Tuesday Sep 22, 2020

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

San Juan The

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Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019 Ready to Reign as An Artist P20

Island Medicaid Funds Left Out of Congress’ Budget Extension Osvaldo Soto Has Never Conducted an Audit, Yet Wants to Audit Others

Resident Commissioner Tries to Save the Day, Files Amendment to HR 8319

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Event Coordinators to Meet with Governor to Negotiate Terms of Reopening P5

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

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The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

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September 22, 2020

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

Congress did not include new $1 billion Medicaid authorization for PR in budget extension

Today’s

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Resident commissioner defends amendment to extend access to Medicaid funds for Puerto Rico

By THE STAR STAFF

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INDEX Local 3 Mainland 7 Business 11 International 14 Viewpoint 18 Noticias en Español 19 Entertainment 20 22 Pets

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esident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón on Monday filed an amendment to H.R. 8319, the so-called continuing resolution, which is the legislation that the federal government seeks to finance, so that the Medicaid funds authorized by Congress for this fiscal year ending on Sept. 30 can be rolled over into the next fiscal year.

“Given the denial of the Financial Oversight and Management Board of the $1.1 billion for use in the Medicaid program, today [Monday] I filed an amendment in Congress that allows the government of Puerto Rico to use those funds in the next fiscal year,” González Colón said, “as I am always fighting so that the Democrats who control the House accept my amendment so that it is included in the Continuing Budget Resolution that is under consideration, and to be able to correct the denial by the Financial Oversight and Management Board of these funds.”

The resident commissioner emphasized that she has already obtained the funds for the island health card for the next fiscal year, so that at no time were those funds at risk.

The other programs that will be proposed to the oversight board to use the additional funds raised by the resident commissioner would be: adult vaccines (not only for older adults), expanding coverage of the condition of diabetes (to include plasters, glucometers and others) and non-emergency transport -- in order to take patients to their medical appointments when they do not have transportation.

González Colón introduced her amendment at Monday’s House Rules Committee hearing, which was held virtually. There she recounted how she managed to unite wills to avoid the so-called precipice that Medicaid would fall into in Puerto Rico due to a lack of funds.

The funds raised by González Colón are: $295.9 million in May 2017; $4.8 billion in February 2018, with a 100 percent match by the federal government through the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) formula, to cover two years; a 100 percent extension of the FMAP until Dec. 20, 2019; and $5.7 billion in December 2019 for the next two years, the largest amount in history, with a 76 percent FMAP federal match increase (it was previously 55 percent).

At the time that the negotiations with Congress began in the spring of 2019, the Puerto Rico government made the request based on projections for the entire

year. However, the funds were authorized within three months of the fiscal year and Puerto Rico used other federal funds to pay for Medicaid during that period and through February of this year.

Therefore, when Congress authorized Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico in late December, the amounts for fiscal year 2019-2020 included in the bill were not adjusted to the actual time period in which the funds would be spent. Therefore, they included projected expenditures for several months that Puerto Rico could not afford.

Of the funds authorized by Congress in December 2019, about $700 million went for new programs that were to be authorized by the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). The funds allocated to these new programs were also based on an annual budget.

CMS took some time to authorize those funds; one of them in fact is still pending. Therefore, the money budgeted for spending on those programs could not begin to be used until late summer.

Under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, those programs also require the approval of the oversight board. It has not yet authorized the programs, so Puerto Rico has not yet disbursed the corresponding funds. Some of the programs will be retroactive, but even those payments are awaiting the oversight board’s approval. Once authorized, a large amount of unused money will be paid out.

The largest of the new programs was a plan to increase Puerto Rico’s poverty level for Medicaid eligibility from 40 percent to 85 percent of the federal poverty level. The oversight board recently informed the commonwealth Health Insurance Administration that the program would not be approved.

There is not enough time left in the current fiscal year to request CMS authorization to spend those funds on other new programs and the money allocated to the expanded Medicaid program cannot be spent this fiscal year.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Nominee for comptroller has never done an audit

By THE STAR STAFF

A

lthough he does not currently have the votes in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives to be confirmed, Osvaldo Soto García said Monday that he is willing to “die on the line” or remain in the commonwealth comptroller confirmation process all the way to the end.

“I am a man who has always characterized himself as a leader and a person respectful of the processes, so, here I am and that is the process that will be followed,” Soto García said upon leaving a public hearing with the House Appointments Committee.

He insisted that in the lobbying process he has been able to convince several legislators.

He also denied that Assistant Chief of Staff Lilliam García was the person who lobbied for the endorsement of the Auditors and Employees Association of the Comptroller’s Office.

House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez said Soto García has still not managed to convince him that he is qualified for the position of commonwealth comptroller.

“I expected more depth in his presentation, him being a public relations officer for an office [of the Department of Recreation and Sports] and a commentator on two [radio] stations,” Méndez Núñez said in an aside with journalists. “The position of comptroller is for 10 years and it is one of great responsibility to the people of Puerto Rico, and I believe that he has to convince us; he has to give us the solid foundations that when we

defend the appointment we have solid foundations, not only intellectual, but also the moral certainty that the person who is going to hold that position for 10 years has the stature of past comptrollers.”

Méndez Núñez added that Soto García “has a very steep slope to climb and will be compared to past comptrollers such as Manuel Díaz Saldaña and Ileana Colón Carlo.”

The House speaker said that in a vote at the caucus held on Monday morning, Soto García did not receive the required number of votes for confirmation.

During the questioning at the public hearing, Méndez Núñez asked Soto García if the support he got from the Auditors and Employees Association of the Comptroller’s Office was achieved by someone from La Fortaleza. Soto García denied it on several occasions, so the House speaker announced that lawmakers were

going to bring witnesses to the hearings who will supposedly say otherwise. Méndez Núñez did not want to give the name of the person who allegedly lobbied for Soto García.

Others attending the hearing spoke out against the nomination made by the governor.

In his presentation before the Appointments Committee of the House of Representatives, Soto García insisted that the Comptroller’s Law does not require that the candidate for comptroller be a certified public accountant.

He also emphasized what he called his priorities, which are: technological transformation, creating a division of federal funds, improving the Contracts Registry, restoring confidence in the office and moving the office out of its current location, which is rented.

Soto García says he is a lawyer, but acknowledged that he does not have a degree. He also maintained that he has never participated in or conducted an audit. He is a member of the Fraud Examiners Association but has yet to complete the certification process.

Earlier on Monday, Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced defended her nominee to direct the Office of the Comptroller.

“You have to be fair. Osvaldo [Soto García] meets all the requirements,” Vázquez said in a radio interview.

“Osvaldo Soto García qualifies for everything because he meets the requirements of the law and the Constitution of Puerto Rico,” the governor said. “Here I ask the chairman of the [Appointments] Committee [Méndez Núñez] to examine it [the nomination] with justice.”

House to investigate unpaid claims related to January earthquakes

By THE STAR STAFF

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ew Progressive Party Reps. Maricarmen Más Rodríguez and Yashira Lebrón Rodríguez announced on Monday that public hearings will be held on the delays in the payment of thousands of insurance claims related to damages caused by the January earthquakes.

“This cannot go on. We have been going for nine months since the impact of the earthquakes in the south and west of the island and unfortunately four out of 10 insurance claims for damages suffered have not been paid. But still, many of them were arbitrarily closed,” Mas Rodríguez said in a written communication. “Faced with this scenario, we are going to initiate a process of in-depth investigation by holding public hearings, including one in Mayagüez so that our people from the west can express themselves and seek solutions to this problem.”

According to official data from the Office of the

Insurance Commissioner, as of July 31 of this year, some 19,253 claims had been made to insurance companies, of which 7,117 were closed without any payment.

“We believe that the number of claims paid, according to the Insurance Commissioner, of just 8,785, is relatively low,” said Lebrón Rodríguez, who chairs the House Committee on Consumer Affairs, Banking and Insurance.

“We want to know the reason for this figure, as well as to know, in great detail, why around 40 percent of the claims were closed without issuing a single payment. There are many people who have complained about the processes through social networks and we want to hear from them directly. That is why we are going to open the process of public hearings.”

