Monday Oct 5, 2020

Monday, October 5, 2020

San Juan The

DAILY Photo By Breezy Baldwin/Flickr

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Star

What Happened When Latinos Saw Themselves on Screen

No Help or Answers from Gov’t

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Trump’s Oxygen Level Drops, Treated with Dexamethasone P7

Have You Seen $257 Million in Recovery Supplies?

Neither Has FEMA

Old San Juan Merchants ‘Going Through Hell’ to Keep Businesses Alive They Have the Ideas, But Not the Help

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NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

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October 5, 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.

PDP senator cites resident commissioner ‘absenteeism’

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opular Democratic Party (PDP) Sen. Aníbal José Torres charged on Sunday that Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón was absent or did not participate in votes to which she was entitled 95 times in a 15-month period, which put her in fifth place for absenteeism among all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and made her the Hispanic congressional member with the highest number of absences at the time of voting in full committees.

“So much so that she spends her time criticizing and lamenting that she does not have the right to vote in Congress and now it turns out that, when she is allowed to vote in full committees, she decides to absent herself or not participate 95 times in just 15 months,” Torres said. “With that record, Jenniffer González obtains the embarrassing distinction of being the fifth-most absent representative of all members of Congress and the Hispanic with the highest number of absences at the time of casting their votes in the consideration of measures.”

“It is no longer enough that inaction and carelessness caused us to lose $1 billion from Medicaid,” the senator and former PDP president said.

“The offense of going on tourist trips to 38 countries outside the United States on six different continents is not enough, but now she does not vote when authorized to do so and even while in Congress, she does not appear or cast her votes. It is time for a change in Washington with a fulltime commissioner and not a tourist paid with public funds.”

Beginning in 1993, the U.S. Congress has allowed the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico and the delegates of the other U.S. territories and possessions to vote in a plenary committee, Torres pointed out.

“The opportunity to participate and vote in these processes is a very effective way of inserting oneself and persuading other members to listen to arguments or ways of voting,” Torres said.

He added that according to official data, in a 15-month period the resident commissioner had the opportunity to vote 316 times, and was either absent at the time of voting or did not cast her vote a combined 95 times.

In 2019, González had the opportunity to vote 291 times, but chose not to vote 90 times, for a 31 percent voting absence rate, Torres said. The same pattern continued in the early months of 2020, because of a total of 25 eligible votes -- between January and March -- the resident commissioner chose not to vote or not to be present 20 percent of the time.

“The innumerable embarrassments that the NPP [the governing New Progressive Party] has put us through with the

federal government seem to be endless,” Torres said. “Now they also extend to the federal Congress. Those who said that there were no funds for being a commonwealth now say that there is money to spare and those who complained that they could not vote like the rest of the congressmen, now they do not appear when that benefit is granted to them.

Obviously, the incapacity and negligence of this government has no limits.”

Later on Sunday, González defended herself.

In a written statement, the resident commissioner said “it is a fact that when Acevedo Vilá was resident commissioner during Congresses 107 and 108 from 2001 to 2005, he did not have the right to vote on the floor. Therefore, we do not have a public record of all Acevedo Vilá’s absences as resident commissioner. Now, everyone remembers how in 2004 Aníbal was called the Absent Commissioner because he was always in Puerto Rico for other duties without any relation to the well-being of the people ”.

“In any case, this vote on the floor that is currently being given is symbolic, even the Democrats took away that right they gave to vote during the pandemic, which shows that even that granting of the vote was not a serious management. to assert ourselves to the representatives of the territories”, indicated the resident commissioner in written statements.

“There is really no comparison between the productivity of the legislative measures of my tenure as resident commissioner versus that of Acevedo Vilá. I have presented twice as many bills as Acevedo Vilá, 16 times more than Acevedo Vilá amendments of my authorship, 10 times more amendments of my authorship approved in the Rules Committee to go to the plenary session, 19 times more sponsored amendments approved by the Chamber , 7 times more amendments of my authorship that became law and to finalize more than double the total of enacted measures approved (bills of my authorship and amendments in the House) than Acevedo Vilá. The truth is that the legislative statistics in the Acevedo Vilá Congress are embarrassing to others,” she said.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

Old San Juan merchants strive to survive without gov’t response

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

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he Puerto Rican government is not acting any different from other governments around the world, going back and forth, including the U.S. government. No one has made a coherent public policy for the size of the problem and, at the same time, one that allows jobs to not be put at risk and lost; Old San Juan is no different.”

That is what Old San Juan Merchants Association (ACOVI by its Spanish acronym) Vice President Juan Fernández told the Star on Sunday as he sounded the alarm that merchants in the capital city are “going through hell to keep their businesses operating” due to a lack of effective response from the federal, state and municipal governments after almost seven months since the COVID-19 pandemic began in Puerto Rico.

Fernández said that beyond failing to providing some financial aid or tax deferrals, the government has not done enough to provide subsidies to help businesses sustain their employees. The Farmacia Luma owner said further that even though there have been loans from the federal Payroll Protection Program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance compensation, and payments from Unemployment Assistance, once these come to an end, “we’re going into some kind

of funnel where there will be no more economic reserves and people will run out of money.”

“We’re getting closer to a very difficult situation. Not only the federal government, but the state and municipal governments have to develop a way to relieve us from having to pay the entire tax burden,” he said. “There has not been one gesture of relief from the debts we have to pay and we must pay them on time. There have been extensions on permit renewals, but there has not been a reduction in the fee to renew them or anything of the sort; it’s like everything has gone back to normal, and it is not.”

Fernández told the Star that as Old San Juan became “highly dependent” on airplane and boat tourists and consumption on the part of public and private employees who work inside the Old City, local businesses that are authorized to operate amid the current executive order have to depend now on Old San Juan residents and the delivery and carry-out programs that have helped them keep their stores running. Nonetheless, if more restrictive orders were to be put into effect due to the pandemic, he said he might consider closing his pharmacy.

“I have been participating in a daily Zoom meeting with the Tourism Alliance for Puerto Rico, organized by Daphne Barbeito, and we had the chance to speak with every [San Juan] mayoral candidate and every gubernatorial candidate. In

these conversations, I found that there’s a lot of work to do so candidates comprehend on the ground level the issues that affect us merchants, particularly those that impact the tourism industry,” Fernández said. “What is expected for all of us, without exception, is an indefinite and very complicated outlook, and my advice to all the Old San Juan merchants, clients and consumers is that we continue trying to give normality to life and provide maximum personal protection.”

Meanwhile, ACOVI President Pamela Calderón told the Star that, even though merchants have been prepared and are trying to adapt by expanding their services and attracting local citizens to come to their locations amid the emergency, businesses still face challenges while operating. Calderón said that since there is no concrete public policy to provide access to the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they will continue to be stung economically.

“For businesses that have been using delivery and carry-out services such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, or any other one, police haven’t let drivers for these platforms enter the city and pick up orders,” she said. “I can also make a reservation at my restaurant with 25 perent of the establishment’s capacity so I can comply with the law, and my client cannot get there because, even with their reservation receipt, the police won’t let them pass and I end up losing one of the few tables that I get during the shift.”

The Waffle-era Tea Room founder said that even though ACOVI petitioned Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto to authorize all small businesses to set up tables on the streets of the walled city as open-air spaces lower the risk for contracting the coronavirus, the association has yet to receive a response from city hall.

“We have to work with the logistics, but we never got the green light to work with them. It’s unfortunate because one tries to make things easier; this means that each business has to request permission independently, something that normally takes three to four months to get an authorization for an open-air cafe. We wanted these procedures to be swift, we wanted to be responsive,” Calderón said. “In Old San Juan, there is a jurisdiction issue; there are many jurisdictions that work together and they do not communicate with each other. There is no coordination, and we

end up paying for the implications.”

Calderón went on to say that what makes Old San Juan “come alive” is that there is the opportunity for emerging businesses that would make locals stay within the city while visitors consider them among their first stops; nonetheless, she said, if there are not enough public policies in order for the government to provide access and subsidies to reinvigorate activity from within over the long term, then merchants will be unable to thrive to the fullest.

“Honestly, we can be thriving enterprises and remain operating for years, but when you analyze the potential some of these businesses have, they are falling short of their reality. Many businesses stay in the city due to their love for the area; it’s important to make the government understand how important Old San Juan commerce is,” she said. “What matters here is that Puerto Rico and the rest of the world are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone has seen the negative repercussions. Now, how can we ensure and look for ways to face it?

That’s what we are working on, but the corresponding agencies are not doing their part to put us in the best position.”

San Sebastián Street Festival hanging by a thread As for the San Sebastián Street Festival (popularly known in Spanish as Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián), which is usually a four-day event that starts on the third Thursday of January and runs through Sunday, Fernández told the Star that there has been no conversation due not only to the COVID-19 pandemic but also because the next edition would be taking place after an election year.

The ACOVI vice president said that “when there have been government changes, you know that the elected government takes their seats beginning in January and they have two weeks left to organize the event; it’s impossible for them to organize it.”

Given that scenario, Fernández said that what would be “ideal” would be for a municipal non-governmental organization to be in charge of organizing the festival, but “since the municipality took over the festival, now, when we look at who will succeed the [current] municipal government, we don’t know who will win, and we have to [wait and] see what approach the next mayor will take.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

5

FEMA has no clue where $257 million in recovery supplies ended up natural disaster to hit Puerto Rico, flattened the island, leaving it without power for months. Some 3,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the hurricane.

According to the report, some supplies slated to be shipped to Puerto Rico likely never left the continental U.S., according to what employees at the agency’s emergency response center in Jacksonville, Fla. told the inspector general’s office.

The supplies — mostly food and meals, along with blankets, tarps, cots and sheets — were backlogged in two overflow sites in Jacksonville because FEMA did not record orders at all or quickly enough for employees to know what was being shipped and when.

FEMA also shipped food that was nutritionally deficient, according to the inspector general’s report, which “included junk food such as Oreos, candy, cereal bars” and other snacks.

The agency was unable to provide documentation for contractor invoices totaling about $50 million, the report said. FEMA indicated that it could not locate 19 shipping containers of food and water in its final assessment, the report says, amounting to $303,000 worth of lost contents.

By THE STAR STAFF

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he Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lost track of nearly $257 million worth of supplies, 98 percent of which was food and water meant to help Puerto Rico recover from hurricanes Maria and Irma, the agency’s inspector general found in a report published last week.

The agency took an average of 69 days to deliver supplies to the island, the inspector general said. Some food, water and other goods sat in FEMA custody in Puerto Rico for roughly 48 days. Approximately 37 percent of the water meant to ship to the island between September 2017 and April 2018 was delivered, and 45 percent of the food shipped by FEMA reached Puerto Rico.

In a response, FEMA said it worked with the inspector general’s office on the findings, but noted that the report’s characterization and some of the audit’s conclusions do not tell a complete story of its disaster response in Puerto Rico. The agency maintains that it “delivered a historic quantity of meals and water to Puerto Rico from September 29, 2017 through April 2018.”

Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 hurricane and the worst

US Justice Dept. defends PROMESA against creditor claims of special treatment for PR

By THE STAR STAFF

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he U.S. Justice Department over the weekend defended the constitutionality of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016 (PROMESA) from claims it discriminates against creditors.

Puerto Rico bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. sued the Financial Oversight and Management Board in May arguing that PROMESA — created only for Puerto Rico — violated the U.S. Constitution’s uniformity clause, which allows Congress to pass laws related to bankruptcy, but only if they don’t arbitrarily subject creditors to unique statutory provisions.

According to Ambac, Congress singled out the commonwealth and its instrumentalities for special treatment in bankruptcy in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Justice Department in a reply Saturday said that Congress enacted PROMESA in 2016 during

the worst fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico’s history. As the U.S. Supreme Court recently recognized in Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius, PROMESA is a “local debt-related law” enacted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution, which allows Congress to “‘make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting a territory.’”

The U.S. government said the uniformity law does not apply when Congress is legislating for the territories.

“Ambac is incorrect, and PROMESA is constitutional,” the U.S. government says. “To start, the uniformity requirement in Article I, Section 8 serves as a limitation on Congress’s exercise of its enumerated powers under Article I and does not apply when Congress exercises its broad authority to legislate in the territories under Article IV. The Supreme Court has never limited Congress’s Article IV power in such a way. To the contrary, the Supreme Court has long held that the requirement for uniformity in the context of taxation does not apply when Congress legislates with respect to a territory, such as Puerto Rico.”

Even if the uniformity requirement did apply when Congress exercises its power to legislate in the territories, PROMESA would still be constitutional, because the statute is uniform within the meaning of the uniformity clause, the Justice Department says.

Consistent with the history and purpose of the uniformity requirement, the Supreme Court has long recognized that Congress retains the power to craft bankruptcy legislation to resolve geographically isolated problems, as Congress did in PROMESA, the Justice

Department said.

Even if the U.S. District Court were to conclude that PROMESA runs afoul of the uniformity requirement, it should not invalidate PROMESA because Congress itself provided the remedy to that, which is to extend the statute’s coverage to other similarly situated territories that adopt a resolution for a financial oversight and management board.

The suit is an adversarial proceeding filed by Ambac within Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy process under PROMESA to restructure some $70 billion in debt.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

Caguas mayor in isolation after potential exposure to virus

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

C

aguas Mayor William Miranda Torres announced Sunday that he will remain in isolation after discovering that a person who participated in a work meeting in which preventive measures were taken tested positive for COVID-19.

“Last Friday I participated in a work meeting where the appropriate measures of social distancing and the use of masks were complied with. However, on Saturday I learned of the positive result for the virus of a person who participated in the meeting,” Miranda Torres said. “I will be in isolation as dictated by the measures in a case like this and next Wednesday I will be doing the molecular test.”

He added that “I will remain isolated until I meet the established term of quarantine for this virus and after the test is carried out I will wait for the result and we will let you know.”

“I urge anyone who is in a similar situation to isolate themselves and do the proper tests,” Miranda Torres said.

Likewise, he said that people who have symptoms should not leave their homes if it is not necessary and they should not participate in work activities or activities of any other nature that put the health of other people at risk. People must be very aware of symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, among others, he said, so that they seek medical assistance and avoid coming into contact with other people.

Miranda Torres noted the confidential telephone line of the Center for the Tracking and Control of COVID-19 Infection under Caguas’ Positive Support Project (Proyecto Apoyo Positivo Criollo): 787296-9292.

The services available under the municipality’s Positive Support Project include a case investigation and contact tracing system, educational intervention and delivery of protective materials in the community, psychological services, nutrition, delivery of supplies to prevent people from leaving their home, referrals to telemedicine, referrals to COVID-19 tests, health education with the collabora-

Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres tion of the SANOS Corp., and counseling services that include grief counseling for families that lose a member to the coronavirus. The phone line is available Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. at 8 p.m. The email address apoyopositivo@ caguas.gov.pr is also available.

The requirements for obtaining services from the Positive Support Project are: being a resident of Caguas, having been at risk of contracting COVID-19 infection and having evidence of a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 for the food delivery service.

NPP Sen. Villafañe: Delgado hasn’t accomplished enough as mayor of Isabela

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

N

ew Progressive Party (NPP) Sen. William Villafañe said it is unusual that Isabela Mayor Charlie Delgado should aspire to be governor of Puerto Rico when 20 years has not been enough for the adoption of a territorial organization plan (PT by its Spanish initials) for the municipality.

Villafañe added that such administrative inefficiency is also shown by verifying that Delgado Altieri lacks an agreement for the delegation of powers with the Planning Board and the Permit Management Office to transfer to the municipal council certain responsibilities related to the granting of permits.

“There are 61 municipalities with territorial plans, including all the municipalities that surround Isabela, such as Aguadilla, Moca, San Sebastián, Camuy and Quebradillas. In 20 years of administration, Mayor Delgado could not make a territorial organization plan to protect the environment and promote

Gubernatorial candidate Carlos “Charlie” Delgado Altieri the economy in his municipality,” Villafañe said. “No incumbent mayor of a coastal municipality has spent two full decades in office to satisfy this basic requirement of municipal planning and development. It is an unacceptable record for someone who

intends to govern the 78 municipalities.”

The PTs are adopted by the municipalities to regulate the classifications of the uses of real estate in a municipality for social development and the protection of sensitive areas.

“Isabela has 237.89 square kilometers of surface, including several bodies of water -- including a lake and an underground river -- a coastal area with beautiful beaches, caves and caverns,” Villafañe said. “It is the type of territorial jurisdiction that requires more planning.

However, the mayor either did not have the vision or omitted his duty to establish an adequate public policy for planning and development.”

Villafañe also questioned why Delgado “does not have a delegation agreement on permitting powers [even though his region] has the economic resources to do so for the benefit and protection of its citizens.”

“The delegation agreements are valuable tools that have been used with success by several small municipalities throughout Puerto Rico such as Aguadilla, Aibonito, Comerío, Cabo Rojo, Quebradillas, Coamo, Villalba and Salinas, among others,” the NPP at-large senator said. “Isabela has lost immense possibilities due to the lack of good project management.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

7

Trump’s oxygen levels dropped and he was given Dexamethasone

By KATIE THOMAS AND MAGGIE HABERMAN

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resident Donald Trump’s medical team delivered an update Sunday of his condition, as the president’s personal physician acknowledged delivering an overly rosy description of his illness a day earlier. The details of the briefing signaled to some health experts that the president’s condition might be more serious than a mild case of COVID-19.

