Wednesday Sep 13, 2023

GOOD MORNING

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.

US, Puerto Rico gov’ts object to sale motion for Grupo HIMA assets

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico government, along with the U.S. government’s Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, are on record as opposing the motion for sale of Grupo HIMA’s hospital assets.

On Aug. 23, HIMA asked for a court order authorizing it to designate any so-called stalking horse bidders for its Fajardo facilities or any of the assets other than the Fajardo assets, and to schedule an auction and the sale hearing. HIMA filed for bankruptcy in mid-August to restructure more than $400 million in debt.

The Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, on behalf of the island Treasury Department, the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund and the commonwealth Department of Labor and Human Resources, objected to the sale.

INDEX

likely need to seek to convert to a chapter 7 proceeding or dismiss these cases and these bankruptcy cases would not have yielded any payment to any other creditor,” the government said.

HIMA’s intent is evident, the government said, because it is trying to expedite the case but has not provided milestones establishing when it will present a disclosure statement or plan. The government “submits that the court should approve the sale of the debtors’ assets to the successful purchasers under the bidding procedures approved by this Court.”

“Nonetheless, the Court should not authorize, outside of a plan confirmation process, the distribution to Island Healthcare of all of the sale proceeds as doing so would be tantamount to a sub rosa plan,” the government said.

While the government supports the sale of the hospitals as a going concern to entities that will continue to operate them, it noted that the hospitals owe the entities some $70 million.

The government entities complained that according to a motion submitted by HIMA, the hospital group plans to distribute all of the sale proceeds generated from the sale of the assets, at the closing of each such sale, solely to one creditor, Island Healthcare LLC.

“The distribution of all of the proceeds from substantially all of the Debtors’ assets, upon the closing of such sale and prior to and outside of the confirmation of a plan, solely to Island Healthcare, constitutes a sub rosa plan,” the government said.

A sub rosa plan is a transaction entered outside of a bankruptcy case that acts as a de facto Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and evades requirements of the Bankruptcy Code.

If the distribution of the sale proceeds, as contemplated under the sale motion, and is approved as proposed by HIMA, then there would be no remaining material assets or proceeds to distribute to any other creditor after the closing of all such sales.

“In other words, if all of the sale proceeds are distributed to Island Healthcare at this stage, there would be no remaining assets left to distribute through a plan and, thus, no liquidating plan would be subsequently filed. Thus, after completing these sales and distributing the proceeds to Island Healthcare, the debtors would

The U.S. government opposes the sale because under HIMA’s proposal, its Medicare provider agreements will be transferred to the successor free of liability, in violation of bankruptcy law.

“The United States does not oppose a fair and robust sale, as long as that sale complies with Medicare statutes, regulations and policy,” the U.S. government said.

While the central government supports the sale of the hospitals in the Grupo HIMA system as a going concern to entities that will continue to operate them, it noted that the hospitals owe some government entities, including the Treasury Department and the State Insurance Fund, some $70 million.

Education secretary-designate considering school calendar changes due to heat

By THE STAR STAFF

Designated Education Secretary Yanira

Raíces Vega said late Monday that she is considering the possibility of amending the school calendar in the face of the heat wave that continues to beset the island.

At a public hearing in the Senate, Raíces Vega said that agency officials have considered declaring August and September as a holiday month instead of June and July. They hope in this way to minimize the effects of a late-summer heat wave on students, she said, and will consider the measure for the next academic year.

Raíces Vega’s statements came in the middle of a public hearing of the Senate Government Committee to evaluate the measures adopted by the Department of Education (DE) in response to the high temperatures that are being acutely felt in the island’s public schools, most of which lack air-conditioning

systems.

As reported by the STAR on Tuesday, the designated DE secretary told the Senate panel that 32,000 fans have been acquired with an investment ranging between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, as an immediate response strategy to provide much-needed relief from the heat in public schools.

The individual cost of the fans has come under criticism from some quarters after cheaper options were found through independent research. Raíces Vega added that the fans, purchased with funds from the Emergency Program for Elementary and Secondary Schools, range from $50 to $80 each, including delivery to schools. More permanent options, including air conditioners and ceiling fans, are being sought, but these involve a significantly higher investment and logistical challenges, she said.

As reported by the STAR, it was highlighted during the hearing that the installation of air conditioners entails additional expenses for electrical and architectural adaptations, using as a reference the Hawaii model, where the investment is $30,000 per room. It is estimated that to implement those measures in all island schools would require an investment close to $1 billion.

Public Buildings Authority Executive Director Yamil Ayala Cruz stressed that such an

initiative presents a monumental challenge, not only because of the availability of inventory, but also because of the fiscal impact and costs associated with installation. Currently, bids are being held to place air conditioners in 17 schools at an investment estimated at over $22 million.

For its part, the Office for Public School Improvement has allocated $40 million to repair air conditioners and address other issues related to reopening schools.

“This multi-million-dollar investment in infrastructure evaluation seems excessive, especially when students are at a disadvantage,” said Sen. Javier Aponte Dalmau, urging a more careful review of spending priorities. “We should consider serving the most critically ill schools first.”

The issue continues to be debated in the Senate, with proposals to redistribute funds and ensure schools are prepared to deal with high temperatures effectively and sustainably in the future.

Recreation & Sports Dept. issues policy for safe practices amid heat wave

By THE STAR STAFF

Given the protracted period of high temperatures the island has been experiencing, Recreation and Sports (DRD by its Spanish initials) Secretary Ray Quiñones Vázquez issued an administrative memo earlier this week on the implementation of safety measures to combat the effect of the heat wave on sports practices.

“We issued this memo for the purpose of strengthening the safety provisions contemplated in the ‘Regulations for the Protection of Minors in Sport’ in order to promote the necessary measures to combat the heat wave during sports practices,” the DRD chief said in a written statement Monday. “As we know,

high temperatures can lead to dehydration and serious illnesses can develop as a consequence. That is why we need to keep our children and young people who practice sports protected to avoid worse situations.”

According to the agency memo (2023-001), it is recommended that sports organizations and coaches adopt safety measures such as establishing water oases and taking hydration periods every 15 minutes. A consumption of four ounces of water is recommended in each period, for which tents or booths should be installed. The use of sun protection equipment, including caps, glasses and microfiber shirts, should be allowed.

In addition, it is recommended that when a sports activity takes place in indoor facilities with very high temperatures and

limited ventilation, sports organizations and coaches should adopt the necessary safety measures for such a scenario.

“I trust in the faithful fulfillment of these guidelines and in the cooperation of our sports community to ensure the health and safety of our children and young athletes,” the secretary said.

labor market transformation with ‘Puerto Rico is Faja’o’

By THE STAR STAFF

With the aim of continuing to highlight the work of the island’s workforce and inspiring others to be part of the historic statistical increase in the employment rate, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and Labor and Human Resources (DTRH by its Spanish initials) Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González introduced the “Puerto Rico Is Faja’o” campaign on Tuesday. The campaign’s main emphasis is on older adults, young people, women, beneficiaries of government assistance programs and those with functional diversity, among others.

The campaign proposes to generate a cultural change in the way in which citizens approach the world of work, as well as promote a work environment in which the rights of all workers are respected, their contributions are valued and the connection between employers and employees is strengthened, thereby

promoting harmonious collaboration that drives the progress of the island.

“The greatest asset that Puerto Rico has is, without a doubt, our people and it is our people who are moving Puerto Rico forward,” Pierluisi said during the launch event held at Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan. “We have the most qualified and prepared human capital in our Caribbean region and our goal is to ensure that we have employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for every Puerto Rican man and woman.”

“Having left behind the bankruptcy of the government and with the recent crises already in the past, Puerto Rico’s economy has experienced a marked improvement in these two years and eight months of my administration, with a trend of economic growth that we have not seen in more than a decade,” the governor added. “Likewise, we have 100,000 additional jobs and the lowest unemployment in our history. From nine percent

unemployment in January 2021, it is now around six percent.”

Pierluisi noted that the combined effect of the talent of the workforce, government investment in infrastructure and support for the private sector have fostered renewed interest from local and foreign companies to expand and invest in Puerto Rico.

The DTRH secretary emphasized that “this campaign is a call to action to join the working force and invites us to be agents of change in the transformation of our work environment.”

“All economic sectors are stating the need for additional labor and express challenges in the hiring and retention of talent, so this new advertising campaign joins other efforts of this administration aimed at improving quality of life through work through diversity, equity and inclusion strategies,” Maldonado González said. “Puerto Rico needs everyone and it is time to continue showing that we are all ready to continue promoting our socioeconomic development.”

Sen. Javier Aponte Dalmau

Recreation & Sports Secretary Ray Quiñones Vázquez

Gov’t promotes

Inspector general finds deficiencies in DTOP’s information systems

By THE STAR STAFF

The Office of the Inspector General of Puerto Rico (OIG by its Spanish initials) identified severe deficiencies in the controls and protection of information, including citizens’ data, in the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP).

As detailed in a press release Tuesday, the findings are the result of a compliance examination and evaluation of documents and information collected on the access controls granted and the security of the Drivers and Vehicles Information Databases Plus (DAVID+) system established by DTOP and the Highways and Transportation Authority (ACT by its Spanish initials).

The deficiencies in information controls include the use of technology and servers where the DAVID+ system resides that are obsolete and lacking technical support from the manufacturer. At the time of the examination, the two servers where DAVID+ resides, the IBM Model Power 570, are obsolete and do not have technical support. IBM withdrew the equipment from the market on Jan. 7, 2011, and discontinued its technical support on March 31, 2019.

A Cisco 7606 router used for connection to the network of a service company is also obsolete and lacks technical support because it was withdrawn from the market on July 24, 2016.

As part of the evaluation of the internal controls on the

accesses granted and DAVID+ security, officials requested a copy of the risk analysis and the DTOP Security Plan. Upon examination, it was revealed that DTOP did not

have a risk analysis of computerized information systems or a current security plan.

On April 20 of this year, the ACT, through its executive director, certified to the OIG that it does not have a current incident management plan and work is underway to create one.

The evaluation conducted by the OIG included 15 findings related to the information systems in the DTOP and the ACT that include, among other findings: lack of an alternate center for the recovery of communications, lack of a plan and record for handling security incidents, deficiencies related to the administration of active access accounts for former employees in the DAVID+ system, lack of continuous training for users on the use of information systems and on security policies, and other deficiencies in policy implementation.

The draft results and findings of the examination were submitted for comments and responses on April 24 to the DTOP secretary. The secretary, through her legal counsel, submitted her comments on the results and findings through a letter received on May 17, where she established, among other things, the following:

“Currently the DTOP is evaluating each of the indicated findings and we are working on the first drafts of the corrective actions,” read the response letter from DTOP Secretary Eileen Vélez Vega. “This is for the purpose of addressing each of the findings in order to timely comply with the laws referred to in said report.”

Governor signs proclamation declaring September as Suicide Prevention Month

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia signed a proclamation Tuesday designating September as Suicide Prevention Month on the island.

During his message, the governor stressed the importance of addressing the issue of suicide as a public health issue that requires the collaboration of government agen-

cies, nonprofit organizations and the community at large.

Pierluisi emphasized that the government is taking concrete steps to prioritize mental health, such as allocating additional funds for suicide prevention programs and improving coverage of mental health medications and treatments in the Vital health plan. In fact, the governor allocated federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds to increase the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration’s (ASSMCA) resources for its preventive programs, including public service campaigns on depression and about the services it offers.

Pierluisi also noted the “Governor’s Challenge” federal initiative, in which Puerto Rico participates in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Veterans Affairs to address the prevention of suicide in veterans, members of the military service and their families.

“My commitment to give a dignified quality of life to our people is clear and firm, and the steps we take every day to assist our people are proof that we are prioritizing mental health and suicide prevention on our island,” the governor said. “My call to all our people is to be attentive to the needs of our brothers and sisters in our family, our jobs and our communities, and to educate ourselves and become even more aware of the available help, because

every life is valued, every human being in our lives is loved and we want them healthy.”

The proclamation seeks to raise awareness of the resources available for suicide prevention and encourage people to be attentive to the needs of their families, friends and communities. In commemoration of Suicide Prevention Month, La Fortaleza will be lit up in orange.

The deficiencies found with regard to information controls include the use of technology and servers where the Drivers and Vehicles Information Databases Plus (DAVID+) system resides that are obsolete and lacking technical support from the manufacturer.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, second from left, stressed the importance of addressing suicide as a public health issue that requires the collaboration of government agencies, nonprofit organizations and the community at large.

‘Money out the window’

tice Secretary Domingo Emmanuelli asked the court to dismiss Elizabeth Torres Rodríguez for not complying with the duties of her position.”

“In his legal resource, Emmanuelli stated that back then the delegate [Torres Rodríguez] was not complying with the oath she took to [work to] bring statehood to the island faster,” the PDP president said. “She ignored the provisions of Bill 167 from 2020 and didn’t comply with it. Therefore, the Department of Justice is already aware that the delegates are violating their own enabling law by not complying with the statute.”

Ortiz González believes that this is why the Justice secretary must go to court today and ask for the dismissal of all congressional delegates. According to the PDP, the same rule that applied to Torres Rodríguez last year has to apply to all delegates because of the fact that they aren’t looking for the annexation of Puerto Rico but rather for another plebiscite.

Here is where the words turn into action: the PDP will file a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics to investigate if the statehood lobbyists are complying with the stipulations of HB 167, and if they are violating the law they will have to reimburse any public funds paid through that law.

On top of that, the PDP also will also take steps to strike down Law 167.

PDP: Statehood lobbyists are violating their own law

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

Last week, Popular Democratic Party (PDP) leaders had a lot to say about the governing New Progressive Party administration and its use of federal funds. It was clear that the rival party, which currently controls the island Legislature but hasn’t fielded a winning candidate for governor since 2011, isn’t happy about the way the current administration is handling federal funds. This is to be expected from a rival party given that every political party believes its ideas and strategies will work better than the one that is sitting in office.

The PDP on Tuesday escalated its pre-election season offensive beyond just pointing out the mistakes of the current administration. PDP President Jesús Manuel Ortiz González, accompanied at a press conference by Rep. Joel Sánchez Ayala, Sen. Juan Zaragoza Gómez and the party’s federal affairs secretary and candidate for resident commissioner, Pablo José Hernández Rivera, charged that the so-called shadow delegates to the U.S. Congress, who were elected to lobby for statehood in the U.S. capital, are currently violating House Bill (HB) 167-2020, known as the Law to Create a Congressional Delegation in Puerto Rico.

“This group of delegates was created to fight exclusively for an annexation project of Puerto Rico as a state, based on plebiscites of the year 2020, and currently in Congress, there is no such thing as an annexation project that seeks for the island to be part of the mainland as a state,” Ortiz González said. “In other words, they aren’t following their own law.”

In 2021, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) filed House Resolution 1522, which died in December 2022, after the midterm elections in which the Republican Party gained control of the House of Representatives. What is currently under consideration by Congress is another bill, authored by Rep. Raúl Grijalva

(D-Ariz.), which seeks to hold another plebiscite for the island.

“In other words, there is no reason for the … so-called lobbyists for statehood to be wasting the money of the people of Puerto Rico to promote another consultation that will have zero results in the federal capital,” the PDP president said.

“I want to be very clear about this,” Ortiz González continued. “This group of statehood lobbyists are not complying with their ministerial duties because they are violating their own administrative law, as they are tied strictly to the 2020 plebiscite. To lobby for another plebiscite to be held, this would be against the status quo.”

In other words, the creation of the congressional delegate positions gives the administration a duty, which is to lobby for the acceptance of Puerto Rico as a state of the union, not lobby Congress for another plebiscite, Ortiz González reiterated. Thus the PDP charges that what the administration of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia is currently doing is outside the bounds of HB 167.

Ortiz González went on to note that in April 2022, “Jus-

“We warned about this back then and it is becoming a reality that the statehood lobbyists have failed their own party,” Sánchez Ayala said. “Which could make the expenses they billed illegal, which is why we’re here.”

“Given the executive branch’s refusal to eliminate statehood lobbyists, our delegation is working, among other things, to repeal the law,” the lawmaker continued. “Last Tuesday … the committee that I chair held a public final consideration session and approved HB 139, which has the purpose of repealing Law 167-2020, the legislation that created the congressional delegation. This bill will be evaluated and approved in the ordinary session today, Tuesday, September 12.”

