Monday Oct 12, 2020

Monday, October 12, 2020

San Juan The

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Nadal Wins French Open for 20th Grand Slam Singles Title

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Health Dept’s Record of Missteps Assailed PDP Leaders Call Out Pierluisi for Keeping Silent Amid Agency Debacle

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SEC Officials Where Are Those Payroll Records?

PDP Candidates to House Speaker: Claim Early Voting Logistics Mean ‘Johnny B. Goode’ P4

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

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Trouble

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

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October 12, 2020

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

SEC officials: Early voting could bring strategic problems

By THE STAR STAFF

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INDEX Local 3 Mainland 7 Business 11 International 14 Viewpoint 18 Noticias en Español 19 Entertainment 20

Travel Health Legals Sports Games Horoscope Cartoons

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bout 227,812 people have requested early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, a number that State Elections Commission (SEC) officials say is unprecedented and poses strategic problems because some 105,371 are requests to vote from home.

In addition, some 54,714 individuals who requested early voting asked to be able to mail in their ballots, which they have until Election Day to do with a dated postmark, and the rest are people who requested to vote at the polling stations.

“These mail-in ballots can be put in the mail on Election Day and will arrive after that date,” said Héctor Luis Acevedo, who advises the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). “This is a real invitation to not know who truly won the election on the same day.”

The last election was decided by 46,000 votes.

The real problem, however, is with the 105,371 voters who requested the vote-from-home option, because there are not enough election officials to be able to pick up those ballots at the voters’ residences. Officials can start counting those votes on Oct. 25.

“Since these are unprecedented numbers, the quantity of routes to be covered will be greater,” PDP Electoral Commissioner Nelson Rodríguez said in a televised interview.

“We have to increase the number of routes.”

Acevedo said the SEC should request additional funds from the Financial Oversight and Management Board in order to pay per diems to the volunteers so they can help out with the home vote because it will take them a week to collect all of those votes. He said there could be a repeat of the primary election in which the results of the primary were not known until later.

Puerto Rican Independence Party Electoral Commissioner Roberto Aponte said the early vote depends on the number of volunteers that each political party deploys, but noted that “if the person is not at home, and they should be, the person can always vote at the [polling station] on Election Day.” The validation of the early vote by mail will be subject to the voter having included a copy of their electoral identification card or any other valid and authorized photo identification.

Who can request an early vote? The new Electoral Code establishes that -- at a minimum -- early voting must be available at early voting centers for people imprisoned in penal institutions, bedridden patients in their homes and at hospitals, and people over 60 years of age who spend the night in lodging houses.

However, the new code expanded the categories of people who could request early voting to include: 1. Workers -- any person who is a public, private or self-employed worker who affirms that they must be in their workplace within Puerto Rico, provided that the workplace is located outside their home 2. Sole caregivers -- any person who is the only person available in the family nucleus of their home for the care of children under 14 years of age, people with disabilities and the sick who are bedridden at home 3. Hospitalized individuals - any person who is confined as a patient in a hospital or long-term healthcare or treatment institution 4. Candidates -- any person who in the electoral event is a primary candidate or candidate for elective public office 5. Travelers -- any voter who, upon expiration of the term for submitting absentee or early voting requests, became aware before election day that they will be physically outside of Puerto Rico for any reason on the day of voting 6. People with functional diversity -- any person with functional diversity (previously understood as “physical impairment”) or legal blindness who, during the 50 days prior to a vote and until the day of the vote, has been and will continue to use a wheelchair, crutches, equipment or devices that are essential to achieve mobility or have obvious limitations in movement using their legs, even if they do not use a support device 7. People with an easily accessible vote at home -- any person with limited mobility or who is bedridden with some type of medical condition that prevents them from going to their polling station.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

PDP candidates call out Pierluisi for staying silent amid health system debacle

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

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opular Democratic Party (PDP) legislative candidates on Sunday called out New Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate Pedro Pierluisi for not speaking out against the administration’s handling of the island’s public health affairs and said they will initiate an in-depth investigation and delineate public policies that will allow a better response in future emergencies as soon as they are sworn in as lawmakers in January 2021.

During a press conference at PDP headquarters in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz, along with Senate at-large candidate Juan Zaragoza, District 35 candidate for th House of Representatives Sol Higgins and District 15 House candidate Armando Legarreta recounted a chronology of the administrative mishaps at the Department of Health (DS by its Spanish initials) during the current four-year term, for which each candidate demanded that Pierluisi assign accountability.

Higgins, who currently works at the Humacao Diagnosis and Treatment Center, focused on the lack of organization

and communication from the DS before, during and after hurricanes Irma and Maria ripped through the island. Higgins said the lack of organization was evident as “the government did not have a plan to make hospitals work that had to shut down because they had no electric power and, therefore, could not provide health services to people who needed them the most.”

Meanwhile, Legarreta, who has worked for decades managing 330 Centers, focused on the arrests of Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration Executive Director Angie Ávila and subcontractor Alberto Velázquez Piñol, who were charged in a $2.5 million wire fraud scheme. The candidate said “the most concerning thing about this outrageous accusation was that it [involved] agencies that were supposed to look out for the people’s health and not for external interests to fill their pockets.”

Ortiz, a member of the House Health Committee, focused on the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the administration minimized the issue when the then-island epidemiologist said the coronavirus would not arrive in Puerto Rico “because we are far from China” and then-DS Secretary Rafael

Rodríguez Mercado said “he was only concerned about the ‘illegal Chinese immigrants’ on the island as a possible source of infection and claimed to be more worried about influenza than COVID-19.”

Likewise, Ortiz referred to “how the country watched live through House hearings how the government conducted a negligent procedure and, in some cases, fraudulently spent millions of dollars on tests to detect the coronavirus that didn’t arrive on the island or were useless.”

Zaragoza, meanwhile, said “three words can summarize what my colleagues said: managerial incapacity, corruption

and insensitivity,” as he pointed out how the current government risks losing over a $1 billion in Medicaid funds.

“This is unacceptable in any government responsibility, but it is worse when that responsibility has to do with our people’s health and lives,” the former Treasury secretary said.

PDP legislator Ortiz weighs in on ‘La Comay’ controversy As for the recent controversy involving puppeteer Antulio “Kobbo” Santarrosa, host of the TV show “La Comay,” used a doctored image of Citizen Victory Movement gubernatorial candidate Alexandra Lúgaro’s daughter Valentina with San Juan mayoral candidate Manuel Natal and sexualized the minor, Ortiz called it “unacceptable” and added that he condemns any and all such attempts.

“Although I did not watch the incident, truly, I don’t sponsor any use of minors for this kind of controversy. I personally know whoValentina is, she is extraordinary, very loving, and kind,” Ortiz said. “Therefore, I don’t sponsor, patronize or support any expression or comment where children are used for public controversies. Public and political controversies are handled by adults, and minors should not be involved in any way, shape or form.”

PDP candidates demand House speaker ‘open up the books’ for transparency on personnel payroll records

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

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opular Democratic Party (PDP) candidates for the island House of Representatives Deborah Soto, Luis Collazo, Enid Monge Pastrana and Luis Collazo called out House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez on Sunday for signing Administrative Order 2020-016, which they say limits access to personnel payroll records at a time when three New Progressive Party (NPP) lawmakers face prosecution for irregularities in contracts and inflated salaries of employees that are similar to schemes that led to the departure of five other NPP legislators

who were charged with corruption at both the federal and state levels.

Soto, a candidate for the District 10 seat in the House, said the approved order, which was signed on Sept. 15, contradicts the purpose of Law No. 141-2019, the Transparency and Expedited Procedure for Access to Public Information Law. That law states that “access to documentation and public information must be efficient, economical and expeditious.”

“We understand that we are requesting that the House Speaker open up the books,” Soto said. “This administrative order [2020-016] is an attempt against our citizens and shows a lack of transparency. It allows information to be hidden and that it is an unhealthy intention as they [the House majority] do not want to be investigated.”

Collazo, who is running for the District 33 seat in the House, said the order establishes, among other things, costs for providing requested public information. Each page that is requested as a “simple copy” would cost 50¢, while each page requested as a certified copy would cost $1. Moreover, it costs another $2 per page for a certified copy in digital format.

“To mention an example of what the impact

of the imposition of these costs would be, in cases such as that of Urayoan Hernández, the applicant Orlando Aponte was given more than 300 documents, the cost of which would be close to $1,000,” Collazo said. “We are talking about 50 legislators’ offices and agencies that have yet to provide any information. Therefore, requesting the documentation of all these would translate to over $50,000. This is definitely not an efficient, economical, and expeditious access to information, as Law 141 seeks; on the contrary, it is a gag in disguise.”

Regarding statements by Méndez that information such as payroll records could not be provided as it would reveal confidential information, Monge Pastrana said they were not requesting personal information from House employees and contractors. The PDP at-large candidate for the House said it is valid to request the aforementioned data because “citizens are the ones who pay their salaries.”

“What we requested is the list of all contracted service providers, the hours billed by these providers, and whether they render services directly or through a company. That’s not hard to answer. Also, [we requested] the list of individu-

als hired for professional services rendered to the office of a representative; in addition to the salaries, [we requested] increases authorized by [the representative] and the time billed,” Monge Pastrana said. “What the House speaker is saying is unfortunate; what he is saying is meant to confuse the press by convincing them that [disclosure of this information] would threaten the employee’s safety.”

Ortiz, a candidate for the District 3 House seat, said “it seems unheard of to delegate the decision to deliver the documentation to the absolute discretion of the person from whom information is being requested,” as the order states that any other court order can be overruled, which could lead to successfully suppressing public information.

“The country can’t handle this anymore. The country has to question what’s behind all of this.

Even when the law was signed back on August 1, 2019, it still took Méndez more than a year to write and sign the order, but why? He did it when the feds were knocking on [representatives] María Milagros Charbonier and Nelson del Valle’s doors,” Ortiz said. “Who is the House speaker protecting?”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

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Judge dismisses lawsuit aimed at halting Tourism Co. integration into DDEC

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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conomic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its Spanish acronym) Secretary Manuel A. Laboy Rivera announced Sunday that the San Juan Superior Court ruled in favor of a motion for dismissal and in opposition to the preliminary injunction filed by DDEC and the Puerto Rico government after dismissing the lawsuit filed Popular Democratic Party Rep. Ángel Matos in an attempt to stop the process of integrating the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. into the DDEC. The integration had been ordered under Law 141 of 2018, known as the Law for the Execution of the Reorganization Plan of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce.

“Since Law 141-2018 came into force, we have successfully integrated the Permit Management Office, the Trade and Export Company, the Industrial Development Company and the Industrial Tax Exemption Office, among others,” Laboy Rivera said. “The processes of transition are carried out as established by law and the Fiscal Plan, so that we can achieve the projected savings and efficiency of services. The opinion of the San Juan Superior Court validates the actions we have taken to comply and enforce the law in the transition process of the [Tourism Co.], as well as other government agencies.”

According to the ruling issued by judge Anthony Cuevas Ramos, “it seems clear to us that the Legislative

Assembly, although it was interested in having some power to supervise the procedures for consolidating the government entities mentioned in the law, it delegates to the Secretary of the DDEC extensive powers to carry out any process that generates savings and efficiencies for such entities, in the same way that it has the power to carry out actions regarding the entities that are already attached to the DDEC.” “It does not emerge from the law that the Legislative Assembly has the power to establish or confirm what actions the DDEC can carry out, but rather that such powers were delegated to the Secretary,” the ruling states. “The certification required by law is only a formal requirement so that, officially, the Legislative Assembly and the Governor are aware that the procedure has been completed.”

Laboy Rivera noted in a written statement that the judge’s opinion makes it clear that the DDEC has taken all the necessary steps to comply with the mandate to reorganize the economic development component of the island government.

“Understanding that the law is clear, it is not appropriate for this court to establish any limits to the powers of the DDEC to act as administrator of the DDEC for the purpose of generating savings and efficiencies,” reads the judicial document that will be available to the public soon on the DDEC Access to Information web page at: https://www.ddec.pr.gov/accessinfo/. “We must also express that the DDEC demonstrated that its action was not purely arbitrary, but that it consulted the Office of Administration and Transformation of Human Resources of the Government of Puerto Rico (OATRH) on the movements of personnel, to which the OATRH expressed that they are under the framework established

by Law No. 141 of 2018.”

The DDEC secretary, who also chairs the Tourism Co. board of directors, said “as I have expressed on many occasions the work, benefits and rights of colleagues who now become part of our agency are protected according to Law 141 itself and should have no doubts or fears.”

“These changes are part of what is necessary and required to comply with the Fiscal Plan certified by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, with which we will continue working as a team in favor of the economic development of Puerto Rico,” Laboy Rivera said.

Police Academy closed as preventive measure after COVID-19 positives

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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olice Bureau Commissioner Henry Escalera Rivera announced Sunday the preventive closure of the Puerto Rico Police Academy in Gurabo after several cadets and instructors tested positive for COVID-19.

“We were informed that two cadets and four faculty members received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19,” Escalera Rivera said in a written statement. “Immediately, we made the determination to pause the operations of the Academy to carry out decontamination and deep cleaning. Likewise, arrangements were made with the Puerto Rico Physicians & Surgeons Association, which will collaborate in carrying out drive-thru molecular tests for all the cadets and the outstanding personnel at the Academy.”

Escalera noted that the closure decision was made with the guidance of Dr. María del Carmen Calderón, who offers services to the Bureau, and following conversations with Police Academy Director Col. Orlando Rivera Lebrón.

“We will continue to evaluate the situation to make the necessary adjustments and determine the date when operations will resume, following the recommendation of the medical staff and ensuring the health and safety of the cadets, employees and faculty” the island’s top cop said. “Likewise, the corresponding measures will be taken to guarantee that the cadets can comply with

the established curriculum.”

Escalera added that the academy will maintain the required number of personnel assigned to surveillance tasks.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

Governor readies executive plan aimed at stopping gender violence

By THE STAR STAFF

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year after declaring a “state of national alert” over the high number of violent killings of women, Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced announced over the weekend that she is reviewing the draft of a new executive order aimed at stopping violence against women in Puerto Rico.

The executive order also comes following a wave of high-profile killings of women and transgender women that has brought the total number of women slain in Puerto Rico in the past year to 37 as of Oct. 5, according to the Gender Equity Observatory.

The governor said the executive order is expected to be accompanied by an action plan, as a result of a year of work in which many meetings were held with different sectors of the population that represent the diversity of women on the island.

The executive order and action plan are the answer to calls from feminist and gender equality groups and organizations for a re-evaluation, review and update of actions currently undertaken by public agencies and other governmental and non-governmental groups for the protection of women in Puerto Rico.

“Violence against women is a social problem that threatens the dignity, human rights and integrity of all women; teenage girls, elderly women and all in their diversity,” the governor said in a statement Saturday. “It’s our mission to do everything in our power to implement in a clear way the measures to eradicate it. We recognize that violence does not distinguish among sex, race, color, sexual orientation, social or economic status, and religion.”

“However, last year, 70 percent of the cases of domestic violence in Puerto Rico were against women,” Vázquez added. “We will stop the abuse, inequality and impunity. No more! It is everyone’s responsibility and a collective effort of the country.”

The order not only contains an official declaration of the problem of violence toward women in Puerto Rico, but also provides for the participation of groups and women’s organizations, integrating them into public agencies and non-governmental organizations for the joint work of executing the order.

It includes strategies targeting prevention and education, as well as the collection of statistical data that can be used for analysis of the problem, provision of resources and a baseline for measuring the effectiveness of the initiatives.

Among the organizations that presented proposals that were integrated into the action plan are Women Leaders of Puerto Rico, Women Faced with Adversity, Wings for Women Foundation, Women for Puerto Rico and the Feminist Collective Under Construction, Health Justice Center, Shelters Network and Women’s Peace Coordinator, among others.

ASSMCA announces crisis counseling program

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

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ollowing the approval of $3,214,047 in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Crisis Counseling Program, Anti-Addiction and Mental Health Services Administration (ASSMCA by its Spanish initials) chief Suzanne Roig Fuertes on Sunday announced the creation of the CONÉCTATE Crisis Counseling program.

The purpose of the program is to strengthen crisis counseling services for survivors of events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to expanding the counseling services provided by the PAS Line through phone calls, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other virtual programs adapted to the reality of the pandemic and other challenges.

“Certainly, the events that we have experienced in recent years, since hurricanes Irma and Maria, the earthquakes that began in December 2019 and now with the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the emotional health of all Puerto Ricans has been affected,” Roig Fuertes said in a written statement.

The ASSMCA administrator added that “the COVID-19 emergency involves many factors in addition to the concern that we may experience due to the fear of infection from the disease, such as social isolation at home, extreme lifestyle alteration and decrease in income, among others.”

“This definitely increases emotional stress, in some instances exacerbating violent behavior and a deterioration in people’s mental health,” Roig Fuertes said.

During March and April, the ASSCMA PAS Line received some 13,000 calls directly related to COVID-19. The symptoms mostly reported by citizens included fear, frustration, anger, depression and other

emotions related to a sense of helplessness in the situation. Those trends in the request for emotional attention have continued to the present.

The CONÉCTATE Crisis Counseling program will have a total of 248 crisis counselors distributed in teams throughout the areas most affected by COVID-19 in the island’s 78 municipalities. They will provide direct service to the communities while taking the necessary physical distancing measures and, as warranted, through teleconsultation.