“I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true,” Dr. Sean P. Conley, the White House physician, said in a briefing with reporters Sunday.

The doctors said that Trump had a “high fever” Friday, and that there had been two incidents when his oxygen levels dropped — one Friday and one Saturday.

They said that Trump received oxygen at the White House on Friday; they were not clear about whether it was administered again Saturday.

Medical experts said that despite the relatively upbeat tone of the news conference Sunday, the details of his treatment and the fact that his oxygen levels have been dropping showed that the illness has progressed beyond a mild case of COVID-19.

Trump’s oxygen levels dropped to 93% at one point, his doctors said; that is below the 95% level that is considered the lower limit of the normal range. Many medical experts consider patients to have severe COVID-19 if their oxygen levels drop below 94%.

“This is no longer aspirationally positive,” said Dr. Esther Choo, a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. “And it’s much more than just an ‘abundance of caution’ kind of thing.”

Conley said that the president had been given the steroid dexamethasone Saturday, in addition to remdesivir, an antiviral drug. Dexamethasone has been shown to help patients who are severely ill with COVID-19, but it is typically not used in mild or moderate cases of the disease.

Insisting that President Trump’s health is improving, Dr. Sean P. Conley, the White House physician, gave a statement on Sunday contradictory to his previous update, informing the public that the president has received supplemental oxygen twice and is on the steroid dexamethasone.

“He got the therapies that anybody going into any good hospital in the United States would receive today,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. He said even if Trump is discharged from the hospital, “He’s not going to your house or my house; he’s going to the White House.”

The White House is equipped with a medical suite.

The World Health Organization issued guidelines Sept. 2 recommending that dexamethasone only be given to patients with “severe and critical COVID-19.” The National Institutes of Health has issued similar guidance, specifying that the drug is recommended only for people who require a mechanical ventilator to help them

breathe, or who need supplemental oxygen.

A large study of dexamethasone in Britain found that the drug helped those who had been sick for more than a week, reducing deaths by one-third among patients on mechanical ventilators and by one-fifth among patients receiving supplemental oxygen by other means.

On Friday, Trump was given an infusion of an experimental antibody cocktail that is being tested by the drugmaker Regeneron.

Trump is also receiving a five-day course of remdesivir, another experimental drug that is used in hospitalized patients and has been granted emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

Regeneron’s antibody cocktail is being tested early in the course of the infection,

because it fights the virus itself and could prevent it from spreading throughout the body. Remdesivir is also an antiviral drug but has been commonly used along with dexamethasone, which reduces the body’s immune response and is given later in the illness, when some people’s immune systems go into overdrive and attack their vital organs.

Even though he has had low-oxygen episodes and is receiving dexamethasone, the doctors said that Trump was doing better and might be discharged from the hospital and return to the White House as early as Monday.

The briefing came a day after a messy and contradictory presentation Friday about whether Trump had serious medical issues.

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Monday, October 5, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

With Trump sidelined, his campaign promises MAGA as usual

Supporters of President Trump attended a campaign rally in Staten Island on Saturday.

By MAGGIE HABERMAN and ANNIE KARNI

T

he Trump campaign is not changing its advertising or messaging, even with the candidate in the hospital. The political operation is not bereft of leaders; the campaign manager is still helping run things from afar after testing positive for the virus. Advisers are not showing any evidence of worry, despite public polls showing President Donald Trump still behind in key states he won in 2016.

On the first weekend of the new Trump political reality, the overarching signals were about continuity and resolve, even though the landscape was one of change: rallies canceled in Wisconsin, fundraising reworked without the incumbent candidate and campaign operations adjusting on the fly.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence held a call with the Trump-Pence reelection staff nationwide, trying to rally the troops and lay out the plans for the coming weeks.

Despite the almost unthinkable circumstances for a campaign whose fundraising, events and political pitches have all been driven by the president himself, Pence tried to signal that the campaign was trying to proceed as if little has changed. “‘Make America Great Again’ isn’t just a slogan; it’s our mission,” Pence said on the call.

Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist, said the campaign’s only option was to plow forward.

“The leader of the campaign may be off the field for now,” he said. “But people are voting right now. The blocking and tackling of knocking doors, making phone calls and getting people to the polls must continue. They can’t worry

about what they can’t control and must work relentlessly at what they can.”

To compensate for Trump’s absence, the campaign is trying to deploy as many Trump family members, who are popular with the president’s supporters, as is possible while the president is off the trail.

Justin Clark, the deputy campaign manager, is filling in at the headquarters in Virginia for the campaign manager, Bill Stepien. But Stepien is working remotely from home, officials said, and telling other staff members that he feels fine. He participated on the call with staff members across the country on Saturday. (Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top political adviser, has not needed to play a greater role in the candidate’s absence.)

The campaign hopes to be able to tell a story of what one adviser described as “resolve,” with the president — and several top aides — overcoming a virus that Trump has for months played down.

In their discussions with supporters on Saturday, campaign officials, Trump’s son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara maintained that the president was in good shape and that the news coverage of his condition was overblown.

“The mainstream media makes their money off of having shock and awe,” Lara Trump told supporters on a 5 p.m. call, which a New York Times reporter was able to listen to. “Please, when you see these reports, do not get upset.”

She added that the president was “going to come out on top” and beat the virus “to a pulp” and that he would then “very handily beat Joe Biden to a pulp on Nov. 3.”

Eric Trump described his father as energetic and said they had spoken at length by phone, with the president at one point telling an aide to get Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, on the phone to discuss a potential stimulus package.

Sounding frustrated by news stories discussing the possibility of a transfer of power if the president’s condition worsens, Eric Trump said of the former vice president, “Biden wishes he had 1/100th of the aptitude my father has at this very moment.”

On the same call, Stepien pushed back at reporting indicating that polls showed Biden with a lead. Instead, he characterized the polls as “all over the map.” He added, “It’s really hard to figure out exactly where this race stands.”

In an attempt to keep supporters energized and engaged, the campaign is billing its next phase as “Operation MAGA,” a mix of virtual events leading up to Wednesday’s scheduled vice presidential debate between Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris and then a series of campaign events featuring Pence.

Those events will include a rally in Peoria, Arizona, the day after the debate. The campaign’s bus tours, meanwhile, were on the road on Saturday, with a stop in Boone County, Iowa, where Gov. Kim Reynolds and Matt Whitaker, the former acting attorney general in Trump’s administration, held indoor and outdoor events. A Trump campaign aide, Marc Lotter, shared pictures of supporters gathered indoors to see them, many without masks.

Biden’s team announced on Friday that it would cease negative advertising. Around 10:30 p.m. that night, some of his negative ads about Trump were still live on Facebook, raising questions among Republicans about whether the spots were actually coming down. A spokesperson for Facebook, Andy Stone, said it was the result of a “lag” that sometimes occurs when ads are no longer live.

By contrast, the Trump campaign is not ceasing advertising. And so far there are no plans to change its approach to messaging, campaign officials said.

Republican and Democratic internal polling since the debate between Biden and Trump has showed Trump losing ground against the Democratic challenger following an aggressive performance during which the president repeatedly interrupted Biden and talked over him, ignoring the moderator.

An official with one Democratic group, who requested anonymity to discuss internal surveys, said that the group’s polling showed that voters wanted the president to recover and that they felt sympathy for him but that so far, that wasn’t translating into the kind of political advantage that Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, experienced when he fell ill with the coronavirus. The official said that voters still disapproved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus and didn’t feel that the White House had been forthcoming about his health.

Despite the criticisms of large-scale events, the Trump campaign plans to move on with them. On Saturday, for instance, a Trump ally held a large rally supporting the president on Staten Island in New York.

“There is zero margin for error here,” Gorman said.

“We’re a month out. Everyone needs to wear a mask, social distance and take it seriously. Speaking from a purely cynical perspective, shouldn’t Republicans want their voters to be healthy enough to get to the polls?”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

9

COVID-19 continues its ever-changing U.S. onslaught

By MITCH SMITH and MONICA DAVEY

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OVID-19 has proved itself an unpredictable and ever-changing threat. As President Donald Trump and some of his allies and associates test positive for the coronavirus, the number of new cases reported each day across the United States has been slowly rising. The nation’s response has been uneven and inconsistent.

Here is where the country is now.

The U.S. is at a key moment in the pandemic.

Spread of the virus could worsen significantly through the autumn, experts fear, as colder weather forces people indoors. Winter, paired with a new flu season, could make the precarious situation of today even worse. Every day, some 43,000 new cases are being reported — far fewer than were being identified during the surge in the summer but still an uncomfortably large number.

From the hospital where Trump is being treated, he wrote on Twitter on Saturday, “Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE.” But the pace has been ticking upward slowly since the middle of September as the virus reached parts of the country that hadn’t been hit hard before. By this weekend, 7.3 million people in the United States — some of them at the highest reaches of the federal government — were known to have been infected. More than 208,000 people have died.

The Great Plains, spared early on, is struggling now.

Some of the country’s least populous states are now seeing its highest infection rates.

When coastal cities suffered in the spring, cases remained relatively scarce across most of the Northern Plains and rural West. But since late summer, North Dakota and South Dakota have added more cases per capita than any other state. Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have set troubling records as well.

In North Dakota, state officials met with hospital executives recently to ensure there would be enough space in hospitals as cases surged around Bismarck, and health care workers said they were working overtime to meet the sudden rise. Leaders in Montana urged residents to take precautions as they warned of an uncertain new phase.

“COVID-19 is still in our midst — more so than we’ve ever seen before since this virus first entered our state,” Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat, wrote onTwitter the other

day. “If public health guidelines are followed, like masking up and social distancing, we can prevent the strain on our hospitals.”

Wisconsin’s situation has become alarming.

Northeastern Wisconsin, a politically mixed region that also happens to be crucial to both parties’ hopes of winning the presidency, is facing one of the country’s most widespread, uncontrolled outbreaks right now.

By Saturday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Three of the four U.S. metro areas with the most recent cases per capita were in northeastern Wisconsin, with the Oshkosh area faring worst of all.

“I’m honestly not sure that anything we do right now will make a difference,” the mayor of Oshkosh, Lori Palmeri, said recently.

“It’s too late.”

Across Wisconsin, warning signs mounted with few glimmers of progress. More than 3,000 new cases were announced in the state in a single day for the first time. The state set single-day records for deaths and hospitalizations. Its test positivity rate reached 20%, a loud signal that the outbreak in the state has spun of control.

“We need to stop the spread,” said Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, “and that means people need to start staying home whenever possible.”

Colleges are driving tens of thousands of new cases.

When college students returned to campuses for the fall, the coronavirus followed.

University towns that had relatively few cases suddenly became hot spots. Clusters emerged in dorms, in fraternity and sorority houses, on sports teams. And in many places, in-person classes and parties and football games continued.

The New York Times has identified more than 130,000 cases at more than 1,300 U.S. colleges since the pandemic began, including tens of thousands of infections reported in September. Although many of the cases in college-age students are relatively mild, there have been tragic outcomes as well. A football player at California University of Pennsylvania and a sophomore at Appalachian State have died after contracting the virus.

Some schools, especially in small towns, have held infections to a minimum, by aggressively enforcement social distancing and by testing extensively. But new campus outbreaks continued to crop up this past week. Officials at Franklin College in Indiana said Friday that

classes would temporarily move online after 15 athletes tested positive. In Ohio, Defiance College shifted abruptly to online work this past week after about 10% of the people on its campus tested positive.

Richanne C. Mankey, Defiance’s president, said the college had been following local and federal health standards.

“Unfortunately,” Mankey said in a statement, “one breach can have significant consequences.”

Some of the worst trouble spots have calmed.

Misery in the Sun Belt has receded, helping to hold down the nation’s new case growth despite increases in the Midwest and West.

Summer outbreaks sent national case tallies soaring to more than 66,000 a day by late July. Arizona, California and Florida reported records, then broke them, day after day. In some cities, officials shut down bars again and demanded that residents wear masks.

Florida is now averaging about 2,300 new cases a day, roughly one-fifth of what it was seeing at its worst. In Arizona, where overtaxed hospital capacity was once a concern, intensive care beds are now plentiful, and daily case reports have dropped to about 500 on average, down from more than 3,600. New infections have also plunged in California, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina. Mississippi, Texas and Alabama have made significant progress since midsummer as well, although case numbers there remain persistently high.

America’s effort to stop the virus is a dizzying patchwork.

The nation’s effort to stop the coronavirus remains a constantly shifting amalgam of state and local rules. And that has meant starkly different realities from state to state, and from county to county.

More than six months since some governors first ordered businesses to close and residents to stay home, there remains no national consensus on what should be open. In some places, schools are closed, masks are required by law and indoor dining is sharply limited. In others, life appears to be almost back to normal: Fans fill bleachers for high school football, masks are just a suggestion and businesses have been wide open for months.

The battles over what approach is best are still being argued in the public, in state capitals and in the courts. On Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has been exceeding her authority for months by issuing executive orders aimed at slowing the virus’ spread. Hours before the ruling was announced, Whitmer had imposed new restrictions on businesses in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where new infections have surged in recent days.

“The governor had no right to extend the state of emergency over the Legislature’s objection,” Lee Chatfield, the Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, said on Twitter. “Our Constitution matters, and this was a big win for our democratic process.”

Supporters of President Trump praying for his health at a rally in Staten Island on Saturday.

10

Monday, October 5, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Poll finds voters in two crucial states repelled by Trump’s debate behavior

By NATE COHN

B

y overwhelming margins, voters in Pennsylvania and Florida were repelled by President Donald Trump’s conduct in the first general election debate, according to New York Times/Siena College surveys, as Joe Biden maintained a lead in the two largest battleground states.

Overall, Biden led by 7 percentage points, 49% to 42%, among likely voters in Pennsylvania. He led by a similar margin, 47-42, among likely voters in Florida.

The surveys began Wednesday, before the early Friday announcement that Trump had contracted the coronavirus. There was modest evidence of a shift in favor of Biden in interviews Friday, including in Arizona, where a Times/Siena survey is in progress, after controlling for the demographic and political characteristics of the respondents.

One day of interviews is not enough to evaluate the consequences of a major political development, and it may be several days or longer before even the initial effects of Trump’s diagnosis can be ascertained by pollsters.

The debates long loomed as one of the president’s best

opportunities to reshape the race in his favor. He has trailed in Pennsylvania and Florida from the outset of the campaign, and he does not have many credible paths to the presidency without winning at least one of the two — and probably both.

Instead, a mere 21% of likely voters across the two pivotal states said Trump won the debate Tuesday. It leaves the president at a significant and even daunting disadvantage with a month until Election Day. In follow-up interviews with half a dozen mainly Republican respondents, none said the president’s coronavirus diagnosis was affecting their voting decision. But some said the debate did affect the way they were thinking about the election, with all but one using the word “bully” to describe the president.

Voters disapproved of the president’s conduct in the debate by a margin of 65% to 25%. More than half of voters said they strongly disapproved of his conduct.

“I think that Donald Trump acted like a big bully on the stage,” said Cindy Von Waldner, 63, a lifelong Republican from Titusville, Florida. The president began to lose her support when the pandemic hit, and she said she did not believe he took it seriously enough or was transparent enough with the American

people. She said she would most likely vote for Biden, her first time casting a Democratic ballot.

The revulsion against Trump’s performance extended well into his reliable base. One-third of the president’s supporters said they disapproved of his performance, including 11% who did so strongly. A modest but potentially significant 8% of people who backed him in the survey said the debate made them less likely to support Trump’s candidacy.

The debate didn’t change the mind of Peralte Roseme, a 35-year-old independent in West Palm Beach, Florida, who voted for President Barack Obama and now plans to vote for Trump. Roseme, who is Black, said it felt “horrible” that he refused to directly condemn white supremacists and told one farright group to “stand by,” but he supported Trump in the survey.

“I don’t think he’s racist or anything like that,” he said of Trump. Instead, he said he thought Trump was thinking, “I just don’t want to lose votes. These are people in my corner; why would I put them down?”

In a direct comparison with a Times/Siena survey of Pennsylvania conducted before the debate, the president’s personal ratings slumped across the board. The share of voters who thought Trump had the temperament and personality to be president dropped by more than a net 10 percentage points.

The president and his allies had long argued that Biden would disqualify himself with a poor performance in the debates, creating an opening for the president to reassemble his winning coalition. But Pennsylvania voters were about as likely to say Biden had the mental sharpness to serve effectively as president as they were before the debate. More voters said Trump didn’t have the mental sharpness it takes than said the same of Biden.

While Trump failed to capitalize on a rare opportunity to claw back into the race, the findings suggest that the debate did not shift the contest decisively in Biden’s direction, either.

The results were close to the average of pre-debate surveys in both states, another reflection of the unusually stable polling results before the election. In Pennsylvania, the race was even somewhat closer than it was in a Times/Siena poll conducted before the debate, which found Biden ahead by 9 percentage points.

The lack of additional gains by Biden after the first debate might have been all but inevitable in a deeply polarized country.