The party aims to eventually pass the bill in the island Senate. Sánchez Ayala believes the PDP has all the evidence it needs to support its claims as a result of Joint Resolution 135, which ordered an investigation of the work that has been done by the statehood lobbyists.

“After this press conference, I will have an executive meeting with members of the [House] Committee on Federal Relations … to present all of the evidence of the ethical mistakes that the statehood lobbyists have made …” the legislator said. Meanwhile the funds used to pay the lobbyists to date adds up to just over $1 million.

“The biggest problem is that public funds are being used for this,” Zaragoza Gómez said. “It is questionable to use public funds for affairs like this. Sure, in an administration that has an exorbitant amount of money, $1 million may not seem like much, but with $1 million we could’ve pushed the transition to SNAP, or even scholarships of $30,000 a year to doctors … to keep them from leaving the island. We could even have air conditioning in various schools if the administration was smart with the use of public funds.”

Later on Tuesday, the governor told the press that the PDP’s allegations that the delegates/lobbyists for statehood are failing to fulfill their lawful duties “is clearly false and so easy to refute.”

Pierluisi said that in his opinion, In his opinion, if the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, HR 2757, includes statehood as an alternative status, then the delegates/lobbyists are fulfilling their functions by seeking approval of the measure in Congress.

The Popular Democratic Party escalated its pre-election season offensive on Tuesday, charging that the shadow delegates elected to lobby for statehood in the U.S. Congress have been violating the law that created their posts. (Photo by Richard Gutiérrez/The San Juan Daily Star)

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

McCarthy is under the gun as the House returns for a spending fight

By CARL HULSE

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s job is on the line as the House returned Tuesday to confront a funding impasse that could lead to a government shutdown or a challenge to the California Republican’s hold on the top post in the House.

Far-right Republicans are refusing to back a measure to keep the federal government funded past Sept. 30 without substantial spending cuts and stringent new border policies that stand little chance of becoming law. They are also threatening to depose McCarthy should he turn to Democrats for assistance in scrounging together the votes he needs to avoid a shutdown.

Intensifying the pressure, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a frequent critic of the speaker, was planning to deliver a floor speech Tuesday outlining the arch-conservative case against McCarthy, laying the groundwork for a potential move to oust him. The criticism was to cover what Gaetz and others see as McCarthy’s failure to live up to promises he made to win the speakership, including his handling of the budget process and ongoing investigations of President Joe Biden and his family.

“Stay tuned,” Gaetz said Monday night when reached for comment, declining to elaborate.

Members of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus were also planning a public event Tuesday to vent their discontent with the spending landscape.

“The American people expect us to actually fight for them,” Rep. Chip Roy, RTexas, a member of the Freedom Caucus, told reporters at the Capitol on Monday. “And speaking as a Texan, I can’t just sit here and rubber-stamp the status quo.”

With Roy and others railing against plans to temporarily extend funding while the House and the Senate consider yearlong spending bills, McCarthy faces his most serious leadership test since May, when opposition from the hard right forced him to turn to Democrats to suspend the federal debt ceiling and avoid an economically calamitous default. Right-wing Republicans were irate at the bipartisan compromise, saying the spending levels were far too high.

McCarthy, who made a series of major concessions to the right wing to win their

support to become speaker, faced a brief internal rebellion after the debt deal, but managed to hold on to his post. Now, members of the same faction are warning that he may not survive if he resorts to the same tactics.

“I think there’s a perfect storm brewing in the House in the near future,” Rep. Ken Buck, R- Colo., said Sunday on MSNBC.

On the eve of the House’s return, White House officials said Monday that Biden would veto a Pentagon spending measure the chamber is to consider this week. The veto threat assailed House Republicans for proposing to cut spending below the levels agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act negotiated this year between the speaker and the president.

“House Republicans had an opportunity to engage in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process,” the White House veto statement said, “but instead, with less than a month before the end of the fiscal year, are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below the F.R.A. agreement and endanger critical services for the American people.”

But the real threat to McCarthy in navigating the spending fight came not from the White House, but from within his own ranks. House Republicans are split on the level of spending for both the routine annual

spending bills to fund the government through the next year and a temporary measure to avert a shutdown while negotiations over bills continue. In the Senate, Republicans have joined with Democrats in pushing a higher level of spending than House Republicans want, potentially providing the Senate with significant leverage in future negotiations.

Most Senate Republicans are also aligned with Democrats on the need for more financial aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and want it added to any temporary funding measure. House Republicans have shown growing resistance to such aid.

At the same time, hard-right conservatives are insisting on policy changes such as eliminating funding for the Justice Department’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump and new abortion restrictions that have no chance of getting through the Senate or being signed into law by Biden. Trump has also urged House Republicans to hold firm against spending without Democratic concessions, a message that resonates with many of them.

“I agree with President Trump that Congress must use the September 30th government funding deadline to cut off funding for Biden’s open border policies and SECURE

THE BORDER!” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said

on X, formerly Twitter.

And with only four votes to spare on the best of days, McCarthy may have even less of a margin for error in the coming weeks because of health absences.

While many conservatives dismiss the potential repercussions of a shutdown as minor, McCarthy has the backing of a significant portion of House Republicans who want to avoid one because of the political consequences as well as the detrimental impact on the public and federal agencies.

Appearing on CNN on Monday, Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, said Republicans should expect to win only so much in spending talks considering that Democrats control the Senate and the White House. He noted that past shutdowns had backfired on Republicans.

“We have these shutdowns and they haven’t accomplished a hell of a lot,” Joyce said. “As far as making our government function and making it work for the American people, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Efforts to pass individual spending bills stalled in the House in July over internal Republican divisions on spending and policy provisions. McCarthy hopes to restart the process this week by considering the Pentagon spending bill, which typically draws broad bipartisan support. Democrats are opposing all the House spending measures, however, because they break from the debt limit deal, and it is unclear if the Pentagon legislation has sufficient Republican votes to pass.

In contrast to the House, the Senate on Tuesday was to take up its initial spending bills with debate possibly stretching into next week.

The San Juan Daily Star Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) speaks during a television interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Roy ridiculed “hand-wringing” over the potential consequences of a shutdown.

By MIKE IVES and CAMPBELL ROBERTSON

Police in Pennsylvania said Danelo Cavalcante, a convicted murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison more than 10 days ago, was armed and had been spotted again Monday night.

James Mckee, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, confirmed the sighting in a brief telephone interview Monday night. He said he could not confirm any other details.

But in a Facebook post early Tuesday, state police said their officers were pursuing Cavalcante in South Coventry Township of Chester County, and that he was “armed with a weapon.”

Cavalcante, 34, clambered up a wall and escaped from Chester County Prison on Aug. 31, days after he was convicted of murdering

his ex-girlfriend in 2021.

He has since eluded hundreds of law enforcement officers in quiet, wooded communities outside Philadelphia, stirring a relentless unease among residents.

He has been spotted several times, even as officers have used drones, dogs and helicopters to try to find and arrest him. But he was still at large as of Tuesday morning, as helicopters circled the skies above the search area.

The state police’s Facebook post asked residents to stay inside, lock their doors and windows, and secure their vehicles. Police also issued an alert to residents that conveyed the same advice and asked them to review their surveillance camera footage.

Separately, Chester County’s Department of Emergency Services issued a report of a

shooting, with injuries, on Monday night. The shooting occurred after 10 p.m. on Coventryville Road, one of three roads that state police said defined the area of their search for Cavalcante early Tuesday. But it was not immediately clear if the shooting, near Pughtown, Pennsylvania, had involved Cavalcante.

Cavalcante, a Brazilian national, is also wanted for a 2017 murder in his home country.

After more than a week of hiding out in the quiet communities south of Chester County Prison, he slipped through a perimeter set by law enforcement and stole a delivery van over the weekend. On Saturday night, he was seen on a doorbell camera miles away. Police are now searching an area deeper in the Pennsylvania countryside, where he abandoned the van, apparently after it ran out of gas.

On Monday, officials told reporters that Cavalcante’s recent movements had changed the nature of the search, and that they worried he might try to steal another vehicle. They urged people in the area to be vigilant and warned of consequences for anyone who helped him.

State and federal authorities, including the U.S. Marshals Service, initially announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the fugitive’s capture. The reward was later raised to $20,000. On Monday, it climbed to $25,000.

Pennsylvania fugitive is armed, police say Biden marks 9/11 anniversary with a message of unity

By ERICA L. GREEN

President Joe Biden marked the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Monday with a message of unity, saying Americans must protect democratic ideals.

Biden delivered remarks from a military base in Alaska, where he stopped on his way home from a diplomatic trip to Asia so that he could commemorate the anniversary on U.S. soil.

“It shouldn’t take a national tragedy to remind us of the power of national unity,” he told a crowd of service members, first responders and their families. “That’s how we truly honor those we lost on 9/11.”

“It’s more important than ever that we come together around the principle of American democracy, regardless of our political backgrounds,” he said. “We must not succumb to the poisonous politics of difference and division. We must never allow ourselves to be pulled apart by petty manufactured grievances.”

Biden recalled how he stood at ground zero after the attacks, looking at the wreckage that resembled the “gates of hell.” But he said he was struck by the courage he witnessed in the days and years after.

He cited first responders who ran into infernos and breathed in toxins at ground zero, the civilians running into the Pentagon to save their colleagues and the “patriot passengers” who fought back against the terrorists who hijacked United Flight 93, which crashed outside

Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Biden also praised the “9/11 generation” that deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, and that “followed Osama bin Laden to the end of the earth and sent him to the gates of hell 12 years ago.”

American presidents usually mark the anniversary at the attack sites, but Biden was returning to Washington on Monday after a trip to India for the Group of 20 summit and a stop in Vietnam.

Biden said that he had been thinking during his travels about the 2,977 lives lost at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville.

“These trips are a central part of how we’re

going to ensure the United States is flanked by the broadest array of allies and partners who will stand with us and deter any threat toward security, to build a world that is safer for all of our children,” Biden said.

Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City, and Jill Biden, the first lady, laid a wreath at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

Biden concluded his remarks by recalling his visit to a memorial in Hanoi dedicated to the military service of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and how the two men fought on the Senate floor for years. But in the end, the president said, he put “duty to country first,” and his final words to Biden were “I love you.”

“Let us honor Sept. 11 by renewing our faith in one another,” he said. “Let us remember who we are as a nation.”

Law enforcement officers involved in the search for Danelo Cavalcante near Pottstown, Pa., on Sunday night.

President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on the 22nd anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon at Joint Base Elmendorf/Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday afternoon, Sept. 11, 2023.

President Joe Biden poses for photographs while greeting the troops at Joint Base Elmendorf/Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday afternoon, Sept. 11, 2023.

Trump moves to quash most charges against him in Georgia

By RICHARD FAUSSET and DANNY HAKIM

Former President Donald Trump asked a judge earlier this week to throw out most of the 13 charges against him in the wide-ranging election interference indictment handed up by a grand jury last month in Georgia.

The one-page motion from Trump’s Georgia lawyer, Steven Sadow, refers to a more expansive motion also filed Monday by one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case, lawyer Ray Smith III. That motion gives a detailed critique of the 98page indictment, arguing that its “defects” are “voluminous,” and that it is legally unsound.

Among other things, Smith’s motion says that the charge of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO — which all 19 defendants face — seeks to “punish protected First Amendment activity” and fails to “sufficiently allege the existence” of a racketeering enterprise whose goal was to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 election loss in the state.

The Smith filing argues that the racketeering conspiracy laid out by the prosecution was actually “comprised of millions of people throughout the country” who believed election fraud had taken place and were working toward the same goal as the defendants.

To illustrate the point, the motion stated that there were probably thousands of bank robbers in the United States, “but the mere fact that they all rob banks and have the same goal and many of the same methods of operation, does not mean that all American bank robbers constitute one RICO enterprise, despite the fact that they are people who commit the same crime, for the same reason.”

Smith’s legal team includes Donald F. Samuel, a veteran Atlanta defense lawyer.

The office of the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, who is leading the prosecution, declined to comment Monday evening before an official response to the motion in court. Sadow also declined to comment.

The filing was the latest legal volley in the case, which Trump sought to quash even before his indictment in mid-August. It came as little surprise to legal analysts watching the case, who had expected Trump’s lawyers to mount an aggressive defense long before the start of a trial.

The former president’s lawyers have already moved to sever his case from two co-defendants, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who have demanded a speedy trial. Their joint trial is set to start Oct. 23.

Smith, a lawyer based in Atlanta who helped Trump’s team challenge his loss in Georgia after the election, faces a dozen charges in the case. He advanced false claims about the election at a legislative hearing, according to the indictment. And, prosecutors charge, he took part in the efforts to get fake Trump electors to cast votes and sign documents that falsely claimed that he had won the election. Smith has pleaded not guilty.

“He never advocated violence; he never cried ‘fire’ in a crowded theater,” his lawyers argued in the motion. “If advocacy in court or the legislature is a crime — if it merits being branded a ‘racketeer’ — there are very few people who will have the

courage to risk engaging in such advocacy. ”

Chris Timmons, a former prosecutor in the Atlanta area, said Monday that the motion was unlikely to succeed in court, describing the racketeering enterprise defined in the indictment as “pretty tightly drawn.” But he noted that defense lawyers sometimes filed motions directed more at the court of public opinion, with an eye toward influencing a potential jury pool.

Notably, the Smith motion does not excuse all the activity that took place.

“If, as the Fulton prosecutors claim, somebody threatened physical harm to an election worker, that might (or should) be prosecuted as a crime,” Smith’s lawyers write. “The same for stealing computers or information from a computer.”

Some defendants in the case were charged with conspiracy to commit computer theft in a breach of a rural Georgia county’s voting system, while others were accused of threatening a poll worker.

Trump may soon follow the lead of several other defendants and ask to have his case moved to federal court, where the jury pool would be somewhat more supportive of him. But on Friday, a U.S. District Court judge rejected such a request from Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, dimming the prospects that others would succeed with the strategy.

Loyalty Finance LLC

Donald J. Trump may soon follow the lead of several other defendants and ask to have his case moved to federal court, where the jury pool would be somewhat more supportive of him.

Microsoft, Google and antitrust: Similar legal theories in a different era

By STEVE LOHR

The Justice Department argues in a federal antitrust suit that Google is a dominant tech company that has abused its market power to bully industry partners, protect its monopoly and thwart competition.

That has a familiar ring. As U.S. et al. v. Google goes to trial this week, the echoes of the landmark federal suit against Microsoft, a quarter-century ago, are unmistakable. In the Google case, as with Microsoft then, a tech giant is accused of using its overwhelming market power to unfairly cut competitors off from potential customers.

But on the eve of the Google trial, it seems unimaginable that the case could command the widespread attention that the Microsoft proceedings did. Microsoft in the late 1990s was a singular tech titan and its leader, Bill Gates, was a national icon.

The Microsoft trial, which began in October 1998, spanned 76 days of testimony over more than eight months. Every major news organization covered it. The New York Times reported on the proceedings daily.

It was a trial that often dealt with cerebral concepts such as “network effects” and “switching costs.” Yet the Times gave it the kind of day-to-day coverage ordinarily reserved for very few courtroom dramas over the years, such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.

Many days, there were spin sessions on the courthouse steps. Microsoft representatives would say the government had presented isolated snippets of text, taken out of context, certainly not proof of anti-competitive conduct. Lawyers for the Justice Department and states who joined the lawsuit would mostly say the damning testimony spoke for itself.

Microsoft was found by a federal judge to have repeatedly violated the nation’s antitrust laws. An appeals court upheld most of that decision but was skeptical of the government’s preferred remedy — breaking up the company.

In its lawsuit against Google, the Justice Department points to the Microsoft case and that company’s tactics in the 1990s. “Google deploys the same playbook,” the government declares, by illegally wielding its might in online search much as Microsoft did with its personal computer operating system, Windows.

But Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said there were big differences between the Microsoft of the dot-com boom and today’s Google. Back then, Walker was deputy general counsel of Netscape, the commercial pioneer of internet browsing software, which was the main target of Microsoft’s campaign to hobble competition.

About 90% of personal computers used Microsoft’s Windows software, the main gateway to the young internet, and Microsoft controlled the software and services that were featured on those Windows PC screens.

