Friday to Sunday Sep 20-22, 2024

Jake Michaels/The New York Times

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.

Justice secretary appears, under penalty of contempt, at joint executive hearing

By THE STAR STAFF

Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli Hernández appeared Thursday, under penalty of contempt, at a joint executive hearing of the committees on Community Initiatives, Mental Health and Addiction; and Legal Affairs and Economic Development in the island Senate.

The secretary was summoned before both committees to continue the investigation stemming from Senate Resolution 933, authored by the committee chairmen, Sen. José Vargas Vidot and Senate President José Luis Dalmau Santiago, respectively, to investigate the administrative management leading to the release of prisoners under Law 25-1992 and after the events involving inmate Hermes Ávila Vázquez.

Ávila Vázquez, who was convicted of murder in 2005, was released from prison under an early release program that allows inmates to leave jail if they suffer certain terminal conditions. However, after he was released, he killed Ivette Joan Meléndez Vega in Manatí earlier this year, according to his own confession. Ávila Vázquez had been diagnosed as paraplegic even though, as it turned out, he could walk. Since then, the Corrections and Rehabilitation Department has been under investigation for allowing his release.

The Senate president held the government responsible for the need to call a joint hearing, since Emanuelli Hernández is the third secretary to be summoned under penalty of contempt during the investigation; previously, it had been the secretaries of the Health, Carlos Mellado López, and Correction and Rehabilitation, Ana Escobar Pabón.

“It has been very difficult to request documents that are public, we have had to go to court,” Dalmau Santiago said.

After not appearing at the initial summons, the Justice secretary directly asked the Senate president to testify through an executive hearing, “because he did not want to go into the specific facts of the investigation,” Dalmau Santiago said, to which both committees agreed.

“In no way can we intervene in an investigation that another agency is doing, but the Resolution that was approved by the majority in this Senate gives the authorization to both commissions to act based on that resolution and an investigation,” the Senate president added.

for which he was summoned.

Before Emanuelli Hernández appeared before the joint hearing under penalty of contempt, Vargas Vidot said “I don’t want to think that the routine legislative process is being deviated from because we are just months away from the election.”

Upon leaving the joint hearing, senators in attendance expressed dissatisfaction with the answers given by Emanuelli Hernández.

“At this hearing, absolutely nothing was said that the people of Puerto Rico could not hear,” Sen. Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl said. “There was no reason to hold an executive hearing.”

Prior to the joint hearing, Emanuelli Hernández had said he has the legal and ethical duty to ensure investigations are conducted in an objective, honest, and trustworthy manner.

“It is universally known that criminal investigations must be conducted confidentially to comply with these principles and ensure a truthful, accurate, and fair result,” he said. “What public purpose can a secretary of Justice have for publicly airing an investigative process of a criminal nature that has not been concluded?”

Vargas Vidot noted that the interpretation of Law 25 of 1992 and the case of the former prisoner cannot be set aside since, “this resolution does not occur in a vacuum, but rather it was born after the murder [of Meléndez Vega] committed by Hermes Ávila when he was released under Law 25.”

He pointed out that “It was the secretary of Justice himself who on June 25 said that the report from his office [of the investigation of Hermes Ávila] would be ready on September 15,” a situation that he did not comply with and

The subpoena, issued Monday by the committee chaired by Vargas Vidot, specifically stated that the purpose of the original hearing called for Thursday was to discuss “the facts related to Mr. Hermes Ávila Vázquez, accused of the femicide of Ivette Joan Meléndez Vega in the early hours of April 21, 2024 in the town of Manatí.”

“Given this, we had to responsibly decline to appear,” Emanuelli Hernández said. “As I confirmed yesterday, the process led by the Public Integrity Division of the Department of Justice regarding the release of the convict Hermes Ávila Vázquez is in its final stage.”

In response to this, Vargas Vidot said that “basically what Emanuelli says is that, ultimately, it is up to the secretary’s discretion, that is, whenever he wants” to come to a hearing in the Senate.

Sen. José Vargas Vidot, in foreground, and Sen. Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl

San Juan mayor delivers more assistance to mitigate economic impact of power outages

By THE STAR STAFF

San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo on Thursday made the fourth delivery of immediate assistance to mitigate the economic and operational impacts suffered by several businesses and residents as a result of extended power outages that have impacted the island capital in recent weeks.

The initiative, put into effect by executive order since May 7 of this year, offers aid of up to $5,000 for each business that meets the established criteria and $1,500 for residents.

“We are now making the fourth delivery of this type of assistance, and we do so from the heart, as a sign of our commitment to provide the support needed by our residents, merchants and business owners in the Capital City,” Romero Lugo said. “As in the other three previous occasions when we provided this aid, our priority continues to be that the businesses affected by the lack of electricity supply reestablish their operations and return to normal as soon as possible and that citizens can mitigate their losses.”

The situation with the extended blackouts has created significant losses for various sectors of San Juan in terms of the paralysis

of purchasing new inventory, replacement of equipment and other resources necessary for the continuity of their operations or their daily routine. At the moment there are about 108 requests from businesses up for evaluation.

Likewise, San Juan residents have lost appliances, among other goods.

In the fourth delivery over $46,960 in aid was granted to 12 San Juan business owners who completed the application and qualified to receive the subsidy. Total assistance granted to business owners since July amounts to nearly $280,000 for 76 businesses in San Juan.

The mayor noted that “we are also delivering 22 checks to residents, which represents a contribution of: $14,332.95. With this new round of aid, a total of: $57,732.69 has been disbursed.”

of their operations, unexpected expenses, damaged inventories and equipment, in addition to other costs. The initiative is there-

fore aimed at the beneficiary using the funds received to cover the purchase of a generator or battery, fuel, loss of inventory or the cost

Business owners affected by the energy emergency may request this assistance through the San Juan Municipality website www.sanjuan.pr , by calling 787-480-4444 or by visiting the Business Concierge on the 1st floor of Plaza Las Américas. Citizens, for their part, can stop by the Citizen Assistance Office at the City Hall in Old San Juan or call 787-480-4040.

Governor defends himself from fiscal board statements about slow pace in use of federal funds

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia defended himself earlier this week against the argument by members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board regarding the use of federal funds approved for the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“I think the important thing is that there is not so much unnecessary politics, so many, so to speak, leaders speaking without knowing, without having the data at hand, saying things that are published and then people believe them, they repeat them and repeat them like in the times of Hitler and people believe them” the governor said Wednesday in an aside with the press. “And that’s enough. They should be more professional, they should speak with data at hand, which is how I like to speak and how I spoke to these members of the board here so that they are also clear.”

“We collectively, because I am not speaking personally, have done the work in these four years and now the important thing is for the people to make the decision [on who will be his successor] in the coming weeks,” he added.

The oversight board’s executive director, Robert Mujica, announced that the federal entity created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, commonly known as PROMESA, will take an active role in the process of rebuilding the electrical system.

“Our role will be to bring all the parties together, find out what needs to be done and then make sure it gets done, working with the government or anyone willing to collaborate, including the federal government,” Mujica said.

Pierluisi noted that the oversight board, led by Mujica, has begun to call together all the principal players on the “electrical system reconstruction issue.”

“The secretary of state [Omar Marrero Díaz] has been present on two occasions, among others, and he said yes, the board will be more active in intervening in this matter,” Pierluisi said. “Look, congratulations, because I myself told him, this is a job that has to be done as a team. And it is not a question of you criticizing from the stands, from the outside, no, roll up your sleeves. Nor is it a question of someone coming, as I said in English, with a ‘magic bullet’, because that is basically like coming to say that they have the solution like that, without further analysis or further study. I have done what I have to do as governor. My team has also done what it has to do. …”

“There is a lot, a lot being done,” the governor added. “The important thing is that it speeds up. I am talking about the energy side, because in terms of reconstruction in general, we are going at the right pace. So if there is any criticism, I understand it, it is in this area of the electrical system, because every time we have blackouts, every time we have load shifts, that bothers and annoys everyone, everyone involved.”

The initiative was put into effect by executive order in May to offer immediate assistance to mitigate the economic and operational impacts suffered by San Juan businesses and residents as a result of extended power outages. It offers aid of up to $5,000 for each business that meets the established criteria, and $1,500 for residents.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (Facebook via Governor Pierluisi)

Puerto Rico’s Olympic medalists in Paris received at La Fortaleza

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia welcomed Puerto Rico’s two medalists from this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Sebastián Rivera, to La Fortaleza on Thursday.

The governor referred to the Olympic medal winners as “two of our greatest sources of pride.”

“Their impressive achievements at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are a true testament to their dedication, effort, and love for Puerto Rico,” Pierluisi posted on his social media accounts. “You have carried our flag with pride and continue to show the entire world what it means to be Puerto Rican.”

Camacho-Quinn, a native of Charleston, South Carolina who lives in Orlando, Florida, was the bronze medalist in

the women’s 100-meter hurdles in Paris after winning gold in the same event at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Rivera, a native of Toms River, New Jersey, took the bronze in freestyle wrestling at 143 pounds (65 kilograms) in Paris. Last week the three-time All-American and 2023 world silver medalist became an assistant wrestling coach at Columbia University in New York.