But it might also suggest that Biden, like the president, failed to capitalize on opportunities of his own.

Overall, voters split roughly evenly between whether the debate made them more or less likely to support Biden or whether the debate made no difference at all. While most voters approved of the way he handled himself during the debate, his personal ratings nonetheless held steady or even declined compared with the survey taken before the debate in Pennsylvania.

After the debate, Pennsylvania voters were less likely to say that Biden was a strong leader, perhaps reflecting that the president tended to dominate the discussion — even if it was often to his disadvantage. Voters were also somewhat less likely to say Biden had the temperament to be an effective president.

Only 37% of likely voters thought Biden won the debate, with an even larger number — 42% — refusing to confer victory on either candidate.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

11

The pandemic depression is over. The pandemic recession has just begun.

The entrance Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on the day it reopened with capacity limits after closing due to restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic, July 11, 2020.

By NEIL IRWIN

T

here is a straightforward narrative of the economy in 2020: The world shut down in the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic, causing an economic collapse without modern precedent. A sharp recovery began in May as businesses reopened.

That is accurate as far as it goes. But the snapback effect over the summer has masked something more worrying: We’ve entered a longer, slower grind that puts the economy at risk for the indefinite future.

In the details of government employment data — covering hundreds of industries — can be seen a jobs crisis that penetrates deeply into the economy. Sectors that in theory shouldn’t be much affected by the pandemic at all are showing patterns akin to a severe recession.

Business news headlines are reflecting a drumbeat of layoffs normally seen in recessions. In the last few weeks alone, oil giant Shell said it was cutting 9,000 positions, with Disney eliminating 28,000 and defense giant Raytheon 15,000.

After shedding jobs in the spring, these sectors have brought workers back slowly, or not at all, through the summer. Some have continued cutting positions.

Employment at corporate headquarters — “manage-

ment of companies and enterprises,” in the official terminology — fell by 92,000 in March and April, with another 4,000 jobs lost since.

The 3.9% contraction in these jobs, typically white-collar professional positions, is considerably worse than the 2.4% drop during the 2008 recession.

A similar pattern is evident across dozens of industries, employing tens of millions of workers. These sectors did not endure a prolonged pandemic-induced shutdown or collapse in business. But they have shed jobs over the last half-year at rates consistent with a serious downturn.

The list is varied and includes real estate, automobile dealerships, advertising and heavy construction. It even includes truck transportation, a sector that functions as the economy’s circulatory system, given its crucial role enabling all sorts of commerce.

Overall, even if you exclude the sectors directly affected by the pandemic — air transportation; arts and entertainment; hotels; restaurants; and both private and public education — the number of jobs in America was 4.6% lower in September than in February. That is not far from the 5.3% contraction in total employment that took place during the entire 18 months of what is now known as the Great Recession, and around three times worse than the job losses in the 2001 recession.

Executives in these industries and analysts who study them describe two related phenomena. One is the mechanical effect of shutdowns in large swaths of the economy. But as is often the case in recessions, the pandemic has prompted many companies to accelerate shifts that were already underway.

That implies that even as public health restrictions loosen and as vaccines get closer, the overall economy is not poised for a quick snapback to pre-pandemic levels. Rather, scarring is taking place across a much wider range of sectors than the simple narrative of shutdown versus reopening suggests.

When the economy does get back to full health, many jobs will no longer exist, and American workers will need to find other types of work — and historically, those kinds of readjustments take time.

“We do expect there to be a new steady state, but not until 2023 or 2024,” said Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. In a new report, she estimates that 5 million people will find it difficult to get new work after the pandemic because their old jobs have disappeared or changed significantly. “I don’t think the severity of this downturn has been well understood yet given the bounce-back over the summer.”

Concentric Circles of Damage The list of things they make at Herron Printing & Graphics is, more accurately these days, the list of things they do not make.

Continues on page 12

A sharp economic recovery began in May as businesses reopened but the snapback effect over the summer has masked something more worrying: We’ve entered a longer, slower grind that puts the economy at risk for the indefinite future.

12

Monday, October 5, 2020

From page 11 Based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the company produces the branded tchotchkes and trinkets that companies give out at trade shows, which are currently not being held.

It prints menus for restaurants that now require customers to pull up menus on their phones; it makes the logo-bearing notepads found on the desks in hotel rooms that are closed indefinitely. Seven months in, business is still down 90% from pre-pandemic levels, said the owner, Randy Herron.

He has cut the staff to three employees from 12 and postponed purchases of equipment indefinitely. He is dipping into his savings to keep the business alive, counting on a day when a vaccine arrives and creates a surge of activity in travel-related industries — and, he hopes, commensurate demand for the goods he supplies.

Herron’s business is more exposed than most printers, because his client list is heavily tilted toward the hotel and restaurant industries, but the employment numbers for his industry tell the story. In September, printing industry jobs were 12.5% below February levels, similar to the 15% employment drop experienced in the 2008-2009 recession.

“People don’t realize that if one industry is hurting, it’s going to hurt several other industries that supply them and leave people without money to spend,” said Herron, who is also president of the National Print Owners Association.

Simply put, when you take a huge segment of the economy out of commission for months on end, the impact can’t be confined to the workers in those industries.

The suppliers of hotels and restaurants suffer revenue collapses, and so on in concentric circles outward. Herron, for example, said there was no chance he would be purchasing new printing equipment or software for the foreseeable future.

The damage to businesses’ investment spending is a key way that the economy could remain impaired even when public health concerns ebb.

A More Automated Future The trucking industry as a whole is still operating well below its February levels, with employment down 5% and trucking tonnage in August down 9% from a year ago. But even individual companies that have fared reasonably well may be disinclined to keep investing in new big rigs, after losses this year and an uncertain future.

At Jetco Delivery, a 400-employee trucking and logistics company in Houston, business has mostly recovered since the spring shutdown, with employment down only slightly, said Jetco’s chief executive, Brian Fielkow. To avoid losing good drivers, the company ran some routes at break-even prices, choosing to sacrifice profitability to avoid the difficulty of rehiring when conditions improve.

But investing in new trucks is a different matter.

“Our focus was to retain the best of the best drivers,” Fielkow said. “But one thing that hasn’t recovered is new truck orders. I think people are being appropriately conservative now with capital. What if the vaccine takes another year? There are too many what-ifs. You can’t gamble.”

When the pandemic hit in the spring, sales of cars and trucks collapsed. Many auto dealers had to close entirely because of public health directives, and those that

remained open saw paltry traffic. The good news for the sector is that over the summer, car and truck sales surged.

But despite the recovery, employment at automobile dealerships in September was 7% below pre-pandemic levels.

The reason: The pandemic squeezed years of change into a few months in how cars are sold, making for a less labor-intensive process that requires a smaller sales staff, said Rhett Ricart, the chief executive of Ricart Automotive Group in the Columbus area in Ohio, which includes Ford and other dealerships.

For years, car buyers have been shifting toward doing their research online and coming to the dealership only for a test drive. Prolonged haggling over price has given way to a crisp negotiation through emails, and customers can

The San Juan Daily Star generally apply for loans or get estimates of the value of a trade-in online.

“The pandemic accelerated everything,” said Ricart, who is also chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. “It has been a whole dramatic change in our total ecosystem here, as customers have been more motivated to go online.”

A few years ago, an average sales employee would sell 10 cars or trucks a month; now those numbers are moving to 12 or 13.

Avoiding Another ‘Jobless Recovery’ Ultimately, these shifts are essential if there is to be a dynamic, growing economy. And in every downturn, some sectors are hit harder than others. The Great Recession started with the collapse of a housing bubble, and the 2001 downturn started with the bust of dot-com companies.

But what makes a recession a recession is that the initial economic pain, whatever its source, transmits broadly to affect nearly every industry and drive millions of people not into newer and fast-growing sectors but onto the rolls of the unemployed.

The challenge for economic policymakers is not to prevent these structural adjustments. It is to ensure that, as public health concerns wane, there is strong enough demand for goods and services across the economy that even as some jobs disappear forever, new ones are being created and the pain is short-lived. The last two recessions were followed by “jobless recoveries” in which it took years for that process to play out.

The origins of the recession of 2020 may be different from those of the previous two downturns. But so far, the way it is spreading from company to company, and industry to industry, looks awfully similar.

MacKenzie Nicholson, who lost her job in June and has struggledto make ends meet even with unemployment benefits and her husband’s income, helps her son with his homework at their home in Nottingham, N.H., Sept.

30, 2020.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

13 Stocks

Wall Street closes sharply lower as Trump tests positive for coronavirus

U

.S. stocks closed lower on Friday as news that U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 put investors in a risk-off mood and added to mounting uncertainties surrounding the looming election.

Tech shares weighed heaviest on the indexes, but the blue-chip Dow’s losses were mitigated by gains in economically sensitive cyclical stocks.

Despite Friday’s sell-off, the S&P and the Nasdaq both gained 1.5% on the week, while the Dow ended the session 1.9% higher than last Friday’s close.

Trump tweeted late Thursday that he had contracted the coronavirus and would be placed under quarantine, compounding the unknowns for an already volatile market.

But stocks pared losses after the White House provided assurances that Trump, while experiencing mild symptoms, is not incapacitated.

“This injects further uncertainty into the outcome of the election,” said Roberto Perli, head of global policy research at Cornerstone Macro in Washington. “My read is that markets have demonstrated an aversion of late especially to uncertainty, not so much to one or the other candidate winning.”

Equities also got a brief boost after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that an agreement to provide another $25 billion in government assistance to the airline industry was “imminent.”

“Markets are also paying attention to the likelihood that another stimulus package will pass soon,” Perli added. “If that happens it could offset at least in part the uncertainty generated by the COVID news.”

House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion fiscal aid package on Thursday, but the bill is unlikely to be approved in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Partisan wrangling over the size and details of a new round of stimulus have stalled, over two months after emergency unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans.

Data released on Friday showed the recovery of the labor market could be losing steam. The U.S. economy added 661,000 jobs in September, fewer than expected and the slowest increase since the recovery began in May. Payrolls remain a long way from regaining the 22 million jobs lost since the initial shutdown, and the ranks of the permanently unemployed are swelling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 134.09 points, or 0.48%, to 27,682.81, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 32.36 points, or 0.96%, to 3,348.44 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 251.49 points, or 2.22%, to 11,075.02.

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14

Monday, October 5, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Despite crises, India fixes its gaze on a Bollywood tragedy

The actress Rhea Chakraborty, center, in Mumbai last month after being questioned by the authorities. Her boyfriend, the Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput, killed himself in June.

By SHALINI VENEUGOPAL BHAGAT

A

rising young movie star meets a tragic end. His family blames his death on his glamorous girlfriend. As she sits in jail, her friends proclaiming her innocence, police hint at a shadowy network of money laundering and illegal drugs deep within the world of show business.

India has been captivated by the story of Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old actor whose death has been ruled a suicide by the police in Mumbai. News outlets have focused on every twist in a tale that for many encapsulates Bollywood’s hypocrisy and elitism.

Three federal agencies are investigating whether his girlfriend, actress Rhea Chakraborty, gave him marijuana and was involved in Bollywood drug dealing and money laundering. Police are interviewing other Bollywood actresses. Chakraborty’s attorney said police had found no evidence to support their allegations.

The scandal has puzzled and infuriated social critics. With hard proof lacking, they say, the investigation and coverage appear to be fueled by institutional misogyny, a taboo against discussion of mental health issues and an increasingly partisan news media.

In fact, many of the media outlets sympathetic to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have focused on the story at the expense of bigger problems. India may soon surpass

the United States as the world leader in COVID-19 infections.

Its economy is in a tailspin. An increasingly bellicose China is testing its borders.

The investigation has become an election issue in Rajput’s home state of Bihar, which is controlled by an ally of Modi. The state’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has criticized police in Mumbai, which is controlled by a rival coalition, and he has promised Bihar voters, who go to the polls in the coming weeks, that he would uncover the truth behind Rajput’s death.

Still, even many outlets critical of Modi could not resist the story.

“I think it suits the government to use news television as a weapon of mass distraction,” said Vir Sanghvi, a journalist, talk-show host and media critic. Nevertheless, he added, high ratings “show that there is a great hunger for this kind of news among viewers.”

India is hardly alone in turning to celebrity news to distract from real-world problems. For many Indians, Rajput’s story also taps into a rising sense of anti-elitism. Many believe he was driven to suicide by a clubby culture of Bollywood insiders. Bihar is one of India’s poorer states, and they see Rajput as a rare outsider who broke into the industry but was held back from even greater stardom.

“The condition of the economy due to the coronavirus or other issues is in front of all of us,” said Jaya Mukherjee, a 28-year-old school counselor in Delhi who has followed the de-

velopments. “We are tense, but we can’t avoid injustice, which happened to Sushant.”

Others believe Rajput did not kill himself. Federal police, who have taken over the investigation from Mumbai authorities, have not ruled out other conclusions.

Chakraborty’s allies and experts on Indian society say the explanation for Rajput’s death is simpler than many people believe, but more difficult for them to talk about. Susan Walker, a psychologist in Mumbai and Rajput’s therapist, has said that he suffered from bipolar disorder and disputed that Chakraborty had anything to do with his death.

“In India, depression is a serious illness that has spread like an epidemic, but there is very little discussion about his illness,” said Ashis Nandy, a psychologist and social critic, referring to Rajput. “It has been artificially blown up to turn it into a political circus.”

Walker could not be reached for comment. Rajput’s family has complained to Indian medical officials that she violated patient confidentiality.

Rajput’s family declined to be interviewed. Vikas Singh, their lawyer, said they believed that he had been murdered and that police in Mumbai bungled the initial investigation. He also said they believed that Rajput had not suffered from mental health issues until he met Chakraborty.

Rajput, a versatile actor with an easy smile and chiseled chin, appeared in soap operas before winning a role in the 2013 dramatic film “Kai Po Che!” His performance as a gifted but troubled cricketer earned him a nomination for the Filmfare award, Bollywood’s most prestigious prize, for best male actor debut.

He then went on to star in films like “Shuddh Desi Romance,” “MS Dhoni” and “Kedarnath,” several of which were commercial and critical successes. He cultivated an image as a wholesome boy-next-door from Bihar.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment June 14.

Mumbai police listed the cause of death as asphyxia by hanging.

Attention turned to Chakraborty, who had been dating the actor for more than a year. Rajput’s father, K.K. Singh, filed a police complaint against Chakraborty, her parents and her brother alleging abetment to suicide, theft, cheating and wrongful confinement. In India, driving someone to suicide carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Chakraborty became the target of vicious attacks online, including rape and death threats, as well as on TV channels. The coverage prompted the Press Council of India, a self-regulating press watchdog, to warn the media not to “conduct its own parallel trial.”

“She was unable to work, to socialize, because she felt that she needed to be with him and look after him,” said one friend, Shibani Dandekar, a singer and actress. “The vicious media trial hasn’t even given her a chance to grieve for him.”

Chakraborty was arrested last month on suspicion of buying and supplying marijuana to Rajput as well as financing illicit traffic, a nonbailable offense.

Satish Maneshinde, Chakraborty’s lawyer, said that no drugs had been found in her possession and that the police lacked evidence. Police have 180 days to file charges.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

15

Contact tracing, key to reining in the virus, falls flat in the west

By BENJAMIN MUELLER

A

s the coronavirus stampeded across Europe and the United States this spring, governments made their depleted citizens a tantalizing promise: Soon, legions of disease detectives would hunt down anyone exposed to the virus, confining them to their homes and letting everyone else get on with their lives.

Nearly eight months on, as a web of new infections spreads across Europe and the United States, that promise has nearly evaporated.

Despite repeated vows by Western nations to develop “world-beating” testing and tracing operations, those systems have been undone by a failure of governments to support citizens through onerous quarantines or to draw out intimate details of their whereabouts. That has shattered the hope of pinpoint measures replacing lockdowns and undermined flagging confidence in governments.

Beholden to privacy rules, Western officials largely trusted people to hand over names to contact tracers. But that trust was not repaid, in large part because governments neglected services that were crucial to winning people’s cooperation: a fast and accurate testing system and guarantees that people would be housed, fed and paid while they isolated.

“Public health leaders fell in love with the idea of contact tracing as an important tactic — and it is — but that’d be like if you’re going into war and were just talking about the tanks,” said Brian Castrucci, president of the de Beaumont Foundation, a public health charity in Maryland.

Just as important, officials overlooked the impact of raging mistrust in government and a thicket of conspiracy theories about the virus’s spread. Fearful of plunging themselves or their friends into a painful period off work, infected patients have handed over a paltry number of contacts and often flouted self-isolation rules. Contact tracers are struggling to reach people who test positive and being rebuffed once they do.

In theory, countries were to build mass testing programs that would provide quick diagnoses. Then a group of tracers

would find others who had crossed paths with the infected person and tell them to stay home.

Elected officials presented the system as a critical bridge between lockdown and a vaccine, allowing them to contain small outbreaks without shutting down large parts of society. But construction of that bridge has been rocky, at best.

The West’s public health systems have not matched the success in parts of East Asia where the fear of epidemics became more ingrained after outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Following those outbreaks, places like Taiwan and South Korea built robust tracing systems and legal frameworks for limiting civil liberties during an epidemic.