The investigation is to be carried out under House Resolution 54, which orders the Commission on Consumer Affairs, Banking and Insurance to conduct an investigation, of a continuous nature, on the validity, implementation

and sufficiency of the legislation and regulations that have been approved to vindicate and protect the rights of consumers, as well as procedures, legislation and matters related to banking and insurance in Puerto Rico.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

5

Education to receive $1 billion, but first needs infrastructure plan for schools damaged by Maria

By THE STAR STAFF

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ducation Secretary Eligio Hernández said Monday that a disbursement of more than $1 billion in federal funds will be available to the island Education Department once the infrastructure restructuring plan for schools impacted by Hurricane Maria in 2017 is presented to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

He also said the disbursement of the funds is not conditioned on the appointment of a trustee.

The plan will be submitted to FEMA within 90 days after the agency receives the letter announcing the award, Puerto Rico’s Education secretary said.

“It [the disbursement of funds] will be available once the department’s infrastructure plan is approved by FEMA. That plan is 80 percent complete,” Hernández said in a radio interview (Radio Isla 1320 AM). “We have to wait for the letter informing us of the awarding of the education funds; that should be happening this week, and from there we start counting 90 days and once approved, the work for the Puerto Rico Department of Education will begin. We are thinking that possibly the determination of the initial work

should be for next year.”

Last week, government officials announced the release of $13 billion through FEMA for repairs to the island power grid and for schools. Most of the funds are going to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

Hernández also provided a response to allegations raised by Teachers Association President Elba Aponte to the effect that no funds will be disbursed to the Department of Education because of the agency’s failure to appoint a trustee.

“The allocation of FEMA funds is not conditioned to a trustee,” he said. “The only [allocations] that are attached to the [appointment of a] trustee are funds coming from the federal Department of Education. The [island] Department of Education must spend the oldest funds in order to access the newest ones.”

Hernández said the agency already is negotiating a contract to hire a trustee.

“The trustee has been selected; we are negotiating the contract,” he said. “They have a legal advisory firm here in Puerto Rico. We also have a consulting firm. Basically, everything is ready to sign the contract. However, there is a contractual controversy clause and I cannot speak about

it because it is under negotiation. If we manage to save the situation of this clause, possibly we will have the contract signed this month.”

Secretary of Education Eligio Hernández

Professional event coordinators are ‘more than ready’ to work amid pandemic

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

T

he Puerto Rico Professional Event Coordinators Association (ACEP by its Spanish acronym) presented on Monday their post-COVID-19 protocol guide for weddings and events, and called on Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced to reactivate the wedding and event industry as they are “more than ready” to continue working safely amid the pandemic.

ACEP President Rafael Ramos said the document, which took recommendations from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is a “live guide” that will determine how professional event coordinators will organize future events and care for their guests during the pandemic in accordance with the executive orders enacted by the governor.

Some of the main points from the guide are requiring both wedding planners and industry providers to certify and educate on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, promote the proper use of restaurants and lounges, urge guests to be tested 72 hours prior to the event, ensure that churches, temples and other ceremonial spaces comply with safety measures, and hire public health personnel to supervise such events according to CDC recommendations.

“The wedding and event industry provides a significant

economic injection to the local tourism and destination sector. We recognize that the Puerto Rican wedding industry is the most affected group as great financial losses have been estimated due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ramos said, while suggesting that professional event coordinators should focus on intimate settings. “For this reason, it’s important to get back to work with thoughtfulness; therefore, we request the reopening of such events to up to 50 percent of [venue] capacity.”

Meanwhile, Leonardo 5th Avenue owner Leonardo Cordero said the island wedding industry, which produces from $300-500 million a year and “generates thousands of jobs and keeps local microbusinesses alive,” has had to postpone and cancel events, which has made workers “work more and earn less.” He added that the industry “needs a map so that, little by little, we recover enough funds to support Puerto Rico’s economy.”

“We want to invite the government to recognize our

work, focused on phases, focused on order and safety in order to reactivate our sector and the economic welfare of thousands of Puerto Ricans,” Cordero said.

Likewise, D’Royal Bride owner Damaris Díaz told members of the press that she feels “a lot of uncertainty” as she fears that her 30-year-old bridal fashion enterprise on Roosevelt Avenue is at risk of closing as she has seen her colleagues’ businesses paralyzed due to the pandemic and some have had to shut down or move off the island.

“How can I not be scared if we have no [sense of direction], if we don’t know what’s going to happen? My business is operating with the due requirements by law, but my colleagues in the industry are paralyzed and I don’t want to keep hearing about failed attempts, I want to keep hearing stories of successful employers. Many of them have lost their homes, cars, and even had to give back the keys to their venues. This is our time to recover,” Díaz said. “If we don’t do something to activate our sector, many of us will be unable to survive. What is the difference between going to a restaurant to dine with my family and going to a wedding, when you can do exactly the same? What’s more, I feel safer at a wedding because I know I can count on highly capable personnel who can safeguard the guests’ welfare.”

Members of the industry are expected to meet with the governor today to negotiate the terms of their reopening as they estimate that losses have gone up to $300 million since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Two men charged separately for trying to cash PUA checks using false ID

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

A

cting Justice Secretary InÊs del C. Carrau Martínez and the director of the Justice Department’s Economic Crimes Division, Alexis Carlo Ríos, announced the filing of charges Monday, for separate events, against Luis Hernåndez Duarte and Eric Romero Algarín for alleged falsification of licenses in order to obtain unemployment funds under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program.

On July 18, HernĂĄndez Duarte allegedly went to the GalerĂ­a San Patricio branch of Banco Popular in Guaynabo with the intention of cashing a check for the amount of $9,324 from the PUA Program with a fraudulent identification. He was arrested at the scene.

HernĂĄndez Duarte was charged in absentia under Article 215 -- Forgery of a License, Certifi-

cate and other Documentation -- of the Puerto Rico Penal Code.

On July 20, at the Banco Popular branch in Barrio Obrero, Romero AlgarĂ­n allegedly tried to cash a check for $7,458 from the PUA Program, also by presenting a false identification. The accused was arrested at the scene.

Romero AlgarĂ­n also was charged under Article 215 -- Forgery of License, Certificate and other Documentation -- of the Puerto Rico Penal Code.

The investigation and filing of the cases was given to prosecutors Roxanne Rivera CarriĂłn and Luisa VĂĄzquez Cruz, along with agents Carlos Matos Ortiz and Emilio PĂŠrez of the Bank Robbery and Fraud Division of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau.

Judge JosĂŠ ParĂŠs QuiĂąones of the San Juan Superior Court determined probable cause against HernĂĄndez Duarte, ordered his arrest and imposed a global bond of $40,000.

ParĂŠs QuiĂąones also determined probable cause for the arrest of Romero AlgarĂ­n and set his bond at $10,000 not deferred. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 5.

Governor estranged from former opponent Pierluisi

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

G

ov. Wanda Våzquez Garced remains estranged from Pedro Pierluisi, her former opponent in the New Progressive Party primaries who is now the pro-statehood party’s candidate for governor.

When asked in a radio interview with RubĂŠn SĂĄnchez on WKAQ 580 AM if she is going “to hugâ€? Pierluisi before Nov. 3, the day of the general

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elections, VĂĄzquez gave a long sigh. “To give a hug to any person, you need an approach. And that’s what I told all the people of Puerto Rico on Aug. 16 [primary day],â€? VĂĄzquez said. “I have about 130,000 people who looked for a sensitive governor who believed in the

people, who learned to listen, who had sensitivity and who, above all, would think of Puerto Rico first.â€? “This political campaign for me ended on Aug. 16,â€? the governor said. “And I called on the candidate [Pierluisi] to present himself to all of them [those who voted for VĂĄzquez], because I am only one vote. Let him appear so that all these people can choose their candidate and make a decision.â€?

As for whether she felt that Pierluisi “hurt herâ€? in the primary campaign, VĂĄzquez said “that was a horrible, horrible campaign.â€? “I think the most abusive goes down,â€? she said. “I don’t say it, people tell me.â€?