“The people of Puerto Rico are immensely proud of you,” Pierluisi said. “Thank you for being an example of excellence and for reminding us that, with determination and heart, there is no impossible goal. Always keep going, champions!”

From left, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, Sebastián Rivera, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President Sara Rosario (Facebook via Governor Pierluisi)

DNER seeks proposals for coastal erosion, flood control projects

The call for proposals aims to promote nature-based solutions that not only strengthen the resilience of coastal communities and protect ecosystems but also have the potential to significantly reduce the risks associated with erosion and flooding.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) has issued a call for proposals for coastal erosion reduction, flood control, and runoff management projects using green infrastructure.

The transaction, part of the Coastal Zone Management Program (PMZC), is supported by federal funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) allocated for fiscal years 2024-2026.

The call aims to promote nature-based solutions that not only strengthen the resilience of coastal communities and protect ecosystems but also have the potential to significantly reduce the risks associated with erosion and flooding. The proposals, which may include initiatives such as the creation of wetlands, the restoration of mangroves, the use of permeable pavements, and the implementation of green roofs, can contribute to a more sustainable future.

The selected projects will be able to access a maximum financing of $186,000, providing a solid foundation for initiatives. Both new proposals and expansions of existing infrastructure will

be accepted, as long as they are developed within the coastal zone of Puerto Rico and are focused on reducing erosion, mitigating floods or managing runoff.

The deadline for submitting applications is Oct. 14.

A team of DNER experts will evaluate the proposals and review the proponent’s experience, the quality of the initiative, the clarity of the objectives, and the viability of the work plan. Projects that demonstrate a high potential to improve coastal resilience and offer innovative solutions to mitigate environmental risks will be prioritized.

Interested parties must submit their documents in digital format, either in PDF or Microsoft Word, by sending them to the emails pmzc@drna.pr.gov and nviera@drna.pr.gov. In addition, printed copies of the proposals must be delivered to the DRNA Coastal Zone and Climate Change Program Office in the Cruz A. Matos Building in Río Piedras.

For more details on the application and specific requirements, interested parties can consult the link: https://www.drna.pr.gov/ avisos/sdp-rfp/rfp-infraestructura-verde-2024/ or contact the Coastal Zone Program Office.

Genera PR ordered to comply with costs program

By THE STAR STAFF

To enforce compliance with costs, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), through a resolution and order, ordered legacy power plants operator Genera PR earlier this week to comply with the costs programs established for the acquisition of emergency peak generation systems in the Jobos, Daguao and Palo Seco plants.

According to the regulator, “the delays and cost increases of the project were the result of misrepresentations by Genera PR, particularly in its commitment to maintain the original costs and schedule proposed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power

Authority (PREPA).”

“If Genera had reason to believe that the schedule and costs would increase, it was its responsibility to promptly notify us,” the document stated. “Since Genera guaranteed that it would maintain the schedule and costs and failed to promptly notify us of the alleged project cost overruns and delays, it must now fully comply with what it represented in terms of time and costs, which led to the approval of the reconfiguration of the NEPR [the initials in Spanish for the Energy Bureau] Project Proposals (RFPs).”

The PREB ordered Genera to complete the project and achieve commercial operation by the end of spring 2026, in

accordance with PREPA’s original proposal. It also determined that failure to comply with thE order will result in daily penalties of up to $25,000 for each day that the project remains incomplete beyond the established date.

“Our Office reserves the right to impose additional sanctions should further misrepresentations or delays be discovered during the course of the project,” PREB Chairman Edison Avilés Deliz said.

According to the document, Genera has maintained that its approach could reduce the completion time by nine to 12 months, but is now proposing a completion time sometime in 2027.

Harris had stronger debate, polls find, but the race remains deadlocked

By SHANE GOLDMACHER and RUTH IGIELNIK

Vice President Kamala Harris overwhelmingly impressed voters in her debate with former President Donald Trump, a new set of polls from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College found, but she has failed so far to seize a decisive advantage in the presidential campaign.

The race is deadlocked nationally. Yet in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, Harris has a lead of 4 percentage points — a slight edge that is unchanged since early August. She has reassembled much of the core Democratic coalition in the state, winning the support of Black voters, younger voters and women there.

The vice president received far stronger reviews of her debate performance last week than did Trump, with 67% of U.S. likely voters saying she did well compared with 40% for him. A majority of voters in every racial group, age bracket and education level — even white voters without a college degree, who are typically the former president’s most loyal demographic — gave her a positive review.

But even that was not enough to jostle a race that appears destined to become a battle of inches this fall, after a summer of tumult and upheaval.

Nationally, Trump and Harris are knotted at 47%. In Pennsylvania, Harris leads, 50% to 46%. The surveys were conducted almost entirely before the second apparent assassination attempt against Trump on Sunday.

The first 2024 general election debate, between Trump and President Joe Biden in June, upended the race, with Democrats so thoroughly losing faith in Biden’s ability at age 81 to campaign and serve a second term that the party switched candidates.

The new polls show how quickly Democrats consolidated

A new set of polls from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College found Kamala Harris holding an edge over Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, while the race remains a tossup nationally. (Lily Boyce & Andrew Park/ The New York Times)

behind Harris and eliminated what had once appeared to be a daunting enthusiasm gap.

But Harris still has some critical vulnerabilities heading into the fall, most notably that far more voters see her as too liberal than view Trump as too conservative.

The share of voters who said they still wanted to learn more about Harris was nearly identical, both before and after the debate, suggesting that she might have missed an opportunity to address doubts or provide more details to the public.

“I wanted to see how she would answer questions at the debate, but I feel like she didn’t really answer any of the questions; she kind of just deflected,” said Tyler Slabaugh, 24, who works in medical sales and lives in Grand Haven, Michigan. He didn’t vote in 2020 but plans to support Trump this year. “I didn’t really get a good understanding of, like, what her plan was,” he said of Harris.

Concerns about the state of the economy remain widespread. In Pennsylvania, 77% of likely voters said the economy was poor or fair, with only 22% calling it excellent or good. That negative view held true even in key Democratic regions, including Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs.

Trump has his own challenges, including among the college-educated white voters who populate such suburbs. His support among that group has sunk to 36% both nationally and in Pennsylvania. In 2020, he won 42% of this group, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of verified 2020 voters.

“He continues to just fly off the rails and ramble, which, again, is not something that I look for in the leader of the free world,” said Paul Irwin-Dudek, 47, a nonprofit executive in Nutley, New Jersey, who is supporting Harris. “She was able to command the room,” he said of the debate.

The fact that Harris was stronger in Pennsylvania than she was nationally is surprising. It has been among the most contested states since 2016 and has generally trended more

Republican than the nation has overall.

But in 2024, Democrats — first with Biden and now Harris — have showed relative strength with white voters, and the Pennsylvania electorate is whiter than the nation overall.

Harris was winning 46% of white voters in Pennsylvania in the new set of polls. In 2020, Biden won 43% of white voters nationally; Hillary Clinton received just 39% support from the group in 2016.

The new polls are in line with other surveys, which show Harris’ favorability rating rising in the state. Only 42% of voters had rated her favorably in Pennsylvania in early July; now that figure stands at 51% — a remarkable improvement. Pennsylvanians have been bombarded by heavy advertising both for and against Harris since her entrance into the race on July 21.

Views of Trump have also brightened, with 47% seeing him favorably nationally. That is higher than earlier this year, even when he was leading Biden.

A similar share — 48% — have a favorable view of Harris nationally.

The debate was viewed live by more than 67 million Americans, making it the year’s most watched broadcast outside of the Super Bowl. Harris fared strongest among the 80% of voters who said they had either watched that night or seen clips afterward, winning among those voters. Trump was winning a majority of the far smaller share who had either only heard about the debate, or had not heard anything about it at all.

The two candidates laid out widely divergent visions. But the durability of the divide in America on policy was clear in the poll.

The share of voters who favor Trump on the economy (54%) and immigration (54%) was within a percentage point of where it had stood before the debate.

“I really don’t feel like she did anything with the border when she was a vice president, I felt like it was a laughing joke,” said Mitchell Wallace, 33, a wastewater technician in Englewood, Florida. He is an independent who voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to do so again, calling him the “lesser of two evils.”

The shares of voters who trust Harris more on abortion (also 54%) and preserving democracy (50%) were unchanged after the debate, too.

Black voters were the most enthusiastic about Harris’ debate performance, with 87% saying she had done well — a higher percentage than the share of Black voters who said they were voting for her.

Among crucial independent voters, Trump’s debate was received poorly, with only 8% nationally and 4% in Pennsylvania saying he did very well. In the state, 65% of independent voters said Harris did well, compared with 30% who said the same of Trump.

Trump got higher marks than Harris for saying what he believes, and being respected by foreign leaders.

Harris widened the gap with Trump on intelligence. In August, Pennsylvania voters were 10 percentage points more likely to say “intelligent” described Harris “well” as compared with Trump. After the debate, that gap is now 18 percentage points.

The San Juan Daily Star

Justice Department files $100 million claim in fatal Baltimore bridge collapse

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and PETER EAVIS

The U.S. Justice Department filed a legal claim earlier this week against the owner and operator of the container ship that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six workers and paralyzing the Port of Baltimore for weeks.

The lawsuit asserts that the companies’ actions leading up to the catastrophe were “outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless.”