Likewise, a team of 16 counselors will be established for the PAS Line, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in order

to attend to specific cases that are related to COVID-19. The initiative will not only strengthen ASSMCA’s team of first response professionals in crisis situations, but will also allow the acquisition of electronic equipment to adapt interventions to the new reality for citizens and comply with the rules of physical distancing.

“CONÉCTATE will serve the entire Puerto Rican population that requires it, including adults and older adults in the communities and, in addition, it will have specialized personnel to deal with crisis situations [involving] children and adolescents,” Roig Fuertes said. “Undoubtedly, through this project, ASSMCA will have an extremely active role with great community impact on the mental and emotional health of the Puerto Rican people.”

The ASSMCA administrator reminded citizens that the Agency has the PAS Line 1-800-981-0023 available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free of charge. Also, a new mobile application from Google Play and Apple Store allows users to access, in an immediate, safe and easy way, a live chat with professionals from the PAS Line through which they can receive emotional help for their particular situations.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

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7 Key findings about Trump’s reinvented swamp

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

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ampaigning four years ago as a Washington outsider, Donald Trump electrified rallies with his vows to “drain the swamp.” But once he was in the White House, Trump didn’t merely fail to end Washington’s insider culture of lobbying and favor-seeking. He reinvented it, turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway’s new backrooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.

Federal tax-return data for Trump and his business empire obtained by The New York Times shows that even as he leveraged his image as a successful businessman to win the presidency, large swaths of his real estate holdings were under financial stress, having racked up losses over the preceding decades.

After the election, his family business discovered a lucrative new revenue stream: people who wanted something from the president.

An investigation by the Times has found more than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Trump’s properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration. Nearly a quarter of those patrons have not been previously reported.

Here are some key findings from the investigation.

The president’s family business earned millions from customers with interests before his administration Just 60 customers with interests at stake before the administration brought the Trump Organization nearly $12 million during the first two years of Trump’s presidency, the Times found.

Almost all saw their interests advanced, in some fashion, by the president or his government.

Interviews with nearly 250 business executives, club members, lobbyists, Trump property employees and current or former administration officials provided a comprehensive account of how well customers fared with the administration — and how the president profited.

Many said in interviews that any favorable outcome was incidental to their patronage. But whether these customers won or lost, Trump benefited. They paid his family business for golf outings and steak dinners, for huge corporate retreats and black-tie galas.

During Trump’s campaign and the months leading up to his inauguration, the in-house magazine at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida announced nearly 100 new members, a number of whom had significant business interests in Washington. The tax records show that in 2016 alone, the club’s initiation fees delivered close to $6 million in revenue.

The president kept an eye on the Trump Organization from Washington As president-elect, Trump had pledged to step back from the Trump Organization and recuse himself from his private company’s operation. As president, he kept watch on properties run by the company, which is now led by his sons Eric and Donald Jr. When Trump stopped by the Trump International Hotel in Washington, he sometimes let managers know he was being briefed on their performance. At Mar-a-Lago, he told longtime members that he ought to raise prices on the new crowd angling to join. Then he did, at least twice.

Eric Trump sometimes told his father about specific groups that had booked events at Mar-a-Lago, a former administration

The Trump hotel in Washington has been a destination for lobbyists, foreign politicians, religious groups and Fox personalities. official said. And as Trump surveyed his business empire from the White House, he occasionally familiarized himself with details from club membership lists, according to two people with knowledge of the activity.

Getting access to Mr. Trump was easy: He has spent time at his hotels and resorts on roughly one day out of every four of his presidency When the president walked into his Washington hotel for dinner, word seemed to spread almost instantaneously. People might camp out at the hotel bar for hours, hoping for even a brief audience. At Mar-a-Lago, members paid Trump to spend time at what was, ultimately, his home. During meals, people would line up at his table. Guests, even paying members, had a habit of thanking Trump for having them over.

“People know and expect him to be at Mar-a-Lago, so they’ll bring a guest or come with a specific idea,” said Fernando Cutz, a former national security aide who often visited the club with Trump. “With that access, you could pitch your ideas. With this president, he’d actually listen and direct his staff to follow up.”

And chances were good he’d be around. Trump has visited the Trump family’s hotels and resorts on nearly 400 days of his presidency.

Victories were as weighty as a presidential directive and as ephemeral as a presidential tweet Patrons at the properties ranged widely: foreign politicians and Florida sugar barons, a Chinese billionaire and a Serbian prince, clean-energy enthusiasts and their adversaries in the petroleum industry, avowed small-government activists and contractors seeking billions from ever-fattening federal budgets.

Trump’s administration delivered them funding and laws and land. He handed them ambassadorships, appointments, presidential directives and tweets.

More than 70 advocacy groups, businesses and foreign governments threw events at the properties that had previously been held elsewhere, or created new events that drove dollars into the Trump’s business.

Donors also paid for the privilege of giving money to his campaign and super PAC. Trump attended 34 fundraisers held at his hotels and resorts, events that brought them another $3 million in revenue. Sometimes, he lined up his donors to ask what they

needed from the government.

Some customers framed their patronage in religious terms Almost from the outset of the Trump presidency, his Washington hotel was a hub of religious gatherings, fundraisers and tours — events that converted Trump’s most loyal voters into some of his most reliable customers.

Prominent evangelical ministers were given VIP status at the hotel, according to former employees, with their names and pictures distributed to the staff alongside those of senior Republican lawmakers and Fox television luminaries. And they spent big.

Unlike businesses and trade groups, many religious conservatives explicitly linked their support of Trump’s business to his administration’s socially conservative agenda. Some explained in interviews how Trump had delivered so much for evangelicals — on abortion, judges, Israel and more — that they wanted to show their gratitude.

“If we can support this president by having dinner or staying at the hotel, then we want to do that,” said Sharon Bolan, an evangelist from Dallas who belongs to Trump’s national faith leaders group.

Even politicians from small countries rubbed shoulders with the leader of the free world TheTimes identified more than 20 foreign officials, politicians and businesses or groups closely affiliated with governments abroad that held events at Trump’s properties or paid for rooms there.

For foreign politicians on the lower rungs of Washington’s diplomatic ladder, even a chance meeting with the American president can be a significant propaganda victory. At a gala held by local Republicans last spring at Mar-a-Lago, the head of Romania’s sixth-largest political party shook hands with Trump.

And some embassies moved their annual galas or independence commemorations to the Washington hotel.

When the prime minister of the Serbian enclave in Bosnia, Zeljka Cvijanovic, stopped at the hotel and met Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she issued a news release almost suggestive of a state function. “On the first day of her visit to Washington, Prime Minister Cvijanovic met with the closest associates of the US President,” it proclaimed.

Selfies and social media posts chronicled the favor-seeking Many of those seeking help from his administration were not shy about advertising their access to the president’s realm.

The Times’ investigation includes a review of hundreds of social media posts, many by patrons enthusiastically documenting their visits to Trump’s properties, as well as an array of published news articles where some patrons spoke candidly about their access.

“Once he became president, everyone wanted to be around him,” said Jeff Greene, a Florida real estate developer and Mar-aLago member. It wasn’t influence-peddling, Greene said. “People like to be where presidents are.”

TheTrump Organization did not respond to repeated requests for comment over the past week, nor did it respond to a detailed description of facts included in the article.

A White House spokesperson, Judd Deere, issued a brief statement saying that Trump had “turned over the day-to-day responsibilities of the very successful business he built” to his two adult sons. “The president has kept his promise every day to the American people to fight for them, drain the swamp and always put America first,” he added.

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Monday, October 12, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Senate Republicans denounce White House’s offer for Coronavirus relief

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) exits an elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 23, 2020.

By EMILY COCHRANE

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epublicans revolted Saturday over President Donald Trump’s efforts to resuscitate bipartisan stimulus talks with a $1.8 trillion offer to Democrats, balking at what they called an exorbitantly costly plan in the latest sign of steep obstacles to any deal before the election.

Even as Democrats held out for more concessions over funding and provisions from a newly pliant president urgently seeking an agreement before he faces voters next month, it was the deep divisions among Republicans that were standing in the way.

Months of simmering tensions came to a head in a tense phone call Saturday morning between senators and top administration officials, in which nearly half of the Republican conference spent more than an hour lashing into Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, about the revived negotiations and warning that they could not support much of what was under discussion.

The backlash was so severe that Meadows at one point told senators that he would relay their concerns to Trump, but “you all will have to come to my funeral” after he delivered news of such negative reactions.

The stark divisions between most Senate Republicans and what the White House has signaled it was willing to endorse to secure Democratic support further undercut the potential for an agreement before Nov. 3, even as the country’s

economic recovery continues to falter and tens of thousands of Americans, businesses and schools struggle to weather the pandemic without federal relief.

Days after abruptly ending negotiations and then reversing course to demand negotiators “go big!,” Trump appears to be faced with two unpalatable choices. Either he is likely to have to concede an inability to wrangle a compromise and deliver critical aid before the election, or defy warnings from his own party in the Senate and pressure Republicans to vote on a proposal that as of now they believe would largely favor Democratic demands. Details of the phone call Saturday morning were described by seven people familiar with the discussion, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose details of a private conversation.

Most of the senators who spoke on the call signaled an openness to continuing negotiations. But there was widespread dissatisfaction with both the mounting cost of the administration’s offers and the perception that Mnuchin, in talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was acquiescing to the Democratic proposal of a $2.2 trillion package as a baseline instead of the two proposals put forward by Senate Republicans this year.

“There’s no appetite right now to spend the White House number or the House number,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said on the call. Republicans had first offered a $1 trillion proposal in late July, before trying to advance a scaled-down $350 billion proposal that garnered the support of the chamber’s fiscal hawks. (That legislation failed because Democrats

blocked it as inadequate.)

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., warned that accepting a bill with Pelosi’s support would amount to a “death knell” for the party’s ambitions to retain its majority in the Senate and would “deflate” the Republican base, reflecting long-standing concerns among senators eager to protect their credentials as fiscal hawks and stave off primary challengers in the next election cycle.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., declared that accepting a Democratic push to expand elements of the Affordable Care Act would be “an enormous betrayal” of Republican voters.

Republicans have also voiced concerns that the health care provisions Democrats have pressed for could result in the use of federal funds for abortions, a characterization Democrats dispute.

“I don’t get it,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said of the administration’s efforts to reach a sweeping bipartisan deal with House Democrats, echoing the sentiments of multiple senators.

Pelosi, for her part, informed Democratic lawmakers that she found elements of Mnuchin’s proposal to be inadequate, writing in a letter Saturday that “this proposal amounted to one step forward, two steps back.” After scaling down House Democrats’ original $3.4 trillion proposal to $2.2 trillion, she has been unwilling to accept much less than that.

“When the president talks about wanting a bigger relief package, his proposal appears to mean that he wants more money at his discretion to grant or withhold,” Pelosi wrote, adding “at this point, we still have disagreement on many priorities.” She ticked off a number of unresolved issues, including what she said was insufficient funding for unemployment benefits, child care, and state and local governments, and “reckless” liability protections that Republicans have insisted are a priority.

She said she was waiting for specific language from the administration about several provisions, including a national strategy for testing and tracing to contain the spread of the virus. It remained unclear whether she and Mnuchin would speak over the weekend.

Moderate Republicans, particularly those who are facing tough reelection races, are among the few senators who have voiced support for a bipartisan coronavirus deal and expressed few reservations about the price tag. A handful of those senators, on a private call with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, pushed for action on a bipartisan deal, particularly after Trump briefly withdrew negotiators from talks and gave Democrats political cover for failure to reach an agreement.

McConnell has sought to dampen expectations for a deal in recent days, telling reporters in his home state Friday that “the situation is kind of murky.”

At least one Republican senator, Mike Lee of Utah, also warned that an effort to muscle a spending bill through the Senate could derail efforts to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court before Nov. 3, while Republicans maintain control of both the White House and the Senate.

Confirmation hearings for Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are set to begin Monday.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

9

Battered by Trump, the CDC’s director faces pressure to speak out

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

P

ressure is mounting on the leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — from inside and outside the agency — to speak publicly against the White House’s manhandling of CDC research and public health decisions, with career scientists so demoralized they are talking of quitting if President Donald Trump wins reelection.

The situation came to a boiling point this week when William Foege, a giant in public health who led the CDC under Democratic and Republican presidents, called for its current director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, to “stand up to a bully” — he meant Trump — even at the risk of being fired.

“Silence becomes complicity,” he said in an interview after a private letter he wrote to Redfield leaked to the news media.

Redfield further infuriated public health experts by issuing a memo, released by the White House, that cleared Vice President Mike Pence to participate in the vice presidential debate Wednesday, even as the White House became a coronavirus hot spot. Nearly a dozen current and former CDC officials — including six who still work there — called the letter highly inappropriate.

And Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee, said she told Redfield in a private telephone conversation before he testified on Capitol Hill last month that he had to take a stand.

“What I said to him was that my concern was about the agency’s credibility today — and the agency’s credibility that we need as a country in the future,” Murray said in an interview. “This isn’t just about right now. If we lose all the really good scientists there, if people don’t believe the CDC when they put out guidance, what happens in the next flu outbreak? What happens in the next public health crisis?”

No federal health agency has been beaten up quite like the CDC, which is based in Atlanta and prides itself on avoiding Washington partisanship.The Food and Drug Administration did buckle to White House demands to grant emergency approvals for two unproven COVID-19 therapies, but more recently, the FDA withstood enormous pressure — including from Trump — and issued tough new guidelines for emergency approval of a coronavirus vaccine that almost certainly pushes any vaccine release past the election.

The National Institutes of Health has remained above the political fray, and one of its top officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become a symbol of scientific defiance to Trump. On Friday, Fauci called the White House ceremony announcing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court

a “superspreader event.”

But the CDC leadership has proved far more malleable to the president’s will.The White House successfully pressured the agency to revise guidelines on matters like school reopenings, church gatherings and whether cruise ships can sail.

The CDC was forced, over the serious objections of its own scientists, to post coronavirus testing guidelines that suggested asymptomatic people should not be tested. (Redfield later walked that back after the resulting uproar, and it was ultimately reversed.) And the White House thwarted a plan, laid out in a directive drafted last month by Redfield, to require individuals to wear masks on all commercial transportation in the United States.

Supporters of the agency fear the CDC’s reputation will be irrevocably damaged if Redfield does not start more vigorously defending its science.

“What has happened at CDC has been horrifying to see,” said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who pioneered public health research into gun violence at the CDC but was pushed out after Republicans in Congress effectively cut off funding for his work. “It’s been terribly demoralizing to people who have been working 16- and 17-hour days for weeks or months at a time while taking on COVID-19.”

Redfield declined to comment. Murray said he had given her his assent in their conversation, acknowledging without saying much that he agreed with what she said. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, said, “The American people are fortunate to have Dr. Redfield leading the CDC.” The agency’s scientists know that their work will invariably collide with politics; they make decisions and do research on hot-button issues like abortion, teenage pregnancy and gun violence. But they have never seen anything quite like what is happening under Trump.

“We’ve all learned a terrible lesson,” said one CDC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired. “As much as we want to believe we can operate independently of politics and it’s all about the science, it took just a few months to hobble our ability to steer the course of this pandemic. So we can pretend that the politics don’t matter, but we have been kneecapped.”

Political appointees of the president meddled in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, regarded as the “holiest of the holy” in medical literature. Equally troubling, agency officials say, is that the White House has muzzled the CDC, refusing to allow the nation’s leading public health experts to talk directly and regularly to the American people — a critical component of any

successful infectious disease response.

One longtime CDC scientist said it was time not only for Redfield to speak out but also for senior career scientists in the agency to do so. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, has hardly been seen since late February, when she enraged Trump by presciently telling reporters that day-to-day life in the United States was about to change drastically: “It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen.”

Another CDC veteran scientist said he and colleagues were planning to look for new jobs if Trump wins reelection.

Redfield’s memo about Pence — addressed to Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff — is a particular sore spot because Redfield has not examined Pence, and the CDC is not involved in contact tracing to track the extent of the White House outbreak. In addition, federal law bars most executive branch employees from engaging in political activities, and some say Redfield crossed a red line.

“It sounds very manipulative,” said Foege, who served as CDC director under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, adding that while he sometimes had to fend off pressure from Washington, he “was never faced with having to do something like that.”

Most current and former CDC officials acknowledge that Redfield is in a terrible position, working for a president who has declared all-out war on his agency and who regards its scientists as members of a so-called “deep state” out to

get him. Unlike Fauci, he is a political appointee and lacks civil service protections. And unlike the FDA commissioner, he cannot turn to a powerful industry constituency like pharmaceuticals to back him up.

Some say it would be unwise for him to step down, for fear of his successor.

“What happens if 50 of the top scientists at CDC say, ‘We’ve had it, we’re leaving?’ Does that leave the country better off or worse off?” asked Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, who served as the CDC director under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and regularly met Redfield for lunch before the pandemic. “I suspect that Dr. Redfield is asking himself the same question.”

Known as “R3” by his staff — a reference to his initials — Redfield has rarely been in Atlanta during the pandemic, with top aides seeing him only a dozen or so times. Often summoned to coronavirus task force meetings and congressional hearings, he instead has stayed at his home in Baltimore, where he helped found and run a virology institute at the University of Maryland before becoming CDC director in 2018.