She added that it was unnecessary “because I have been a public servant for 32 years, serving the people of Puerto Rico with honesty and integrity.â€? “And I simply wanted to be an option for all the Puerto Rican people,â€? VĂĄzquez said. “To bring you a better government free of politics.â€?

To the question of whether history will absolve her, she answered, “Of what?� “I have nothing to be acquitted of,� the governor said. “I have done everything in accordance with law and order.�

VĂĄzquez said that when her role as governor ends on Dec. 31, “I’m going home to rest a little while.â€?

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

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Finally, some students return to New York City’s classrooms

By ELIZA SHAPIRO

O

ne principal in Brooklyn has pinned pink heart balloons to the school’s front door to welcome about 50 pre-K children who are expected to arrive for classes. Another principal in Washington Heights is expecting only five children to attend.

New York City’s roughly 1,400 school buildings have sat largely empty for six months, since its school system, the nation’s largest, abruptly shuttered classrooms in mid-March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

On Monday, for the first time since then, schools reopened for up to 90,000 pre-K students and children with advanced disabilities. The rest of the city’s 1.1 million students started the school year online and will have the option of returning to classrooms over the next few weeks.

Although Monday’s reopening falls far short of what Mayor Bill de Blasio originally promised — all students having the option to return to classrooms — it still marks a significant milestone in New York’s long path to fully reopening. New York is one of the few U.S. cities where some children are back in classrooms.

Still, the start of the school year here is freighted with anxiety and unknowns, starting with the fact that no one is quite sure how many students will show up to buildings Monday.

Some kindergarten students who reported to their schools Monday morning were sent away and told their return to classrooms would not be until later in the month.

For the children who can actually return to schools Monday, it will be an extremely unusual first day back.

“We’re all about the hugs, the sitting together, rolling around on the floor together,” Julie Zuckerman, principal of Public School 513 in Washington Heights, which has a pre-K, said last week. “That can’t happen now.”

But Monday morning, some parents said they were relieved to finally have their toddlers in school.

Tiyanna Jackson, who took her daughter, Zuri, to the Learning Through Play Pre-K Center in Mott Haven in the Bronx on Monday, said that after schools shut down in the spring, she had to give up her job at Amazon to watch her young daughter.

“Since I’ve had her with me every day, I haven’t been able to work,” Jackson said.

“I’m hoping as time goes by, this school starts going back to full time and everything can start getting back to normal,” she added. “I need to get back to work. I trust that the schools can stay clean and stay safe.”

Over the summer, New York City seemed poised to become the only big-school district in America to

The principal of the Earth School in Manhattan, Claudia de Luna Castro, takes the temperature of a student, Hana Pralica, on the first day of in-person classes in the city on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. offer in-person classes at the start of its school year.

Despite recent stumbles, New York will eventually have more students back in classrooms this month than any of the nation’s 10 largest school systems — if all goes according to plan.

So far, it has not.

Last week, just three days before schools were scheduled to physically reopen, de Blasio announced that he would delay the return to classrooms for most students, citing a severe staffing shortage that was created by the city’s attempt to have separate teachers for remote and in-person learning.

The new plan is for a staggered reopening; elementary school students will start in-person classes Sept.

29, and middle and high school children can return Oct. 1, about three weeks after schools were originally slated to reopen. That initial scheduled opening had been delayed after the city’s powerful teachers’ union threatened an illegal strike out of safety concerns.

As a result of the two delays, city students have now lost about 10 days of remote learning, although schools held three days of virtual orientation sessions last week.

De Blasio has stressed that he is intent on reopening schools to ensure an adequate educational experience

for city students, the majority of whom are Black or Latino and low-income.

“If what we wanted to do was the simple, easy thing, we all would have said, ‘Hey, let’s go all remote,’” the mayor said during a recent news conference. “And we know we’ll be cheating kids and cheating families.

And we know we will be, once again, ignoring the facts that in-person learning is so much better for kids.”

But scores of city parents, including many working families, said they preferred remote learning for now, citing safety concerns and the need for consistency when making child care arrangements that would allow them to return to work. Over 40% of families have already opted their children out of in-person classes entirely through at least November, with nonwhite parents opting out at higher rates than white parents, and that number is expected to rise when new data is released Monday.

Still, the reopening of some classrooms is an achievement for a city that was a global epicenter of the virus just six months ago. New York now has one of the lowest virus transmission rates of any city in the country, around or below 1%, and is one of the few big cities that can even consider physically reopening schools during the pandemic.

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The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

‘We may be surprised again’: An unpredictable pandemic takes a terrible toll

A coronavirus testing site in Hialeah, Fla., Aug. 31, 2020. At least 73 countries are seeing surges in newly detected coronavirus cases, and in regions where cold weather is approaching, worries are mounting.

By SIMON ROMERO, MANNY FERNÁNDEZ and MARC SANTORA

I

t is a staggering toll, almost 200,000 people dead from the coronavirus in the United States, and nearly five times that many — close to 1 million people — around the world.

And the pandemic, which sent cases spiking skyward in many countries and then trending downward after lockdowns, has reached a precarious point. Will countries like the United States see the virus continue to slow in the months ahead? Or is a new surge on the way?

“What will happen, nobody knows,” said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “This virus has surprised us on many fronts, and we may be surprised again.”

In the U.S., fewer new coronavirus cases have been detected week by week since late July, following harrowing outbreaks first in the Northeast and then in the South and the West.

But in recent days, the nation’s daily count of new cases is climbing again, fueling worries of a resurgence of the virus as universities and schools reopen and as colder weather pushes people indoors ahead of what some epidemiologists fear could be a devastating winter.

The coronavirus death toll in the U.S.

is now roughly equal to the population of Akron, Ohio, or nearly 2 1/2 times the number of U.S. service members who died in battle in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined, and about 800 people are still dying daily.

Around the world, at least 73 countries are seeing surges in newly detected cases, and worries are fast mounting.

In India, more than 90,000 new cases are now being detected daily, adding 1 million cases since the start of this month and sending the country’s total cases soaring past 5 million.

In Europe, after lockdowns helped smother the crisis in the spring, the virus once again is burning its way across the continent as people proceed with their lives.

Israel, with nearly 1,200 deaths attributed to the virus, imposed a second lockdown last week, one of the few nations that has done so.

When the first wave of infections spread around the world, governments imposed sweeping restrictions on movement: more than 4 billion people were under some sort of stay-at-home order at one point. But most nations now are desperately trying to avoid resorting again to such intense measures.

“We have a very serious situation unfolding before us,” Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, said last week. “Weekly cases have

now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March.”

Across Latin America, the death toll stands at more than 310,000. Two-thirds of the total come from just two nations: Brazil with more than 132,000 reported deaths and Mexico with 72,000. Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, the director of the Pan American Health Organization, warned that the threat remained.

“Latin America has begun to resume almost normal social and public life at a time when COVID-19 still requires major control interventions,” she said last week. “We must be clear that opening up too early gives this virus more room to spread and puts our populations at greater risk. Look no further than Europe.”

Deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus rose above 199,300 as of Sunday afternoon, leaving families across the country grieving.

It was only four months ago, in late May, that the nation’s death roll reached 100,000.

Even the current tally may be a significant undercount of the toll in the U.S., analyses suggest, failing to include some people who die from COVID-19 as well as those who die from secondary causes that are also linked to the pandemic.

As the virus overtook the U.S. this spring, deaths surged. In mid-April, more than 2,000 people were dying each day, on average. Deaths rose again this summer as cases spiked in the South and West. The pace has slowed considerably since.

Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it was conceivable that the death toll in the U.S. could reach 300,000 if the public let down its guard.

“There are many countries we might consider our economic peers, or that are far less developed in terms of economy or health care systems, that are having far less mortality,” he said.

The contrast with other rich industrialized countries is stark, reflecting how the virus is still tearing through parts of the U.S. On one day last week, the U.S. reported 849 new deaths. The same day, Italy, once the epicenter of the pandemic, had 13 deaths.

Both Canada and Germany reported seven deaths that day.