Google, on the other hand, has to work with and pay partners that make smartphones, browsers and other devices, Walker said. Its deals with companies such as Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine on their smartphones are legal and benefit consumers, giving them the best technology and reducing costs for device makers and their customers, he said.

“We think there are aspects of the Microsoft case that are actually very helpful to us here,” Walker said in an interview.

When the Microsoft trial started, it was the high tide of early internet euphoria. E-commerce was just getting underway, and every industry wanted to jump on the digital bandwagon. This was before mobile compu-

ting. The first BlackBerry, essentially an email device, was introduced in 1999. The iPhone, which started the smartphone era, didn’t arrive until 2007. If you wanted to get online, chances are you did it through a computer that ran Windows.

Microsoft was rich, powerful and ambitious. It had started to move beyond software. In 1996, it entered the media business in a partnership with NBC, setting up the cable channel, MSNBC, and a website, msnbc.com (Microsoft shed its stakes in both, years later).

Executives in industry after industry worried about what Microsoft might do next, sharing a sentiment expressed by Rupert Murdoch, chair of News Corp: “Everybody in the communications business is paranoid of Microsoft, including me.”

Today, Google does not loom as large as Microsoft once did. It is one member of the Big Tech club. It is an undisputed giant in search and online advertising, and its software and artificial intelligence prowess can extend to other industries. But its Big Tech peers — Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook) and even Microsoft — are all under scrutiny in the United States and abroad.

The Microsoft case also had a huge personal dimension because of the stature of Gates. He was the world’s richest person, and

during the course of the trial, as the stock market surged, Gates’ stake in Microsoft soared to $100 billion. In 1995, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology built a website, called the Bill Gates Personal Wealth Clock, to track Gates’ net worth.

Google’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, have a far less prominent role in the current case. They are no longer deeply involved in the company. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is a thoughtful, soft-spoken company man who joined Google in 2004 and rose through the ranks.

Although the legal theory advanced by the Justice Department mirrors the one used in the Microsoft case, the outcome of the trial will hinge on the evidence presented to Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

For its part, the government has understandably borrowed heavily from the Microsoft case in its lawsuit against Google because those legal theories “worked so well against Microsoft,” said William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

After the George W. Bush administration came to power, the Justice Department and Microsoft reached a settlement. The resulting consent decree prohibited Microsoft from imposing restrictive contracts, freed PC makers to load and feature other companies’ software and forced Microsoft to disclose more technical information.

Many people criticized the consent decree as toothless. David Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School, was initially a critic, but his views had changed.

Today, Yoffie teaches a course on antitrust and technology, and it begins with the Microsoft consent decree. “There were a litany of actions that were no longer possible because of the consent decree,” he said. “It did limit Microsoft’s ability to go after newcomers, not ones trying to compete with Microsoft head-on but at an angle.”

The leading beneficiary of the more open environment, Yoffie said, was an internet search startup, with new technology and later a new business model. It was called Google. It was founded in September 1998, one month before the Microsoft trial began.

Bill Gates, then chief executive of Microsoft, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on March 3, 1998. The hearing was one step in the antitrust pursuit of the company.

Fed Meeting Comes During Historically Tough Week for US Stocks

The U.S. stock market could be set for a rocky second half of September, particularly the week after the September 15 monthly options expiration, a Nomura Securities analysis of data going back more than three decades, shows.

The so-called “September Effect,” the apparent trend where U.S. stock market returns are relatively soft in September, has been especially acute for stocks in the week after options expiration, according to Nomura.

In 26 of the last 33 years, the S&P 500 Index fell in the week following the September options expiration, with a median drop of 1%, the analysis showed.

This time around, the week will encompass the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting, set to conclude on Sep. 20. Investors expect the central bank to hold rates steady at the meeting, but are looking for clues on whether policymakers plan to deliver another increase later this year.

Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott said the weakness may be linked to selling related to the fiscal year-end for mutual funds and tax-related selling by households.

Mutual funds often sell stocks in September ahead of the Oct. 31 tax year-end to make their portfolios look more attractive to investors, a process known as “window dressing,” which can weigh on stocks.

Additionally, stocks can come under pressure in September as individual investors may sell to pay their estimated taxes.

The S&P 500 is down 0.9% month-to-date, and investors are bracing for a host of market-moving catalysts in coming days, including Wednesday’s report on U.S. consumer prices.

One potential silver lining: when stock rallied for the January-August period, as they have this year, September tends to be positive, according to an analysis by Tallbacken Capital Advisors.

The overall mean return for all 95 Septembers since 1928 is -1.1%, but screening for those 34 years when the S&P 500 index was up more than 10% through August, the stocks gained 0.3% on average in September, the firm’s data showed.

In 26 of the last 33 years, the S&P 500 Index fell in the week following the September options expiration, with a median drop of 1%, the analysis showed.

This time around, the week will encompass the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting, set to conclude on Sep. 20. Investors expect the central bank to hold rates steady at the meeting, but are looking for clues on whether policymakers plan to deliver another increase later this year.

Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott said the weakness may be linked to selling related to the fiscal year-end for mutual funds and tax-related selling by households.

Mutual funds often sell stocks in September ahead of the Oct. 31 tax year-end to make their portfolios look more attractive to investors, a process known as “window dressing,” which can weigh on stocks.

Additionally, stocks can come under pressure in Septem-

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

ber as individual investors may sell to pay their estimated taxes.

The S&P 500 is down 0.9% month-to-date, and investors are bracing for a host of market-moving catalysts in coming days, including Wednesday’s report on U.S. consumer prices.

One potential silver lining: when stock rallied for the January-August period, as they have this year, September tends to be positive, according to an analysis by Tallbacken Capital Advisors.

The overall mean return for all 95 Septembers since 1928 is -1.1%, but screening for those 34 years when the S&P 500 index was up more than 10% through August, the stocks gained 0.3% on average in September, the firm’s data showed.

Or it may just be a series of idiosyncratic news events.

Either way, it was enough to hand Wall St stocks their best day of the month on Monday just as 10-year Treasury yields eye recent 15-year highs again above 4.3% ahead of today’s auction of new 10-year paper.

Although both stock futures and bond yields edged back a touch again on Tuesday ahead of the bell, the fact they are moving in tandem ahead of a critical week for macro policy is notable.

Kim Jong Un has something Putin needs, and that’s a new wrinkle

By PAUL SONNE and VALERIYA SAFRONOVA

When North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, visited President Vladimir Putin of Russia four years ago, it was mostly for diplomatic show.

But this week he will visit Putin a second time with the ability to supply something the Kremlin desperately needs: munitions that could help Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

The meeting, announced by both governments, comes as Putin is courting support for his standoff against the United States and NATO from other leaders opposed to Western dominance. Some, such as Iran, have provided direct military assistance to Russia for its war in Ukraine, while others, such as India, have resolutely declined to condemn Russian aggression.

In a brief statement, the Kremlin said Kim would “pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days” at Putin’s invitation. On Tuesday, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim had left Pyongyang, the capital, for Russia by train on Sunday. Photos showed that he was accompanied by the North’s foreign minister and its two highest-ranking military commanders.

Kim and Putin are expected to meet in the eastern port city of Vladivostok, where Putin is attending an economic forum this week.

Kim used his preferred method of travel during his rare trips out of North Korea, a slow-moving armored train. South Korean officials said Tuesday that his train had crossed the border into Russia.

Kim and Putin are expected to discuss military cooperation between their countries, including the possibility of North Korea supplying Russia with more weapons for the war in Ukraine, U.S. and allied officials told The New York Times last week. Since 2022, U.S. officials have repeatedly said that North Korea has been shipping artillery shells and rockets to Russia.

North Korea is one of the most heavily militarized countries in the world, one that analysts believe has a surplus of ammunition, since it has not fought a war since 1953.

In exchange, officials have said, Kim

would like Russia to provide advanced technology for satellites and nuclearpowered submarines, as well as food aid. If some kind of mutually beneficial agreement is reached, it could transform a relationship that has long been limited to public displays of cooperation, and relatively small amounts of trade, into something more substantive — and, the West warns, more of a threat to global stability.

“If we do see a bargain there, it will

be the real end of an era with the relationship that started in 1990,” said Fyodor Tertitskiy, a leading researcher at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea.

Since then, Tertitskiy said, the relationship has been a lot of “talk and no real trade,” noting that a deal where Russia provides North Korea with something of value in exchange for munitions would mark a departure.

North Korea, long hostile to the Unit-

ed States, is a natural ally for Putin in his standoff with NATO and his fight against what he portrays as Western hegemony.

The Russian leader has also strengthened ties with Iran, making a rare international trip there last year to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, as well as the country’s president, amid international isolation of Russia over the invasion.

In the months since, Iran has become a crucial supplier of drones to Moscow, which Russian forces have used against Ukraine, both on the battlefield and in attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Putin has also appeared with President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, who gave Russia access to his country’s territory to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February of last year.

The Pentagon said this month that Russia had specifically asked North Korea for ammunition, noting that the request was driven by problems Moscow has been having with replenishing the armaments it needs on the battlefield.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July on a trip that U.S. officials at the time said was aimed at setting up an arms deal.

North Korea has one of the world’s largest armies, despite having a population of only about 26 million people. The country operates on a wartime footing at all times, and artillery would be a crucial piece of any renewed war with South Korea. The result is a North Korean military with significant stores of artillery shells and production capacity for making them.

Petr Akopov, a pro-war columnist for the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, suggested in a recent article that Russia could “unofficially” transfer military technology to Pyongyang and welcome North Korean builders into occupied areas of Ukraine, in exchange for ammunition and certain types of missiles.

“All of this is hampered to one degree or another by U.N. Security Council sanctions, but there are always options for circumventing them,” Akopov wrote.

Akopov added, “The world is changing, and those countries that have challenged the Western world order will not be able to change it by playing by its rules.”

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia during their meeting in Vladivostok in 2019.

A green train with yellow trimmings, resembling one used by Mr. Kim on his previous travels, on Monday at the North Korean border with Russia and China.

In wake of Morocco earthquake, frustration fuels solidarity

By CATHERINE PORTER

The line of eight vehicles made its way up the dirt road shuttling loaves of bread, folded sweaters, antibiotics and a warm sense of solidarity up to the broken mountain. An hour up the road into the Atlas Mountains from the provincial capital of Taroudant, the caravan came to stop in a darkened village that a group of volunteers had heard was in need of help.

The volunteers had been driving all day from their homes in distant cities. Pulling out flashlights and attaching headlamps, the motley group clambered over mounds of rubble, peaked at long cracks along walls and bent down to assess the spot where neighbors had dug out a 32-year-old man and his six children who had been eating dinner when the earthquake struck.

They had survived, but their home was destroyed, their wooden front door propped up against a jumbled pile of mud bricks and broken wood.

Many of the rescue efforts in these remote areas has been spearheaded by residents, with relief supplemented by volunteers in the days since an earthquake in Morocco — the strongest to hit the area in more than a century — killed at least 2,862 people and injured another 2,562, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry.

As the days roll forward, the initial shock has turned into a quiet anger against the government’s slow response to accept foreign aid and rescue teams. But in a country where criticism of the king can herald serious consequences, perhaps the loudest expression of protest is action, as people across Morocco come to help those in need.

The volunteers in the village of Douar Bousguine next came to a clearing where 15 women sat in a makeshift communal bedroom — woven plastic mats spread over the dirt, an overhead tarp held up by a long stick. Some wore fluffy bedtime robes over their gowns. “We lost everything,” said Khaddouj Boukrim, 46, who greeted the visitors with a warm handshake and a smile despite the crisis. “It’s very cold. We don’t have mattresses.”

A medical student in the group, dressed in navy scrubs, snapped on blue latex gloves and looked through the card-

board box brimming with medical supplies that he had brought. He treated a pregnant woman’s infected finger and a young mother’s swollen bruise. It was clear his team was offering more than

medical help.

“We just wanted to help people,” said Mehdi Ayassi, his friend, who was holding up his cellphone as a makeshift surgical light. Ayassi, 22, had quit his job at a Mar-

rakech hotel to aid in the rescue efforts with his friends. He said the earthquake, and the tragedy that has followed, made him realize that he wanted to do something else with his life.

Many regular citizens are filling their vans with supplies and heading deeper into remote places in the distant Taroudant province, where professional help had yet to arrive.

“I went expecting misery,” said Yves Le Gall, a French owner of a hotel inside the fortifications of the provincial capital, who spent five hours carrying loaves of bread and bananas up to villages in the nearby Atlas Mountains where he normally sends his guests for hikes. “But I found Moroccan solidarity.”

A large group of volunteers from the coastal city of Safi formed over Facebook, and combined forces with Ayassi and his friends from Marrakech after a chance encounter at a gas station en route. At 11 p.m., they handed out bags of flour, cheese, sugar, toilet paper and clothes to a crowd gathered on the dark road.

People shook hands and introduced themselves warmly. A donkey brayed in the distance.

The ambience was strangely festive, with locals saying they were relieved someone was helping, and the volunteers happy to have found a place to pour their empathy.

But there was also frustration.

Mosa’ab Mtahhaf, the medical student from Marrakech, said he had come prepared for open wounds and broken bones, but found mostly long-term ailments to treat. Villagers had already taken their badly injured neighbors to the hospital.

“These people were already poor. Now, they have nothing,” said Yousef Errouggeh, 29, a cook in a Paris restaurant who was back in his childhood village to help. “They don’t need food. They need someone to rebuild their houses. How will they sleep when the rain comes?”

He continued: “The situation is really bad. Everyone we’ve seen here is a fellow citizen, not the government.”

Ayassi and his friends agreed that they would continue up the mountain to find other villages, perhaps ones harder hit. They had no idea where they would sleep that night. Nor, really, when they would go home.

“When all our supplies are gone,” he said.

Civilian volunteers on Monday in Douar Bousguine, part of Taroudant Province in Morocco, distributing aid to victims of a deadly earthquake.

Mosa’ab Mtahhaf, a medical student, helping an injured woman in Douar Bousguine whose home was damaged. He said that when he arrived, villagers had already taken their badly injured neighbors to the hospital.

American cave expert is rescued in Turkey

By KALY SOTO and SAFAK TIMUR

An American cave expert who became ill while he was more than 3,000 feet underground in a cave in Turkey, prompting an international rescue effort, was pulled safely from the cave soon after midnight Tuesday morning local time and immediately brought to a medical tent, the Speleological Federation of Turkey announced in a statement.

While he was deep underground, the caver, Mark Dickey, 40, who is himself an expert cave rescuer, suffered gastrointestinal bleeding and lost 3 liters of blood. He was part of an expedition that was exploring the Morca cave, which he entered Aug. 30. After he became ill, a member of his party made the harrowing, hourslong climb to the surface and alerted authorities on Sept. 2.

That brought more than 180 people from eight countries, including Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland and the United States, to help rescue him. Many of them camped out in the cave or near its opening in a remote part of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey.

The rescuers began moving Dickey up the cave Saturday afternoon, according to the Speleological Federation of Turkey. The teams had to navigate some narrow passages, said Yaman

Ozakin, a spokesperson affiliated with the Turkish cave rescuers.

The rescue teams installed communications systems, blasted open narrow areas so they could move Dickey through on a stretcher and used lines set up inside the cave to carry the stretcher out. At one point, Dickey managed to walk a couple of meters to pass narrow paths, making the rescue effort easier, Ozakin said.

Food, water, medicine and blood were

delivered to the mouth of the cave and carried down by other cavers. Dickey received intensive medical care, including blood transfusions, while he was in the cave.

A video shot inside the cave on Sept. 6 showed Dickey wearing a red puffy coat and a headlamp.

“As you can see, I’m up, I’m alert, I’m talking,” Dickey said in the video, “but I’m not healed on the inside yet, so I’m going to need a lot of help to get out of here.” He said that

before medical help arrived, he had felt “very close to the edge.”

Dickey lives in New York state, but he leads the New Jersey Initial Response Team based in Sussex County, New Jersey. In a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said that he had been in touch with Turkish officials about Dickey’s rescue.

Rescue workers said that Dickey had been with two people when he fell ill. Other members of the 14-person expedition were elsewhere in the cave system, or waiting to enter, at the time.

The Morca cave, which is mainly made of limestone, is the third deepest in Turkey, with a depth of 4,186 feet, or 1,276 meters, according to the Turkish federation. It is more than 13,000 feet long.