“I don’t think he was the leader for this agency at this point in time,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, who has known Redfield since they served together in the Army decades ago. “I don’t know if anybody could have been.”

Now, less than a month from the election, the question is whether the CDC can recover.

Foege refused to allow the possibility that it could not.

“They have to recover,” he said. “The world needs a gold standard in public health.”

Drs. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a House Committee hearing about the coronavirus pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 11, 2020.

10

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

Justice Department suspends all diversity and inclusion training for staff

By KATIE BENNER

T

he Justice Department suspended all diversity and inclusion training for its employees and managers this week, complying with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to eliminate any training that suggests that implicit racial and gender biases exist in the workplace, according to a memo distributed to the department’s executive officers.

The guidance, sent Thursday to Justice Department leaders, seemingly goes further than the president’s executive order — which pertains only to diversity training — to include workrelated programs, activities and events that touch on diversity.

The memo, reviewed by The New York Times, said that managers

must remove all diversity-related mandatory training requirements that have been assigned to employees from the department’s internal system, and they must suspend any related activities and events until materials can be approved by the Office of Personnel Management.

The Justice Department, which has more than 115,000 employees, did not respond to a request for comment.

In the run-up to the election on Nov. 3, Trump has waged a war against education and training courses that assert that systemic racism exists and that encourage employees to be aware of it, denouncing such ideas as part of a radical liberal agenda.

Last month, he said that school curriculums that examined the way racism had shaped the United States pushed a

false narrative that “America is a wicked and racist nation,” and he vowed to “restore patriotic education to our schools.”

“Our youth will be taught to love America,” the president said.

Days later, Trump signed an executive order to end the federal government’s use of traditional diversity and inclusion training, which supports the idea that people have unconscious biases around race and gender that can negatively affect how employees are treated. Such views have gained broad traction in corporate America and across the federal government, which has long offered trainings to combat such biases.

In his executive order, the president said that this idea was “rooted in the pernicious and false belief that Ame-

The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, June 12, 2020. The Justice Department suspended all diversity and inclusion training for its employees and managers this week, complying with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to eliminate any training that suggests that implicit racial and gender biases exist in the workplace, according to a memo distributed to the department’s executive officers.

rica is an irredeemably racist and sexist country,” and that it promoted “divisive concepts,” including the idea that races were valued differently, that the United States was fundamentally racist or sexist and that individuals could unconsciously act in racist or sexist ways.

Trump’s executive order also said that no training should support the idea that a person “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex” or that “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.”

After the president signed the order, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management sent memos to administration officials laying out preliminary guidance for how they would carry it out.

The order immediately caused confusion at some agencies, which were not sure how best to comply. It also threw into disarray long-standing relationships with government contractors and internal federal government groups that conduct diversity trainings intended to push back on unconscious biases and promote gender and racial diversity in the workplace.

The order dovetailed with comments that Attorney General William Barr has made that suggest racism is not a wide-scale problem in the United States.

He has publicly said that he does not believe that systemic racism exists within law enforcement, despite a recent spate of police killings and shootings of Black people that led to months of nationwide demonstrations against racism in policing.

Last month, he criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, which has played an important role in many of the protests, accusing those aligned with the movement of using Black people as props to advance a radical political agenda.

According to the Justice Department’s memo, senior political appointees would have to approve any future spending on diversity and inclusion training.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

11

Customers still like to shop in person, even if they get only to the curb

By SAPNA MAHESHWARI and MICHAEL CORKERY

W

hen the pandemic forced Dick’s Sporting Goods to close its hundreds of stores in March, the retailer hustled to set up curbside pickup within two days. Its initial attempt, though, was just this side of a children’s lemonade stand.

“When you drove up, there was a sign in the window with a phone number, and people used the landline to call the stores and they’d deliver it out,” Lauren Hobart, president of Dick’s, said of the “very scrappy” operation. Email and text alerts would come later.

Scrappy or not, curbside pickup not only rescued Dick’s sales during the lockdowns, it has also emerged as many retailers’ best strategy for long-term survival in the e-commerce age. And what started as a coronavirus stopgap is likely to have a permanent impact on the way people shop, along with giving them a new reason to continue to visit beleaguered physical stores.

The popularity of curbside pickup reveals that the future of retail is not just more packages piling up on people’s doorsteps. Beyond satisfying the need for contactless shopping in the pandemic, it taps into Americans’ desire to drive to a store, a pull that can be just as strong as, or even stronger than, the convenience of home delivery.

“Americans are used to their cars and actually do like stores, so this is kind of a hybrid where you’re getting the best of both worlds,” said Oliver Chen, a retail analyst at Cowen.

As of August, about three-fourths of the top 50 store-based retailers in the United States offered curbside pickup, according to Coresight Research, an advisory and research firm that specializes in retail and technology. Anything from a sweater to a book is now as easy to pick up as a sandwich.

Target said its curbside sales grew more than 700% in the last quarter, while Best Buy reported nearly $5 billion in online revenue in the second quarter, a company record, and said 41% of that had come from curbside or in-store pickup.

The rise in curbside pickup, part of a larger surge in e-commerce sales, has implications for preserving retail jobs, though workers’ duties are likely to transform. It is also helping to keep brick-andmortar spaces relevant when thousands of storefronts have emptied out as more customers move online.

Curbside allows certain big-box retailers to convert their stores into mini ecommerce fulfillment centers, while avoiding the money-losing step of shipping goods to homes.

By driving to the store to pick up an online order, “the customer takes the last mile,” Chen said, referring to the typically expensive final step in package deliveries.

The rising popularity of curbside coincided with Amazon’s struggles with its vaunted supply chain and usually seamless home delivery system in the early months of the pandemic. As people rushed to place orders for everything from toilet paper to backyard swimming pools, Amazon dealt with out-of-stock items, price gouging and delayed or inaccurate shipments.

That was a boon for chains like Dick’s, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, which harnessed the merchandise in their thousands of stores to new effect especially as summer began.

“Amazon struggled a bit at the beginning like everybody did, because, boom, when the demand came, it was so great it hit the whole system and kind of overwhelmed it,” said Walter Robb, a former co-chief executive of Whole Foods and executive-in-residence at S2G Ventures, a venture fund focused on food.

“Those that have been able to be agile on their feet with these digital offerings have made some gains.”

The drive-up service is giving Walmart and other chains another significant advantage — the ability to make a profit on online orders, where the economics are notoriously difficult. Target has said that its order pickup and curbside services at stores cost the company about 90% less on average than fulfilling orders from a warehouse.

On a $100 curbside order, the labor costs of picking the groceries reduce Walmart’s profit by $1.50 while still leaving $3 in profit, estimated Edward Yru-

Nichole Jackson delivers a curbside pickup order at Dick’s Sporting Goods, in the Yonkers neighborhood of New York, Sept. 30, 2020. Curbside pickup, which started as a coronavirus stopgap, has emerged as a new strategy for long-term survival of brick and mortar stores in the e-commerce age, and is likely to have a permanent impact on the way people shop. ma, an e-commerce analyst at Keybanc Capital Markets. By comparison, Walmart loses money on its traditional e-commerce sales, in which customers order online and the products are shipped to their home, Yruma said. In its recent secondquarter-earnings report, Walmart said that it had “significantly reduced losses” in its traditional e-commerce business.

Walmart now employs 74,000 workers across more than 3,000 stores to pick groceries on orders and then take them out to customers’ cars. Five years ago, there were fewer than 1,000 of those jobs. But during the pandemic, filling those roles was a big driver behind Walmart’s hiring boom, which increased the company’s 1.5 million-person workforce by 14%.

That is a significant number for the nation’s largest private employer, particularly at a time when the economy has been shedding jobs.

But some retailers are not hiring more employees to pack online orders — they are simply adding these tasks to the workers’ workloads without increasing their pay. In fact, many retailers have ended the raises and bonuses that workers

were receiving in the early months of the pandemic, a decision labor groups have criticized because workers now face both heavier workloads and the threat of contracting the virus in the store.

Jean-André Rougeot, chief executive of Sephora Americas, said that on a recent visit to Walmart, he saw more employees pushing carts for pickup orders than he did shoppers. He anticipates that people will return to Sephora’s stores to touch and try its beauty products, but acknowledged that the pandemic would transform how people shopped and received goods.

“Every grandparent in America knows how to use Zoom now because that’s how they spoke to their grandkids for the last six months, so it’s not just young people,” Rougeot said. “The whole population has become much more comfortable with technology and the ability to order things differently.

“There’s a whole group of consumers that literally discovered e-commerce during this period,” he added. “These people, because of COVID, started to do that, and I don’t think you can put the genie back in the bottle.”

12

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

Europe’s economic recovery is a summer memory

The busy streets of Manchester, England on Oct. 2, 2020. The British government is expected to announce more sweeping measures, many focused on trying to curb drinking and carousing.

By PETER S. GOODMAN

W

hat faint hopes remained that Europe was recovering from the economic catastrophe delivered by the pandemic have disappeared as the lethal virus has resumed spreading rapidly across much of the continent.

After sharply expanding in the early part of the summer, Britain’s economy grew far less than anticipated in August — just 2.1% compared with July, the government reported Friday, adding to worries that further weakness lies ahead.

This week, France, Europe’s second-largest economy, downgraded its forecast for the pace of expansion for the last three months of the year from an already minimal 1% to zero.

Overall, the national statistics agency predicted the economy would contract by 9%.

The diminished expectations are a direct

outgrowth of alarm over the revival of the virus. France reported nearly 19,000 new cases Wednesday — a one-day record, and almost double the number the day before. The surge prompted President Emmanuel Macron to announce new restrictions, including a twomonth shutdown of cafes and bars in Paris and surrounding areas.

In Spain, the central bank governor warned this week that the accelerating spread of the virus could force the government to impose restrictions that would produce an economic contraction of as much as 12.6% this year.

The European Central Bank’s chief economist cautioned Tuesday that the 19 countries that share the euro might not recover from the disaster until 2022, with those that are dependent on tourism especially vulnerable.

Summer increasingly feels like a long time ago.

In July, with infection rates down, lock-

downs lifted and many Europeans indulging in the sacred ritual of the summer holiday, signs of revival appeared abundant. Many European economies expanded strongly as people returned to shops, restaurants and vacation destinations. The most optimistic economists began celebrating a so-called V-shaped recovery, featuring a bounce-back just as steep as the plunge that had preceded it.

Hopes had also been buoyed by a landmark agreement forged by the European Union to raise a 750 billion euro ($883 billion) relief fund through the sale of bonds backed collectively by all members. That move transcended years of resistance from debt-averse northern European countries, while signaling that the European bloc — not generally known for cooperation in the face of crisis — had achieved a new state of solidarity.

But most economists assumed that better days would last only so long as the virus could be contained. Restrictions imposed by governments appeared less important than the willingness of consumers to interact with other people, returning to workplaces and shopping areas.

In a report this week, Oxford Economics, a research institution in London, analyzed data across the eurozone, noting that much of the improvement in the late summer was the result of factories springing back to life after shutdowns. For expansion to continue, people have to buy the products the factories are making. The willingness to spend is influenced by confidence — whether people feel safe enough to move about; whether they fear they could lose their jobs.

By September, as coronavirus cases climbed anew, consumption was falling off.

“With the health situation unlikely to improve in the near term, we expect the recovery to slow again over the next few weeks,” concluded the report, which was written by Moritz Degler, an Oxford Economics senior economist.

The economic slowdown is unfolding just as some European economies begin to taper off the extraordinary sums they have expended to protect workers from joblessness, prompting worries about a seemingly inevitable increase in unemployment.

In Britain, the government, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has been aggressively subsidizing wages at businesses hurt by the pandemic so long as employers do not fire their workers. The public covered 80% of wages when the program began in the spring.

Even after a gradual easing, the government is picking up 60% of the cost this month.

But the furlough program, which has cost the Treasury 39 billion pounds (about $50 billion), is set to expire this month. The overseer of the public finances, Rishi Sunak, has been expressing worries about the size of Britain’s debts, while pledging to square the books. Under a slimmed-down replacement program he announced last month, the government would cover only 22% of wages going forward.

But the rapidly deteriorating economic outlook has forced Sunak to go back to the well. On Friday, in anticipation of tighter limits on businesses, he announced a new furlough program that would cover two-thirds of wages at businesses that are required to shut down as virus cases increase rapidly, and that would also increase grants. The measures could be particularly significant in industrial areas in the north of England, where a surge of electoral support for the Conservative Party in last year’s elections helped keep Johnson in office.

Fears of diminishing fortunes in Britain have been amplified by the possibility that the nation could crash out of the EU at the end of the year — completing the tortuous process of Brexit — absent a deal governing future trade.

That would risk job-killing chaos, especially at ports.

On the other side of the English Channel, the fall has brought a realization that complex hurdles remain before the EU’s relief fund can be administered, limiting prospects in the worst-hit countries like Spain and Italy.

The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Wednesday announced a stimulus spending plan worth 72 billion euros ($85 billion), with four-fifths of the money planned to come from the European fund.

Spain may have to wait for that money.

The fund is supposed to be operational by January, yet almost certainly will confront delays as EU members debate conditions on its distribution — especially rules aimed at forcing Hungary and Poland to abide by the democratic norms of the bloc.

The continent’s prospects for recovery are further restrained by rules that limit debts by members of the EU and curb spending. Those strictures have been suspended, but they will return eventually, limiting growth prospects.

Italy is counting on receiving 209 billion euros ($246 billion) from the European relief fund, but the government is also pledging to bring down its public debt, which exceeded 134% of annual economic output at the end of last year.

Such austerity, just as the pandemic increases costs for medical care, will almost certainly plunge Italy into a longer and deeper recession.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

13 Stocks

U.S. earnings improvement expected, but still a weak quarter

W

hile good business news has been in short supply, investors may take slight comfort in coming weeks from U.S. corporate earnings that are likely to be bad, but not as bad as they have been.

Analysts expect third-quarter S&P 500 earnings to have fallen 21% compared with the year-ago quarter, a big improvement from second-quarter’s 30.6% drop that was most likely the low point for earnings this year because of coronavirus-fueled lockdowns, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Earnings reporting will get rolling next week with results from some of the big U.S. banks, likely impacted by near record low interest rates and the pandemic-induced recession. JPMorgan & Co. JPM.N and Citigroup C.N both release results on Tuesday.

Overall, S&P 500 quarterly results tend to beat analysts’ cautious expectations, and they could do that even more than usual this reporting season, strategists said. In a break from the typical trend, guidance from U.S. companies has been more positive than negative and estimates have been improving in recent weeks to reflect more upbeat guidance.

Whether that will be enough to support stocks in the weeks ahead is up for debate.

“Very rarely in the last 10 years have we seen earnings estimates moving higher after a quarterly reporting season,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

“That’s a very good sign. It’s a sign there’s a strong possibility this quarterly earnings season is now going to be better than expected,” he said. “The only problem is, now that we’ve entered the fourth quarter, a lot of the economic indicators are plateauing.”

That could weigh on fourth-quarter guidance and overshadow some of the better-than-expected results, he said.

Data this past Thursday on U.S. jobless claims was among the latest to underscore the view the labor market recovery was struggling to gain momentum, with coronavirus cases continuing to rise.

Earnings season comes as the nation also prepares for the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential vote, which lands in the middle of one of the heaviest weeks of profit reporting. That, along with focus on prospects for additional fiscal stimulus from Washington, could overshadow earnings news.

Companies that have reported so far on the quarter have not seen much cheer from investors, despite their much stronger-than-expected results, some strategists have noted.

“Firms that reported Q3 already have declined 1% on average despite the big beats, suggesting the bar is much higher for investors,” UBS strategist Keith Parker wrote in a note.

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Monday, October 12, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

For Boris Johnson, and maybe Trump, COVID as metaphor is hard to shake

President Donald Trump removes his mask on the Truman Balcony after returning to the White House in Washington, from his treatment for COVID-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, on Oct. 5, 2020.

By MARK LANDLER

P

resident Donald Trump got a well-wishing phone call this past week from one of the few foreign leaders who knows what he’s been going through: Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, a survivor of a serious brush with the coronavirus this spring.

Trump seized on the call as another opportunity to boast of a swift recovery from COVID-19. But he should take little comfort from Johnson’s experience — and not just because the prime minister ended up in an intensive-care unit after he, like the president, tried to work through the illness.

Six months after Johnson was released from the hospital, he has yet to shake off questions about the effects of the disease on his energy, focus and spirit. His health is a source of whispered speculation in the hallways of Parliament, questions from reporters and ominous musings by columnists, for whom Johnson’s illness has become a symptom of his broader political decline.

“It’s a metaphor for his government, and that’s affecting him personally,” said Jonathan Powell, who was chief of staff to Tony Blair when he was prime minister. “He looks like the wrong man for the job at this time.”

Parallels between Johnson and Trump are often overblown, and there is little in the prime minister’s convalescence that compares to the daily spectacle of a president pronouncing himself back to normal and scheduling campaign rallies a week after be-

ing airlifted to the hospital with trouble breathing.

Still, the two men share a penchant for brash statements, flouting the rules and a campaign-style approach to government.

Both also initially played down the threat of the virus — Johnson, most notoriously, when he bragged about shaking the hands of coronavirus patients while visiting them in the hospital.