New factors add to the uncertainties of the coronavirus’s course. Cold weather is expected to test the risks of shared indoor air more than ever. An arriving flu season

threatens to further stretch the health care system. And the success of efforts to prevent the virus from spreading through newly restarted schools and college campuses remains uncertain.

Many of the country’s largest school districts are starting the year with remote instruction, but most states have at least some school districts, largely in rural or suburban areas, that have opened for in-person instruction.

Schools in states like Georgia and Indiana have already been open for a month, but experts say they cannot yet be sure what the effect will be on virus transmission in communities.

Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said that because of the huge variation in how schools are reopening — with some schools strictly enforcing social distancing and mask requirements and others doing far less — “we expect there to be quite a wide range in terms of consequences.”

Already, a return to colleges and universities, with widespread testing taking place on campuses, has driven an uptick in known cases. More than 88,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported across more than 1,100 U.S. colleges over the course of the pandemic, a New York Times survey shows.

The first months of the pandemic brought floods of cases into urban, coastal areas of the U.S., but the virus is spreading broadly now, through rural communities and to places that had seen few if any cases early on. States in the nation’s middle, including Wisconsin, Montana and North Dakota, are seeing higher case numbers in recent days than ever.

The infection rate in North Dakota in the last week was twice that of Texas and more than quadruple that of California, both earlier hot spots. The infection rate measures virus cases per 100,000 people, and North Dakota, which has reported more than 17,000 cases and 190 deaths over the course of the pandemic, is home to only about 760,000 people.

Still, more than half of North Dakota’s cases have been reported since the start of August.

“In the beginning, it was a big-city disease and we watched it on TV,” said Sister Kathleen Atkinson, a Benedictine nun who is the director of a ministry in Bismarck, North Dakota’s capital. “Now there isn’t a single county that hasn’t had positive cases, and it is part of everybody’s life.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

9

Biden has $466 million in bank, and a huge financial edge on Trump

By SHAIN GOLDMACHER

J

oe Biden’s campaign said Sunday that it entered September with $466 million in the bank together with the Democratic Party, providing Biden a vast financial advantage of about $141 million over President Donald Trump heading into the intense final stretch of the campaign.

The money edge is a complete reversal from this spring, when Biden emerged as the Democratic nominee and was $187 million behind Trump, who began raising money for his reelection shortly after he was inaugurated in 2017. But the combination of slower spending by Biden’s campaign in the spring, his record-setting fundraising over the summer — especially after he named Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate — and heavy early spending by Trump has erased the president’s once-formidable financial lead.

Trump and his joint operations with the Republican National Committee entered September with $325 million, according to Trump’s communications director, Tim Murtaugh.

The Trump campaign pulled back on its television spending in August to conserve money, as some campaign insiders fretted about a cash crunch in the closing stretch of the campaign. But other officials argued that the Trump campaign would continue to raise heavily from small donors and that the cutbacks over the summer were shortsighted.

In the last four weeks of August, the Biden campaign spent $65.5 million on television advertising, compared with $18.7 million by the Trump campaign, according to data from Advertising Analytics.

Even after the reduction in TV ad spending, Federal Election Commission filings made public late Sunday showed Trump’s campaign committee ended August having raised $61.7 million and spent $61.2 million, along with adding about $900,000 in debt.

Money in the candidate’s own committees, as opposed to the political party’s account, is the most valuable of funds because election rules require those accounts to pay for certain types of spending, such as television ads.

Biden’s campaign committee reported raising $212 million and spending $130.3 million — banking more than $80 million last month.

Democratic donations surged further over the weekend.

Following the death of former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which opened a vacancy that could tilt the ideological bearing of the Supreme Court further to the right, contributors shattered records on ActBlue, the biggest online processing platform for the left.

Donors gave more than $100 million over the weekend after her passing.

Before the latest presidential disclosures were filed, some Republicans were questioning how a Trump campaign that has raised $1.3 billion since the beginning of 2019 with the Republican National Committee has already spent nearly $1 billion of those funds before the start of voting. Trump officials have repeatedly pointed to their bigger investment in ground

operations (such as door-to-door canvassing) that Democrats have forgone during the pandemic as prudent spending that will provide a benefit as balloting begins.

“Our early investment in states is going to move the needle in a way that Joe Biden’s campaign just can’t do, even if they tried starting now,” Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, told reporters this month.

An extraordinary influx of cash in August accounts for Biden’s newfound financial lead, after he and the Republicans entered the month nearly neck and neck. The Biden campaign and his joint operations with the Democratic National Committee raised a record $364.5 million last month — more than any previous candidate has raised in a single month — while Trump brought in $210 million, their campaigns said.

“It’s hard to even get your head around the size and historic nature of this,” Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, said in a call with reporters this month.

The cash-on-hand figure released by the campaign shows it spent about $192 million, barely over half of what it brought in last month.

“We’re going to have the resources, not just to go wide on our map but also to go deep within those states,” Dillon said of the Electoral College battlegrounds.

Billionaires and very wealthy supporters continue to

exert their influence on the race through super PACs, which have no limits on giving. New filings showed Kelcy Warren, an oil pipeline billionaire, gave $10 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, America First Action, along with $2 million from Diane Hendricks, a Wisconsin billionaire, and $1 million from three others.

On the Democratic side, Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic presidential primary, recently announced he would spend $100 million supporting Biden in Florida, by far the largest and most expensive electoral prize. James Murdoch, the son of the Fox media mogul Rupert Murdoch, donated $300,000 in August to a pro-Biden super PAC, Unite the Country.

Monthly financial filings for both the Trump and Biden camps made on Sunday offered only a partial window into the state of the money race, as some of their joint committees with the parties will not have to file until next month.

On Sunday, the RNC reported a second payment of $666,666.67 to Reuters News & Media in August labeled “legal proceedings — IP resolution.” An identically sized and labeled payment was made in June. Reuters and the RNC previously declined to comment on the first such payment.

Campaign signs for Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), in San Antonio, Sept. 19, 2020. Biden’s campaign said on Sunday that it entered September with $466 million in the bank together with the Democratic Party, providing Biden a vast financial advantage of about $141 million over President Donald Trump heading into the intense final stretch of the campaign

10

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Trump says he will wait until Friday or Saturday to announce Supreme Court pick

By PETER BAKER

P

resident Donald Trump said Monday that he would wait until the end of the week to nominate a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in deference to her funeral services, trimming even further the time available to confirm his selection before the Nov. 3 election as he hopes to do.

“I think it will be on Friday or Saturday and we want to pay respect, it looks like we will have services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it, and I think we should, with

all due respect for Justice Ginsburg, wait for services to be over,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.”

White House officials had indicated that the announcement could come as early as Tuesday and remain eager to get it done sooner rather than later. The president’s aides have been working on a plan for such a scenario for months, whittling down the list of candidates in advance in order to move quickly. Trump said he was currently considering five people but did not name them.

The front-runner is said to be Jud-

ge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, followed

by Judge Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, according to people close to the process. Kate Todd, a deputy White House counsel, was also said to be on the list. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, has also been promoting Judge Allison Jones Rushing of the 4th Circuit in Richmond, but at age 38, she is viewed by many aides as too young.

If Trump announces his choice Friday, that would leave just 39 days until the

election, which would be the quickest confirmation since Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed in 1981. Since 1975, confirmation on average has taken about 70 days.

But Trump again insisted on a confirmation “before the election” even though Senate Republicans blocked consideration of President Barack Obama’s nomination for a vacant seat in 2016 months before the election.

“The bottom line is we won the election; we have an obligation to do what’s right and act as quickly as possible,” Trump said.

Woman suspected of sending ricin to Trump is arrested

By KATIE BENNER

A

woman suspected of having mailed an envelope containing ricin to the White House was arrested this weekend while trying to enter the United States from Canada, according to a federal law enforcement official.

Customs and Border Protection agents detained the woman, who had a firearm, as she tried to enter Buffalo, New York, the official said. No further information about her was immediately available.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington has been leading the investigation into who sent an envelope containing ricin to the White House, addressed to President Donald Trump, in recent days, as well

as other envelopes containing ricin sent to a sheriff’s office and a detention facility in Texas.