The European Cave Rescue Association said in a statement that Dickey was a highly trained caver and a well-known figure in the international community of speleologists, or cave experts, who had participated in many expeditions around the world.

He is also a senior member of the European Cave Rescue Association’s medical committee and an instructor for cave rescue organizations in the United States, according to the statement.

Ukraine claims to have retaken oil and gas platforms in the Black Sea

By MARC SANTORA

Ukraine said earlier this week that it had taken control of several oil and gas platforms in the Black Sea, after a series of clashes with Russian aerial and maritime forces in the waters between Odesa and the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency released a 13-minute video including combat footage, drone videos and interviews with unidentified special forces soldiers describing what they said was “a unique operation to establish control” over offshore rigs known as the Boyko Towers that Russia seized in 2015.

Ukraine’s claim could not be independently verified, and the Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately comment.

Like nearby Snake Island, a speck of land south of Odesa, the offshore platforms play a role in Russia’s ability to project power in the Black Sea, where the Kremlin has strangled the Ukrainian economy and wreaked havoc with global food supplies with a de facto naval blockade of Ukrainian ports.

The Russians have used the drilling platforms as forward deployment bases and helicopter landing sites — essentially floating bases. Military analysts and the British military intelligence agency say Russia has installed radar installations and

long-range missile systems used to attack Ukraine and defend against strikes on Russian installations in Crimea.

Ukraine stepped up its campaign to drive the Russians from the platforms this summer, according to both Russian and Ukrainian accounts.

In a skirmish last month, Russia said that one of its fighter jets destroyed a high-speed military boat carrying Ukrainian troops. Ukraine’s military intelligence offered a different version of events, saying the Russian fighter jet had come under fire and was forced to retreat.

In the video released Monday, Ukrainian forces showed what they said were “trophies” from the operation, including a stockpile of helicopter munitions and a radar system that they said can track the movement of ships. And they claimed they had moved closer to achieving their objective of reclaiming Crimea.

Although Ukraine was able to sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet early in the war, the Russian navy has an important base in Crimea and has been a forceful presence during the conflict.

After Russia pulled out of a deal that allowed Ukraine to safely ship its grain through the Black Sea, Moscow threatened to treat civilian ships moving to and from Ukrainian ports as potentially hostile. Russia also began more aggressively targeting infrastructure at Ukraine’s ports, both on the Black Sea

and the Danube River.

On Monday, a newly declassified British intelligence report suggested that Russian missiles in an attack last month were aimed at a civilian cargo ship that was docked at a Black Sea port in the Odesa region.

The ship, which sails under the Liberian flag, was unharmed in the Aug. 24 attack after the missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, the report said.

Mark Dickey, an American cave expert, had fallen ill more than a week ago while more than 3,000 feet underground during a cave expedition in Turkey.

A Ukrainian soldier looking at a damaged Russian military aircraft on Snake Island in the Black Sea in December.

Elon Musk’s antisemitism problem isn’t about free speech

By DAVID FRENCH

Despite his loud and frequent protestations, Elon Musk may be the worst ambassador for free speech in America. To understand why, it’s necessary to look at X, the website formerly known as Twitter, which he owns and rules over like the generalissimo of a banana republic. The past several days are of particular relevance.

Since the end of last month, the site has hosted a tsunami of vile antisemitic speech. While it’s difficult to peg the cause of any given trend on X, it appears that this latest wave of bigotry might have been sparked by an Aug. 29 meeting between the Anti-Defamation League chief executive, Jonathan Greenblatt, and the new X chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. As Greenblatt posted, the purpose of the meeting was to “address hate” on the platform.

What happened next was extraordinary. Almost immediately, a number of notorious antisemitic accounts posted under the hashtag #BanTheADL. Musk boosted the campaign by liking a post by a far-right activist that called for banning the ADL and then started his own campaign against the organization. In a series of posts on X, he blamed it for most of X’s loss in advertising revenue, called the ADL the biggest generator of antisemitism on X, proposed a poll on booting the ADL from the platform and then threatened to sue the ADL for defamation.

And make no mistake: As Claire Berlinski detailed in

an excellent Substack post, the X discourse on the ADL was hardly a nuanced critique of its priorities. Rather, it was an excuse for an outpouring of the worst rhetoric imaginable. And what was Musk’s response? He declared himself “against anti-Semitism of any kind” — though his claims of the ADL’s immense power tapped into classic antisemitic tropes — but “pro free speech.”

Musk’s invocation of free speech is nothing new for him. He has called himself a “free speech absolutist,” and when he agreed to buy Twitter in 2022, he loftily declared that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” After the platform’s previous moderation troubles — which the former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey openly acknowledged — there was at least some reason to hope that Musk’s purchase would result in a platform moderated in a manner broadly in accordance with First Amendment principles.

But that’s not what happened. Not at all. Instead of creating a platform for free speech, Musk created a platform for Musk’s speech — or, more precisely, Musk’s power. First, he has demonstrated that he’s perfectly willing to take action against people or entities that challenge him or challenge X. As my friends at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (where I used to serve as president) have detailed, he has used his authority to suspend accounts, to throttle (or limit the traffic of) competitors and reportedly to boost his own voice.

Second, rather than create a free marketplace of ideas, Musk uses X as a marketplace where you can pay to privilege your thoughts. Under the pay-to-play system, the people who fork over a monthly fee to join X’s premium service have their reach substantially extended, including by being granted “prioritized rankings in conversations and search.” And because Musk has centered himself in the platform’s public image, a disproportionate number of these premium accounts seem to share Musk’s trollish right-wing persona and create the unmistakable sense that X is becoming dominated by far-right voices that often revel in cruelty, bigotry and misinformation.

Finally, we can’t neglect the power of Musk’s own voice to distort the debate. As Berlinski details in her newsletter, when he “calls attention” to other accounts by liking, responding or reposting, “he makes them famous, immediately. It directs a human tidal wave of attention — some 140 million Elon Musk fans — to their accounts.”

Taken together, all of these factors mean that X isn’t so much a free speech paradise as the generalissimo’s playpen, and the generalissimo’s values shape everything about the place.

An offline analogy can be helpful. One of the most significant Supreme Court cases demonstrating the reach of American free speech law is National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie. The Supreme Court upheld

the First Amendment rights of Nazis who sought to march through the heavily Jewish village of Skokie, Illinois. The case marked the extent to which American free speech rights extend even to the most abhorrent of ideas. So yes, it’s true that a social media platform that models its policies on the First Amendment will still permit some repugnant speech.

But is that what’s happening on X? No. A closer parallel would be if the mayor of Skokie didn’t just let the Nazis march but also leased them powerful loudspeakers for a nominal fee so that Jewish citizens found it hard to ignore the Nazis’ speech, banned the speech of local citizens who angrily objected to the mayor’s rules and then occasionally grabbed a white supremacist from the crowd for a supportive interview on the mayor’s radio show. When the Jewish citizens complained, the mayor threatened their most vocal civic organization with a ruinous lawsuit. And after critics rightfully attacked this bias, the mayor claimed that he really, truly hates the Nazis; it was just that he loved free speech so very much.

No one would take such a claim at face value. It is true that a platform dedicated to free speech will tolerate even the expression of abhorrent ideas. (Indeed, as Greenblatt argued in an interview with Yair Rosenberg at The Atlantic, “We believe very strongly that hate speech is the price of free speech.”) But it is not true that free speech requires agreement or amplification. It is not true that censoring dissent or threatening dissenters is consistent with free speech.

X is Musk’s company, and he can set whatever speech rules he wishes. But do not be fooled. When Musk defends his decisions by shouting “free speech,” I’m reminded of the immortal words of Inigo Montoya in the movie “The Princess Bride”: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Musk isn’t promoting liberty; he’s using his power to privilege many of the worst voices in American life.

SAN JUAN – En el marco del nuevo año académico 2023-2024, la Administración de Servicios de Salud Mental y Contra la Adicción (ASSMCA) y el Departamento de Educación (DE) establecieron una alianza con la cual llevarán servicios de prevención y salud mental a estudiantes de escuela elemental, intermedia y superior en 857 planteles a través de los 78 municipios de Puerto Rico, incluyendo las islas municipios de Vieques y Culebra.

El proyecto denominado ASSMCA Visita Tu Escuela, es una iniciativa novel de salud pública mediante la cual la administración del gobernador Pedro Pierluisi busca prevenir y erradicar conductas de riesgos a las que están expuestos los niños y jóvenes, que atentan contra su pleno desarrollo, su salud física, mental y su vida. Entre las conductas de riesgo se encuentran el uso de sustancias controladas, alcohol y el vapeo, acoso escolar, depresión, e ideas suicidas.

Al hacer el anuncio, el administrador de la ASSMCA, el doctor Carlos Rodríguez Mateo, afirmó que “la pandemia ha sido un desafío para la salud física y mental de todos en Puerto Rico y en el mundo, con particular énfasis en los niños y jóvenes, lo que se suma a otros estresores que se presentan en la etapa del desarrollo del ser humano. Por lo que, con este proyecto de ASSMCA Visita Tu Escuela están fomentando política pública de prevención, para erradicar y disminuir la

POR CYBERNEWS

prevalencia de conductas de riesgo, así como problemas de salud mental, mediante un manejo adecuado de las emociones. Que nuestros estudiantes entiendan que cuentan con ayuda, apoyo y recursos para sobrellevar las situaciones que atraviesan y que no están solos. Recordando además que, impactando a estos estudiantes, se impacta de manera positiva a la comunidad escolar y a sus familias”.

Por su parte, la secretaria interina del DE, Yanira Raíces Vega, señaló la importancia que tiene este esfuerzo en el desarrollo académico y la salud emocional de los estudiantes y de toda la comunidad escolar.

“ASSMCA Visita Tu Escuela es un proyecto de gran impacto, es la primera vez que se coordina un esfuerzo de salud mental y prevención de este alcance, el cual proyectamos será de mucho beneficio para los estudiantes y las comunidades escolares, teniendo en

cuenta que, además, está enfocado en brindar herramientas para el fortalecimiento de la salud emocional y la autoestima de los niños y jóvenes, aspectos que son claves para lograr un buen aprendizaje, desempeño escolar y desarrollo integral”, expresó la titular.

El proyecto ASSMCA Visita Tu Escuela cuenta con 80 grupos multidisciplinarios, integrados por unos 500 profesionales de la conducta humana quienes, durante los meses de junio y julio, recibieron adiestramientos y capacitación para impactar en una primera fase a los alumnos de los grados kínder hasta cuarto año en las escuelas públicas de la isla. Entre estos profesionales se encuentran trabajadores sociales, psicólogos, consejeros y otros profesionales especializados en los servicios de prevención. En una segunda fase, el proyecto impactará a los maestros del sistema de enseñanza público.

El proyecto inició en las escuelas ayer lunes, a través de presentaciones, dinámicas interactivas y módulos, atendiendo las conductas de riesgo que más prevalecen en Puerto Rico entre la población de niños y adolescentes, y las cuales se identificaron como resultado del más reciente estudio titulado Consulta Juvenil 2022, un trabajo en unión con investigadores del Recinto de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico y la Universidad Central del Caribe.

En una segunda etapa, el proyecto ASSMCA Visita Tu Escuela estará llevando servicios directamente a los maestros del sistema de educación pública.

CEIBA

– La base naval Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba será el escenario ideal, para apreciar y vivir la máxima experiencia de navegación con la primera Regata de la academia de navegación Marlin Sailing School.

La nominada Advantix Regata reunirá sobre 70 embarcaciones con la participación de niños, jóvenes y adultos en las categorías Optimist que es para jóvenes de 7 a 14 años, el 420, que es para jóvenes desde 15 años navegan en parejas, Laser también para jóvenes de 15 años en adelante y otras categorías como Sunfish, Wing Foil, Snipe y Hobie 16.

El evento se llevará a cabo el sábado 16 y domingo 17 de septiembre de 2023 , y aunque la Advantix Regata no es un evento clasificatorio, el mismo servirá de experiencia para estos jóvenes que representan a la Isla en competencias Internacionalmente.

“Marlin Sailing School abrió sus puertas en junio de 2016 en la Marina de la antigua Base Roosevelt Roads

ofreciendo la oportunidad a niños desde siete años a aprender este deporte. Este fue el lugar escogido por nuestra academia porque la bahía “Ensenada Honda” tiene excelentes condiciones y seguridad para la navegación a velas en todas sus etapas; desde la iniciación hasta nivel competitivo”, explicó Juan Gabriel del Campo, propietario y entrenador de la academia.

El evento cuenta con el auspicio de Advantix Engineers Group, Cooperativa Naguabeña, WALO Radio Oriental, Ralph’s Food Warehouse, Sails Gateway, Power Solar, Power Sport Warehouse, Magic Logistics, Municipio de Ceiba, Terra Tiles, United Collection,Hawaiian Punch, Vieques Air Link, ABC Technology Group, ECZ Group y EGB y se estima la participación de 70 jóvenes y adultos, sobre 20 voluntarios como jueces, tripulantes y coaches, además de familiares, amigos y fanáticos de este deporte.

“Este proyecto no es tan sólo un evento deportivo, es un evento que apoya a nuestros jóvenes a fortalecer su independencia, disciplina, ampliar su perspectiva del

trabajo en equipo y sobre todo reconocer la unicidad de la esencia humana. Además impactará la economía local, sobre todo de la base Rooosevelt Roads que se encuentra en desarrollo”, añadió del Campo.

Para más información puede comunicarse al 787409-2001 o acceder a las redes sociales de Marlin Sailing School.

Con viento en popa y a toda vela la Base Roosevelt Roads en Ceiba llevará a cabo su primera regata

ASSMCA y Educación anuncian proyecto para erradicar conductas de riesgo y fomentar la salud mental entre estudiantes de Puerto Rico

Olivia Rodrigo has seen the world now, and she’s livid

By JON CARAMANICA

One of the fundamental conditions — or is it goals? — of pop stardom is hiding the work. You may see Beyoncé sweat, or note how Taylor Swift’s real-life travails inform her artistic choices, but the music created by the most famous performers in pop rarely refers back to the costs, literal and emotional, of making it.

But what if you want to show the work?

That’s the novel approach of Olivia Rodrigo, a modern and somewhat signature pop star. At the beginning of 2021, she released “Drivers License,” her first single outside the Disney ecosystem she was creatively raised in, and experienced the kind of supernova ascent that’s impossible to anticipate or recreate. Her jolting debut album, “Sour,” released a few months later, showed her to be a spiky, vivid writer and singer, but one who hadn’t quite seen the world.

Two years later, on her poignantly fraught, spiritually and sonically agitated follow-up album “Guts,” Rodrigo has seen too much. “Guts” is an almost real-time reckoning with the maelstrom of new celebrity, the choices it forces upon you and the compromises you make along the way. As on “Sour,” Rodrigo, who is 20 now, toggles between bratty rock gestures and piano-driven melancholy. But regardless of musical mode, her emotional position is consistent throughout these dozen songs about betrayal, regret and self-flagellation.

“I used to think I was smart / But you made me look so naive,” she howls on the lead single “Vampire”; she’s referring to a toxic ex, but she may as well be singing about the spotlight itself. Or as she puts it on “Making the Bed,” “I got the things I wanted / It’s just not what I imagined.”

Rodrigo is a songwriter of rather astonishing purity; even in her most stylized lyrics, she never wanders far from the unformed gut-kick of a feeling. Sometimes on this album, she triples down. “I loved you truly / Gotta laugh at the stupidity,” she chuckles on “Vampire.” “I look so stupid thinking / Two plus two equals five / and I’m the love of your life,” she croons on “Logical.” “My God, how could I be so stupid,” she sighs on “Love Is Embarrassing.”

Don’t mistake Rodrigo’s weakness for weakness, though. Her self-doubt is a powerful animating force. Throughout this album, she kiln-fires her anxieties into lyrics that cut deep. “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” is about the existential struggle of self-love, particularly under an unrelenting public eye. The impudent “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” captures the essence of outsider awkwardness.

The dreamy — and perhaps “Folklore”-esque — “Lacy” is about being robbed of your illusions: “I despise my rotten mind / and how much it worships you,” Rodrigo sings. From a young star who’s had what appears to be frosty relations with Swift, an idol who was retroactively granted songwriting credit on Rodrigo’s first album, it reads like the bruise from a door slammed shut in her face.