Despite his efforts, Johnson has never recaptured the public buoyancy that propelled him to a landslide election victory in December. On Tuesday, speaking to his Conservative Party’s annual conference, he tried again to put to rest questions about lingering effects of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

“I have read a lot of nonsense recently about how my own bout of COVID has somehow robbed me of my mojo,” the prime minister said in a tone of theatrical umbrage. “And of course, this is self-evident drivel, the kind of seditious propaganda that you would expect from people who don’t want this government to succeed.”

Far from being a political Austin Powers, sapped of his vitality by an invisible enemy, Johnson said he had lost 26 pounds since his recovery. Having long struggled with his weight, he has declared himself as “fit as a butcher’s dog” and challenged the people of Britain to join him in getting into shape.

“I could refute these critics of my athletic abilities in any way they want: arm-wrestle, leg-wrestle, Cumberland wrestle, sprint-off, you name it,” Johnson said, sounding a bit like Trump, who despite being 74 and moderately obese attributed his recov-

ery to the fact that he is a “perfect physical specimen.”

Both leaders sought to make political points after being discharged from the hospital: Trump about the miracle-cure qualities of the drugs he was treated with, which he promised to distribute free to all Americans; and Johnson about the miracle workers who treated him — the doctors and nurses of the National Health Service, perhaps Britain’s most revered institution.

But Johnson, unlike Trump, emerged from his illness with a new appreciation for the virus’s deadliness and his own vulnerability. He spoke movingly about how the nurses in the ICU took turns giving him oxygen, something that Trump, who also received supplemental oxygen, has not mentioned.

Johnson also became a reluctant proponent of protective measures, a stance that has put him at odds not only with Trump but also with members of his own party who worry about the damage that lockdowns do to the economy.

The prime minister’s speech to the Conservative conference was a concession to the times. Whereas he would typically deliver the speech in a giant hall with the party faithful arrayed before him, Johnson instead faced a camera in an empty room.

“There is no one to clap or heckle,” he lamented.

He did his best to turn the page, sketching out his vision of a post-COVID future for Britain: ambitious investments in wind turbines and windmills, under the slogan “Build Back Better,” which happens to also be the slogan of the jobs and recovery plan of former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for president.

The Trump campaign accused Biden of plagiarizing Johnson. But “Build Back Better” has been used recently by the United Nations, the World Economic Forum and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, suggesting a lack of imagination more than a theft of intellectual property.

In any event, the British news media largely ignored “Build Back Better” and kept the focus on Johnson’s misplaced mojo.

The state of his health is hard to judge, given that his office provided sketchy, uninformative updates while he was sick and has not offered a medical briefing since then. He looked energetic Tuesday but has seemed occasionally lethargic during debates in Parliament.

“His party conference speech was palpably a chance to shake off the sense that he’s half the man he used to be, that he’s lost his élan and brio, that he’s now a poor shuddering wreck,” said Andrew Gimson, one of Johnson’s biographers.

“But he hasn’t been able to shake it off,” Gimson said.

“There are a lot of columnists who are committed to the idea that he’s an utter scoundrel, and they write these things partly to convince themselves.”

Still, it is not just Johnson’s polarizing personality that has caused his problems. His government’s botched response to the pandemic — from its tardy lockdown and trouble-prone test-and-trace system to its serial reversals on lockdown measures — has cemented the perception that it is ill-equipped to deal with the challenge.

Johnson’s approval rating, which peaked at 66% when he left the ICU, has sagged to 35%, according to the research group YouGov. Early polls suggest that Trump may not even get that transitory a sympathy bump from his illness, and unlike Johnson, he is due to face voters in less than a month.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

15

As virus surges in Europe, resistance to new restrictions also grows

By MARC SANTORA and ISABELLA KWAI

F

rance has placed cities on “maximum alert” and ordered many to close all bars, gyms and sports centers Saturday. Italy and Poland have made masks compulsory in public. The Czech Republic has declared a state of emergency, and German officials fear new outbreaks could soon grow beyond the control of their vaunted testing and tracing.

Across Europe and beyond, COVID-19 has come roaring back, and, as happened last spring, officials are invoking restrictions to try and suppress it. But this time is different.

Still reeling from the economic, emotional and physical toll of nationwide lockdowns that brought the Continent to a virtual standstill, government officials are finding that the public might not be so compliant the second time around.

In some places new restrictions are accepted, albeit grudgingly, because the alternative — new nationwide lockdowns — would only be worse. But there is widening skepticism that publics would even go along with such a drastic step.

Instead, as exhaustion and frustration with pandemic restrictions sets in, governments are trying to thread a narrowing course between keeping the virus in check and what their publics and economies will tolerate. That is especially so in democracies, where governments are ultimately answerable to the voters.

“It is going to be a lot more difficult this time,” said Cornelia Betsch, Heisenberg-Professor of Health Communication at Erfurt University, in Germany, citing “pandemic fatigue.”

As the crisis deepens, the once-solid consensus in many countries to join in sacrifices to combat the virus is showing signs of fracturing. New rules are challenged in courts. National and local leaders are sparring.

In Spain, the government Friday decreed a state of emergency in the Madrid area. The step was taken over the heads of the highest regional court and objecting local politicians, and within hours the nation’s main opposition leader called on the prime minister to appear in Parliament to justify it.

The intense feuding in Spain reflects a broader political resistance confronting national leaders worldwide.

Business groups are issuing dire warnings that whole industries could collapse if restrictions go too far. Sporadic protests, usually though not always, limited to a political fringe, have broken out. Public skepticism is fueled in many countries by the failure of governments to fulfill grand promises on measures like contact tracing, testing and other measures.

In perhaps the most telling indication that people are either confused or done listening to guidance, cases continue to explode, including in places where new measures have already been promulgated.

Portugal ordered new restrictions last month, but Thursday recorded more than 1,000 daily infections for the first time since April. In the northern England, where new rules have come and gone and come again, the most tangible result has been sowing confusion, not slowing contagion.

Officials are now warning that hospitals could face a greater flood of patients than at the height of the pandemic in April.

The World Health Organization on Thursday announced a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases. Europe, as a region, is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil or the United States.

The pitfall of imposing stricter new measures has already been witnessed in Israel, the only country to order a second nationwide lockdown. It has led to chaos and rampant protests.

“People view the decisions as political, and not health-based,” said Ishay Hadas, a protest organizer in Israel, arguing that masked outdoor gatherings carried minimal risk. “The main problem is the lack of public trust.”

While issues around mask wearing and other prudent measures remain far less politicized in Europe, especially compared to America, the prospect of a winter under tight restrictions or even lockdowns is stirring new frustration and dividing political parties.

With Britain expected to announce even more sweeping measures Monday, many focused on curbs to drinking and carousing, the leader of the opposition

Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has challenged the government to produce any scientific evidence showing that the early pub closings help slow transmission.

Even people responsible for advising the British government cannot keep up and are at a loss to explain some of the measures.

“People are very confused,” said Robert West, a professor of health psychology at University of College London. West is a subcommittee member of SAGE, a scientific body advising the government on policy.

“I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and say I know what the rules are,” he said.

In Spain, restaurants in Madrid were ordered to stop serving after 10 p.m., and to close by 11 p.m. — when many people are just considering sitting down to eat.

“Everybody knows that we dine in Spain much later than in other countries, so not being able to stay open until midnight is pure economic nonsense,” said Florentino Pérez del Barsa, a Madrid restaurateur.

While public attention often focuses on those who shout the loudest — like the thousands who protested recently outside the Reichstag in Berlin and in London’s Trafalgar Square, calling the pandemic a hoax and a government-driven plot — they

represent only about 10% of the public, according to a study from Germany.

About 20% of people are against regulations, presumably for personal, emotional and financial reasons.

But Betsch, who has been working with the WHO research group, said the larger concern is roughly half the population — the “fence-sitters.”

They are open to regulations but need to be listened to and educated, she said, and new government policies that are fragmented only compound the frustration.

The choices facing national governments are onerous.

The French government, watching anxiously as hospital beds fill up, extended its maximum-alert “red zone” to many major metropolitan areas including Lyon, Grenoble, Lille and Saint-Etienne in addition to Paris, Marseille and Aixen-Provence. Residents of Toulouse protested Friday, fearing their city would be included.

It is important to follow rules like mask-wearing and hand washing, said June Nossin, 32, a Belgian-born therapist sitting at the terrace of a Parisian cafe. But there was a limit to what people could take.

“If everything is banned,” she said, “people are going to go crazy.”

Demonstrators protest economic hardship in Jerusalem on Sept. 20, 2020, after the country imposed a second nationwide lockdown.

16

Monday, October 12, 2020

EU members to adopt travel guidelines as Coronavirus spreads

By MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF

E

uropean Union countries are expected to adopt guidelines next week aimed at coordinating their varying coronavirus travel measures, according to EU officials and diplomats involved in the talks. But the effort will stop well short of a harmonization of rules, as countries try to keep control over how they tackle a resurgence of the disease.

The guidelines are intended to make travel restrictions, such as quarantine and testing rules, smoother and more predictable within the bloc. It would be a first step at restoring one of the union’s main tenets: the free movement of people within its territory.

Representatives from the EU’s 27 members, together with officials from the European Commission, the bloc’s

executive arm, have discussed for weeks how to use shared criteria in judging regional responses to the coronavirus.

Central to that would be the adoption of a single map using colors to denote the scale of outbreaks around the bloc, green at the low end of risk, orange in the middle and red at the high end. Other measures include unifying how quarantines and testing are done to smooth travel between EU countries and ensuring ample warning when national travel advisories are about to change to ensure travelers don’t get stranded.

Travel in the bloc, the world’s most integrated group of countries, has become increasingly difficult and complicated amid the pandemic. Each country has its own assessment of the situation in other states, its own rules on travel measures, and ever-changing testing and quarantine demands.

Police officers inspecting travelers along Hungary’s border with Slovakia last month.

“Citizens have been severely affected by the travel restrictions imposed throughout the European Union,” Didier Reynders, the European commissioner for justice, said in a statement. “I now urge all EU ministers to agree quickly on a coordinated and simple approach including: an EU-wide map, common criteria and clear information on a weekly basis.”

Under the guidelines expected to be approved Tuesday by EU ministers, members will adopt a regional map drafted by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, rather than produce 27 individual ones.

Effectively, that will matter only when it comes to green zones, or regions within EU countries that pose low risk to travelers, officials said. National authorities will still to be free to make their own determinations on orange and red zones, based on advice from their own experts, the EU officials said.

The text, which was reviewed by The New York Times, lays out criteria on how a region should be color-coded, focusing on thresholds for new cases per 100,000 people, as well as positive test results as a percentage of total tests. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control gathers much of this data from national agencies.

And while EU countries will agree to give 48 hours warning before changing travel restrictions in response to worsening COVID-19 conditions — for example, imposing additional quarantine or testing requirements — they will not harmonize requirements for travelers.

For example, a traveler from Belgium, which is considered a red zone

across the bloc because of a very high level of infections, faces different restrictions if visiting Germany than if visiting Greece. That will continue to be the case after the proposal is adopted.

The bloc will remain largely closed to nonessential travelers from the United States as well as most of the rest of the world.

Officials said that the short list of nations from which travelers are allowed to enter the EU, which now includes Canada and New Zealand, could be revisited this month. But they added that it was virtually certain that travelers from the U.S. would not be added at this stage because of how poorly the country is containing the pandemic.

But new cases have also been surging across the EU, and few regions in the bloc will actually be labeled green under the new set of criteria.

In France, the number of daily cases rose to over 18,000 this week, triggering severe restrictions on public gatherings in a handful of regions.

As cases in Belgium surge, bars and cafes have been shuttered in Brussels.

And in Spain, which currently has one of the worst new coronavirus caseloads in the EU, the government is considering putting the Madrid region under a state of emergency in response to a spike in cases.

EU institutions have found it difficult to persuade individual governments to take a common approach, leading to a cacophony of measures that are harming the flow of people for work or family purposes, and compounding severe losses in the tourism and transportation sectors.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

17

North Korea unveils apparent new ICBM during parade

By CHOE- SANG-HUN

N

orth Korea displayed what appeared to be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile during a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear if the missile would work or was for show.

The North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has vowed to strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrent as talks with President Donald Trump over the country’s arsenal have stalled. The rollout of the weapon comes as Kim has struggled to keep his promises to strengthen his nation’s staggering economy.

The new ICBM appeared to be much larger than North Korea’s biggest, previously disclosed long-range missile, the Hwasong-15. The size of the new missile indicated that it might be able to fly farther and carry a more powerful nuclear warhead, South Korean and other analysts said, although it has never been flight-tested.

North Korea has been improving its missile and nuclear technologies despite Trump’s on-again, off-again diplomacy with Kim, and the display Saturday was likely an attempt to show that more advances are being made.

But it was not immediately clear if the new missiles were real or were mocked-up versions.

“We will continue to strengthen the war deterrent, the righteous self-defense means,” against threats from “hostile forces,” Kim said during a speech at the parade, without citing the United States by name.

When North Korea test-launched the Hwasong-15 in late 2017, it claimed the missile could reach any part of the continental United States carrying a nuclear warhead.

Although North Korea has conducted three ICBM tests, it remains unclear whether the country has the technology needed to protect a nuclear warhead during atmospheric reentry and deliver the weapon to its target.

South Korean officials did not immediately comment on the missile displayed Saturday. But they have long said, based on undisclosed intelligence, that North Korea was developing a more powerful ICBM. In Washington, officials would not comment on whether the new missile was, in fact, more powerful than the North’s previous weapons.

But one U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity as the Trump administration continues to pursue diplomacy with Kim, said the show of force indicated that the North was “continuing to prioritize its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile program” and called it “disappointing.”

Kim dedicated much of his speech to thanking his people, as well as his military, for enduring “huge challenges and difficulties,” including living under sanctions even as the country temporarily closed its border to its only major trading partner — China — to try to keep the coronavirus from slipping into North Korea. He also apologized to his people for failing to live up to their expectations.

North Korea unveiled what analysts believe to be the world’s largest liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile at a parade in Pyongyang early Saturday.

“I am really sorry for that,” he said, appearing to fight back tears. “My efforts and sincerity have not been sufficient enough to rid our people of the difficulties in their life.”

Kim’s emotional apology was “a shrewd way of placing blame on circumstances beyond his control, and deflecting attention from the enormous resources poured into nuclear weapons,” Jean H. Lee, a North Korea expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said in an email.

Kim’s speech was notable for its lack of anti-American and anti-South Korean diatribes common in North Korean statements. Instead, he offered his “consolation to all those around the world” combating COVID-19.

Kim had already sent a telegram wishing Trump an quick recovery.

North Korea had prepared for months for the military parade Saturday, the 75th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party.

The parade — which unlike earlier celebrations was held at night — was meant to lift morale after a difficult year that included devastating floods. Laden with spectacle, it featured fireworks and military planes firing flares in the night sky as columns of goose-stepping soldiers swore to “defend Kim Jong Un with our lives.” But the real highlight was an impressive array of artillery pieces, tanks, rockets and missiles.

Analysts noted what they suggested were Kim’s careful political calculations in deciding how to celebrate the party anniversary, which comes just weeks before the presidential election in the United States. By displaying an

apparently more powerful ICBM, Kim seemed to demonstrate the North’s growing military threat to whoever wins the election.

But he also seemed to be hedging his bets, given what both he and Trump have called their special “personal relationship.” Kim declared a halt to all nuclear and ICBM tests before his first summit meeting with Trump, in Singapore in June 2018. Trump has called the moratorium one of his biggest foreign policy achievements.

By showing off — but not launching — a new ICBM, analysts said Kim appeared to want to avoid provoking Trump ahead of the election.

“The Kim regime is focused on domestic challenges and is waiting out the U.S. presidential election before starting another cycle of provocations and diplomacy,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Parading a ‘new strategic weapon’ offers domestic political benefits without the risks of an internationally provocative missile test.”

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18

Monday, October 12, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Who’s the tax cheat: The lady in jail or the man in the White House?

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF

W

hile reading that President Donald Trump had claimed $70,000 in highly dubious tax deductions for hair styling for his television show, I kept thinking about a homeless African-American woman named Tanya McDowell who was imprisoned for misleading officials to get her young son into a better school district.

McDowell was sentenced to five years in prison in 2012, in part for drug offenses and in part for “larceny” because she had claimed her babysitter’s address so her son could attend a better school in Connecticut.

In some sense both Trump and McDowell appear to have cheated on their taxes. McDowell sent her son to a school district without paying taxes there. And according to The Times’ extraordinary reporting, Trump may have illegitimately claimed a $72.9 million refund that the IRS is now trying to recover.

In addition, my ace Times colleague James B. Stewart reported that hair styling is not a deductible expense and that, in any case, Trump’s hair expenses for his “Apprentice” TV shows should have been reimbursed by NBC — in which case Trump may have

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Tanya McDowell, before her arraignment for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in educational services by using a false address to enroll her son in a particular public school, outside the courthouse in Norwalk, Conn., April 27, 2011. committed criminal tax fraud.

The bottom line: We imprisoned the homeless tax cheat for trying to get her son a decent education, and we elevated the self-entitled rich guy with an army of lawyers and accountants so that he could monetize the White House as well. (Sure enough, Trump properties then charged the Secret Service enormous sums for hotel rooms and other fees while agents were protecting Trump.)

The larger point is not that Trump is a con artist, although he is, but that the entire tax system is a con.

