collapse of FTX and an ensuing criminal investigation. Another cryptocurrencyfocused bank, Silvergate Bank, was forced to voluntarily close last week.

“This story has more to do with crypto, huge error in judgment by veteran bankers,” said Christopher Whalen of Whalen Global Advisors, which specializes in analyzing and consulting on financial institutions. “Result was the same in a deposit run.”

According to regulatory filings, nine-tenths of Signature Bank’s roughly $88 billion in deposits were uninsured at the end of last year.

Wall St sinks on jitters about banks after mixed jobs report

Wall Street’s indexes ended down more than 1% on Friday after investors ran for the exits as they feared for the health of U.S. banks after the failure of a high-profile lender to the technology sector, overshadowing the February jobs report.

California banking regulators said they closed SVB Financial Group to protect deposits in what was the largest bank failure since the financial crisis. A capital crisis at SVB had already put pressure on bank stocks globally.

SVB had tried but failed to shore up its balance sheet through a stock sale proposed late on Wednesday. The same day, crypto-lender Silvergate Capital said it would have to wind down after huge losses from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse.

“There’s concern cracks may be appearing in the financial system as a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes,” said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer, BMO family office in Minneapolis. “The fear is whether it’s broader than one industry’s bank and one segment of the economy.”

While many investors looked through their bank holdings for signs of risk, Schleif said much of the weakness in regional bank stocks stemmed from a “proverbial shoot first ask questions later situation.”

The KBW regional banking index ended the session down 2.4% while the S&P 500 financials index lost 1.8%.

Schleif and other investors said they hoped regulations added to the U.S. banking system since the 2008 financial crisis would prevent a similar catastrophe.

But still “people are very nervous because they don’t want a repeat,” she said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345.22 points, or 1.07%, to 31,909.64, the S&P 500 lost 56.73 points, or 1.45%, to 3,861.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 199.47 points, or 1.76%, to 11,138.89.

All 11 S&P 500 industry sectors lost ground. Real estate, down 3.3%, led declines while consumer staples the top performer, fell just 0.5%.

For the week, the S&P lost 4.6% in its biggest weekly percentage decline since September but was clinging to a tiny year-to-date gain of 0.6%. The Dow fell 4.4% for the week and was down more than 3% year-to-date while the Nasdaq declined 4.7% this week but was up more than 6% for 2023.

The Cboe Volatility Index, an options-based indicator that reflects demand for protection against stock market declines, closed at a 3-month high, up 2.19 points at 24.9 after touching a roughly five-month high during the session.

MIXED JOBS REPORT

Investors had expected to end the week with most of their focus on economic data rather than banks.

Before the market opened, the closely monitored nonfarm payrolls report showed the U.S. economy added more

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

jobs than expected in February while average hourly earnings rose at a slower 0.2% last month after versus 0.3% in January while unemployment rose to 3.6%.

The data had eased some concerns that the Fed could raise rates by 50 basis points at its March meeting after hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Powell this week.

But investors were more focused on uncertainties around the bank system, said John Praveen, managing di-

COMMODITIES CURRENCY

rector & Co-CIO at Paleo Leon in Princeton, New Jersey.

“Whatever positive vibes came out of the labor market report were upstaged by negative vibes from the SVB situation,” Praveen said.

The S&P 500’s bank subsector closed down 0.5% with a boost from JPMorgan Chase, which closed up 2.5% and Wells Fargo , which closed up 0.6% while the rest of the index lost ground.

The biggest decliners were Silvergate cryto-bank peer Signature Bank, which tumbled 22.9% and regional bank First Republic, which finished down 14.8%.

In individual stocks, Gap Inc lost 6.3% after the apparel retailer posted a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and forecast full-year sales below Wall Street estimates.

International court to open war crimes cases against Russia, officials say

By MARLISE SIMONS

The International Criminal Court intends to open two war crimes cases tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will seek arrest warrants for several people, according to current and former officials with knowledge of the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The cases represent the first international charges to be brought forward since the start of the conflict and come after months of work by special investigation teams. They allege that Russia abducted Ukrainian children and teenagers and sent them to Russian re-education camps, and that the Kremlin deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure.

The chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, must first present his charges to a panel of pretrial judges who will decide whether the legal standards have been met for issuing arrest warrants, or whether investigators need more evidence.

It was not clear whom the court planned to charge in each case. Asked to confirm the requests for arrest warrants, the prosecutor’s office said, “We do not publicly discuss specifics related to ongoing investigations.”

Some outside diplomats and experts said it was possible that President Vladimir Putin of Russia could be charged, as the court does not recognize immunity for a head of state in cases involving war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

Still, the likelihood of a trial remains slim, experts say, as the court cannot hear cases in absentia and Russia is unlikely to surrender its own officials.

The Kremlin has denied accusations of war crimes, but international and Ukrainian investigators have gathered powerful evidence of an array of atrocities since the inva-

sion’s early days.

The first case, the briefed officials said, deals with the widely reported abduction of Ukrainian children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers. As part of a Kremlin-sponsored program, they were taken from Ukraine and placed in homes to become Russian citizens or sent to summer camps to be re-educated, The New York Times and researchers have found. Some came from orphanages or group homes.

Moscow has made no secret of its program, presenting it as a humanitarian mission to protect orphaned or abandoned Ukrainian children from the war.

Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, the program’s public face, began sending children to Russia within weeks after the invasion began in February 2022 and has regularly appeared on television to promote adoptions. Putin signed a decree in May to speed up access to Russian citizenship for Ukrainians.

Khan has publicly signaled his intentions to pursue this case, saying that illegal transfers of children to Russia or to occupied parts of Ukraine were a priority for his investigators.

Earlier this month, he visited a children’s home in southern Ukraine, now vacated, and his office posted a photograph of him standing among empty cots.

“Children cannot be treated as the spoils of war,” he said in a statement following his visit.

A report published in February by Yale University and the Conflict Observatory program of the U.S. State Department said that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine were being held in a total of 43 camps in Russia, with the actual number thought to be higher. The National Information Bureau of the Ukrainian government said that as of early March it could be more than 16,000.

“There has been a lot of focus on this issue, and pursuing it as a crime will generate a lot of reaction,” said Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association. “It’s forbidden to forcibly transfer civilians across a border, and during a conflict it can be a war crime. It can also amount to crimes against humanity if it is part of a widespread and systematic policy. Deporting children could even be part of genocidal intent.”

In the second case, the ICC chief prosecutor is expected to address Russia’s unrelenting attacks on civilian infrastructure, including water supplies and gas and power plants, which are far from the fighting and are not considered legitimate military targets.

The U.S. government has evidence shedding light on Kremlin decisions to deliberately target vital civilian infrastructure, and many in the Biden administration are said to favor sharing it with the court, although it is not a member. But the Defense Department is blocking the intelligence from being shared because it fears setting a precedent that could open the way for prosecuting Americans.

President Joe Biden has yet to decide whether to approve the release of the material, according to officials.

Arrest warrants for suspects in either of the two cases are not expected imminently.

In the past, the judges at the international court have taken several months to review charges before issuing arrest warrants or summons to appear. But the devastation taking place in Ukraine has put the court under pressure to act swiftly.

More than 40 countries who are parties to the court have requested its intervention. Ukraine itself is not a formal member, but it has granted the court jurisdiction over its territory.

Ukraine’s government is now holding its own war-crimes trials, and a host of other international bodies are also investigating.

But looming over the investigations is the question of whether any cases against Russia will ever reach a courtroom.

In recent weeks, a group of governments and international organizations have stepped up talks on the need to create a separate international court with the power to prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression, over which the ICC has no jurisdiction. The court can hold individuals, even leaders, accountable for only war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in this case.

But advocates of a new court argue that aggression is the paramount crime from which all others flow. It is effective because it addresses most directly the political or military leaders who decide to wage war.

Still, Western governments believe that the ICC does has a role and should proceed. The issuance of any arrest warrant, even if not carried out, is symbolically important because it can make someone a pariah as these charges do not go away, legal experts say.

Car lights illuminate the street during a blackout in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Dec. 8, 2022.

War in Ukraine puts centuries of Swiss neutrality to the test

By ERIKA SOLOMON

In Eastern Europe, Ukrainians are in the trenches. Farther west, European capitals are grappling with a new order in which war is no longer theoretical. Yet, tucked away in the heart of the continent, the Swiss are fretting over loftier ideals.

In Switzerland’s capital, nestled beneath snow-capped mountains, inside parliamentary chambers of stained glass and polished wood, the debate is over the country’s vaunted legacy of neutrality — and what neutrality even means in a new era of war for Europe.

Switzerland, it turns out, has an arms industry that makes badly needed ammunition for some of the weapons that Europeans have supplied to Ukraine, as well as some of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks they have promised.

But it also has strict rules on where those weapons can go — namely a law, now the subject of heated debate, that bans any nation that purchases Swiss arms from sending them to the party of a conflict, such as Ukraine.

The war is testing Swiss tolerance for standing on the sidelines and serving the world’s elite on equal terms, putting the country in a bind of competing interests.

Its arms makers say their inability to export now could make it impossible to maintain critical Western customers. European neighbors are pulling the Swiss in one direction, while a tradition of neutrality pulls in another.

“Being a neutral state that exports weapons is what got Switzerland into this situation,” said Oliver Diggelmann, an international law professor at the University of Zurich. “It wants to export weapons to do business. It wants to assert control over those weapons. And it also wants to be the good guy. This is where our country is stumbling now.”

Switzerland has managed to cling to neutrality for centuries and through two world wars. It is a position supported by 90% of its 8.7 million people, who uphold it as a national ideal. Hosts to the United Nations and the Red Cross in Geneva, they see themselves as the world’s peacemakers and humanitarians.

But Western nations today see Swiss hesitation — both over exports and over sanctions against Russia, which Western diplomats suspect Switzerland is not doing enough to enforce — as evidence that the country’s motivation is less idealism than business.

Switzerland, whose banks are notorious for secrecy and have often been accused of laundering money for the world’s kleptocratic class, is still the world’s biggest center for offshore wealth. That includes about onequarter of the global total, no doubt serving many Russian oligarchs allied with President Vladimir Putin.

A senior Western official, who did not want to be identified because he was negotiating with the Swiss, said the status quo left Western diplomats feeling Switzerland was pursuing “a neutrality of economic benefit.”

Months of hand-wringing have not endeared the Alpine nation to neighbors.

“Everybody knows this is hurting Switzerland. The entire EU is annoyed. The Americans are upset. The resentment comes from the Russians, too. We all know this is hurting us,” said Sacha Zala, a historian of Swiss neutrality at the University of Bern. “But it shows just how deep this belief in neutrality goes in our heads.”

To historians, Switzerland’s neutrality has had far more to do with waging war than avoiding it.

From the Middle Ages to the early modern era, the then-impoverished Alpine cantons that make up today’s Switzerland leased out mercenaries in wars across Europe. Many made weapons to go with those armies; the Swiss Guard of the Vatican is a relic of that era.

“The earlier idea of neutrality was the neutrality to serve both sides,” Zala said.

Swiss neutrality began to be formalized after the Napoleonic wars, when European powers agreed it could create a buffer between regional powers.

It was further codified in The Hague Convention of 1907 — the basis for today’s

Swiss neutrality. The convention required neutral states to refrain from waging war, and to maintain an equidistance between warring parties — they could sell weapons, for example, but only if they did so for all sides of a conflict. It also obliges neutral countries to ensure their territories are not used by warring forces.

This led to what the Swiss call “armed neutrality” — a commitment not just to neutrality, but to maintaining the ability to protect it. The latter is what critics now argue is under threat.

Supporters of the Swiss weapons industry agree it has no major economic impact for the country. Employing 14,000 people, it makes up less than 1% of gross domestic product. But they say it is critical to armed neutrality.

“Armed neutrality needs soldiers, weapons, equipment — and an arms industry. Our neutrality has to be armed, otherwise it’s useless,” said Werner Salzmann, a member of the conservative Swiss People’s Party.

The Swiss defense industry depends on exports, he said, and could not survive without them.

One crucial role Switzerland plays is for Germany, one of Ukraine’s biggest military backers. Swiss company OerlikonBührle is effectively the only producer of ammunition for the Gepard, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun of which Berlin has sent dozens to Ukraine. The Swiss have so far blocked

German efforts to buy fresh ammunition. Europeans and major defense industry players are growing wary of making weaponry or critical parts in Switzerland. Rheinmetall, the German arms maker that owns the Swiss company, plans to open a factory to make those rounds in Germany.

“For the next two to three years, we will still be producing because of old contracts we have to fulfill,” said Matthias Zoller, a spokesperson for the arms industry at Swissmem, a trade group. “But we have no orders coming in. The export market will just be dead.”

Early this year, Switzerland’s pro-business Free Democrats devised a legal loophole that most lawmakers seemed to accept: They would allow countries that shared Switzerland’s democratic values to re-export Swiss-made armaments.

But last week, the Swiss People’s Party, the largest in Parliament, rejected the bill, seeing it as too nakedly a measure meant for Ukraine — and therefore, a violation of neutrality.

Swiss lawmakers have since scrabbled together six counterproposals. But none of them make it possible for Swiss weapons to reach Ukraine within a year.

In Swiss cities, many buildings hang Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag. Sympathy is evident. Even most lawmakers against looser export rules openly call Russia the aggressor state. Yet that has not eased their stance on neutrality.

Instead, some conservative politicians are gathering signatures to bring about a referendum on making an even stricter interpretation of neutrality part of Switzerland’s Constitution.

“There are only two options — that’s it,” said Walter Wobmann, a conservative lawmaker promoting the initiative. “Can you be half pregnant? You can only be pregnant, or not. Either we’re neutral, and we go with that all the way. Or we go into an alliance,” such as NATO. “Which is it? Switzerland has to decide.”

A Leopard 2 tank during a Swiss military exercise in November. Some of the tanks are made in Switzerland, as is ammunition for some other Western weapons.

From ‘Hitler’ to ‘sharing one fate’: Saudi-Iran pact could transform the Middle East

By VIVIAN NEREIM

Only five years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, derided Iran’s supreme leader, saying he “makes Hitler look good.” Last week, in a development that had the world doing metaphorical double takes, the Saudis not only reestablished diplomatic relations with Iran but also spoke gauzily of the countries “sharing one fate.”

The diplomatic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran after years of facing off in proxy conflicts across the Middle East was a coup for China, which facilitated the agreement. And it was a relief for Iran, which is grappling with domestic unrest and an economy waylaid by harsh sanctions.

But Saudi Arabia, too, has much to gain if the new cooperation truly takes root. The pact could help quiet the regional tensions that have inflamed wars, fueled media spats and sent missiles and drones flying across the Arabian Peninsula.

Resolving conflicts that have drained the Saudi government’s budget, stained its reputation and deterred potential investors has become a top priority for the crown prince, as he overhauls the conservative Islamic kingdom’s economy and society, hoping to make it into a global hub for business and culture.

“The countries of the region share one fate,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Twitter after the announcement. “That makes it necessary for us to work together to build models for prosperity and stability.”

The rivalry between the two Islamic nations, separated by less than 150 miles of Persian Gulf waters, has long shaped politics and trade in the Middle East.

It has a sectarian dimension — Saudi Arabia’s royal family and a majority of its populace are Sunni, while Iran’s people are overwhelmingly Shiite — but has mainly played out in proxy conflicts in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, where Iran has supported militias that Saudi officials say have destabilized the region.