Several other songs are about being on the wrong side of a manipulative relationship. “Logical” and “The Grudge” tackle it via self-serious angst. But Rodrigo has more spark when she’s

playfully ambivalent about how, or if, to break free. “Bad Idea Right?,” driven by throbbing bass and drizzled with layered, saccharine chanting, is about how holding on can be more fun than letting go. And “Get Him Back!” is a revenge fantasy — “I wanna meet his mom / Just to tell her her son sucks” — that’s maybe, just maybe, leaning into double entendre.

The real casualties documented in these songs are the relationships Rodrigo has, or had, with her actual friends. On “Get Him Back!” she imagines their disappointment as she sends a note to that risible ex. On “Love Is Embarrassing,” she recounts telling them breathlessly about her new obsession, only to have him let her down immediately thereafter. It’s not that her old life is sitting in judgment of her new one, but rather that she’s lost touch with the anchors that grounded her, and she’s floating into a grotesque unknown. “Getting drunk at a club with my fair-weather friends,” she laments on “Making the Bed.”

Rodrigo writes her own lyrics, and “Guts” is produced by Daniel Nigro, who was also her creative partner on “Sour.” That small circle frees her from the committee-tested gleam of most mainstream pop. Her sudden success means she has not (yet?) needed to subject herself to the homogenization of the Max Martins of the world; she has succeeded by rendering her intimacies on a grand stage. That’s part of why “Guts” leans heavily into rock — pop-punk (“All-American Bitch,” “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl”), a little new wave (“Love Is Embarrassing”), theatrical folk (“Lacy”) — which gives her songs thickness and a little bit of rowdiness, too. But some of this album’s most punk moments, as it were, come when Rodrigo unleashes holy hell while Nigro simply plays the piano.

On her debut album, Rodrigo made semi-subtle nods to

earlier female pop stars; there can still sometimes be the sense that she is constructing her songs of existing parts, whether from Swift or Alanis Morissette or Avril Lavigne or Veruca Salt. The winks come in the song titles; “Love Is Embarrassing” nods to Sky Ferreira, a parallel-universe meta-pop star of a decade ago who also trafficked in seen-it-all realness. And then there’s the album closer, “Teenage Dream,” which invokes Katy Perry, the archetypically glossy 21st-century pop princess.

Perry’s “Teenage Dream” is a naive cupcake, an exhortation to live, laugh, love. Rodrigo’s is a morbid piano plaint about the falsity beneath all that. The dream is a mirage, and Rodrigo is pulling back the curtain on it: “I fear that they already got all the best parts of me / And I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream.”

Here, and in the most potent moments on “Guts,” Rodrigo’s music pulses with the verve of someone who’s been buttoned tight beginning to come loose. Unraveling is messy business, but it is also freedom.

Andeno Co

Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 9 de septiembre de 2023 Tasa Mínima (%)

Olivia Rodrigo in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on July 27, 2023. Her new album, “Guts,” toggles between bratty rock gestures and piano-driven melancholy.

Five action movies to stream now

By ROBERT DANIELS

This month’s picks include films with complex schemes, vengeful spouses and plenty of brawling.

‘Cinnamon’

Stream it on Tubi.

Jodi (Hailey Kilgore) is working her late shift at a gas station when a biker in a helmet enters to rob the joint. The biker kills a Black customer in a cowboy hat before fleeing into the night. Jodi appears shocked. But she shouldn’t be. The thief is her boyfriend, Eddie (David Iacono). They’re in cahoots.

This film relies on smart world-building by way of a memorable ensemble. Eddie and Jodi are childhood friends, who, three months before the robbery, reconnected on a bus. Jodi is an aspiring singer and actress stuck in her dead-end job; Eddie is a petty criminal who conjures up a plan to finance Jodi’s career by fleecing her crooked boss, Wally (Damon Wayans). But by swindling Wally, they’re also, inadvertently, stealing from his deadly investors, a Black cowboy crime family led by a blind matriarch (Pam Grier).

“Cinnamon” is funny and sweet, centering on Jodi and Eddie’s young love, but Grier gives this action-comedy an enthralling, menacing side, elevating it from its meet-cute foundation into an intense, bloody crime flick.

‘Dead Shot’

Rent or buy on most major platforms.

It’s 1975; the Troubles are raging. Retired Irish Republican Army paramilitary Michael O’Hara (Colin Morgan) is taking his wife, in labor, to a hospital. In an attempt to ambush O’Hara, a British special forces member, Tempest (Aml Ameen), accidentally kills O’Hara’s wife, while his target escapes. Rather than punishing the sharpshooting Tempest, Holland (Mark Strong) a British intelligence official, assigns him to a police unit tasked with hunting the IRA. The injustice leads O’Hara to come out of retirement to kill Tempest.

While directors Tom and Charles Guard’s “Dead Shot” features your standard revenge thriller viciousness — initially, neither O’Hara nor Tempest cares about what stray bullets or random explosives affect Londoners — mixed with espionage paranoia, the film is really a critique of retribution killing. The two men eventually question the moral imperatives of their superiors, and of their own place in the world (Tempest, a Black man, fighting a white man’s war), and what exactly bloodshed accomplishes when it only begets more bloodshed.

‘Foggy Mountain’

Stream it on Hi-Yah!

It’s not uncommon for lesser action films to prize convoluted plotting over choreographed fight scenes. For Vietnamese directors Phan Anh and Ken Dinh’s wellcrafted “Foggy Mountain,” the opposite proves true. The plot is simple: An underground fighter named Phi (Peter Pham) attempts to leave the clutches of a maniacal fight

promoter, gangster and human trafficker, Ba Rau (Thach Kim Long). In turn, Ba Rau murders Phi’s blind wife, causing Phi to seek revenge by venturing to Ba Rau’s stronghold, the foggy mountain.

Most important, this film loves capturing wellcrafted conflicts. I stopped counting within the first halfhour — by that point five skirmishes had occurred — but suffice to say, there’s not only a plethora of fights, but they’re also all immersive and bruising. The agile camera movement is a particular highlight: The lens glides so smoothly during the fights, it feels like the camera is attached to the actors’ fists, taking us along for the ride.

‘River Wild’

Stream it on Netflix.

When Joey (Leighton Meester) leaves her stressful life to go whitewater rafting with her brother, Gray (Taran Killam), and Trevor (Adam Brody), their troubled friend from childhood, “River Wild,” a survivalist film by Ben Ketai, follows in the footsteps of “Cliffhanger,” “Firestorm” and “Vertical Limit.” Taking on two random British tourists — Van (Eve Connolly) and Karissa (Olivia Swann) — the group begins rafting through dangerous channels, only to discover the real terror is sitting beside them.

The predatory Trevor is anguished, vindictive and desperate, particularly in the face of confident women such as Joey and Van. Trevor attacks Van with a rage that

is only matched by the rushing water. Fearing a return to prison, Trevor takes the rafters hostage. Joey resourcefully maneuvers around this deranged man and, by intertwining the dangers of nature in a climactic whitewater chase scene, the film fashions Meester into an action star akin to Sylvester Stallone or Howie Long.

‘Wolf Pack’

Stream it on Hi-Yah!

Unlike “Foggy Mountain,” Chinese writer-director Michael Chiang’s “Wolf Pack” features complex plotting and dense action. The MacGyver of physicians, Ke Tong (Aarif Lee) has spent his life retracing his murdered father’s footsteps by traveling the world to war-torn areas. When Ke Tong is kidnapped by a secret group of noble mercenaries led by Diao (Max Zhang) — his deceased father’s best friend — he becomes enveloped in a geopolitical crisis, helping the team defuse a bomb rigged to counterfeit, pressurized regulators at a natural gas plant in China.

Though the film concerns Ke Tong’s personal search to discover why his father was a mercenary, the pleasure of “Wolf Pack” really resides in this team of killers. Seeing this group in firefights is engrossing: The sharp editing delights in capturing their quick movements and the ways they seemingly move as one organism, giving these scenes a transfixing rhythm and sheen above other common war movies.

David Iacono, left, with Hailey Kilgore in “Cinnamon.”

FDA approves new COVID shots

By CHRISTINA JEWETT and NOAH WEILAND

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of COVID boosters Monday that will arrive alongside the seasonal flu vaccine and shots to protect infants and older adults from RSV, a potentially lethal respiratory virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was expected to follow up Tuesday with an advisory meeting to discuss who should get the new shots, by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. After a final decision by the CDC’s director, millions of doses will be shipped to pharmacies, clinics and health systems nationwide within days.

As COVID cases creep up, the trifecta of prevention measures could portend the first winter of the decade without a crush of patients overwhelming some hospitals. But a healthy winter is far from a lock: In the past year, the updated COVID vaccine made it into the arms of only 20% of adults in the United States.

Some experts view that statistic with little alarm because the number of COVID deaths slowed considerably over the past year, thanks to an increasingly immune population and higher vaccine rates among older Americans. Others see this year as an opportunity to protect more vulnerable people from severe illness or death.

“Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine expert.

The FDA granted full approval for the new formulas for people who are 12 and older and authorized them to protect infants 6 months and older through age 11. The Pfizer shot was authorized in the European Union for ages 6 months and older on Aug. 31.

COVID vaccines are just rolling out in the United Kingdom this week, with the first doses going to the highest risk people in care homes, ages 65 and

older as well as health and social care staff members.

Federal officials have been retreating from labeling the new formulation as boosters to previous shots, preferring to recast them as an annual immunization effort akin to the flu vaccine. That shift may reflect concern over the fatigue that some Americans have expressed about yet another round of shots against the virus.

The vaccine campaign will also be the first since the end of the public health emergency, which expired in May. In previous years, the U.S. government bought hundreds of millions of vaccine doses and distributed them for free. This year, private insurance and government payers like Medicare that cover the vast majority of Americans are expected to provide the vaccines to people for free.

But the question remains whether the private market of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies will be able to calibrate their vaccine orders to stock a realistic supply. Experts are uncertain how much demand there will be for the latest shots.

“There could be a period in here where things are a little bit chaotic, and that’s never a good situation,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of

the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, a public health group.

Also of concern in the handoff to the private market: the nation’s 23 million adults with no health insurance. The Biden administration has made plans to cover costs and offer the COVID vaccine through local clinics and major pharmacies, but some experts are worried about whether people who lack insurance will be aware of the new shots — or where to get them.

“They don’t have an insurer sending them leaflets — they may not have a usual source of care,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a California advocacy group. “And so the trusted messenger of their health plan, their doctor, their clinic, is not there saying, ‘It’s no cost. It’s really easy.’”

Vaccine manufacturers are expected to donate doses for the uninsured. Kelly Cunningham, a spokesperson for Moderna, said the company had no cap on the number.

The latest shots are becoming available as COVID hospitalizations and deaths are rising slightly, albeit not to the levels of past years. In the week ended Aug. 26, there were 17,400 people

admitted to the hospital — more than about 6,000 at a low point this summer. Deaths were also up to about 600 a week last month, though far lower than the weekly average of 14,000 deaths of 2021.

Once the CDC signs off, the Biden administration plans to urge the public to get their COVID and flu shots at the same time, a practice that has been studied and considered by some experts to be safe. It’s a messaging effort they expect to share with major vaccine makers, which will be marketing the COVID doses commercially for the first time.

Walgreens and CVS said they both already have the updated flu and RSV shots available in stores. Dr. Kevin Ban, Walgreens’ chief medical officer, said the chain would have the new COVID shots on hand “as soon as possible.” A CVS spokesperson said doses could be arriving later this week. Representatives of both chains said the COVID shot would be available at no cost to all who are eligible under the CDC guidelines expected Tuesday.

Targeted populations most certainly will include people 65 and older as well as those who are immunocompromised or have serious underlying medical conditions that leave them more susceptible to severe illness from the virus.

Nursing homes, which inoculated nearly all of their residents in the first waves of the pandemic, have fallen behind on booster rates: Recent Medicare data shows that about 62% of residents are up-to-date on their shots even though older adults are among the most vulnerable to severe disease and death from the virus.

The new COVID vaccines target the XBB.1.5 variant, which was dominant when vaccine makers began to formulate and test a new version. They are monovalent because, unlike the earlier boosters, they do not include protection against the original virus that caused widespread infections in China more than three years ago. Although the virus has had a rotating cast of variants, experts say the new COVID jab should fortify protections against severe infection.

A vaccine drive in Lynwood, Calif., last autumn. This year’s campaign will be the first since the end of the public health emergency, which expired in May.

Love shrimp scampi? Try this rosé-infused twist.

BY ERIC KIM

This rosé shrimp recipe eluded me for months.

As May, June and July bled into August, I found myself cooking iterations of my idea — pan-seared shrimp with rosé butter — so often that even my partner, a seafood obsessive, said enough was enough.

After much tinkering, I did eventually lure him back to the dinner table.

It turned out that blooming herbes de Provence — heady with dried herbs like rosemary, thyme and often lavender — in hot, shrimpy olive oil amplified the savoriness that crustaceans cooked in butter and wine tend to have (think of shrimp scampi). And the floral herbs made the rosé butter taste somehow even more of rosé, that crisp summer wine, another taste of Provence.

It was getting closer. And yet, it was still missing something.

One day, my friend Rebecca, a recipe developer herself who sometimes works for The New York Times (and often helps me gutcheck my own recipes), suggested that I add some piment d’Espelette to match the dish’s French leanings.

“I feel like it’s totally underutilized,” she said about the fruity, moderately spiced pepper, named for a commune in France and prevalent in Basque cooking.

When it comes to the piment d’Espelette, which turbocharges the flavor and pinkish color of this shrimp, you don’t have to pluck it from a Basque field. You can easily find it online as well as in many supermarkets and specialty spice stores. And if you can’t?

Gochugaru, Aleppo pepper and red-pepper flakes are all adequate substitutes.

Be sure not to skip the orange zest, though; it brings out the Provençal wine’s inherent fruitiness. This last addition was a gift

from another friend and colleague, Melissa Clark.

For weeks, I had a draft of this recipe lingering on my Google Drive, but I just couldn’t bring myself to turn it in. It wasn’t ready yet. So I cooked it with Melissa in her Brooklyn kitchen: She tasted it, lingered for a moment and ran to her fridge to grab a lemon — then an orange. Zested over the shrimp, the bittersweet orange lent balance and made the buttery sauce taste all the better. Recalling the sunny rosé, it locked everything into place. I love cooking because sometimes all it takes is a friend (or two) to help you finesse the details of a dish, to give rosy color to an idea.

Rosé shrimp

This zippy, pink shrimp dish captures the crisp and flowery flavors of rosé wine in just 20 minutes. A dusting of herbes de Provence, bloomed in hot, shrimpy olive oil, amplifies the savoriness that crustaceans cooked in butter and wine tend to provide, like that of shrimp scampi. Piment d’Espelette — the fruity, moderately spiced pepper named after a commune in France and prevalent in Basque cooking — turbocharges the color and flavor of the shrimp. This chile can be swapped in a pinch (see Tip), but don’t skip the orange zest; it brings out the wine’s inherent fruitiness. Serve this dish as an appetizer with crusty bread, or as an entrée with pasta or white rice, whatever can sop up the rosy pan juices.

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound extra-large peeled and deveined shrimp

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1/2 teaspoon piment d’Espelette (see Tip), plus more for garnish

1 1/2 cups dry rosé wine

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)

Orange zest, for serving

Preparation:

1. On a plate, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add the oil. Lay the shrimp down in a single layer and cook on the first side, undisturbed, until rosy around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip and continue cooking, about 30 seconds. Transfer to the plate. (The shrimp will still be gray in spots at this point, but it will continue to cook in the sauce later.)

2. Stir the herbes de Provence and piment d’Espelette into the hot, shrimpy oil until

fragrant, just a few seconds. Add the rosé and brown sugar. Raise the heat to high to bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy and reduced by three-quarters, about 10 minutes.

3. Off the heat, add the butter, stirring constantly until melted. Toss the shrimp in the hot, buttery sauce, then let sit until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Top with freshly grated orange zest and a final sprinkle of piment d’Espelette. Serve immediately.

Tip: You can easily find piment d’Espelette, or Espelette pepper, online as well as in many supermarkets and specialty spice stores. Its sunny flavor is worth seeking out for this particular dish, but gochugaru, Aleppo pepper and red-pepper flakes, though different in taste, are all adequate substitutions.