The proper reaction to the revelations about Trump’s taxes is not to fume at the president — although that’s merited — but to demand far-reaching changes in the tax code.

We interrupt this column for a quiz question: What county in the United States has the highest rate of tax audits?

The answer is Humphreys County in rural Mississippi, where three-quarters of the population is Black and more than one-third lives below the poverty line, according to ProPublica and Tax Notes.

Tax collectors go after Humphreys County, where the median annual household income is $28,500, because the government targets audits on poor families using the earned-income tax credit, an antipoverty program, rather than on real estate tycoons who pay their daughters (that’s you, Ivanka!) questionable consulting fees to reduce taxes.

The five counties with the highest audit rates in the United States, according to Tax Notes, are all predominately African American counties in the South.

Meanwhile, zillionaires claim enormous tax de-

ductions for donating expensive art to their own private “museums” located on their own property. That’s the kind of scam that works if you’re a billionaire, but not so well if you’re my old friend Mike, who is homeless and once gave his food stamp card to a friend to buy groceries for him. The government responded by suspending Mike’s food stamps.

Tax cheats thrive because Congress has slashed the IRS budget, so that the risk of audits for people earning more than $1 million per year plunged by 81% from 2011 to 2019. The IRS has opened audits on only 0.03% of returns reporting income of more than $10 million in 2018 (that percentage probably will rise), according to the Center for American Progress.

Need more evidence of systemic unfairness?

Trump is still holding on to the almost $73 million that he appears to have bilked out of the IRS a decade ago, even though the IRS is contesting his maneuvers. For wealthy people like Trump, taxes become something like a long negotiation.

An undocumented immigrant housekeeper who had worked for the Trump Organization posted tax statements on Twitter showing that she had paid more federal income taxes than Trump himself had in many years. And by one estimate, the failure of wealthy Americans to pay their fair share forces everyone else to pay an extra 15% in taxes.

At the same time, almost one-fifth of American families with children report that they can’t afford to give their kids enough food.

A starting point for a fairer system would be auditing the wealthy as aggressively as impoverished Black workers in rural Mississippi. Economists Natasha Sarin and Lawrence Summers estimate that 70% of tax underpayment is by the top 1% and conclude that tougher enforcement by the IRS could raise $1 trillion over a decade.

Investing in the IRS to go after rich tax cheats not only promotes fairness but also pays for itself: Each additional dollar spent on enforcement brings in about $24.

Remember Leona Helmsley, the wealthy hotel owner who was prosecuted for cheating on her taxes? She sadly had a point when she reportedly scoffed: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.”

On the bright side, Helmsley ended up in prison. I generally believe that in America we over-incarcerate, but I’m appalled that we treat a man with a gilded life and $70,000 in hair styling deductions more gently than a mom who cheats to try to give her son a better future.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

19

López de León presenta propuestas para comunidad dominicana de la capital Por THE STAR

L

a senadora Rossana López León, candidata a la alcaldía de San Juan por el Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), presentó el domingo su propuesta para atender las necesidades de la comunidad dominicana que reside en San Juan. Acompañada de los candidatos al Senado por distrito de San Juan, Claribel Martínez Marmolejos y Jesús Manuel Laboy; del precinto uno por la Cámara, Rosario ‘Tata’ Ortiz y Héctor Ferrer, hijo, la senadora fue recibida en Ruben’s Cafe de Santurce por líderes de dicha comunidad como Romelinda Grullón, del Concilio de la Mujer Dominicana, José Rodríguez, de la Organización Derechos Humanos Dominicanos y Héctor Omar Martínez, del Grupo Solidaridad Dominicana.

“Según datos del Censo federal, para el año 2015 se estimaba que la población dominicana en Puerto Rico ascendía a 62,000 personas, aunque sabemos que este número es mucho mayor. Sea cual sea la cifra, y eso lo veremos con los resultados del Censo 2020, las características de esta población son las mismas: personas trabajadoras, emprendedoras, y muy solidarias. Esas características de los dominicanos y las dominicanas se ha traducido en aportaciones valiosas para el pueblo de Puerto Rico y, en especial para San Juan, donde reside cerca del 70% de esta comunidad. Son vidas que aprecio grandemente y con las cuales interactúo, desde la madre desempleada, y el trabajador o trabajadora más humilde, hasta el empresario o empresaria más exitosos. Con todos ellos me comprometo en el día de hoy”, expresó la senadora, quien confesó el origen de sus vínculos con dicha comunidad.

López León fue presentada en la conferencia de prensa por la actual legisladora municipal Mery D’Costa, quien destacó su estrecha relación con dicha comunidad.

“Es una relación muy fuerte que comenzó a forjarse en el año 1987 cuando me trasladé a República Dominicana y Haití a servir como misionera. Allí, en Manzanillo, Puerto Plata empecé a conocer y a servir al pueblo dominicano. Lo que viví allí fue un regalo para el caminar de mi futuro. Hoy la vida me regala nuevamente esa oportunidad. Pero esta vez voy a servirles desde mi país, como Alcaldesa de San Juan. Me voy a asegurar de mantener y divulgar una política pública clara contra la xenofobia y el discrimen contra la comunidad dominicana. La trata humana ocurre en situaciones muy diversas. Sin embargo, hay unos detonantes comunes en la mayoría de los casos; éstos son las relaciones de desigualdad entre las personas, la pobreza y la discriminación. Todas estas son condiciones que coinciden en un sector de la comunidad dominicana en Puerto Rico y, por ende, les hace más vulnerables.

Por eso voy a combatir con toda mi fuerza las prácticas asociadas a la trata humana que tanto afecta a miembros de la comunidad dominicana”, aseguró.

Entre las propuestas más destacadas se encuentran: •Atención particular para que el personal social y de seguridad del Municipio de San Juan esté capacitado para entender la trata humana y sus diversas manifestaciones.

De este modo se podrán manejar como tal los casos en los que se identifiquen características de trata humana.

•Creación de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Civiles en la Legislatura Municipal que se constituirá a partir del mes de enero del 2021. Será bajo su jurisdic-

López de León contó que conoce Quisqueya desde que fue misionera allí hace 33 años.

Sobre este tema, planteó la creación de un Fondo de Adquisición de Propiedades que se nutra mediante pareo de aportaciones municipales, de entidades privadas y de organizaciones comunitarias, para obtener vivienda segura para aquellas personas bajo niveles de pobreza.

“Uno de los distintivos de la comunidad dominicana en Puerto Rico, es su apego y defensa de los elementos característicos de su nacionalidad. Esto ha dado base al surgimiento de una serie de organizaciones que velan por el bienestar de esta comunidad. En este contexto, quiero destacar la labor encomiable que lleva a cabo el Centro de la Mujer Dominicana en Río Piedras, bajo el liderato de su directora Romelinda Grullón. Su servicio a las mujeres víctimas de violencia doméstica y violencia sexual, merece mi reconocimiento. Romelinda no nos acompaña hoy, pero quiero enviarle un mensaje con ustedes: La propiedad de la Calle Arzuaga en Río Piedras la vamos a rehabilitar juntos, para que sea la sede del Centro para la Mujer Dominicana”, anunció la senadora.

Para lograr dicho objetivo, López León propone la organización de una brigada compuesta por representantes de la comunidad dominicana y trabajadores del Municipio de San Juan, para impulsar dicho proyecto.

“Finalmente, quiero hablarles de la Casa Dominicana.

Muchos de ustedes han traído a mi atención que la Casa Dominicana del Municipio de San Juan, a pesar de tener una junta directiva, en la práctica está bajo el control de intereses que no sirven de forma equitativa, a su comunidad. El caciquismo en la Casa Dominicana se tiene que acabar. Me comprometo a encauzar un proceso participativo amplio hasta que se constituya una organización sólida de representantes de la comunidad dominicana en San Juan y transferirles a ustedes la Casa Dominicana”, anunció la senadora, para beneplácito de los presentes reunidos en el Restaurante Ruben’s Café, uno de los centros más visitados por la comunidad dominicana en Santurce.

Al finalizar el mensaje, que además se transmitió por las redes sociales, Rossana finalizó asegurando que “mi compromiso con ustedes, dominicanos y dominicanas que me escuchan, nace del corazón. De participar de sus anhelos y sus sueños, de vivir en carne propia sus necesidades, de sentir su deseo de mejorar su vida. Por eso mi compromiso de brindarles una ciudad que los acepte con un abrazo de hermano y con la intención de juntos llevar a San Juan a otro nivel”.

ción que se atenderán situaciones relacionadas con la violación de derechos a personas de la comunidad dominicana, así como a otros grupos usualmente marginados y discriminados.

•Fortalecimiento de la Oficina de Servicios al Inmigrante con más personal, para que puedan atender la demanda de servicios tanto sociales, como de vivienda y salud (educadores en salud) para que puedan cumplir con su gestión de forma más efectiva.

•Atención ante los altos niveles de pobreza de miembros de la comunidad que no cualifican para ayudas gubernamentales a causa de su estatus migratorio no regularizado. Entre ese grupo, destacan especialmente las mujeres dominicanas jefas de familia.

“Son familias con niños y niñas que pasan grandes necesidades. Pueden contar con que procuraré para ellos y ellas una mejor calidad de vida. Primero, asegurando su alimento. Combatir el hambre en San Juan es una prioridad. Segundo, facilitando que asistan a la escuela o, en tiempos de pandemia, ofreciéndoles alternativas de estudio y tutorías en facilidades del Municipio de San Juan.

Tercero, garantizando que tienen acceso a servicios médicos adecuados. Cuarto, proveyéndoles opciones para la recreación sana fuera del horario escolar. El empleo es el mejor antídoto para la pobreza. Por eso, convocaré a todas las entidades privadas y organizaciones sin fines de lucro en San Juan para que, junto a todos los recursos posibles del Municipio, articulemos una ofensiva intensa a favor de la calidad de vida, del empleo y el autoempleo y en contra la pobreza en San Juan”, expresó López León.

•Dicha ofensiva incluirá también acciones específicas dirigidas a las personas dominicanas de edad avanzada que necesitan acumular determinado número de horas de trabajo para cualificar para que paguen su Seguro Social.

“Las propuestas que implantaremos en mi administración para el desarrollo económico de la ciudad, serán igualmente de beneficio a la comunidad dominicana que es muy emprendedora. Entre éstas, el desarrollo de incubadoras de microempresas para que puedan desarrollar su propio negocio, o hacer crecer los negocios existentes. En el área de la vivienda, convertiré al Municipio en facilitador para los miembros de la comunidad dominicana que quieran adquirir una propiedad, de modo que cada día Le acompañaron varios candidatos del PPD, como más de ellos y ellas tengan un techo propio y seguro”, Héctor Ferrer, hijo y líderes de la comunidad abundó la candidata popular a San Juan. dominicana en San Juan.

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Monday, October 12, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

In ‘Next,’ a ‘Mad Men’ star gets madder

By ALEXIS SOLOSKI

“I

’m not the most tech-savvy person in the world,” John Slattery said.

He was speaking via Zoom from his house in the Hamptons, on Long Island, and it had taken the whole of an hourlong interview to figure out how to minimize his own bearded face on the laptop screen.

Still, he had found a background, a tidy kitchen, that his swoop of white hair didn’t disappear into.

“See?” he said. “I’m learning.”

Slattery, 58, arrived in the Hamptons in mid-March, just after completing production on the 10-episode first season of “Next,” a science-fiction drama that premiered Tuesday on Fox. (Just after wrap, a crew member tested positive for COVID-19, but Slattery, tested months later, doesn’t seem to have had it.) He has spent the past few months with his wife, son, mother-in-law and dogs, mostly surfing, reading and watching international dramas.

In his new series, Slattery plays Paul LeBlanc, a disgraced Silicon Valley legend who comes to believe that an artificial intelligence system he invented, called neXt, has achieved self-awareness. Also, it has sinister designs on humanity. To put it another way: What if Siri were out to get you?

Oh, and Paul suffers from fatal familial insomnia, a rare, incurable disease that leaves him prey to intense paranoid delusions. “He’s a little crazy,” Slattery said, with typical understatement and the ghost of a Massachusetts accent.

A working actor for more than 30 years, Slattery didn’t really achieve prominence until he was cast in “Mad Men” as Roger Sterling, an epicurean senior partner at a Madison Avenue advertising firm. The role earned him four Emmy nominations and made him, in middle age, a People magazine-certified sex symbol.

During a chat interrupted by occasional barks, he discussed genius, paranoia, and the pros and cons of going prematurely gray. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q: Did you always dream that one day you would play a billionaire tech genius with an obscure genetic disease?

A: It’s exactly what I’ve been aiming for 20 years.

Yeah, no, I sure didn’t. But I’m glad it worked out. This guy is erratic and difficult and irascible, and all of that is fun to play.

Q: What’s it like carrying a series? In your “Mad Men” days, you said in interviews you were relieved that the show didn’t rest on your well-tailored shoulders.

A: I hope it does well. I don’t really feel the pressure of it succeeding, I feel like I’ve done my part. You

work as hard as you can, and then you hope for the best.

Q: So what’s your relationship to personal tech? I see you’ve got your little wireless earbuds.

A: I finally figured out how to use them so I’m not yelling at the screen. I’m not a Luddite. I have a 21-yearold son who looks at me with disdain and motivates me to figure some stuff out. I have a phone and I have a laptop. I have an iPad that I read on, sometimes, if I’m traveling. I had an Apple Watch. But like, who needs to be in contact that much? I certainly don’t.

Q: Do you remember when you realized that your tech was spying on you?

A: It was just something I bought and then got 50 ads for the next day. I realized, “Oh, that’s what everybody’s talking about.” Maybe it should upset me more, but I’m not doing anything that interesting or illicit that I could give a (expletive) whether it’s watching. It’s weird, it’s intrusive and I find it objectionable. But I don’t do anything about it.

Q: Has this show made you more paranoid?

A: No, I’m not more paranoid. Probably not as much as I should be. You listen to somebody like (philosopher and neuroscientist) Sam Harris, he talks about an artificial intelligence that can process information a million times faster than the average human. His example was, if you give this thing a job on Friday and

then over the weekend it learns (the entirety) of human history, then you come back on Monday, do you think it might have a problem with you being its boss?

Q: How did you prepare for the role of a supergenius?

A: I looked at all the usual suspects — Bill Gates, Elon Musk — and then just kind of filed it all away. A lot of (the show) wasn’t written in advance; I didn’t have a lot of information to go on. So, you take a stab and you make some adjustments and you play things different ways. I don’t know that much about the tech side of it. It still isn’t in my bones as much as I would like. And also, playing someone that smart, most of the time they’re not interested in impressing you with how smart they are.

They already know they’re smart.

Q: You had been acting for two decades before you landed “Mad Men.” And this is your first series lead. Why do you think it took the industry so long to imagine you in major roles?

A: Maybe I made a few mistakes or didn’t pull something off. But I guess I’m glad that it happened this way — that I’m still working as opposed to having had success early on. That would probably be harder than the other way around.

Q: You’ve been nominated for multiple Emmys but haven’t won yet. How does it feel to be always the bridesmaid?

A: The fourth time in a row that I lost an Emmy, I got in a fight with my wife that night at the party. And I realized, “I guess I’m angry about this.” I was irritated.

Mainly because it happens in the first 10 minutes of the show, and you have to sit there for three hours and have everybody tell you what a loser you are.

Q: Now we get to the hard-hitting questions: Was going gray young a good thing for you? Did it make you stand out?

A: No, it was confusing to people. No one knew how old I was. I would dye my hair all the time. Sometimes I would think, “Well, at least I don’t look like most of the other guys who were 35 years old with gray hair.”

But on the other hand, if they weren’t looking for a grayhaired guy, that was that. “We need the prematurely gray guy!” That never happened.

Q: When “Mad Men” came out you were anointed as a sex symbol, and you were never especially comfortable with that. Why? A: What would you do? What would be the first thing you would do once they said, “Oh, you’re a sex symbol.”

Q: Maybe I’d buy myself a nice skirt?

A: Yeah, well, I did that. I bought myself a nice skirt. No, I don’t have a problem with it. I mean, I’m not any more uncomfortable with it than I am with anything else. I’m glad, I guess. I’m glad I’m still here.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

21

Pearl Jam reimagines rock activism in 2020

By NICK CORASANTI

B

ack in March, as the coronavirus first gripped the country, Pearl Jam made the difficult decision to postpone all its concert dates for the foreseeable future. In doing so, the band was canceling not just a fall tour but also a trip through presidential battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that would have doubled as a get-out-the-vote campaign.

Although the tour may be canceled, the band’s political arm remains cranked on full blast.

“If we’re a band who does well in the swing states, then that also means that we’re not just playing to an audience of progressives. If they’re swinging, we’ve got a broad audience there,” said lead singer Eddie Vedder, describing Pearl Jam’s ability to reach the kinds of voters who could decide the election.

The group is hoping to engage that fan base with its new political operation, PJ Votes. Having gotten to know its audiences over 30 years, the band has learned that its fans are mostly in their 40s and that many are already likely to vote. So it is challenging each fan to reach out to three friends, not only getting them to register but also ensuring that they vote.

“What we’ve attempted to do is really just bring it back down to basics and encourage people to, again, think about what’s important to them,” Vedder said. “And be active and be patient and realize that this election is going to be different than any other.”

