2 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.
With litigation stay slated to end, parties in PREPA bankruptcy case appear far from reaching deal
By THE STAR STAFF
With less than three weeks left before the litigation stay is to expire on Oct. 8, stakeholders in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bankruptcy appear to be no closer to reaching agreement on a debt adjustment plan.
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is overseeing the PREPA bankruptcy process, on Sept. 5 extended the litigation stay at the request of the mediation team.
Swain initially ordered a 60-day stay at a July 10 hearing after the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that PREPA’s bonds were secured by $8.5 billion in net revenues, overturning her prior ruling that they were backed only by a $2.4 billion unsecured claim. Swain had told parties that their “level of intractability [did] not bode well for reorganization and forward momentum” and that parties were indicating a “troubling element of denial of reality.”
The mediation committee is intervening in negotiations between creditors, the Financial Oversight and Management Board and the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency
and Financial Advisory Authority.
Rolando Emmanuelli, a lawyer who represents PREPA’s workers and union in the case, believes the parties will not be able to reach an agreement.
“I don’t think there will be any agreement,” he said. The mediation reports filed by the panel do not indicate whether an agreement will be reached soon.
While some of PREPA’s bondholders and stakeholders have reached an agreement for a debt settlement, there is a group of bondholders that insist PREPA should pay them at least $6 billion. Those bondholders won a victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston found that holders of PREPA bonds have a secured claim of $8.5 billion against the utility’s current and future net revenue.
The First Circuit ruling came after PREPA’s bondholders asked an appeals court to overturn Swain’s ruling that found they had only a $2.4 billion unsecured claim on their $8.5 billion debt. In its June 12 opinion, the First Circuit court confirmed that the trust agreement’s “preamble” functioned as a granting clause rather than a prefatory clause, indicating PREPA’s unequivocal promise to pledge revenues as security for bond payments.
The decision impacts the debt adjustment plan because the oversight board engaged in settlements with different groups such as fuel line lenders and some of the bondholders. At a recent hearing, Emmanuelli noted, the oversight board insisted PREPA does not have money to pay the debt.
“All of this renders the agreement unconfirmable,” he said.
There are several alternatives. Swain could dismiss the entire bankruptcy case, forcing the oversight board to start from scratch. If Swain lifts the moratorium, bondholders could continue litigation to impose a receiver for PREPA.
Even if the bondholders win in court, that doesn’t mean they will actually get the money. Raising rates to pay bondholders will result in more pressure to starve the system of funds for necessary maintenance and will drive PREPA’s customer base toward going out of business, going solar, or leaving Puerto Rico. More debt, rapidly declining sales and higher rates for worse service are conditions that will place PREPA at high risk of a second bankruptcy, according to the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis.
On the other hand, an electrical system that is given the time and resources needed to recover and become a going concern could support the island’s economic growth and take on new debt in the future.
Court says voter, not SEC, chooses address for mailing of early voting ballot
By THE STAR STAFF
The Court of First Instance, in response to a request from New Progressive Party (NPP) Electoral Commissioner Aníbal Vega Borges, has reaffirmed that the voter has the right to decide where to receive his or her ballots when requesting early voting or absentee voting.
In his ruling, Judge Raúl A. Candelario López said that after examining the facts and the law, as well as the Absentee and Early Voting Regulations for the 2024 Primary and General Elections, it is the voter and not the State Elections Commission (SEC) that is the one to “… choose the postal address to which he wishes the ballots to be mailed. In fact, interpreting otherwise would imply contravening the clear precepts of the Electoral Code and its applicable regulations.”
The judge also emphasized that Section 4.4 of the 2024 Primary and 2024 General Election Absentee and Early Voting Regulations expressly provides that “… the paper
form to request early voting must include, among other elements, the ‘mailing address where I would receive my ballot by mail.’”
This provision, along with Section 9.35 of the
Calls go out to extend voter registration deadline
By THE STAR STAFF
Several voices, from the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC), the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) and the Popular Democratic Party requested from the State Elections Commission (SEC) on Monday an extension of the registration period to correct the deficiencies in the management of the electoral process in view of the closing of the Electoral Registry.
“For more than two years, we have publicly warned about the multiple failures faced by the Commission, including the lack of accessible mechanisms for citizens, the closure of the JIPs [Permanent Registration Boards] without having adequate technological tools and poor preparation for citizen mobilization,” MVC Electoral Commissioner Lillian Aponte Dones said. “Despite our warnings and the many proposals we have submitted, the SEC has ignored them, leading us to the situation we are now experiencing: gross administrative inefficiency, serious obstacles to the accessibility of the JIPs and an unprecedented bottleneck in the eRE [electronic voter registration] system, which was implemented late and without the necessary tests. In recent weeks, the number of stalled electoral transactions has increased alarmingly, to more than 65,000, putting the right to vote of thousands of people at risk.”
“Our request is clear: every person with a transaction in process or rejected must be given additional time to complete their process and thus be able to exercise their right to vote,” she added. “This is imperative.”
The PIP, through its Organization Secretary Adrián González Costa, made an urgent call to the SEC to extend the term that expires this Saturday.
“The Electoral Code specifically provides that for this electoral cycle, registrations, reactivations and transfers can be made up to 30 days before the electoral event,” said González Costa, who is running for a seat in the Senate.
Election Code, establishes that the form to request absentee voting must contain, among other data, “the complete mailing address of the place where you would receive your ballots by mail if that is the method you selected for your Absentee Vote” (16 LPRA sec. 4735).
The judge also referred to Article 9.38 of the Electoral Code, which similarly indicates that the form to request early voting must include, among other details, “the complete postal address of the place where you would receive your ballots by mail if that were the method you selected for your Early Vote” (16 LPRA sec. 4738).
The legal reasoning presented by Candelario López supports the NPP position on the rights of the voter. Understanding that it is not necessary to proceed to judge the questions presented on their merits, the court issued an order dismissing the appeal for review presented, but not before having indicated the legal norms that must govern the processing of the applications for absentee vote and early vote by the SEC for the 2024 general elections.
By THE STAR STAFF
VAccording to the arguments cited in the judicial determination, Alternate SEC Chairwoman Jéssika Padilla Rivera, in her amended resolution, indicated that “… the postal address determines only one thing, the place where the correspondence will arrive to a specific recipient” and that “the postal address that is written in a request is just that, a postal address.” Likewise, the SEC official clarified that it is the duty of the SEC to ensure that the voter will receive his or her ballots safely and without equivocation in his or her postal mail. Hence, in section 4 of the amended resolution, it was clarified that the Permanent Registration Board/Temporary Registration Boards (JIP/JIT) officer can only correct grammatical and/or numerical errors in the postal address provided by the voter in the application for early or absentee voting, but cannot change their voting address.
“The above does not interfere with the right of the voter to choose the postal address to which they wish the ballots to be sent,” the judge said.
Bar Assn. creates panel to analyze LUMA, Genera PR contracts
formulate proposals to improve public energy policy.
The team will deliver an initial report with legal recommendations on possible legal actions for service deficiencies, including the potential cancellation of contracts. The president invited other professional associations to join in similar initiatives.
ivian Godineaux Villaronga, the new president of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, announced on Monday the creation of a Special Commission for the Legal Evaluation of the LUMA Energy and Genera PR contracts.
LUMA Energy is the private operator of the island’s electric power transmission and distribution system, while Genera PR is the private operator of Puerto Rico’s legacy power plant fleet.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that essential services are administered fairly and efficiently,” Godineaux Villaronga said in a written statement regarding the project, her first assuming her new post.
The commission, made up of experienced contract lawyers, will evaluate the agreements from consumer rights and legality perspectives. It will also
Several candidates, such as Popular Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Jesús Manuel Ortiz González and Juan Dalmau Ramírez, the candidate for governor under the Puerto Rican Independence Party-Citizen Victory Movement Alliance, have called for the cancellation of the LUMA Energy contract because of deficiencies in service.
However, the estimated cost of canceling LUMA’s contract is between $300 million and $600 million.
The public-private partnership contract with LUMA Energy, as well as the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, the regulator of the island’s energy sector, have mechanisms to penalize LUMA if it fails to meet its responsibilities, but nothing has been done yet.
The Financial Oversight and Management Board has the final say on canceling the aforementioned contracts.
New Progressive Party Electoral Commissioner Aníbal Vega Borges
Puerto Rico Bar Association President Vivian Godineaux Villaronga
NPP lawmakers back González Colón’s tax proposals
Candidate for governor presents health care plank
By THE STAR STAFF
The New Progressive Party (NPP) minority leader in the island House of Representatives, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, along with District 1 San Juan Rep. Eddie Charbonier Chinea, on Monday voiced support for the tax and savings proposals presented over the weekend by the party’s candidate for governor, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, which include the review of tax rates, as well as establishing a new culture of savings.
In line with González Colón’s initiatives, the legislators announced that in 2025 they will be submitting a package of measures to encourage Puerto Ricans to save, including increasing the maximum contribution to individual retire-
ment accounts (IRAs) from $5,000 to $8,000.
Other initiatives proposed by González Colón include increasing the maximum contribution to $1,000 for educational IRAs and establishing ABLE accounts in Puerto Rico, which offer tax incentives to people with special needs to promote savings without counting toward a resource measurement.
“The new NPP majority in the House is committed to reducing the tax burden of our people and small and midsize businesses,” Méndez said. “That is why we support the proposals for tax reduction and the creation of a culture of savings that our next governor, Jenniffer González, presented to the people this weekend. We will be working on the necessary legislation to make them a reality with the purpose of helping our people. We will approve many of these initiatives that our resident commissioner proposed so that they have an impact for the
2024 tax year that ends on December 31 …”
On Sunday, meanwhile, González Colón presented 11 of her 29 health care proposals on the concluding day of the NPP convention.
The proposals include support for the creation of medical residencies, with the aim of increasing residency and fellowship positions to retain more doctors on the island. Another proposal seeks to improve the salaries of health professionals, with adequate compensation to attract and retain talent.