Some contact tracers have used cellphone and credit card data to identify people who were potentially exposed.

But in Europe and the United States, which have largely relied on the public to provide information and follow quarantine rules voluntarily, the response has been spotty.

The West also ran up against the blunt fact that contact tracing, while useful in containing limited cases, has become overwhelmed by a new explosion of infections. In the past week, Europe has averaged about 60,000 new daily cases, while the United States is registering more than 40,000.

“The track and trace system is unrealistic and useless,” said Mahmoud Salamon, 27, a recent business school graduate on a visit to Brighton, on England’s south coast, where a testing center at a stadium was recently closed for the start of soccer season. He said he distrusted restaurants or stores with his personal information.

In Taiwan, an infected person names more than 15 contacts on average, and tracers often interview patients in person, trying to extract details about secret jobs or marital affairs. But the picture in Europe is far different, and the low level of cooperation has startled public health experts.

In Spain, where hospitals are struggling with a new rush of cases, contact tracers identify, on average, only three contacts for each known case. In France,

the figure has fallen below three.

Yet even those numbers are higher than in the United States. In New York City, each infected person hands over an average of 1.1 other names.

In England, people are neither handing over many contacts — about five, on average — nor following the rules.

In a survey of about 32,000 Britons, less than 1 in 5 who reported coronavirus symptoms said they had stayed home.

Of those alerted that they had been close to an infected person, only 1 in 10 said they had complied with orders to self-isolate.

“It suggests there is some degree of skepticism in the population to engagement,” said professor Christophe Fraser of the University of Oxford, an adviser to the government’s tracing program, referring to the proportion of known cases — a fifth — who handed over no other names.

Crucially, many Western governments have failed to cushion the financial and psychological blow of self-isolation by guaranteeing people tests or giving them enough money to weather two weeks without work.

With tests results lagging in many countries, contact tracers cannot get ahead of the virus. In Paris, people wait up to a week to get testing appointments and results. England recently recorded a

backlog of nearly 200,000 untested lab samples, making it impossible to track the virus through newly reopened schools.

Some elected leaders have blamed recalcitrant citizens for undermining contact tracing. Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently said the problem was that Britain was “a freedom-loving country.”

But the evidence for such claims is thin. Some countries have successfully tracked the virus despite people’s resistance, in large part by investing in chronically underfunded health departments, epidemiologists said.

In Germany, people said they would refuse to hand over names to contact tracers at double the rate of Britons, according to a poll by Imperial College London. Even so, the country has largely kept a small uptick in new infections under control.

Beyond Germany’s strong testing program, said Ralf Reintjes, a professor of epidemiology at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, the country also responded to the pandemic by pouring money into its roughly 400 local public health offices, which had long conducted contact tracing for communicable diseases.

England, by contrast, awarded a 108 million British pound ($138 million) contract to an outsourcing company, putting the fate of contact tracing in the hands of ill-trained call center workers.

Tracing is seen as a vital tool to avoid lockdowns and open economies, but that requires a robust system, widespread rapid testing and public trust.

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Monday, October 5, 2020

Floodgates in Venice work in first major test

Officials said that water levels inside the lagoon remained steady after the floodgates had been raised.

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

A

fter decades of bureaucratic delays, corruption and resistance from environmental groups, sea walls designed to defend Venice from “acqua alta,” or high water, went up Saturday, testing their ability to battle the city’s increasingly menacing floods.

By 10 a.m. all 78 floodgates barricading three inlets to the Venetian lagoon had been raised, and even when the tide reached as high as 4 feet, water levels inside the lagoon remained steady, officials said.

“There wasn’t even a puddle in St. Mark’s Square,” said Alvise Papa, the director of the Venice department that monitors high tides.

Had the flood barriers not been raised, about half the city’s streets would have been under water and visitors to St. Mark’s Square — which floods when the tide nears 3 feet — would have been wading in a foot and a half of water, he said.

“Everything dry here. Pride and joy,” tweeted Luigi Brugn-

aro, Venice’s newly reelected mayor.

Designed some four decades ago to help save Venice from flooding, the mobile barrier system was delayed by cost overruns, corruption, and opposition from environmental and conservation groups. The cost of the protection system tripled from initial estimates, and a 2014 bribery scandal led to the arrest of the then mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, and dozens of others, including politicians and businessmen involved in the project.

Orsoni and some of the others charged were acquitted.

“We found a difficult situation and slowly, slowly we’ve been able to resolve things,” said Giuseppe Fiengo, one of the commissioners who have overseen the project since 2014. “The important thing is that today, for the first time, with high water, Venice didn’t flood.”

The floodgates have been tested several times over the past summer but under less threatening weather conditions than those Saturday.

“This time we raised them to defend Venice,” said Alberto

Scotti, the engineer who designed the floodgates.

The system is not fully operational yet. Some infrastructure still needs to be completed, and workers haven’t been fully trained, so Saturday’s operation was technically a test.

“But it’s a test that had an objective, to guarantee the safety of the city, and it did,” Scotti said.

The construction firms building the system have until December 2021 to finish the work. When it is fully operational, the floodgates will be activated whenever the tide reaches 3 1/2 feet. Until then, the floodgates will be operated when the tide reaches 4 feet, as it did Saturday.

Though significant, Saturday’s tide levels are a far cry from the exceptionally high water levels seen last year — when it hit 6 feet — and the year before, endangering the city and prompting the mayor to declare a state of emergency.

Scotti said that the floodgates had been designed to defend the city “even in anomalous situations,” and even with high tides reaching nearly 10 feet.

While supporters of the project welcomed Saturday’s test as a major victory, some pointed out that the floodgates won’t fully solve the growing threat posed by climate change. Increasing sea levels and new wind patterns could force the floodgates to stay up so often that it could destroy ship traffic or turn the Venice lagoon into a swamp.

“With climate change, there’s a chance that the floodgates could be employed 150-180 days a year, becoming an almost fixed barrier and severing the lagoon’s relation to the sea,” said Cristiano Gasparetto, an architect and former provincial official who has long opposed the project.

“If the lagoon is cut off from the sea for long periods, it dies, because the natural exchange of waters stops, and all of its organic life risks decaying,” he said.

“If the lagoon dies, Venice dies,” he added. “It loses its characteristics.”

Gasparetto also doubts that the floodgates would work in extreme conditions with high waves and strong winds.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty. Today’s test says nothing when it comes to that,” he said.

Concerns also remain about the costs of maintaining the floodgates, which would be worn by saltwater.

Still, the functionality of the gates Saturday was greeted in Venice as progress.

“Today we had the certainty that it works,” Luca Zaia, the president of the Veneto region, which includes Venice, told reporters Saturday. “At least we know that it can help Venice.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

17

Arctic expedition’s dress code raises concerns about sexism in science

By DERRICK BRYSON TAYLOR

T

he dress-code policy of a prominent polar research institute in Germany has provoked criticism and outrage after it was recently made public, with some experts saying it underscored the problem of sexism in the sciences.

The policy, set by leaders aboard the Akademik Fedorov, a Russian icebreaker and research vessel, prohibited passengers from wearing “thermal underwear” because it was a “safety issue,” said Chelsea Harvey, a journalist who was on the ship and whose story about the policy raised awareness of it last month.

The science institute leading the expedition, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, denied in a statement that it had applied a dress code to a specific sex. It said that all of the participants on the trip were made aware of its policies at the beginning of the expedition and that the dress code was raised again because of “repeated violations” of it and other rules.

“Sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination, in any way, shape or form and regardless of when and where, are not tolerated by us or anyone acting on our behalf,” the statement said.

The Fedorov was contracted by the institute to carry extra supplies and instruments for the Polarstern, the institute’s flagship vessel, which last year embarked on the largest and most ambitious climate change research expedition ever in the Arctic. The Polarstern, which left Norway in September 2019 and has spent the past year drifting through the Arctic Ocean, is scheduled back in Bremerhaven, Germany, later this month.

About two weeks into a six-week mission, leaders aboard the Fedorov brought up a strict dress-code policy to journalists, students and scientists on board, Harvey said. The next day, she said, in a smaller meeting with other journalists, it was explained that, as a “safety issue,” leggings, very tightfitting clothing, short shorts and crop tops were not permitted.

The woman holding the meeting was “careful not to come right out and

connect the dots,” Harvey said. “She did not say, ‘We are concerned that the men on board this ship will harass you if you dress a certain way,’ but she pointed out repeatedly there were a lot of men aboard this ship.”

“The immediate reaction to our meeting was sort of shock and disbelief,” Harvey said, adding that there was widespread resentment and some alarm on the ship.

After the meetings, women on the ship changed the way they dressed, she said, choosing to wear jeans and other loosefitting clothing.

“The implication that many people took from those meetings was that women should change the way they dress in order to manage the behavior of men aboard the ship,” she said.

Harvey later discovered in her own reporting that there was an incident of sexual harassment on the ship, she said.

The institute said in its statement that some of its regulations prohibited wearing work or “sport clothing” in public areas. Such rules were intended to ensure that people adhered to hygiene and safety standards in public areas like the mess halls and the ship’s bridge, it said. The dress code was discussed again in the context of other rules, the institute said, adding that there was no connection between harassment and “repeated admonitions to adhere to the dress code.”

The institute added, “Women and men participate in our polar expeditions as equals and are equally supported in their work by the ship’s crews and aircraft crews that we employ.”

As Harvey’s account spread on social media, it drew outrage among scientists and science journalists, who said it fit with a broader, long-standing pattern of unequal treatment.

Although the inequities faced by women in science-related fields are widely recognized, there is not much research on the topic. A 2019 study on how gender bias affects women in science by the American Society for Microbiology found that, in 2015, women made up half of the college-educated U.S. workforce in science but held 28% of jobs in those occupations.

A 2014 survey of academic field experiences by PLOS One, a peer-reviewed open access journal, found that, of the more than 500 women who participated, 71% had been sexually harassed and 26% had been sexually assaulted. Female trainees were the primary targets, the survey said, and perpetrators were usually senior to them within a research team. Not many participants were aware of how to report such episodes, it said, and most who did report episodes were unsatisfied with the outcome.

The Polarstern, on an expedition in the Arctic, was briefly accompanied by the Akademik Fedorov, a research vessel whose officials drew backlash for a dress code policy.

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Monday, October 5, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Defiant, now infected: Trump is a morality tale

By FRANK BRUNI

I

t’s a measure of the cynicism that has infected American politics — and, yes, me — that among my initial reactions to the news that President Donald Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus was: Are we sure? Can we trust that? A man who so frequently and flamboyantly plays the victim, and who has been prophylactically compiling ways to explain away or dispute a projected loss to Joe Biden, is now being forced off the campaign trail, which will be a monster of an excuse.

I couldn’t help thinking that, and I soon realized that I was in robust company. On Twitter, on television and everywhere else I turned, doubters noted that Trump had once already suggested that the election be postponed: Was this a fresh tactic along those lines? He had just turned in a repellent performance in the first presidential debate: Was he wriggling out of the second and third debates?

At another time, under a different president, these questions would be callous. At this time, under this president, they were sadly and perfectly understandable.

I couldn’t help thinking, too, about karma, and I immediately felt petty for that. I don’t wish illness upon Trump. I hope he has a prompt and full recovery. But it’s important to note that he has spent much of the past eight months, during which more than 200,000 Americans died of causes related to the coronavirus, downplaying the pandemic, flinging out false reassurances and refusing to abide by the very public health guidelines that officials in his own government were fervently promoting.

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President Donald Trump waves while departing from a campaign event in Duluth, Minn., Sept. 30, 2020.

He didn’t wear a mask. He encouraged large gatherings — including his big convention speech and, earlier, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally that Herman Cain attended before falling sick with the coronavirus and dying — at which hundreds and even thousands of people, many without any facial covering, packed in tight. At the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, he mocked Biden for so often wearing a mask, suggesting that it was a sign of ... what? Timidity? Weakness? Voguishness? Moral vanity?

With Trump it can be hard to know, and it’s also hard to know whether his own defiance was a kind of wishful thinking about the coronavirus’s true prevalence, a reflection of his belief in his own physical invincibility, some combination of the two or none of the above.

But it’s easy to identify the morals of this story.

The most obvious is that the coronavirus has not gone away and there is no guarantee, contrary to the president’s sunny prophecies, that it’s going away anytime soon, certainly not if we’re cavalier about it.

Which brings up another moral, also obvious but apparently necessary to articulate: There is real risk in such cavalierness. The president is now the embodiment of that. The first lady, too. Also Hope Hicks, one of his closest advisers, and who knows how many others who have been around him. From the start, there has been a culture of aloofness, indifference and blasé behavior at the White House when it comes to the coronavirus.

That culture was on flabbergasting display during those evening briefings the president used to do, the ones devoted primarily to congratulating himself and his administration on their fantabulous job battling the pandemic. They battled it all the way to America’s exceptional status as the world leader in recorded cases of, and deaths associated with, the coronavirus.

That culture was evident in the rallies that the president arranged and insisted on doing over recent weeks. That culture persisted on Thursday, when, according to an article by Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman in The Times, Kayleigh McEnany, maskless, held a briefing with reporters after Hicks’ infection with the virus was confirmed and after McEnany was on a plane with her and exposed to her.

I read that and I winced and I gasped — and then wonde-

red why in the world I was wincing and gasping when it was par for the course. It was business as usual. It was an explanation for why we are where we are as a country and why Trump is where he is as a president and a patient.

Trump had been around Hicks in the days leading up to her diagnosis and, like McEnany, mingled with other people after it.

He flew to his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon for a fundraising event, where, according to The Times, he “addressed hundreds of supporters both outdoors and indoors.” He did not wear a mask.

Even some White House officials were reportedly baffled and bothered by that, both retrospectively and in real time. They privately marveled at the denialism of it all.

But then the reality-show president has long been determined to live outside reality and was seemingly convinced that he could. I was half convinced myself. He jettisoned truth without consequences. He sailed above the laws of cause and effect when it came to paying taxes, paying off Stormy Daniels, strongarming the president of Ukraine, playing footsie with the president of Russia and so much more.

But reality is reality. Truth is truth. Science is science, and it alerted all of us — including the president — to the danger of the coronavirus, how it spreads and what we can and should do to protect ourselves and others. There’s no getting around those facts.

There’s also no getting around the centrality of the coronavirus to this presidency and this election. Trump had tried assiduously to push it to the margins, but it was never going to stay there. Now it’s inside him.

It is time, at long last, to learn. To be more conscious and conscientious. To be more considerate. Apparently no one in Trump’s circle reached out, before the news became public, to tell the Biden camp about the president’s positive coronavirus test, even though Biden had shared a debate stage with the president for more than 90 minutes. No one directly informed Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House. This is also the state of America.

And it’s not right.

We can’t erase the mistakes made since the coronavirus dawned, but we can correct them going forward. The way to treat Trump’s diagnosis is as a turning point and a new start. This is when we woke up.

The presidency and the president are always national mirrors, in many different ways at once, and that’s another moral.

Trump has shown America its resentments. He has modeled its rage. Now he personifies its recklessness.

Late Friday, administration officials were still deliberating how and when he might address Americans about his condition, a decision no doubt contingent on his condition. He was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for tests. People close to him told reporters that he had a low-grade fever, nasal congestion and a cough.

When he does talk about what he’s going through, I hope he reflects on what the entire country has been through, and on what lies ahead. I hope he does it in a civic-minded way, recognizing that his own struggle is part of a much larger picture.

Because I don’t want us to be cynical, no matter how much cause we’ve been given. I want us to be better.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

19

Asppro repudia que funcionarios sigan coartando libertad de expresión de empleados que dan datos a periodistas Por THE STAR

L

a Asociación de Periodistas de Puerto Rico (Asppro) repudió este domingo cualquier intento o acción de los jefes de agencias gubernamentales de coartar el derecho a la libertad de expresión de los empleados que ofrecen información a los periodistas.

Este viernes, el sindicato que representa a los empleados correccionales dio a conocer que el secretario del Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación, Eduardo Rivera Juanatey -nominado a juez Superior- inició un proceso administrativo para suspender de empleo y sueldo a la oficial correccional Jessica Martínez por hacer expresiones a los medios de comunicación en calidad de presidenta de la Alianza Correccional Unida (ACU), unión que representa a los oficiales de esa agencia, indicó la Asppro en declaraciones escritas.

La carta de intención de suspensión de empleo es firmada por el funcionario y hace referencia a las expresiones que hiciera la líder sindical en dos entrevistas por supuestamente “comprometer la seguridad institucional” y por “hacer expresiones desleales a la agencia” brindando información supuestamente incorrecta sobre la manera en que Corrección manejaba la emergencia del COVID-19 “sin estar autorizadas por la

Secretario del Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación y nominado a juez Superior, Eduardo Rivera Juanatey Oficina de Prensa a nivel Central ni por el secretario”.

“Advinimos en conocimiento de la intención de radicar cargos contra Martínez. Es totalmente inaceptable y repudiable que exista todavía la práctica de acallar a los empleados públicos que ofrecen información pertinente para el pueblo. Conversé con los periodistas y leí los artículos y en nada se sostienen las alegaciones del funcionario, que por cierto resulta muy peligroso para la democracia que un jefe de agencia intente radicar cargos para intimidar a una empleada. Esto es un ataque directo

al derecho a la libertad de expresión”, sostuvo Damaris Suárez, presidenta de la Asppro.