The government is seeking more than $100 million in damages to cover the costs of the sprawling emergency response to the disaster and the federal aid to port employees who were put out of work.

“Those costs should be borne by the shipowner and operator, not the American taxpayer,” said Benjamin Mizer, the department’s third-ranking official, who oversees the civil division among others. He added that the department would be seeking punitive damages as well, “to try to keep this type of conduct from ever happening again.”

The action Wednesday did not name an amount for the punitive damages the department was seeking.

Filed in federal court in Maryland, the Justice Department’s action lays out in detail what investigators have learned about the ship’s short and catastrophic journey that night, describing a cascade of failures onboard and multiple points when the disaster could have been prevented.

Because of poor maintenance or “jury-rigged” fixes to serious problems aboard the ship, known as the Dali, “none of the four means available to help control the Dali — her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster — worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster,” the suit asserts.

The Dali is registered in Singapore and owned by Grace Ocean Ltd. and managed by Synergy Marine Group, both of which are based in Singapore.

The companies — referred to as petitioners in the legal papers — had said their liability for the incident should be limited to no more than $44 million. The case is governed by a federal law that allows shipowners to cap their liability from an accident if they can show they did not know about defects beforehand. But the Justice Department contends that the owner and operator knew the Dali was not fit to sail.

“This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignore the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure,” Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Chetan Patil said Wednesday on a call with reporters.

Darrell Wilson, a representative of Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, said Wednesday in an email that the government’s action was anticipated, given the Sept. 24 deadline for filing such claims.

“The owner and manager will have no further comment on the merits of any claim at this time, but we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight,” he added.

Justice Department officials said they could not comment on the status of a separate federal criminal investigation into the crash.

The Dali, as long as the height of the Eiffel Tower, lost power and slammed into the Key Bridge on March 26, causing the bridge to collapse and killing six men who were repairing pavement on the bridge.

On Tuesday, the families of three of the men who were killed announced that they, too, were suing the owner of the Dali.

The ship became stuck in the twisted wreckage as the bridge fell into the Pata-

psco River, blocking access to the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the East Coast. An enormous cleanup effort was begun, involving dozens of barges, tugboats, excavators, floating cranes and even explosives. Some 50,000 tons of debris had to be cleared from the river.

Temporary shipping channels were soon reopened to some vessels, and in May, after enough wreckage was removed, the Dali was dislodged and made the 2 1/2-mile trip back upriver to the terminal it had left two months before. The badly damaged ship was later moved to a shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs.

The main shipping route, the 700-footwide Fort McHenry Federal Channel, was not fully cleared until June. And rebuilding the bridge will take much longer. State officials have said it would take four years to reconstruct the Key Bridge at a cost of up to $1.9 billion.

A Justice Department official said Wednesday that the state of Maryland would attempt to recoup the cost of rebuilding the bridge through legal actions.

In its court filings, the Justice Department has attempted to lay out the fullest official explanation yet of why the Dali lost control. The account goes beyond a preliminary report in May from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The first critical malfunction was a

loss of power to the ship’s steering and propulsion systems, caused when circuit breakers in an electrical transformer tripped open. The suit contends that the breakers opened because “excessive vibration” had caused “a loss of electrical continuity through control circuitry.”

According to the suit, engineers and previous crew members had warned the ship’s operator that heavy and constant vibrations of the ship had been shaking onboard cargo loose and cracking equipment in the engine room. Such vibrations, the suit says, are “a well-known cause of transformer and electrical failure.”

Instead of addressing the cause of those vibrations, the suit alleges, the owner and operator of the ship had fitted the transformer with “anti-vibration braces,” one of which had cracked several times. In a “makeshift attempt to limit vibration,” a metal cargo hook was wedged between the transformer and a steel beam.

“The evidence shows that excessive vibration was a longstanding problem on the ship, which Grace Ocean and Synergy sought to remedy with makeshift aftermarket fixes that fell well short of appropriate standards,” Patil said.

The suit contends that there were other critical failures as well.

A second transformer failed to immediately come online, according to the suit, because it and the first transformer had been set for manual activation rather than automatic, which the suit called an “inexplicable failure.”

Once power was restored on the ship, the pilot quickly ordered the crew to steer between the pillars of the Key Bridge. But the Dali then lost power a second time, the government argues, because the ship was using the wrong kind of pump to send fuel to its generators.

Two minutes before hitting the bridge, the pilot ordered the release of one of the ship’s anchors, but because this anchor “was not ready for immediate release in an emergency, as required by law, nothing happened.” Soon after that, the ship hit the bridge.

Richard Burke, a professor emeritus of naval architecture and marine engineering at the State University of New York Maritime College, said the government’s account appeared to be credible. Its description of what went wrong with the transformers and the pumps was “pretty damning,” he said.

The Dali container ship and collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, on, March 28, 2024. The Justice Department filed a legal claim on Sept. 18 against the owner and operator of the container ship that collapsed the bridge in March, killing six workers and paralyzing the Port of Baltimore for weeks. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times)

The Fed makes a large rate cut and forecasts more to come

By JEANNA SMIALEK

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates earlier this week by half a percentage point, an unusually large move and a clear signal that central bankers think they are winning their war against inflation and are turning their attention to protecting the job market.

“Our patient approach over the past year has paid dividends,” Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said during his news conference. But now “the upside risks to inflation have diminished, and the downside risks to unemployment have increased.”

The Fed’s decision lowers rates to about 4.9%, down from a more-than-twodecade high.

The pivot comes in response to months of fading inflation, and it is meant to prevent the economy from slowing so much that the job market begins to weaken more painfully. Officials have been keeping a careful eye on a recent uptick in the unemployment rate, and by starting off with a big cut, the Fed is in effect taking out insurance against a bigger employment slowdown.

Reinforcing that cautious message, the decisive reduction came alongside economic projections that suggested a swifter pace of rate cuts than officials had envisioned just a few months ago. Officials now expect to make another half-point reduction before the end of the year.

“We’re going to take it meeting by meeting,” Powell said. “We made a good, strong start to this, and that is frankly a sign of our confidence, confidence that inflation is coming down.”

While Powell said that the Fed was not yet ready to declare “mission accomplished” on taming inflation, he added that officials were “encouraged” by the progress

that they had seen.

Wednesday’s rate cut marks a preliminary victory. So far, Fed officials have managed to slow inflation notably without causing major economic problems. The unemployment rate has crept up, but it hasn’t jumped painfully. Hiring persists, though it has slowed. Consumer spending remains strong. Overall growth is still robust.

The resilience has made Fed officials hopeful that they might be able to pull off a historically rare “soft landing,” in which they manage to put the economy on a healthy and sustainable track without causing a recession.

“We’re trying to achieve a situation where we restore price stability without the kind of painful increase in unemployment that has come sometimes,” Powell said, after saying that he had “greater confidence” that the Fed could do it.

But the central bank’s task is not yet complete.

High interest rates slow the economy by making it more expensive to borrow to buy a house or expand a business, which weighs on demand and price increases. But they also hold back hiring. Given that, the Fed has been trying to strike a careful balance. Officials have aimed to slow growth enough to ensure that price increases return to normal without cooling it so much

that the unemployment rate soars and the economy tips into a recession.

Policymakers must still decide how much and how quickly to lower interest rates in the coming months and years to reach that goal. That’s why Wednesday’s economic projections are notable: They provide a snapshot of what Fed officials expect to do next.

Fed officials predicted that they would cut interest rates to 4.4% by the end of the year — much lower than the 5.1% they had been expecting in June, when they last released economic estimates. And by the end of 2025, they expect to lower borrowing costs another full percentage point, to 3.4%.

For the White House, the Fed’s announcement Wednesday was encouraging. After years of rapid prices increases, the move marked a powerful declaration that a return to normal inflation was in sight.

“While this announcement is welcome news for Americans who have borne the brunt of high prices, my focus is on the work ahead to keep bringing prices down,” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, said in a statement.

By contrast, the Fed’s decision to cut rates just weeks before the 2024 presidential election drew ire from former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate.

“To cut it by that much, assuming

they’re not just playing politics, the economy would be very bad, or they’re playing politics,” Trump said Wednesday, speaking to reporters in a cryptocurrency-related bar in New York City.

Fed officials make their decisions independently of politics, and policymakers have been adamant that they ignore the political calendar when making decisions. But even if they have little to no ability to control the Fed’s actions, incumbents typically want to see low rates on their watch.

Besides sending a positive signal about the economy — at least in this case — lower Fed rates also help consumers. Mortgage rates have already been coming down in anticipation of the central bank’s rate cuts, making buying a home a bit easier for the typical household. (They are unlikely to return to the rock-bottom levels that prevailed in 2020, because the Fed is not expecting to cut rates back to near zero.)

The Fed will have to proceed with caution in the months ahead.

Some economists have worried that the central bank is already at risk of falling behind, because unemployment has risen to 4.2%, which is low by historical standards but up notably from 3.4% in early 2023.

Others have worried that by cutting interest rates rapidly, the Fed might speed the economy back up, causing inflation to get stuck at an uncomfortably high level. One Fed governor, Michelle W. Bowman, voted against Wednesday’s cut. She would have preferred a smaller rate move.