Rosé shrimp. This zippy dish is still cooked in butter and wine, but feels like it spent the summer in Provence. Food styled by Barrett Washburne.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE LIME HOMES, LTD.

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE FELÍCITA

NATAL CARDONA COMPUESTA POR

FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ZUTANO DE TAL, ZUTANA DE TAL, A, B Y C COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN; JUANITA VELAZQUEZ

NATAL POR SÍ Y COMO HEREDERA CONOCIDA DE LA SUCESIÓN; JOSÉ

SANTIAGO JORGE Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS; HONORABLE SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE JUSTICIA Y HONORABLE

SECRETARIO DE HACIENDA DEL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO

Demandados

Civil Núm.: PO2019CV00725. (406). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y DE EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, MIGUEL A. TORRES AYALA, Alguacil de la División de Subastas del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Ponce, a la demandada y al público en general, les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso, por el Secretario del Tribunal, con fecha 17 de julio de 2023 y para satisfacer la Sentencia por la cantidad de $69,184.11 de principal; dictada en el caso de epígrafe el 13 de abril de 2023 y notificada por edicto el 18 de abril de 2023, publicada mediante edicto el 24 de abril de 2023, en el periódico “The San Juan Daily Star” y notificada por correo certificado el 25 de abril de 2023; procederé a vender en pública subasta, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, todo derecho, título e interés que haya tenido, tenga o pueda tener la deudora demandada en cuanto a la propiedad localizada en el: Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico, los bienes inmuebles se describen a

continuación: 3830 Global St., Baldorioty, Ponce, PR 00731.

URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 309, según el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Solares y Servicios Baldorioty de Ponce, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de 236.72 metros cuadrados. En linderos NORTE, con la calle denominada Calle M; SUR, sola 311; ESTE, solar 298 y OESTE, con la calle denominada Calle W de dicho plano de inscripción. Enclava en este solar una casa destinada a vivienda. Consta inscrita al folio 207 del tomo 329 de Ponce, finca número 18,791 en el Registro de Propiedad de Ponce, Sección Segunda. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Ponce, cuyas cantidades ascienden a $69,184.11, de principal, intereses sobre el principal adeudado al 11.96760% desde el 6 de junio de 2016, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda; un balance diferido de $468.00 que no acumula intereses; recargos a razón del 5% de cada pago vencido no recibido dentro de los quince (15) días después de la fecha de vencimiento; más el 10% del principal o $7,650.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados pactado. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $76,500.00 para la propiedad descrita. Si no produjere remate o adjudicación la primera subasta, se procederá a una segunda subasta y servirá de tipo mínimo la cantidad de $51,000.00. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en esta segunda subasta, se procederá a una tercera subasta, en ésta el tipo mínimo será la cantidad de $38,250.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse a opción del demandante. Para el lote descrito, la PRIMERA

SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 10 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA.

De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una

SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 17

DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS

10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA

SUBASTA el día 24 DE OC-

TUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:30

DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta o subastas antes indicadas se llevarán a efecto en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior

de Ponce. De Estudio de Título realizado no surgen gravámenes preferentes ni posteriores que deban ser cancelados. Se le advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, giro postal o cheque de gerente a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vi a correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere al crédito de ejecutante, continuarán subsiguientes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores, previa orden judicial dirigida al Registrador de la Propiedad de la sección correspondiente para la cancelación de aquellos posteriores. Y para conocimiento de la demandada, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 16 de agosto de 2023. MIGUEL

A. TORRES AYALA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #560.

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON SALA SUPERIOR . E.M.I. EQUITY MORTGAGE, INC. DEMANDANTE VS. LA SUCESION DE ROSENDO CASTRO NIEVES COMPUESTA POR FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NUM.: BY2023CV01314.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONS-

TAR: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR, , en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América el 26 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina del Alguacil de Subastas, sita en el cuarto piso del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en: URBANIZACION VILLA RICA, 2DA EXTENSION C-41 CALLE 3, BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO 00959 y que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar cuarentiuno, Bloque “C”, Segunda Extensión de la Urbanización Villa Rica en Hato Tejas, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, compuesto de trescientos ochentitrés punto ochentiséis metros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, en catorce punto sesenta metros con Calle tres; por el SUR, en catorce punto noventitrés metros con Solares trece y doce; por el ESTE, en veinte y seis metros con Solar cuarenta; y por el OESTE, en igual medida con Solar cuarentidós. La propiedad antes relacionada consta inscrita al Folio 106 del Tomo 541 de Bayamón Sur, finca número 24,593, en el Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Primera. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dispuesto en la Escritura de Hipoteca, es

decir la suma de $122,735.00.

Si no hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una segunda subasta en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 3 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $81,823.33. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta se celebrará una tercera subasta en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 10 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Para la tercera subasta servirá de tipo mínimo la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para el caso de ejecución, o sea, la suma de $61,367.50. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura de hipoteca número 324 otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 24 de agosto de 2018, ante el Notario David Cardona Dinguí, inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, finca número 24,593, inscripción 5ta, en el Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Primera. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al Demandante total o parcialmente según sea el caso el importe de la Sentencia que ha obtenido contra la parte demandada ascendente a la suma de $114,403.30 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de noviembre de2022, más intereses al tipo pactado de 4.75% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además, la parte co-demandada La Sucesión de Rosendo Castro Nieves adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equivalentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $12,273.50. Además, la parte co-demandada La Sucesión de Rosendo Castro Nieves se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $12,273.50 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $12,273.50 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al Procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la SECRETARIA

DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR durante las horas laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio de remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores conocidos y desconocidos que tengan inscritos, no inscritos, presentados y/o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad objeto de ejecución y descrita anteriormente se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores una vez el Honorable Tribunal expida la correspondiente Orden de Confirmación de Venta Judicial. Y para conocimiento de licitadores del público en general se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley por espacio de dos semanas en tres sitios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subasta bajo mi firma en el Tribunal en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 30 de agosto de 2023. EDGARDO ELIAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CEN-

TRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON SALA SUPERIOR. ***

LEGAL NOTICE

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

NANCY PRADO NIEVES

Parte Demandante V. EVELYN MELENDEZ PRADO Y OTROS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: FA2023CV00458. Sobre: PARTICIÓN DE HERENCIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS.

A: EVELYN MELENDEZ PRADO

POR LA PRESENTE se notifica que la parte demandante del epígrafe ha presentado ante este Tribunal uña demanda sobre Partición de Herencia en su contra, según surge de las alegaciones de la demanda en el caso de epígrafe. Se le requiere a usted para que notifique con copia de la Contestación a la demanda al abogado de la parte demandante, cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono son los que se indican a continuación:

LCDOA. LIZIBEL SALAZAR ACEVEDO

RUA: 20973

Abogado de la Parte Demandante P.O. Box 367265 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936 Tel.: 787-475-2288

Email: salazar.bufetegs@gmail.com

Se le apercibe que, si no compareciere usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de 30 días a partir de la publicación del Edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, podrá dictarse sentencia en rebeldía en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), el cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Fajardo, hoy 12 de julio de 2023. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA.

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

Demandante Vs. VIRGILIO GUZMAN GORDIAN, POR SI Y EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA DE LA SUCESION DE GLORIA GRAU SANTIAGO; LA SUCESION DE GLORIA GRAU SANTIAGO COMPUESTA POR FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

CIVIL NUM.: PO2022CV00467

SALA: 406 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONSTAR: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América el 11 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en su oficina sita en el local que ocupa en el edificio del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE, SALA SUPERIOR, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en: #5 CALLE 2, COMUNIDAD CERRILLO, PONCE, PUERTO RICO 00731 y que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número cinco en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Cerrillos, Barrio Cerrillos del término municipal de Ponce, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cuatrocientos dos punto treinta metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con parcela número dos de la comunidad; por el SUR, con calle número dos de la comunidad; por el ESTE, con parcela número seis de la comunidad; y por el OESTE, con parcela número cuatro de

barrio Turabo (Tomás de Castro) de Caguas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 360.59 metros cuadrados. Finca #19,412 inscrita al Folio 94 del Tomo 591 de Caguas, Registro de la Propiedad, Sección Primera de Caguas, inscripción 3ra., fue totalmente satisfecho, que el mismo se ha extraviado y que ustedes podrían resultar ser tenedores del mismo, por lo que se les advierte que sí no radican su contestación a la demanda dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación de este Edicto a:

LCDO. ORLANDO MALDONADO RIVERA COND. TORRELINDA

85 CALLE MAYAGUEZ, APT. 504 SAN JUAN, P.R. 00917

TELEFONO: (787) 450-0077

E-mail: lic.omaldonado@gmail.com se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado por la parte demandante, sin más citarles ni oírlos. Expido bajo mi firma y sello de este tribunal hoy día 6 de septiembre de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA.

ENEIDA ARROYO VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN SALÓN DE SESIONES SALÓN 702.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante v. LA SUCESION DE JUAN RAMON QUIÑONES ALVAREZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: BY2019CV01747.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

DUNCAN R. MALDONADO EJARQUE

EJECUCIONES@CM-PRLA W.COM

A: FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE JUAN

RAMÓN QUIÑONES ÁLVAREZ.

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

EL SECRET ARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 02 DE AGOSTO DE 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 1 O días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedi-

miento 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 08 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2023. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 08 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2023.

LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretario(a). f/MIRCIENID GONZALEZ TORRES, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON SALA SUPERIOR.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

DEMANDANTE VS.

ESTEBAN ROMAN

FLORES, JULIE

YOURNET CUADRADO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NUM.: BY2023CV04403, SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, El Presidente de los Estados Unidos, El Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico.

A la parte co-demandada:

ESTEBAN ROMÁN

FLORES, JULIE

YOURNET CUADRADO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS, a su última dirección conocida es:

URB. MOLINOS DEL RIO

#307 CALLE FERNANDO

ARAGON DORADO, PR 00646.

Por la presente se le(s) notifica que se ha radicado en la Secretaría de este Tribunal una Demanda en Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra, en la cual se alega entre otras cosas que la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante por concepto de hipoteca la suma de $152,289.64 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de marzo de 2023, más intereses al tipo pactado de 3.50% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equiva-

lentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $17,500.00. Además la parte demandada se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $17,500.00 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $17,500.00 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley y cualquiera otros adelantos que se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca número 332, otorgada en Carolina, Puerto Rico, el día 18 de noviembre de 2016, ante la notario Saideth Cristobal Martínez, de la finca número 16,588, inscrita al TomoKaribe de Dorado, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Cuarta. Por razón de dicho incumplimiento, y al amparo del derecho que le confiere el Pagaré, el demandante ha declarado tales sumas vencidas, líquidas y exigibles en su totalidad. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le(s) cite a usted(es) por edicto que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectando por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de Puerto Rico. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y notifique copia de la Contestación de la Demanda a las oficinas de CARDONA & MALDONADO LAW OFFICES, P.S.C. ATENCIÓN al Lcdo. Duncan Maldonado Ejarque, P.O. Box 366221, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936- 6221; Tel (787) 622-7000, Fax (787) 6257001, Abogado de la Parte Demandante. Dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su Rebeldía y dictar Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado sin más citarle(s) ni oirle(s).

EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el Sello del Tribunal. DADA hoy 11 de septiembre de 2023, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Lcda.

Laura I Santa Sanchez, SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE. ORIENTAL BANK DEMANDANTE VS. JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ROMAN; AUTORIDAD PARA EL FINANCIAMIENTO DE LA VIVIENDA DE PUERTO RICO

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: PO2023CV01911. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS.

A: JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ ROMÁN

Urb. La Rambla

Ext. #2 Solar 691 Ponce, PR 00730

Dirección postal: Urb. La Rambla 3151 Calle Fagot Ponce, PR 00730; PO Box 8064 Ponce, PR 00732 y 819 Ave. Hostes PMB 161 Ponce, PR 00716 POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días a partir de la publicación de este edicto.

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

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P.

LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM.: 11416 PO BOX 3908, GUAYNABO, PR 00970 TEL: 787- 751-5290, FAX: 787-751-6155

E-MAIL:

ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com

En Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 6 de septiembre de 2023. Glenda D Ruiz, Secretaria. Mariely Felix Rivera, Sub Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE PONCE ESTRELLA HOME III, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE NILDA ALVARADO OLIVIERI compuesta por DAVID QUESTELL ALVARADO Y ENRIQUE QUESTELL ALVARADO, LA SUCESION DE MIGUEL QUESTELL ALVARADO, Compuesta por MICHEILA QUESTELL MORAN, JOHN DOE Y RICHAR ROE, Como posibles herederos desconocidos De NILDA ALVARADO OLIVIERI, Y MIGUEL QUESTELL ALVARADO, ADMINISTRACION PARA EL SUSTENTO A MENORES, CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NUM. GM2018CV00559

SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. ANUNCIO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Ponce, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que venderá en pública subasta en la Oficina de Alguaciles, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Ponce, al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $63,871.29 de balance principal, los intereses adeudados sobre dicho principal y computados al 8.75% anual hasta su total pago y completo pago desde el primero de mayo de 2018; cargos por demora devengados, más la suma de $9,050.00 estipulada para honorarios de abogado pactada en la escritura de hipoteca y cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquiera concepto legal se devenguen hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Compuesta de los solares numero ocho (8) y nueve (9), radicado en el Municipio de Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de doscientos cincuenta punto sesenta y tres (250.63) metros cuadrados. EN lindes por el Norte, con la Calle Doctor Betances; por el Sur, con los solares numero dos (2) y seis (6) del plano; por el Este, con el solar numero diez (10) y un callejón que conduce a dicho solar; y por el Oeste, con el solar numero sie-

te (7) del referido plano. Contiene un edificio residencial de dos plantas, todo de concreto, la primera planta será usada para marquesina y la segunda planta consiste de tres dormitorios, dos baños, sala-comedor, cocina y balcón. Inscrita al folio doscientos seis (206) del tomo cuarenta y cinco (45) de Santa Isabel, finca numero mil ciento trece (1,113). Registro de la Propiedad de Guayama.

Dirección Física: C/Betances #40, Santa Isabel, PR 00757. La primera subasta se llevará a cabo el día 11 de octubre de 2023, a las 11:30 de la mañana y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $90,500.00 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una segunda subasta el día 18 de octubre de 2023, a las 11:30 de la mañana, y el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $60,333.33. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 25 de octubre de 2023, a las 11:30 de la mañana, y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $45,250.00. El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipotecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad

a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. (Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 24 de agosto de 2023. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE SALVADOR ROLDAN RIVERA, COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES “CRIM”

Demandados

Civil Núm.: HU2023CV00475. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA “IN REM”. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE SALVADOR ROLDAN RIVERA, COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES “CRIM”. Yo, JOSÉ L. RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 4 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Humacao, Humacao, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Humacao durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 11 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 18 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar número Cinco (5) del Bloque “K”, radicado en la URBANIZACIÓN PRADERAS DEL ESTE, localizado en el Barrio Santiago y Lima del término municipal de Naguabo, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de DOSCIENTOS SESENTA Y CUATRO PUNTO CERO CERO (264.00) METROS CUADRADOS; colindando por el NORTE, en doce punto cero cero (12.00) metros, con la Calle número Cuatro (4) de la Urbanización; por el SUR, en doce punto cero cero (12.00) metros, con el solar número Dieciocho (18) del Bloque “K”; por el ESTE, en veintidós punto cero cero (22.00) metros, con el solar número Cuatro (4) del Bloque “K”; y por el OESTE, en veintidós punto cero cero (22.00) metros, con el solar número Seis (6) del Bloque “K”

de la Urbanización. Enclava casa de hormigón y bloques de hormigón para fines residenciales. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 190 vuelto del tomo 244 de Naguabo, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao, finca número 14,437, inscripción quinta, según modificada inscripción sexta y séptima. Modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 5ta., en cuanto a que se amplía por la suma de $1,689.54 para un nuevo principal que será ahora de $82,039.54, según la escritura número 692, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 30 de diciembre de 2011, ante el Notario Público Ricardo Rangel Rivera, inscrita al folio 191 vuelto del tomo 244 de Naguabo, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao, finca 14,437, inscripción 6ta. Modificada nuevamente la hipoteca de la inscripción 5ta., se cancela parcialmente en cuanto a la suma de $7,931.32 quedando reducida a $74,108.22, con intereses al 4.25% anual, vencedero el día 1ro. de septiembre de 2049, según la escritura número 21, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 24 de agosto de 2019, ante la Notario Público Jackeline López González, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Naguabo, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao, finca 14,437, inscripción 7ma. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urb. Praderas del Este, Calle 4, K-5, Naguabo, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $70,079.34 por concepto de principal, más intereses al tipo pactado de 4.25% anual, desde el 1ro. de octubre de 2022, los cuales continuarán acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación, más la suma de $8,035.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, así como el pago de otros cargos, recargos penalidades y créditos accesorios según pactado. todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $74,108.22 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $49,405.48 y de necesitarse una tercera subasta la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir la suma de $37,054.11. Si se declara desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien

deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Podrán concurrir como postores a todas las subastas los titulares de créditos hipotecarios vigentes y posteriores a la hipoteca que se cobra o ejecuta, si alguno o que figuren como tales en la certificación registral y que podrán utilizar el montante de sus créditos o parte de alguno en sus ofertas. Si la oferta aceptada es por cantidad mayor a la suma del crédito o créditos preferentes al suyo, al obtener la buena pro del remate, deberá satisfacer en el mismo acto, en efectivo o en cheque de gerente, la totalidad del crédito hipotecario que se ejecuta y la de cualesquiera otro créditos posteriores al que se ejecuta pero preferente al suyo. El exceso constituirá abono total o parcial en su propio crédito. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Humacao, Puerto Rico, a 31 de agosto de 2023. JOSÉ L. RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO. JANIA GUASP LOZA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #653.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN SALÓN DE SESIONES SALÓN 903 CIVIL

CONDOMINIO BAHÍA PROPERTIES, LLC.