Recordó que no es el único funcionario que ha impedido la libertad de expresión de los empleados, una situación que la Asppro ha denunciado y rechazado en el pasado.

“Imponer sanciones de cualquier tipo, tener reglamentos que limiten de cualquier forma la libertad de expresión de los empleados, no solo es ilegal, sino que mantiene la cultura de opacidad en el Gobierno impidiendo que los ciudadanos tengan acceso a información que de su faz es pública como es la forma en que se utilizan los recursos gubernamentales”, añadió Suárez.

De igual forma, la Asppro le reiteró a todos los empleados públicos y a los ciudadanos que nuestra responsabilidad ética es proteger nuestras fuentes en todo momento, por lo que respetamos a aquellos que prefieren acercarse de forma confidencial a ofrecer información.

“Nadie debe tener que esconderse para delatar situaciones que afectan a tantos. Pero nuestro compromiso es cumplir con lo que decidan las fuentes, sea de forma confidencial o para el récord. A ellos nos debemos. Pero el gobierno tiene que poner un alto a esta práctica nefasta para los empleados públicos y para el país”, concluyó Suárez.

Toa Baja logra el traspaso de instalación de reciclaje y composta sin usar construida hace 23 años Por THE STAR

E

l alcalde de Toa Baja, Betito Márquez García, anunció el domingo en la tarde que tras numerosas e intensas gestiones, el municipio logró el traspaso de la administración de la Planta de Reciclaje y Composta del barrio Campanillas.

“La planta se construyó en el año 1997 a un costo de 13.5 millones de dólares, pero nunca fue utilizada para su propósito original y el área para la recuperación de materiales que tendría la instalación no se completó, por lo que se deterioró rápidamente”, dijo Márquez García en declaraciones escritas.

Márquez García dijo que al llegar a la administración municipal en el 2017 comenzó las gestiones para el traspaso y el exgobernador Ricardo Rosselló firmó el mismo el 2 de octubre de 2018, pero el trámite en ese entonces no se concretó.

Tras el acuerdo alcanzado con con el secretario del Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA), Rafael A. Machargo Maldonado, el Alcalde reiteró que busca posicionar a Toa Baja como el Centro Regional de Reciclaje y Composta del Norte.

“Esto representa un gran avance para nuestro pueblo,

que tendrá una herramienta adicional para fomentar una economía sustentable. Como parte de nuestra estrategia continuamente gestionamos la creación de nuevas oportunidades de desarrollo socieconómico autosostenible, y sin duda damos hoy paso de vanguardia no solo para Toa Baja sino para el resto del país”, sostuvo Márquez García.

“Los recursos siempre han estado ahí, pero hacía falta visión y voluntad. Agradezco al secretario por su gestión, proactividad y apertura para trabajar juntos en pro de alternativas que beneficien a nuestras comunidades en tiempos de grandes retos como el que vivimos”, añadió el alcalde.

Según se explicó, la corta vida útil de los vertederos, la baja tasa de reciclaje en la Isla y la difícil situación fiscal inciden en ser creativos en la búsqueda de alternativas factibles como la creación de cooperativas de trabajo en el área de reciclaje y composta.

Con una amplia extensión territorial, que genera gran cantidad de material vegetativo, el Municipio requería de un lugar para el depósito, trituración y disposición de material.

“Nos complace que el Municipio de Toa Baja estará administrando la Planta de Reciclaje y Composta, y de esta manera aportar al manejo de desperdicios y motivar

el desarrollo de planes de composta que redundarán en beneficio para los recursos naturales”, expresó por su parte el titular del DRNA. Márquez García también recordó que continuará gestionando el traspaso de la administración del Balneario Punta Salinas y del Parque Nacional Isla de Cabras, principalmente en momentos en que está próxima a comenzar la construcción del proyecto de extensión del Paseo Lineal de Bayamón a la costa toabajeña, que forma parte del amplio plan de redesarrollo socioeconómico y turístico de la zona.

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Monday, October 5, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Darren Star finds sex in another city with ‘Emily in Paris’

By ALEXIS SOLOSKI

T

he first orgasm arrives about halfway through the pilot episode of “Emily in Paris,” the new Darren Star series that came to Netflix on Friday. Emily (Lily Collins), a Midwestern marketing whiz newly arrived in France, enters a boulangerie.

After misgendering a chocolate croissant — it’s “un,” not “une” — she buys it and bites in.

“Oh, my God,” she says as her face, framed in close-up above a banana-yellow slip dress, dissolves in ecstasy.

Of course it does. Over the last three decades, Star, a writer and producer who cut his perfect teeth on the coed ensemble dramas “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place” before creating “Sex and the City” and “Younger,” has specialized in letting viewers, especially female viewers, live vicariously. His characters fulfill one fantasy after another — culinary, sartorial, erotic. Though surrounded by libertines, Emily skews more sexually conservative than some recent Star heroines, but she still manages to knock ankle boots with three men in 10 episodes.

Pastry is just the beginning.

In early September, Star joined a Zoom call from his home in Los Angeles, to which he had recently returned after riding out most of the pandemic in the Hamptons. (Arguably, another fantasy.)

The living room, trimly decorated in white and gray, looked roomy.

“Roomy and smoky,” he said. (Less aspirational for some.)

I had wanted to talk to Star about his escapist visions of urban female experience. That you could pursue a wildly varied dating life while always having time for brunch with your girlfriends (“Sex and the City”); that you could somehow redo your adulthood (“Younger”); that you could land a dream job in a dream city with a dream wardrobe to match (“Emily in Paris”).

In the third episode, Emily educates her colleagues on the male gaze, but Star seems to have subsumed his own male gaze, making women the heroines of their own appealing, unlikely stories.

“They live their lives according to what drives them, not necessarily what other people think should drive them as women,” Collins said of Star’s female characters during a telephone interview.

But over the course of an hourlong conversation, in which Star remained charming and poised, if rarely introspective, I began to think I had him all wrong. (Or just possibly that Star had his own shows all wrong?)

He doesn’t think he has any particular knack

Darren Star tried to present Paris in a manner “that would encourage people to fall in love with the city in a way that I have,” he said. for writing women or that his women are really any different from his men. And the visual pleasure of the lavish costumes, apartments and restaurants his shows prefer? Those are just the icing on the gâteau, Star said. I’d always thought his shows were pretty much all icing. He disagrees.

When asked about writing women, Star downplayed his flair. “I like to say, I think of women as people, not as women,” he said. He writes about women he said, because the genre he works in — romantic comedy — demands it. (His one maledominated show, “The Street,” was a flop.)

Besides, women are useful to a storyteller.

“They express their emotions. They talk. They’re verbal. They’re funny,” he said. “I can identify with their feelings.” (And let’s be honest, who’s more fun to dress?) “But I don’t try to think how would a woman think about it versus how does a man think about it,” he said.

That could endorse a certain criticism that

dogged “Sex and the City,” that its roundheeled main characters weren’t really women, but gay men in (very good) disguise. Star, who is gay, considers this criticism unfair.

“I think critics wanted to say these aren’t women,” he said. “These aren’t women we know; we don’t want women to be this way.” It also, he added, demeans gay men, stereotyping them as sexobsessed.

Still, his heroines’ lives often refract his own daydreams. “I feel like every show I do has to have a reason for me, like I have to connect to what it is about, what I’m writing about,” he said.

Take “Emily in Paris.” Star studied French through college and used to imagine living in Paris.

A few years ago, he went for it, renting an apartment in the Marais, trying out his mediocre language skills. “I know how French people look at me; when they look at Americans, I can see some of their prejudices, and I can see some of my prejudices,” he said. So it didn’t take much effort to put himself in Emily’s shoes, no matter how high heeled.

Star had the whole show shot in France, using majority French actors and an exclusively French crew. “It was the most attractive crew I’ve ever worked with,” he said. Luckily, he didn’t have to try out his schoolboy French — they all spoke English.

Together, they created a vision of a glacéed Paris, the city as a matchy-matchy assortment of Ladurée macarons. Nothing is boring, nowhere ugly, no person or outfit unbeautiful.

He regards the dresses, to-die-for apartments and chic restaurants as containers for scenes, televisual Limoges boxes. “That’s the surface wrapping,” he said. The present underneath? Characters with heart and soul, he said. “Or they’re interesting or they’re crazy, in the case of ‘Melrose Place.’

“Ultimately it’s all about the characters. The rest is entertainment,” he said. “The fantasy always has some connection to something that’s real.”

“Emily in Paris” is informed partly by Star’s own experience living in the city.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

21

When Latinos saw themselves onscreen: ‘It was exhilarating’

By CARLOS AGUILAR

T

he experiences of American-born or -raised Latinos remain largely overlooked in entertainment — or conflated with border-crossing stories, and those set in Latin America. So we assembled a list of 20 essential films released since the year 2000 that focus on characters with an American identity and Latino heritage.

Here, some of the Latino actors and filmmakers whose work appears on the list share when they first felt seen on-screen.

Victor Rasuk, 36, actor: “The reason I even started acting is because when I was in middle school, New York City was giving out comp tickets for public city schools to go see Broadway shows and I was able to see John Leguizamo’s one-man show called ‘Freak.’ I’d never seen anybody talk about Latinos or Latino families the way he did.”

Benjamin Bratt, 56, actor: “Sadly, it never dawned on me as a kid that being represented on film was even possible. It wasn’t until I was 9 or 10 years old, when I first saw Bruce Lee in ‘Enter the Dragon’ — a man of color as powerful as any superhero — that I registered you didn’t have to be white to play the hero.”

America Ferrera, 36, actress: “I watched ‘Stand and Deliver’ in my seventh-grade English class. It was the first time I saw a movie full of young American Latino faces and it was exhilarating.”

Robert Rodriguez, 52, director: “One of my teachers, we called him ‘Cool Raúl,’ came in and he had this briefcase and he pulled out a videotape that he handled like it was a piece of gold. It was ‘Zoot Suit.’ It was more L.A. Chicano and we were in Texas, but still you felt like those were your people.”

Raul Castillo, 43, actor: “I have a distinct memory of watching ‘La Bamba’ at the Border Theater in Mission, Texas, when I was a little kid and being tickled by characters that looked and sounded like the people in my life.

I didn’t know movies could do that. I think the whole South Texas audience was feeling it because people were talking back to the screen. ‘No llores, cabrón,’ could be heard at full voice when Bob is crying on the bridge at the end of the movie after Ritchie’s death.”

Michelle Rodriguez, 42, actress: “‘Selena’ was an amazing movie. I remember jumping up and down when it got nominated. I didn’t necessarily relate so much to Rosie Perez of it all because I grew up in Texas. I related a lot more to Selena — that story is so powerful.”

Cristina Ibarra, 48, documentary filmmaker: “I’m not from the barrio, I’m not macho and I’ve never worn a zoot suit, but Edward James Olmos’s iconic pachuco, in Luis Valdez’s boundary-crossing movie adaptation of his play ‘Zoot Suit,’ was the first time I saw my own inner conflict between my American and Mexican selves represented on-screen.”

Deborah Esquenazi, 43, documentary filmmaker: “The films of Fellini, particularly ‘Amarcord,’ really hit close for me. Seeing the messiness and hyperrealism of

Sixteen Latino actors and filmmakers respond to the question of when they first felt seen, with answers as varied as (clockwise from top left) “Selena,” “Enter the Dragon,” “West Side Story” and “Amarcord.” loud, boisterous families felt like I was watching a documentary. My parents are Cuban and I grew up on a culde-sac, which included my aunts and abuela, so life always felt full and loud and musical in my younger days.”

Moctesuma Esparza, 71, producer: “‘Salt of the Earth’ was a movie that portrayed American Latino life, specifically Chicano life in the ’50s. Then there was Luis Valdez’s ‘I Am Joaquin,’ which I saw at the offices of La Raza newspaper in the basement of the Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights [in Los Angeles]. It was deeply moving and ultimately an inspiration for my career as a filmmaker.”

Aurora Guerrero, 49, director: “The first time I saw queer, young, U.S. Latinx representation was when Mary Guzman released her indie San Francisco-based film, ‘Desi’s Looking for a New Girl.’ It was original in its storytelling approach, plus I knew half the people in front of and behind the scenes.”

Cristina Costantini, 31, documentary filmmaker: “I fell in love with ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding,’ as did so many of my friends who are the children of immigrants.

The film celebrates this universal experience we’ve all had of being a bridge between two cultures that constantly judge and misunderstand one another.”

Peter Bratt, 57, director: “I was in college, majoring in political science, when I went to this little art-house theater to see a film by a then unknown filmmaker, Spike Lee: ‘She’s Gotta Have It.’ To see nothing but beautiful

Black faces blew me away — and changed my life. It gave me permission to imagine that I, too, could make movies where white folks were not the center of the universe.”

Kareem Tabsch, 40, documentary filmmaker: “The PBS television show ‘Que Pasa, USA?’ was the first time I could see my experience reflected on-screen. Three generations of a Cuban-American family are living under one roof in Miami — I still watch it on occasion and nod my head in recognition amid the laughs.”

Emily Rios, 31, actress: “I think the first time I saw a representation of my culture was in ‘Selena.’ Particularly the part where Edward James Olmos talks about the difficulty of being Mexican American, saying, ‘We’ve got to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans. … It’s exhausting.’”

Luna Lauren Velez, 55, actress: “As an Afro-Latina, the first time I really felt someone on-screen reminded me of my family was with Rosie Perez. It was so wonderful and exhilarating to see a Nuyorican being in great films.

She paved the way for a lot of other Latinas who didn’t fit the model of what Hollywood thought a Latina was.”

Cecilia Aldarondo, 40, documentary filmmaker: “I identified most with ‘West Side Story’ growing up, a film that had most Puerto Ricans played by actors in brownface — the incomparable Rita Moreno notwithstanding.

In retrospect, I realize I’m still waiting for nuanced representations I can identify with.”

22

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

Identify the different symptoms of the flu and COVID-19

By DONALD G. McNEIL JR.

A

s influenza season approaches, some Americans, and especially parents, are worried that if they or their children should become ill, it may not be easy to know which disease they have — the flu or COVID-19.

They are correct. Most symptoms of the two diseases are so similar that short of a test — or two or three tests — it won’t be possible to know for sure. But there are some clues.

(And it is possible to have both infections at the same time; some patients in China this year were found to have both.)

But first: Get a flu shot.

It is not yet clear whether the United States will have much of a flu season this year. Flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere, which is often predictive of activity in the U.S., was 99% below normal during its winter. Epidemiologists believe that is because Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Chileans and other residents of the southern half of the globe were wearing masks, staying several feet apart and washing their hands to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. Those same precautions also prevent flu transmission.

Because there are very few flights between the Southern Hemisphere and the U.S. right now, there may be no opportunity for the usual four seasonal influenza strains to “reseed” themselves among Americans. If they do, masks and social distancing should limit their spread.

Nonetheless, experts urge all Americans to get flu shots. Before it ended abruptly during lockdown, last year’s flu season was on track to be one of the worst in recent memory.

The number of children who died was equal to that in the 2017-18 season, which was the worst since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking flu-season deaths in 1976.

If you catch the flu, experts say, having had the shot makes it much less likely that you will be hospitalized or die.

Because of the fears of a “twindemic,” flu shots were made in large numbers this year and distributed to pharmacies and doctor’s offices beginning in August, which is early.

As of late last month, some doctors reported difficulty ordering as many as they want, but

pharmacy chains say they are getting steady supplies. To find a flu shot, try vaccinefinder. org or one of the chain pharmacy websites, such as CVS.com/immunizations/flu.

Assessing the difference between a cold and the flu.

There are at least 100 viruses that can cause the common cold, but only four that cause seasonal flu. Many people who catch colds assume they have the flu, but experts consistently say the same thing about how to tell the difference: “Flu makes you feel as if you were hit by a truck.” The fever, aches and headaches of a bad case of influenza are generally worse than a case of respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus or other common cold viruses.

Everyone knows the symptoms of the flu: fever, headaches, body aches, sore throat, runny nose, stuffed sinuses, coughing and sneezing — and, for infants, ear infections.

Some victims, especially children, get diarrhea or vomiting too.

In severe cases, the most common complication is pneumonia. The typical signs of a flu pneumonia are shortness of breath, especially when you exert yourself, and unusually rapid breathing — doctors typically look for that in children — and sometimes pain in the chest or back.

Identifying COVID-19 by its flulike and ‘wacky’ symptoms.

Knowing whether you have COVID-19 is much more complicated because there are so many different — and sometimes pretty wacky — symptoms, many of which echo those of the flu.

The most common symptoms are high fever, sometimes with chills, a dry cough and fatigue.

The one sign that really distinguishes the two infections is that many COVID-19 victims suddenly lose their sense of smell — not because they have a stuffy nose but because they don’t register even strong odors like onions or coffee. Not all virus victims get anosmia, the formal name for loss of smell, but one study found that 87% did.