Powell made clear during his news conference that the Fed was willing to speed up or slow down its path of rate cuts if the economy proves weaker or stronger than expected. Policymakers want to nail the landing, he suggested, and are increasingly hopeful that they can.

“The U.S. economy is in a good place, and our decision today is designed to keep it there,” Powell said.

But while the Fed cut marked a big moment — and a step along the way — economists and analysts said that it was still too early to declare that the Fed had pulled off the soft landing.

“Saying that right now is like saying you’ve landed as you’re still in the middle of a ski jump,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at T.D. Securities. “We’re still very much up in the air.”

The Federal Reserve building in Washington, on March 21, 2023. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

S&P 500 surges to record high on euphoria over Fed rate cut

The S&P 500 surged to intra-day record highs on Thursday, the day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points and indicated more rate cuts were on the horizon.

Heavyweight stocks that have enjoyed much of this year’s stock market rally made fresh gains, with Tesla surging 7%, Apple rallying nearly 4% and Meta Platforms climbing over 4%.

AI powerhouse Nvidia rose 4.8%, helping lift the PHLX semiconductor index almost 5%.

Better-than-expected jobless claims data further stoked global risk appetite.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced the rate cut at the high end of expectations, and said it had greater confidence inflation was under control. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy remained strong and the central bank would decide on the appropriate pace of future rate cuts.

“The Fed has sanctioned a pretty strong economic picture here, and so we’re just seeing the money flow back into some of the sectors that have perhaps underperformed so far this quarter,” said James Ragan, Director of Wealth Management Research at D.A. Davidson.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 2.4% as lower interest rates boosted prospects of reduced operating costs and greater profits.

The S&P 500 was last up 1.87% at 5,723.44 points. The Nasdaq gained 2.70% to 18,048.05 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.42% at 42,090.90 points.

The rules apply to the highly technical space between prices stock sellers are willing to accept in a trade and what buyers are willing to pay, known as the bid-ask spread.

Allowing prices to be quoted in increments, or “tick sizes,” of less than a penny will result in narrower spreads, cutting transaction costs and allowing for more aggressive pricing, according to the SEC.

“This is an industry where people will sell their grandmothers for four basis points,” James Angel, a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said ahead of the vote. “But for the retail investor who buys and sells a share here and there, they’re not gonna notice a difference.”

Prior to the vote, SEC officials told reporters that 2023 data showed that as many as 1,700 stocks would have qualified as “tick constrained” under the rule due to be adopted, meaning a weighted average of the spread was 1.5 cents or less over a certain period.

The SEC’s decision not to include pricing increments smaller than half a cent represents a likely win for industry, which had favored the half-penny increment and objected to sizes included in the 2022 proposal that were as small as a fifth or a tenth of a cent.

Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, eight rose, led by information technology, up 3.32%, followed by a 2.12% gain in communication services.

BofA Global Research said it now expects a total of 75 basis points in rate cuts by the end of this year, steeper than its previous forecast of 50 bps.

Evercore ISI data going back to 1970 showed the S&P 500

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

has posted an average 14% gain in the six months following the first reduction of a rate-cutting cycle.

September has generally been a disappointing month for U.S. equities with the S&P 500 notching an average loss of

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

COMMODITIES

CURRENCY

1.2% since 1928.

The S&P 500 banks index rose 2.6%, with gains in Citigroup and Bank of America after they lowered their respective prime rates.

Pager attack highlights tension between Israel’s technical might and strategic fog

By PATRICK KINGSLEY

The contrast between the dexterity of Israel’s latest attacks on Hezbollah and the uncertainty over its long-term strategy in Lebanon is the latest example of a fragility at the heart of Israeli statecraft, according to Israeli public figures and analysts.

To friend and foe alike, Israel appears technologically strong but strategically lost. It is capable of extraordinary acts of espionage as well as powerful expressions of military might but is struggling to tie such efforts to long-term diplomatic and geopolitical goals.

“You see the sophistication of the technological minds of Israel and the total failure of the political leadership to carry out any moves of consequence,” said Ehud Olmert, a former Israeli prime minister.

“They are too preoccupied and obsessed by their fears to do anything on a broader strategic basis,” Olmert said.

Israel’s security services have infiltrated and sabotaged Hezbollah’s communications networks by blowing up pagers and other wireless devices this week, but Israel’s leadership appears uncertain about how to contain the group in the long term. Israel has conducted several clandestine missions and assassinations inside Iran, most recently of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh by infiltrating a guesthouse protected by the Iranian security establishment. At the same time, it has avoided making the political concessions necessary to forge formal alliances with most of Iran’s opponents in the region.

Its commandos have freed several hostages from captivity through complex special operations, even as its politicians have failed to secure a wider deal to rescue more than 100

Mourners at the funeral for Fatima Abdullah, the 9-year-old girl among those killed in the pager attack, in the village of Saraain El Faouqa, Lebanon on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Diego Ibarra Sánchez/The New York Times)

others still held in the Gaza Strip. And while Israel’s world-leading air force has pounded Gaza, destroying much of the territory’s urban fabric and killing top Hamas commanders like Mohammed Deif, the Israeli government has not issued a detailed and viable plan for Gaza’s postwar future.

The result is a slow and repetitive military campaign in Gaza in which Israeli soldiers are repeatedly capturing and then withdrawing from the same pockets of land, with no mandate to either hold ground or initiate a transfer of power to different Palestinian leadership.

Israel’s campaigns have come at considerable cost. By killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza as well as several hundred Lebanese in its strikes on enemy combatants, Israel has prompted international outcry, drawn accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and tarnished its global standing without conclusively destroying Hamas, let alone Hezbollah.

For some, the scrambled thinking is partly derived from the shock of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The attack was the bloodiest day in Israel’s history and may have left Israel’s leaders seeking short-term wins to atone for their lapses that day, at the expense of long-term planning for Israel’s future. With many Israelis traumatized by the attack, their leaders risk losing popularity and further tarnishing their legacy by promoting contentious compromises to bring Israel’s various wars to a close.

“Tactical successes can be obtained by professionals, but large-scale achievements have to be achieved by leaders,” said Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “They must be able to bite their tongue, go against the grain, take unpopular decisions and political risks.”

For Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Israel’s security must be prioritized at all costs, and Hamas and Hezbollah must be fully defanged — in part to restore the sense of deterrence and invincibility that Israel lost Oct. 7 — before diplomatic compromises can be reached.

But to Netanyahu’s critics, true security cannot be achieved without a diplomatic vision that Israel’s allies and potential allies can accept; they argue that Israel’s successful operations against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran will only have limited effect in the long term if they remain divorced from a coherent national strategy. According to his opponents, Netanyahu has allowed political considerations — principally, his need to prevent the collapse of his fragile coalition government — to supersede strategic decisions that are opposed by his coalition allies.

Netanyahu’s grip on power is dependent on a group of far-right lawmakers who are opposed to the kinds of compromises necessary to reach an endgame in Gaza and Lebanon.

Those lawmakers have threatened to collapse Netanyahu’s coalition if he agrees to a truce in Gaza that leaves Hamas in power. They also oppose plans to hand power to Hamas’ main Palestinian rival, Fatah.

In turn, the standoff in Gaza has led to the extension of the war along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Hezbollah says it will continue fighting until a truce is reached between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu’s allies say the attacks this week in Lebanon, coupled with the deployment of more troops to the Lebanon border, show a clear strategic effort to use increased military action to force Hezbollah to compromise.

“Even though these are tactical moves, it’s part of a bigger plan,” said Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist and former adviser to Netanyahu. After months of contained conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border, Shtrauchler said, “We’re going to go strong at Hezbollah.”

To others, the moves still feel inconclusive, stopping short of a decisive end to the deadlock through either force or diplomacy. On the one hand, Netanyahu has avoided ordering a ground invasion of Lebanon. On the other, he has rejected a truce in Gaza that could end the Lebanon war through mediation.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Trump’s bogus claims about Haitians are part of a bigger agenda

President

By CHARLES M. BLOW

It has been over a week since Donald Trump stood on a debate stage and repeated the bogus claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in a small Ohio city. And it’s pretty obvious that he; his running mate, JD Vance; and their campaign see longer-term utility in keeping this narrative going.

In a speech Friday, Trump said, “I’m angry about illegal Haitian migrants taking over Springfield, Ohio,” even though

the majority of the Haitians in Springfield are there legally.

In an interview Sunday, Vance left the impression that he was making things up to amplify the smear against Springfield’s Haitian community: “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

What Trump is doing is important to the outcome of the election, and it’s not simply the usual race baiting aimed at charging up part of his base. He has failed for weeks to come up with an effective line of attack against Kamala Harris. But with Springfield, he has found a fear-driven argument that places the issue of immigration right into the town square of a Midwestern city in one of the most electorally important states, and it looks like he and Vance see this as a more potent argument than just talking about the Southern border: There’s reason to believe that they’re trying to stoke public anger and garner public support around immigration policies that Trump promoted in his first term and that he presumably hopes to act on in a second.

Trump has spent years barking about the purported scourge of immigration from Mexico and Central and South America, but that didn’t quite produce the poster villain that would perfectly focus public sentiment; it didn’t give him Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queen” or George H.W. Bush’s Willie Horton.