In addition, González Colón proposes: certifying the Medical Center’s Trauma Hospital as Level I, through the creation of a public corporation with autonomy to manage the certification; recognizing obstetricians as primary physicians for women up to one year after childbirth, guaranteeing comprehensive care; implementing a Hepatitis C detection and treatment program in prisons to care for the
affected population; establishing a trust fund for the repayment of student loans, encouraging doctors, dentists and scientists to establish themselves on the island; and creating a health prosecutors unit in the Department of Justice to defend patients’ rights and handle complaints in the health sector.
PDP Senate candidates tout party’s government program
By THE STAR STAFF
The Popular Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Arecibo District seat in the island Senate, Ramón Luis Hernández Espino, hailed the approval of the PDP government program at the party’s assembly in Mayagüez on Sunday.
“We are the first political party in Puerto Rico to present a complete, serious proposal designed to address various issues,” the candidate said.
“One of the proposals that we embrace with great commitment is to rescue public education, removing partisan politics from the Department of Education,” Hernández Espino said. “The country has seen how the administrations of the New Progressive Party (NPP) have used the Department of Education as an ATM for political operations. This moral cor-
ruption has to end. As governor, Jesús Manuel Ortiz will not tolerate political interference, neither from his party nor from any other, in
Ramón Luis Hernández Espino, the Popular Democratic Party candidate for the island Senate, Arecibo District
the educational system.”
Also discussed Sunday by the PDP in Mayagüez was the cost of living, especially food, “a situation that is unsustainable,” the Senate candidate said.
“Our commitment is to fight the cabotage laws, in order to reduce the cost of energy and food,” Hernández Espino said. “The country knows that the NPP candidate [for governor] Jenniffer González is the lawyer and defender of LUMA Energy, and also supports the cabotage laws. The reason? These industries donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaigns.”
Hernández Espino also noted that another of the proposals approved by the PDP was the responsible reduction of tax rates to simplify and reduce the cost of government.
“The work we did yesterday in Mayagüez contrasts with the parties that the NPP had in
Fiscal board approves pay hike for cafeteria workers
By THE STAR STAFF
The School Food Authority and Education Secretary Yanira Raíces Vega announced on Monday the approval
of the Classification and Compensation Plan for 3,042 school cafeteria employees by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.
“We are pleased with the Board’s
notification of the plan’s approval,” Raíces Vega said in a written statement. “This is the result of extensive work and meetings with employees.”
The plan will benefit workers in
San Juan, precisely when in Washington the [fellow] Republicans of Jenniffer González and William Villafañe blocked the initiative of the transition from PAN to SNAP, resulting in harm to thousands of Puerto Ricans,” Hernández Espino said. “We will resolve that with Pablo José Hernández as our next resident commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington.”
Another PDP Senate candidate, Ada Álvarez Conde, released a similar message Monday, in which she emphasized Ortiz’s vow to cancel the contract with embattle grid operator LUMA Energy, as well as the proposed “creation of an unprecedented program to provide 25,000 housekeepers to senior citizens and people with functional diversity.”
The candidates invited voters to access ppdpr.net/plan-fuerza-de-futuro, where the PDP platform document is available in its entirety.
various areas, such as food professionals, supervisors, nutritionists and refrigeration technicians, to name several.
The Department of Education submitted the proposal in June after an analysis that began in September 2023. Not all cafeteria employees will receive raises, as some already have market-aligned salaries.
The San Juan Daily Star
Rep. Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez
The San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, September 17, 2024 5
Trump, outrage and the modern era of political violence
By PETER BAKER
Within days of former President Donald Trump vilifying immigrants on national television with false stories about Haitian migrants eating pet dogs and cats in an Ohio town, someone began threatening to blow up schools, City Hall and other public buildings, forcing evacuations and prompting a wave of fear.
Days later, authorities said, a man who described himself online as a disaffected former Trump supporter made his way with a semiautomatic rifle to the former president’s Florida golf course, evidently looking to take a shot. He was thwarted only when an observant Secret Service agent spotted him and opened fire first.
And so it goes in 2024. In the space of less than a week, the once and possibly future commander in chief was both a seeming inspiration and an apparent target of the political violence that has increasingly come to shape American politics in the modern era. Bomb threats and attempted assassinations now have become part of the landscape, shocking and horrific, yet not so much that they have forced any real national reckoning.
“One of the things I’m most concerned about right now is the normalization of political violence in our political system. It’s on the increase,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. and a member of a bipartisan task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, said in an interview. “Now we’re on the second one in as many months and it just shows the extent to which this has become pervasive.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both issued statements condemning the latest incident, but the campaign continued uninterrupted. Barely four hours after Trump was hustled into a motorcade away from the golf club for his protection, his finance team sent out an email to its fundraising list with a button to click to make a donation. “My resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life!” Trump said in the email. Harris’ fundraising emails continued as well.
Trump, who as recently as last week’s debate with Harris blamed Democrats for the shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that struck his ear in July, attributed Sunday’s attempt to the president and vice president as well, arguing that the arrested suspect was acting in response to their political attacks.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and
impact of his own words. Just last week, his false pet-eating accusations against Haitian migrants during his debate with Harris were quickly followed by bomb threats that turned life upside-down in Springfield, Ohio, and he did nothing to discourage them.
Asked by a reporter if he denounced the bomb threats, he demurred. “I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats,” he said. “I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants, and that’s a terrible thing that happened.”
Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump told Fox News on Monday. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Even as he complained that the Democrats had made him a target by calling him a threat to democracy, he repeated his own assertion that “these are people that want to destroy our country” and called them “the enemy from within.”
Billionaire social media owner Elon Musk, one of Trump’s most prominent and vocal supporters, caused an uproar with a post that said, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
He later deleted it and called it a joke, but the White House pushed back. “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
American history has been marked by periods of political violence. Four sitting presidents have been killed in office, and another was shot and seriously wounded. A former president likewise was shot and survived, and plenty of others who lived in the White House have been targets. But two attempts on the life of a former president within two months still stands out, especially in the heat of an election in which he is a leading candidate for his old job.
Perhaps the closest analogy might be when President Gerald Ford was shot at twice in a little over two weeks in 1975 but survived both times uninjured. More hauntingly, though, the efforts to kill Trump recalled for many 1968, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were gunned down two months apart. Those assassinations came during a moment of broader violence in American streets amid a sense of fraying societal bonds, something that worries many leaders today too.
At the heart of today’s eruption of political violence is Trump, a figure who seems to inspire people to make threats or take actions both for him and against him. He has long favored the language of violence in his political discourse, encouraging supporters to beat up hecklers, threatening to shoot looters and migrants lacking legal residency status, mocking a near-fatal attack on the husband of the Democratic House speaker and suggesting that a general he deemed disloyal be executed.
While Trump insists his fiery speech to supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, was not responsible for the subsequent ransacking of the Capitol, he resisted pleas from advisers and his own daughter that day to do more to stop the assault. He even suggested that the mob might be right to want to hang his vice president and has since embraced the attackers as patriots whom he may pardon if elected again.
Trump does not pause to reflect on the
Trump’s critics have at times employed the language of violence as well, though not as extensively and repeatedly at the highest levels. The former president’s allies distributed a video compilation online of various Trump opponents saying they would like to punch him in the face or the like. Some of the more extreme voices on social media in the past day have mocked or minimized the close call at the Florida golf course. Trump’s allies often decry what they call Trump Derangement Syndrome, the notion that his critics despise him so much they have lost their minds. Anger, of course, has long been the animating force of Trump’s time in politics — both the anger he stirs among supporters against his rivals and the anger that he generates among opponents who come to loathe him. Predictions that he might rethink that after he narrowly escaped death in Butler proved ephemeral. By halfway through his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention five days later, he was back to himself.
But it is a measure of how much political violence has become a part of modern American culture — not accepted, perhaps, but more and more expected — that the latest incident may make no more difference than the first. The shock from the shooting in Butler wore off relatively quickly as attention turned to other developments. The shock from this one may not last any longer.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County holds up a photo showing items that belong to the suspect in a shooting incident at former president Donald Trump’s golf club, in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. Less than two months after the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania, law enforcement officials said Secret Service personnel fired on a suspect at one of Trump’s golf clubs while he was on the course. The suspect is in custody. (Saúl Martínez/ The New York Times)
Second assassination attempt raises new questions about Secret Service
By GLENN THRUSH, EILEEN SULLIVAN and KATE KELLY
Awould-be killer got within shooting distance of former President Donald Trump for the second time in about two months — stopped only by the swift, keen-eyed response of Secret Service agents — raising new questions about the agency’s broader ability to protect candidates in its charge.
The Secret Service significantly bolstered Trump’s protective detail after coming under intense criticism following an attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. That beefed-up detail, which includes additional agents and enhanced on-the-ground intelligence, might have played a role in the outcome this weekend, current and former officials said.
Yet the fact that a gunman was able to get a semi-automatic rifle with a telescopic sight so close to the former president, roughly 300 to 500 yards away, underscored how many urgent problems exposed in Butler remained unresolved — and how difficult it is for the Secret Service to respond to an unpredictable and increasingly violent political environment.
As in Butler, the biggest issues in Trump’s
Police outside Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. A would-be killer got within shooting distance of former President Donald Trump for the second time in about two months — stopped only by the swift, keen-eyed response of Secret Service agents — raising new questions about the agency’s broader ability to protect candidates in its charge.
(Saúl Martínez/The New York Times)
protection seem to involve securing the protective perimeter of a targeted site, even one they know as well as Trump’s properties. The would-be shooter positioned himself in the
bushes on the perimeter of the former president’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent was one hole ahead of Trump on the course and spotted the barrel of a gun, prompting agents to open fire on the man, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County said at a news conference Sunday.