Once discovered, the substance in the envelopes was confirmed to be ricin, a poison that is part of the waste produced when castor oil is made and has no known antidote.

Law enforcement officials said this weekend that the letters could have been sent from Canada, but that it was not clear when they were sent. The mail was intercepted last week, before it reached its destination.

No links to any international terrorist groups have been found, according to two law enforcement officials.

The FBI did not immediately respond Defense Department personnel screening mail at a U.S. government facility near the Pentagon in 2018. The envelopes with ricin were intercepted before arriving at their destinations. to a request for comment.

NBC News previously reported that the suspect had been detained.

The envelope addressed to Trump was intercepted at the final off-site processing facility before mail is sent to the White House mail room, according multiple law enforcement officials. All mail sent to the White House and other federal agencies in the Washington area is irradiated by the Postal Service and sorted in a facility that samples the air for suspicious substances.

This is the second time someone has tried to send ricin to Trump. In 2018, federal authorities intercepted mail suspected of containing ricin that was addressed to Trump

and to top Pentagon and other national security officials. The Justice Department determined that the suspect, a Navy veteran named William Clyde Allen, had sent castor beans instead of ricin. He was charged in a seven-count federal indictment for threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon.

Two people separately sent mail with ricin to President Barack Obama in the spring and summer of 2013. A Mississippi man, J. Everett Dutschke, received 25 years in prison for sending a ricin-laced letter to Obama and a Republican senator. And an actress, Shannon Richardson, was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for mailing letters with ricin to Obama and other public figures.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

11

U.S. and European oil giants go different ways on climate change

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

A

s oil prices plunge and concerns about climate change grow, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other European energy companies are selling off oil fields, planning a sharp reduction in emissions and investing billions in renewable energy.

The American oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil are going in a far different direction. They are doubling down on oil and natural gas and investing what amounts to pocket change in innovative climate-oriented efforts like small nuclear power plants and devices that suck carbon out of the air.

The disparity reflects the vast differences in how Europe and the United States are approaching climate change, a global threat that many scientists say is increasing the frequency and severity of disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. European leaders have made tackling climate change a top priority while President Donald Trump has called it a “hoax” and has dismantled environmental regulations to encourage the exploitation of fossil fuels.

As world leaders struggle to adopt coordinated and effective climate policies, the choices made by oil companies, with their deep pockets, science prowess, experience in managing big engineering projects and lobbying muscle may be critical. What they do could help determine whether the world can meet the goals of the Paris agreement to limit the increase of global temperatures to below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels.

The big American and European oil and gas companies publicly agree that climate change is a threat and that they must play a role in the kind of energy transition the world last saw during the industrial revolution. But the urgency with which the companies are planning to transform their businesses could not be more different.

“Despite rising emissions and societal demand for climate action, U.S. oil majors are betting on a long-term future for oil and gas, while the European majors are gambling on a future as electricity providers,” said David Goldwyn, a top State Department energy official in the Obama administration. “The way the market reacts to their strategies and the 2020 election results will determine whether either strategy works.”

An wind farm off the English coast operated by Equinor of Norway. Equinor is among European companies increasing investments in low-emission businesses while shrinking oil and gas production.

To environmentalists and even some Wall Street investors, the American oil giants are clearly making the wrong call. In August, for example, Storebrand Asset Management, Norway’s largest private money manager, divested from Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

And Larry Fink, who leads the world’s largest investment manager, BlackRock, has called climate change “a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.”

European oil executives, by contrast, have said that the age of fossil fuels is dimming and that they are planning to leave many of their reserves buried forever. They also argue that they must protect their shareholders by preparing for a future in which governments enact tougher environmental policies.

BP is the standard-bearer for the hurry-up-and-change strategy. The company has announced that over the next decade it will increase investments in low-emission businesses tenfold, to $5 billion a year, while shrinking its oil and gas production by 40%. Royal Dutch Shell, Eni of Italy, Total of France, Repsol of Spain and Equinor of Norway have set similar targets. Several of those companies have cut their dividends to invest in new energy.

American oil executives say it would be folly for them to switch to renewables, arguing that it is a low-profit business that

utilities and alternative energy companies can pursue more effectively. They say it is only a matter of time before oil and gas prices recover as the pandemic recedes.

For now, Exxon and Chevron are sticking to what they know best, shale drilling in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, deepwater offshore production and trading natural gas. In fact, Chevron is acquiring a smaller oil company, Noble Energy, to increase its reserves.

“Our strategy is not to follow the Europeans,” said Daniel Droog, Chevron’s vice president for energy transition. “Our strategy is to decarbonize our existing assets in the most cost-effective way and consistently bring in new technology and new forms of energy. But we’re not asking our investors to sacrifice return or go forward with three decades of uncertainty on dividends.”

Chevron says it is increasing its own use of renewable energy to power its operations. It also says it is reducing emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. And the company has invested more than $1.1 billion in various projects to capture and sequester carbon so it isn’t released into the atmosphere.

Its venture capital arm, Chevron Technology Ventures, is investing in newenergy startups like Zap Energy, which is

developing modular fusion nuclear reactors that release no greenhouse gases and limit radioactive waste. Another, Carbon Engineering, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to convert into fuel.

All told, Chevron Technology Ventures has two funds with a total of $200 million, about 1% of the company’s capital and exploration budget last year. The company has a separate $100 million fund to support a $1 billion investment consortium that aims to reduce emissions across the oil and gas industry.

“We need breakthrough technology and my job is to go find it,” said Barbara Burger, president of Chevron Technology Ventures, which employs 60 of Chevron’s 44,000 employees. “The transition is not an 11:59-on-Tuesday event. It’s going to be gradual, and evolving and continual over decades.”

Exxon has also largely steered away from renewables and has instead invested in roughly one-third of the world’s limited carbon-capture capacity, which has been so expensive and energy intensive that few companies have been willing to underwrite large-scale projects.

It spends about $1 billion a year on research and development, much of which goes to developing new energy technologies and efficiency improvements that reduce emissions.

One project involves directing carbon emitted from industrial operations into a fuel cell that can generate power. That should reduce emissions while increasing energy production.

In a separate experiment, Exxon recently announced a “big advance” with scientists at University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for developing materials that help capture carbon dioxide from naturalgas power plants with less heating and cooling than previous methods.

The company is also working on strains of algae whose oils can produce biofuel for trucks and airplanes. The plants also absorb carbon through photosynthesis, which Exxon scientists are trying to speed up while producing more oil.

“Step one, you have to do the science, and it is impossible to put a deadline on discovery,” said Vijay Swarup, Exxon’s vice president for research and development.

12

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

‘There’s no there there’: What the TikTok deal achieved

The U.S. headquarters of TikTok in Culver City, Calif. A deal to acquire the company was announced on Saturday, but the details have come under scrutiny.

By ERIN GRIFFITH and DAVID McCABE

T

he saga of TikTok had everything: Ominous threats of surveillance.

A forced fire sale. Threats of retaliation. Head-spinning deal terms that morphed by the hour. Dark horse bidders and a looming deadline.

Now, as the dust settles on the weeks of drama over the social media app, investors and others are asking what it was all for.

The answer? A cloud computing contract for the Silicon Valley business software company Oracle, a merchandising deal for Walmart and a claim of victory for President Donald Trump.

In the deal announced Saturday, which was spurred by Trump’s national security concerns over TikTok, the social media app said it would separate itself from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and become an independent entity called TikTok Global. Oracle would become TikTok’s new cloud provider, while Walmart would offer its “omnichannel retail capabilities,” the companies said.

Oracle and Walmart would own a cumulative 20% stake in TikTok Global, which said it planned to hire 25,000 people in the United States over an undisclosed period and go public sometime in the next year. TikTok also promised to

pay $5 billion in “new tax dollars to the U.S. Treasury” and create “an educational initiative to develop and deliver an AI-driven online video curriculum,” according to a joint announcement from Oracle and Walmart.

Trump pronounced the agreement a success and blessed it, saying Saturday that TikTok would “have nothing to do with China; it’ll be totally secure; that’s part of the deal.” And he was partly right: The deal puts more control of TikTok into the hands of Americans, with four of the five members of the new entity’s board being American. Oracle would also oversee the app and could verify the security of TikTok’s code and any updates.