Demandante V.

SUCESIÓN DE TEODORO

GONZÁLEZ ACEVEDO COMPUESTA POR Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

ALEJANDRO BELLVER ESPINOSA

ALEJANDRO@BELLVERLAW.COM

EVELIAN DEL ROCÍO SUÁREZ RODRÍGUEZ EVELIAN@BELLVERLAW.COM

CASO NÚM.: SJ2023CV03127

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESIÓN DE TEODORO GONZÁLEZ

ACEVEDO COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL,

MENGANO DE TAL, MENGANA DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que 1 de septiembre de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 5 de septiembre de 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 5 de septiembre de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. F/Mildred J. Franco Reventos, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE FAJARDO SALA SUPERIOR DE VIEQUES. BSV, LLC, Demandante, v.

RAGNAR MORALES

DÍAZ T/C/C REGNAR MORALES DÍAZ, SU

ESPOSA JESSICA

RUIZ PÉREZ T/C/C

JESICA RUIZ PÉREZ, Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandados

CIVIL NÚM.: VQ2021cv00022

(001). SOBRE: EJECUCIÓN DE hipoteca IN REM. AVISO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO. YO, el(la) Alguacil que suscribe, por la presente anuncia y hace constar, que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 15 de septiembre de 2021, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, quien pagará el importe de la venta en dinero efectivo

o en cheque certificado o de gerente, a la orden del Alguacil suscribiente, en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, el día 4 de octubre de 2023, a la(s) 1:00 de la tarde, en mi oficina localizada en el Tribunal de Vieques todo título, derecho o interés que corresponda a la parte demandada sobre el inmueble que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno marcado con el número 3 en el plano de subdivisión de la finca Martineau sita en el barrio Florida del término municipal de Vieques, Puerto Rico, compuesto de 10.8168 cuerdas, equivalentes a 42,514.3034 metros cuadrados, y en lindes por el NORTE, con camino que lo separa de la finca individual número 19; por el SUR, con la Sucesión Nelly Diaz y la Estación Naval; por el ESTE, con la finca individual número 2 y por el Oeste, con la finca individual número 4. Inscrita al Folio 47 vuelto del tomo 68 de Vieques, Finca número 2,973 Registro de la Propiedad de Fajardo. Dirección Física: #3 Finca Martineau / Bo. Florida, Vieques, Puerto Rico. La propiedad descrita anteriormente está afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: Afecta por su procedencia: Servidumbre a favor de la Autoridad de las Fuentes Fluviales de Puerto Rico. HIPOTECA en garantía de un pagaré a favor de NEW YORK MORTGAGE BANKERS, o a su orden, por la suma de $459,000.00, con interés al 6½%, y vencedero 1 de febrero de 2020, según consta de la escritura #67, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 31 de enero de 2005, ante el Notario Público Oscar González Rivera, inscrita al folio 148vto del tomo 83 de Vieques, finca # 2973 inscripción 8va. SERVIDUMBRE constitución de derecho real y perpetuo sobre la propiedad para el proyecto de mejoras al sistema de acueductos Barrio Florida de Vieques a favor de AUTORIDAD DE ACUEDUCTO Y ALCANTARILLADO DE PUERTO RICO sobre faja compuesta de 715.61mc Demandante: AUTORIDAD DE ACUEDUCTO Y ALCANTARILLADO DE PUERTO RICO; Demandado: JEFFREY ALLAN MILHAM RAGNAR MORALES DÍAZ; ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, JOHN ROE y RICHARD ROE, según Resolución dictada por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, en el caso Civil Núm. EF2008-0002(1003) sobre Expropiación Forzosa del 16 de enero de 2008, inscrito al folio 148 del tomo 83 inscripción 9na. ANOTACIÓN DE DEMANDA: Es objeto de esta anotación la Hipoteca a favor de NEW YORK MORTGAGE BANKERS, por la suma de

$459,000.00 que surge de la inscripción #8. DEMANDANTE: BAUTISTA CAYMAN ASSET COMPANY; DEMANDADO: RAGNAR MORALES DÍAZ

T/C/C REGNAR MORALES DÍAZ, su esposa JESSICA RUIZ PÉREZ T/C/C JESICA

RUIZ PÉREZ, Cantidad Adeudada $366,903.34, por concepto de principal más intereses, según Demanda expedida por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vieques en el caso Civil Núm. Q2021CV00022 el día 4 de marzo de 2021, inscrito al tomo KARIBE de Vieques, finca #2973, Anotación A de fecha del 11 de marzo de 2021. Servirá como tipo mínimo para la primera subasta en ejecución de la hipoteca objeto de este caso que grava la Propiedad antes descrita la suma de $459,000.00, conforme a lo estipulado en la Escritura de Primera Hipoteca Núm. 67, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 31 de enero de 2005, ante el Notario Público Oscar M. González Rivera. De no adjudicarse la propiedad en la primera subasta, se celebrará una segunda subasta, en las mismas oficinas de este Alguacil, el día 11 de octubre de 2023, a la(s) 1:00 de la tarde. El tipo mínimo para la segunda subasta será dos terceras partes (2/3) del tipo mínimo de la primera subasta, o sea, $306,000.00. De no adjudicarse la propiedad en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una tercera subasta en las mismas oficinas de este Alguacil, el día 18 de octubre de 2023, a la(s) 1:00 de la tarde. El tipo mínimo para la tercera subasta será la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo que se pactara para la primera subasta, o sea, $229,500.00. Esta subasta se hará para satisfacer a la parte demandante, hasta donde alcance, el importe adeudado a BSV, LLC, ascendente al 6 de julio de 2021, a una suma no menor de $374,912.10, la cual se compone de: (i) $298,694.52 por concepto de principal; más

(ii) $27,761.35 por concepto de intereses acumulados y no pagados, cantidad que se continúa acumulando hasta su total y completo pago a razón de $53.93 diarios; más (iii) $1,292.73 por concepto de cargos por mora, los cuales incrementan diariamente a la tasa pactada bajo el Préstamo Hipotecario hasta su total y completo pago; más $1,262.50 por concepto de otros gastos; más (iv) la suma de $45,900.00 por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado pactados expresamente, según se desprende el Pagar Hipotecario y la Hipoteca. La venta en pública subasta de la propiedad descrita anteriormente se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte dicha propiedad. Se entiende

que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si lo hubiera, al crédito que da base a esta ejecución, continuará subsistente, entendiéndose además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría de este Tribunal durante horas laborables. El Alguacil procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. POR LA PRESENTE, se les notifica a los titulares de créditos y/o cargas registrales posteriores, si alguno, que se celebrará la SUBASTA en la fecha, hora y sitio anteriormente señalados, y se les invita a que concurran a dicha subasta, si les conviniere, o se les invita a satisfacer, antes del remate, el importe del crédito, sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del Acreedor ejecutante, siempre y cuando reúnan los requisitos y cualificaciones de Ley para que se pueda efectuar tal subrogación. Y PARA SU PUBLICACIÓN en el tablón de edictos de este Tribunal y en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde se celebrará la subasta señalada. Además, en un periódico de circulación general en dos (2) ocasiones y mediante correo certificado a la última dirección conocida de la parte demandada. EXPEDIDO el presente EDICTO DE SUBASTA en Vieques, Puerto Rico, a 14 de agosto de 2023. Nelimar Peterson Vélez #837, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE VIEQUES.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE HÉCTOR

EMIRO SÁNCHEZ

ORTIZ T/C/C HÉCTOR E.

SÁNCHEZ ORTIZ T/C/C

HECTOR SANCHEZ

ORTIZ T/C/C HECTOR

EMIRO SANCHEZ T/C/C

HECTOR E. SANCHEZ

COMPUESTA POR:

CARMEN JULIETTE SÀNCHEZ PÉREZ; FRANCHESCA TERESA SÀNCHEZ PÉREZ; BEXAIDA

LORETT SÀNCHEZ PÉREZ; SU VIUDA

OLGA IRIS LLITERAS

BATISTA T/C/C OLGA LLITERAS BATISTA; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO

Demandados CIVIL NÚM: MT2023CV00461

SOBRE: INTERPELACIÓN, COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS

A: FRACHESCA TERESA SANCHEZ PEREZ, miembro de la Sucesión de Héctor Emiro Sánchez Ortiz t/c/c Héctor E. Sánchez Ortiz t/c/c Héctor Sánchez Ortiz t/c/c Héctor Emiro Sánchez t/c/c Héctor E. Sánchez t/c/c Héctor Sánchez, PO Box 1824, Manatí, Puerto Rico 00674.

DE: FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

Se le emplaza y requiere que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), 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. Este caso trata sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Garantías en que la parte demandante solicita que se condene a la parte demandada a pagar: la suma principal de $78,018.78, que incluye intereses según pactados, cargos por demora y otros cargos, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma de 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado hipotecariamente asegurados. Se le apercibe que, si dejare de hacerlo, se dictará contra usted sentencia en rebeldía, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Se ordena a los herederos a que dentro del mismo término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de notificación, ACEPTEN O REPUDIEN la participación que les corresponda en la herencia del causante Héctor Emiro Sánchez Ortiz t/c/c Héctor Sánchez Ortiz. Se les apercibe que de no expresarse dentro del término

de (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, se tendrá por aceptada. Lcdo. José Antonio Lamas Burgos Número del Tribunal Supremo 15693 PO Box 194089, San Juan, PR 00919 Teléfono: (787) 296-9500 Correo Electrónico: jlamas@lvprlaw.com

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal, hoy día 6 de septiembre de 2023. Vivian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria Regional. Carmen J. Rosario Valentín, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO. LIME HOMES, LTD. Plaintiff, v. ENRIQUE MANUEL ESPINOSA NUÑEZ

Defendants

Civil Action Num.: 19-cv-1989 (JAG). Matter: Foreclosure of Mortgage. NOTICE OF SALE. TO: ENRIQUE MANUEL ESPINOSA NUÑEZ: AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

WHEREAS: On July 19, 2023, Default Judgment was entered and grated on same day, in favor of Plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal amount of $197,578.80, plus interests at a rate of 6.5% per annum since March 1, 2016, which continues to accrue until the debit is paid in full, a deferred principal balance that does not accrue interest of $5,465.05, late charged on the amount of 5.00% of each and any monthly installment not received by the note holder within 15 days after the installment is due, all advances made in accordance with the mortgage note including, but not limited to, insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% ($21,150.00) to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150 or 400 Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the Court, Room 150 or 400 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property described in Spanish:

URBANA: Solar marcado con

The

San Juan Daily Star

el número catorce (14) del bloque “G” en la Urbanización El Álamo, en el Barrio Frailes de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de trescientos setenta y cinco metros cuadrados (375.00 m.c.), en lindes por el NORTE, en quince metros (15.00 m.), con la franja verde; por el SUR, en quince metros (15.00 m.), con la calle número dos (2); por el ESTE, en veinticinco metros (25.00 m.), con el solar número “G” trece (G-13); y por el OESTE, en veinticinco metros (25.00 m.), con el solar número “G” quince (G-15). Enclava una casa. The property is recorded at Page 85 of Volume 240 of Guayanbo, Property Registry of Puerto Rico, and lot number 14,822, First Section of Guaynabo. The deed of mortgage and deed of modification are recorded at Page 203 of Volume 1244 of Guaynabo, Property Registry of Puerto Rico, and lot number 14,822. Property address: Urbanización El Alamo, Calle Jacinto 14-G, Guaynabo, P.R. 00969. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: NONE. Junior Liens: NONE. Other Liens: NONE. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the FIRST public sale shall be held on the October 16, 2023 at 9:30 am. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $208,144.59. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND public auction shall be held on the October 23, 2023 at 9:30 am, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $138,763.06, which is twothirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD public auction will be held on the October 30, 2023 at 9:30 am, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $104,072.29, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. Should there be no award or adjudication at the third public sale, the property may be awarded to the creditor for the entire amount of its debt if it is equal to or less than the amount of the minimum bid

of the third public sale, crediting this amount to the amount owed if it is greater. The undersigned Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency (cash), or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied. WHEREAS: Said sale to be made by the undersigned Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 29 day of August of 2023. Pedro A. Vélez Baerga, Special Master, 787-672-8269.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE PONCE ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. MARTA

TORRES NEGRON

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM. PO2022CV03206

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: MARTA

TORRES NEGRONHC 8 BOX 998, PONCE, PR 00731.

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

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

MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en PONCE, Puerto Rico, hoy día 26 de julio de 2023. En Ponce, 26 de julio de 2023. Carmen Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria. F/Keilene Rodríguez Meléndez, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. MARTA

TORRES NEGRON

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM. PO2022CV03206

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: MARTA

TORRES NEGRONURB LA PROVIDENCIA

2615 CALLE LEMPIRA, PONCE PR 00728-3149.

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

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787)

993-3731 a la dirección natalie. bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en PONCE, Puerto Rico, hoy día 26 de julio de 2023. En Ponce, 26 de julio de 2023. Carmen Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria. F/Keilene Rodríguez Meléndez, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. MARIA D RIVERA ORTIZ

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV07795.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: MARIA D RIVERA ORTIZCOND COLINAS DE SAN JUAN EDIF H APT 288, SAN JUAN PR 00924.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 3 de agosto de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 3 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. YADIRA DÍAZ GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. RAMONITA GAGO LEBRON

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. SJ2023CV00580 (603) SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: RAMONITA GAGO LEBRONURB PUERTO NUEVO 1016 CALLE ALEJANDRIA, SAN JUAN PR 00920 POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 7 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria. DIANA

C. PÉREZ SIERRA, Secretaria Servicio a Sala.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND,LLC Parte Demandante

ALFREDO MOLINA OLIVERAS

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2023CV00618

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: ALFREDO MOLINA OLIVERASPO BOX 1573

Lares, PR 00669. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO

BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 4 de agosto de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 4 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria. Michelle Rivera Ríos, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO

AGENTE DE FAIRWAY

ACQUISITIONS FUND,LLC

Parte Demandante ALFREDO MOLINA OLIVERAS

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2023CV00618

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: ALFREDO

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy día 4 de agosto de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 4 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria. Michelle Rivera Ríos, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ANNE ELIZABETH COLLINSON

Demandante V. ORIENTAL BANK, COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHO DE BANCO BILBAO

VIZCAYA PUERTO RICO; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALESQUIERA

PERSONA

DESCONOCIDA CON

POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA

CANCELACIÓN POR

DECRETO JUDICIAL SE

SOLICITA

Demandados

CIVIL NÚM.: HU2023CV01207. SOBRE: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JUAN Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO.