Bradshaw said that Trump — one of the most polarizing figures in the world — still retains a protective detail that is smaller than the one given to a sitting president. That, he said, limits the protections the Secret Service and its local partners can provide.
“At this level that he is at right now, he’s not the sitting president — if he was, we would have had this entire golf course surrounded,” Bradshaw said.
“But because he’s not, the security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible,” Bradshaw added, while praising the service’s fast response. “So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter.”
Michael Matranga, a former Secret Service agent who protected President Barack Obama, said the agency should “seriously
consider giving former President Trump the same or equal package as the president of the United States” and called the incidents “unprecedented.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lauded the actions of the agents, but they vowed to subject the agency’s already embattled leadership to intense questioning about the suspect’s ability to position himself near the former president.
“The facts about a second incident certainly warrant very close attention and scrutiny,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and chair of the Senate subcommittee investigating the security failures at Butler.
“Certainly a second serious incident, apparently involving an assault weapon, is deeply alarming and appalling,” he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is a close ally of Trump, said the Senate’s investigations into the security lapses in Butler cited mismanagement within the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, as well as budget and morale issues.
“They’ve lost their focus,” he said. “They need more resources. These agents just work; they have no lives.”
America Ferrera and other celebrities join push to mobilize Latino voters
By JAZMINE ULLOA
The Voto Latino Foundation is gearing up to begin its biggest push yet to encourage Latino voters to head to the polls in November, with a star-studded cast of Latino celebrities and influencers.
The $5 million initiative, titled “Vota con Ganas,” or “Vote with Enthusiasm,” is set to start Wednesday and will feature voterregistration drives and workshops, along with a social media campaign and public service announcement-style videos from actors and online personalties that underscore the importance of casting a ballot this election. The list of stars so far includes America Ferrera, Gina Torres, Gabriel Luna, Jessica Alba, Wilmer Valderrama, DannyLux and Xochitl Gomez, among others.
Voto Latino leaders said ads and online content would be amplified by the group’s 300 partner organizations and businesses, including the NFL, Sony Music and Universal Music, and by Voto Latino chapters on 100 college campuses.
María Teresa Kumar, the foundation’s
co-founder and president, described the push as “more than just a call to action,” saying in a statement, “It is a movement to harness the power of the Latino community.”
Valderrama, who produced and directed all of the campaign’s videos, described the effort as crucial to a Latino community that continues to grow and contribute to so many aspects of the United States.
“To ensure our safety, opportunity and future in this country, we have to be involved,” he said in an email. “Without our involvement, there will be a paraphrasing of our existence in this country.”
Latinos are a growing slice of the U.S. electorate: An estimated 36.2 million are eligible to vote this year, up from 32.3 million in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center. But in 2020, a Pew survey found that Latinos were less likely than white or Black voters to be contacted by campaigns or organizations supporting candidates.
Latino voter outreach groups have been trying to counter dampened enthusiasm and disillusionment among young voters struggling with housing, food and education costs. And
in Texas, Latino voting activists and political organizers have been raided as part of election fraud inquiries, which some of those who were targeted have said appeared to stem from efforts to curb ballot-box access. Leaders with more than two dozen Black and Latino voter outreach groups recently met with Biden administration officials to discuss the challenges, according to several participants.
The “Vota con Ganas” campaign is part of the group’s nonpartisan educational arm, and celebrities are not endorsing particular candidates, though some may later do so through their own personal channels.
In a launch video, Gomez, who plays America Chavez in the movie “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” appears with other young Latinos, citing a statistic from 2020 census data.
“Every 30 seconds,” Gomez says, “a new Latino is eligible to vote.”
In an interview, Gomez, who turned 18 this year, said she counted herself as one of those newly eligible voters.
“So many elections are won by just a few thousand votes,” she said of why she decided to
participate when Valderrama invited her. “We need to vote for candidates who care about the issues we care about.”
America Ferrera at the Chanel 15th Annual Pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles, March 9, 2024. America Ferrera is one of several Latino celebrities who will participate in an initiative titled “Vota con Ganas,” or “Vote with Enthusiasm,” which is set to begin on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024.(Nina Westervelt/ The New York Times)
The Fed is still banking on a labor market miracle
By JEANNA SMIALEK
An object in motion stays in motion. Is a labor market trend that’s well underway any different?
That’s the question looming for officials at the Federal Reserve as they try to pull off a feat that has never really been accomplished before: gently cooling an economy that was experiencing rip-roaring inflation without tanking the job market in the process.
So far, the Fed’s attempt at a soft landing has worked out better than just about anyone, including central bankers themselves, expected. Inflation has cooled significantly, with the consumer price index down to 2.5% from a peak of 9.1% just two years ago. And even with the Fed’s policy interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades, consumer spending has held up and overall growth has continued to chug along.
Fed officials are eager to keep it going. That is why all signals suggest that they will lower interest rates at the conclusion of their meeting Wednesday — and the only real question is whether they will cut them by a typical quarter of a percentage point or by a half percentage point. They are also likely to forecast that they will lower interest rates further before the end of the year, perhaps predicting that they will cut them by a full point from their current 5.33%.
But even as the Fed turns an important corner on its fight against inflation, real risks remain. And those center on the labor market.
Unemployment has been slowly, but steadily, rising. Wage growth has been consistently slowing. Job openings have come down, and hiring rates have come down along with them. And while all of those developments are what the Fed wanted — the point of this exercise was to slow an overheated job market and prevent it from fueling future inflation — central bankers have been clear that they do not want to see it continue.
“We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in his latest speech. The problem is that it is not obvious what, exactly, will cause the deceleration that is clearly happening in the labor market to suddenly stop. Fed rate cuts should help by cheering up businesses and padding demand, but central bank policy changes
A “now hiring” sign outside Quench Juice Bar in New York, on April 29, 2024. The Federal Reserve spent much of 2022 and 2023 narrowly focusing on inflation as policymakers set interest rates: Prices were rising way too fast, so they became the central bank’s top priority. But now that inflation has cooled, officials are more clearly factoring the job market into their decisions again. (Gabby Jones/The New York Times)
work like slow-release medicine. They do not change the whole economy overnight.
That is why some onlookers are beginning to worry that the Fed might fall behind the curve if it reacts too gradually — something that would leave it scrambling to lower borrowing costs quickly enough to keep the job market from falling to pieces.
“Not all slowdowns lead to recessions, but all recessions start with slowdowns,” said Skanda Amarnath, executive director at Employ America, an employment-focused research and advocacy group. “I think the data is signaling a certain amount of urgency.”
The Fed has been approaching rate cuts cautiously because it does not want to risk taking its foot off the economic brakes too early or too swiftly, allowing the economy to heat back up and making it harder to fully stamp out inflation.
But caution on the inflation front could translate into risk-taking on the employment front.
The first and most concerning sign of labor market deterioration has been the recent rise in joblessness. After dropping to 3.4% in 2023, unemployment had risen to 4.2% as of August. That happened both as people left jobs and as new people enter-
ing the labor market took time to find open positions.
The question is whether the upcoming shift in Fed policy will be enough to cause that slow but steady increase in joblessness to halt abruptly. While it paused in August, the slow move up has in general been playing out since last summer.
The same question applies to wage growth, which is a signal of how hard companies are competing to hire. If the job market is roaring and employees are hard to come by, businesses tend to pay up to lure them away from the competition or to retain their existing employees. If the job market is softening, pay growth slows.
That’s what’s happening now. Average hourly earnings for rank-and-file workers have gone from a peak 2022 growth rate of 7% to a more muted 4%. That’s still faster than just before the pandemic, but just a touch: Wage growth was about 3.7% in the summer of 2019.
And a noteworthy change is happening in job openings. They have marched steadily lower, and are back where they were on the eve of the pandemic. That’s relevant because unemployment historically climbs as job openings decline, a relationship that economists often refer to as the “Beveridge Curve.”
In fact, Dallas Fed research this year predicted that joblessness might rise, warning that “the decline in job vacancies without a corresponding increase in unemployment may not last.”
But even as signs of a softening labor market accumulate, Fed officials have explained that there are reasons to hope that this time could be different.
Past Fed efforts to cool inflation by slowing the labor market have resulted in painful recessions: The clearest example of that is the back-to-back downturns that plagued the country during the early 1980s.
And past economic relationships would suggest that with unemployment rising the way it has recently, an economic downturn is likely. Usually, higher joblessness heralds recession, as unemployed people and jittery workers pull back on consumption.
But this time, the pandemic has rattled the economy so much that economists think it is possible that what is happening is a gradual reversion to normal, rather than a painful crunch.
“It should be clear to everyone that many prepandemic economic relationships have not proven to be good policy guides postpandemic,” Christopher J. Waller, a Fed governor, said in a recent speech. “While I don’t see the recent data pointing to a recession, I do see some downside risk to employment that I will be watching closely.”
For instance, Fed officials often note that part of the recent increase in unemployment has come from a wave of new entrants into the labor market, not from a spike in layoffs. While layoffs are gently rising, they have not jumped sharply.
That is why some economists are still hoping for the soft landing — especially if the Fed acts in time.
Fed officials are considering a bigger rate decrease this month specifically because they are alert to the job market risks. And even if they do not make a big cut, they are likely to signal that more rate moves are coming, and that a large rate cut at their next meeting is possible if data warrants it.
“If employment weakens from here, they are going to have to — at some point — do a half-point cut,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. “The bottom line is that the Fed, Powell, clearly wants to nail the soft landing. This is his legacy.”
The San Juan Daily Star
S&P flat, Nasdaq stumbles as tech weighs ahead of Fed decision
The S&P 500 was little changed while the Nasdaq fell on Monday, weighed down by a drop in technology stocks as investors continued to gauge the likelihood of an upsized rate cut from the Federal Reserve this week.
The S&P technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab, the best performer of the 11 major S&P sectors this year, lost roughly 1% as the session’s biggest decliner.
Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab dropped nearly 3% as the biggest weight to both the benchmark S&P index and Nasdaq Composite, after an analyst at TF International Securities said demand for its latest iPhone 16 models was lower than expected.