But Trump knows what works and how to lean into it. He began his 2016 presidential campaign by disparaging Mexican immigrants as people “bringing crime,” “bringing drugs” and “rapists,” but he would later train his rhetoric on inner cities, painting Black Chicago, especially, as a lawless hellscape.

him and save the man.”

Against this backdrop, it’s not difficult to see the denigration of Haitians as a way of saying that they’re just another group that doesn’t belong.

It’s a case that could help generate future support for mass deportations. It’s a potential piece in the argument for ending birthright citizenship — something Trump said, last year, that he could and would accomplish by executive order — and for expanding a project of “denaturalization.”

Last year, Trump adviser Stephen Miller bragged on the social platform X, “We started a new denaturalization project under Trump. In 2025, expect it to be turbocharged.” In his post, he linked to a 2020 New York Times article reporting on the creation of a Justice Department section that would “strip citizenship rights from naturalized immigrants, a move that gives more heft to the Trump administration’s broad efforts to remove from the country immigrants who have committed crimes.”

Revoking the citizenship of naturalized Americans who’ve committed serious crimes may sound like common sense to Trump and some of his supporters, but it’s a slippery slope. Consider one passage in Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership” manifesto that proposes the prosecution of “denaturalization cases, in combination with the Department of Justice, for aliens who obtained citizenship through fraud or other illicit means.”

Without even getting into the constitutional implications of “denaturalization,” that’s considerably broader than focusing solely on people who’ve committed serious crimes, and to the extent that Trump’s influenced by Project 2025’s aims, despite disclaiming them, it could mean almost anything from his point of view. Who’s to say that a second Trump administration wouldn’t eventually deem any claims of asylum or refugee status from people coming from Caribbean nations to be fraudulent, null and void?

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The mythos of Black savagery remains so imprinted on the American psyche that many Americans are quick to believe it, even without evidence. And so Trump has again turned to it; it seems clear that his attack on Haitian immigrants, who are of African descent, is in part an attempt to link broader antiimmigrant sentiment with anti-Black sentiment. It goes hand in hand with his characterization, a few years ago, of Haiti as a “shithole” — a place from where people, he seems to want us to think, are of course uncivilized and therefore incapable of blending into the American melting pot.

But it’s even more than that. When you look at the arguments made, over time, by Trump and some of his allies, the Haitianseat-pets narrative comes across as laying the groundwork for nativist aspirations.

Indeed, this episode calls back to the sentiments expressed around the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: In an 1884 Supreme Court case challenging the application of that law, Justice Stephen J. Field wrote, in his dissenting opinion, that Chinese immigrants “have remained among us a separate people, retaining their original peculiarities of dress, manners, habits, and modes of living, which are as marked as their complexion and language,” and that “they do not and will not assimilate with our people.”

During the same period in our history, Army Officer Richard Henry Pratt, who founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School for the purpose of “civilizing” Indigenous children, articulated his theory of assimilating Indigenous people: “Kill the Indian in

(Don’t forget that not long after saying, “I think Islam hates us,” Trump instituted his “Muslim ban.”)

Making broad, unsubstantiated accusations against Springfield’s Haitian community and then suggesting, based on those accusations, that the members of the Haitian community are destroying their new home illustrates just how easily slogans might influence political and policy outcomes.

At its core, this canard should be seen as part of a crusade to build support for not only closing the door to immigrants but also throwing them out of the country.

Former

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, in Flint, Mich., Sept. 17, 2024. (Daniel Ribar/The New York Times)

Pierluisi convierte en ley varias medidas legislativas

POR CYBERNEWS

LA FORTALEZA – El gobernador Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia convirtió en ley el jueves el Proyecto de la Cámara 2155, que fortalece las finanzas de la Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública. La nueva ley elimina la exención que tenían la Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico, la Compañía de Fomento Industrial y el Departamento de Hacienda de pautar, al menos, el 5 por ciento de su presupuesto para anuncios de televisión en la Corporación Pública. Además, el primer ejecutivo apro-

bó el Proyecto de la Cámara 1663, que enmienda la “Ley Orgánica del Departamento de Asuntos del Consumidor”, para garantizar que los consumidores no sean discriminados al solicitar servicios esenciales como agua potable y energía eléctrica.

Otra medida convertida en ley es el Proyecto de la Cámara 1606, que modifica la “Ley del Registro de Existencias de Materiales Metálicos”, exigiendo que las transacciones relacionadas con materiales como cobre y aluminio sean notificadas electrónicamente al Negociado de la Policía.

El gobernador también firmó el Proyecto de la Cámara 2072, que enmienda

el “Código Municipal de Puerto Rico” para continuar fomentando la autonomía municipal y facilitar el desarrollo económico de los municipios.

Asimismo, se convirtió en ley el Proyecto de la Cámara 1381, que simplifica el proceso apelativo de facturas y extiende la “Ley para Establecer Requisitos Procesales Mínimos para la Suspensión de Servicios Públicos Esenciales” a las Alianzas Público-Privadas Participantes.

Finalmente, Pierluisi aprobó el Proyecto de la Cámara 1711, que permite a los transportes escolares utilizar lámparas o faroles que emitan luz ámbar.

Puerto Rico asciende al octavo puesto en el ranking mundial de béisbol masculino

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – La Federación de Béisbol de Puerto Rico (FBPR) escaló a principios de esta semana dos posiciones, alcanzando por primera vez el octavo puesto en el ranking mundial de béisbol masculino, según la actualización de la World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). El ascenso incluye la medalla de plata lograda por Puerto Rico en la Copa Mundial de Béisbol Sub-23 celebrada recientemente en China.

“Este ascenso histórico en el ranking mundial es un reflejo del trabajo realizado por nuestros atletas, entrenadores y personal de apoyo. Las medallas de plata obtenidas en las Copas Mundiales Sub23 y Sub-15, así como el bronce en el Premundial Sub-18, son muestra de lo que nuestro béisbol ha logrado este año”, expresó José Daniel Quiles, pre-

sidente de la FBPR, en declaraciones escritas.

Puerto Rico, que en apenas un mes escaló del puesto 12 al 8, ha acumulado 1,083 puntos este año, siendo el país que más puntos ha sumado en el béisbol masculino entre todos los miembros de la WBSC. Además, la FBPR es la única federación en Puerto Rico con equipos femeninos y masculinos en el top 8 mundial, con las féminas ocupando el séptimo lugar.

“Ser la única federación en Puerto Rico con equipos masculinos y femeninos en el top 8 mundial reafirma nuestro compromiso con el desarrollo del béisbol. Continuaremos enfocados en elevar el nivel competitivo de nuestros jugadores”, añadió Quiles.

Puerto Rico competirá en octubre en el Premundial Sub-12 en Panamá, y en noviembre, en el Premier12 2024 en México.

Herb Alpert’s 50th album is here. What’s kept him going places?

By JIM FARBER

For years, Herb Alpert talked by phone with Burt Bacharach once or twice a week. One day, two years before Bacharach’s death in 2023, he called Alpert with concerning news. “He told me he had to go to the hospital to have some fluid drained from his lungs,” Alpert said. “At the time, he was working with a musician who arranged a string part for him that he really liked. So he had the guy send him the part to bring with him to the hospital, so between shots and draining, he could study it.

“Man, he was 92 then and still studying!” Alpert exclaimed. “That’s a quality I really admire.”

It’s also one he seems to share. This week, Alpert, 89, will release his 50th album, under the title “50,” even though, he pointed out, he hadn’t realized he’d reached that milestone until he finished recording. His oversight shouldn’t be surprising given his schedule. Besides the new release, Alpert has been working on two other albums, in between playing dates on a tour that lasts through the end of the year. He’s also been enjoying his second career as a sculptor, having just completed a 14-foot-tall piece for the New Orleans Jazz Museum that depicts a man playing Alpert’s instrument, the trumpet.

“People will look at it and say, ‘Is that you playing? Is it Miles Davis?’” Alpert said. “It’s nobody. I was just trying to capture the feeling of playing.”

Communicating that feeling remains his primary concern whenever he performs or writes. “There are lots of artists who try to impress other musicians with their playing,” he said. “They’ll play these dizzying things, and you say, ‘Wow that’s fabulous!’ But is it touching anyone?”

Over the years, Alpert’s music has touched multitudes. Since his debut album with the Tijuana Brass, “The Lonely Bull” in 1962, his sets have topped the Billboard album chart five times, generating No. 1 singles in three consecutive decades. To this day, he’s the only artist to top the charts fronting both an instrumental track (“Rise” in 1979) and a vocal piece (“This Guy’s in Love With You,” penned by Bacharach and Hal David in 1968). In the same time frame, he and Jerry Moss co-founded and ran one of the mightiest and most respected indie labels in music history, A&M Records, which

they sold in 1989 for a reported $500 million.

Despite the potential distractions of wealth and success, Alpert found a firm anchor for his life in consistency. Since 1972, he has lived in the same Malibu, California, home with his wife, singer Lani Hall, whom he wed 50 years ago (a time span the new album title also toasts). “The real reason I’m excited by this mark is my marriage,” he said.

As we spoke via video call, Alpert sat in his garage-turned-home-studio, stuffed with microphones and tapes but few mementos of his career. “I don’t look back,” he said. “I go forward.”