The timing of the reconciliation was a surprise to many analysts; until recently, Saudi officials had said they were making little progress in talks with Iran. So, too, was the role that China played, hosting the discussions that led to the breakthrough.

Several Washington-based policy experts framed the Chinese involvement as a challenge to waning American dominance in the Middle East. Indeed, some Gulf Arab officials say that they can no longer rely on the United States to guarantee their security, that they must solve their own problems, and

that China is ready to offer weapons, technology and investment with no strings attached.

But other analysts cautioned that the crown prince is simply leaning into the more pragmatic approach in foreign policy that he has followed over the past few years. While the United States remains the kingdom’s dominant security partner, they say Washington could not have brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran anyway, given its deeply strained relations with the Islamic Republic.

“It’s not like Saudi Arabia isn’t fully conscious that even a Chinese guarantee has its limits,” said Yasmine Farouk, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington research group. “The Saudis have learned, over the past few years, very hard lessons, one of those being we have to continue in the diversification of our relationships.”

Saudi Arabia has long made clear that it was seeking a resolution with Iran. Saudi officials held several rounds of talks with their Iranian counterparts over the past two years, including in Iraq and Oman.

In an interview in 2019, the crown prince said a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran would send oil prices skyrocketing and spark the “total collapse of the global economy,” meaning that a “political and peaceful solution is much better than the military one.”

Just weeks before those remarks, a missile and drone assault on a major Saudi oil installation had briefly disrupted half of the kingdom’s crude production, an attack that U.S. officials said was directly overseen by Iran.

The realization that Iran had the audacity and ability to carry out such an operation — and

that the attack had few immediate repercussions for the Islamic Republic — was a critical moment for Saudi officials, analysts have said. It appears to be part of what pushed them to enter into talks with Iran in 2021.

Since then, U.S. efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was abrogated by former President Donald Trump have faltered and stalled. Experts warn that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it chooses to, and Saudi officials fret that the kingdom could be their first target.

At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drawn the focus of global powers elsewhere, leaving Gulf governments with an even stronger sense that they must depend on themselves.

“Saudi foreign policy is very clear: They want to solve any differences, disagreements or disputes through diplomacy and have been trying very hard with the Iranians,” said Mohammed Alsulami, who heads an Iran-focused think tank in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

The first and most critical test of the new agreement with Iran will be played out in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2015. Saudi officials are eager to reach a deal to end the conflict, which has cost the Saudi government billions of dollars and sparked severe criticism of the kingdom in Washington and Europe. It has also killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and driven the country, the poorest in the Arab world, into a dire humanitarian crisis.

“In Yemen, we have a situation that is fragile but continuing on a positive trend,” United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at a news conference after the pact was announced. “We hope that this agreement will have a positive impact on this situation and others.”

Shopping at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Jan. 16, 2023. Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the broader region have much to gain from the reset in relations — if the agreement truly holds.

Restoring glory of Angola’s Carnival, with a puny budget but much passion

By JOHN ELIGON

The singer stood in a rubble-strewn courtyard in one of the hard-knock neighborhoods of Luanda, Angola’s capital, antsy as he got the performers in line for their final rehearsal before the big competition.

“United Af-ri-caaaa,” a voice hummed over a loudspeaker before a percussion-heavy beat kicked in. More than a dozen young people facing the singer, Tony do Fumo Jr., swiveled their hips and arms and stomped their feet.

The group of mostly teenagers, led by do Fumo, was preparing for its inaugural performance at Carnival, a celebration — and contest for prize money — that ushers in the Christian season of Lent. Pacing with the glare of a drill sergeant, he blew a whistle and waved an arm. The dancers froze. Another whistle and gesture, and they were back on beat, do Fumo bobbing along with them.

The son of an Angolan music legend, do Fumo grew up under the tutelage of some of the country’s most prominent musicians. He has performed across the world before live crowds and on television. But the pressure for this performance was unlike any he’d ever felt.

Once a cultural highlight that seized the streets of this port city in Africa’s southwest, Carnival in Luanda seems to barely register a blip these days. The swirl of colorful, flowing costumes, semba music and hip-shaking dances that make up the Mardi Gras-like festivities are mostly confined over three days to a quarter-mile waterfront stretch known as Marginal. Many blame the event’s decline on the distraction of life’s daily hardships and a lack of financial investment from a government stretched thin.

Enter do Fumo, 38, a semba singer who performs with an immersive passion. He is among those trying to help restore Carnival’s glory — and change what it means to participate in it.

Organizers have encouraged Angolans to form groups that not only perform in the event, but also engage in social and cultural activities year-round. That’s what do Fumo had in mind when, six years back, he started his Carnival group, União Jovens do Prenda, or the United Youth of Prenda, named for his former neighborhood in Luanda. It qualified for the competition — and the prize money awarded to the winners — for the first time this year.

And do Fumo was hoping his group would win a much-needed infusion of cash to fund activities like buying wheelchairs, feeding the hungry and providing support to

help young people resist gangs.

He was born with art in his DNA; while his father sang, his mother danced. But his parents died when he was just 6, and he grew up struggling, in a rough neighborhood with relatives who had few financial resources. He has participated in Carnival since he was 8, and sees his group as a vehicle to help young people overcome difficult conditions, as he did, through culture.

“When God gives you an opportunity to get something, it’s not only for you,” do Fumo said. “What I get for being an artist, I share with the community. We all eat the same food.”

So there he was, only hours before the group was scheduled to compete on a Sunday afternoon late last month, frantically trying to make sure everything was right.

The government had allocated 1.3 million kwanzas for the group, but that had not yet been paid. Instead, to pay for the costumes and everything else, do Fumo had burned through 1.5 million kwanzas (nearly $3,000) of his own money, which he had been saving to buy a car. And that was barely enough.

The top hats that went with the costumes were fashioned from cardboard and covered in cheap fabric. Most of the large posters the performers would carry were hand drawn, rather than professionally printed.

“When it comes to culture, they should do more,” do Fumo said of the government.

Filipe Zau, Angola’s minister of culture and tourism, conceded that funding was lacking. The challenge, he said, was that Carnival was no longer confined to urban centers, meaning there were more groups for the government to support. He said enticing more private sponsors, planning earlier and attracting foreign visitors were all part of the government’s strategy to raise more revenue to bolster Carnival, which in Angola dates back a century when Angolans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate — and to mock their Portuguese colonizers.

“It’s politically important, it’s culturally important, it’s socially important,” Zau said.

In an ideal world, a vibrant Carnival would help uplift struggling neighborhoods like Cassequel. Gutters and streams around the community of tightly packed bungalows are filled with trash and mucky water, and a stench to go with it. Along the craggy dirt roads, women set up wooden stands to sell fruits and vegetables. Alcohol is often the main free time activity for many young people.

Do Fumo had no time to think about what might be in the future. Showtime was

Relaxing and preparing before the Carnival festivities in Luanda, Angola, on Feb. 18, 2023. There is a hope that Carnival groups engage in social and cultural activities year-round.

approaching. With the flair of a coach before the big game, he delivered some final instructions to the younger performers.

Focus on the competition, not hanging out with friends. Drink water so you don’t faint. Keep your emotions in check. Breathe.

“We are going to Marginal to bring the big prize to our community,” he roared, and the dozens of young people around him let out a big cheer before boarding the buses for the main Carnival venue.

Somehow, when the moment came to perform before the judges on the street with the temporary bleachers, all of the scattered pieces in the courtyard seemed to click. Two performers led the charge, wheeling a painted banner bearing the name Jovens do Prenda set against a desert scape. The dancers sashayed right behind. Do Fumo, in all white with a colorful top hat, bounced up and down amid the rows of dancers.

When it was all done, they laughed and joked and returned to the courtyard at night, where the young performers huddled around do Fumo.

“They really surprised me,” he said, pointing out that there was not a single professional dancer among the group. “The good thing was to see the commitment from my people and see them all together, united.”

A few days later, the results were in: Jovens do Prenda placed 14th, out of 15 groups in its category. There would be no prize money this year.

But do Fumo was already moving on.

Shortly before Carnival, one of the group’s dancers had told him her house was in dire condition. After Carnival, it collapsed, do Fumo said. So he has started raising money to buy materials to build her a new house.

“Let’s go now, let’s work,” he said.

Is nuclear arms control just a fantasy?

Center, cyberattacks are now considered the major global menace, followed by false information, China, Russia, the global economy, infectious diseases and climate change. My grandson, a college student, told me his peers don’t see a global nuclear war as a real danger today.

Yet even the sharply reduced Russian and American nuclear arsenals are still enough to wipe out much of the world, China is pushing hard to become the third nuclear superpower, and at least six other countries, including the uber-dictatorship North Korea, have nuclear weapons (the others: Britain, France, Israel, India and Pakistan).

Perversely, the complexity of today’s world has even generated something akin to nostalgia for a time when there were only two superpowers to deal with and stability depended on mutually assured destruction. But it is hard to be nostalgic about a time when President John F. Kennedy urged all Americans to prepare nuclear shelters (“The time to start is now”) and nuclear nightmares were the stuff of popular movies like “On the Beach,” “Fail Safe” and “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

At the same time, China is racing ahead in an apparent bid to match the U.S. and Russian arsenals by 2035. So far, Beijing has rebuffed any efforts to negotiate limits with the United States, though it joined the United States, Russia, France and Britain in January 2022 in declaring that “nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

Even if Russia and China can be brought to the table, the parties will need a new way to define how many bombs each nation needs to deter the other two.

In the meantime, China’s growing arsenal might spur India to build up its own, which could prod Pakistan to do the same. On other fronts, Iran is said to be steadily advancing its nuclear program since former President Donald Trump’s ill-advised withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. And there are no contacts with North Korea, which demonstrated readiness in the past to negotiate constraints on its nuclear program.

By SERGE SCHMEMANN

The announcement last month by President Vladimir Putin of Russia that his country would suspend participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States set off long-dormant alarm bells. American nuclear forces went on red alert, people rushed to restock nuclear shelters, toilet paper and powdered milk vanished from grocery shelves … at least in Putin’s dreams, given his fantasy of restoring Russia to the salad days of Cold War brinkmanship.

Yet Putin’s pronouncement was widely interpreted for what it was, saber rattling to convince his cowed citizens that the war against Ukraine really is a life-or-death clash of superpowers. Most Americans appeared to take little notice of the announcement; many probably had only a vague notion of what the New START pact, more formally known as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, was about. Some may have been surprised that there were any agreements between the United States and Russia left to rip up.

Satisfying as it may be to deny Putin the pleasure of touching off panic in the West, his move was a blunt reminder that the threat of nuclear war is still present, possibly metastasizing, and should not be lightly dismissed.

More than 30 years after the end of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear obliteration simply doesn’t rank among Americans’ greatest fears. For a while after Sept. 11, global terrorism reigned in the public’s mind as the most pressing threat. According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research

True, there were fears when the Soviet Union collapsed that a terrible “second nuclear age” of unchecked proliferation and nuclear terrorism would follow. In fact, since the end of the Cold War only North Korea got its own bomb, and its nuclear program began long before the Soviet Union ended. On the opposite side of the ledger, South Africa abandoned its nuclear program in 1989, and three new states that inherited some Soviet nuclear weapons — Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan — surrendered them (perhaps now to their regret).

Yet nuclear arms controls are as needed today as they ever were, and not only with Moscow. Putin obliquely acknowledged that when, after saying on Feb. 21 that Russia would suspend participation in New START, Russia quickly added that the country would continue to respect the treaty’s limits on nuclear warheads and delivery systems.

The alternative, he knew, could be a new arms race in which Russia was no match for America’s economic and technological abilities. In effect, . Putin’s announcement extended a suspension of on-site inspections that began during the pandemic.

That is serious. But at least the principle of limiting strategic nuclear warheads (to 1,550 each) and the missiles, submarines and heavy bombers with which to launch them survives.

Even if the Doomsday Clock doesn’t move any closer to midnight, time is still running out. New START expires in three years. It’s hard to imagine negotiations on a new treaty so long as the war in Ukraine rages on.

With the war in Ukraine casting a pall on Washington’s relations with Russia, China, India and much of the global south, arms controls may seem a waste of time. But the era of arms controls began when relations between Washington and Moscow reached a dangerous low after the Cuban missile crisis.

Putin’s missile-rattling may be a signal that the Ukraine war has taken us there again.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – La comisionada residente

Jenniffer González Colón, junto a los representantes Byron Donalds, Bill Posey, Scott Franklin, junto a los senadores Rick Scott y Marco Rubio, presentaron el lunes, el proyecto Hurricane Tax Relief Act, medida bicameral que proveería un alivio contributivo por pérdidas relacionadas con desastres a las familias en 51 condados de la Florida y en Puerto Rico que fueron impactadas por los huracanes Ian, Nicole y Fiona.

“Un proceso de recuperación integral requiere reconocer que los residentes y empresas a veces tienen que usar sus propios recursos como parte de su respuesta. Esta legislación brinda un alivio muy oportuno a quienes sufrieron pérdidas en los desastres recientes y ahora buscan reconstruir sus hogares y lugares de trabajo, especialmente ante el aumento de los costos. Me enorgullece coliderar este esfuerzo bipartidista en nombre del pueblo de Puerto Rico y Florida y espero trabajar con los senadores Scott y Rubio y los representantes Donalds, Franklin y Posey a medida que este proyecto de ley avanza en el proceso legislativo”, dijo

González Colón, coautora de la medida, en declaraciones escritas.

El Hurricane Tax Relief Act busca en términos generales que donde los huracanes Ian, Nicole y Fiona hayan sido declarados federalmente como un desastre, se puedan deducir más fácilmente de la contribución sobre ingresos federal las pérdidas por hecho fortuito asociadas al mismo. Este proyecto de ley modifica la deducción por pérdidas personales por hechos fortuitos en las áreas de desastre del huracán, eximiendo de los requisitos para que los contribuyentes afectados detallen las deducciones o demuestren pérdidas que excedan el 10% del ingreso bruto ajustado. El Congreso extendió previamente similar alivio fiscal en los huracanes Irma, Wilma, Dorian y Michael, entre otros.

La medida incorpora lenguaje para que en el caso de Puerto Rico, el Secretario del Tesoro coordine con el Departamento de Hacienda la creación de un mecanismo para que este beneficio aplique a contribuyentes de Puerto Rico y resarcir la diferencia en recaudos, tal como se hizo en años recientes con pagos de los créditos de emergencia por Covid y los créditos por dependiente (CTC).

Según el IRS, “una pérdida por hecho fortuito puede resultar del daño, destrucción o pérdida de su propiedad por un suceso repentino, inesperado o poco común, tal como una inundación, huracán, tornado, incendio, terremoto o erupción volcánica. Un hecho fortuito no incluye el desgaste normal o el deterioro progresivo.”

“Lo último por lo que las familias deberían preocuparse mientras se recuperan de tormentas devastadoras como lo fueron Ian, Nicole y Fiona es el de tener una factura de impuestos. En años anteriores, el Congreso ha trabajado para asegurarse de que las familias puedan obtener el alivio fiscal por pérdidas por desastres que se merecen después de los huracanes, y este proyecto de ley sigue ese precedente. Las comunidades en Florida y Puerto Rico han demostrado una fuerza increíble en los días, semanas y meses posteriores a estas tormentas, y es fundamental que sigamos asegurándonos de que el gobierno federal esté trabajando con los funcionarios estatales y locales para llevar recursos a quienes los necesitan”, dijo el senador Rick Scott, coautor de la medida en el senado.