The demand concerns also weighed on chipmakers, with Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, the best performer on the S&P 500 this year, down almost 2%, Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab falling 2.2% and Micron Tech (MU.O), opens new tab down nearly 5% to push the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX), opens new tab lower by 1.6%.
“If people want to raise a lot of money quickly, how do they do it? They go sell the names that they can sell really quickly without necessarily destroying it. So you can sell Apple, you can sell Nvidia, you can sell Amazon, you can sell Microsoft very quickly and raise a lot of cash,” said Ken Polcari, chief market strategist at SlateStone Wealth in Jupiter, Florida.
“They want to do it in front of the Fed in case they’re getting nervous or they want to raise cash to just have cash available to put to work.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 183.69 points, or 0.45%, to 41,577.47, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 3.37 points, or 0.06%, to 5,629.39 and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab lost 98.14 points, or 0.55%, to 17,585.83.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, only tech and consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD), opens new tab were lower on the day while financials (.SPSY), opens new tab, up 1.04%, and energy, up 1%, were the best performers.
MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS
Markets have rallied since the start of this year on expectations the Fed would begin loosening its monetary policy, while data has suggested the economy would avoid entering a recession.
The Dow hit an intraday record high and the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab is less than 1% from its closing record set in July.
Market expectations on the size of the rate cut the Federal Reserve will announce on Wednesday have varied widely in recent days and are currently pricing in a 59% chance for a 50-basis-point cut, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, opens new tab.
Intel Corp (INTC.O), opens new tab jumped 4.1% after a report showed it qualified for as much as $3.5
PUERTO RICO STOCKS
COMMODITIES
CURRENCY
billion in federal grants to make semiconductors for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab lost 0.8% after the planemaker said it was freezing hiring and weighing temporary furloughs in the coming weeks as its workers’ strike stretched to its fourth day.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.35to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 86 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq recorded 126 new highs and 72 new lows.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 9
Greece to restrict cruise visits as islands struggle with tourist crowds
By NIKI KITSANTONIS
With the treasures of its history, the beauty of its islands and the golden sands of its beaches, Greece offers tourists many reasons to visit. But a seemingly endless influx in recent years has caused headaches at some of its most popular destinations.
So earlier this month, its prime minister proposed an array of measures aimed at curbing some effects of the growing crowds.
The changes include hefty increases in docking fees for cruise ships at some of Greece’s most popular islands, and limits in daily cruise ship arrivals. The rules aim to reduce the strain that the vacation industry places on communities and echo a pushback against overtourism in several other major European destinations.
“Tourism supports the economy with significant resources and jobs, but it has its own particular social impact,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during his annual state of the economy speech in Thessaloniki on Sept. 7. He added that he was “very concerned about the image on some of our islands some months of the year due to cruise ships.”
More details will be announced this week, he said. Discontent over tourism has flared across Europe since pandemic-related travel restrictions receded. In April, Venice introduced an entry fee of 5 euros, about $5.50, on certain days. In July, protesters in Barcelona, Spain, marched in exasperation with tourist numbers.
And after those cities diverted cruises from busy ports, officials in Amsterdam decided to cut cruise traffic in half by 2026, before eventually closing its terminal, citing worries about overcrowding and pollution.
The issue carries particularly high stakes in Greece, where tourism accounts for about one-fifth of economic output. A record 33 million people visited last year, according to the Bank of Greece, which said numbers were up another 15.5% in the first half of 2024.
Vacation rentals and foreign buyers have also driven home prices to a level that many locals say they struggle to afford on many islands, while a wave of villa construction has contributed to water shortages.
“We’ve had yet another extremely successful tourism year,” Mitsotakis said, noting that the sector was going “from record to record.”
To address overcrowding, disembarkation fees for cruises would be increased, he said, with larger rises for particularly popular islands like Mykonos and Santorini, where authorities and residents have been pushing for constraints.
Fees will rise to 20 euros for those islands during the high season, he said at a news conference on Sept. 8, a steep hike from the current charge of 35 cents for Santorini. Some of the additional revenue will go toward local infrastructure, he said.
The government will also increase a lodging tax paid by hotels and rental accommodations on the islands, with those proceeds going toward local communities to help them during the peak season, Mitsotakis said.
And property owners who offer long-term leases, rather than the short-term rentals generally given to international visitors, will be exempt from paying rental tax for three years, he said.
Mitsotakis also heralded restrictions, to be announced in coming weeks, on runaway construction on the most overdeveloped islands, apparently targeting vacation homes. “Let’s take action and put the brakes, wherever needed, on islands where we believe that the situation has reached a point that the infrastructure is essentially being tested,” he told reporters.
The cruise industry is booming in Greece, with a projected increase of 20% in ship arrivals this year, totaling more than 8 million passengers, according to Giorgos Koubenas, president of Greece’s union of cruise-ship owners, who said revenues this year were projected at 2 billion euros.
Santorini, with its volcanic beaches and dramatic caldera, is Greece’s most popular cruise destination, with 1.3 million cruise visitors last year, according to the Hellenic Ports Association. An official there provoked an angry backlash on a particularly busy July day when he urged residents — population 15,500 — to stay home to make
way for an expected 17,000 visitors.
The mayor, Nikos Zorzos, said authorities did what they could to keep daily visitors under 8,000, but that itineraries were set two years in advance, causing some “very difficult days.”
“It’s important that each island has the ability to regulate the situation locally,” he said, “that local authorities have control in such significant issues that directly influence the daily lives of residents.”
Some residents of smaller islands, however, say they fear that restrictions will push the problems of cruise traffic onto them.
“I’m very worried,” said Thodoris Halaris, a 64-year-old resident of Amorgos, an island of about 2,000 that received its first large cruise ship last month. Cruises risk crowding out the regular visitors he rents to, he said, and don’t suit the island’s relatively small beaches.
“It’s like the theater of the absurd,” he said. “Fifty people swimming on a beach and a 250-meter cruise ship docked in front of them.”
Konstantinos Revinthis, the mayor of Serifos, said he was persuaded to oppose cruise visits after a mediumsize liner brought some 2,000 passengers to his island of roughly 1,000.
“We don’t have the infrastructure to host so many people,” he said.
The San Juan Daily Star
Crowds gathering for the sunset in Mykonos, Greece, on Aug. 7, 2022. As development alters Greek islands’ nature and culture, authorities and residents have been pushing for constraints. (Maria Mavropoulou/The New York Times)
Mexico’s contentious judiciary overhaul becomes law
By JAMES WAGNER
Mexico passed into law Sunday a constitutional amendment remaking its entire judiciary, marking the most far-reaching overhaul of a country’s court system ever carried out by a major democracy.
The results demonstrate the exceptional influence of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, who championed the legislation. The victory of his allies in June elections afforded them substantial legislative majorities to advance the contentious proposal in the leader’s final weeks in office. On the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day, the measure was published in the government’s official gazette, making it law.
The law shifts the judiciary from an appointment-based system, largely grounded in training and qualifications, to one where voters elect judges and there are fewer requirements to run. That puts Mexico onto an untested course, the consequences of which are difficult to foresee.
“Now it’s different,” López Obrador said in a video posted on social media Sunday night in which his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, was seated next to him. “Now it’s the people who rule, the people who decide.”
Roughly 7,000 judges, from the chief justice of the Supreme Court down to those at local courts, will have to run for office under the new system. The changes will be put into effect gradually, with a large portion of the judiciary up for election in 2025 and the rest in 2027.
The government said the overhaul was needed to modernize the courts and to instill
Demonstrators outside the Senate in Mexico City, protesting legislation that would dramatically revamp Mexico’s judiciary, Sept. 10, 2024. Mexico passed into law on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, a constitutional amendment remaking its entire judiciary, marking the most far-reaching overhaul of a country’s court system ever carried out by a major democracy. (Marian Carrasquero/The New York Times).
trust in a system plagued by graft, influence peddling and nepotism. Sheinbaum takes office on Oct. 1 and has fully backed the plan.
But the proposal was met fierce resistance from judicial workers, law experts, investors, judges, students, opposition legislators and other critics. López Obrador’s vow to push it through kept financial markets on edge and caused a diplomatic spat with the U.S. and Canadian ambassadors.
López Obrador first presented his idea of overhauling the judiciary last year. Angered by Supreme Court rulings that blocked
some of his administration’s plans, among them weakening Mexico’s electoral watchdog agency and putting the National Guard under the military’s control, he vowed to have judges and justices elected by popular vote. That move was seen as retaliation by some analysts.
“The judiciary is hopeless, it is rotten,” he told reporters back then, calling on his supporters to give his political movement large majorities in Congress at the polls in order to pass the overhaul and change the constitution.
Despite protests and strikes by a range of groups including more than 50,000 jud-
ges and court workers over the past several weeks, the proposal passed easily through the lower house of Congress, in which the president’s party, Morena, holds a supermajority. On Wednesday, the Senate narrowly passed it despite a delay caused by protesters forcing their way into the building.
By Thursday, the bill was approved by a majority of the 32 state legislatures, the final requirement before being published into law.
“Mission accomplished,” Gerardo Fernández Noroña, president of the Senate, said Friday, announcing that the measure had been sent to López Obrador for publication.
Many Mexicans have expressed support for the measure, saying it would give them leverage in a court system that few trust.
According to government surveys, 66% of Mexicans perceive judges to be corrupt, and analysts say nepotism remains rife. A recent assessment found that about 37% of judicial officials have at least one family member working in the courts.
Now comes the complicated part.
The Senate will have to issue a call for candidates for the thousands of judgeships nationwide. And Mexico’s electoral agency would have to start organizing the judicial elections. At some point, state legislatures would modify their local constitutions.
The plan is for voters next June to elect all Supreme Court justices, whose number would be reduced to nine; members of the newly created Disciplinary Tribunal; and about half of the country’s 7,000 judges, with the rest elected in 2027. An average Mexican might have to sift through anywhere from hundreds to thousands of candidates when they vote.