Most of the trumpet parts for the new album were recorded here. The sound he got from his instrument — clean in tone, tidy in arrangement and joyous in character — also speaks of consistency. From the first note of the opening track, “Dancing Down 50th Street,” his playing evokes the brisk and flirty mood of his ’60s hits, from “A Taste of Honey” to “Spanish Flea,” a sound that represents midcentury modern culture as eloquently as an Eames chair or an Ossie Clark frock. While he greatly evolved his sound in the ’70s and ’80s with a funkier gait, he retained the essential joy in his playing.

At the same time, he treasures a nuance one fan located in his work in the ’60s: “Your music is playful,” she said, “but in a melancholy way.”

He credits the mournful undercurrent to his father’s rearing in a shtetl outside what is now Kyiv, Ukraine. When referring to his father in the interview, Alpert spoke in an accent that underscored his Eastern European Jewish heritage. His parents performed music at home (his father, the mandolin; mother, violin), but when presented with a range of instruments to pick in school at age 8, he chose trumpet.

“When I finally made the right sound out of it, I got intrigued,” he said. “I was a quiet, insecure kid, and this instrument could talk for me.”

For practical purposes, he entered the business as a singer-songwriter. Though the recordings he fronted under the name Dore Alpert went nowhere, some songs he wrote with his partner, Lou Adler, later a music business mogul, became hits for Jan and Dean and Sam Cooke, including the standard “Wonderful World.”

On a shoestring, Alpert formed A&M

Herb Alpert performs with his wife, the vocalist Lani Hall, in New York in 2012. Besides his impending 50th album release, the 89-year-old trumpeter has been working on two others in between playing dates on a tour that lasts through the end of 2024 — and also enjoying his second career as a sculptor. (Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times)

with Moss for the first Tijuana Brass album, a Top 10 smash. People often incorrectly describe the tart horn sound in “The Lonely Bull” as mariachi. It was actually Alpert’s approximation of the improvised fanfares he heard brass bands play at Tijuana bullfights. On his own recordings there was no Tijuana Brass. He played all the horn parts himself. And he has no Mexican heritage. The latter drew muted criticism at the time for what’s now considered cultural appropriation. While Alpert said he never liked using the Mexican tag, “my partner was adamant in using it as a starting point,” referring to Moss.

Regardless, his music quickly broadened to become a key soundtrack for the swank sensibility later depicted in shows such as “Mad Men.” By the later ’60s, however, the culture turned darker and heavier, and Alpert experienced burnout. His first marriage, to his childhood sweetheart, collapsed, affecting him so badly he could barely play. “I was stuttering through the horn,” he said. A mentor cured him by saying, “The trumpet is just a piece of plumbing. You’re the instrument!”

He rallied in a big way in 1979 with “Rise,” a song that countered the typical

beat of then dominant disco with a slower, funkier rhythm that connected so deeply, it has been sampled by over 30 hip-hop artists, including the Notorious B.I.G. on “Hypnotize.” In the years since, Alpert has released albums at a reliable clip, 11 in the past decade. He also plans to tour next year when he turns 90.

“My sister, who is 98, said, ‘Why are you still doing 40, 50 concerts a year?’” he said. “I’m not doing it as a ‘victory tour’ or so that people will say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that he’s still alive and playing?’ When I’m onstage and the band is behind me and the audience is there, for me that’s everything.”

el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que esté en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $7,600.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Guayama, Puerto Rico, a 29 de agosto de 2024. MYRIAM S. ÑECO CINTRÓN, ALGUACIL PLACA #107.

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LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC. Demandante Vs. MELIDA L ACEVEDO RAMOS Demandado Civil Núm.: CA2024CV01100. Salón: 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: MELIDA L ACEVEDO RAMOS - URB VILLA COOPERATIVA L10 CALLE 5, CAROLINA, PR, 00985-4217; 5138 SAINT CHARLES LN, ORLANDO, FL, 32822. POR LA PRESENTE se le

emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Jan Miguel Otero Martínez cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección jan.otero@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Carollina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de julio de 2024. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 15 de julio de 2024. Lcda. Kanelly Zayas Robles, Secretaria. Maricruz Aponte Alicea, Secretaria Auxiliar. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE UTUADO SALA SUPERIOR JOSÉ ISMAEL DELGADO ALTIERI, MILAGROS JOSEFINA GONZÁLEZ

RIUTORT, Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandante V. BANCO DE DESARROLLO ECONÓMICO PARA PUERTO RICO; FULANO DE TAL Y CORPORACION XYZ

Demandados Civil Núm.: UT2024CV00389. Sala: 1C. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. A: FULANO DE TAL Y CORPORACIÓN XYZ. POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le notifica que la parte demandante de epígrafe ha radicado en este Tribunal una demanda en su contra por la causal de Cancelación de Pagaré Extraviado. Se le emplaza conforme a la Regla 4.5 y 4.6 de las de Procedimiento Civil, mediante la publicación de un solo edicto en un periódico de circulación general diaria en la

Isla de Puerto Rico, a los efectos de que se presente cualquier alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este Edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le advierte que, si no contesta la demanda o deja de presentar una alegación responsiva, radicando el original de dicha alegación responsiva en este Tribunal y notificando copia de la misma al abogado de la parte demandante, dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá anotarle la rebeldía y dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Favor de notificar copia de su contestación al: LCDO. LUIS J. VILARÓ VÉLEZ

RUA: 16,835 PO BOX 363812

San Juan PR 00936-3812 Tel: 787-753-2160

Email: luisvilaro@gmail.com

EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Utuado, Puerto Rico, a 19 de agosto de 2024. DIANA ÁLVAREZ VILLANUEVA, SECRETARIA. YAMARIS ESTRONZA MALDONADO, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LUZ CELENIA ORTIZ RIVERA

Demandante Vs. FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO; LUIS ORTIZ RODRÍGUEZ; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD DOE

Demandado

Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV06932. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JOHN DOE, RICHARD DOE. Quedan ustedes notificados que la demandante de epígrafe ha radicado en este Tribunal una Demanda contra ustedes como co-demandados, en la que se solicita la cancelación vía judicial de un Pagaré Hipotecario extraviado ante la Notario Público Maritza Guzmán Matos, bajo affidávit número 1,333, a favor de Firstbank Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por

la suma de $28,000.00, con intereses al 10.625% anual y vencedero el 1ro de agosto de 2016, suscrito el día 20 de julio de 2006, garantizado por hipoteca constituida en virtud de la Escritura Número 424, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, ante la Notario Público Maritza Guzmán Matos. El mencionado pagaré hipotecario grava una propiedad inmueble, que se describe como sigue: “URBANA: Solar radicado en el Barrio Hato Rey, sitio denominado Quintana, del término municipal de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 215.00 metros cuadrados, colinda por el NORTE, con la Calle Julia; por el SUR, ESTE y OESTE, con la Corporación Asociación Agrícola de Hato Rey, Inc. Es el resto de esta finca luego de deducida la segregación de 185.00 metros cuadrados, finca número 27,600. Afecta a servidumbre de manantial u ojo de agua y a mención de precio aplazado a favor de la Corporación Agrícola de Hato Rey, Inc., por $50.00.” Consta inscrita al Folio Diez (10) del Tomo Ciento Treinta y Siete (137) de Río Piedras Norte, Finca Número Seis Mil Ochocientos Treinta y Seis (6,836), Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Segunda (II) de San Juan. El abogado de la parte demandante es el Lic. Antonio A. Hernández Almodóvar, RiveraMunich & Hernández Law Offices, P.S.C.; P.O. Box 364908, San Juan, Puerto Rico 009364908; Tel. (787) 622-2323 / Fax (787) 622-2320. Se le advierte que este edicto se publicará en un (1) periódico de circulación general una (1) sola vez y que si no comparece a contestar dicha Demanda radicando el original de la misma en el Tribunal de San Juan, con copia al abogado de la parte demandante, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal, dentro del término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la publicación del edicto, se le anotará la Rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 06 de septiembre de 2024. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. NANCY I. GARCÍA FIGUEROA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION,

INC.

Demandante Vs. JOHN C. ESPOSITO, BARBARA DENISE

ESPOSITO T/C/C

BARBARA DENISE

BURNS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: VB2024CV00639. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JOHN C. ESPOSITO, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; BARBARA DENISE ESPOSITO T/C/C

BARBARA DENISE BURNS, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS.

Se les notifica a ustedes que se ha radicado mediante el sistema SUMAC una Demanda por la parte demandante HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. solicitando Un Cobro de Dinero. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: Lcda. Jessica D. Martínez Birriel, GARRIGA & MARINI LAW OFFICES, C.S.P., P.O. Box 16593, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-6593, teléfono (787) 275-0655, dirección de correo electrónico: jmb@garrigamarini.com. Ustedes deberán presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual pueden acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index.php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se representen por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberán presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante. Si dejaren de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, a tenor con la Orden del Tribunal, hoy día 11 de septiembre de 2024. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA ROSARIO ROSARIO, SUBSECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

Demandante Vs. SAMUEL STEVEN FRANZ JOSLOFF T/C/C/ SAMUEL FRANZ, MARILYN HODOR PIESMAN T/C/C/ MARILYN FRANZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados Civil Núm.: VB2024CV00638. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: SAMUEL STEVEN FRANZ JOSLOFF T/C/C/ SAMUEL FRANZ, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; MARILYN HODOR PIESMAN T/C/C/ MARILYN FRANZ, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS.