What sets Pearl Jam’s effort apart from many celebritydriven initiatives is that it follows many of the best practices of modern political campaigns. People can sign up by texting a five-digit number, the same way they can for Joe Biden or President Donald Trump. The group is harnessing data gleaned from its social media following and rabid fan base, and has partnered with seasoned Democratic operatives like Whitney Williams, a former candidate for governor in Montana, and local civic groups such as Make the Road Pennsylvania.

Pearl Jam has even registered as a political advertiser on Facebook, spending more than $17,000 in the past week alone.

The band began its digital efforts at a 2018 concert in Missoula, Montana, supporting the reelection campaign of Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, with a similar texting operation to register 4,000 new voters at the show. Ninety percent of them voted in the election, according to the band.

“That prepared us for a lot of what we’re doing right now,” said Jeff Ament, the bassist. “We sort of took that model and just blew it up a little bit.”

In every election cycle, artists and athletes use their platform to encourage fans to vote. But 2020 has seen celebrities embrace more sophisticated, holistic approaches.

LeBron James, for example, launched More Than a Vote, a group focused on protecting African Americans’ voting rights. PJ Votes is also trying to go beyond the basics.

“It’s a sophisticated operation. It’s informed by the best techniques in our business,” said Howard Wolfson, a

Pearl Jam has started a get-out-the-vote operation that political strategists say is sophisticated.

Democratic strategist. “If you’re an artist with millions of followers on Instagram and you say I should vote for Joe Biden, that will have an impact, and that’s great. But that’s not a campaign. That’s a moment. And I think what they have done is really put together a campaign that is potentially very powerful, given the depth and breadth of their audience.”

Like many bands with its longevity, Pearl Jam has a fan base that is both wide and loyal. And it counts some unexpected supporters, which was attractive to Ben Jealous, president of People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group that partnered with PJ Votes.

“I mentioned Pearl Jam to Dolores Huerta and her eyes lit up,” Jealous said, referring to the 90-year-old labor activist. “And that’s one of the reasons why they were attractive to us when they reached out. When they speak, their people listen.”

Pearl Jam’s political activism dates back to its earliest years, when the band hosted a free concert in 1992 called Drop in the Park to register voters in Seattle. But it is also rooted in its music, and the rebellious soul that has animated so much of rock and punk music.

“When I was young, even the greatest historian of our time, Howard Zinn, he couldn’t get me as jacked up on politics as Joe Strummer,” Vedder said, referring to the British musician.

Ament added: “We were inspired by Neil Young singing ‘Ohio,’ hearing ‘Gimme Some Truth,’ and the Clash and

the Sex Pistols talking about the Tory system in England, and more talking about a whole host of world history that didn’t get taught to me in high school. There’s something extra powerful about being in the presence of music that has that extra bit of gravity.”

Pearl Jam released a new song last week, “Get It Back,” part of a second compilation volume titled “Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy.” And on Oct. 22, the 30th anniversary of its first live performance, the band will stream online its famed April 29, 2016, Philadelphia concert, which kicked off with debut album “Ten” performed from beginning to end.

The Philadelphia connection is intentional. Though the group has aimed its message at several swing states, Pennsylvania is at the top of the list. Pearl Jam hopes its fans in that state and elsewhere will use their voices to drown out the swell of disinformation in this election.

“We will sound the alarm, with their well-being in mind, to put it out there that there’s some bad information being spread out there,” Vedder said. “And it’s turning into chaos and deadly violence and dividing us.”

Asked how their feelings about this moment could be best summed up in a Pearl Jam song, Vedder immediately offered the opening lyrics to “Porch” from the album “Ten,” an anthem that cannot be quoted here.

Vedder and Ament then agreed on the cleaner, but no less powerful, lyrics from a cover: John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.”

22

Monday, October 12, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

When the classroom comes with room service and poolside cabanas

Gianna Carucci, of White Township, N.J., gets a visit from Wiley the Wolf, while she attends virtual class at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos in Scotrun, Pa. on Sept. 22, 2020.

By JULIE WEED

T

his summer, Michelle Carucci’s family canceled its annual Jersey Shore vacation because of the pandemic. So when Carucci, who lives in White Township, New Jersey, learned that The Great Wolf Lodge, a family-favorite indoor water park in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, was setting up a “schoolhouse” and socially distanced activities this fall, she jumped at the chance to take her youngest child.

Gianna Carucci, 11, has all her classes online, and during the mornings of her and her mother’s two-day stay (in the middle of the week, when rates were lower and crowds were smaller), she headed to “Wiley’s Schoolhouse”: a large conference room repurposed to be a socially distanced learning space for children ages 5 and up.

Named after the brand’s wolf mascot, each space is equipped with desks that are placed 8 to 10 feet apart and fitted with plexiglass partitions. Open Monday through Thursday, the room is staffed to help children connect with their schools, provide snacks and lead break-time activities. Reservations are required for the program, which costs $85 per day. All participants must wear masks.

It would be “nice to have a few hours to myself while Gianna is in school,” Carucci, 45, a health and fitness coach, said in an interview before their trip. After

classes wrapped up, she and her daughter played at the lodge’s water park together.

The coronavirus has left hotels and resorts scrambling for guests as occupancy rates plummeted in the spring. Some properties have tried to drum up business by promoting new cleaning regimens, rethinking amenities and offering free nights. Others closed entirely, waiting or unable to wait for the public health situation to improve.

Now, with the pandemic ongoing and millions of schoolage children juggling remote learning, some hotels are beckoning families with offers of “schoolcation,” including new staffed learning spaces, technology and tutors — even partnerships with museums and other educational experts.

The assorted packages, available at a variety of hotel types, aim to provide parents some help and peace of mind. Prices range from free to hefty.

‘Chief virtual learning officer’ Usually, families with schoolchildren are tied to their school’s calendar, with vacations often limited to during the holidays, spring break and summer.

But now, for those with the flexibility and desire to travel, “there’s an opportunity for a change in scenery,” said Kathleen Reidenbach, chief commercial officer with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a line of boutique hotels owned by IHG. Kimpton recently introduced a “chief virtual learn-

ing officer” to nine of its properties this fall, an on-site employee who will take on this role to help with Wi-Fi, virtual meeting software or other technical needs. Some locations will also provide free school supplies, child-size desks or booster seats, snack packs, document printing and flexible checkout times to guests with school-age children.

Reidenbach said that although many families can now travel in September and October, they may need help managing remote work and school. “We wanted to adjust our programming,” she said, to make that possible.

(Reidenbach has experienced some of the issues firsthand: Vacationing at a California beach with a fourth and an eighth grader, “we needed to find a way to print out worksheets and reading logs,” she said.)

Conference rooms into classrooms Five Great Wolf Lodge properties are repurposing conference rooms into “Wiley’s Schoolhouses,” but the brand is not alone in carving new “virtual classrooms” out of existing space. The W South Beach hotel in Miami, after closing in March, plans to reopen in November with poolside cabanas that can be set up with desks, including small ones for grade schoolers, as well as Wi-Fi and a sound system. Prices range from $500 to $700 a day (Private academic tutors are also available, as are personal trainers to provide physical-education classes. Pricing is a la carte.) Also in Florida, the Four Seasons Orlando Resort is outfitting dedicated staffed learning spaces for a maximum of six children per room, with an outdoor terrace for breaks and craft time. Half-day sessions cost $50 per child.

Some hotels that don’t have the space are teaming up with a local museum. Schoolchildren staying at the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach can complete their schoolwork at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium Education Center, in a socially distanced setting, and then can participate in tours and activities with a marine biologist there. Stays include two spa treatments for the parents and start around $479 per night.

Technology offerings are expanding, too. At the Domio extended stay hotels, with locations in Chicago, Miami, Nashville, Tennessee, and New Orleans, guests can make use of laptop-expansion kits, which include a monitor, keyboard, mouse and power strip. The equipment is free to borrow for guests who book directly through the hotel website.

Existing amenities, new names Hotels are also marketing existing offerings with language meant to catch a parent’s eye. The “Teach by the Beach” package at The Shores Resort and Spa in Daytona Beach, Florida, highlights learning “the physics of waves” at surfing class, biology lessons viewing birds at a nearby nature preserve and history with “a touch of PE” as children climb the local lighthouse. Midweek rates start at about $170. San Diego Mission Bay Resort’s “Recess at the Pool” package includes s’mores and rental bikes with midweek rates starting at $205.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

23

Where you carry body fat may affect how long you live

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

B

eing overweight is linked to an increased risk for premature death, but which part of the body carries the added fat could make a big difference. Extra weight in some places may actually lower the risk.

Researchers, writing in BMJ, reviewed 72 prospective studies that included more than 2.5 million participants with data on body fat and mortality.

They found that central adiposity — a large waist — was consistently associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. In pooled data from 50 studies, each 4-inch increase in waist size was associated with an 11% increased relative risk for premature death. The association was

significant after adjusting for smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity.

Waist size is an indicator of the amount of visceral fat, or fat stored in the abdomen around the internal organs.

This kind of fat is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

But increased fat in two places appears to be associated with a lower risk of death. Three studies showed that each 2-inch increase in thigh circumference was associated with an 18% lower risk of all-cause mortality. In nine studies involving almost 300,000 participants, a 4-inch increase in a woman’s hip circumference was associated with a 10% lower risk of death.

“Thigh size is an indicator of the

amount of muscle, which is protective,” said a co-author of the review, Tauseef Ahmad Khan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto. “And hip fat is not visceral fat, but subcutaneous fat, which is considered beneficial.”

Comparing waist size with other bodily measurements reveals still more information about the risk for premature death. Given two people with the same hip size, the person with the larger waist is at higher risk for premature mortality.

For example, consider one man with a 34-inch waist and 37-inch hips, and another with the same hip size but a 41-inch waist. The latter’s relative risk of death, the researchers found, was almost 50% higher. Small changes in this waistto-hip ratio make a big difference: In 31

studies that reported the ratio, each 0.1 unit increase in waist-to-hip ratio was associated with a 20% higher relative risk of death, with a stronger association in women than in men.

It is unclear if there is a risk in having too small a waist. “There is a range in these measures,” Khan said, “a range in which these numbers are beneficial.

Above that range, there is higher risk, but more research has to be done about lower ranges.”

Losing excess weight is of course desirable, but there is probably no way to redistribute weight or lose weight in the waist alone. “It doesn’t work that way,” Khan said. “You have to reduce overall weight, and that also reduces central fatness.”

There is a way to put many of these various factors together in a single measurement, using a formula called ABSI, or a body shape index. This calculation includes not only weight and height, like body mass index, but also age, sex and waist circumference. It may produce a more accurate estimate of risk, the authors say. ABSI is used mostly as a research tool, but anyone can calculate it at fatcalc.com/absi.

Each 0.005 unit increase in ABSI was associated with a 15% higher risk of all-cause mortality.

“The takeaway message is watch your waist size,” Khan said. “It’s more important than a simple measure of weight.”

24 y cuatro (64) del tomo seiscientos veinticuatro (624) de San ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO Sebastián, finca número dieciDE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- siete mil setecientos veinticinco NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA (17,725). Inscripción Sta. Que SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SE- grava la propiedad que se desBASTIÁN. cribe a continuación: URBANA: JOSÉ LUIS RIVERA Propiedad Horizontal: ApartaVALENTIN t/c/c JOSÉ L. mento A guion seis (A-6). Apartamento RÚSTICA: Remanente RIVERA VALENTIN de la finca principal, sita en el DEMANDANTE Vs. barrio Sonador del término muPEDRO DE ARCE nicipal de San Sebastián, PuerACEVEDO Y/O SUCESIÓN to Rico, con una cabida superDE PEDRO DE ARCE ficial de mil ochocientos once ACEVEDO COMPUESTA punto cero ocho ocho cero metros cuadrados (1,811.0880 POR JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE; JOSEFA m.c.), equivalentes a cero cuatro seis cero ocho SERRANO SOTO; JOHN punto cuerdas (0.4608 cdas). En linOOE y RICHARD ROE des por el NORTE, con Pedro como posibles tenedores Avilés; por el SUR, con el solar número uno (1) del Plano de desconocidos Inscripción; por el ESTE, con DEMANDADOS CIVIL NUM. SS2020CV00310. Carretera Municipal que conduSOBRE: CANCELACION DE ce a la Carretera Estatal ciento PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. EM- nueve (109); por el OESTE, PLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. con área verde y Rafael lrizarry.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ- Inscrito al folio doscientos veinRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE tiuno (221) del tomo doscientos LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LI- treinta y ocho (238) de San BRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO Sebastián. Finca número diecisiete mil setecientos veinticinco RICO. SS. (17,725). Registro de la PropieA: PEDRO DE ARCE ACEVEDO Y/O SUCESIÓN dad de San Sebastián. SE LES APERCIBE que, de no hacer DE PEDRO DE ARCE sus alegaciones responsivas a ACEVEDO, compuesta la demanda dentro del término por John Doe y Richard aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará SentenRoe. POR LA PRESENTE se les cia, concediéndose el remedio emplaza y requiere para que solicitado en la Demanda, sin conteste la demanda dentro de más citarle ni oírle. Expedido los treinta (30) días siguientes bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal a la publicación de este Edicto. en San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, Usted deberá radicar su ale- a día 29 de SEPTIEMBRE de gación responsiva a través del 2020. SARAHI REYES PEREZ, Sistema Unificado de Manejo y SECRETARIA(O). IVELISSE Administración de Casos (SU- ROBLES MATHEWS, SubSeMAC), al cual puede acceder cretaria. utilizando la siguiente dirección LEGAL NOTICE electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO presente por derecho propio, DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUen cuyo caso deberá radicar el NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA original de su contestación ante SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN el Tribunal correspondiente y JUAN.

LEGAL NOTICE

notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, LCDA. MARJALIISA COLÓN VILLANUEVA A su dirección: PO. Box 7970 Ponce, PR. 00732 . Tel: 787-843-4168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cancelación de pagare extraviado. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que se extravió un pagaré hipotecario por la suma de $30,000.00, sin intereses y vencedero el primero (1) de enero de 2020, a favor de Pedro De Arce Acevedo su esposa Josefa Serrano Soto o a su orden, según consta de la escritura número198 otorgada en San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, el día 4 de diciembre de 2014 ante el notario César A. Pérez Cabán. Inscrita al folio sesenta

@

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

PARTE DEMANDANTE VS.

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (FDIC) COMO SÍNDICO DE RG PREMIER BANK OF PUERTO RICO Y DE RG MORTGAGE CORPORATION; ORIENTAL BANK COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHO DE SCOTIABANK DE PUERTO RICO; CARLOS JOSÉ MERGAL CARDONA, MAYDA IGRÍ ROSADO ROSARIO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL

DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ

PARTE DEMANDADA CIVIL NÚM. SJ2020CV03373.

SOBRE: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (FDIC) COMO SÍNDICO DE RG PREMIER BANK OF PUERTO RICO Y DE RG MORTGAGE CORPORATION a las siguientes direcciones: FDIC SAN JUAN FIELD OFFICE, 235 CALLE FEDERICO COSTA, STE 335, SAN JUAN, PR 00918-1341, 350 5TH AVE STE 1200, NEW YORK NY 10118-1201 Y 1601 BRYAN ST., DALLAS TX 75201-3401.

CARLOS JOSÉ MERGAL CARDONA, MAYDA IGRÍ ROSADO ROSARIO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS a sus últimas direcciones conocidas URB DOS PINOS, 828 CALLE POLARIS (SOLAR 194), SAN JUAN, PR 00923-2338 y URB DOS PINOS, 839 CALLE DIANA, SAN JUAN, PR 00923-2331. FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ

Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre cancelación de pagaré extraviado por la vía judicial. El 31 de octubre de 1998, Carlos José Mergal Cardona y su esposa Mayda Igrí Rosado Rosario constituyeron una hipoteca en San Juan, Puerto Rico, conforme a la Escritura núm. 238 autorizada por la notaria Maria Teresa Pérez Torres, en garantía de un pagaré por la suma de $12,000.00, suscrito bajo el affidavit núm.

571, a favor de RG Premier Bank of Puerto Rico o a su

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

orden, devengando intereses al 9.75% anual y vencedero el 31 de octubre de 2008, sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar radicado en el Barrio Sabana Llana, Río Piedras, término municipal del Gobierno de la Capital de Puerto Rico, que forma parte de la Urbanización Villa Dos Pinos, marcado con el número ciento noventa y cuatro (194) del plano de lotificación de dicha urbanización, con una cabida superficial de quinientos nueve metros con treinta y cinco centímetros cuadrados, colindando por el: NORESTE, en dieciséis metros veintiséis centímetros, con la calle número dos de la urbanización; por el SURESTE, en treinta metros, con el solar número ciento noventa y cinco de la urbanización; por el NOROESTE, en treinta metros con el solar número ciento noventa y tres de la urbanización; por el SUROESTE, en diecisiete metros setenta y tres centímetros con el solar número doscientos cuatro de la misma urbanización.

La propiedad consta inscrita al folio 140 del tomo 183 de Sabana Llana, Finca 8209 (antes 12813). Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección V. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al tomo de la hoja móvil 882 de Sabana Llana, Finca 8209 (antes 12813). Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección V. Inscripción séptima.

La parte demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. Se le advierte que, si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo, PR 00970-3922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 29 de septiembre de 2020 en San Juan, Puerto Rico. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SE-

(787) 743-3346

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020 CRETARIA (O) REGIONAL. LOYDA M. COUVERTIER REYES, SUB-SECRETARIA (O) SERVICIOS A SALA.