Shanghai is hit by strongest typhoon in decades and comes to a standstill
By VIVIAN WANG
Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest storm to hit Shanghai since 1949, made landfall Monday, bringing the financial hub to a virtual standstill.
All flights out of the city’s two airports after 8 p.m. Sunday were canceled, major attractions such as Disneyland were closed, and several high-speed train routes were temporarily shut down.
The storm, which felled trees and billboards, logged winds around 94 mph
near its center. Videos on social media showed buildings with siding ripped off and electric poles uprooted.
Shanghai’s meteorological observatory said that some parts of the city had seen almost 3 inches of rainfall in one hour Monday morning.
Shanghai is rarely directly affected by typhoons, which usually hit farther south. Officials predicted that the storm would weaken by Monday evening and move westward.
But the timing of the storm, during
China’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, could disrupt consumer spending that the country desperately needs as its economy slows. On social media, people posted about being stuck in their hotels. Parades scheduled for a tourism festival Sunday and Monday were canceled.
The nearby city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province, said it had suspended all food delivery services. Another city, Nanjing, stopped all large-scale events and outdoor construction and ordered ships
not to sail on the Yangtze River. The disruptions add to China’s broader weather challenges this year. Some regions have battled droughts and floods in quick succession, and the country also recorded its hottest July since at least 1961.
Even as Bebinca hovered over Shanghai, the city’s meteorological authorities warned that another typhoon appeared to be forming where Bebinca had originated, and could hit Shanghai and surrounding areas later this week.
September 17, 2024 11
Why Trump won’t say he wants Ukraine to win
By DAVID FRENCH
It’s certainly understandable that many millions of Americans have focused on Springfield, Ohio, after the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. When Trump repeated the ridiculous rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were killing and eating household pets, he not only highlighted once again his own vulnerability to conspiracy theories, it put the immigrant community in Springfield in serious danger. Bomb threats have forced two consecutive days of school closings and some Haitian immigrants are now “scared for their lives.”
That’s dreadful. It’s inexcusable. But it’s not Trump’s only terrible moment in the debate. Most notably, he refused to say — in the face of repeated questions — that he wanted Ukraine to win its war with Russia. Trump emphasized ending the war over winning the war, a position that can seem reasonable, right until you realize that attempting to force peace at this stage of the conflict would almost certainly cement a Russian triumph. Russia would hold an immense amount of Ukrainian territory and Vladimir Putin would rightly believe he bested both Ukraine and the United States. He would have rolled the “iron dice” of war and he would have won.
There is no scenario in which a Russian triumph is in America’s best interest. A Russian victory would not only expand Russia’s sphere of influence, it would represent a human rights catastrophe (Russia has engaged in war crimes against
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Ukraine’s civilian population since the beginning of the war) and threaten the extinction of Ukrainian national identity. It would reset the global balance of power.
In addition, a Russian victory would make World War III more, not less, likely. It would teach Putin that aggression pays, that the West’s will is weak and that military conquest is preferable to diplomatic engagement. China would learn a similar lesson as it peers across the strait at Taiwan.
If Putin is stopped now — while Ukraine and the West are imposing immense costs in Russian men and materiel — it will send the opposite message, making it far more likely that the invasion of Ukraine is Putin’s last war, not merely his latest.
But that’s not how Trump thinks about Ukraine. He exhibits deep bitterness toward the country, and it was that bitterness that helped expose how dangerous he was well before the Big Lie and Jan. 6.
Recall Trump’s first impeachment and the “perfect” phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine had been locked in a low-intensity conflict with Russia since Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea and intervention in the Donbas, a region in eastern Ukraine, and Ukraine was in grave need of American military assistance. In his July 25, 2019, conversation with Trump, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.”
Trump responded almost like a mob boss. He needed a little something in return. “I would like you to do us a favor,” he said, “though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people … The server, they say Ukraine has it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump during the general election presidential debate, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 2024. “It’s certainly understandable that many millions of Americans have focused on Springfield, Ohio, after the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris,” David French writes. (Damon Winter/The New York Times)
Trump’s defenders note that he did not get his way. The administration ultimately approved the Javelin missiles and Zelenskyy never had to investigate the Bidens, nor did he have to go on a server hunt. But that hardly vindicates Trump’s initial demand, and it’s cold comfort when contemplating a second Trump term.
Those Trump defenders who are honest enough to acknowledge that Trump is self-interested and erratic try to turn his liability to an asset. They claim that world leaders are thrown off-balance by Trump, and that they’re more cautious as a result.
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Recognizing that Joe Biden might be a formidable opponent in 2020, Trump also asked Zelenskyy to investigate the Biden family. This attempt to convince a foreign government to investigate a domestic political rival garnered the most attention and outrage about the exchange, but I want to focus on Trump’s first request, for Zelenskyy to find “the server.”
In that moment, Trump vocalized one of MAGA’s strangest conspiracy theories: that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and that part of the proof was located in a mythical CrowdStrike server in Ukraine.
At a critical moment in world history — when an American ally was seeking arms to help defend itself against a hostile great power — Trump responded with a corrupt and lunatic request: that Zelenskyy grant Trump a series of personal demands, including a demand that Zelenskyy couldn’t possibly meet, to find a server in Ukraine that did not exist.
Trump was conducting American foreign policy on the basis of his personal grievances, not American interests. Even worse, his negative attitude toward Ukraine isn’t rooted in a grand strategic vision; it is rooted in his personal pique over Ukraine’s nonexistent participation in a fictional conspiracy. It was an astonishing display of corruption and unfitness.
But there’s a difference between “crazy like a fox,” when there is a method to the apparent madness, and Trump’s instability. He’s deranged in the most predictable (and thus manipulable) ways. In last week’s debate, for example, Trump’s memorable rant about Haitians eating pets was triggered by obvious bait from Harris.
As my colleague Ezra Klein points out in his debate analysis, Harris redirected a tough question about immigration by talking about Trump’s crowd size. In real time, Harris’ tactic was so clear that I thought that even Trump would see what was happening. He could have immediately won the exchange by calling out Harris’ misdirection as an attempt to change the subject and then hammering home his points about the border. But no. He couldn’t help himself. She pricked his pride, and he is nothing without his pride.
When the stakes are highest — for the election, for the country or for the international order — Trump isn’t just thinking about himself, he’s thinking about himself in the most unstable of ways. He can’t perceive reality. After watching him up close for nine years, our adversaries and allies know this to be true. They know he is both gullible and impulsive.
Trump’s reluctance to say the plain truth — that a Ukrainian victory is in America’s national interest — demonstrates that he is still a prisoner to his own grievances, and there is no one left who can stop him from doing his worst.
Empieza nueva campaña en redes
sociales ‘No te dejas Engañar’ a favor del voto adelantado
POR EL STAR STAFF
SAN JUAN – Los representantes José ‘Che’ Pérez y José ‘Cheito’ Hernández, junto con la presidenta de la Organización de la Juventud del Partido Nuevo Progresista, Keishla ‘Keka’ Rodríguez, lanzaron una nueva campaña, ‘No te dejas engañar’, por las redes sociales recalcando las garantías y transparencia del proceso electoral en Puerto Rico, incluyendo la solicitud del voto adelantado.
La campaña está centrada en una serie de videos colgados en las redes sociales de Facebook, Instagram y X, entre otros, denunciando el alegado intento de varios sectores de la oposición política de echar sombra al proceso de solicitud del voto adelantado.
“Durante las pasadas semanas hemos observado como miembros del Partido
Independentistas Puertorriqueno y el partido Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana han tratado de mancillar el proceso electoral en Puerto Rico para usar esos comentarios como excusa al perder el 5 de noviembre. Pero aquí hay algo más profundo, es un intento de elementos de estos sectores de sembrar duda el el voto adelantado para así intentar disuadir a los adultos mayores, que representan la mayoría de este voto, de solicitar el mismo”, señaló Pérez, representante por acumulación.
“Hoy culmina el proceso de solicitud del voto adelantado y algunos sectores de la oposición política han tratado de lanzar dudas sobre el proceso con el único fin de evitar que más personas utilicen este tipo de modalidad de voto la cual busca ampliar la participación electoral en Puerto Rico. Estamos explicando
en estos videos el intento de estas personas. No se dejen engañar, las dudas las
Recibirán
levantan para evitar que más personas soliciten el voto adelantado. Es un intento de oprimir la participación electoral en Puerto Rico”, dijo Hernández, quien representa el Distrito #3.
Rodríguez, hizo eco a las expresiones de los legisladores de la Palma recalcando que el proceso (voto adelantado) es uno transparente y abierto dirigido a incrementar la participación del electorado en el proceso de las elecciones generales de noviembre.
Los ciudadanos que pueden solicitar el voto adelantado son los confinados, candidatos a puestos electivos, elector en casa de alojamiento, elector con condiciones especiales, elector con impedimento físico, elector cuidador único, elector hospitalizado, elector en trabajo, elector viajero, y elector con voto de fácil acceso en domicilio.
al equipo Sub 23 medallista de plata en Guaynabo
lebrarlo con la afición”, expresó la FBPR en declaraciones escritas.
GUAYNABO
– La Federación de Béisbol de Puerto Rico (FBPR) convocó el lunes a la fanaticada a recibir al Equipo Nacional Sub 23, que ganó su primera medalla de plata en la Copa Mundial de Béisbol en China. El evento será este martes a las 5:00 de la tarde en San Patricio Plaza.
“Es un logro histórico para el béisbol puertorriqueño y queremos ce-
Puerto Rico cayó 5-0 ante Japón en la final, pero terminó el torneo con un récord de 7-2, después de haber derrotado a Japón 6-1 en el partido inaugural.
Es la primera vez que un equipo Sub 23 de Puerto Rico logra subir al podio en un torneo de la Confederación Mundial de Béisbol y Sóftbol (WBSC).