But the agreement does not deliver on Trump’s original demand of a full sale of TikTok and it does not eliminate China from the mix. Under the initial terms, ByteDance still controls 80% of TikTok Global, two people with knowledge of the situation have said, although details may change. ByteDance’s chief executive, Zhang Yiming, will also be on the company’s board of directors, said a third person. And the government did not provide specifics about how the deal would answer its security concerns about TikTok. Even the $5 billion that Trump trumpeted was mired in confusion. The education initiative associated with the agreement was lumped together with the $5

billion in “new tax dollars,” even though they are separate. No further details were publicly given on how the money would be provided. ByteDance said in a Sunday statement posted to its news aggregator app that it had been previously unaware of the contribution.

Lawmakers, policy specialists and others said the way that TikTok’s deal got done also deserved more scrutiny. That is because Trump first forced TikTok into a corner with an executive order on Aug. 6, in which he threatened to block the app in the United States if it did not satisfy national security concerns. He then approved the deal only after Oracle — which has a cozy relationship with the White House — got involved. At different points, Trump also said the government deserved a cut of any deal.

“There’s no there there,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who focuses on federal courts and the Constitution. “Is this really about trade, or about the political benefit of trying to bash China and show how tough the administration can be?”

The sharpest criticism was reserved for how the deal came about. Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for his executive orders to block TikTok from the United States. Previous administrations have used the authority cautiously for purposes like sanctioning foreign governments.

It was the first time the law has been used against a technology company.

Vetting deals “is normally a process that involves multiple thoughtful people coming to the issue from multiple different concerns,” said Tom Wheeler, a former Democratic chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. “This appears as though what passes for process is what pleases one man: Donald J. Trump.”

Until Saturday, TikTok was among those questioning the legality of Trump’s executive order. In August, TikTok sued the U.S. government and accused it of a lack of due process in attempting to ban the app. In the lawsuit, TikTok said it “had no choice but to take action.”

TikTok is no longer expected to move forward with the suit. In an upbeat video shared on social media Saturday, Vanessa Pappas, the app’s interim chief executive, said she was “thrilled” about

the deal.

Security experts said the national security threat posed by TikTok and other Chinese tech companies was certainly worthy of examination. Chinese law forces companies to cooperate with the government on national intelligence work, and officials from both parties in the United States said there was a risk that Beijing could access Americans’ sensitive data.

Yet the lack of specifics on how the new TikTok Global would handle national security concerns raised new questions Sunday. “The premise was national security, but where is the national security in this quote-unquote deal?” Tobias said.

TikTok, Oracle and Walmart declined to comment. The White House did not provide a comment.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who is skeptical of Chinese technology companies, said in a speech Wednesday that prohibiting certain technologies from the United States must be done “honestly.”

But, he added, the “haphazard actions on TikTok fail that test and will only invite retaliation against American companies.”

On Saturday, the Chinese government enacted a new system for blacklisting foreign companies and restricting their business activities in the country.

Beijing stopped short of naming any specific enterprises that would be included on the list.

One result of the soap opera: Tech companies and investors said they were increasingly wary of doing business with any company that could attract the scrutiny of the Trump administration. The outcome is too illogical and unpredictable, said David Pakman, a partner at Venrock, a venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley and New York.

“When there are frameworks applied consistently, one can understand the rules of the game and you maneuver within those rules,” he said. “But there is no consistency here.”

A news release published by Walmart on Saturday on its website — then edited later — captured the chaos.

“This unique technology eliminates the risk of foreign governments spying on American users or trying to influence them with disinformation,” the company said.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

13 Stocks

Wall Street tumbles to seven-week low on virus fears, stimulus fog

W

all Street’s main indexes tumbled to their lowest in nearly seven weeks on Monday, with the Dow shedding as much as 900 points, as worries about fresh coronavirus-driven lockdowns spilled over from Europe.

The CBOE Market Volatility index .VIX, a measure of investor anxiety, shot up to its highest level in nearly two weeks amid uncertainty caused by the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Analysts said the chances of another fiscal stimulus package from Congress to help lift the domestic economy from a recession had become grim following her death.

“It just kind of crowds out the agenda, the idea that we are going to get a fiscal stimulus package before the election,” said Ed Campbell, portfolio manager and managing director at QMA in Newark, New Jersey.

“There is also just general election related jitters ... and possibly that we have a contested or delayed outcome.”

Congress has for weeks remained deadlocked over the size and shape of a fifth coronavirus-response bill, on top of the approximately $3 trillion already enacted into law.

Healthcare providers came under pressure on uncertainty over the Obamacare case, with shares of Universal Health Services UHS.N falling more than 11%.

Ginsburg’s death can lead to a tie vote when the Supreme Court hears the challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in November, brokerage Mizuho said.

Wall Street has tumbled in the past three weeks as investors dumped heavyweight technology-related stocks following a stunning rally that returned the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to record highs.

Another round of business restrictions will threaten a nascent recovery in the wider economy and add further pressure on equity markets, analysts said. The first round of lockdowns in March had led the S&P 500 .SPX to suffer its worst monthly decline since the global financial crisis.

In contrast to last week’s trend, declines were led by value-oriented sectors such as industrials .SPLRCI, energy .SPNY and financials .SPSY as opposed to technology stocks .SPLRCT. Airline, hotel and cruise companies tracked declines in their European peers as the UK signalled the possibility of a second national lockdown. Europe’s travel and leisure index .SXTP marked its worst two-day drop since April. [.EU] At 12:54 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 806.55 points, or 2.92%, at 26,850.87, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 73.48 points, or 2.21%, at 3,245.99 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 139.47 points, or 1.29%, at 10,653.81.

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14

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Former world leaders urge ratification of nuclear arms ban treaty

The open letter was coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won a Nobel Peace Prize for its role in negotiations that led to the treaty.

By RICK GLADSTONE

F

ifty-six former prime ministers, presidents, foreign ministers and defense ministers from 20 NATO countries, plus Japan and South Korea, released an open letter Sunday imploring their current leaders to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the pact negotiated in 2017 that is now just six ratifications shy of the 50 needed to take effect.

The letter, released on the eve of the United Nations’ 75th anniversary commemoration at the annual General Assembly, asserted that the risks of nuclearweapons use have escalated in recent years “whether by accident, miscalculation or design.”

Pointing to the coronavirus pandemic — which U.N. officials have called the greatest challenge in the organization’s history — the letter writers said, “We must not sleepwalk into a crisis of even greater proportions than the one we have experienced this year.”

The signers included former prime ministers of Canada, Japan, Italy and Poland; former presidents of Albania, Poland and Slovenia; more than two dozen former foreign ministers; and more than a dozen former defense ministers. Two of the signers are former secretaries-general of NATO: Javier Solana of Spain and

Willy Claes of Belgium. Ban Ki-moon, the former secretary-general of the United Nations and a former foreign minister of South Korea, also signed.

Their letter amounts to one of the highest-profile endorsements of the treaty since it was completed more than three years ago and was opened to member states of the United Nations for signing and ratification.

“All responsible leaders must act now to ensure that the horrors of 1945 are never repeated,” the letter urged, referring to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan by the United States, the only wartime use of nuclear weapons. “Sooner or later, our luck will run out — unless we act. The nuclear weapon ban treaty provides the foundation for a more secure world, free from this ultimate menace.”

The letter was released against the backdrop of heightened nuclear threats.

North Korea has hinted at resumed testing of its atomic arsenal. An international pact designed to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons may be unraveling. And the last and most important nuclear armslimitation pact between Russia and the United States is set to expire in February 2021, with its prospects for extension still unclear.

The letter’s release was coordinated by the Inter-

national Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Geneva-based group that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in negotiations that led to the treaty.

The world’s nine nuclear-armed powers — Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States — boycotted those negotiations and said they would never sign the treaty. U.S. officials called its premise dangerously flawed, arguing that the treaty could even elevate the risk of a nuclear conflict.

NATO’s current secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, has criticized the treaty, saying it “does not move us closer to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.”