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – La División de Integridad Pública y Asuntos del Contralor (DIPAC) del Departamento de Justicia culminó el lunes, una investigación preliminar sobre un referido contra el director ejecutivo del Centro de Recaudaciones de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), Reinaldo Paniagua Látimer, y el subdirector ejecutivo de esa dependencia, Javier García Cintrón, por presuntamente intentar intervenir con la función legislativa del representante José González Mercado.

Según un comunicado de prensa, debido a que la prueba no sostuvo las alegaciones, el secretario del Departamento de Justicia, Domingo Emanuelli Hernández, emitió una notificación a la Oficina del Panel sobre el Fiscal Especial Independiente (OPFEI) en la cual no recomienda la designación de un Fiscal Especial Independiente (FEI) para investigar a los funcionarios.

La investigación preliminar inició con una querella presentada por el representante González Mercado, recibida el 12 de agosto de 2022, en la cual alegó que tanto el director como el

subdirector del CRIM intentaron intervenir con su función legislativa, mediante persecución y amenazas. Considerando que a los querellados les cobijan las disposiciones de la Ley Núm. 2-1988, conocida como Ley de la Oficina del Panel sobre el Fiscal Especial Independiente, la querella fue investigada en la DIPAC del Departamento de Justicia.

“Finalizada la investigación preliminar, luego de evaluar la prueba recopilada y tras analizar todo el derecho aplicable, la DIPAC determinó que la evidencia recopilada no sostuvo las alegaciones de la querella. Particularmente, se determinó que el representante González Mercado no recibió amenaza alguna por parte de los querellados”, lee el informe presentado por la DIPAC al secretario. El titular de Justicia acogió la recomendación de la DIPAC, y envió a la OPFEI el informe sobre la investigación preliminar y el expediente.

Específicamente, el querellante sostuvo que luego de presentar la Resolución de la Cámara 776, la cual busca que se investigue la metodología usada y los contratos suscritos por el CRIM

para tasar las propiedades inmuebles, recibió un sinnúmero de llamadas del director Ejecutivo Paniagua Látimer. Adujo que, al responder una llamada, este le solicitó que detuviera la investigación, debido a que, a su juicio, le estaba “haciendo el juego a los populares.” Sin embargo, la evidencia estableció que la llamada no se dio en esos términos y que la acción no fue una intervención indebida en las operaciones gubernamentales, según nuestro ordenamiento jurídico en el ámbito penal.

No recomiendan FEI para investigar al director y subdirector del CRIM por intervención con la función legislativa

Presentan medida congresional que proveería alivio contributivo a puertorriqueños y floridanos impactados por los huracanes Ian, Nicole y Fiona

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is big winner at the Oscars

belmans”).

In some ways, spreading nominations widely reflected the jumbled state of Hollywood. No one in the movie capital seems to know which end is up, with streaming services like Netflix hot then not, and studios unsure about how many films to release in theaters and whether anything but superheroes, sequels and horror stories can succeed. Over the weekend, “Scream VI” was the top movie at the North American box office, with an estimated $44.5 million in ticket sales.

First-time nominees filled 16 of the 20 acting slots, with new stars like Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) and Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) honored for breakthrough roles.

But first-time acting nominations also went to Hollywood stalwarts like Curtis, Yeoh and Brendan Fraser. To some degree, the inclusion of Quan, Curtis, Fraser and Yeoh was seen as redemption for Hollywood: All had somehow been cast to the side at some point over their careers.

An overcome Fraser, who won the Oscar for best actor for his performance as an obese professor in “The Whale,” thanked Darren Aronofsky, the film’s director, “for throwing me a creative lifeline.”

By BROOKS BARNES

In the late 1960s, young cineastes shook up a moribund film industry by delivering idiosyncratic, startlingly original work. The moment became known as New Hollywood.

When film historians look back at the 95th Academy Awards, they may mark it as the start of a new New Hollywood. Voters honored A24’s head-twisting, sex toy-brandishing, TikTok-era “Everything Everywhere All at Once” with the Oscar for best picture — along with six other awards — while naming Netflix’s German-language war epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” the winner in four categories, including best international film.

The Daniels, the young filmmaking duo behind the racially diverse “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” won Oscars for their original screenplay and directing. (The Daniels is an oh-so-cool sobriquet for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They are both 35.) The film, which received a field-leading 11 nominations, also won Oscars for film editing, best actress and best supporting actor and actress, with Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis honored for their performances.

“Ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you that you are ever past your prime,” Yeoh, 60, said when accepting the best actress Oscar. “Never give up.” She was the first Asian woman to receive the award.

Quan’s win provided the Academy Awards with a hall-of-fame comeback story: After early success in mov-

ies like “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” his acting career grew so cold that he turned to stunt work. “Dreams are something you have to believe in,” Quan said as tears streamed down his face and A-list attendees gave him a standing ovation. “I almost gave up on mine. To everyone out there, please keep your dreams alive.”

Curtis was also in tears by the time she reached the fiery conclusion of her acceptance speech. “To all of the people who have supported the genre movies that I have made for all these years,” she said, “the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together!”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spread nominations remarkably far and wide this year. Two blockbuster sequels, “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” made the best picture cut. So did the littleseen art films “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Talking” and “Tár.” Voters also made room for a musical (“Elvis”) and a memory piece (“The Fa-

The academy was also trying to balance old and new in the Oscars ceremony itself. The academy’s CEO had promised a return to the polished, glamorous Oscar ceremonies of the past to recover from last year’s chaotic telecast, when an angry Will Smith walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock. In a change from last year, when eight categories were scuttled to a nontelevised portion, all 23 Oscars were handed out live on air.

As host, Jimmy Kimmel arrived on the Oscars stage by parachute, moments after a pair of “Top Gun”-style fighter jets flew over the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles at 345 mph. He then breezed through a self-assured monologue that left the A-listers seated before him cheering in support. He teased Steven Spielberg — gently — for his lack of recreational drug use and Fraser and Quan for once appearing together in “Encino Man.” It was the kind of affable ribbing that once made Billy Crystal the king of the Oscar emcee’s.

“And if any of you get offended by a joke and decide you want

Stephanie Hsu and David Byrne perform “This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” at the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, March 12, 2023.

Jamie Lee Curtis with her Oscar for best actress in a supporting role for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

to come up here and get jiggy with it? It’s not going to be easy,” Kimmel said, addressing last year’s slap without directly mentioning Smith. He then joked that people like Michael B. Jordan, the “Creed” star, and Pedro Pascal, who plays the title role in “The Mandalorian,” were prepared to intervene.

“Seriously, the academy has a crisis team in place,” Kimmel said. “If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just do what you did last year — nothing. Maybe even give the assailant a hug.”

As expected, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” received the Oscar for best animated feature, and “Navalny” was honored as best documentary. Less anticipated was Ruth Carter’s win for her “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” costume design. (Most awards handicappers had predicted victory for the “Elvis” costume designer Catherine Martin. Carter also won for “Black Panther” in 2019.)

The #OscarsSoWhite outcries from 2015 and 2016, prompted by all-white slates of acting nominees, continue to reverberate at the academy, which has been trying to diversify its membership by race, gender and nationality. Nearly 50% of the academy’s most recent class of new members came from overseas. About 25% of the academy’s total membership of 10,000 now comes from outside the United States.

But the academy was criticized this year for not nominating any women in the best director category. For decades, women and people of color were almost entirely excluded from the directing race. In 2021, for the first time, two women were nominated: Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”), with Zhao winning. Last year, Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) won the Oscar for directing.

This year, Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) was left out even though her film was nominated for best picture. (Polley won for her adapted screenplay.) “I give up,” Patty Jenkins, whose directing credits include “Wonder Woman” and “Monster,” told Variety on Saturday about women being shut out of the category. “It’s still going to take a long ways to go.

It’s going to take a lot more to really see truly more diverse awards.”

The internationalization of the academy was on display among this year’s directing nominees. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Britishborn Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) were honored. Joining them were Todd Field (Tár) and the Daniels. Filling out the best director category was Spielberg — a director who was once part of that New Hollywood crew and is now a Hollywood elder statesman with nine total nominations for directing, this one for “The Fabelmans.”

The academy emphasized that the ceremony would feel modern — part of an urgent effort to make the telecast more relevant to young people. The 2022 show drew 16.6 million viewers, the second-worst turnout on record after the pandemic-affected 2021 telecast. If the Nielsen ratings do not improve, the academy faces a financial precipice: Most of its revenue comes from the sale of broadcasting rights to the show. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. (The most-viewed Oscars telecast was in 1998, when 57.2 million people watched “Titanic” win the trophy for best picture.)

Big musical stars, including Rihanna and Lady Gaga, sang their nominated songs; Lenny Kravitz performed during the “In Memoriam” segment. The best song Oscar went to “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian film “RRR.” The nominee pool for best picture had never before included more than one billion-dollar ticket seller, according to box office databases, and this year there were two. “Top Gun: Maverick” collected $1.5 billion, and “Avatar: The Way of Water” took in $2.3 billion. (Viewership tends to increase when popular films are nominated.)

In another change, the red carpet was not red: Stars walked a Champagne-colored rug, breaking with a 62-year tradition. The choice was made as part of an overhaul of the preshow spectacle, which, for the first time, was managed by members of the Met Gala’s creative team. In the days leading up to the Oscars, another in a series of rainstorms soaked Los Angeles, so much so that the academy sent an

alert to the news media Wednesday warning that it may “need to clear the carpet at a moment’s notice.” In the end, the weather cooperated, and it was a sunny 63 degrees.

2023 OSCAR WINNERS

Best Picture

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actress

Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Actor

Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

Best Director

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Editing

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Paul Rogers)

Adapted Screenplay

“Women Talking” (Sarah Polley)

Original Song

“Naatu Naatu,” by M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose (“RRR”)

Original Score

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Volker Bertelmann)

Original Screenplay

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)

Animated Short

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Costume Design

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Ruth Carter)

Makeup and Hairstyling

“The Whale” (Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley)

Cinematography

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (James Friend)

Live-Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye”

Visual Effects

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett)

International Feature

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany Sound

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Mark Weingarten, James Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor)

Production Design

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper)

Documentary Feature

“Navalny”

Documentary Short

“The Elephant Whisperers”

Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Best Supporting Actress

Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Animated Feature

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

“Avatar: The Way of Water” wins the award for best visual effects at the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, March 12, 2023.

The San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, March 14, 2023 21

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett with their Oscars for best visual effects for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” at the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Ancient DNA reveals history of hunter-gatherers in Europe

By CARL ZIMMER

In the 1800s, archaeologists began reconstructing the deep history of Europe from the bones of ancient hunter-gatherers and the iconic art they left behind, like cave paintings, fertility figurines and “lion-man” statues.

Over the past decade, geneticists have added a new dimension to that history by extracting DNA from teeth and bones.

And now, in a pair of studies published Wednesday, researchers have produced the most robust analysis yet of the genetic record of prehistoric Europe.

Looking at DNA gleaned from the remains of 357 ancient Europeans, researchers discovered that several waves of huntergatherers migrated into Europe. The studies identified at least eight populations, some more genetically distinct from each other than modern-day Europeans and Asians. They coexisted in Europe for thousands of years, apparently trading tools and sharing cultures. Some groups survived the ice age, while others vanished, perhaps wiped out by other groups.

“We are finally understanding the dynamics of European hunter-gatherers,” said Vanessa Villalba-Mouco, a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and an author of both studies.

The new genetic analysis suggests that when farmers arrived in Europe about 8,000 years ago, they encountered the descendants of this long history, with light-skinned, dark-eyed people to the east, and possibly dark-skinned and blue-eyed people to the west.

Villalba-Mouco and her colleagues have given these peoples a list of new names that can be as hard to memorize as the kingdoms of Westeros: the Fournol, the Vestonice, the GoyetQ2, the Villabruna, the Oberkassel and the Sidelkino, among others.

But the scientists are only just beginning to understand how so many different groups emerged 45,000 to 5,000 years ago.

“I didn’t expect these amounts of replacements and changes in ancestry,” said Carles Lalueza-Fox, the director of the Natural Sciences Museum in Barcelona, Spain, and an author of one of the new papers. “We lack still an understanding of why these movements were triggered. What happened here, why it happened — it’s strange.”

Modern humans arose in Africa and expanded to other continents about 60,000 years ago. Last year, archaeologists reported what might be the oldest evidence of those humans reaching Europe: a set of 54,000-year-old teeth in a French cave.

When these groups arrived in Europe, Neanderthals had already been living across the continent for more than 100,000 years. The Neanderthals disappeared about 40,000 years ago, perhaps because modern humans outcompeted them with superior tools.

But the oldest DNA of modern humans in Europe, dating back 45,000 years, undermines such a simple story. It comes from people who belonged to a lost branch of the human family tree. Their ancestors were part of the expansion out of Africa, but they split off on their own before the ancestors of living Europeans and Asians split apart.

These early Europeans have almost no genetic link to

younger remains of hunter-gatherers. It appears that the first modern humans in Europe may have disappeared along with the Neanderthals, said Cosimo Posth, a paleogeneticist at the University of Tübingen in Germany and an author on the two papers published Wednesday.

“It’s actually quite interesting that the very first modern humans also had a very hard time to actually survive,” Posth said.

Before the advent of ancient DNA analysis, archaeologists would give names to cultures based on the styles of the things they made. The oldest modern human culture in Europe is known as the Aurignacians, named for the continent’s oldest figurative cave paintings and sculptures.

About 33,000 years ago, as the climate turned cold, a new culture called the Gravettian arose across Europe. Gravettian hunters made spears to kill woolly mammoths and other big game. They also made so-called Venus figurines that might have represented fertility.

Posth and his colleagues found DNA in Gravettian remains scattered across Europe. The scientists had expected all of the individuals to have come from the same genetic population, but instead found two distinct groups: one in France and Spain, and another in Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany.

“They were very distinct, and this was a very big surprise to us because they practiced the same archaeological culture,” Posth said.

Posth and his colleagues named the western population the Fournol people, and found a genetic link between this group and 35,000-year-old Aurignacian remains in Belgium.

They called the eastern group Vestonice, and discovered that they share an ancestry with 34,000-year-old hunter-gatherers who lived in Russia.

That genetic gulf led Posth and his colleagues to argue that the Fournol and Vestonice belonged to two waves that migrated into Europe separately. After they arrived, they lived for several thousand years sharing the Gravettian culture but remaining genetically distinct.

“This result is, in my opinion, groundbreaking,” said Anaïs Luiza Vignoles, an archaeologist at the University of Paris who was not involved in the study.

Vingoles said that archaeologists could now investigate the kind of cultural contacts these two populations had. It’s clear from the new study that they were not isolated entirely from each other. In Belgium, the scientists found 30,000-year-old remains with a mix of Fournol and Vestonice ancestry.

About 26,000 years ago, the two groups faced a new threat to their survival: an advancing wall of glaciers. During the ice age, from 26,000 to 19,000 years ago, European huntergatherers were shut out of much of the continent, surviving only in southern refuges.