Por la presente se le notifica que ha sido presentada en este Tribunal una Demanda en su contra en el pleito de epígrafe. En este caso la parte demandante ha radicado una Demanda para que se decrete judicialmente el saldo de (1) pagaré hipotecario: pagaré a favor BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA., por la suma principal de $290,400.00 con intereses al 7 3/8% anual, vencedero el día 1 de febrero de 2028, constituida mediante la escritura número 2, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 2 de enero de 1998, ante el notario Mario Quintero Pintor, e inscrita al vuelto del folio 161, tomo 488 de Humacao, finca número 22,250, inscripción 3era; sobre la propiedad que se describe a continuación: URBAN: Fairway Courts Condominium, Apartment seven hundred eighteen (718). Rectangular shaped, three bedroom unit in the Fairway Courts Condominium Regime, located at Candelero Abajo Ward of the Municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico, with a total construction area of 3,027.49 square feet, equivalent to 281.24 square meters, distributed in 1,855.52 square feet, equivalent to 172.37 square meters of endorsed area and 1,171.97 square feet, equivalent to 108.87 square meters of terrace. The main entrance us located on the south side of the apartment leading directly to the exterior of the building. This apartment is located in the building five (5) of the Regime, occupies part of the second and third level of the building and has been assigned a share of 1.5248% in the Common Elements of the Regime. The maximum length of this unit is 50’-6” and the máximum width id 36’-6”. Its boundaries are by the NORTH, in a distance of 36’-6” with the common exterior areas; by the SOUTH, in a distance of 36’-6” with the common exterior areas; by the WEST, in a distance 44’-6” with the common exterior areas; and by the EAST in a distance of 39’11” with the common wall that separates it from the apartment 722. On its first level this unit contains a foyer, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, each one with a closet, a bathroom, a hall, a laundry closet, three storage closets, and a covered terrace. From the hall on the internal stairway leads to the upper level to a hall with a kitchen, to a master bedroom with a walking (así surge) closet, to a bathroom, two covered terraces, and to an open terrace with a jacuzzi. Tittle to Dwelling Unit includes the right to park two motor vehicles in any two parking spaces available throughout the parking area of the Regime subject to the terms and conditions to the Master Deed.

After Rodgers’ injury, the rest of the Jets rally to beat the Bills

By EMMANUEL MORGAN

Ahalf century of New York Jets dread and gloom was supposed to end Monday night against the Buffalo Bills amid the ceremonious debut of Aaron Rodgers, one of the most prolific passers of his generation. Instead, the Jets’ defense, young receivers and a castaway quarterback, with help from four turnovers from the Bills’ Josh Allen, fueled a 22-16 comeback, overtime win.

Capping a scoring rally that began with a game-tying touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, Jets rookie receiver Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in overtime to snatch back a victory against a division rival that seemed unlikely once Rodgers was hurt.

On the Jets’ third official offensive play of the game, left tackle Duane Brown missed a block against Bills linebacker Leonard Floyd. Rodgers tried to escape, but Floyd sacked Rodgers, rolling the quarterback’s legs as they both went to the ground. Rodgers stood up, then sat back down before walking to the sideline with help from Jets medical staff.

Rodgers was transported to the locker room on a cart and did not return after officially being ruled out with an ankle injury.

Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game that the team was concerned that Rodgers had injured an Achilles tendon. “MRI is probably going to confirm what we think is already going to happen, so prayers tonight, but it’s not good,” he said.

Rodgers got the news on Tuesday that was widely feared: He had torn his left Achilles tendon and will miss the season, the league said in a social media post.

Cornerback D.J. Reed said the injury rattled the defense and that it was tough to focus immediately afterward. “You can’t dwell on it because you know we have a game to play, but at the same time you don’t want your quarterback to be down,” Reed said.

Singer Justin Timberlake and rapper Sexyy Red were among the celebrities who studded the sideline, drawn by the prospect of Rodgers’ Jets era. The fanfare inside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey quickly dulled as Zach Wilson came on in relief and the Jets reverted to last season’s philosophy — running the ball and playing stout defense.

The defense held the Bills to a field goal on the drive that followed Rodgers’ injury,

and safety Jordan Whitehead intercepted an Allen pass on the Bills’ next series for the first of his three picks on the night.

Second-year running back Breece Hall immediately responded, jolting for an 83yard run to set up a short Greg Zuerlein field goal to tie the game at 3-3 with 10:35 remaining in the second quarter. Hall, who tore an ACL seven games into a promising 2022 season, had 127 yards on 10 carries in his return to play.

The Bills retaliated with a 75-yard touchdown drive, completed by a 5-yard toss from Allen to Stefon Diggs.

After Wilson pitched an interception of his own on a short pass up the middle intended for Randall Cobb, Buffalo kicked a field goal to bring the score to 13-3 at halftime.

Wilson said he briefly talked to Rodgers at halftime and told him that he loved him. After two seasons as the Jets starter, Wilson embraced his role as Rodgers’ understudy during training camp and bonded with the four-time league MVP.

Suddenly thrust back into the quarterback job, Wilson was hounded all evening by a Bills pass rush that dominated the Jets’ offensive line, a weakness of last season that carried into the Rodgers era. He was sacked twice and managed 140 yards on 14 of 21 passing, but he was able to begin the second half with a 12-play, 50-yard field goal drive to narrow the score to 13-6.

“I just got to keep getting better,” Wilson said in a postgame news conference. He added: “I just have to aggressively rely on ev-

erything I’ve done in the preseason and just do my best to keep improving as a player.”

On the Bills’ next possession, Allen attempted to find Diggs in the end zone again, throwing a deep pass on second-and-13 from the Jets’ 41-yard line into double coverage. With defensive tackle Quinnen Williams bearing down on Allen as he threw, Whitehead caught his second interception, this time for a touchback. The Jets were unable to score off the turnover, going threeand-out.

The reality of a Rodgers-less offense all but silenced the crowd as the clock ticked toward what seemed to be a gloomy ending. The unit sputtered as it had last season, choked by protection for Wilson that couldn’t hold up as he searched for high-percentage, risk-averse passing options.

With 9:43 remaining in the game, Whitehead snatched another pass from Allen — a toss aimed at Gabe Davis — gifting the Jets the ball at their own 43-yard line. On the ensuing drive, the Jets’ middling offense came up with the crucial plays it had seemed incapable of producing in the three previous quarters.

Wilson found receiver Allen Lazard with a short toss on a third-and-5 play that Lazard legged out for a 24-yard gain. The Jets pounded the ball forward on running plays, including a Wilson scamper in the red zone, as Buffalo’s defense tightened. On secondand-goal, he targeted receiver Garrett Wilson, who was matched up with Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White one on one. White prevented Garrett Wilson from getting to

the back corner of the end zone, where the pass was headed, but Wilson reached across White, batted the ball back to himself with his right hand, and collected it after a short juggle to tie the score at 13.

Zach Wilson said coaches called for a run play with a passing option and that he decided to throw when he saw Garrett Wilson in single coverage.

“I just looked out there and saw G and was like, ‘I’m throwing this one up,’” Zach Wilson said.

Facing Williams’ pass rush again, Allen fumbled on the Bills’ first play from scrimmage on the next series, and the Jets recovered the ball at Buffalo’s 27-yard line with just under five minutes left in regulation, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

It was the last turnover of a deplorable night from Allen, who was sacked five times and hurried on several passes. He finished with 236 yards passing on a 29-of-41 performance.

“It’s not like I’m, going out there and trying to throw interceptions,” Allen said in a postgame news conference. He finished tied for second in the league in interceptions last season (14). “We’ll find out on tape and try to correct and got to correct it fast.”

The Jets managed a clock-eating field goal drive punctuated with Zuerlein’s 30yard field goal to take a 16-13 lead with 1:48 left.

Allen responded with a drive in which he connected with Diggs three times for 40 yards on a 43-yard march to get into field goal range. With two seconds remaining, the Bills’ Tyler Bass connected on a 50-yard kick that hit the left upright but bounced through to force overtime.

The Bills won possession in the coin toss, leaving the Jets’ defense, the strength of the team in the 2022 season and Monday night, to come up with yet another crucial stand. A false start penalty on Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown backed Buffalo up to its own 20-yard line and a pass rush led by Williams held the Bills to just 3 yards from there. Allen had to take his final snap from the shotgun before the Bills were forced to punt to Gipson, an undrafted rookie out of Stephen F. Austin. He got stellar blocking from teammates as he strode 65 yards to the end zone, where he was surrounded by Jets coaches and players who rushed in from the sidelines as time expired.

Rodgers was nowhere in sight.

New York Jets fans are deflated after hearing of Aaron Rodgers’s ankle injury at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Rodgers’s Jets debut ended with his departure in the first quarter, and his teammates mustered a 22-16 comeback, overtime win. (Sara Naomi Lewkowicz/The New York Times)

A new NBA champion’s takeaway from a UFC champ: Relax

By TANIA GANGULI

It was a Sunday afternoon in early July, and Jamal Murray had been in Las Vegas for a few days — enough time for the city to wear out anyone.

“I’m a little hung over,” he said, smiling in apology as he tried — unsuccessfully — to remember some details of the post-championship interactions he’d had with Denver Nuggets fans. Murray, the Nuggets’ star point guard, was less than a month removed from helping the franchise win its first NBA championship.

He had spent the previous night feting his friend Alexander Volkanovski, UFC’s featherweight champion, after Volkanovski won UFC 290 to remain undefeated in the 145-pound weight class. Murray had joined him for several hours before the fight and had been struck by how at ease Volkanovski was. The fighter had been happy to laugh and joke with Murray despite an important bout awaiting him later that evening.

“This is like a championship belt for him, right?” Murray said. “He was just so loose about it. It kind of brought me back to, like, I don’t have to take my routine as serious as long as I know how to flip a switch, turn it on and bring it when I need it.”

The lesson could come in handy for Murray as he prepares for his next NBA season, with training camps beginning in about a month. Last week, he went to Sydney to attend UFC 293, where Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight belt to Sean Strickland. Murray planned to spend some time training with Volkanovski while there.

Murray befriended Volkanovski

during a visit to Australia last August. They shot a video together, with each one going through the other’s training routines. Murray hit a heavy bag. Volkanovski shot some free throws.

There are superficial differences between the two — Murray is nearly a foot taller than the 5-foot-6 Volkanovski, and Volkanovski is eight years older — but in Murray, Volkanovski saw someone who shared the work ethic and discipline on which he prided himself. Volkanovski instantly took to Murray.

“I’m a Nuggets guy now purely because of our connection,” Volkanovski said in late July, a few weeks after Murray joined him for UFC 290.

Their friendship grew at a challenging time for Murray.

Murray had missed the 2021-22 NBA season as he recovered from a torn ACL in his left knee.

He had to teach himself how to walk again, and he spent days wondering about his basketball future.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone later recalled that Murray, with tears in his eyes, had asked if the Nuggets were going to trade him because of his injury.

In fall 2022, Murray began playing NBA basketball again.

Denver had the best record in the Western Conference for most of the season. As Murray grew more comfortable, he and Nikola Jokic, the team’s star center, became a fearsome tandem. During the playoffs, they became the first teammates to have triple-doubles with at least 30 points in the same game.

“I’m still coming back, though,” Murray said in July. “I didn’t have a full offseason to recover. Or train on what I wanted to. My whole last summer was just working on my strength here.”

He patted his knee.

“And that was it. I didn’t get to work on my game.”

He had thrown himself into his return, and he had also been gravely serious about his pregame routine, leaving no time for levity.

The Nuggets won the NBA championship in June, beating the Miami Heat in five games. That final night, as Murray left the arena in Denver, he sat in the passenger seat of a black car and occasionally rolled down his window to greet anyone who wanted to say hello. At one stoplight around 1 a.m., a fan spotted Murray as she was crossing the street. She sprinted over to Murray and hugged him through the car window. Rather than recoil at contact from a stranger, Murray returned the hug, smiling.

“Everybody’s just trying to be a part of the moment, which is really cool,” Murray said.

About four weeks later, he joined Volkanovski for his own championship bout.

There, Murray saw a different style of preparation than the one he’d employed during the season.

“I’ll definitely have my moment throughout my car ride, ‘There’s no way that they’re taking this belt away from me.’ But I’m usually pretty chill,” Volkanovski said. “I’m happy to have a little laugh.”

Volkanovski said he wondered if the violent nature of mixed martial arts might have made Murray more interested in his relaxed demeanor before the fight.

“Probably he could look at that, I mean, like, ‘This guy’s about to go to war and he literally treats it as, like, you know, this is his job, he knows he’ll be fine,’” Volkanovski said. “‘He’s obviously confident in his preparation and all that.’”

While Volkanovski appreciated hearing that Murray sought inspiration from his process, he respects Murray’s process as well.

“Everyone has their own way of preparing for their — whatever they do,” Volkanovski said. “And you can never knock it, because obviously he’s playing some good basketball, so you don’t want to change much.”

In July, Murray stayed for Volkanovski’s post-fight media appearances, then celebrated afterward at a gathering that Shaquille O’Neal also attended. The summer, at least, afforded a chance to unwind.

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray helped lead his team to its first N.B.A. championship in June.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Today it may appear that a lot of people are arguing over very strange things, Aries. Usually you can see both sides of a disagreement, but today you might wonder if there’s any side to what you’re hearing. Everyone’s making mountains out of molehills. Distance yourself and don’t try to mediate. You could upset everyone with your laughing!

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Tempers could be short in a group with which you’re affiliated, Taurus. What started as a meeting could end with disagreements. You might be tempted to chastise everyone, but that isn’t a good idea. You won’t stop the battle, and everyone involved will resent whatever you do. The best solution is to leave. The group probably won’t accomplish anything positive anyway.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Today’s energy might be especially draining for you, Gemini. Your tasks could require more effort than usual, and you could be exhausted by midday. This isn’t the day to prove anything. Work according to your own strengths at your own speed. You’ll probably accomplish more this way than by pushing yourself. Take care and you’ll still have energy for a great evening.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Old emotions could well up from your unconscious today, Cancer. Your nerves could be on edge. You might even lose your temper on occasion. Stop and take a look at why you’re upset. Consider what’s coming up from the past and then release it. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you return to normal. You might be able to get some work done!

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Today you could visit a friend who’s recuperating from an illness or injury, Leo. This person may be bored and antsy, and you should be prepared to hear all about the frustrations. Your friend needs a sympathetic ear, so listen. Someday you might want someone to do the same for you! Be supportive without agreeing with every complaint. Your friend needs company, not coddling.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

A debate over a controversial subject involving politics or social issues could take place today, Virgo. You might find the subject fascinating and learn a lot, but you’ll be less comfortable when the conversation changes from a discussion to a quarrel. At that point, you may want to walk away. You’re too sensitive, so don’t worry about being rude.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

Today you might be required to fumble through a lot of paperwork in order to locate certain information, Libra. This might be a drag, and you might not find what you’re looking for in spite of it all. Before initiating another search, take a break. Get out in the fresh air and walk a few blocks. When you get back, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Today you might be required to fumble through a lot of paperwork in order to locate certain information, Libra. This might be a drag, and you might not find what you’re looking for in spite of it all. Before initiating another search, take a break. Get out in the fresh air and walk a few blocks. When you get back, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Stress and strain could take their toll on you today, Sagittarius. Your significant other might be in a foul humor. When the two of you get together, you might want to sit in companionable silence and not say much. Your beloved has had a rough day and is irritated at words and gestures that would be endearing at other times. You may feel a little tense, too. Single? Stay in and indulge in your favorite comforts.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Stress and strain could take their toll on you today, Sagittarius. Your significant other might be in a foul humor. When the two of you get together, you might want to sit in companionable silence and not say much. Your beloved has had a rough day and is irritated at words and gestures that would be endearing at other times. You may feel a little tense, too. Single? Stay in and indulge in your favorite comforts.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

A lot of energy might be expended on an artistic project that you probably won’t like, Aquarius. You could get halfway through and then toss it away. This could be disheartening as you could lament the time and effort lost. But this happens to all great artists. Go ahead and start over. Maybe this time you’ll accomplish what you want. Don’t settle for mediocre. Go for the gold.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Family members might discuss a possible vacation today, Pisces, but everyone wants to go to a different place! Arguments could occur, taking all the fun out of the discussion. Perhaps you should draw straws! A better solution might be to make a list of all the ideas, give copies to everyone, and think about it. Discuss the subject again in a few days.

Speed Bump