Centro Judicial de Ponce adopta medidas por fallas en aire acondicionado
POR CYBERNEWS
SAN JUAN – El Centro Judicial de Ponce operará bajo un plan especial de operaciones este lunes debido a problemas con el sistema de aire acondicionado, informó el Director Administrativo de los Tribunales, Sigfrido Steidel Figueroa. Se espera retomar la operación regular el martes.
“Las vistas presenciales o virtuales señaladas para hoy serán recalendarizadas y se notificarán las nuevas
fechas”, indicó Steidel Figueroa en declaraciones escritas.
La Sala de Investigaciones operará con normalidad, y la Secretaría continuará recibiendo documentos en papel. El Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC) estará disponible electrónicamente para casos civiles.
Para más detalles, los ciudadanos pueden consultar las redes sociales del Poder Judicial o llamar a la Línea de Información del Poder Judicial al (787) 641-6263.
The San Juan Daily Star
POR CYBERNEWS
Record-setting ‘Shogun’ wins for best drama; ‘Hacks’ is named best comedy
By JOHN KOBLIN
“Shogun,” FX’s big-budget chronicle of feudal Japan, took best drama honors at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, putting an exclamation point on a record-breaking run for the rookie series.
And at an awards show that can be short on surprises, there was a major one: “Hacks” defeated “The Bear,” the reigning winner, for best comedy.
“Shogun” set a new high at the Emmys, earning 18 awards overall, the most wins for a show in a single year, beating a 16-yearold record set by the HBO miniseries “John Adams.” Hiroyuki Sanada won for best actor in a drama and Anna Sawai took best actress.
The wins represent a major breakthrough for a foreign-language series. Though it was made by an American net-
Here is a complete list of Emmy Awards winners.
Best Drama
“Shogun” (FX)
Nominees in this category: “The Crown” (Netflix); “The Morning Show” (Apple TV); “The Gilded Age” (HBO); “Slow Horses” (Apple TV); “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (Amazon Prime Video); “Fallout” (Amazon Prime Video); “3 Body Problem” (Netflix) Best Comedy
“Hacks” (HBO)
Nominees in this category: “Abbott Elementary” (ABC); “The Bear” (Hulu); “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO); “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu); “Palm Royale” (Apple TV); “Reservation Dogs” (FX); “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX) Best Limited Series
“Baby Reindeer” (Netflix)
Nominees in this category: “Fargo” (FX); “Lessons in Chemistry” (Apple TV); “Ripley”(Netflix); “True Detective: Night Country” (HBO) Best Actress, Drama
Anna Sawai, “Shogun”
Nominees in this category: Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”; Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show”; Imelda Staunton, “The
“Shogun,” FX’s big-budget chronicle of feudal Japan, won the Emmy Award for best drama.
Crown”; Maya Erskine, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Carrie Coon, “The Gilded Age”
Best Actor, Drama
Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shogun”
Nominees in this category: Donald Glover, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Idris Elba, “Hijack”; Walton Goggins, “Fallout”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Dominic West, “The Crown”
Best Actor, Comedy
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Nominees in this category:
Matt Berry, “What We Do in the Shadows”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, “Reservation Dogs”
Best Actress, Comedy
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Nominees in this category: Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Kristen Wiig, “Palm Royale”; Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”; Maya Rudolph, “Loot”
Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie
Jodie Foster, “True Detective: Night Country”
Nominees in this category:
Brie Larson, “Lessons in Chemistry”; Juno Temple, “Fargo”; Sofia Vergara, “Griselda”; Naomi Watts, “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”
Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie
Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer” Nominees in this category: Matt Bomer, “Fellow Travelers”; Jon Hamm, “Fargo”; Tom Hollander, “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”; Andrew Scott, “Ripley”
Best Supporting Actress, Comedy Liza Colon-Zayas, “The Bear” Nominees in this category: Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”; Carol Burnett, “Palm Royale”; Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”; Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”; Meryl Streep, “Only Murders in the Building”
Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Nominees in this category:
Lionel Boyce, “The Bear”; Paul W. Downs, “Hacks”; Paul Rudd, “Only Murders in the Building”; Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”
Nominees in this category: Christine Baranski, “The Gilded
work (FX, which is owned by Disney) and appeared on a domestic streaming service (Hulu), roughly 70% of the show’s dialogue was in Japanese. Foreign-language series like “Squid Game” have won a handful of Emmys but never seriously threatened in a top category like best drama.
In the comedy awards, there were some signals during the ceremony that “Hacks” might have real momentum. Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky won for best writing for a comedy series, defeating “The Bear,” which had been the heavy favorite in the category.
Ever since “The Bear” set a record for the most nominations for any comedy series in Emmy history in July, something of a backlash began emerging among some industry observers. Few people questioned the quality of the show, but there was mounting
Continues on page 14
Age”; Nicole Beharie, “The Morning Show”; Greta Lee, “The Morning Show”; Lesley Manville, “The Crown”; Karen Pittman, “The Morning Show”; Holland Taylor, “The Morning Show”
Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Nominees in this category: Tadanobu Asano, “Shogun”; Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”; Jon Hamm, “The Morning Show”; Takehiro Hira, “Shogun”; Jack Lowden, “Slow Horses”; Jonathan Pryce, “The Crown”
Best Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie
Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”
Nominees in this category: Kali Reis, “True Detective: Night Country”; Aja Naomi King, “Lessons in Chemistry’; Diane Lane, “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”; Lily Gladstone, “Under the Bridge”; Dakota Fanning, “Ripley”; Nava Mau, “Baby Reindeer”
Best Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie
Lamorne Morris, “Fargo” Nominees in this category: Robert Downey Jr., “The Sympathizer”; Lewis Pullman, “Lessons in Chemis-
try”; Jonathan Bailey, “Fellow Travelers”; John Hawkes, “True Detective: Night Country”; Treat Williams, “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”; Tom Goodman-Hill, “Baby Reindeer” Best Comedy Guest Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Bear” Nominees in this category: Olivia Colman, “The Bear”; Kaitlin Olson, “Hacks”; Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”; Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “Only Murders in the Building”; Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live”
Best Comedy Guest Actor Jon Bernthal, “The Bear” Nominees in this category: Ryan Gosling, “Saturday Night Live”; Bob Odenkirk, “The Bear”; Will Poulter, “The Bear”; Matthew Broderick, “Only Murders in the Building”; Christopher Lloyd, “Hacks” Best Drama Guest Actress Michaela Coel, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Nominees in this category: Claire Foy, “The Crown”; Sarah Paulson, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Marcia Gay Harden, “The Morning Show”; Parker Posey, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Best Drama Guest Actor Nestor Carbonell, “Shogun” Nominees in this category:
Continues on page 14
From page 13
frustration that “The Bear,” a tense workplace series that takes place in Chicago’s dining scene, was even eligible in the comedy awards.
“In the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes,” Eugene Levy, one of the Emmy hosts, said at the top of the ceremony.
“The Bear” did not go entirely emptyhanded. Jeremy Allen White won for the second time in a row for best actor in a comedy, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach won for best supporting actor, making him a repeat winner as well. Liza Colón-Zayas won her first Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy.
Here’s what else happened at the Emmys:
— Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ wins big in limited series: Netflix’s out-of-nowhere hit “Baby Reindeer” won a slew of awards in the limited series categories. In addition to the best limited series award, Richard Gadd won for best actor in a limited series, and Jessica Gunning won for best supporting actress in a limited series. Jodie Foster won her
From page 13
John Turturro, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Paul Dano, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”; Tracy Letts, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”; Jonathan Pryce, “Slow Horses”
Best Variety Talk Series
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
Nominees in this category:
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS); “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC); “Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)
Best Variety Scripted Series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
Nominees in this category:
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC) Best Reality or Competition Program
“The Traitors” (Peacock) Nominees in this category:
“The Amazing Race” (CBS); “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV); “Top Chef” (Bravo); “The Voice” (NBC) Best Host for a Reality/Competition Program
Alan Cumming, “The Traitors”
Nominees in this category: RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; Kristen Kish, “Top Chef”; Jeff Probst, “Survivor”; Mark Cuban, Lori Grei-
first Emmy in her role as a small-town police officer in HBO’s latest season of “True Detective.”
— ‘The Traitors’ bests RuPaul: There was a changing of the guard in the reality competition category. Peacock’s breakout hit, “The Traitors,” won the award, upsetting a perennial winner, “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The writing was on the wall. The host of “The Traitors,” Alan Cumming, won the Emmy for best host in a reality show at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend, besting RuPaul who had won that award eight years in a row.
— A new reign begins for ‘The Daily Show’: When Jon Stewart helmed “The Daily Show” in the 2000s and 2010s, he won in the late-night category a whopping 11 times. With Stewart’s once-a-week return in February, “The Daily Show” has now started another run, winning Sunday. Stewart was up against Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers.
— Smaller lineup: The television industry is in the midst of a contraction, and Sunday’s ceremony reflected that. The number of shows submitted in the drama and co -
ner, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec and Daymond John, “Shark Tank”
Best Animated Program
“Blue Eye Samurai” (Netflix)
Nominees in this category: “XMen ’97” (Disney+); “The Simpsons” (Fox); “Bob’s Burgers” (Fox); “Scavengers Reign” (HBO)
Best TV Movie
“Quiz Lady” (Hulu)
Nominees in this category: “Mr. Monk’s Last Case” (Peacock); “Red, White and Royal Blue” (Amazon Prime Video); “Scoop” (Netflix); “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story” (Netflix)
Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special
“Jim Henson Idea Man” (Disney+)
Nominees in this category:
“The Greatest Night in Pop” (Netflix); “STEVE! (Martin) a documentary in 2 pieces” (Apple TV+); “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (HBO); “Girls State” (Apple TV+)
Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series
“Beckham” (Netflix)
Nominees in this category:
“The Jinx — Part Two” (HBO); “STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.” (HBO); “Telemarketers” (HBO); “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of TV” (ID)
medy categories plummeted this year. Some categories (like best talk show) even lost nominee slots because of a lack of submissions.