Less common symptoms include a sore throat, congestion, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain and feeling somewhat out of breath when exerting yourself. Some victims have red or itchy eyes, and some get redness or blisters on their fingers or toes —

With fears of a “twindemic” in the United States this fall, here’s a guide to understanding what’s making you feel terrible. so-called COVID toes, which resemble chilblains.

More dangerous symptoms — which mean you should get immediate medical attention — include serious breathing difficulty; pain or pressure in the chest; blue lips or blue face; confusion or incoherent answers to simple questions; and collapsing or losing consciousness.

Adding to the disease’s fearsome nature is that it can cause blood clots that lead to heart damage, brain damage and lung damage. And even some cases that appear mild or asymptomatic create signs of what doctors believe may be long-lasting heart damage.

Another unusual aspect of COVID is that people sometimes develop pneumonia without realizing how sick they are. Doctors are unsure why; one theory is that the air sacs in the lungs are damaged in a way that does not cause the buildup of carbon dioxide, which creates that “desperate for air” feeling.

Many doctors recommend buying a pulse oximeter, a fingertip device that measures oxygen levels in the blood. Multiple readings below 92% should trigger a call to a doctor. The earlier pneumonia is caught, the

better the outcome.

Understand that COVID-19 symptoms in children are similar to those in adults.

Children generally get through COVID-19 with few problems; for the youngest ages, it is thought to be less dangerous than the flu.

Children have the same constellation of symptoms that adults do, although parents may be more likely to notice it when their youngsters have runny noses, red eyes and the exhausted crankiness that comes from just feeling terrible.

Dangerous symptoms include difficulty breathing, bluish lips, confusion or inability to wake up, and intense abdominal pains or inability to keep down any liquids. If there are any signs of these, it is important to get a child to a doctor or hospital quickly.

In very rare cases, children can get multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which is thought to be caused by an overactive immune response and can cause shock and organ failure.

But doctors emphasize that it is rare and that parents should realize it is highly unlikely their sick child has it.

The San Juan Daily Star LEGAL NOTICE COMMONWEAL TH OF MASSACHUSETTS, BRISTOL, SS. SUPERIOR COURT.

COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados CIVIL NÚM.: MZ2019CV02072.

SALÓN: SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

Monday, October 5, 2020 CSMC 2015-PR 1 Trust Mortgagc-Backed Notes, Series 2015-PRl Parte Demandante Vs.

LA SUCESION DE AIDA AURORA ORTIZ CHEVERES T/C/C AIDA ONE HUNDRED A. ORTIZ CHEVERES THOUSAND DOLLARS Y AIDA AURORA ORTIZ ($100,000.00) DOCKET NO. 2073CV00015 CHEVRES compuesta ORDER OF NOTICE BY PUpor Adrian Edgardo A) FULANA DE BLICATION Ortiz Chevres y Carlos TAL POR SÍ Y EN To: All interested Ortiz Chevrcs; John Doe persons who own or may REPRESENTACIÓN DE y Richard Roe como LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL have an interest in the miembros desconocidos; DE GANANCIALES defendant monies seized ADMINISTRACIÓN by the Massachusetts COMPUESTA POR ÉSTA Y PARA EL SUSTENTO DE ALEXY PEÑA IRIZARRY State Police on June MENORES, Y CENTRO DE 4, 2019, in Dartmouth, POR LA PRESENTE: Se le RECAUDACIÓN SOBRE notifica que contra usted se ha Massachusetts. presentado la Demanda sobre INGRESOS MUNICIPALES GREETINGS: WHEREAS a ciCOMMONWEALTH v.

Cobro de Dinero de la cual se acompaña copia. Por la presente se le emplaza a usted y se le requiere para que dentro del término de TREINTA (30) días desde la fecha de la Publicación por Edicto de este Emplazamiento presente su contestación a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual . puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, P.O. Box 1210, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-1210 y notifique a la LCDA. GINA H. FERRER MEDINA, personalmente al Condominio Las Nereidas, Local 1-B, Calle Méndez Vigo esquina Amador Ramírez Silva, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00680; o por correo al Apartado 2342, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 006812342, Teléfonos: (787) 8329620 y (845) 345-3985, Abogada de la parte demandante, apercibiéndose que en caso de no hacerlo así podrá dictarse Sentencia en Rebeldía en contra suya, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal hoy 03 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA NORMA G SANTANA IRIZARRY, SELEGAL NOTICE CRETARIA REGIONAL. Por: ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO F/ BETSY SANTIAGO GONZADE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL LEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRILEGAL NOTICE BUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO CIA SALA DE MAYAGUEZ. BANCO POPULAR DE DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA PUERTO RICO SALA DE BAYAMÓN. Demandante Vs. vil action has been filed against the defendant monies in our Superior Court by and through Thomas M. Quinn, III, District Attomey for the Bristol District, and counsel for the Plaintiff, Michael G. Scott, Assistant District Attomey, 218 South Main Street, Fall River MA 02721.

WE COMMAND YOU if you intend to intervene and assert a claim to the defendant monies, that on or before OCTOBER 14 • 2020 or within such further time as the law allows you do cause your written pleadings to be filed in the Of:fice ofthe Clerk of Court at New Bedford in the County of Bristol, in said Commonwealth. Hereof fail not, at your peril, as otherwise said suit may be adjudged and orders entered in your absence. It appearing to this Court that no personal service of the Complaint has been made on all potential interested parties, it is ORDERED that notice of this suit be given by publishing this Order ofNotice in (1) Toe Herald News ofFall River MA; and (2) Toe San Juan Daily Star of Caguas, Puerto Rico once a week for three consecutive weeks, the last publication to be at least 20 days before said return date of OCTOBER 14, 2020. By the Court, ( YESSAYAN, . J.) Jennifer L. Sullivan, Assistant Clerk - Magistrate.

Dated: AUGUST 20, 2020 ****

ALEXY PEÑA IRIZARRY, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES @

WILMINGTON SA VINGS FUND SOCIETY FSB d/b/a Christiana Trust, as indenture Trustee, for the

Parte Demandada CIVIL NUM. BY2020CV00679.

SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO Y NOTIFICACION DE INTERPELACION POR EDICTO. Estados Unidos de América Presidente de los Estados Unidos de América Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico.

A: CARLOS ORTIZ CHEVRES por sí y como heredero de la Sucesión de Aida Aurora Ortiz Chevres tic/e Aida A. Ortiz Chevres y Aida Aurora Ortiz Chevres

POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto.

Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unircd.ramajudicial.pr/’sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda. Marjaliisa Colón Villanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732; Teléfono: 787-8434168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de agosto 2019, hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes.

Además, adeuda a la parte de-

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

mandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $732,261.80 de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma al 3.750% anual, así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo la suma estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un A VISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: RÚSTICA: Parcela de terreno identificado como el solar número dos (2) del bloque A de la Urbanización Dorado Reef, que radica en el barrio Higuillar del término municipal de Dorado, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cuatrocientos veinticinco punto noventa y seis (425.96) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE , en cuarenta y cuatro punto quince (44.15) metros con el solar número tres guion A (3-A) y green área; por el Sur, en treinta y cuatro punto treinta y ocho (34.38) metros con el solar número uno guion a (1-A); por le ESTE, en una distancia en arco de siete punto noventa y siete (7.97) metros, más otra distancia en arco de cinco punto treinta y tres (5.33) metros , más dos punto cuarenta y tres (2.43) metros con la Calle Número tres (3) y por el OESTE, en diez punto treinta y nueve ( 10.39) metros con green área. En dicho solar enclava una casa de concreto diseñada para una sola familia.

Inscrita al folio ochenta y uno (81) del tomo dos cientos ocho (208) de Dorado, finca número nueve mil setecientos noventa y cuatro (9,794). Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón Sección Cuarta (4ta). SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda , sin más citarle ni oírle. Además, como miembro de la Sucesión de Aida Aurora Ortiz Chevres t/c/c Aida A. Ortiz Chevres y Aida Aurora Ortiz Chevres se ha presentado una solicitud de interpelación judicial para que sirva en el término de treinta (30) días aceptar o repudiar la herencia. Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a expresarse dentro del término

(787) 743-3346

23 de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto en torno a la aceptación o repudiación de la herencia, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante Aida Aurora Ortiz Chevres y por consiguiente, responderán por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Art. 957 del Código Civil, 31 L.P .R.A. S2785. En Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a 23 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I SANTA SANCHEZ, Sec Regional. Iniabelle Colon Guzman, Sec Serv a Sala.

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

CRISTOBAL ALONZO CONTRERAS RESTITUYO PARTE DEMANDANTE vs.

LYDIA ANTONIETA PEÑA MINAYA

Cintron, Sub-Secretaria.

TENCIA POR EDICTO. LOPEZ PINTO A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD COMPUESTA POR JOHN LEGAL NOTICE DOE Y JANE DOE COMO Estado Libre Asociado de ROE o sea, las personas POSIBLES HEREDEROS Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENE- ignoradas que puedan RAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de ser tenedores del pagaré DESCONOCIDOS; Primera Instancia Sala Superior extraviado.

SUCESION CARMEN (Nombre de las partes a las que se JULIA NEGRON RIVERA de BAYAMON. le notifican la sentencia por edicto) IIIA REALTY LLC COMPUESTA POR JOHN EL SECRETARIO(A) que susDemandante ROE Y JANE ROE COMO SCOTIABANK, SUCESOR cribe le notifica a usted que 28 POSIBLES HEREDEROS EN INTERESES DE RG de septiembre de 2020, , este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, DESCONOCIDOS; Sentencia Parcial o Resolución FEDERAL SAVINGS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE en este caso, que ha sido debiBANK JOHN DIE Y AMERICA; CENTRO damente registrada y archivada RICHARD ROE en autos donde podrá usted DE RECAUDACION DE Demandado(a) INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Civil Núm: TA2020CV00151 enterarse detalladamente de

Demandados CIVIL NUM. BY2020CV01037.

SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION GREGORIO LOPEZ PINTO; JOHN ROE Y JANE ROE COMO A: SRA. LYDIA ANTONIETA POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE PEÑA MINAYA LA SUCESION CARMEN SE DESCONOCE JULIA NEGRON RIVERA Se le notifica a usted que se ha PARTE DEMANDADA CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2020RF00547.

SALA: 705. SOBRE: DIVORCIO (R.I.). EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS.

radicado en esta Secretaría la demanda del epígrafe. Se le emplaza y requiere que radique en esta Secretaría el original de la contestación a la Demanda y que notifique :con copia de dicha contestación a la Lcda.

Rosa L. Vázquez López, 379 Calle Cesar González, Hato Rey, P.R . 00918, Tel. (787) 766-0949 Fax (787) 771-2425 con el correo electrónico vazquezyasociadospr@gmail.com, dentro d~ los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Si dejare de hacerlo, podrá dictarse: contra usted sentencia en rebeldía concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la demanda. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello de ~ste Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de San Juan, a 24 de septiembre de 2020. SRA. GRISELDA RODRlGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. CARMEN J. CASTRO SERRANO, Sec Serv a Sala.

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

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC. Demandante vs.

SUCESION GREGORIO

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Greenspoon Marder, LLP Lcda. Frances L. Asencio-Guido R.U.A. 15,622 TRADE CENTRE SOUTH, SUITE 700 loo WEST CYPRESS CREEK ROAD FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309 Telephone: (954) 343 6273 Frances.Asencio@gmlaw.com Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 25 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria Regional. Yariliz

los términos de la misma. Esta (701). Sobre: CANCELACION notificación se publicará una DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. sola vez en un periódico de NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENcirculación general en la Isla CIA POR EDICTO. de Puerto Rico, dentro de los A: JOHN DOE Y 10 días siguientes a su notificaRICHARD ROE ción. Y, siendo o representando (Nombre de las partes a las que se usted una parte en el procedile notifican la sentencia por edicto) miento sujeta a los términos EL SECRETARIO(A) que susde la Sentencia, Sentencia cribe le notifica a usted que 6 Parcial o Resolución, de la cual de septiembre de 2020, , este puede establecerse recurso de Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, revisión o apelación dentro del Sentencia Parcial o Resolución término de 30 días contados a en este caso, que ha sido debipartir de la publicación por edicdamente registrada y archivada to de esta notificación, dirijo a en autos donde podrá usted enusted esta notificación que se terarse detalladamente de los considerará hecha en la fecha términos de la misma. Esta node la publicación de este edictificación se publicará una sola to. Copia de esta notificación vez en un periódico de circulaha sido archivada en los autos ción general en la Isla de Puerde este caso, con fecha de 28 to Rico, dentro de los 10 días de septiembre de 2020. En siguientes a su notificación. Y, BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 28 siendo o representando usted de septiembre de 2020. LCDA una parte en el procedimiento LAURA SANTA SANCHEZ, sujeta a los términos de la SenSecretaria. F/ EDNA ROSARIO tencia, Sentencia Parcial o ReTORRES, Sec Auxiliar. solución, de la cual puede estaLEGAL NOTICE blecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de Estado Libre Asociado de 60 días contados a partir de la Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENEpublicación por edicto de esta RAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de notificación, dirijo a usted esta Primera Instancia Sala Superior notificación que se considerará de BAYAMON. hecha en la fecha de la publiBANCO POPULAR DE cación de este edicto. Copia de PUERTO RICO esta notificación ha sido archiDemandante vada en los autos de este caso, CESAR HERNANDEZ con fecha de 28 de septiembre PINEDA, FULANA DE de 2020. En BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 28 de septiembre de TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD 2020. LCDA LAURA SANTA LEGAL DE BIENES SANCHEZ, Secretaria. F/ ELIGANANCIALES BETH M. TORRES ALICEA, COMPUESTA POR Sec Auxiliar.

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

AMALIE APONTE VERA Demandante

POPULAR MORTGAGE INC., JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE

AMBOS

Demandado(a) Civil Núm: BY2019CV06589 (701). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CESAR HERNANDEZ PINEDA, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado(a) Civil Núm: BY2020CV02176.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se SALA: 701. Sobre: CANCELA- le notifican la sentencia por edicto) CION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIA- EL SECRETARIO(A) que susDO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SEN- cribe le notifica a usted que 6

24 de septiembre 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 60 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 28 de septiembre de 2020. En BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 28 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA LAURA SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria. F/ELIBETH M. TORRES ALICEA, Sec Auxiliar.

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

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC Parte Demandante Vs.

SUCESIÓN DE CELESTINO LÓPEZ SANABRIA T/C/C CELESTINO LÓPEZ COMPUESTA POR MARÍA LIMA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE T/C/C ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERLY T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ BERNE T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ DE LÓPEZ COMPUESTA POR RICARDO LÓPEZ LEGAL NOTICE MARTÍNEZ, JULIA MÁRIA LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUANTONIO MANUEL NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ, SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN FULANO DE TAL Y JUAN. SUTANO DE TAL COMO EPIFANIO POSIBLES HEREDEROS ALFARO CORREA DESCONOCIDOS; DEMANDANTE vs.

CENTRO DE MELISSA RECAUDACIÓN SANTIAGO HERNÁNDEZ DEMANDADA MUNICIPALES; Y A LOS CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2020RF00731.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE SALA: 702. SOBRE : DIVORAMÉRICA

CIO (R.I.). EDICTO. ESTADemandados DOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA CIVIL Núm.: GB2019CV00417.

EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE SALA: 201. SOBRE: COBRO . UU. ESTADO LIBRE ASOC DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN IADO DE P.R. SS. DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA A: MELISSA SANTIAGO ORDINARIA. ORDEN SOHERNÁNDEZ BRE EMPLAZAMIENTO POR Se le notifica a usted que se ha EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. radicado en esta Secretaría la Atendida la moción presentademanda del epígrafe . Se le da por la parte demandante emplaza y requiere que radique solicitando autorización para en esta Secretaría el original de emplazar por edictos, surge de la contestación a la Demanda los documentos presentados y que notifique con copia de que el paradero de la parte dicha contestación a la Leda . demandada es desconocido, y Rosa L. Vázquez López, 379, existiendo una reclamación que Calle César González, Hato justifica la concesión de algún Rey ;·Puerto Rico 00918, telé- remedio contra la parte demanfono 787-766-0949, abogada dada, este Tribunal autoriza de la parte demandante, dentro el emplazamiento de la parte de los treinta días siguientes demandada: FULANO DE TAL a la publicación de este Edic- y SUTANO DE TAL, como poto. Si dejare de hacerlo, podrá sibles herederos desconocidos dictarse contra usted sentencia de la SUCESIÓN DE CELESTIen rebeldía concediéndose el NO LÓPEZ SANABRIA T/C/C remedio solicitado en la de- CELESTINO LÓPEZ y de la manda.

EXPEDIDO bajo mi SUCESIÓN DE ANDREA ANfirma y sello de este Tribunal TONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍde San Juan, a 4 de septiembre NEZ VERGNE T/C/C ANDREA de 2020. SRA. GRISELDA RO- ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERLY DRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRE- T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ TARIA REGIONAL. Luz S. Ortiz BERNE T/C/C ANDREA MARLopez, Sec Servicios a Sala.