Villalba-Mouco and her colleagues shed light on the refuge of the Iberian Peninsula, the region now occupied by Spain and Portugal, by studying DNA in the teeth of a 23,000-year-old man found in a cave in southern Spain. His DNA revealed that he belonged to the Fournol people who lived in Iberia before the ice age. The researchers also found genetic markers linking him to a 45,000-year-old skeleton discovered in Bulgaria.

When the glaciers retreated, some descendants of the Fournol continued living in Iberia. But others expanded north as a new population, which Posth and his colleagues called GoyetQ2. “It really seems like a peopling of Europe after the last glacial maximum,” he said.

The Vestonice, by contrast, did not survive the ice age. When the glaciers were at their most expansive, the Vestonice may have endured for a time in Italy. But Posth and his colleagues found no Vestonice ancestry in Europeans after the ice age. Instead, they discovered a population of hunter-gatherers that appeared to have expanded from the Balkans, known as the Villabruna. They moved into Italy and replaced the Vestonice.

For several thousand years, the Villabruna were limited to southern Europe. Then,

Continues on page 23

14,000 years ago, they crossed the Alps and encountered the GoyetQ2 people to the north. A new population emerged, its ancestry three parts Villabruna to one part GoyetQ2.

An undated photo provided by Volker Minkus shows the skull and stone tools from a 7,000-year-old man found in Germany years ago. Looking at DNA gleaned from ancient remains, researchers identified half a dozen previously unknown populations of early Europeans.

An undated photo provided by Tom Bjoerklund shows an artist’s rendering of a hunter-gatherer in Italy belonging to the Vestonice people, who lived there between 32,000 and 24,000 years ago.

Oh, no. Time to worry about norovirus again.

By DANI BLUM

Cases of norovirus — a common, contagious virus that can induce vomiting and diarrhea — are generally rising across the United States, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Norovirus is spreading elsewhere, too; in England, cases are reportedly 66% higher than the average around this time of year, with the largest increase among people ages 65 and older.

Norovirus outbreaks are common in places where people are close together and touch the same surfaces — such as day care centers and cruise ships, said Dr. Camille Sabella, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. But anyone anywhere can contract the virus. Here’s what to know about symptoms, treatment and prevention.

What is norovirus?

Norovirus is a viral infection that inflames your intestines, Sabella said. People sick with norovirus typically feel nauseated, have diarrhea and throw up; they may also experience stomach pain. Some people develop a fever. Symptoms usually clear up after one to three days, said Dr. Karen Krueger, an infectious diseases specialist at Northwestern Medicine.

“It comes in quickly and it leaves quickly,” Sabella added. For many people, the illness is usually mild, though extremely unpleasant. But norovirus can cause young children, seniors, and those with compromised immune systems or existing health conditions to become severely dehydrated. In rare cases, people can become hospitalized or die.

How does norovirus spread?

The virus is highly transmissible: Infected people can shed billions of norovirus particles, according to the CDC, and it takes fewer than 100 particles to make another person sick. What’s more, people can continue to shed the virus even after they’re feeling better, Sabella said; in some cases, they can transmit the virus for up to two weeks after their symptoms go away. In fact, people are most contagious when they have symptoms and in the days immediately after those symptoms fade.

Norovirus can spread in a few insidious ways. The most common route is through close contact with an infected person, said Dr. Jennifer Lighter, an infectious diseases specialist and

hospital public health researcher at NYU Langone Health. For example, parents can get sick by changing a diaper and then touching their mouths or by ingesting tiny, often unnoticeable particles in the air transmitted from a vomiting child. “You see the whole family get sick at the same time,” Lighter said. You can also get norovirus if you shake a sick person’s hand and then touch your mouth.

The virus can also spread via surfaces: If an infected person vomits and touches a doorknob, and then you reach for that doorknob and touch your mouth (which happens more often than you might think), there’s a good chance you will pick up norovirus. It’s not clear just how long norovirus can survive on a surface, Sabella said.

Norovirus can also contaminate food and water, Sabella said. For example, infected people might have tiny traces of feces on their hands and then touch food, or a septic tank might leak into a well. Norovirus is the most common culprit of foodborne illnesses in the country, Krueger said.

How do you know whether it’s norovirus or food poisoning (or something else)?

Most of the time, you won’t be able to tell the difference, Sabella said. And generally, it doesn’t matter. Unless you’re sick enough to go the hospital, a doctor typically won’t recommend getting a diagnostic test because symptom management is usually similar for all manner of stomach bugs.

There are PCR tests for stool samples available, Krueger said, but doctors use those tests only in rare instances.

How do you treat norovirus?

There is no treatment for norovirus, Lighter said; you just

Ancient DNA reveals history of hunter-gatherers in Europe

From page 22

This new people, which Posth and his colleagues called Oberkassel, expanded across much of Europe, replacing the old GoyetQ2 population.

Posth speculated that another climate shift could explain this new wave. About 14,000 years ago, a pulse of strong warming produced forests across much of Europe. The Oberkassel people may have been better at hunting in forests, whereas the GoyetQ2 retreated with the shrinking steppes.

To the east, the Oberkassel ran into a new group of hunter-gatherers, who probably arrived from Russia. The scientists named this group’s descendants, who lived in Ukraine and surrounding regions, the Sidelkino.

But in Iberia, there were no great sweeps of newcomers replacing older peoples. The Iberians after the ice age still carried a great deal of ancestry from the Fournol people who had arrived there thousands of years before the glaciers advanced. The Villabruna people moved into northern Spain, but added their DNA to the mix rather than replacing those who were there before.

When the first farmers arrived in Europe from Turkey about 8,000 years ago, three large groups of hunter-gatherers thrived across Europe: the Iberians, the Oberkassel and the Sidelkino. Living Europeans carry some of their genes, which allowed Posth and his colleagues to make some educated guesses about the physical appearances of the ancient populations.

The Sidelkino people in the east had genes associated with

need a few days to let the infection run its course. But there are ways to manage your symptoms.

Above all, it’s crucial to get enough fluids, as the liquid you lose from vomiting and having diarrhea can cause dehydration — which, in turn, can lead to serious complications and potentially hospitalization. Water can help keep you hydrated, but you may want to reach for an electrolyte drink, especially if you are vomiting, Sabella said, to avoid an electrolyte imbalance.

How do you know if you’re adequately hydrated? With babies, Sabella said, look for frequent, wet diapers. Children and adults should be urinating regularly and their pee should be a light, clear yellow, Krueger said. Keep a close eye on infants and older people, she added. If they are acting lethargic, it may be a sign that they are extremely dehydrated and that you should seek medical attention.

Don’t force yourself to eat when you’re still throwing up frequently, Sabella said, but once the vomiting subsides, opt for bland foods such as bananas and toast until you feel better.

Can you get norovirus multiple times?

Yes. (Sorry.) There are numerous strains of norovirus, so it’s possible to get infected more than once. You will probably have some short-term protection from the virus after you recover, Sabella said, but because norovirus moves through the body so quickly, your immune system doesn’t have time to form lasting defenses against it. Fortunately, though, subsequent bouts of the virus tend to be less severe if they occur in the same season, Sabella said.

How can I avoid getting norovirus?

The most important thing you can do is wash your hands frequently with warm water and soap, Sabella said. Don’t use hand sanitizer or alcohol sprays, such as those from Purell, in lieu of washing your hands because they are not as effective as soap and water, Lighter added.

Fruits and vegetables are common sources of transmission, so you should wash them before consuming, Krueger said.

If you’re around a sick family member or taking care of someone, wipe down common surfaces such as door handles and bathroom faucets, Sabella said. Most household disinfectants do not kill norovirus, Lighter said, so make sure you’re using bleach.

dark eyes and light skin. The Oberkassel in the west, in contrast, probably had blue eyes and may have had dark skin, although it’s harder to be sure of their appearance than the Sidelkino.

These three groups of hunter-gatherers remained isolated from each other for about 6,000 years, until the farmers from Turkey arrived. After this advent of agriculture, the three groups began mixing, the scientists found. It’s possible that the spread of farmland forced them to move to the margins of Europe to survive. But over time, they were absorbed into the agricultural communities that surrounded them.

Ludovic Orlando, a molecular archaeologist at Paul Sabatier University in France who was not involved in the new research, said that it was a milestone in the study of early humans. “I was really blown away,” he said.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN FEDERICO

ANDINO GONZALEZ PETICIONARIA EX-PARTE

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV00522.

Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO (705). EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y DESCONOCIDAS A QUIENES PUDIERA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN DEL DOMINIO A FAVOR DE LA PARTE PETICIONARIA EN EL REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD DE LA FINCA

QUE MÁS ADELANTE SE DESCRIBIRÁ Y A TODA

PERSONA EN GENERAL

QUE CON DERECHO

PARA ELLO DESEE OPONERSE A ESTE EXPEDIENTE.

POR LA PRESENTE: se les notifica para que comparezcan, si lo creyeren pertinente, ante este Honorable Tribunal dentro de los veinte (20) días contados a partir de la última publicación e este edicto a exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga en el expediente promovido por la parte peticionaria para adquirir su dominio sobre la finca que se describe más adelante. Usted deberá presentar su posición 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 en la secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de expresarse dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia, previo a escuchar la prueba de valor de la parte peticionaria en su contra, sin más citarle ni oírle, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la petición, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El abogado de la parte peticionaria es el Lic. Jaime Rodríguez Rivera, cuya dirección es #30 Calle Reparto Piñero, Guaynabo, PR 00969-5650, Teléfono 787-

720-9553. “RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno radicado en el barrio Hato Nuevo Carretera 173 km 7.6) de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de aproximadamente 250-300 METROS CUADRADOS. (Según mensura efectuada por el Ing. Juan Rodríguez Claudio, de 247.282 metros cuadrados). En lindes por el NORTE: Carretera estatal 173; al SUR: con terrenos de Alexander Fuentes; por el ESTE: con terrenos de Omar Abdecadel y por el OESTE: terrenos de Daniel Sánchez. Enclava una estructura para fines residenciales.”

Este edicto deberá ser publicado en tres (3) ocasiones dentro del término de veinte (20) días, en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quieren alegar su derecho. Toda primera mención de persona natural y/o jurídica que se mencione en el mismo, se identificará en letra tamaño 10 puntos y negrillas, conforme a lo dispuesto en las Reglas de procedimiento Civil, 2009. Se le apercibe que de no comparecer los interesados y/o partes citadas, o en su defecto los organismos públicos afectados en el término improrrogable de veinte (20) días a contar de la fecha de la última publicación el edicto, el Tribunal podrá conceder el remedio solicitado por la parte peticionaria, sin más citarle ni oírle. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 13 de febrero de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. NÉLIDA OCASIÓ

ORTEGA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

REVERSE MORTGAGE

FUNDING LLC.

Demandante Vs.

SUCESION MARIA

TERESA BELFORT

RODRIGUEZ T/C/C MARIA

BELFORT RODRIGUEZ

COMPUESTA POR

MARIA VICTORIA

ORTIZ BELFORT, LUZ

MERCEDES ORTIZ

BELFORT; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO

DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CG2021CV02592.

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 continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número ocho (8) del Bloque “AH” de la Urbanización Caguas Norte situada en el Barrio Bairoa de Caguas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de trescientos treinta y uno punto veinte metros cuadrados (331.20 m/c). En lindes por el NORTE, en catorce punto cuarenta metros (14.40m), con la calle número veintiocho (28); por el SUR, en catorce punto cuarenta metros (14.40m), con solares número trece (13) y catorce (14); por el ESTE, en veintitrés punto cero cero metros (23.00m), con el solar número siete (7); y por el OESTE, en veintitrés punto cero cero metros (23.00m), con el solar número nueve (9). Enclava una casa. Inscrita al folio 100 del tomo 927 de Caguas, finca 31,390, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. Propiedad localizada en: URB. CAGUAS NORTE, AH-8 CALLE QUEBEC, CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO 00725. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga:

N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento:

N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del

crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $205,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 1 de abril de 2082. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $205,500.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 10 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $137,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $102,750.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 17 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $135,125.29 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $27,173.58 en intereses acumulados al 31 de agosto de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.89% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $5,877.09 en seguro hipotecario; $5,635.00 en tarifas de servicio; $1,665.32 en seguro; $525.00 de tasaciones; $540.00 de inspecciones; $12,229.50 en preservación; $1,860.00 de adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $20,550.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la

referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 10 de febrero de 2023. CARLOS DELGADO CRUZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593. *

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE UTUADO BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. MARIBEL TORRES MONTALVO Y SU ESPOSO ANGEL ARIEL COLON OQUENDO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: UT2022CV00264. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: MARIBEL TORRES MONTALVO Y SU ESPOSO ANGEL ARIEL COLON OQUENDO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS.

Yo, RICARDO ACEVEDO RIVERA, 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 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Utuado, Utuado, 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 Utuado durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, e celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el 23 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: RUSTICA: BARRIO JUAN GONZÁLEZ de Adjuntas. Cabida: SEISCIENTOS SETENTA Y CUATRO PUNTO DOS CUATRO DOS NUEVE (674.2429) METROS CUADRADOS. Linderos: NORTE, con Eliezer Caraballo Martínez; SUR, remanente de la finca principal; ESTE, remanente de la finca principal; OESTE, uso público que lo separa del camino municipal. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al Sistema Karibe, finca número 14,920 de Adjuntas, Registro de la Propiedad de Utuado, inscripción cuarta. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: 523 PR, KM. 2.3, Barrio Juan González, Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. La Subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $83,068.74, por concepto del principal del préstamo hipotecario adeudado al 1ro. de diciembre de 2018, los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 3.75% anual acumulados, vencidos y no pagados hasta la fecha de la presente sentencia; la suma de $8,843.40 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, estos últimos hipotecariamente garantizados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el

inmueble será de $88,434.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $58,956.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $44,217.00. De declararse 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 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 Utuado, Puerto Rico, 3 de febrero de 2023. ALG. RICARDO ACEVEDO RIVERA, ALGUACIL #414, DIVISIÓN DE EJECUCIÓN DE SENTENCIAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE UTUADO.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante Vs. SYLVIA RODRIGUEZ TORRES T/C/C SILVIA RODRIGUEZ TORRES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

Demandados Civil Núm.: SJ2021CV06708. 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 San Juan, 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 San Juan, el 5 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: “URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Apartamento GA guion cinco guion ciento noventa y tres (GA-5193) de un nivel, localizado en la planta baja del edificio número seis (6) “Reina Alejandra”, del Condominio Portal de la Reina, localizado en la Avenida Montecarlo del Barrio Sabana Llana de Rio Piedras, San Juan. Tiene un área superficial de mil ciento sesenta punto cero cero (1,160.00) pies cuadrados. Y un área de patio descubierto y cercado con un área superficial de ciento noventa y ocho punto cuarenta y tres (198.43) pies cuadrados equivalentes a dieciocho punto cuarenta y cuatro (18.44) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en una distancia de veintisiete pies cero pulgadas (27’0”), con apartamento GA guion seis guion ciento noventa y cuatro (GA-6-194); por el Sur, en treinta y tres pies seis pulgadas (33’6”) con apartamento GA guion cuatro guion ciento

ción de Renovación Urbana de la Vivienda, Ley número 131, el día 1 de julio de 1975, mediante la escritura número 67, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 26 de marzo de 1982, ante el notario G. Rivera Dionisi, e inscrita al folio 221 del tomo 1163 de Río Piedras Norte, finca número 33,27, inscripción ra. Se le notifica al acreedor preferente anteriormente identificado para que pueda concurrir a la subasta si le convenga. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $25,600.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #1, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 13 de enero de 2006, ante el notario Javier F. Aponte Reyes, e inscrita al folio 219 del tomo 1547 de Río Piedras Norte, finca número 33,276, inscripción 4ta. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 12 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $25,600.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $17,066.66. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 26 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar y regirá como tipo mínimo de la tercera subasta la mitad del precio pactado para la primera, o sea, la suma de $12,800.00. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $19,924.13, con intereses a 8.17200% anual, desde el 18 de mayo de 2020, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más una suma de $1,173.00, la cual no devenga intereses y pagadera a la fecha de vencimiento, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que

éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $2,560.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto 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 San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 1 de marzo de 2023.

PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. EVA GIMÉNEZ RODRÍGUEZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: KCD2017-0732. [504]. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia dictada

el 23 de febrero de 2022, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 27 de mayo de 2022 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 6 de febrero de 2023 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 4 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de San Juan, Sala Superior, en la Avenida Muñoz Rivera, Esquina Coll y Toste, Parada 37, San Juan, 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:

URBAN: HORIZONTAL PRO-

PERTY: Apartment Number

703 residential located on the seventh floor of Torrelinda Condominium, which is located at number 85 Mayagüez Street in Hato Rey in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. This Apartment has an superficial area of 948.00 square feet equivalent to 88.0742 square meters, plus 113.00 square feet, equivalent to 10.4982 square meter of balcony area. Its boundaries are as follows: NORTH, by the exterior wall of the building facing property of Corporación de Renovación Urbana y Vivienda de Puerto Rico (CRUVPR); SOUTH, by the public hallway on this floor and Apartment number 702; EAST, by the public hallway on this floor and by Apartment number 704; WEST, by the exterior wall of the building facing the property of Rafael Robert. This apartment consists of three (3) bedrooms with bedrooms closets, a foyer, a living-dining room a storage room, a kitchen, two (2) bathrooms, two (2) balconies, one facing North and the other facing, West and an interior hallway separating the bedrooms from the rest of the apartment area on which there is located a linen closet. There is access to and from the public hallway, on this floor through a door in the kitchen and through a main door leading to the living-dining room area. Se le asigna a este apartamento el uso exclusivo del estacionamiento número 703 el cual físicamente está marcado con dicho número. Este estacionamiento es bajo techo. Con un derecho conjunto de co-propiedad sobre los elementos comunes que se describe en la inscripción de la finca matriz el cual derecho se regirá por las disposiciones de la ley y por el Reglamento Administrativo del Condominio correspondiéndole a este apartamento un valor de $30,900.00 y un porcentaje en los elementos comunes generales (1.3333%). Nota: Según nota aclaratoria se hace

constar que ha este apartamento le ha sido asignado el décimo cuarto estacionamiento bajo techo en el piso terrero “ground floor” o “lobby floor” alineados a lo largo de la Colindancia Oeste del inmueble donde hoy día este colinda con el Condominio French Plaza. Inscrita al Folio 246 del Tomo 1012 de Río Piedras Norte, Finca Número 29349, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección II. La hipoteca consta inscrita al Folio 221 del Tomo 1496 de Río Piedras Norte, Finca Número 29349, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección II, Inscripción quinta. DIRECCIÓN FÍSICA: CONDOMINIO TORRELINDA, 85 CALLE MAYAGÜEZ, APT 703, SAN JUAN, PR 00917. Número de Catastro: 063-073-800-21-039. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $88,000.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 12 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $58,666.66. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $44,000.00. 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 parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $70,676.76 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 6.875% anual desde el 1 de octubre de 2016 hasta su completo pago, más una doceava parte mensual para el pago de seguros contra riesgos, más una doceava parte mensual para el pago de contribuciones territoriales, adeudados hasta su vencimiento y hasta la cantidad estipulada de $8,800.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, mas $144.55 por recargos acumulados así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que sobre esta propiedad pesan los siguientes gravámenes posteriores que afectan la propiedad que se pretende ejecutar: a.

Hipoteca: Constituida por Eva Giménez Rodríguez, (soltera) en garantía a un pagaré a favor de DORAL MORTGAGE COR-

PORATION, o a su orden, por la suma de $22,100.00, sus intereses al 10.95% anual y vencedero el 1 de noviembre de 2020, según consta de la Escritura #499 otorgada en San Juan, el 11 de octubre de 2005, ante el notario Mario Enrique Vázquez Vera, inscrita al folio 221 del tomo 1496 de Río Piedras Norte, finca #29349. Inscripción sexta (6ta). b. Aviso de Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Vs. Eva Giménez Rodríguez, (soltera) en el Centro Judicial de San Juan, Sala de San Juan, en el Caso Civil Número KCD2017-0733, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $20,103.23 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 5 de mayo de 2017. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Rio Piedras Norte. Anotacion A. c. Aviso de Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Vs. Eva Giménez Rodríguez, (soltera) en el Centro Judicial de San Juan, Sala de San Juan, en el Caso Civil Número KCD2017-0732, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $70,676.76 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 5 de mayo de 2017. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Rio Piedras Norte. Anotacion B. 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 conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en

general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy 23 de febrero de 2023. PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN, SALA SUPERIOR. ***

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

Demandante V. CESAR AQUILES PEREZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Civil: TJ2022CV00371. Sala: 409. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FULANA DE TAL POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES QUE COMPONE JUNTO A CESAR A QUILES PEREZ - COND INTERAMERICANA GARDEN APT 4B TRUJILLO ALTO, PR 00976.

(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 1 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 7 de marzo de 2023. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 7 de marzo de 2023. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

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

AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITION FUND, LLC.

Demandante V.

BALVINO DILONE

TIBURCIO; FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: TJ2022CV00370. Sala:

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

A: BALVINO DILONE TIBURCIO, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANACIALES, FULANA DE TAL, POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACION DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 6 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 7 de marzo de 2023. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 7 de marzo de 2023. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. RUTH M. COLÓN LUCIANO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAGUAS

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

JOHN DOE

Demandado

Civil Núm.: GR2023CV00056. Sobre: SUSTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.

S.

A: JOHN DOE COMO TENEDOR DESCONOCIDO

DEL PAGARÉ

por la cantidad de $183,200.00 a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, endosado a favor Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, con intereses al 6.50%, con vencimiento el 1 febrero de 2024, en el cual se garantizaba la hipoteca constituida por la escritura 538 otorgada en esa misma fecha ante el Notario Público Eric Hernández Batalla, inscrita en la finca número 14,348 de Gurabo, Registro de la Propiedad , Segunda Sección de Caguas. El Pagaré quedó notarizado en virtud del número de testimonio 11 ,824. Se modificó y amplió la hipoteca a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, con un valor de $183,200.00, según inscripción 3a, en la que compareció el titular y Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, en los siguientes términos: a) Los nuevos pagos de principal e intereses serán por la cantidad de $1,281.83; b) Los nuevos pagos de principal e intereses serán pagaderos a partir del 1 de noviembre de 2015 y el último pago (fecha de vencimiento) será vencedero y pagadero el 1 de octubre de 2045; c) El nuevo porciento de interés anual será 6.50% se tasa la finca en $202,800.00. Se amplió la hipoteca antes mencionada en la suma de $19,600.00, para un nuevo principal de $202,800.00. En virtud de Escritura Pública número 355 otorgada en San Juan a 30 de septiembre de 2015 ante el Notario Público Roberto L. Varela Rios, inscrita en la finca número 14,348 de Gurabo, Registro de la Propiedad, Segunda Sección de Caguas, inscripción 5a. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://uníred.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si

usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

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

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209 500 Calle De La Tanca San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670 Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 07 de marzo de 2023. LISILDA

MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. ENEIDA ARROYO VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR MUNICIPAL DE BAYAMÓN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. SYLMARI DIAZ TORRES

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV04708.

Salón: 703. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SYLMARI

DIAZ TORRES.

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

caso, con fecha de 2 de marzo de 2023. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 7 de marzo de 2023.

LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. LUREIMY ALICEA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. LESLIE A. BURGOS RIVERA

Demandado(a)

Civil: CA2022CV03134. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: LESLIE A. BURGOS

RIVERA - URB. ALTURAS DE RIO GRANDE

O-705 CALLE 13A, RIO GRANDE, PR 00745-3206. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 6 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 7 de marzo de 2023. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 7 de marzo de 2023. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVELISSE SERRANO GARCÍA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOT ICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. CARLOS JUSTINO FLORES MOREIRA

T/C/C CARLOS FLORES MOREIRA

Demandado(a)

Civil: FA2022CV01213. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CARLOS JUSTINO FLORES MOREIRA

T/C/C CARLOS FLORES MOREIRA, URB MONTE BRISAS 3, 389 CALLE

101, FAJARDO PR 007383405 Y/O HC 2 BOX 8532, LUQUILLO PR 00773 Y/O HC 1 BOX 8532, LUQUILLO PR 007739503. (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 marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 07 de marzo de 2023. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 07 de marzo de 2023. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. LINDA I. MEDINA MEDINA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN CONSEJO DE TITULARES DEL CONDOMINIO CONDADO 609

Demandante V. ERNESTO LUIS

GONZÁLEZ FIGUEROA, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPEUSTA POR

AMBOS

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV06511.

Sala: 903. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR ELLA Y ERNESTO LUIS GONZÁLEZ FIGUEROA.

(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 7 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 8 de marzo de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 8 de marzo de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MILDRED J. FRANCO REVENTOS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. YOLANDA GONZÁLEZ COLÓN

Demandada

Civil Núm.: CG2022CV02988.

Sala: 802. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS

UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE

ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S.

A: YOLANDA GONZÁLEZ COLÓN. LOT #41

CLAVEL ST. (MUNICIPAL RD.), VALLES DE VALENCIANO, SECTOR,

JUNCOS, PR 00777 Y 358

HAYDEN CAMERON NC 28326.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández RUA Núm.: 16,393 BERMUDEZ & DÍAZ, LLP

Edificio Ochoa 500 Calle De La Tanca Suite 209 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670 / Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 9 de marzo de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. KATHERINE CARRASQUILLO HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante Vs. LUIS R. BERRÍOS LEBRÓN

Demandado Civil Núm.: CG2022CV02317. Salón: 701. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LUIS R. BERRIOS LEBRÓN - URB. BAIROA AZ3 CALLE LUIXA CAGUAS, PR 00725-1473. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del

Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO Ml FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 25 de enero de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 25 de enero de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA. ENEIDA ARROYO VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante Vs. MILDRED CRUZ CARABALLO Demandado Civil Núm.: YU2021CV00576. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: MILDRED CRUZ CARABALLO. HC 5 BOX 7825 YAUCO PR, 00698-9734. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dic-

tar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kenmuel J. Ruiz López cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kenmuel.riuz@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO

MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Yauco, Puerto Rico, hoy día 3 de febrero de 2023. CARMEN TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA INTERINA. DELIA APONTE VELÁZQUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO CENTRO

JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE TOMÁS BOBONIS

VIZCARRONDO, COMPUESTA POR: GLADYS BETANCOURT

MANGUAL, POR SÍ, Y POR CONCEPTO DE USUFRUCTO VIUDAL, Y DE SUS HEREDEROS: DARA SOFÍA BOBONIS

BETANCOURT; EDRID

TOMÁS BOBONIS

BETANCOURT; Y NADJA GLADYS BOBONIS BETANCOURT; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (C.R.I.M.)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2022CV01051. Sala: 402. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 13 de enero de 2023 por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 33 del Bloque Q del Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización Loma Alta Turn

Key MCI2 & MCI2-A, radicada

en el Barrio Martín González, del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de 260.40 metros cuadrados y con las siguientes colindancias: por el NORTE, en 21.70 metros lineales, con el solar número 32 del Bloque Q del referido Plano; por el SUR, en 18.20 metros lineales, con la Calle número 6, extensión del referido plano; por el ESTE, en 8.50 metros lineales, con un arco de un largo de 5.50 metros, con la calle marginal C del referido plano; y por el OESTE, en 10.50 metros lineales, con el solar número 1 y en 1.50 metros lineales, con el solar número 2 del Bloque Q del referido plano. Inscrita en la finca número 48,360, al folio 141 del tomo 1112 de Carolina. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Carolina. La propiedad ubica según pagaré: Q33 22 St. Loma Alta, Carolina, PR. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante: a. Aviso de Demanda de fecha 5 de abril de 2022, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, en el caso civil número CA2022CV01051, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Sucesión de Tomás Bobonis Vizcarrondo, compuesta por Gladys Betancourt Mangual, por sí, y por concepto de usufructo viudal y de sus herederos: Dara Bobonis Betancourt; Edrid Tomás Bobonis Betancourt y Nadja Gladys Bobonis Betanocourt, Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), por la suma de $86,428.04 de principal más otras sumas, anotado el día 19 de julio de 2022 al tomo Karibe de Carolina, finca número 48,360, anotación A. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada el 2 de agosto de 2022 y notificada el 3 de agosto de de 2022, y publicada en periódico de circulación general,

The San Daily Star”, el 9 de agosto de 2022, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $86,428.04 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 5.5% desde el 1ro de abril de 2020; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $11,363.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente (“Sentencia”).

La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 2 DE MAYO DE 2023 A

LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE, en el Centro Judicial de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $113,630.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $75,753.33, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 16 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $56,815.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de con-

formidad 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 6 de marzo 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 TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. KIMBERLY TRICIA

BREWSTER ROQUE, SU ESPOSO ENRIQUE MARTIN VAZQUEZ

MARQUEZ Y LA

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV00128.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: KIMBERLY TRICIA

BREWSTER ROQUE, SU ESPOSO ENRIQUE

MARTIN VÁZQUEZ

MÁRQUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS. URB. LAS LOMAS SOLAR 7 MANZANA P-3, SAN JUAN, PR 00921. DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: URB. LAS LOMAS 852 CALLE SO 47 SAN JUAN, PR 00921 Y 13121 PALANCAR DR KELLER, TX 76244.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días 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. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS

RÚA NÚM.: 11416 PO BOX 3908, GUAYNABO, PR 00970

TEL: 787-751 -5290,

FAX: 787-751-6155

E-MAIL: ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com

En San Juan, Puerto Rico a 9 de marzo de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL.

BRENDA BÁEZ ACABA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE ARMANDO

MARTIN GOMEZ COMPUESTA POR SU HEREDERA CONOCIDA

LIZABETH JANE GLICK, POR SI; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERES

EN LA SUCESION

Demandados

Civil Núm.: FA2022CV01248.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS

Y/O TERCEROS CON INTERÉS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ARMANDO MARTÍN GÓMEZ. URB. COLINAS DE LUQUILLO (LOMAS DE SANTA TERESA) 62 CALLE 2, LUQUILLO, PR 00773. DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: COND. CONTINENTAL VILLA APTO. 2-A #1 CALLE TARTAK ISLA VERDE, CAROLINA, PR 00979-5614.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días 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. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le apercibe que conforme al artículo 1578 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §11021, usted tiene 30 días para aceptar o repudiar la herencia desde la publicación de este edicto. A esos efectos, de no rechazarla, se tendrá la herencia por aceptada. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM.: 11416 PO BOX 3908, GUAYNABO, PR 00970

TEL: 787-751-5290, FAX: 787-751-6155

E-MAIL: ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com

En Fajardo, Puerto Rico a 7 de marzo de 2023. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LINDA I. MEDINA MEDINA, SECRETARIA AUXI-

LIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

VICENTE ALEJANDRO

PIETRI GOMEZ

Demandante VS. FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANA DE CUAL, Presuntos tenedores de un Pagare Hipotecario

Demandados

CIVIL NUM. SG2021CV00273.

SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. S.S.

A: BANCO POPULAR

Por la presente se le emplaza y se le notifica que la parte demandante ha presentado ante este Tribunal en la cual se solicita el siguiente remedio en su contra: Cancelación de Pagaré Extraviado. Dentro del término de 30 días desde la publicación de este edicto usted, la parte demandada, deberá presentar su alegación responsiva notificando copia del mismo al abogado de la parte demandante y presentando el original a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramaíudicial.pr , salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de la misma en la Secretaria de este Tribunal. Se le apercibe que, de no hacerlo, se le anotara la rebeldía y se podrá dictar sentencia en su contra, concediendo los remedios solicitados, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Expedido bajo mi firme y sello del Tribuna, en San German, Puerto Rico, hoy 06 de febrero de 2023. Lic. Norma G Santana Irizarry, Sec Regional II. Wanda Rivera Ortiz, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

VICENTE ALEJANDRO

PIETRI GOMEZ

Demandante VS. FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANA DE CUAL, Presuntos tenedores de un Pagare Hipotecario

Demandados

CIVIL NUM. SG2021CV00273.

SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA PRESIDENTE DE

LOS E.E.U.U. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. S.S.

A: JOHN DOE

Por la presente se le emplaza y se le notifica que la parte demandante ha presentado ante este Tribunal en la cual se solicita el siguiente remedio en su contra: Cancelación de Pagaré Extraviado. Dentro del término de 30 días desde la publicación de este edicto usted, la parte demandada, deberá presentar su alegación responsiva notificando copia del mismo al abogado de la parte demandante y presentando el original a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramaíudicial.pr , salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de la misma en la Secretaria de este Tribunal. Se le apercibe que, de no hacerlo, se le anotara la rebeldía y se podrá dictar sentencia en su contra, concediendo los remedios solicitados, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Expedido bajo mi firme y sello del Tribuna, en San German, Puerto Rico, hoy 06 de febrero de 2023. Lic. Norma G Santana Irizarry, Sec Regional II. Wanda Rivera Ortiz, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ESPACIO

RESIDENTIAL LLC

Demandante V. MIGUEL ANGEL RAMOS

ALICEA T/C/C MIGUEL A. RAMOS ALICEA Y ELIZABETH GONZALEZ CARABALLO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandada Civil Núm.: GCCD2007-0010. (303). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, LITZY M. CORA ANAYA, ALGUACIL

AUXILIAR #247, Alguacil de la División de Subastas del Centro Judicial de Guayama, a los demandados y al público en general les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso por el Secretario del Tribunal de epígrafe con fecha de 6 de mayo de 2022 y para satisfacer la Sentencia por la cantidad de $67,754.95 de principal, dictada en el caso de autos el día 16 de enero de 2009, notificada

y archivada en autos el día 11 de febrero de 2009; procederé a vender en pública subasta, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, mediante efectivo, giro o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil de este Tribunal todo derecho, título e interés que hayan tenido tengan o puedan tener los deudores demandados en cuanto a la propiedad localizada en el Municipio de Patillas, Puerto Rico, el bien inmueble se describe a continuación: A-03 Portales de Jacaboa, Patillas, PR 00723.

URBANA: SOLAR MARCADO CON EL NUMERO TRES DEL BLOQUE A (“A-3”) EN EL PLANO DE INSCRIPCION DE LA URBANIZACION PORTALES DE JACABOA, RADICADA EN EL BARRIO JACABOA DEL TERMINO MUNICIPAL DE PATILLAS, PUERTO RICO, CON UNA CABIDA SUPERFICIAL DE DOSCIENTOS SESENTA Y DOS PUNTO CUARENTA Y CUATRO METROS CUADRADOS (262.44 M.C.), EN LINDES POR EL NORTE, EN UNA DISTANCIA DE DOCE PUNTO CINCUENTA METROS (12.50 M.) CON LA AVENIDA SAN JOSE; POR EL SUR, EN UNA DISTANCIA DE DOCE PUNTO CINCUENTA METROS (12.50 M.) CON SUCESION PEDRO VAZQUEZ; POR EL ESTE, EN UNA DISTANCIA DE VEINTIUNO PUNTO CERO CERO METROS (21.00 M.) CON EL LOTE CUATRO DEL BLOQUE A (A”-4”) Y POR EL OESTE, EN VEINTIUNO PUNTO CERO CERO METROS (21.00 M.) CON EL LOTE DOS DEL BLOQUE A (“A-2”).” ENCLAVA UNA ESTRUCTURA DE HORMIGON PARA USO RESIDENCIAL. FINCA 11674, INSCRITA AL TOMO KARIBE DE PATILLAS, REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD DE PUERTO RICO, SECCION DE GUAYAMA. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Guayama, cuyas cantidades son las siguientes: $67,754.95 de principal; 5.95% de intereses, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda; la suma de $598.86 por concepto de otros gastos y la suma de $330.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $69,451.00 para la propiedad descrita. Si no produjere remate o adjudicación la primera subasta, se procederá a una segunda subasta y servirá de tipo mínimo de 2/3 partes del valor de la tasación, $46,300.66. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en

esta segunda subasta, se procederá a una tercera subasta, en ésta el tipo mínimo será de la 1/2 del valor de la tasación, $34,725.50 Para el lote descrito, la PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 2 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta o subastas antes indicadas se llevarán a efecto en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Guayama. Del Estudio de Titulo realizado no surgen gravámenes preferentes ni posteriores que deban ser cancelados. Se le advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores, previa orden judicial dirigida al Registrador de la Propiedad de la sección correspondiente para la cancelación de aquellos posteriores. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en la Secretaría del Tribunal. 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 de ejecutante, continuarán subsiguientes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate.

Y para conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en Guayama, Puerto Rico, a 1 de marzo de 2023. LITZY M. CORA ANAYA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #247.

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. LA SUCESIÓN DE MARIANO ALVARADO

VEGA T/C/C MARINO

ALVARADO VEGA, COMPUESTA POR

FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE DOLORES LABRADOR

VEGA, COMPUESTA

POR SUTANO Y PERENCEJO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS; JOSUÉ

ALVARADO LABRADOR, ELVIN MARIO ALVARADO

LABRADOR, ALEIDA

MARÍA ALVARADO

LABRADOR Y ELUID

ALVARADO LABRADOR, HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESION DE MARIANO ALVARADO

VEGA T/C/C MARINO

ALVARADO VEGA Y DOLORES LABRADOR

VEGA; ENID ALVARADO

LABRADOR T/C/C ENID

MARÍA ALVARADO

LABRADOR POR SÍ

Y COMO HEREDERA DE LA SUCESIÓN DE MARIANO ALVARADO

VEGA T/C/C MARINO

ALVARADO VEGA Y LA

SUCESIÓN DE DOLORES

LABRADOR VEGA

JUNTO A SU ESPOSO

JOAQUÍN CABRERA

ZARATE POR SÍ, Y LA

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA

POR AMBOS; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA POR

CONDUCTO DE LA

DIVISIÓN DE CAUDALES

RELICTOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

(CRIM)

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: CA2019CV04220. (403). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, 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 Sumaria dictada el 10 de enero de 2023 y notificada el 12 de enero de 2023, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia 23 de febrero de 2023 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 24 de febrero de 2023 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 4 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, 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:

URBANA: Solar marcado con el Número 142 del Bloque F en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Vistamar situada en el Barrio Sabana Abajo del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 320.96 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el

NORTE: en 13.22 metros con terrenos propiedad de Insular Housing Corporation del mencionado plano de inscripción; por el SUR: en 14.69 metros con la Calle denominada “Calle J” del mencionado plano; por el ESTE: en 23.00 metros con el Solar Número 143 del mencionado plano; y por el OESTE: en 23.00 metros con la Calle L del mencionado plano de inscripción. Enclava una casa. La propiedad consta inscrita al folio 106 del tomo 46 de Carolina Norte, Finca 1855. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 63 del tomo 949 de Carolina, Finca 1855. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. Inscripción octava (8va). La escritura de modificación consta inscrita al folio 63 vuelto del tomo 949 de Carolina Norte, Finca 1855. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. Inscripción décima (10ma). Dirección Física: Urb. Vistamar, F142 Calle Valladolid, Carolina, PR 009831840. Número de Catastro: 20-064-033-169-15-001. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta

será de $78,700.99. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, e día 11 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $52,467.32 De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 18 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $39,350.49. 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 $77,429.27 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 6.625% anual desde el 1 de octubre de 2017 hasta su completo pago, más $1,014.14 recargos acumulados, más la cantidad estipulada de $7,870.09 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. Joaquín Cabrera Zarate, Enid Alvarado Labrador también conocida como Enid María Alvarado y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos, Mariano (así consta) Alvarado Vega también conocido como Marino (así consta) Alvarado Vega y Dolores Labrador Vega y la Sociedad de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ellos, ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, en el Caso Civil Número CA2019CV04220, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $77,429.27 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 30 de octubre de 2019. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Carolina. 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 conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 7 de marzo de 2023. GRETCHEN M. JEREZ SEDA, 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 GUAYNABO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE NORMA JOSEFA MONTALVO

RODRIGUEZ, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO NORMA MONTALVO RODRIGUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SUS HERMANOS DIGNA

GUZMAN RODRIGUEZ, HECTOR MANUEL TORRES RODRIGUEZ, SIGFREDO GUZMAN

RODRIGUEZ, LUZ MONTALVO RODRIGUEZ Y MANIS TORRES

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

Demandados

Civil Núm.: GB2022CV00365. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESION DE NORMA JOSEFA MONTALVO RODRIGUEZ, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO NORMA MONTALVO RODRIGUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SUS HERMANOS DIGNA GUZMAN RODRIGUEZ, HECTOR MANUEL TORRES RODRIGUEZ, SIGFREDO GUZMAN RODRIGUEZ, LUZ MONTALVO RODRIGUEZ Y MANIS TORRES RODRIGUEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM).

Yo, ALG. HUGO BASCO MEDINA, PLACA #807, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:20 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Guaynabo, Guaynabo, 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 Guaynabo durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 13 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:20 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el 20 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:20 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 número Novecientos Cincuenta (950) del Bloque M guión Treinta (M-30) de la URBANIZACIÓN LUIS MUÑOZ RIVERA de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, hoy

Calle Lopattegui, con TRESCIENTOS VEINTISEIS PUNTO TREINTA Y SEIS (326.36) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, en trece punto cincuenta (13.50) metros, con el solar número Novecientos Treinta (930); por el SUR, en igual medida, con la Avenida número Diecisiete (17); por el ESTE, en veinticuatro punto diecisiete (24.17) metros, con el solar número Novecientos Cincuenta y Uno (951); y por el OESTE, en veinticuatro punto dieciocho (24.18) metros, con el solar número Novecientos Cuarenta y Nueve(949). Sobre este solar enclava una casa de hormigón reforzado de tres cuartos dormitorios, sala, comedor, cocina, cuarto de baño y balcón. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 197 del tomo 1378 de Guaynabo, finca número 10,600, inscripción octava. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urbanización Luis Muñoz Rivera, Solar 950, Blq. M-30, (hoy 28), Calle Venus, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. La Subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $43,262.28 de principal, intereses al 5 1/4% anual desde el 1ro. de octubre de 2021, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $6,000.00 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 $60,000.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $40,000.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $30,000.00. De declararse 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 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 to-

das 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 Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 23 de febrero de 2023.

ALG. HUGO BASCÓ MEDINA, ALGUACIL PLACA #807, DIVISIÓN DE EJECUCIÓN DE SENTENCIAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYNABO.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE MASSACHUSETTS

MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (MASS MUTUAL)

Parte Demandante Vs. ERNESTO MOJICA ÁLVAREZ T/C/C

ERNESTO GERÓNIMO

MOJICA ÁLVAREZ

T/C/C ERNESTO G. MOJICA ÁLVAREZ, ARLENE HERNÁNDEZ

TORRES T/C/C ARLENE

MOJICA ÁLVAREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV03958. (505). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA “IN REM”. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A La Parte Demandada:

ERNESTO MOJICA ÁLVAREZ T/C/C

ERNESTO GERÓNIMO MOJICA ÁLVAREZ

T/C/C ERNESTO G.

MOJICA ÁLVAREZ, ARLENE HERNÁNDEZ TORRES T/C/C ARLENE MOJICA ÁLVAREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, A SUS ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: URB. LA PROVIDENCIA, 1P29 CALLE 9, TOA ALTA, PR 00953-4535, 3017 STRONG ST., HIGHLAND, IN 463221443, 1637 E 33RD AVE., HOBART IN 463421211 Y URB. LOMAS VERDES, 3K16 CALLE CLAVEL, BAYAMÓN, PR 00956-3304 Y AL CORREO ELECTRÓNICO: E.MOJICA@LIVE.COM. Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre ejecución de hipoteca por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que la propiedad inmueble que se describe a continuación responde a la demandante por las siguientes cantidades: $101,137.81 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 4.75% anual desde el 1 de marzo de 2019 hasta su completo pago, más $553.62 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $11,497.70 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. La propiedad que garantiza hipotecariamente el préstamo es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar radicado en el Barrio Mucarabones del Municipio de Toa Alta, marcado en el plan de inscripción con el #29 del bloque 1P de la Urbanización Terrazas del Toa, con cabida de 321.51 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con el lote #33, en distancia de 10.56 metros; por el SUR, con la calle #9, en distancia de 17.40 metros; por el ESTE, con el lote #28, en distancia de 23.00 metros; y por el OESTE, con el lote #30, en distancia de 23.00 metros. Afecto a servidumbre de ancho de 5 pies a lo largo de su colindancia Sur a favor de Puerto Rico Telephone Company. Enclava una estructura tipo individual dedicada a vivienda, construida de hormigón. Inscrita al folio 121 del tomo 270 de Toa Alta, Finca 13126. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección III. La hipoteca y la primera de modificación de hipoteca constan inscritas al folio 122 del tomo 270 de Toa Alta, Finca 13126. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección III. Inscripción 2da. y 3ra., respectivamente. La segunda modifica-

ción de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 123 del tomo 270 de Toa Alta, Finca 13126. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección III. Inscripción 4ta. La tercera y cuarta modificación de hipoteca constan inscritas al tomo Karibe de Toa Alta, Finca 13126. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección III. Inscripción 5ta. La demandante es la tenedora por endoso, por valor recibido y de buena fe del referido pagaré objeto de la presente acción. La parte demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. Se le advierte que si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO. Box 3922, Guaynabo Puerto Rico 009703922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826 / (787) 708-0566, correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 27 de febrero de 2023, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico. LCDA. LAURA I.

SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MILITZA MERCADO RVIERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE BAYAMÓN

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIETY, FSB, AS TRUSTEE OF FINANCE OF AMERICA

STRUCTURED SECURITIES

ACQUISITIONS TRUST 2019-HB1

Demandante Vs.

SUCESIÓN DE CRUZ

OLIVO OTERO, T/C/C

CRUCITO OLIVO

OTERO, CRUZ OLIVO

COMPUESTA POR

JOSEPHINE OLIVO, MARÍA OLIVO, DENISE

OLIVO, CRUCITO OLIVO, EVELYN CRUCITO, TATIANA OLIVO, CRUCITO JR. OLIVO,

NORMI OLIVO, ROSA

OLIVO, TATY OLIVO, FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE SILVIA

DIAZ CHERY, T/C/C

SILVIA DIAZ CHERIS COMPUESTA POR

JOSEPHINE OLIVO, MARÍA OLIVO, DENISE OLIVO, CRUCITO OLIVO, EVELYN CRUCITO, TATIANA OLIVO, CRUCITO JR. OLIVO, NORMI OLIVO, ROSA OLIVO, TATY OLIVO, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS. CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2019CV05393. (505). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE CRUZ OLIVO OTERO, T/C/C CRUCITO OLIVO

OTERO, CRUZ OLIVO COMPUESTA POR

JOSEPHINE OLIVO, MARÍA OLIVO, DENISE

OLIVO, CRUCITO OLIVO, EVELYN CRUCITO, TATIANA OLIVO, CRUCITO JR. OLIVO, NORMI OLIVO, ROSA

OLIVO, TATY OLIVO, FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS;

SUCESIÓN DE SILVIA

DIAZ CHERY, T/C/C

SILVIA DIAZ CHERIS COMPUESTA POR

JOSEPHINE OLIVO, MARÍA OLIVO, DENISE

OLIVO, CRUCITO OLIVO, EVELYN CRUCITO, TATIANA OLIVO, CRUCITO JR. OLIVO, NORMI OLIVO, ROSA

OLIVO, TATY OLIVO, FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS.

CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA.

Yo, EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 25 DE ABRIL DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 19 de julio de 2022. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría 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 2 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 30 de junio de 2022, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número dos del Bloque “YY” de la Urbanización Santa Juanita, radicado en el Barrio Minillas de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, que comprende de un área de trescientos noventa y ocho metros y sesenta y dos centímetros cuadrados. Colindado por el NORTE, con Levittown Corporation, en trece metros y cincuenta centímetros; por el SUR, con la Calle número veintitrés, en trece metros y cincuenta centímetros; por el ESTE, con solar número tres del Bloque “YY”, en veintinueve metros y cuarenta y cuatro centímetros; y por el OESTE, con solar número uno del Bloque “YY” y en veintinueve metros y sesenta y cuatro centí-

metros. Contiene una casa residencial de hormigón y bloques para una sola familia” Finca número 16,120 inscrita al folio 133 del tomo 362 de Bayamón Sur, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Bayamón. Dirección de la Propiedad: YY-2 23 St. Santa Juanita Dev., Bayamón PR 00956. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $116,024.79 adeudada por concepto de principal e intereses vencidos al 31 de julio de 2021, y los que se continúen acumulando al tipo pactado hasta el pago total y completo de la obligación; la cantidad de $2,892.00 por concepto de valoraciones e inspecciones; la cantidad de $20,072.29 por concepto de seguros y/o contribuciones y MIP; más la suma de $16,950.00 equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 57 otorgada el día 18 de febrero de 2013, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Jan Luis Romero Sanchez y consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, finca número 16,120, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón Sur, Sección I de Bayamón. 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 cargos o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Entiéndase: Hipoteca Revertida en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, o a su orden, por la suma

principal de $169,500.00, con intereses al 5.060% anual, vencedero el día 14 de marzo de 2096, constituida mediante la escritura número 58, otorgada en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el día 18 de febrero de 2013, ante la notario Juan L. Romero Sanchez, e inscrita tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, finca numero 16,120, inscripción 4ta. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $169,500.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $113,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $84,750.00. 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, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, 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. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta podrá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Si el producto de la venta fuere insuficiente para satisfacer la cantidad reclamada, se procederá a la ejecución de la sentencia en contra de la parte demandada por el remanente de las sumas no satisfechas, mediante embargo y venta en ejecución de cualesquiera otros bienes propiedad de la parte demandada en cantidad suficiente para dejar cubierta y totalmente satisfecha a

la parte demandante cualquier deficiencia o parte insoluta de la sentencia dictada a su favor según dispuesto en la sentencia dictada en este caso. Se dispone, conforme con la sentencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 08 de marzo de 2023. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FUND, LLC

Demandante V.

BRENDA

FELICIANO PEREZ Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV04678. Salón: 703. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: BRENDA

FELICIANO PEREZ. (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 7 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted en-

terarse 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 7 de marzo de 2023. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 8 de marzo de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. LUREIMY ALICEA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA

SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

Demandante V.

IRIS Y VELAZQUEZ

VAZQUEZ

Demandado(a)

Civil: CN2022CV00397. Sala: 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: IRIS Y VELAZQUEZ

VAZQUEZ - STE 85 PO BOX 20000 CANOVANAS PR 00729 / BO CAMPO RICO, CARR 185 KM 8.1 CANOVANAS PR 00729. (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 7 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 8 de marzo de 2023. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 8 de marzo 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 SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA LEGACY MORTGAGE ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1 Demandante Vs. FEDERICO REYES T/C/C FEDERICO CARDONA REYES, DORCAS NOEMI ROSADO LOPEZ T/C/C DORCAS N. ROSADO LOPEZ, LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS Y CENTRO DE RECUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2020CV00720. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. 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 Carolina, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque gerente, giro postal, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América al nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 4 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación:

URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 303-A de la Urbanización Villa Margarita radicada en el barrio Canovanilla del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de 400.00 metros cuadrados. En linderos NORTE, en una

distancia de 25.00 metros con el solar número 304; SUR, en una distancia de 25.00 metros con el solar número 302; ESTE, en una distancia de 16.00 metros con los solares número 305 y 306; OESTE, en una distancia de 16.00 metros con la Calle Orquídea de dicha urbanización. Contiene una casa de concreto diseñada para una familia Consta inscrita al folio 245 del tomo 1153 de Carolina, finca número 49923, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Segunda de Carolina. Propiedad localizada en: Urb. Ciudad Jardín, 303 Calle Orquidea, Carolina, PR 00987. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución no está gravada cargas anteriores o posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo mínimo de subasta la suma de $208,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 11 DE MAYO DE 2023

A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $138,666.66, 2/3 partes del tipo mínimo establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $104,000.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 18 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $184,570.83 de principal, intereses al tipo del 2.50000% anual según ajustado desde el día 1 de agosto de 2019 hasta el pago de la deuda en su totalidad, más la suma de $20,800.00 por concepto de honorarios de abogado y costas autorizadas por el Tribunal, más las cantidades que se adeudan mensualmente por concepto de seguro hipotecario, cargos por demora, y otros

adeudados que se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, sİ esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 28 de febrero de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. SIXTO CRUZ MORALES

Parte Demandada

Caso Núm.: CG2022CV02460. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SIXTO CRUZ MORALES.

(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 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 7 de marzo de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, 7 de marzo de 2023. LISILDA

MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JESSENIA PEDRAZA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS-

TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE hatillo

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

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

ACQUISITION TRUST

2018-HB1

Demandante

SUCESION CARMEN

DOLORES MERCADO

ROSADO T/C/C

CARMEN D. MERCADO

ROSADO T/C/C CARMEN

MERCADO ROSADO

T/C/C CARMEN DOLORES

MERCADO T/C/C

CARMEN D. MERCADO

T/C/C CARMEN

MERCADO COMPUESTA

POR IVETTE GERENA

MERCADO, CARMEN

GERENA MERCADO, MARIA GERENA

MERCADO, RAFAEL

RIOS GERENA, JOSE RIOS GERENA; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

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

Demandado(a)

Civil: AR2022CV00435. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: RAFAEL RIOS

GERENA, JOSE RIOS

GERENA; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE CARMEN

DOLORES MERCADO

ROSADO T/C/C

CARMEN D. MERCADO

ROSADO T/C/C CARMEN

MERCADO ROSADO

T/C/C CARMEN DOLORES

MERCADO T/C/C

CARMEN D. MERCADO T/C/C CARMEN MERCADO.

(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 28 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 8 de marzo de 2023. En Hatillo, Puerto Rico, el 8 de marzo de 2023. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA. BRENDA LIZ TORRES MUÑIZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO DE AGUADILLA

Parte Demandante Vs. JORGE IVÁN

RICARD CRESPO

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CG2022CV03978. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (REGLA 60). EDICTO.

A: JORGE IVÁN

RICARD CRESPO. Se le apercibe que la parte demandante por mediación del Lcdo. Rafael Fabre Colón, P.O. Box 277, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, Tel. 787-265-0334, ha radicado la acción de epígrafe en su contra. Copia de la demanda, emplazamientos y del presente edicto le ha sido enviado por correo a la última dirección conocida. Pueden ustedes obtener mayor información sobre el asunto revisando los autos en el Tribunal. Se le apercibe que tiene usted un término de treinta (30) días para radicar contestación a dicha demanda de cobro de dinero y/o cualquier escrito que estime usted conveniente 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 de epígrafe, pero que de no radicarse escrito alguno ante el Tribunal dentro de dicho término el Tribunal procederá a ventilar el procedimiento sin más citarle ni oírle. Dada en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 07 de marzo de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA GENERAL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS, ENEIDA ARROYO VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CRÉDITO DE CABO ROJO

Parte Demandante Vs LYDIA IRIS VEGA LÓPEZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV01764. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (REGLA 60). EDICTO.

A: LYDIA IRIS VEGA LÓPEZ. Se le apercibe que la parte demandante por mediación del Lcdo. Rafael Fabre Colón, P.O. Box 277, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, Tel. 787-265- 334, ha radicado la acción de epígrafe en su contra. Copia de la demanda, emplazamientos y del presente edicto le ha sido enviado por correo a la última dirección conocida. Pueden ustedes obtener mayor información sobre el asunto revisando los autos en el Tribunal. Se le apercibe que tiene usted un término de treinta (30) días para radicar contestación a dicha demanda de cobro de dinero y/o cualquier escrito que estime usted conveniente a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), a 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 de epígrafe, pero que de no radicarse escrito alguno ante el Tribunal dentro de dicho término el Tribunal procederá a ventilar el procedimiento sin más citarle ni oírle. Dada en MAYAGÜEZ, Puerto Rico, hoy 6 de marzo de 2023. LIC. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II, SECRETARIA GENERAL, TRIBUNAL DE

PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA MUNICIPAL DE MAYAGÜEZ. ARACELIS W. CAMACHO ACEVEDO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

NEWREZ LLC D/B/A

SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE AIDA ESTHER ARUZ CANCEL, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO

AIDA ESTHER ARUS

CANCEL Y POR AIDA

ESTHER CRUZ CANCEL

COMPUESTA POR ILSA

YOLANDA FIGUEROA ARÚS, ILIA ESTHER

FIGUEROA ARÚS Y ÁNGEL LUIS FIGUEROA ARÚS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV05753.

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

A: LA SUCESIÓN DE AIDA ESTHER ARUZ CANCEL, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA

COMO AIDA ESTHER

ARUS CANCEL Y POR AIDA ESTHER CRUZ CANCEL COMPUESTA POR ILSA YOLANDA

FIGUEROA ARÚS, ILIA ESTHER FIGUEROA ARÚS Y ÁNGEL LUIS

FIGUEROA ARÚS. El Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de 2020, dispone: “Transcurridos treinta (30) días desde que se haya producido la delación, cualquier persona interesada puede solicitar al tribunal que le señale al llamado un plazo, para que manifieste si acepta la herencia o si la repudia. Este plazo no excederá de treinta (30) días. El tribunal apercibirá al llamado de que, si transcurrido el plazo señalado no ha manifestado su voluntad de aceptar la herencia o de repudiarla, se dará por aceptada.” Por la presente el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, conforme al Art. 1578, supra, y el caso Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 DPR 689 (2005), les ordena que el término de treinta (30) días,

hagan declaración aceptado o repudiando la herencia de la causante, AIDA ESTHER ARUZ CANCEL, también conocida como AIDA ESTHER ARUS CANCEL y por AIDA ESTHER CRUZ CANCEL. Se les apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días en torno a la aceptación o repudiación de herencia, la misma se tendrá por aceptada. Los abogados de la parte demandante son:

Lcdo. Andrés Sáez Marrero T.S.P.R. Núm. 18074 TROMBERG, MORRIS & POULIN, LLC 1515 South Federal Highway, Suite 100 Boca Raton, FL 33432 Tel. 877-338-4101 / Fax: 561-338-4077 prservice@tmppllc.com / asaez@tmppllc.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 27 de febrero de 2022. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. BRENDA BÁEZ ACABA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. NEREIDA

BERRÍOS APONTE

Demandados

Civil: CG2022CV04092. (705).

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

A: LA PARTE

DEMANDADA NEREIDA

BERRÍOS APONTE A SUS

ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES

CONOCIDAS: URB.

VILLAS DE GURABO, D9 CALLE 1, GURABO, PR 00778-2381, 32 FAIRVIEW ST FL 1, NEW BRITAIN, CT 06051-2706. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 6 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días

siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 9 de marzo de 2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 9 de marzo de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARTA E. DONATE RESTO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOT ICE

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

ASOCIACION DE RESIDENTES LOS MONTES, INC.

Demandante V. MERARI VALENTIN CRESPO

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2022CV06148. Sala: 504. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. A: MERARI VALENTIN CRESPO.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se te notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 1 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 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 8 de marzo de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 8 de marzo de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. VIVIAN J. SANABRIA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

Jesús Alou, youngest in trio of baseball-playing brothers, dies at 80

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

Jesús Alou, who joined with his brothers Felipe, a future Hall of Famer, and Matty in blazing a trail for Dominican natives in the major leagues, died Friday. He was 80. His death was announced by the San Francisco Giants, with whom he played his first six seasons. No details were provided.

When Jesús Alou was a rookie, he and his brothers were all in the Giants’ outfield on Sept. 15, 1963. They were the only three brothers in major league history to play together in a single game.

Jesús Alou played in the major leagues for 15 seasons and was a member of the Oakland A’s teams that won World Series championships in 1973 and 1974. He had limited power, hitting only 32 home runs in his career, but he was a solid batter with a career average of .280.

In the late summer of 1975, when he joined the New York Mets, he gave

the three Alou brothers a combined total of 5,000 games in the major leagues.

But the Alous weren’t the first Dominicans in the majors. Ossie Virgil Sr. held that distinction, playing at third base for the New York Giants in 1956. And Juan Marichal, a future Hall of Fame pitcher, had joined the San Francisco Giants in 1960.

When he became a Met, Jesús Alou recalled the day he and his brothers made history:

“It was my first or second day in the big leagues, and they sent me in to pinch‐hit and then play left field. Matty had just been recalled from Tacoma, and he replaced Willie Mays in center to give him some rest. Felipe was the regular right fielder. It was no big deal, we didn’t telephone home or anything. After all, we played together all the time in winter ball back in the Caribbean.”