Nonetheless, delegates from 122 countries — nearly two-thirds of the U.N. membership — participated in the negotiations for the treaty, and 84 have signed it. As of Sunday, 44 of those countries had ratified the treaty, which would come into force 90 days after the 50th ratification. At least one or two more countries may ratify it in coming days or weeks.

Under the treaty, all nuclear-weapons use, threat of use, testing, development, production, possession, transfer and stationing in a different country would be prohibited. For nuclear-armed countries that join, the treaty outlines a process for destroying stockpiles and enforcing the promise to remain free of nuclear weapons.

Signers of the letter are all from countries that have declined to join the treaty, arguing that the nuclear forces of the United States are essential for their own security. They are Albania, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.

Five of those countries — Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey — are believed to house U.S. nuclear weapons on their territory and would therefore be required to remove them if they joined the treaty.

Proponents of the treaty have said they never expected any of the nuclear-armed states to move quickly to sign the treaty and scrap their arsenals. But they hoped that widespread acceptance of the treaty would raise public pressure and that the “shaming effect” on the holdouts to change their position.

Such a strategy was used by advocates of the treaties that banned chemical and biological weapons, land mines and cluster bombs.

Tim Wright, treaty coordinator for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said the letter showed that even in countries that officially oppose the treaty, “there is a very significant high-level support” for it.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

15

A TV drama on China’s fight with COVID-19 draws ire over its depiction of women

By VIVIAN WANG

T

he scene came seven minutes into a new Chinesegovernment-sponsored television drama, so short that it would have been easy to miss: The head of a bus company in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus outbreak began, asks his drivers if they are willing to make emergency runs during the city’s lockdown. A line of volunteers forms.

None are women.

That roughly minute-long clip has set off a furor on Chinese social media. Users have called the scene — in which the official then asks why no women have stepped up — a flagrant example of sexism in Chinese society and an attempt to erase women’s contributions to the fight against the virus.

In reality, women made up the majority of front-line workers during the crisis, according to the official news media.

By Sunday, a hashtag about that segment, which aired Thursday, had been viewed more than 140 million times.

Tens of thousands of people had called for the show to be taken off the air.

The uproar reflects lingering tensions even as China emerges from an outbreak that sickened many, cratered its economy and upended the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people. Still-simmering tensions include cynicism about the Chinese government’s efforts to rewrite the narrative of the outbreak, disillusionment about the silencing of dissenting accounts and anger toward persistent discrimination against women, both during the crisis and more broadly.

Indeed, many people were particularly incensed by the perceived slight to women, given their prominent role in containing the virus. Women made up two-thirds of the more than 40,000 medical workers who traveled to Wuhan and its surrounding province, Hubei, to fight the outbreak, People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said in March. Xinhua, the official state news agency, said that more than half of the doctors deployed to Wuhan from Shanghai were women, as were more than 90% of the nurses.

“In previous television dramas, women would frequently be smeared. But I thought that something would change this year, after the experience of the epidemic, because so many women participated in the fight,” Zoe Shen, a feminist activist and blogger in Beijing, said in an interview. “I didn’t think there would be such a plotline now.”

This is not the first time that women’s treatment while fighting the virus has set off public anger. In February, an official newspaper shared a video of female medics having their heads shaved before heading to Wuhan, ostensibly for a better fit for protective gear. The newspaper called the women “the most beautiful warriors.” Many people who saw the video said the women were crying, and viewers accused the government of using women’s bodies as propaganda. The video was ultimately deleted.

Other female medical workers said their supervisors rebuked them when they asked for help obtaining tampons or pads when goods in Wuhan became increasingly hard

to obtain.

“In real life, they pushed women out” onto the front lines, said one commenter about the show on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform. “In propaganda, they buried the women.”

The comment was liked more than 30,000 times.

The episode was the pilot of a new show, “Heroes in Harm’s Way,” that dramatizes Wuhan’s battle against the outbreak. Wuhan was little known outside of China before the pandemic, but as the contagion spread there and then around the world it became a stark warning about the virus’ threat. Desperate residents shared photos of people being turned away from overwhelmed hospitals, and they raged at the officials who had let the virus spread unchecked in an effort to conceal it.

That desperation is far from the focus of the show, which was aired by China’s state broadcaster and produced by Shen Haixiong, deputy minister of the Communist Party’s publicity department. Instead, the show is a paean to the “touching stories that happened on the front line of the epidemic” and the Chinese people’s “courage to fight and win,” according to the state-run media.

In the scene at the Wuhan bus company, dozens of drivers file into a meeting room shortly before the lockdown is imposed. An official explains that the government has requested volunteers for an emergency transport team. A number of men line up, led by a Communist Party cadre.

After reviewing the roster, the official then announces

that the list is made up entirely of men.

“Will a female comrade step up too?” he says.

He singles out a woman sitting in a back row and asks her to volunteer. But she demurs, saying her family has traveled a long way to visit her for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

“I really can’t,” she replies.

In response to the show, social media users quickly began sharing screenshots of the state media reports of female participation in the epidemic response. Many also began using the hashtag “Request that ‘Heroes in Harm’s Way’ Stop Airing.” A poll that asked whether the show should be canceled received more than 91,000 “yes” votes, with about 6,800 votes for “no.”

“Now I finally know how women disappear from history,” one Weibo user wrote.

Others hinted at the broader battle to control the narrative of the pandemic.

“Everybody just wants to be able to have an accurate collective memory,” one user wrote in a post that was liked more than 110,000 times.

Shen, the feminist blogger, also hinted at how deeply the pandemic — and the response to the pandemic — had been etched into the country’s psyche to criticize the show.

“To film this kind of show before everyone’s memory has entirely disappeared is really just an insult to the audience’s intelligence,” she said.

Nurses during a ceremony marking International Nurses Day at a hospital in Wuhan, China. More than 90 percent of the nurses deployed to Wuhan at the height of the coronavirus outbreak were women.

16

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

In Belarus, Russian mercenaries turned from saboteurs to friends

By IVAN NECHEPURENKO

M

embers of the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian mercenary force linked to an associate of President Vladimir Putin, have left their traces around the world. They fought in support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine; helped tilt Syria’s civil war in favor of President Bashar Assad and fought on the side of a Kremlin-backed warlord in Libya.

At the end of July, they popped up at the most unlikely place yet — an austere Soviet-era sanitarium on a lake outside the sleepy capital of Belarus, a Russian ally entirely bereft of warring militias, armed checkpoints and other markers of the civil wars that usually attract Russian mercenaries.

The beefy Russian men, 32 in all, were noticed almost as soon as they checked in, taking rooms on the second floor of a concrete bloc in a distant corner of the resort and health spa.

In contrast to other Russian clients, they kept to themselves, showing little interest in a late-night disco, which immediately struck DJ Veronika Step, as strange.

Two of them stopped by the disco to take a look but quickly left, she said.

The men, recalled Step, were so unsociable that she and fellow female workers started joking that perhaps they should call the police “to find out what is wrong with them.”

What unfolded next, however, was even stranger: a heavily armed special unit of Belarus’ top security agency, still called the KGB, stormed the resort late at night, dragging the Russians away in handcuffs.

Shortly after that, Belarusian state television shared video footage of the raid, showing a number of tattooed, heavyset Russians lying face down on beds and on the floor in boxer briefs at the resort. Taken away in unmarked vans to a police station, they were forced to kneel facing a wall for 22 hours, according to their interview with the Russian state-run media.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, who was facing a presidential election in less than two weeks, convened an emergency meeting of his top security officials, saying that the Russians were mercenaries with “dirty aims.” Speaking at the meeting, Valery Vakulchik, at the time the head of the KGB, confirmed that the Russians belonged to the Wagner Group.

Protesters march after a contested presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 30, 2020. President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus accused Russia of sending a group of mercenaries to disrupt his re-election, who stayed at the sanitarium.

Then, just 10 days before the Aug. 9 vote, Belarusian investigators accused the Russians of plotting to disrupt the election.

“Russia is afraid of losing us,” said Lukashenko, accusing the Kremlin of trying to “suffocate” Belarus.