TÍNEZ LÓPEZ T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ DE LÓPEZ, me-

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diante edicto, publicándolo una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico, conforme establece la Regla 4.6 de Procedimiento Civil, 32 LPRA Ap. V, R. 4.6. Se excusa al demandante de enviar a los demandados, 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 de los causantes CELESTINO LÓPEZ SANABRIA T/C/C CELESTINO LÓPEZ y ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE T/C/C ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERLY T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ BERNE T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ DE LÓPEZ, a saber, FULANO DE TAL y SUTANO DE TAL, como posibles 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 las herencias de CELESTINO LÓPEZ SANABRIA T/C/C CELESTINO LÓPEZ y de ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERGNE T/C/C ANDREA ANTONIA MARTÍNEZ VERLY T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ BERNE T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ T/C/C ANDREA MARTÍNEZ DE LÓPEZ. 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 L.P.R.A. §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 dichos herederos 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 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 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 26 de noviembre de 2019. f/ EILLIM TORRES RÍOS, JUEZA SUPERIOR.

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

GABLES TOWERS INC. Demandante

TACORRIQUEÑO FUSIONS LLC

Demandado (a) Civil Núm.: SJ2020CV02169.

Sala: 901. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: TACORRIQUEÑO FUSIONS LLC

EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el g§_de septiembre 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 diez (10) dias 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 notíficacíón 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 28 de septiembre de 2020. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 28 de septiembre de 2020. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretario (a) Regional. F/ MARTHA ALMODO-

VAR CABRERA, Secretario (a) ción electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se Auxiliar. represente por derecho propio, LEGAL NOTICE en cuyo caso deberá presentar ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO su alegación responsiva en la DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- secretaría del tribunal. Si usted NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA deja de presentar su alegación SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYA- responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dicMA. BANCO POPULAR DE tar sentencia en rebeldía en su y conceder el remedio PUERTO RICO Y SUN contra solicitado en la demanda, o WEST MORTGAGE cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en COMPANY, INC. COMO el ejercicio de su sana discreAGENTE DE SERVICIO ción, lo entiende procedente.

Se le apacible que conforme al DEMANDANTE VS. artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 SUCESIÓN DE AIDA L.P.R.A. § 2787, usted tiene 30 ANGÉLICA ALICEA días para aceptar o repudiar la MIRANDA COMPUESTA herencia desde la publicación POR SU HEREDERO de este edicto. A esos efectos, de no rechazarla, se tendrá la CONOCIDO NELSON herencia por aceptada. RepreMARTÍNEZ ALICEA; senta a la parte demandante, SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS la representación legal cuyo E. MARTÍNEZ ALICEA nombre, dirección y teléfono se COMPUESTA POR SU consigna de inmediato: BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO HEREDERO CONOCIDO FAS, C.S.P. CARLOS E. MARTÍNEZ LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM.: 11416 RIVERA; FULANO DE PO BOX 13786, TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL SAN JUAN, PR 00908 COMO HEREDEROS TEL: 787- 751-5290, FAX: 787-751-6155 DESCONOCIDOS E-MAIL: Y/O PARTES CON ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com INTERÉS EN DICHAS En Guayama, Puerto Rico a 18 SUCESIONES; ESTADOS de septiembre de 2020. Marisol UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA Rosado Rodriguez, Secretaria.

Margarita Cintron, SubSecreDEMANDADOS taria.

CIVIL NÚM.: GM2020CV00024.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO LEGAL NOT ICE Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICDE PUERTO RICO TRIBUTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYADE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO MÓN. LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. ss.

A: NELSON MARTÍNEZ ALICEA como heredero conocido de la SUCESION DE AIDA ANGELICA ALICEA MIRANDA y FULANO DE TAL y SUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERES DE LA SUCESION DE AIDA ANGELICA ALICEA MIRANDA y DE LA SUCESION DE CARLOS E. MARTINEZ ALICEA SAN ANTONIO DE ARROYO 155-G, CALLE I ARROYO, PR 00714; URB. JARDINES DE MONTE OLIVO 503, CALLE HESTIA GUAYAMA, PR 00784-6651;

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO Y SUN WEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, INC. COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DEMANDANTE VS.

SUCESIÓN DE ROSA COSME MARRERO COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERÉS EN DICHA SUCESIÓN; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NÚM.: BY2020CV02183.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO POR LA PRESENTE se le em- LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. ss. plaza para que presente al triA: SUCESIÓN DE ROSA bunal su alegación responsiva COSME MARRERO dentro de los 30 días a partir de COMPUESTA POR la publicación de este edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su aleFULANO DE TAL gación responsiva a través del Y SUTANA DE TAL Sistema Unificado de Manejo y COMO HEREDEROS Administración de Casos (SUDESCONOCIDOS Y/O MAC), al cual puede acceder PARTES CON INTERÉS utilizando la siguiente direc-

EN DICHA SUCESIÓN BO. CONOCIDA CARMEN PALMAREJO CARR. 164 NELLY MORALES KM, 13HM 3 GONZÁLEZ; FULANO COROZAL, PR 00783 DE TAL Y SUTANA DE DIRECCION POSTAL: Urb. TAL COMO HEREDEROS Ciudad Jardin III, 153, DESCONOCIDOS Y/O Calle Malagueta, Toa Baja, PARTES CON INTERÉS P:R 00953 EN DICHA SUCESIÓN; POR LA PRESENTE se le emESTADOS UNIDOS DE plaza para que presente al triAMÉRICA bunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días a partir de la publicación de este edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Se le apacible que conforme al artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. § 2787, usted tiene 30 días para aceptar o repudiar la herencia desde la publicación de este edicto. A esos efectos, de no rechazarla, se tendrá la herencia por aceptada. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM.: 11416 PO BOX 13786, SAN JUAN, PR 00908 TEL: 787- 751-5290, FAX: 787-751-6155 E-MAIL: ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com En Bayamón, Puerto Rico a 18 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Sec Regional. Sandra I Crus Vazquez, Sec Serv a Sala,

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO Y SUN WEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, INC. COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DEMANDANTE VS.

SUCESIÓN DE DOMINICO MORALES MORALES T/C/C DOMINICO MORALES COMPUESTA POR SU VIUDA LYDIA GERENA T/C/C LYDIA GERENA MORALES T/C/C LYDIA GERENA VALLE, POR SÍ; SU HEREDERA

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NÚM.: FA2020CV00442.

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

A: SUCESIÓN DE DOMINICO MORALES MORALES T/C/C DOMINICO MORALES COMPUESTA POR SU VIUDA LYDIA GERENA T/C/C LYDIA GERENA MORALES T/C/C LYDIA GERENA VALLE, POR SÍ; SU HEREDERA CONOCIDA CARMEN NELLY MORALES GONZÁLEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERÉS EN DICHA SUCESIÓN URB. TERRAZAS DEMAJAGUA, 89 EE CALLE AREYTO, FAJARDO PR 00738.

DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: PO BOX 43 PUERTO REAL PR 00740-0043

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante, la abogada cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM: 11416 FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. PO BOX 9300 SANTURCE, PR 00908

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Monday, October 5, 2020

TEL: 787- 751-5290/ T/C/C GAMALIER RAÚL FAX: 787-751-6155 MELÉNDEZ ROBLES, E-MAIL: COMPUESTA POR SU ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com Se le apercibe que, si no com- VIUDA HELEN MALONEY pareciere usted a contestar MELÉNDEZ T/C/C HELEN dicha demanda dentro del térCARLENE MALONEY mino de 30 días a partir de la RICH T/C/C HELLEN publicación de este edicto, radiCARLENE MALONEY, cando el original de la contestación ante el Tribunal corresPOR SÍ; SU HEREDERA pondiente, con copia a la parte CONOCIDA DIANA demandante, se le anotaría la MELÉNDEZ T/C/C DIANA rebeldía y se le dictará sentenMELÉNDEZ MALONEY cia concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. T/C/C DIANE MELÉNDEZ Se le apercibe que conforme al T/C/C DIANE MELÉNDEZ Artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 MALONEY; FULANO DE L.P.R.A. § 2787, usted tiene 30 TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL días para aceptar o repudiar la COMO HEREDEROS herencia desde la publicación de este edicto. A esos efectos, DESCONOCIDOS Y/O de no rechazarla, se tendrá PARTES CON INTERÉS la herencia por aceptada. En EN DICHA SUCESIÓN; Fajardo, Puerto Rico a 18 de ESTADOS UNIDOS DE septiembre de 2020. Wanda AMERICA I Segui Reyes, Sec Regional.

Mildred Burgos Robles, Sec Quedan emplazados y notificados de que en este Tribunal se Auxiliar I. ha radicado una demanda de cobro de dinero y ejecución de LEGAL NOTICE hipoteca en su contra. Se le noESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO tifica que deberá presentar su DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUalegación responsiva a través NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA del Sistema Unificado de MaSALA SUPERIOR DE SAN nejo y Administración de Casos JUAN. (SUMAC), al cual puede acceBANCO POPULAR DE der utilizando la siguiente direcPUERTO RICO Y SUN ción electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se WEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, INC. COMO represente por derecho propio, cuyo caso deberá presentar AGENTE DE SERVICIO en su alegación responsiva en la DEMANDANTE VS. Secretaría del Tribunal SupeSUCESIÓN DE RAÚL rior de Puerto Rico, Sala de MELÉNDEZ T/C/C RAÚL San Juan y enviando copia a la parte demandante: LCDO. MELÉNDEZ ROBLES T/C/C GAMALIER RAÚL JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS, PO BOX 13786, SAN JUAN, PR MELÉNDEZ ROBLES, 00908, TEL: 787- 751-5290, COMPUESTA POR SU FAX: 787-751-6155, E-MAIL: VIUDA HELEN MALONEY ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com.

MELÉNDEZ T/C/C HELEN Se le apercibe y notifica que CARLENE MALONEY si no contesta la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del RICH T/C/C HELLEN término de treinta (30) días de CARLENE MALONEY, la publicación de este edicto, POR SÍ; SU HEREDERA se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia concedienCONOCIDA DIANA MELÉNDEZ T/C/C DIANA do el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citárseles, MELÉNDEZ MALONEY ni oírseles. Expedido bajo mi T/C/C DIANE MELÉNDEZ firma y sello del Tribunal, a T/C/C DIANE MELÉNDEZ 17 de septiembre de 2020.

GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COMALONEY; FULANO Secretaria. LUZ ENID DE TAL Y SUTANA DE LLADO, FERNANDEZ Del Valle, Sec TAL COMO HEREDEROS Serv a Sala.

DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERÉS EN DICHA SUCESIÓN; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR.

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2020CV04068 MARIO ALEJANDRO (604). SOBRE: COBRO DE ORTIZ GARCIA DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE DEMANDANTE Vs. HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENDANIELA TO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL GARCIA CENICEROS PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. DEMANDADA UU. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIA- CIVIL NUM.: CG2020RF00481.

DO DE P.R. ss.

SALA 504. SOBRE: DIVORA: SUCESIÓN DE RAÚL CIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR MELÉNDEZ T/C/C RAÚL EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDEN-

MELÉNDEZ ROBLES

TE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTA- PRESENTE, se le emplaza DO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR. para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la SS. demanda dentro de los TREINA: DANIELA GARCIA CENICEROS TA (30) días de haber sido diligenciando este emplazamiento, BRISAS DE SAN excluyéndose el día del diligenALFONSO ciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva CALLE 2 E-5 a través del Sistema Unificado CAGUAS, PR 00725 En este Tribunal se ha presen- de Manejo y Administración de tado una Demanda contra la Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede parte demandada. El nombre acceder utilizando la siguiente de la abogada de la parte de- dirección electrónica: https:// mandante lo es, Lcda. Danitza unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, Santiago Ortiz, cuya dirección salvo que represente por dees la siguiente: PO BOX 45 recho propio, en cuyo caso Caguas, PR 00726, su teléfo- deberá presentar alegación no es el (787)923-4202. Usted responsiva en la secretaria del debe contestar la demanda tribunal. Si usted deja de predentro del término de treinta sentar su alegación responsiva (30) días siguientes de haberse dentro del referido termino, el publicado el edicto, debiendo tribunal podrá dictar sentencia plantear las defensas que es- en rebeldía en su contra y contime pertinentes, presentando ceder el remedio solicitado en la el original de su contestación demanda, o cualquier otro, si el a la Demanda en este Tribunal tribunal, en el ejercicio de sana y/o directamente al abogado discreción, lo entiende procede la parte demandante, y de dente. Se Je advierte que si no no hacerlo así, se le anotará contesta la demanda radicando la rebeldía en contra suya y se en su contra, radicando el oridictará sentencia concediendo ginal de la mísma y enviando el remedio solicitado, sin más copia de su contestación a la citarle ni oírle. Se dispone ade- parte demandante, Lcdo. Franmás que dentro de diez (10) cisco Fernández Chiqués a su días siguientes a la publicación dirección: Fernández Chiqués, del edicto, la parte demandante LLC, PO Box 9749 San Juan, dirija a la parte demandada por PR 00908, Tel. (787) 722-3040, correo certificado con acuse Fax (787) 722-3317 dentro del de recibo al lugar de su última término de treinta (30) días de dirección conocida, una copia su publicación de este edicto, de la Demanda presentada y se le anotará la rebeldía en su del Emplazamiento expedido. contra y se dictara sentencia, Se expide este edicto bajo mi conforme se solicita en la Defirma y el sello de este Tribu- manda, sin más citarle ni oírle. nal, en Caguas, Puerto Rico, EXPEDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA Y hoy dia 28 de septiembre de SELLO DE ESTE TRIBUNAL. 2020. CARMEN ANA PEREIRA En Guayama, Puerto Rico, hoy ORTIZ, SECRETARIA. ADA dia 25 de septiembre de 2020.

CARRION CARRASQUILLO, MARISOL ROSADO RODRIGUEZ, Sec Regional.

SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE

Estado Libre Asociado de ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENEDE PUERTO RICO TRIBURAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA Primera Instancia Sala Superior SALA DE GUAYAMA de BAYAMON.

MWPR,LLC

ORIENTAL BANK

ZORAIDA COLON SANCHEZ; FERNANDO MADERA COLON

JOHN DOE & RICHARD ROE

Demandante, v.

Demandados CIVIL NúM. GM2020CV00338.

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

A: ZORAIDA COLON SANCHEZ

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

Demandante

Demandado(a) Civil Núm: BY2020CV02346.

SALA: 503. Sobre: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y 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 28 de septiembre 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 28 de septiembre de 2020. En BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 28 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA LAURA SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria. IVETTE M. MARRERO BRACERO, Sec Auxiliar.

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

ORIENTAL BANK Demandante

MINERVA MARIA VELAZCO VILLANUEVA, JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE

Demandado(a) Civil Núm: CA2020CV01361 .

SALA: 404. Sobre: SUSTITUCION DE PAGARE HIPOTECARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: MINERVA MARIA VELAZCO VILLANUEVA, JOHN DOE Y 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 25 de septiembre 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 28 de septiembre de 2020. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 28 de septiembre de 2020. LCDA MARILYN APONTE RODRIGUEZ, Secretaria.

F/BETHZAIDA MERCADO ALVAREZ, Sec Auxiliar.

25

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26

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

As the Miami Heat evolved, so did Udonis Haslem

By SOPAN DEB

U

donis Haslem is a rarity in today’s NBA. In an era when players change teams more than ever, he has been a Miami Heat lifer, a member of the team since his rookie season in 2003-04. Star players almost never stay with one franchise so long, and for role players, it is unheard-of. To top it off, Haslem went undrafted and is a Miami native.

Haslem, who has established himself as a tough defender over his 17 seasons, has by far the longest tenure on one team among active players. The closest is Stephen Curry, who has been with the Golden State Warriors since 2009. The only players who have had longer careers with just one team, and no other, are Dirk Nowitzki (21 seasons, Dallas Mavericks), Kobe Bryant (20, Los Angeles Lakers), Tim Duncan (19, San Antonio Spurs), John Stockton (19, Utah Jazz) and Reggie Miller (18, Indiana Pacers).

And Haslem, now 40, isn’t necessarily done yet. He said recently that he had not decided if this season would be his last.

The Heat were founded in 1988 and have made the finals six times, including this season against the Los Angeles Lakers, who held a series lead of two games to none going into Sunday night’s Game 3. Haslem has been part of each run and is going for his fourth championship. What makes his journey even more unusual is that the six trips to the finals have come in three distinct eras for the franchise, featuring rosters constructed with separate approaches by Pat Riley, the team president, who was also its coach.

Some role players get to be part of several runs to the NBA Finals, because their team’s roster is stable. But Riley made multiple roster turnovers, all while keeping the Heat relatively competitive. There have been two constants through the three eras: One is Riley’s penchant for acquiring cheap, overlooked talent; the other is Haslem. In some ways, he is a relic, as an undersized big man whose rebounding, defense and ability to hit midrange jumpers made him valuable to multiple championship contenders.

Here is a look at the three eras of Miami basketball that Haslem has helped carry to the finals, initially as a starter and now essentially in the role of an assistant coach.

2005-06: NBA Champions The One-Off This was the franchise’s first championship run, led by a 34-year-old Shaquille O’Neal and a 24-year-old Dwyane Wade. It was a bit of a strange season, which began with coaching drama: Riley, the team president, stepped in to replace Stan Van Gundy as head coach after the team started 11-10.