His best season with the Giants was 1965, when he played in 143 games and batted .298 with nine home runs and 52 RBIs. While playing for the

Houston Astros in 1970, he batted .306 with 44 RBIs.

Felipe Alou was traded to the Milwaukee Braves in 1964, but Jesús and Matty remained teammates in San Francisco for the next few seasons.

Jesús was taken by the Montreal Expos in the National League’s 1968 expansion draft, but they traded him to the Astros before the next season began.

Jesús María Rojas Alou was born March 24, 1942, in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic, near Santo Domingo, the nation’s capital. He was one of six children in a poor family. His father, José Rojas, a carpenter and fisherman, was the grandson of a slave. His mother, Virginia Alou, was of Spanish descent.

Felipe’s son Moisés also played major league baseball and another son, José Rojas, briefly managed the Mets. Jesús became the director of the Boston Red Sox’s player development complex in the Dominican Republic in 2002.

Jesús married Angela Hanley in the late 1960s and they had five children: Angela, Jesús Jr., María de Jesús, Claudia and Jeimy.

A complete list of survivors was not immediately available. Matty Alou died in 2011.

“It’s not so strange that we all played ball — families in the Dominican Republic get to be good in one thing,” Jesús Alou told The New York Times in 1975. “Singers, doctors, even politicians — they can run in the family. Maybe it’s because little brothers look up to the big brothers, the way we looked up to Felipe. Sometimes I wonder if maybe big brothers in the United States shouldn’t realize that — that responsibility. They should set the example.”

“When you were a kid in the Dominican Republic, the Americano was a real big strong guy,” he said in the same interview. “You saw him on the street and you asked him for a quarter. Then you come up to the big leagues and you see that he has weaknesses, too. Now Felipe and I are next‐door neighbors back home, and Matty and

my mother and father all live a couple of blocks away. I guess we look much richer to the people there than we really are. Maybe we’re the Americanos now.”

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC MONDAY’S SCORES

Korea 22, China 2

Dominican Republic 6, Nicaragua 1

Colombia at Great Britain (3 p.m.)

Israel at Puerto Rico (7 p.m.)

Canada at USA (10 p.m.)

SUNDAY’S SCORES

Japan 7, Australia 1

Italy 7, Netherlands 1

Israel 3, Nicaragua 1

Canada 18, Great Britain 8 Venezuela 9, Puerto Rico 6 Mexico 11, USA 5

Australia 8, Czech Republic 3

TODAY’S GAMES (all times Eastern)

Nicaragua at Venezuela (noon, FS2)

Canada at Colombia (3 p.m., FS2)

Israel at Dominican Republic (7 p.m., FS1)

Great Britain at Mexico (10 p.m., FS1)

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Australia at Cuba (6 a.m., FS2)

Venezuela at Israel (noon, FS2)

Mexico at Canada (3 p.m., FS2)

Puerto Rico at Dominican Republic (7 p.m., FS1)

USA at Colombia (10 p.m., FS1)

Puerto Rico stood at 1-1, while Venezuela was 2-0 atop Group D in the World Baseball Classic after notching a 9-6 victory on Sunday night in Miami.

Jesús Alou played 15 seasons in the Majors beginning in 1963 with the Giants, Astros, A’s and Mets, winning two World Series titles with Oakland in 1973-74.

Seedings for NCAA men’s tournament show wide-open field

By BILLY WITZ

When the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament committee members hunkered down in Indianapolis over the weekend, they pored over spreadsheets, stared at a bank of televisions, sharpened their pencils and massaged their temples to figure out how to best seed the 68-team tournament field.

They might have saved themselves all that time — and anguish — by picking names out of a hat.

This year’s tournament, which was announced Sunday night, has an on-any-given-Sunday feel, where blue bloods don’t feel so rich, mid-majors don’t feel so middling and every team enters with questions — even at the very top.

At Alabama, those begin off the court.

Alabama, the top overall seed, is in an unprecedented situation: trying to win a national championship while a now-ex-player is in jail on murder charges and two current players, including the team’s star, Brandon Miller, are witnesses in the case.

Alabama coach Nate Oats has come under withering criticism, beginning last month when he characterized Miller’s involvement as being in the “wrong spot at the wrong time” and continuing with persistent questions about whether Miller, who police said transported a gun to the scene of the crime, and Jaden Bradley, who was also at the scene, should even be playing. Neither Miller nor Bradley has been charged with a crime.

On the court, Alabama looked the part of a favorite in rolling to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship with an 82-63 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday.

“This one right here, this one’s very special, considering everything that’s gone on this year,” said Alabama senior guard Jahvon Quinerly.

The Crimson Tide won Sunday behind a hugely supportive crowd in Nashville, Tennessee, and will have more of the same Thursday when they play less than an hour’s drive from their campus against the victor of a play-in game between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri State. The next weekend, if they advance, they wouldn’t be much farther away from home, at the South regional in Louisville, Kentucky.

As much as the Crimson Tide are showered with affection by their own fans, the murder case involving one of their now former players, Darius Miles, is all but certain to make them the tournament heel for the vast majority of the audience as long as they remain playing.

Oats was asked what his message would be to his team as it enters the tournament.

“Obviously, we never lose sight of the tragedy that’s kind of marked our season,” he said. “It’s always there. But today with the team, we’re going to celebrate this win without losing sight of that. Moving forward, we’re going to keep the team focused on the task at hand, just like we have without ever losing sight of the fact that it’s an unbelievably sad situation. Our guys have done a pretty good job of that.”

If the sight of Alabama cutting down the nets in Houston is discomfiting for NCAA officials, it was hard to make a case for anyone else to be the top overall seed.

Start with Kansas, the reigning national champion seeded No. 1 in the West region, which has an impressive resume but this weekend was without its coach, Bill Self, who sat out the Big 12 Conference Tournament after being hospitalized with chest tightness and balance issues. The Jayhawks were blown out Saturday by Texas in the conference title game but were still given a No. 1 seed.

So was Midwest No. 1 seed Houston, which has a sparkling 31-3 record but lost to Memphis in the American Athletic Conference title game Sunday. Houston’s best win was over Virginia, a No. 4 seed, and the Cougars also lost to Alabama earlier this season. And Purdue, seeded first in the East region, looked like the best team in the country for more than three months with 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey but had a run in February that included four losses in six games. The Boilermakers won the Big Ten Tournament Sunday, but not before nearly collapsing in the final minute against unranked Penn State.

A week ago, UCLA had a strong case for the top overall seed.

But the Bruins, who won the Pac-12 regular-season title by four games, lost to Arizona in the conference tourna-

ment final without their two best defenders, forward Adem Bona and guard Jaylen Clark, the latter seemingly unlikely to return this season. The Bruins, who had a 12-game winning streak snapped Saturday night, were becoming a popular pick as favorite before Clark suffered a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale.

Houston played Sunday without one of its best players, Marcus Sasser, who injured his groin Friday. But he is likely to return soon as Houston is trying to become the first hometown team to play in a Final Four since Butler lost the 2010 title game in Indianapolis to Duke.

The Blue Devils’ captain that night, Jon Scheyer, is now their coach, replacing the retired Mike Krzyzewski after last season’s national semifinal loss. Duke, along with another nationally branded program, Gonzaga, is entering the tournament without the usual Final Four-or-bust expectations — Gonzaga is a No. 3 seed and Duke is a No. 5. But they are playing the type of basketball that often makes them fearsome in March. The Zags blew out St. Mary’s to win the West Coast Conference Tournament and the Blue Devils rolled to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title.

South Carolina tops NCAA women’s tournament field

By KRIS RHIM

When the 68-team field for the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament was announced Sunday night, the least surprising selection was the No. 1 overall seed: South Carolina. The Gamecocks, who are also the reigning champion, will anchor a portion of the bracket that has its regional in nearby Greenville, South Carolina.

The 2023 tournament will formally open Wednesday when the first play-in games will be contested. The round of 64, which the top 16 seeds will host, starts Friday. Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford earned No. 1 seeds alongside South Carolina.

Led by forward Aliyah Boston, who could win her second consecutive national player of the year award, and fiery coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina (32-0) has been the best team in Division I all season. Last week, the Gamecocks capped off their first undefeated regular season in program history with a seventh Southeastern Conference Tournament title, and they will begin their NCAA Tournament run Friday against No. 16 seed Norfolk State.

But South Carolina hasn’t bulldozed through all its op -

ponents to achieve its perfect record. There have been close calls against two teams it may see during the NCAA Tournament: No. 2 seed Connecticut and Stanford.

Earlier this season, Stanford was in position to beat South Carolina or send the game into a second overtime. Then, Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen called a timeout when her team was out of them. That resulted in a technical foul, and South Carolina made two free throws to effectively end the game. UConn successfully neutralized Boston in the first half of their February matchup by dropping their entire defense into the painted area. Boston erupted in the second half for 23 points, however, and South Carolina came away with the win.

“We don’t need a loss to make a push,” Staley said earlier this season. “Last year, did we need it? Maybe. I don’t know. But it happened. And it was a push that helped us.”

For much of the past two decades, UConn has dominated the sport, winning 10 titles since 2000 and, at one point, 111 straight games. But UConn hasn’t won a championship since 2016 and lost in a title game for the first time last year to South Carolina. UConn has lost three of its last four games against the Gamecocks.

After its loss to South Carolina this season, UConn coach Geno Auriemma criticized the officiating, saying guard Lou

Lopez-Sénéchal had bruises, which Staley seemed to view as a slight.

“We’ve been called so many things, and I’m sick of it,” Staley said, adding: “We don’t denounce anybody’s play. They are always uplifting the game of women’s basketball, and when we were getting our heads beat in by UConn for all those years, I said nothing.”

As South Carolina trounced UConn in the title game last season 64-49, it appeared to be a clear changing of the guard. South Carolina seemed headed toward becoming college basketball’s next dynasty, and its performance so far this season has made that idea a reality.

“I don’t think winning two national championships or going to the Final Four back to back is considered a dynasty back in my age,” Staley said after last year’s title win. (South Carolina also won the title in the 2016-17 season.) “But Aliyah and social media, yeah, they think they doing something good.”

Staley added: “Look at the tradition of UConn and what they were able to do. They’re the standard. If it takes winning 11 national championships to be a dynasty, I’m probably going to fall short of that because I’m not going to be in the game long enough for us to win 11.”

The teams with the best chances of crashing South Carolina’s dynasty party include the mainstays in Stanford and UConn, but also other teams with dynamic stars, like No. 2 seed Iowa and Virginia Tech.

UConn comes into the tournament having won seven of its last eight games, including a comfortable win in the Big East Conference Tournament final over Villanova. But its play has fluctuated this season as it has dealt with several injuries. The issues began before the season with Paige Bueckers, the team’s best player, tearing a knee ligament in an August pickup game that sidelined her for the season. Ice Brady, a promising freshman, dislocated the patella in her right knee, in a practice before the season, which sidelined her the entire year.

The injuries continued. On Jan. 7, UConn had to postpone a game against DePaul because it had only six active players. Also, Auriemma missed four games this year with an illness.

The good news for UConn is that star sophomore guard Azzi Fudd, who has missed 22 total games this season because of knee injuries, is back in its lineup. Fudd was cleared to return just before the conference tournament and scored 11 points in the title game. UConn will face 15th-seeded Vermont on Saturday.

“So many things have happened on and off the court this past season,” Auriemma said. “Personally and team-wise, everything, to get to this point, you want to just close that book and start a new brand-new one.”

On the other hand, Stanford is stumbling into the tournament, having lost two of its last three games. Its last loss came in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament semifinals to UCLA. It was the first time Stanford had not made the Pac-12 title game since 2016.

Still, Stanford, which won the national title in 2021, has the experience and talent to be one of the hardest teams to eliminate from the tournament, but late-season inconsistency makes them seem more vulnerable than they have been in years past.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Answers on page 38

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

With Saturn newly in Pisces, you may have questions about the deeper meaning of your life, encouraging you to take stock and consider whether you’re on the right track. Been feeling a sense of frustration around your circumstances? If so, a period of reflection may be very welcome. You’ll also realize how certain beliefs have been more of a burden than a blessing.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

ou could have a hard time trying to pin someone down, and things might only get worse over coming days, Taurus. A nebulous blend of energies suggests that the more you try to connect, the more they’ll evade you. Why not give up and let go? Let them come to you instead. If you keep chasing them, you’ll look desperate. If you bide your time, you’ll be the one calling the shots.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

You’ll be animated by ideas, which if implemented could help you make progress with a long-term goal. While you might enjoy experimenting on your own, it may be better to liaise with others or ask for help. An expert can be ready to advise you of any drawbacks, enabling you to move ahead much faster. Seek clarity too, as an awkward Mars/Neptune tie may easily confuse.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

You may be in an awkward position with someone today if they don’t want to talk and you’re left high and dry. The more you try, the more they might clam up. Yet the coming days can see the flood gates opening, and they might have too much to say, but at least they will be talking. With Neptune on the scene though Cancer, the truth may be hidden in a sea of little white lies.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

You may have a lot on your plate Leo, but with your current sunny outlook you’ll easily tackle any challenges. Keen to make a start? An enthusiastic focus could see you going too fast, at a time when hazy Neptune’s influence could lead to mistakes you can’t afford to make. Today’s Moon/Saturn angle might bring delays, but if they cause you to slow down, it’s a good thing.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Whatever you have on over the days ahead, much of it may involve trying to make sense of a tricky situation. Need to impress someone? The Moon’s link with sobering Saturn, suggests dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Get everything organized, and you won’t go far wrong. While you may be busy, don’t neglect taking time out for yourself. It can help put things in perspective.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

A Mars/Neptune tie suggests it may be easier to tell someone a little white lie, so as not to hurt their feelings. Would this really help, though? It may not, Libra. The bigger picture encourages you to be honest, as this could clear the air and allow for positive discussion. Eventually, you may have to be truthful about your plans. A gentle conversation now could make it much easier.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

If someone persuades you to sign up to a scheme, you don’t have to do it. You could be very tempted though, especially if they make it sound like a brilliant idea. If you find yourself teetering on the edge of getting involved, then listen to your instincts. There’s a good chance the Moon/Saturn tie will encourage you to think about this some more, and then decline their offer.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Certain relationships may seem like gold dust, while others are likely more casual. The bigger picture suggests someone who has been on the fringes of your social scene may want to know you better. A sobering tie between the Moon and Saturn, suggests that a friendship might be very constructive for both of you. It may start slowly, but a sense of camaraderie could soon develop.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Holding back from discussing something difficult but important? It may be the reason why you’ve been feeling tense lately. Broaching this matter might not be what you want to do, but it could be the only way to bring healing to an issue that has dragged on for too long and is a drain on you. Once you’ve cleared the air, you’ll realize that putting this off was not a good idea.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Feeling nervous about an event? This is not the time to give in to any doubts. Instead, a realistic Moon/ Saturn aspect encourages you to go regardless, as being there could work out very well for you. With the Moon in your social zone and in Sagittarius, whatever is bothering you may seem more daunting than it really is, and gaining a sense of perspective could be crucial, Aquarius.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Sidestep complex plans and try to simplify your life as much as you can over coming days, as despite your best intentions, mistakes may be made. They might not necessarily be down to you, but could still affect you anyway. In addition, if friends seem rather pushy about you helping them out, don’t feel obliged to, as something more to your liking may be on the cards, Pisces.

Speed Bump