Se les notifica a ustedes que se ha radicado mediante el sistema SUMAC una Demanda por la parte demandante HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. solicitando un Cobro de Dinero. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: Lcda. Jessica D. Martínez Birriel, GARRIGA & MARINI LAW OFFICES, C.S.P., P.O. Box 16593, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-6593, teléfono (787) 275-0655, dirección de correo electrónico: jmb@garrigamarini.com. Ustedes deberán presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual pueden acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index.php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se representen por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberán presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante. Si dejaren de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discre-

ción, lo entiende procedente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, a tenor con la Orden del Tribunal, hoy día 11 de septiembre de 2024. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA ROSARIO ROSARIO, SUBSECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

Demandante Vs. JESUS MANUEL RIVERA ZAPATA, PATRICIA ANN RIVERA T/C/C/ PATRICIA ANN HYDES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS Demandados Civil Núm.: VB2024CV00595. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JESUS MANUEL RIVERA ZAPATA, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; PATRICIA ANN RIVERA T/C/C/ PATRICIA ANN HYDES, POR SÍ Y REPRESENTACIÓN SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES; SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES. Se les notifica a ustedes que se ha radicado mediante el sistema SUMAC una Demanda por la parte demandante HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC. solicitando un Cobro de Dinero. Se les emplaza y se les requiere que notifiquen a GARRIGA & MARINI LAW OFFICES, C.S.P., P.O. Box 16593, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-6593, teléfono (787) 275-0655, con copia de su contestación a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Ustedes deberán presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual pueden acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www. poderjudicial.pr/index.php/ tribunal-electronico/, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se representen por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberán presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante o a ésta, de no tener representación legal. Si dejaren de presentar su ale-

tros, con el Lote F-12 y por el OESTE, en una distancia de 14.00 metros, con la calle número 3. Contiene una casa de dos niveles de concreto para una sola familia. Consta inscrita al folio 169 del tomo 507 de Fajardo, finca #19,361, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Fajardo. SE LE APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictara sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en Fajardo, Puerto Rico. A 06 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2024

. WANDA l. SEGUI REYES, Secretaria Regional. LINDA I MEDINA MEDINA, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

ZORAIDA QUINTANA; POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES QUE COMPONE CON UBALDO SOTO

Demandante V.

MARGARITA LAUREANO VÁZQUEZ T/C/C MAGALY

LAUREANO; SU ESPOSO FULANO DE TAL T/C/C JOSÉ ENRIQUE ADORNO

Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandada

Civil Núm.: FA2024CV00577. Sala: 301. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: MARGARITA LAUREANO VÁZQUEZ, T/C/C MAGALY LAUREANO; SU ESPOSO FULANO DE TAL T/C/C JOSÉ ENRIQUE ADORNO, Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS.

Quedan emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre cobro de dinero por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que la parte demandada Margarita Laureano Vázquez, t/c/c Magaly Laureano; su esposo Fulano De Tal t/c/c José Enrique Adorno, y la sociedad legal de gananciales compuesta por ambos, le adeudan solidariamente a Condominio Bahía Properties, LLC., la suma de $14,261.47, más el 7.95% de interés anual, así como las costas y honora-

rios de abogado. Se les advierte que este edicto se publicará en un periódico de circulación general una sola vez y que, si no comparecen a contestar dicha Demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del Edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/ index.php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio así solicitado sin más citarles ni oírles. Los abogados de la parte demandante es el Lcdo Alejandro Bellver Espinosa y la Lcda Yaira Droz, cuya dirección física y postal es: Cond. El Centro I, Suite 801, 500 Muñoz Rivera Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918; cuyo número de teléfono es (787) 946-5268, y correos electrónicos: alejandro@bellverlaw.com y yaira@ bellverlaw.com. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 28 de agosto de 2024. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional. Sheila Robles Hernández, Subsecretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

CARIBE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Demandante V. CARLOS R. RAMOS

BONILLA POR SI Y EN REP. DE LA SOC Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Civil: LP2023CV00231. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA. A: CARLOS R. RAMOS

BONILLA, JANE DOE Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS. A SU DIRECCIÓN CONOCIDA: 2436

CHATEAU LOOP, KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA 34741-7946. P/C LCDA. GRACE M. FIGUEROA IRIZARRY.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 de mayo de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola

vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 13 de septiembre de 2024. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 13 de septiembre de 2024. EVELYN FÉLIX VÁZQUEZ, SECRETARIA. MICHELLE GUEVARA DE LEÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN E-66 DEVELOPMENT, INC

Demandante V. THE LINCOLN FINANCIAL MORTGAGE,INC Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SJ2024CV06906. (Salón: 501). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JAVIER JOSÉ DÍAZ RIVERAJAVIERDIAZ@JDRLAWPR.COM. A: THE LINCOLN FINANCIAL MORTGAGE, INC., JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DEL PAGARE. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de septiembre de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 12 de septiembre de 2024. En Bayamón,

Puerto Rico, el 12 de septiembre de 2024. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. NEREIDA QUILES SANTANA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

JOSEFINA ARROYO DELGADO Y OTROS

Demandante V. TOMASA ARROYO

DELGADO Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: CG2019CV02825. (Salón: 604 CIVIL). Sobre: ACCIÓN CONFESORIA O DENEGATORIA DE SERVIDUMBRE Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. DELIA I. CABÁN DÁVILADELIALIBRO@YAHOO.COM. MARETSA RODRÍGUEZ PORTELA RODRIGUEZPORTELA@GMAIL. COM.

A: NOEMI DELGADO LOPEZ, LUCYNETTE ARROYO DELGADO, JULIO JAVIER ARROYO DELGADO, OMAR AMED ARROYO DELGADO, LUIS ENRIQUE HERNANDEZ ARROYO Y SHEILA

HERNANDEZ ARROYO.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 08 de agosto de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 23 de agosto de 2024. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 23 de agosto de 2024. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. Raquel Díaz López, Sec Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE ARECIBO SALA SUPERIOR DE ARECIBO NADIESHKA MARIT

MERCADO GONZALEZ

Demandante V. NOELIAN VICTORIA RODRIGUEZ BENAVIDES

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: AR2024RF00493. (Salón: 103 RELACIONES DE FAMILIA Y MENORES - CIVIL). Sobre: DIVORCIO - RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. NADA N. VELÁZQUEZ MORALES - NAYDA.VELAZQUEZ@GMAIL.COM. A: NOELIAN VICTORIA RODRIGUEZ BENAVIDES. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 10 de septiembre de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 12 de septiembre de 2024. En Arecibo, Puerto Rico, el 12 de septiembre de 2024. Vivian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria. Deyaneira Rodríguez Tosado, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ANGEL ALBERTO RODRIGUEZ FLORES Y OTROS

Demandante V. ELSIE ESTHER CAMINERO MILAN Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: BY2022CV04179. (Salón: 505). Sobre: DIVISIÓN O LIQUIDACIÓN DE LA COMUNIDAD DE BIENES HEREDITARIOS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. CARLOS A PIOVANETTI DOHNERTPIOVANET@COQUI.NET. MARÍA E. JIMÉNEZ VARGASLICMARIAJIMENEZ@YAHOO.COM. A: ALBERTO GALARZA FOURNIER. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 09 de septiembre de 2024, este

Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 11 de septiembre de 2024. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 11 de septiembre de 2024. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria. Elizabeth Oliveras Pérez, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN. MARITZA NUÑEZ t/c/c MARITZA GUARDARRAMA, representada por Brayan Carrasquillo Molina Demandante, v. JOHN DOE como tenedor desconocido del pagaré Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV08393. Sobre: CANCELACION DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VIA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR. S.S. A: JOHN DOE COMO TENEDOR DESCONOCIDO DEL PAGARÉ a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, o a su orden, por la suma de sesenta y un mil doscientos dólares ($61,200.00), al siete y medio por ciento (7 ½ %) vencedero el uno (1) de julio de dos mil nueve (2009), según la escritura número cuatrocientos noventa y cinco (495) otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico a dos (2) de julio de mil novecientos noventa y cuatro (1994), ante el abogado notario Ángel L. Rolán Prado, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Sabana Llana, Finca 13031, inscripción quinta. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra

dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son. ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE DEMANDANTE: LICENCIADO NOTARIO P.R., INC. Física: Ave. San Patricio 764 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00921 Postal: 130 Ave. Winston Churchill PMB 327 Suite 1 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926-6018 Tel. (787) 487-7718 info@licenciadonotariopr.com /F/ ROBERTO L. VARELA RÍOS Núm. Tribunal Supremo 17,459 Expedido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 18 de septiembre de 2024. Griselda Rodriguez Collado, SECRETARIO(A) GENERAL. F/Nancy I Garcia Figueroa, SECRETARIO(A) AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE JUANA DÍAZ ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC Demandante V. MARISOL COLON PEREZ Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: VI2024CV00011. (Salón: 1 SALA SUPERIOR). Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERANATALIE.BONAPARTE@ORF-LAW. COM.