O’Neal, in his second season with the Heat, missed 18 games because of an ankle injury.

The roster, beyond its two big stars, was unusual for a finals-bound team. There were several past-their-prime veterans hoping for a shot at a ring in their first season with the team: Derek Anderson, Gary Payton, James Posey, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker.

Jason Kapono, a solid shooter off the bench, also was new to the team in his third NBA season. Alonzo Mourning, a Heat staple, was nearing the end of his career. None of the rookies played significant roles.

Many of the Miami players retired soon after beating the Mavericks over six games in the finals. The only genuine building blocks on the team were O’Neal, Wade and Haslem. The next season, the team fizzled in the first round of the playoffs.

The Haslem Effect Haslem was in his third NBA season, and his second as a full-time starter. He averaged 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds, and shot 50.8 percent from the field. Haslem would remain the Heat’s starting forward for only the next three seasons. In the clinching game of the finals against Dallas, he scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

2010-14 The Dynasty Unlike the 2005-06 team, the early 2010s Heat were constructed to be a dynasty. Riley remained team president but turned over the coaching duties to Erik Spoelstra. Once again, Miami brought in free-agent veterans to carry the team to the finish line. But this time, the veterans happened to be some of the best players in their primes: LeBron James and Chris Bosh. (For bookkeeping purposes, they were technically acquired through trades, but as part of the swaps, they first re-signed with their original teams as free agents.)

James and Bosh, both 26 then, joined Wade to form one of the most fearsome trios in league history. The balance of power in the NBA instantly shifted toward Miami. At an early event celebrating their arrival, James

Haslem, right, is the oldest player on a Miami Heat team driven by young players like Tyler Herro, second from right, and Duncan Robinson. said the team intended to win championships, plural: “Not two. Not three. Not four.

Not five. Not six. Not seven.”

It ended up being just two. Miami’s Big Three went to the finals in all four of their seasons together. The Mavericks upset them the first time, then the Heat won back-toback championships against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. In their last run, they lost to the vengeful Spurs.

And then James left for Cleveland, bringing the powerhouse to an end.

In those four years, Riley stocked the team, as usual, with veterans signed on the cheap, including Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Juwan Howard and Rashard Lewis — all of whom finished their NBA careers in this era with the Heat. But there were also younger players whom Spoelstra relied on, like Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers.

The Haslem Effect Haslem was a free agent in the summer of 2010, when James and Bosh decided to play for the Heat. Haslem passed up more lucrative offers and stayed in Miami.

In the 2010-11 season, he played only 13 games because of a left foot injury. For the next three seasons, Haslem, then in his early 30s, shuffled in and out of the starting lineup and saw his role reduced significantly, as the team became more top-heavy. Each year, his minutes per game declined — from 24.8 in 2011-12 to 14.2 in 2013-14. But in those minutes, Haslem was still a strong defender, particularly known for his one-on-one stops in the post, and he produced the best rebounding percentages of his career.

2019-20 The Youth Movement This year’s Miami team is a departure from the previous iterations with championship aspirations, in that it is more reliant on inexperienced players. But like those teams, this version is full of players who have been overlooked.

Tyler Herro, the 20-year-old dynamic rookie guard, has been one of the team’s best scorers off the bench. Duncan Robinson (second year) and Kendrick Nunn (rookie) are key contributors who, like Haslem, went undrafted and were later signed by the Heat.

Neither Bam Adebayo, an athletic big man who made the All-Star team this season (his third), nor Herro was drafted in the Top 10.

The team is still led by veterans, like Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic. And Riley traded for one veteran near the end of his career, Andre Iguodala, a hallmark acquisition, as well as for Jae Crowder.

The Haslem Effect Now Haslem is essentially an assistant coach with a player’s roster spot. While he played only four games during the regular season and a total of 44 minutes, he is the team’s captain. His mentorship has been cited by players, coaches and executives as crucial, especially for a team with so many young players. In the spring, Spoelstra referred to Haslem as “Mr. Miami.” Separately, in a recent interview with The Ringer, Riley called him “Mr. 305,” a reference to Miami’s area code.

When Haslem retires, expect the Heat to raise his No. 40 jersey to the rafters.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

27

Sofia Kenin’s knack for rebounds is being tested at the French Open. And in 2020.

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

I

t takes grit for a tennis player at any level to bounce back quickly from losing 6-0, 6-0.

Consider Sofia Kenin gritty.

Kenin, the newest Grand Slam singles champion from the United States, got double bageled in Rome by Victoria Azarenka last month, but Kenin, not Azarenka, is in the fourth round of the French Open.

And Kenin was certainly doing the math in her head Saturday, when she rallied after an edgy start to reel off 12 straight games in her 6-2, 6-0 victory over Irina Bara, a qualifier from Romania.

“Winning basically 12-love is obviously nice after what happened,” Kenin said with a laugh when we spoke. “Look, in Rome, Vika played really well, I’m not going to take anything away, but I had to move on. I knew the French was coming and it was more important for me to do well in the French than in Rome.

Obviously, I want to do well in all tournaments, but if I had to pick, for sure Paris.”

Paris was good to her last year, when she made her first big wave in a major by upsetting Serena Williams in the third round on Philippe Chatrier Court before losing to Ashleigh Barty, the eventual champion.

Now Kenin is back in the fourth round while Barty is back home in Australia sitting out the rest of the 2020 season because of travel concerns during the coronavirus pandemic.

But there are plenty of other threats left in the women’s draw, including Kenin’s next opponent. Fiona Ferro is unseeded, but she is at home in France and on red clay. Ferro, a great mover who slides with grace and rips her heavy forehand with ease, won the tour’s first event after its fivemonth hiatus: a clay-court tournament in Palermo, Italy.

On Saturday, Ferro showed plenty of grit of her own to wear down Patricia Tig and win 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-0.

The French crowd, limited to 1,000 paid spectators per day by the French health authorities, still managed to generate plenty of noise and even a few boos when the feisty Tig started celebrating after Ferro’s errors in the grueling opening set.

Sofia Kenin won the Australian Open in January and is the top American woman left in the French Open after three rounds.

The jeers, like the cheers, were refreshing after so many months of silence at tournaments like the U.S. Open, which was held without fans.

Kenin, like many of her peers, has already had enough of the “bubble life.”

“I feel like all of us don’t like it for sure,” she said. “We all want to go out, but we can’t go out, because if you go out, you are disqualified and no one wants that of course. I know what to expect now with the mask and the social distancing and no crowds. But honestly, I feel like this is something I can never get used to, because this is completely not normal, and I obviously want it to be back to normal how it used to be. I miss the fans, really miss the fans.”

She also has missed a certain window of opportunity after winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in early February, only to see sports shut down worldwide for months afterward.

“It was quite devastating, obviously it wasn’t the best thing that happened, but

this was the case for everybody and it just happened to be after I won,” Kenin said.

“It is what it is. I try not to be so down, and just tried to keep myself motivated for once things would happen again.”

Her unexpected run in Australia was brilliant and often bold, including a win over the American teenager Coco Gauff, who has, fairly or not, seen a much bigger spotlight than Kenin for those interested in emerging American tennis stars.

Above all, Kenin came up with the goods in the third set of the final against Garbiñe Muguruza. Down 0-40 on her serve at 2-all, Kenin won five straight points: four with groundstroke winners and one with an ace to hold serve and then close out the victory.

It was one of the great games in Grand Slam history, but it seems like ancient history at this stage with the pandemic rendering sports an afterthought. Sponsorship deals for new arrivals like Kenin have become more difficult to secure and tournament appearance fees were wiped out during the hiatus.

“Definitely tough timing for her,” said John Tobias, a leading tennis agent who is executive vice president of GSE Worldwide. “But she is talented and consistent enough that it’s likely she will regain the commercial momentum she had earlier in the year. She’s the No. 1 American, top five in the world, 21 years old and marketable. That checks a lot of boxes for brands and tournaments.”

Women’s tennis has often felt like roulette in recent years. There have been eight first-time major singles champions in the past 13 Grand Slam tournaments.

Though Naomi Osaka has managed to win three major titles, other new arrivals have fallen back through slumps or injuries, including Sloane Stephens, Jelena Ostapenko and Bianca Andreescu.

Will Kenin, 21, have more staying power? She certainly has the competitive drive as well as a perfectionist streak.

In Paris, she has sometimes looked as dissatisfied with her winners as with her errors. There have been plenty of both. She went three sets in her first two rounds against unseeded opponents.

“Obviously, I feel like I should get deep in a tournament,” Kenin said. “I’m a bit hard on myself.”

But as she has proved since her junior days, she has an uncommon ability to reboot and briskly move on to the next point. Despite appearances, she has been enjoying herself on court: never more than when she can take back her racket with both hands for a backhand and bamboozle an opponent with a perfectly disguised drop shot.

In this year’s heavy autumnal conditions, her signature shot is all the rage at Roland Garros, and she hit winners aplenty with it Saturday.

What happened in Rome seems to have stayed in Rome, and playing doubles with the upbeat veteran, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, seems to have helped her mood, too. But Kenin still needs to find surer footing and a higher gear on a slippery surface if she wants to become a multiple Grand Slam champion.

“Believe it or not, I used to really hate clay,” she said. “But I learned to like it last year here, and I still do.”

28

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

Patriots-Chiefs game postponed after positive Coronavirus tests on both teams

By ELENA BERGERON and KEN BELSON

T

he NFL postponed Sunday’s highly anticipated game between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs to tonight at 7:05 ET after Cam Newton, the Patriots’ star quarterback, and the practice squad quarterback on the Chiefs tested positive for the coronavirus.

“In consultation with infectious disease experts, both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA to evaluate multiple close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments,” the league said in a statement.

“All decisions will be made with the health and safety of players, team and game day personnel as our primary consideration.”

The delay of one of the marquee matchups of the young season raises fresh questions about the league’s efforts to play a full slate of games ending with the Super Bowl in February, and to do so without a closed community for teams, like the NBA used, to reduce the risk of infection substantially.

The league has followed Major League Baseball and relied instead on frequent testing, reconstructed team facilities to encourage social distancing, and protocols for how players, coaches and teams can interact in locker rooms, team planes and sidelines on game day.

The success of the strategy relies heavily on players, coaches and team personnel self-policing their behavior by returning home after work and not engaging in risky activities. Still, even the most cloistered players are allowed to interact with their families and others outside the NFL, increasing the odds of becoming infected.

The league got through the first three weeks of the season largely unscathed.

But this past week, the league was forced to grapple with an outbreak on the Tennessee Titans that led to their game Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers being pushed back to Oct. 25. At least a dozen members of the organization — including as many as nine players — are known to be infected.

The league’s arrival at that decision showed how difficult it is to contain the virus. After three players and five staff tested positive, the league said the TitansSteelers game would be pushed to today or Tuesday. Within 24 hours, more players and staff members tested positive and the

Cam Newton, the Patriots quarterback, during a game last week. game was pushed back by several weeks.

Several more members of the team have since tested positive, which has prevented the team from practicing.

In response, the league tightened guidelines and testing protocols. But given the fickle nature of the virus, it remains possible the Patriots-Chiefs game could be pushed back further if more players test positive.

The Patriots confirmed a positive test but did not identify the player, in accordance with privacy policies. In a statement released Saturday, the team said the player had been isolated and that subsequent tests done on players and staff who had been in contact with him had come back negative.

According to the league’s daily transaction wire, Newton and Jordan Ta’amu, a quarterback on the Chiefs practice squad, were added to the COVID-19 injury list Saturday.

“We are in close consultation with the

NFL as well as our team of independent doctors and specialists,” the statement said, “and will follow their guidance regarding our scheduled trip to Kansas City and game against the Chiefs. The health and safety of our team, as well as of our opponent, are of highest priority.”

The game was to be a closely watched showdown at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium featuring two of the league’s best quarterbacks. The Patriots are 2-1 with Newton, who replaced Tom Brady after he left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Patrick Mahomes, the Super Bowl MVP, and the Chiefs are 3-0.

After the game was postponed, Tyrann Mathieu of the Chiefs wrote on Twitter, “Wear your mask, wash your hands.”

Players, coaches and staff members who test positive are not allowed in team facilities. Because of the scope of the outbreak in Nashville, Tennessee’s team facilities have been closed since Tuesday

and all in-person activities halted. The Titans reportedly had new cases Friday and Saturday, raising questions about whether the outbreak would force the postponement or cancellation of their next game, at home against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 11.

Now, with positive cases on two more teams, the NFL is facing its first serious challenge to completing the regular season according to its design. League officials have said for months that they expected players and others to test positive. Although they have said they intend to play a full 16-game season, there are several bye weeks built into the league’s calendar, which means games could be shuffled further or even eliminated as circumstances develop.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has also tried to keep players and coaches in line.

Five head coaches have been fined tens of thousands of dollars for not wearing masks on the sidelines. And after the Titans’ outbreak began, the league stepped up enforcement measures to help limit exposure risks and ramp up punitive measures for missteps.

The league sent a memo Friday to teams stating that players and coaches would be prohibited from leaving their team’s city during bye weeks. Two days earlier, Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president for football operations, had sent another memo that threatened suspensions or the forfeiture of draft picks to teams whose coaches did not wear masks while on the sidelines. “If we are to play a full and uninterrupted season, we all must remain committed to our efforts to mitigate the risk of transmission of the virus,” Vincent said.

Though this week marks the first widespread reporting of positive tests in the NFL, the league has been previously affected by isolated cases. After the season-opening game Sept. 10 between the Houston Texans and Chiefs in Kansas City, Missouri, 10 fans who had attended the game had to quarantine because they were exposed to another fan who had tested positive in a suite at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City has continued to allow up to 17,000 fans to attend each game — roughly 22 percent of the stadium’s capacity.

The Atlanta Falcons placed starting cornerback A.J. Terrell on the reserve/ COVID-19 list before the team’s Week 3 game against the Chicago Bears, which was played as scheduled after neither team reported any additional positives.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

29

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

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

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

30

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, October 5, 2020

(Mar 21-April 20)

There are many things that are going unsaid in your household. You sense a housemate is keeping their thoughts to themselves. Tension within the family is increasing and this won’t change until someone lowers the barrier they have put up between you. Even if you have spent years living with someone, you might still feel as if you don’t really know them.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

It doesn’t matter what you have to do or how long it takes, you just want to make someone happy. You’ve been watching a loved one run after other people and they haven’t been looking after themselves. You’re worried about their health and suggesting you take over some of their responsibilities might encourage them to relax more.

Taurus

(April 21-May 21)

Scorpio

Gemini

(May 22-June 21)

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

Honesty is the best policy in all relationships.

Don’t keep your thoughts to yourself. Make an extra effort to communicate your feelings.

If a new partner is moving too fast for you, explain how you like to take things nice and steady. A change of tactics could help get a new romance or friendship off the ground.

Despite your best efforts to avoid them, a nosy neighbour will find ways to catch your attention. They are familiar with your routines and will be conveniently in places they know you are going to be. Their extreme nosiness is driving you to distraction. Their life lacks excitement and this is causing them to fixate on yours.

It will be tempting to buy into a persuasive person’s sales pitch. When someone tells you an opportunity will be lost unless you give an immediate response, by wary. It will be more for their benefit than yours to make this transaction. If you miss out on this offer, don’t worry. A better one will come your way.

Leo

(July 24-Aug 23)

Despite your pleas for privacy, some people will continue to intrude. You want to be on your own before making a private phone call.

If you and a colleague need to discuss a confidential matter, meet in a place where there are no prying ears around. Be extra careful in all communications.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

Go with your first response when you are offered a great business or financial opportunity.

They will hide it well but a competitor is struggling. If you’re going to climb the ladder to success, you need to take a risk or two to get there. Going after what you want will be exhilarating.

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

It won’t help relationships if you refuse to discuss what is on your mind. A partner or someone in the family is trying to guess what you are thinking. They need to know your views on a sensitive issue in order to make an important decision. Open communication can prevent future problems.

Creative inspiration will strike and this will lead you towards joint hobbies and activities.

If you’re spending more time with your family, this will be taken up with a home improvement project. Your partner is ready to go out with other couples. Are you single? A romantic attraction is developing behind the scenes.

Outside demands are putting a partnership in jeopardy. Your commitment to community projects cannot be faulted. People will praise you one minute and then ask for more from you, the next. You’re a busy person who can always be relied on to get the job done but are you allowing their selfish expectations to ruin your life?

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

You might blame it on the difficult year we’ve all been through but you’ve got bogged down in stifling routines. It’s not like you to get stuck in a rut but these are strange times. Although aspects of your life are still restricted, there are still plenty of exciting diversions. Start looking for alternatives to your usual routine or consider how you might do things differently.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

Response to an application you had forgotten about could mean a sudden change in arrangements. An invitation to attend an interview, meeting or audition will make your spirits soar. When people see how much this means to you, they will be quite prepared to rearrange their own priorities to help you out.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Monday, October 5, 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 • Jueves, 1 de octubre de 2020 Monday, SEMANA, October 5,INC 2020 32EDITORIAL

The San Juan Daily Star

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