— Two Emmys, one year: For the first time in 75 years, there have been two Emmy Awards ceremonies in the same calendar year. The 2023 ceremony was delayed until January because of last year’s Hollywood strikes. That January telecast had just over 4 million viewers, the lowest ever recorded, and producers of the broadcast were hopeful for a turnaround.
Best Directing for a Drama Series
Frederick E.O. Toye, “Chapter Nine: Crimson Sky,” “Shоgun” Nominees in this category: Mimi Leder, “The Overview Effect,” “The Morning Show”; Stephen Daldry, “Sleep, Dearie Sleep,” “The Crown”; Hiro Murai, “First Date,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”; Saul Metzstein, “Strange Games,” “Slow Horses”; Salli Richardson-Whitfield, “Beat L.A.,” “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” Best Directing for a Comedy Series Christopher Storer, “Fishes,” “The Bear” Nominees in this category: Randall Einhorn, “Party,” “Abbott Elementary”; Ramy Youssef, “Honeydew,” “The Bear”; Guy Ritchie, “Refined Aggression,” “The Gentlemen”; Lucia Aniello, “Bulletproof,” “Hacks”; Mary Lou Belli, “I’m the Pappy,” “The Ms. Pat Show” Best Directing for a Limited Series/ TV Movie
Steven Zaillian, “Ripley” Nominees in this category: Weronika Tofilska, “Episode 4,” “Baby Reindeer”; Millicent Shelton, “Poirot,” “Lessons in Chemistry”; Noah Hawley, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” “Fargo”; Gus Van Sant, “Pilot,” “Feud: Capote vs. the
Swans”; Issa López, “True Detective: Night Country”
Best Writing for a Comedy Series “Bulletproof” by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, “Hacks”
Nominees in this category: “Career Day” by Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; “Fishes” by Joanna Calo and Christopher Storer, “The Bear”; “Orlando,” Meredith Scardino and Sam Means, “Girls5eva”; “Brooke Hosts a Night of Undeniable Good,” Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, “The Other Two”; “Pride Parade,” Jake Bender and Zach Dunn, “What We Do in the Shadows”
Best Writing for a Drama Series “Negotiating With Tigers,” Will Smith, “Slow Horses”
Nominees in this category: “Ritz,” Peter Morgan and Meriel Sheibani-Clare, “The Crown”; “The End,” Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, “Fallout”; “Chapter One: Anjin” by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, “Shogun”; “Chapter Nine: Crimson Sky” by Rachel Kondo and Caillin Puente, “Shogun”; “First Date” by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Best Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama Special Series by Richard Gadd, “Baby
Reindeer” Nominees in this category: Series by Steven Zaillian, “Ripley”; “Joan Is Awful,” by Charlie Brooker, “Black Mirror”; “You’re Wonderful” by Ron Nyswaner, “Fellow Travelers”; “Part 6” by Issa López, “True Detective: Night Country”; “The Tragedy of the Commons” by Noah Hawley, “Fargo”
Best Writing for a Variety Special Alex Edelman, “Just for Us” Nominees in this category: Jacqueline Novak, “Get On Your Knees”; John Early, “Now More Than Ever”; Mike Birbiglia, “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool”; Jamie Abrahams, Rory Albanese, Amberia Allen, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Bryan Cook, Blaire Erskine, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Jimmy Kimmel, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks, Mitch Marchand, Gregory Martin, Jesse McLaren, Molly McNearney, Keaton Patti, Danny Ricker, Louis Virtel and Troy Walker, “The Oscars”
Best Writing for a Variety Series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (Max) Nominees in this category: “The Daily Show” (Comedy Central); “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
“Hacks” (HBO) won the Emmy for best comedy series.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
LONGBRIDGE
FINANCIAL LLC
Demandante Vs. SUCESION ANDRES RIVERA AGOSTO T/C/C ANDRES RIVERA COMPUESTA POR
EMANUEL RIVERA CARRION, MILAGROS RIVERA CARRION, MARIA IDALIA RIVERA CARRION, MARIBEL RIVERA CARRION, MARICELIS RIVERA CARRION, MADELINE
RIVERA CARRION; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESION
MILAGROS CARRION
CARRASQUILLO T/C/C MILAGROS CARRION COMPUESTA POR
EMANUEL RIVERA CARRION, MILAGROS RIVERA CARRION, MARIA IDALIA RIVERA CARRION, MARIBEL
RIVERA CARRION, MARICELIS RIVERA CARRION, MADELINE
RIVERA CARRION; JOHN ROE Y JANE ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS
DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados
Civil Núm.: CG2023CV04240.
Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
A: LA PARTE
DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO (A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO GENERAL:
Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario (a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y
por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 1 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación:
“URBANA: Solar en la Urbanización Reparto Caguax, sita en el barrio Tomás de Castro de Caguas, identificada en el plano de inscripción con el número 24 del bloque “K”, en que según las medidas que aparecen de dicho plano de inscripción tiene una cabida superficial de 315.00 metros cuadrados; en colindancia por el NORTE, con el solar número 25, del bloque K, por donde mide 22.50 metros; por el SUR, con el solar número 213 del bloque K, por donde mide 22.50 metros; por el ESTE, con la Calle número Once, por donde mide 14.00 metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar número 10 del bloque K, por donde mide 14.00 metros. Contiene una casa que tiene sala, comedor, tres dormitorios, cocina, baño y balcón para dedicarla a vivienda.” Inscrita al folio 235 del tomo 442 de Caguas, finca número 13182, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 168 del tomo 1769 de Caguas, finca número 13182, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I, inscripción 18ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. CAGUAX, K-24 CALLE YOCAHU, CAGUAS, PR 00725. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $160,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 22 de septiembre de 2094. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece
como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $160,500.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 8 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $107, 000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la tercera subasta, la suma de $80,250.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 16 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $77,176.65 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $51,313.47 en intereses acumulados al 14 de mayo de 2024 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 5.060% anual hasta su total y completo pago; $14,816.26 de seguro hipotecario; $2,433.88 de seguros contra riesgo; $1,650.00 de tasaciones; $472.00 de inspecciones; $3,635.00 de adelantos de honorarios de abogado; más la cantidad de 10% del pagaré original en la suma de $16,050.00, pala gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado. A tenor con la Regla 44.3 de Procedimiento Civil se condena a la parte demandada a pagar intereses aplicables sobre el importe de la presente sentencia incluyendo costas y honorarios de abogado, desde esta fecha y hasta que sea satisfecha. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un dia-
rio de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 27 de agosto de 2024. CARLOS DELGADO CRUZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. RAFAEL JOSÉ RIVERA ORTÍZ; DOMALYS
DAPHNE MACHADO
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CG2022CV01871. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, a la parte 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 de epígrafe con fecha 1 de agosto de 2024, y para satisfacer la Sentencia dictada en el caso de autos fechada 28 de mayo de 2024, notificada 12 de junio de 2024, procederé a vender el día 23 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque certificado y/o giro postal, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número doce (12) del Bloque B en el Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización Ciudad Primavera, localizada en la Carretera Estatal número setecientos ochenta y siete (787), kilómetro cuatro punto ocho (4.8) del Barrio Beatriz del término municipal de Cidra, Puerto Rico. Tiene un área superficial de trescientos treinta y nueve punto cero cuatro metros cuadrados (339.04 m.c.) y sus colindancias son las siguientes: por el NORTE, con una alineación de trece punto cero metros lineales (13.00
m.l.), con el solar número trece (13) del Bloque B, según el Plano indica solar número 3B; por el SUR, con una alineación de trece punto cero metros lineales (13.00 m.l.), con la Calle número seis (6); por el ESTE, con una alineación de veintiséis punto cero ocho metros lineales (26.08 m.l.), con el solar número once (11) del Bloque B; y por el OESTE, con una alineación de veintiséis punto cero ocho metros lineales (26.08 m.l.), con el solar número trece (13) del Bloque B. Afecta a este solar una servidumbre de uno punto cincuenta y dos metros (1.52 mts.) de ancho que discurre a todo lo largo de su colindancia Sur, a favor de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company. En dicho solar enclava una estructura de concreto diseñada para fines residenciales para una familia, construida de acuerdo a los Planos y especificaciones. Inscrita al Folio 105 del Tomo 449 de Cidra, Registro Inmobiliario Digital del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Sección Segunda (II) de Caguas, Finca Número 16,196. Dirección Física: Urb. Ciudad Primevera, B 12 Calle 6, Cidra, PR 00739. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, o sea, la suma principal de $139,059.80 más intereses al tipo convenido y demás términos y condiciones, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 23 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de $161,160.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA subasta, el día 30 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, la cantidad de $107,440.00. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 7 DE OCTUBRE DE 2024, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, la cantidad de $80,580.00. A la propiedad no le afectan gravámenes preferentes. A la propiedad le afecta el siguiente gravamen (a ejecutarse): Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor de JR Mortgage Home, Inc., o a su orden, por la suma principal de $161,160.00, con intereses al 4.50% anual, vencedero el día 1 de abril de 2044, constituida mediante la escritura número
32, otorgada en Ponce, Puerto Rico, el día 2 de abril de 2014, ante el notario Alfonso J. Gómez Roubert y Acta de Subsanación número 42, otorgada en Ponce, Puerto Rico, el día 6 de mayo de 2014, ante el mismo notario, e inscrita al tomo Karibe de Cidra, finca número 16,196, inscripción 6ta. A la propiedad le afectan los siguientes gravámenes posteriores: Aviso de Demanda de fecha 8 de junio de 2022, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el Caso Civil número CG2022CV01871, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico versus Rafael José Rivera Ortiz, Domalys Daphne Machado Diaz y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos, por la suma de $140,229.19, más intereses y otras sumas adicionales o en su defecto la venta en Pública Subasta, anotado el día 28 de febrero de 2023, al tomo Karibe de Cidra, finca número 16,196, Anotación “A”. Embargo a favor del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, contra Rafael Rivera Ortiz, seguro social xxx-xx-2222, por la suma de $4,863.12, por concepto de Contribuciones sobre Ingresos, presentado el día 11 de julio de 2024, al Asiento 2024-004500EST del Sistema Karibe. 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 en efectivo, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tenga (n) interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción de los gravámenes que se están ejecutando, que los mismos serán eliminados del Registro de la Propiedad, 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 termino 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 y a su abogado o abogada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo siempre que haya comparecido al pleito. Si el (la) deudor (a) por Sentencia no comparece al pleito, la notificación será enviada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a las últimas