A: MARISOL COLON PEREZ; P/C NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERA. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de septiembre de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual

puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 12 de septiembre de 2024. En Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, el 12 de septiembre de 2024. Carmen G. Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria. Consuelo Elaine Rivera Padilla, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE ARECIBO SALA SUPERIOR DE HATILLO MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT PUERTO RICO, LLC COMO AGENTE GESTOR DE MIDLAND FUNDING, LLC Demandante V. ZAIDA CINTRON ROMAN Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: HA2023CV00136. (Salón: 100 CIVIL - CRIMINAL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERANATALIE.BONAPARTE@ORF-LAW. COM.

A: ZAIDA CINTRON ROMAN - BO CARRIZALEZ II 455, HATILLO PR 00659; HC 1 BOX 6085, HATILLO PR 00659-7238; 527 BUTTONWOOD ST, READING PA 19601. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 10 de mayo de 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 12 de septiembre de 2024. En Hatillo, Puerto Rico, el 12 de septiembre de 2024. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SEC. ROSIMAR LÓPEZ ROBLES, SEX AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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Crossword

Sudoku Wordsearch

Banished

Basing

Beaded

Bearer

Bugged

Cider

Controversies

Crater

Decorative

Dowries

Energy

Exert

Explorer

Fathoms

Gases

Gnashes

Goodies

Harry

Heirs

Homage

Hoofed

Malices

Maybe

Mills

Misquotes

Painlessly

Pores

Ransacks

Refute

Reopens

Ripped

Sages

Scouring

Senior

Sheen

Shots

Smoker

Snare

Sorting

Stales

Subconsciously

Tilling

September 20-22, 2024 22

Is WAR the answer? How one advanced metric has come to dominate MVP voting

ized how the sport views overall value. And yet they have also never been more likely to select an MVP who sits atop the WAR leaderboards.

In some ways, the relationship is simple enough: Gone are the days when MVPs won on the backs of runs batted in and puffed-up narratives. The advent of WAR offered a framework for value that has produced a more informed electorate. But as the MVP aligns with the WAR leaderboards, it is easy to wonder: Have MVP voters, in the aggregate, become too confident in WAR’s ability to determine overall value?

“If you’re a voter in a season like this and all you do before you cast your ballot is sort our leaderboards and grab the name at the top, I don’t think you’re doing your diligence,” Meg Rowley, the managing editor of FanGraphs, said in an email. “First, that approach assumes a precision that WAR doesn’t have.”

Judge and Ohtani — who, in his first year in the NL, could be the first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases — have leads in bWAR that are well within the statistic’s margin of error. (Entering Wednesday, Lindor led Ohtani in fWAR, 7.4 to 7.0.)

50% of the time in the NL and 47% of the time in the AL. (Since 1999, the NL RBI leader has won the MVP just 8% of the time, while the AL RBI leader has won it 24% of the time.)

“It was very different,” said Larry Stone, a columnist at The Seattle Times who started covering baseball in 1987. “I’m almost — not ashamed, but embarrassed. I think I just looked at the counting stats, mainly; home runs, average and RBI were huge. And often, the tiebreaker was the team’s performance. There was not much sophistication back in those days.”

Of course, it was also true that sometimes the MVP was blatantly obvious. When Barry Bonds won four straight MVPs in the early 2000s, he led the league in bWAR each time. When Albert Pujols broke Bonds’ streak in 2005, he, too, led the league in bWAR. As supporters of WAR often point out, the basic offensive numbers in the formula are the same ones we have measured for the last century.

By RUSTIN DODD / THE ATHLETIC

The duel between Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals for American League MVP is reminiscent of a classic of the genre.

On one side is a slugger vying for baseball’s triple crown, leading the league in on-base plus slugging percentage and flirting with 60 homers. On the other is a transcendent five-tool star hitting 30 homers, stealing 30 bases and playing exemplary defense at shortstop.

It would be easy, at first glance, to see a parallel to 2012, when Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, who led the league in home runs, batting average and runs batted in, edged the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout.

But the comparison comes with one problem: Cabrera versus Trout was a convenient proxy battle for old school versus new school. (Trout had significant leads in WAR, or wins above replacement.) Yet for most of this summer, Judge has played the role of both Cabrera and Trout, chasing a triple crown while hurtling toward 10.0 WAR and beyond.

Entering Wednesday’s action, Judge led Witt in Baseball Reference’s calculation of WAR (bWAR, 9.8 to 9.1) and FanGraphs’ (fWAR, 10.2 to 9.9). The margins are slim when considering the variance of the wins above replacement metric, yet when paired with his offensive fireworks, Judge is a heavy favorite in the betting markets to take home his second MVP Award in three seasons.

The muted conversations over Judge versus Witt — as well as Shohei Ohtani versus Francisco Lindor in the National League — have illustrated a recent shift in MVP voting, conducted each year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

If Judge is crowned AL MVP, it will most likely be the sixth time in seven years that the award goes to a position player with the most Baseball Reference WAR. (It could also be the fifth time in seven years that the AL MVP is the leader in fWAR.)

Twelve years after Cabrera versus Trout, the voting trends underscore an intriguing relationship between WAR and the MVP Award: Baseball writers have never been more educated on the merits, flaws and limitations of wins above replacement, an advanced metric with multiple forms that has revolution-

“No one should view a half-a-win difference as definitive as to who was more valuable,” Sean Forman, the founder of Baseball Reference, said in an email.

The story of wins above replacement is really the story of baseball in the 21st century. It began, roughly speaking, in the early 1980s with Bill James and Pete Palmer.

James, the godfather of sabermetrics, was using a primitive concept of “replacement level” to rank players in his annual Baseball Abstract. Palmer had introduced the system of “linear weights,” which determined an offensive player’s value in runs compared to a baseline average. By the 1990s, Keith Woolner developed value over replacement player, or VORP. With the basic ideas in place, improvement continued for another 15 years.

What emerged was a consensus: an overall metric that measured a player’s offense, defense and base running in “runs above replacement” and then converted that number into wins: WAR.

There was no official formula, which meant websites developed their own versions. The crude nature of metrics for defense and base running meant WAR was often noisy in small samples. But the statistic presented a solution for one of baseball’s eternal problems.

FanGraphs began publishing its WAR statistic in December 2008, while Baseball Reference unveiled its variation for the 2009 season, before an overhaul in 2012. The metric’s public arrival offered more than just a better mousetrap. The sites could retroactively calculate WAR, which meant past MVP votes were subject to review.

Willie Mays, for instance, led the NL in bWAR 10 times. He won two MVP Awards.

To look back is to see what the sport valued at a given moment. Whether it was the Cincinnati Reds’ Joe Morgan in the 1970s, Robin Yount in 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. in 1983 or Ryne Sandberg in 1984, baseball writers often rewarded players with versatile skill sets who led the league in bWAR (if anyone would have known how to calculate it). They also gave the award to relief pitchers three times from 1981 to 1992.

One of the most predictive statistics for MVP Award winners was RBI. From 1956 to 1989, the RBI leader won the MVP

The data on MVP voting, however, started to shift in the 2000s as WAR entered the public square. Noticing the trends, a baseball fan named Ezra Jacobson last winter researched the yearly difference between each league’s leader in bWAR and its MVP. Not surprisingly, he found the average had been shrinking for decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, the average difference between the AL MVP and the leader in bWAR was 2.1 and 3.04 WAR. In the 2010s, the difference had dwindled to 0.9. In the 2020s, it is 0.05.

Voters have become more informed and increasingly formulaic and uniform.

“I think the voting is massively improved from where it was,” said Anthony DiComo, who covers the New York Mets for MLB.com.

He added, “If you go into the way past, there’s quite a few in history where you can say, ‘Geez, they got it wrong. This guy should not have been MVP.’ And I don’t think that really happens that much anymore.”

WAR brought a framework for considering players in their totality. As a consequence, it has caused a generation of younger writers and voters to reframe the idea of value, separating it from team success. WAR has not just become a metric for determining value; it has become synonymous with the idea. The evolution probably helped pitchers Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw win MVP Awards in 2011 and 2014: The two led their leagues in WAR.

Anecdotally, it is nearly impossible to find an MVP voter who blindly submits a ballot copy-and-pasted from a WAR leaderboard. Rowley, of FanGraphs, and Forman, of Baseball Reference, emphasize WAR should be only a starting point.

If there is one significant difference in the voting process 30 years ago — beyond the information available — Stone, the Seattle sports writer, notes that it used to be “more of a solitary exercise, which meant you couldn’t be influenced.” Not only are the WAR leaderboards public and updated daily, but individual MVP ballots are publicly released on the internet.

“I do worry about groupthink,” he said.

“My argument,” DiComo, who covers the Mets, said, “is that we’ve gotten so good at measuring this, and voters tend to think about it more and more similarly. So it’s like, ‘Yeah, if there’s a small edge, in reality, there’s a big edge in voting, because everyone is seeing that small edge and voting for the guy who has it.’”

The San Juan Daily Star

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, in Toronto for a game against the Blue Jays, on Sept. 27, 2022. Judge is a heavy favorite in the betting markets to take home his second MVP Award in three seasons. (Chris Donovan/The New York Times)

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21