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

AMERICAS LEADING FINANCE, LLC Demandante V.

ARIS A. JIMENEZ RODRIGUEZ, SU ESPOSA FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados CIVIL NUM.: CA2020CV00769.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y EJECUCION DE GRAVAMEN MOBILIARIO (REPOSESION DE VEHICULO). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. DE AMERICA EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

salvo gue se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en Ia secretarIa del tribunal, se le anotará Ia rebeldia y se dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio asI solicitado sin más citarles ni oirles. El abogado de Ia parte demandante es el Lcdo. Gerardo M. Ortiz Torres, cuya dirección física y postal es: Cond. El Centro I, Suite 801, 500 Muñoz Rivera Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918; cuyo nUmero de teléfono es (787) 946-5268, el facsimile (787) 946-0062 y su correo electrónico es: gerardo@bellverlaw.com. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy dIa 30 de septiembre de 2020. Lcda. Marilyn Aponte Rodriguez, Secretaria Regional.

Rosa M Viera Velazquez, Subsecretaria.

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

SCOTIABANK DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante v.

A: ARIS A. JIMENEZ SUCN. DE CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, SU ESPOSA FULANA DE TAL Y LA RAFAEL ORTIZ SÁNCHEZ T/C/C CARLOS RAFAEL SOCIEDAD LEGAL ORTIZ COMPUESTA POR DE GANANCIALES JOHN DOE Y RICHARD COMPUESTA POR DOE COMO HEREDEROS AMBOS. DESCONOCIDOS, Quedan emplazados y notificaDEPARTAMENTO DE dos que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre cobro HACIENDA Y CENTRO de dinero por Ia via ordinaria DE RECAUDACIÓN DE en Ia que se alega que los deINGRESOS MUNICIPALES mandados, ARIS A. JIMENEZ (CRIM).

RODRIGUEZ, SU ESPOSA FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS., le adeudan solidariamente al Americas Leading Finance, LLC Ia suma de principal de Ia suma de principal de $9,280.35, más los intereses que continúen acumulando, las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado segUn pactados.

Además, solicitamos de este Honorable Tribunal que autorice Ia reposesión y/o embargo del Vehículo. Se les advierte que este edicto se publicará en un periódico de circulación general una sola vez y que, si no comparecen a contestar dicha Demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de Ia publicación del Edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando Ia siguiente dirección electrOnica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/,

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM.: GB2019CV00709.

SALA: 201. SOBRE: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ORDEN SOBRE EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. Atendida la moción presentada por la parte demandante solicitando autorización para emplazar por edictos, surge de los documentos presentados que el paradero de la parte demandada es desconocido, y existiendo una reclamación que justifica la concesión de algún remedio contra la parte demandada, este Tribunal autoriza el emplazamiento de la parte demandada: SUCN. DE CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ SÁNCHEZ T/C/C CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS, mediante edicto, publicándolo una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico, conforme estable-

ce la Regla 4.6 de Procedimiento Civil, 32 LPRA Ap. V, R. 4.6.

Se excusa al demandante de enviar a los demandados desconocidos por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, copia de la demanda y del emplazamiento a su última dirección conocida, por ser ellos personas desconocidas cuyas identidades y residencias se ignoran.

Expídase por la Secretaría de esta Sala el correspondiente edicto en cumplimiento con las Directrices Administrativas. Se ORDENA a los herederos del causante CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ SÁNCHEZ T/C/C CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ a saber, JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS, a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia de CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ SÁNCHEZ T/C/C CARLOS RAFAEL ORTIZ. Se les APERCIBE a los herederos antes mencionados que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, se tendrá por aceptada. También se les APERCIBE a los herederos antes mencionados que luego del transcurso del término de treinta (30) días antes señalado contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 957 del Código Civil, 31 LPRA §2785. Se ORDENA a la parte demandante a que proceda a notificar la presente Orden mediante publicación de un edicto a esos efectos una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico y eximiendo a la parte demandante de tener que enviar copia de la presente Orden y del Mandamiento de Interpelación a los herederos desconocidos por desconocerse su identidad y sus direcciones.

Conforme la Sección VII(4) de las Directrices Administrativas para la Presentación y Notificación Electrónica de Documentos Mediante el Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos, según enmendadas, el edicto publicado debe contener además un lenguaje similar al siguiente: Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la si-

guiente 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 les apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, se tendrá por aceptada. NOTIFÍQUESE. En Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, a 23 de octubre de 2019. f/ EILLIM TORRES RÍOS, JUEZ SUPERIOR.

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

DITECH FINANCIAL LLC VS

NEGRÓN RAMÍREZ, BEATRIZ LILIANA

CASO: KCD2015-1754. SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA.

BEATRIZ LILIANA NEGRÒN RAMÌREZ; CÒNYUGE DESCONOCIDO DE BEATRIZ LILIANA NEGRÒN RAMÌREZ; SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; POSEEDOR DESCONOCIDO; LA CORPORACIÒN DE RENOVACIÒN URBANA Y VIVIENDA DE PUERTO RICO

NOTIFICACION DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. EL SECRETARIO(A) QUE SUSCRIBE LE NOTIFICA A USTED QUE EL 12 DE OCTUBRE DE 2018 , ESTE TRIBUNAL HA DICTADO SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA PARCIAL O RESOLUCION EN ESTE CASO, QUE HA SIDO DEBIDAMENTE REGISTRADA Y ARCHIVADA EN AUTOS DONDE PODRA USTED ENTERARSE DETALLADAMENTE DE LOS TERMINOS DE LA MISMA. ESTA NOTIFICACION SE PUBLICARA UNA SOLA VEZ EN UN PERIODICO DE CIRCULACION GENERAL EN LA ISLA DE PUERTO RICO, DENTRO DE LOS 10 DIAS SIGUIENTES A SU NOTIFICACION. Y, SIENDO O REPRESENTANDO USTED UNA PARTE EN EL PROCEDIMIENTO SUJETA A LOS TERMINOS DE LA SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA PARCIAL O RESOLUCION, DE LA CUAL PUEDE ESTABLECERSE RE-

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

CURSO DE REVISION O APELACION DENTRO DEL TERMINO DE 60 DIAS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE LA PUBLICACION POR EDICTO DE ESTA NOTIFICACION, DIRIJO A USTED ESTA NOTIFICACION QUE SE CONSIDERARA HECHA EN LA FECHA DE LA PUBLICACION DE ESTE DICTO. COPIA DE ESTA NOTIFICACION HA SIDO ARCHIVADA EN LOS AUTOS DE ESTE CASO, CON FECHA DE 06 DE OCTUBRE DE 2020.

LIC. CORTIJO VILLOCK, EDMY PRSERVICE@ TROMBERGLAWGROUP.COM EN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, A 06 DE OCTUBRE DE 2020. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIO. POR: F/ ELSA MAGALY CANDELARIO CABRERA, SECRETARIO AUXILIAR.

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 6 de octubre de 2020. En GUAYAMA, Puerto Rico, el 6 de octubre de 2020.

MARISOL ROSADO RODRIGUEZ, Secretaria. F/MAIRENI TRINTA MALDONADO, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

Demandado CASO NUM. CG2019CV02405.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA Y EJECUCIÓN. DE GRAVAMEN MOBILIARIO (REPOSESIÓN DE VEHÍCULO). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

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

TITLE SECURITY GROUP LLC Demandante V.

FIRST SECURITY MORTGAGE INC., Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Civil: GM2020CV00119. Sobre: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

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

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que 2 de octubre de 2020 , 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

as indenture Trustee, for the CSMC 2016-PR 1 Trust Mortgage-Backed Notes, Series 2016-PR1 Demandante vs.

CITIFINANCIAL; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE como posibles tenedores desconocidos

Demandado Civil: Al2020CV00221. SOBRE: CANCELACIODNE PAGARE LEGAL NOTICE EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICAEstado Libre Asociado de PuerCIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL EDICTO. DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE como posibles Municipal de Caquas.

AMERICAS LEADING FINANCE LLC Demandante vs.

MIGUEL ANGEL FLORES SANTOS

A: MIGUEL ANGEL FLORES SANTOS

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 11 de agosto de 2020 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 6 de octubre de 2020. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, 6 de octubre de 2020. CARMEN ANA PEREIRA ORTIZ, Secretario (a). JESSENIA PEDRAZA, Secretaria Auxiliar.

tenedores desconocidos

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 6 de octubre de 2020 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 6 de octubre de 2020. En AIBONITO, Puerto Rico, 6 de octubre de 2020.

ELIZABETH GONZALEZ RIVERA, Secretario (a). F/CARMEN L. APONTE FLORES, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior Municipal de SAN JUAN.

ORIENTAL BANK Demandante vs.

JOHN DOE & RICHARD ROE

Demandado Civil: SJ2020CV04370. SALA: 807. SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGERE HIPOTECARIO LEGAL NOTICE EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICAEstado Libre Asociado de Puer- CIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL EDICTO. DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de PriA: JOHN DOE & mera Instancia Sala Superior RICHARD ROE Municipal de AIBONITO. (Nombre de las partes a las que se WILMINGTON SAVINGS le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que susFUND SOCIETY, FSB d/b/a Christiana Trustm cribe le notifica a usted que el 5 de octubre de 2020 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 6 de octubre de 2020.

En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, 6 de octubre de 2020. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretario (a). F/MILDRED J. FRANCO REVENTOS, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior Municipal de CAROLINA.

ORIENTAL BANK Demandante vs.

REBECCA RIVERA RODRIGUEZ Y OTROS

Demandado Civil: CA2020CV01424. SOBRE: CANCELACION O RESTITUCION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE & RICHARD ROE

(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 5 de octubre de 2020 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 edic-

to. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 7 de octubre de 2020. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, 7 de octubre de 2020. MARILYN APONTE RODRIGUEZ, Secretario (a).

KEILA GARCIA SOLIS, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOT ICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADA.

COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO AÑASCO Parte Demandante VS

NELSON E. VELEZ FERNÁNDEZ

25

CORPORATION; JOHN DOE & RICHARD ROE

Demandados CIVIL NÚM. CG2020CV01836.

SOBRE: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, personas desconocidas que se designan con estos nombres ficticios, que puedan ser tenedor o tenedores, o puedan tener algún interés en el pagaré hipotecario a que se hace referencia más adelante en el presente edicto, que se publicará una sola vez.

(SOCIO NUN. 111633) Parte Demandada CIVIL NUN. AU2020CV00206.

Se les notifica que en la DeSOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO manda radicada en el caso (ViA ORDINARIA). EDICTO. de epígrafe se alega que el 5 A: NELSON E. de marzo de 1987, se otorgó VELEZ FERNANDEZ un pagaré a favor de ExpresSe le apercibe que la parte de- so Mortgage Corporation, o mandante por mediación del a su orden, por la suma de Lcdo. Rafael Fabre Colon, P.O. $40,000.00 de principal, con inBox 277, Mayaguez, Puerto tereses al 9 .% anual, y venceRico 00681, Tel. 787-265-0334, dero el 1 de abril de 2017, ante ha radicado la acción de epi- la Notario José M. González. grafe en su contra. Copia de En garantía del pagaré antes la demanda, emplazamientos descrito se otorgó la escritura y del presente edicto le ha sido de hipoteca número 35 del 5 de enviado por correo a la ultima marzo de 1987, ante la Notario dirección conocida. Pueden José M. González, inscrita al ustedes obtener más informa- folio 116 vuelto del tomo 591 de ción sobre el asunto revisando Caguas, finca 19415, inscriplos autos en el Tribunal. Se le ción 5, Registro de la Propieapercibe que tiene usted un tér- dad de Caguas I. El inmueble mino de treinta (30) dias para gravado mediante la hipoteca radicar contestación a dicha antes descrita es la finca númedemanda de cobro de dinero ro 19415 inscrita al folio 115 del y/o cualquier escrito que estime tomo 591 de Caguas, Registro usted conveniente a través del de la Propiedad de Caguas I. Sistema Unificado de Manejo y La obligación evidenciada por Administración de Casos (SU- el pagaré antes descrito fue salMAC), al cual puede acceder dada en su totalidad. Dicho grautilizando la siguiente direc- vamen no ha podido ser canceción electrónica: https://unired. lado por haberse extraviado el ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se original del pagaré. El original represente por derecho propio, del pagaré antes descrito no ha en cuyo caso deberá presentar podido ser localizado, a pesar su alegación responsiva en la de las gestiones realizadas.

Secretaria del Tribunal de epi- Expresso Mortgage Corporagrafe, pero que de no radicarse tion es el acreedor que consta escrito alguno ante el Tribunal en el Registro de la Propiedad. dentro de dicho término el Tri- POR LA PRESENTE se le embunal procederá a ventilar el plaza para que presente al triprocedimiento sin más citarle bunal su alegación responsiva ni oirle. Dada en Aguada, Puer- dentro de los 30 días de haber to Rico, hoy 25 de septiembre sido diligenciado este emplade 2020. Sarahi Reyes Perez, zamiento concluyéndose el Secretarial Regional. SECRE- día del diligenciamiento. Usted TARIA GENERAL TRIBUNAL deberá presentar su alegación DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA responsiva a través del sistema SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUA- Unificado de Manejo y AdminisDA. ERIKA I. CRUZ PEREZ, tración de Casos (SUMAC), al SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. cua1 puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electróniLEGAL NOTICE ca: https://unired.ramajudicial.

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO pr, salvo que se represente por DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL derecho propio, en cuyo caso GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRI- deberá presentar su alegación BUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTAN- responsiva en la secretaría del CIA SALA DE CAGUAS. tribunal. Si usted deja de preORIENTAL BANK sentar su alegación responsiva Demandante dentro del referido término, el EXPRESSO MORTGAGE tribunal podrá dictar sentencia

en rebeldía en su contra y conceder e! remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

LCDO. JAVIER MONTALVO CINTRÓN RUANÚM. 17682 DELGADO & FERNÁNDEZ, LLC PO Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750, Tel. (787) 274-1414; Fax (787) 764-8241 E-mail: jmontalvo@ delgadofernandez.com Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 30 de septiembre de 2020. Carmen Ana Pereira Ortiz, Secretaria. Eneida Arroyo Velez, SubSecretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

hoy día 6 de octubre de 2020.

Dominga Gomez Fuster, Secretaria. Marisol Dávila Ortíz, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE HUMACAO

PALMAS DEL MAR HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. Parte Demandante v.

RAMÓN FIGUEROA TORRES Y KARLA HERNÁNDEZ CASTRO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- CIVIL NUM: HU2020CV00413.

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICSALA DE HUMACAO. TO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE PALMAS DEL MAR AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE HOMEOWNERS DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO ASSOCIATION, INC. LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS Parte Demandante v.

BREEZE POINT AT OCEAN, CORP.

A: RAMÓN FIGUEROA TORRES Y KARLA HERNÁNDEZ CASTRO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada CIVIL NUM: HU2020CV00416.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE POR LA PRESENTE, se le DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO emplaza y requiere para que LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS notifique a: GONZÁLEZ & MORALES LAW A: BREEZE POINT AT OFFICES, LLC OCEAN, CORP. PO BOX 10242 POR LA PRESENTE, se le HUMACAO, PR 00792 TELÉFONO: (787) 852-4422 emplaza y requiere para que FACSÍMIL: (787) 285-4425 notifique a: Email: jrg@gonzalezmorales.com GONZÁLEZ & MORALES LAW abogados de la parte demanOFFICES, LLC PO BOX 10242 dante , cuya dirección es la que HUMACAO, PR 00792 deja indicada, con copia de su TELÉFONO: (787) 852-4422 Contestación a la Demanda , FACSÍMIL: (787) 285-4425 ; copia de la cual le es servida Email: jrg@gonzalezmorales.com abogados de la parte deman- en este caso, dentro de los dante, cuya dirección es la que TREINTA (30) días de haber deja indicada, con copia de su sido diligenciado este EmplaContestación a la Demanda, zamiento, excluyéndose el día copia de la cual le es servida del diligenciamiento. Usted en este caso, dentro de los deberá presentar su alegación TREINTA (30) días de haber responsiva a través del Sistema sido diligenciado este Empla- Unificado de Manejo y Adminiszamiento, excluyéndose el día tración de Casos (SUMAC), al del diligenciamiento. Usted cual puede acceder utilizando deberá presentar su alegación la siguiente dirección electróniresponsiva a través del Sistema ca: https://unired.ramajudicial.

Unificado de Manejo y Adminis- pr, salvo que se represente por tración de Casos (SUMAC), al derecho propio, en cuyo caso cual puede acceder utilizando deberá presentar su alegación la siguiente dirección electróni- responsiva en la secretaría del ca: https://unired.ramajudicial. tribunal. Debe saber que en pr, salvo que se represente por caso de no hacerlo así podrá derecho propio, en cuyo caso dictarse Sentencia en Rebeldía deberá presentar su alegación en contra suya, concediendo el responsiva en la secretaría del remedio solicitado en la demantribunal. Debe saber que en da , o cualquier otro, si el Tribucaso de no hacerlo así podrá nal , en el ejercicio de su sana dictarse Sentencia en Rebeldía discreción , lo entiende proceen contra suya, concediendo el dente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI remedio solicitado en la deman- FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, da, o cualquier otro, si el Tribu- hoy día 6 de octubre de 2020. nal, en el ejercicio de su sana Dominga Gomez Fuster, Sediscreción, lo entiende proce- cretaria. Marisol Davila Ortiz, dente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI Secretaria Auxiliar.

FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal,

26

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

For the Astros, one final hurdle to a defiant World Series return

By TYLER KEPNER

T

here was symbolism in the timing when MLB announced a new, expanded postseason format. The league made it official on opening day in July, while the very first game of the season was already in progress. The message: We know this won’t last very long, but wait till we get to the fall!

By opening up the playoffs to 16 teams, instead of the usual 10, MLB created a new batch of playoff games to sell to networks, boosting revenue after a pandemic-shortened regular season of just 60 games.

But the league risked competitive integrity: What if a losing team sneaked in and made a run for the title?

Even that could have been appealing, perhaps, if the team were a scrappy underdog poised for a breakthrough, or one that had a marquee star like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Jacob deGrom. But what if the team turned out to be the Houston Astros, notorious for the cheating scandal that roiled the sport for months before the coronavirus shutdown?

That scenario has arrived: Behold the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, which started Sunday night in San Diego, with the Astros meeting the Tampa Bay Rays for a trip to the World Series.

The baseball gods are blameless here: They tried to smite Houston with freeagent losses, pitching injuries and general offensive futility that led to a 29-31 record during the regular season. But the Astros crashed MLB’s larger-than-usual party, and they don’t plan to leave now.

“When you play 162, you usually have one or two bad months, and then you recover with the three or four that are solid,” shortstop Carlos Correa said, after the Astros thumped the Oakland Athletics in their division series. “Right now, we’re in the third month of the season and we’re getting hot at the plate.”

In 2017, of course, the Astros were suspiciously hot, riding a powerful offense to their first World Series title. An investigation last offseason confirmed that the team had illegally stolen signs that year, leading to fines, forfeited draft picks and suspensions — though none for the players, who

were granted immunity by commissioner Rob Manfred in exchange for cooperation.

The vitriol that followed the revelation of the scheme, from both fans and rival players, served to undercut all the Astros had achieved since. They were similarly dominant in 2018 and nearly won another title last October before losing to Washington in Game 7 of the World Series. And while their offense sputtered this summer, the Astros bashed the A’s with a .322 team batting average and 33 runs in four games.

“They’re really good — we watched them plenty in the games leading up to ours,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Friday, after a thrilling 2-1 victory to eliminate the New York Yankees in Game 5.

“They’re rolling offensively; they’ve got some pitchers that we’re not as familiar with. We’re going to have our work cut out.”

For all their past misdeeds, the Astros are hardly a product of stolen signals. Even as their lineup struggled this season, it retained its signature characteristic: extreme contact hitting, a trait that distinguishes the Astros from the Rays.

Houston’s hitters had the fewest strikeouts in the majors this season, at 7.3 per game, while Tampa Bay’s had the most, at 10.1 per game. The Rays still had better on-base and slugging percentages, but now the Astros are slugging as they did in the past, with Correa leading the way.

He is hitting .500 this postseason (10 for 20) with four home runs in six games, and five other everyday players — José Altuve, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, George Springer and Kyle Tucker — hit .368 or better against Oakland.

The Rays hit a meager .202 against the Yankees, but they out-homered them, 1110. That margin proved to be the difference in the series when Mike Brosseau, an undrafted role player, smoked a 100 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman for the decisive homer in the eighth inning of Game 5.

Brosseau, a right-handed hitter, entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning when the Yankees replaced Gerrit Cole with left-hander Zach Britton. He is part of a deep and versatile lineup that supports a pitching staff with a 3.56 ERA in the regular season and the most strikeouts of any team left in the playoffs.

The Rays after dispatching the Yankees in Game 5 on Friday.

“We’re a fun team, we play the game right, we pitch very well,” Brosseau said when asked what fans should expect from the Rays. “They’re going to see a lot of high velo on the radar gun, and they’re going to see a lot of good defense and timely hitting. We use our roster so well.”

Last fall, the Rays took the Astros to five games in a division series but lost twice to Cole and once to Justin Verlander, who is out because of Tommy John surgery. Their absence puts the Astros in a similar spot as the Rays: depending more on the depth of their pitching staff than one or two aces, especially with no days off in this series.

In five of the Astros’ six postseason games — all but Game 2 against Oakland, when Framber Valdez worked seven innings — manager Dusty Baker has pulled his starter before the last out of the fifth.

Rookies Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor and Cristian Javier have combined for 12 shutout innings of relief, with Valdez adding another five in the first-round opener against Minnesota.

“Our bullpen did such a great job keeping us in games,” Correa said after beating Oakland. “I think they are the reason why we won the series.”

The Rays could say the same about

their clash with the Yankees. They took two of the first three games, each with a starter — Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton — going only five innings.

The Rays then used three other pitchers in a Game 4 loss, saving their best arms for the finale, when four hard throwers — Glasnow, Nick Anderson, Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo — stifled the Yankees for six to eight outs apiece.

“Hey, are you surprised?” said Anderson, the Rays’ saves leader, who entered the game in the third inning. “That’s kind of like the Rays’ way — switch things up, do something a little different. Everybody’s on board with everything; everybody knows anything could happen.”

The low-budget Rays have never won the World Series and have been there just once, in 2008. Baker, 71, is seeking the first championship of a long and distinguished managerial career, and his presence may soften some fans’ feelings for the Astros.

But if most of the public — and perhaps even the league office — just wants the Astros to go away, the last two rounds have shown that it will not be easy. The Astros are holding tightly to their AL championship trophy, and need eight more victories for Manfred to present them with his.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

27

Rafael Nadal routs Novak Djokovic at French Open for 20th Grand Slam singles title

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY, BEN ROTHENBERG, MATT FUTTERMAN and KAREN CROUSE

N

either Novak Djokovic nor Roger Federer could resist Rafael Nadal on Sunday.

Nadal made astonishingly quick work of them both in the French Open final, annihilating Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 player, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to equal Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

It was arguably Nadal’s finest performance at Roland Garros, which is quite a statement considering that he had already won 12 Grand Slam singles titles on the same rectangle of red clay.

There was nothing unlucky about No. 13. He was on task and on target from the very start against Djokovic, ripping groundstroke winners, running down drop shots and keeping his unforced errors to a strict minimum. He made just two in the opening set, giving Djokovic little time or space to find his range.

Djokovic, the 2016 French Open champion, is one of only two men to beat Nadal at Roland Garros. He had beaten Nadal in their last three Grand Slam finals against each other.

The most recent of those came at the 2019 Australian Open, where Djokovic overwhelmed Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in what Djokovic still maintains was the finest performance of his career. Nadal could only purse his lips, shake his head and say “too good.”

But that rout took place on a hard court, Djokovic’s best surface, at the major tournament he has won most often. Sunday’s payback came in Nadal’s kingdom.

“Sorry for today,” Nadal said to Djokovic in his postvictory remarks. “In Australia he killed me. It’s clear today was for me. That’s part of the game. We’ve played plenty of times together.”

This was not a French Open like any other, however.

It was moved from the spring to the autumn because of the coronavirus pandemic, making for cooler temperatures that rendered Nadal’s topspin forehand less lively than in the past. The crowds were limited to just 1,000 paying spectators per day at Roland Garros.

It was also the first French Open to be played with a retractable roof and lights, which meant that Nadal had to win his quarterfinal match over Jannik Sinner well after midnight. Because of rain in the afternoon Sunday, the final was played with the roof closed — a first in the history of the tournament, which was first played at Roland Garros in 1928.

That is a great deal of change to process for a champion like Nadal, who thrives on routine. But he managed to maintain tradition by extending his rule and ending his losing streak against Djokovic.

“Everybody knows this court is the most important court in my tennis career,” Nadal said, before striking a more somber tone.

Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the French Open final on Sunday to tie Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam singles championships.

“We are under very tough circumstances,” he said, a mask on his face. “In some ways it’s not that happy because we can’t celebrate the tournament in a normal way.”

He added: “I really hope that in a couple of months when we will be back here, hopefully in June, we will be able to celebrate this amazing, new, beautiful stadium with a full crowd.”

Nadal and Djokovic have faced each other 56 times: more than any other men have faced each other on tour in the Open era. Djokovic leads by the narrow margin of 29-27.

“Today, you showed why you are the king of clay,” Djokovic said during the awards ceremony. “I experienced it in my own skin. It was a very tough match. I’m obviously not so pleased with the way I played, but I was definitely overplayed by a better player today.”

Nadal, 34, did not drop a set in seven matches, and Sunday’s victory was his 100th in a match at Roland Garros. That would certainly have been the number of the day if not for Federer’s record.

Nadal and Federer have been friendly rivals for more than a decade, playing some of the most memorable matches in the game’s long history, including their classic 2008 Wimbledon final, won by Nadal in five sets.

But Federer, 39, is nearly five years older than Nadal and has always been ahead of him in the Grand Slam cha-

se. Until Sunday.

The Grand Slam singles record has become the most significant reference point in the game in this era with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic dominating the men’s game and pushing each other to improve their games and extend their careers.

“I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and as a champion,” Federer said on Twitter shortly after Sunday’s final. “As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players.”

Federer called winning the French Cup 13 times “one of the greatest achievements in sport.” He added: “I hope 20 is just another step on the continuing journey for both of us. Well done, Rafa. You deserve it.”

Nadal’s 20th title will deepen the conversation about who deserves to be considered the greatest men’s player of the Open era and perhaps even in the history of the sport (although that is a much more difficult comparison to make).

Nadal was not eager to have that conversation Sunday.

“I don’t think today about the 20th,” he said. “Today for me is just a Roland Garros victory. Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent here the most important moments or most of the most important moments in my tennis career. No doubt about that.”

28

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

With push on diversity, NHL makes landmark selection of black player

By SALIM VALJI

A

fter an NHL season in which players challenged deep-seated issues of racism and the lack of diversity within the sport, the league made history last week when Quinton Byfield became the highest-drafted Black player.

Clad in a stylish white blazer and black bow tie at home in Newmarket, Ontario, for the remote draft, Byfield, 18, acknowledged the gravitas of the moment when he was selected second overall by the Los Angeles Kings. Previously, the highest-drafted Black players had been Evander Kane (2009, Atlanta Thrashers) and Seth Jones (2013, Nashville Predators), each taken fourth overall.

“It definitely means a lot to me and is something special,” Byfield said in a news conference on draft night last Tuesday. “My dad and mom didn’t play hockey or didn’t have too much knowledge about that, so just going to the game together, it just shows that there’s a lot of opportunity for everyone in the world.”

The Kings celebrated the move.

“Quinton is an exceptional young man and talented player with a very bright future,” Kings general manager Rob Blake, a Hall of Fame defenseman, said in a statement after the first round.

“We’re proud to be adding him to our organization and look forward to the next stages of his development and a promising career in LA.” Byfield was drafted off the strength of an 82-point season with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.

He was also a part of Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the World Junior Hockey Championship, contributing one assist in seven games.

At 6 feet, 4 inches and 214 pounds, Byfield could be a high-end playmaking center in the mold of Kings star Anze Kopitar, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with 950 career points in 1,073 games.

“The big center man, the effects they have on the play, all those things come into play,” Blake said in a news conference after the first round, adding that he thought Byfield could immediately play in the NHL. “There’s a lot more that goes into it,”

Byfield will join the Kings organization where Akil Thomas, a co-host of the “Soul on Ice” podcast, also plays. he continued. “The uncertainty on our games, when we’re starting and all this, what will happen in the OHL where he’s currently playing, World Juniors. All this has to come into account.”

Byfield will join a Kings organization that includes Akil Thomas, his friend and a 2020 Canadian World Junior standout.

Thomas, who is of Barbadian heritage and was drafted in the second round in 2018, is currently playing professionally in Germany. Thomas’ father and uncle were also professional hockey players.

Thomas is active off the ice as well.

He owns a clothing company, co-hosts the “Soul on Ice” podcast, and has been actively helping younger hockey players of color who reach out to him on social media navigate a sport that is still mostly white.

“I don’t mind getting my feet wet in a couple of different things that aren’t typical for a hockey player,” he said. “Defi-

nitely, I want to impact as many lives and initiatives as I can.”

Yet just one day after Byfield’s landmark selection, the Hockey Diversity Alliance, a group co-founded by Kane and the former NHL player Akim Aliu in June to make the sport more socioeconomically inclusive and fight racism both within hockey and society, said it would work independently of the league.

There had been months of negotiations over funding and anti-racism initiatives, and the Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba, one of the most visible 20-something players of color, had delivered a pregame speech this summer about the need for hockey to play a more active role in the fight against racism.

“The HDA and everything we’re doing, it’s not about us,” Dumba, a member of the alliance, said in a telephone interview before the announcement.

“We’re doing it for that next generation

that are going home after games, facing tears, and having those hard conversations with their parents on why they don’t feel that they belong in hockey or what they’ve heard from opposing players or how they’re being treated by their own teammates solely because of the color of their skin.”

Still, Byfield and Thomas are on track to play in a league that suddenly has several and talented players of color in their 20s.

Mathieu Joseph, 23, just won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ethan Bear, also 23, played 71 games for the Edmonton Oilers in the 201920 season, while Anthony Duclair, 25, scored 23 goals for the Ottawa Senators.

In 2018, the New York Rangers drafted K’Andre Miller, a defenseman with the U.S. National Development Program, in the first round.

During an exhibition game following the league’s return to play this summer, Bear, who is Indigenous, wore a jersey with his Cree characters on the nameplate.

“It will be an honor to wear this jersey tonight,” Bear told the Edmonton Oilers website before the game. “I feel like I will be wearing it for all those Indigenous players who came before me and those Indigenous kids dreaming of playing in the NHL.” Since the NHL began tracking data on the racial makeup of the league in the 1989-90 season, the number of players from minority groups has hovered around 5 percent.

Moezine Hasham, the executive director and co-founder of Hockey 4 Youth, a grassroots development program based in Toronto that introduces new Canadians to the sport, said he was optimistic the sport will become more diverse. Hasham is also a member of the league’s recently formed Youth Inclusion Committee that aims to make hockey more accessible to underrepresented groups.

“This generation was inspired by the previous generation,” Hasham said.

“More players of color are going to get drafted to the NHL and are going to change the culture of the game.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

29

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

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

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

30

(Mar 21-April 20)

Hold your position. Sometimes inaction is the best course of action even though this will take a lot of restraint and patience. More information will be revealed. A pause is all that’s needed to find the missing piece of the jigsaw which will then make it easier to see what your next steps should be.

Taurus

(April 21-May 21)

There is plenty of activity and lively gossip going on between those in your immediate locality. Your support for a protest, special cause or community celebration will be expected. If an event is delayed or you encounter obstacles, this does not mean it won’t happen. Persuade others not to get discouraged.

Gemini

(May 22-June 21)

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

Disagreements in the home could escalate unless one of you handles this situation like a grown up. Let people see that it doesn’t matter how hard they try to rile you, you will not be provoked. It will take a lot of patience to keep your thoughts to yourself. You should be proud of the way you handle this.

It is time to take action. There has already been too much procrastinating. You can’t keep waiting for extra confirmation when you already have all the facts you need to make a decision.

Don’t let mistakes you made in the past prevent you from following the path you have chosen.

Leo

(July 24-Aug 23)

Be mindful about judging too quickly or too harshly in a contentious situation. Someone who appears obstinate is defending their position in the only way they know how. Important revelations will come through interactions and conversations. You will also be making some interesting observations. A relative who has had decades of experience will give some valuable advice.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

There have been many changes in the past few months and you might feel you’ve got lost in the chaos these have caused. Take a moment to re-connect with your inner self. You may need to remind yourself of your values and principles. This will help you remain grounded as you adapt to all that is and has been going on.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

Keep your thoughts, ideas and activities a secret. Someone is watching your every move.

Personal and business projects will go well if you put on your poker face in negotiations.

You’re tempted to make an impulsive move but holding back will serve you best when it comes to getting the best offer or opportunity.

Scorpio

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

A newcomer to your team will quickly establish themselves as a cooperative player. They are making a great impression on everyone and thanks to their valuable assistance you will make headway towards a special aim.

There’s no better feeling than when a group comes together in a spirit of harmony.

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

People can’t do enough for you. You’ve only got to say the word and a friend or colleague will make themselves available to you.

This may make you feel a little guilty when recently you’ve been somewhat offhand with them. Apologies won’t be necessary when even they will admit that at the time, they deserved this.

Some chores will take longer to get through than you bargained for. You could always leave them aside for another day but this isn’t your style. You would rather get them out of the way before doing anything else. A friend who sees how determined you are to complete a job may well lend a hand.

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

There will be a few new faces among your friends. This could make you a little uncomfortable at first. Once you’ve had an opportunity to talk to them you will discover these new acquaintances happen to be excellent company. A neighbour will give you some wise professional advice when it turns out they have the answers you have been searching for.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

You’re tired of the way a loved one exaggerates every experience. A small problem will be blown out of proportion. One day they will really need help and no one will believe them. You haven’t time to focus all your attention on them. Keep strict financial accounts if you are organising a fundraiser.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Monday, October 12, 2020

31

CARTOONS

Herman

Speed Bump

Frank & Ernest

BC

Scary Gary

Wizard of Id

For Better or for Worse

The San Juan Daily Star

Ziggy

32

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 12, 2020

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