direcciones conocidas. 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. Y para conocimiento de la parte 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 Caguas, Puerto Rico, a 3 de septiembre de 2024. ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE LA ASOCIACION DE EMPLEADOS
DEL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO (AEELA)
Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE CHARLIE ESTOLT GARCÍA, COMPUESTA POR: DAVIANA ESTOLT CEPEDA, SOLINEDMARY ESTOLT MALDONADO Y EDGARDO LORENZO ESTOLT CARDONA; Y JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE, COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS
DESCONOCIDOS
Demandados
Civil Núm.: ECD2016-0984. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, ÁNGEL GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #593, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, a la parte 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
de epígrafe con fecha 24 de julio de 2024, y para satisfacer la Sentencia dictada en el caso de autos fechada 17 de diciembre de 2021, notificada el 3 de febrero de 2022 y publicada el 11 de febrero de 2022, procederé a vender el día 23 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2024, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque certificado y/o giro postal, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno radicado en el Barrio Bairoa del término municipal de Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de cero punto seis mil trescientos diecinueve cuerdas, equivalentes a dos mil cuatrocientos ochenta y tres punto seis mil cuatrocientos setenta y cinco metros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, con la Carretera P.R. número Setecientos Noventa y Cinco (795); por el SUR, en veinte punto ochocientos noventa y seis metros con el Lote Dos (2) de Wilfredo Cardona Nazario en trece punto ciento sesenta y nueve metros y en trece punto trescientos veintidós metros con el Lote Tres (3) de Miguel Alejandro Solla, en veintinueve punto ochocientos treinta y ocho metros con el Lote Cuatro (4) de Ismael Colon, en diecinueve punto setecientos veintiséis metros con el Lote Cinco (5) de Félix Fernández, en dieciséis punto quinientos metros con el Lote Seis (6) de Alejandro Mojica; por el ESTE, con el Lote Uno (1) segregado propiedad de Ana Elsa Castillo; y por el OESTE, con terrenos de la Iglesia Discípulos de Cristo y en quince punto setecientos setenta y seis metros con el Lote Siete (7) de Juan Pérez. Este solar es el remanente, según escritura número 41, otorgada en Caguas, Puerto Rico, el día 30 de marzo de 2002, ante el notario Juan Rivera Torres, e inscrito al folio 194 del tomo 285 de Aguas Buenas, finca número 3,802, inscripción 11ra. Enclava una estructura de bloques y cemento con valor de $95,000.00, mediante la escritura número 35, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 26 de enero de 2007, ante el notario Enrique N. Vela Colón, e inscrita al folio 287 del tomo 338 de Aguas Buenas, finca número 3,802, inscripción 13ra. Inscrita al Folio 185 del Tomo 87 de Aguas Buenas, Registro Inmobiliario Digital del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Sección Segunda (II) de Caguas, Finca Número 3,802. Dirección Física: Bo. Bairoa, PR 795 KM 0.2, Aguas Buenas, PR
How to Play:
Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.
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Crossword
Sudoku Wordsearch
Abbey
Archbishop
Bellhop
Besieged
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Cardboard
Chose
Clear
Crisp
Danger
Dental
Design
Distends
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The
Troy Aikman ‘never lost at anything.’ He’s just now starting to enjoy it.
By ZAK KEEFER
Troy Aikman, the “Monday Night Football” analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, had just finished a raucous sales rally for Eight, the beer company he founded in 2022, and now he was manning the tap.
“How about that pour?” Aikman said, serving one up.
He knew he did not have to be here, playing celebrity bartender, posing for photos, signing autographs and telling stories. He was going to be calling an NFL preseason game in Canton, Ohio, in a few days and had a trip to New York to celebrate his daughter’s birthday before that. A video message would have sufficed.
But that would have been too easy. He hates easy.
Kenneth Aikman had his son shingling the roof at 12 and clocking in for his first job at 13. “He treated me as a man from the time I was 6,” Troy Aikman said.
In high school, he spent his Friday nights on the football field and his Saturday mornings installing tires and changing out dead batteries at the Western Auto down the road. A lesson he learned then is printed on every can of his beer now: no shortcuts.
Without that wiring, there are no Super Bowls, no 23-year broadcasting career, no successful business ventures. On paper, his was the archetypal American success story, the country boy who made good because he was raised right. GQ once put him on the cover above the headline, “God’s Quarterback.”
Now, Aikman is 57. He has not taken a warm shower in years. He starts each morning with a cold one and a 20-minute walk in low-level sunlight to set his circadian rhythm. He is in bed by 9 p.m. unless he is calling a game.
He tracks his sleep. He reads about biohacking. He took up yoga this spring, and for the first three months it absolutely wrecked him. “Hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. Class would finish and he would just lie there, soaked in sweat, unable to move. The quarterback who once finished a game as a rookie after being knocked out cold could not muster the strength to stand.
He has come to love it. “I feel like I can do everything I did when I was in my 30s,” he said.
Even play in an NFL game?
he wasn’t getting enough credit, or me complaining I wasn’t getting enough credit,” Aikman said. “Every player on those teams did what we had to do to win. And yet the two guys who led the organization couldn’t do it.”
Turner put it this way: “Deep down, Troy thinks they could’ve won a couple more.”
Broadcasting scratched an itch for Aikman, but he slowly learned the void would never again be filled. “You know the thing about this business that kills me?” he told Buck in their first year together. “There’s no scoreboard.”
He poured himself into other pursuits. A restaurant. A car dealership. For a time, he was an owner of the San Diego Padres, and then a NASCAR team. He moved on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing. It was all he knew to do. Standing still scared him.
“If I had to, yeah,” he said.
The work is what always separated him. He did not have Dan Marino’s arm or Steve Young’s improvisation. But the work never scared him.
“I’ve always felt that my success as an athlete, and as a broadcaster, is not because I’m the most talented guy in the room,” Aikman said. “It’s because I’m willing to do what most people are not.”
He is also willing to say what others will not. It is why Aikman remains one of the top television analysts: He not only prepares as though he is still playing, but he is blunt when others tend to back away, unafraid to call it the way he sees it. He is at his best when he says what the fans at home are thinking.
“Troy might be the most honest guy ever,” said Norv Turner, his former offensive coordinator in Dallas.
The routine never changes. After the game ends on a Monday night, he will take notes while he watches a replay on his private jet home. Then he starts preparing for the next week first thing on Tuesday. He designed his own spotting boards before his first year in the booth, in 2001, and he has been using them ever since. He prints them out on Thursdays, color codes them, and then adds notes until kickoff.
“It took me about a week of us working together to realize why the guy had won three Super Bowls,” said Joe Buck, his on-air partner and close friend. The pair is the longesttenured broadcast team in NFL history. Their 23rd season together began last week with
the New York Jets-San Francisco 49ers game and continued Monday night with the Atlanta Falcons at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Most people remember the trophies, but Aikman remembers how much the beginning of his NFL career humbled him and how much the end hurt. He was 0-11 as a rookie.
But then he became the first quarterback to win three Super Bowls in four seasons, and his story was irresistibly American: the son of a rancher from Oklahoma, the No. 1 pick with the icy demeanor who would stand in the pocket, take the hit and fire it on the money. But the team’s owner, Jerry Jones, once said fans would write him letters, asking why his quarterback did not have more fun on the field.
By the time the Cowboys won their third title, in January 1996, Aikman knew they were slipping. “Hanging on by a thread,” said Daryl Johnston, Aikman’s teammate for 11 seasons in Dallas.
By 2000, Aikman’s last year in Dallas, he was taking painkilling shots before every game. The Cowboys were 5-11. He decided midway through the season he would never play for them again. It was not the back issues or the concussions. He was disgusted at what America’s Team had become.
What still irritates him is that it was not the 49ers or the Green Bay Packers that dethroned them. The NFL’s team of the 1990s sabotaged itself.
“Not one time did you ever read Michael Irvin complaining that he wasn’t getting enough credit, or Emmitt Smith complaining
“There have been times when I’m like, ‘Bro, just chill, you don’t have to chase all this stuff,’” Buck said. “But any idea of him just drifting into a peaceful retirement, sitting on a beach somewhere, that’s just the furthest thing from his mind.”
Years passed. The more Aikman ran from contentment, the more it robbed him of his own happiness. His first marriage fell apart. Then his second. So he went to work on himself, trying to balance something that took years for him to accept: The traits that made him a Hall of Famer were the same ones keeping him from life’s simple joys. He started meditating daily. He learned he could skip one workout a week and not beat himself up over it. He realized that everyone did not think like a quarterback and that being content was not a sign of weakness.
“It’s taken decades,” Aikman said. “Not to get weird on you, but it’s taken a lot of personal work, finding it within myself to give myself grace. There was a lot of, ‘Why do I feel this way?’”
Back at the beer distributor in Dallas, Aikman finished bartending and slipped out the back. His plane was waiting for him. After a busy summer traveling and promoting Eight, he was eager to get back to the rhythms of a football season. He has learned to enjoy it more than he did in the past.
More than that, he has learned he is allowed to enjoy it.
“I’ve found contentment, if you can believe it,” Aikman said. “And it’s a really good feeling.”
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with Troy Aikman before Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., Feb. 2, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21