Russia, long accustomed to Lukashenko’s eccentric ways but shocked by his sudden burst of open hostility, offered its own bizarre explanation of what the men were doing at the sanitarium. The Russian ambassador in Minsk claimed that the men had simply missed a flight at the airport and needed a place to stay before catching another, but there was no explanation as to why they had chosen rooms in a resort on the opposite side of town, away from the airport.

For staff at the sanitarium, the news that their guests were part of a covert Russian military operation to sow chaos only compounded their own confusion.

The resort — called Belorusochka, which means “a Belarus woman” — seemed an odd choice, more a time machine for people nostalgic for the Soviet Union than a place anyone interested in plotting a coup would ever stay.

Standing on the shore of a picturesque reservoir, the resort is surrounded by a fence and resembles a prison camp more than a spa. In keeping with the penitentiary motif, every activity is governed by strict rules and the iron will of Svyatoslav F. Savitsky, the chief doctor,

who drives around the grounds in his SUV, forever on the lookout for suspicious activity.

“I haven’t been to a resort like this since I was 12,” said Olga Matuzo, a 42-year-old Russian who had traveled 1,500 miles from the Russian city of Chelyabinsk with her sick mother. “Immediately after you come to the reception area you feel like you are in the Soviet Union.”

She said she definitely wouldn’t be coming back, complaining that the staff were grumpy and that the bed in her room collapsed after she sat down on it. Even her mother, familiar with Soviet standards of hospitality, was appalled by the conditions, she said.

Also unlikely to return are the arrested Russians, who, Belarusian authorities now insist, were never up to any mischief in Belarus but were the victims of an elaborate plot engineered by Ukraine’s secret service in cahoots with the United States.

According to this new version of what happened, the men had been lured to Belarus by Ukrainian spies, who planned to seize their plane as it flew over Ukraine and have the men arrested over their role fighting in eastern Ukraine.

That Belarus has changed its story so dramatically is a measure of how swiftly the country’s strongman leader, Lukashenko, has reassessed his political interests.

Barraged with street protests after he claimed a landslide victory on Aug. 9, Lukashenko abruptly dropped his accusations against Russia and began pleading with Moscow for help. He called Putin four times by telephone and sent his oldest son, Viktor, to the prison holding the Russians to make sure they were being well fed.

On Aug. 14, after failing to curb an initial round of street protests with a frenzy of police violence, he ordered the Wagner mercenaries released and allowed them to return to Russia. All charges against them were dropped. The protests have continued to consume the country, with tens of thousands turning out in Minsk and dozens rounded up by the security services Sunday.

Upon the mercenaries’ return to Russia, several of them appeared on Russian television, claiming that they had no connection to the Wagner Group and had simply stopped off in Belarus en route to Venezuela, where they had a job lined up guarding an undisclosed Russian facility. Shortly after, the KGB chief, who presided over their arrest, was removed and replaced with a new security chief seen as friendlier to Moscow.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

17

Tourism slump in Dublin lays bare Airbnb’s damage to rental markets

By ANNA JOYCE

T

he modern one-bedroom Dublin apartment featured an open-plan living space, a sun-soaked balcony, solar panels, ample storage space and parking for two cars. The location was ideal, as was the price: about $1,800 a month — $300 less than the previous tenant had paid.

In a city where lines to view rental properties have regularly trailed around the block, the new tenants could hardly believe their luck.

“We were not going to get this place,” Aoife Brannigan, 25, said of the months of fruitless searching that she and her partner, Shaun Gribben, 25, had undertaken before landing the apartment.

“I couldn’t see it happening had this not happened. We 100% benefited from this.”

The “this” she was referring to was the coronavirus, which has sent a chill through Ireland’s once-frenzied housing market, particularly Airbnb listings, which have been hit by a collapse in tourism. That drop, along with an exodus of people from overseas leaving Dublin because of the pandemic, has created a surge in available rental properties in the Irish capital — a shift that underscores how Airbnb’s presence continues to influence housing prices in popular cities.

For Dublin, the change has relieved a crunch that in recent years sent rents skyrocketing and left many people struggling to afford a place to live. The situation was so fraught that in February, voters in search of affordable housing and greater tenant rights set off shock waves in national elections by ousting the traditional governing parties.

When Brannigan and Gribben began their search in earnest at the start of the year, he said, “I remember every day I was given around 60 properties — and once this kicked in, it literally doubled.”

For years, homes rented out on Airbnb for short-term stays drained the supply of the Dublin area’s rental market, rising from about 1,700 full-home listings in 2016 to over 4,500 this year just before the coronavirus crisis, according to Inside Airbnb, a site that tracks listings in cities around the globe.

But during the pandemic that trend has reversed, with such listings declining to about 3,900 during August, a deceptively small shift that has had an outsize effect. From May to July, long-term rental listings in the city were nearly 50% above the same period last year — an increase of more than 1,000 rental homes — despite a 1.5% fall in the rest of the country, according to a report

by Ronan Lyons, an assistant professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin, for the Irish real estate website Daft.ie.

Because they operate on short-term leases, Airbnb listings can flood the rental market in a way that longer-term rentals cannot.

“The Dublin market in normal conditions could easily take 3,000 properties without necessarily batting an eyelid,” Lyons said in an interview. Of the recent increase in listings, he said: “That’s quite a lot compared to what it has seen coming through. That’s about 1 1/2 months’ additional supply that came on, and at a time when people aren’t moving to the city.”

The Irish government tried to cool the Airbnb market last year, introducing regulations to move short-term rentals in areas with rapidly rising rents back into the long-term market. But without an effective method of enforcement, the effort was largely fruitless.

An Airbnb spokesman disputed the Inside Airbnb data, say-

A man pushes a child through a residential area in Dublin, Sept. 15, 2020. After the pandemic hit, the number of longer-term listings jumped in the Irish capital — that brought some relief to a crunched market for renters, though it may not last. ing that most hosts around the world planned to rent their units at least at prepandemic levels once the coronavirus subsides, and added that the share of bookings in big European cities had recently rebounded.

The company said in a statement last week: “There are as many entire home listings on Airbnb in Ireland today as there was before the pandemic. Travel on Airbnb generated an estimated 800 million euros in economic activity for Ireland in 2019 alone and hosts are very much focused on how they can help their local communities get back on their feet and drive the safe recovery of tourism.”

Homeownership was the subject of intense national focus during Ireland’s booming Celtic Tiger years of the 1990s and early 2000s, but the 2008 financial crash gutted the country’s economy and brought a previously hot housing construction industry to a halt. Ireland’s economy gradually recovered, but housing prices catapulted, putting homeownership beyond the reach of most people and corralling them into an already squeezed rental market.

Then came the pandemic, which brought a nationwide lockdown in the spring, a 6.1% drop in economic output in the second quarter and an unemployment rate that by August was measured as high as 15.4%.

And while some workers have moved out of urban areas while working-from-home practices are in place and some from overseas returned to their native countries during the pandemic, experts attribute much of Dublin’s abrupt rise in listings for long-

term rentals to the drop in Airbnb listings.

The evidence, they say, is that availability has spiked in parts of the city where short-term listings were concentrated — something that has not happened evenly across the city or in the rest of the country.

The shift has been most pronounced in central Dublin, where owners of investment properties have been abandoning the short-term market. Jim Cryan, a retired businessman, moved his Dublin Airbnb listing onto the long-term rental market in late March. Within 2 1/2 weeks, the four-bedroom town house was rented.

Cryan accepted a lease with a monthly fee of about $3,900, half of what he could have expected when the Airbnb market was sizzling. Yet he doubts that he will return to the short-term market.

“You apply common sense to it,” he said. “It’s like if you invest in a share and it collapses, you’re very loath to go back in again and get burned twice.”

This is not to say that the return of former Airbnb listings to the rental market will solve Dublin’s housing crunch.

“The underlying shortage of rental accommodation is probably at least 50,000 and closer to 70,000 or 80,000 based on trends over the last couple of decades,” said Lyons, the economics professor.

“My concern,” he added, “would be that a politician could look at this and go, ‘Oh, problem solved: Airbnb has collapsed, the European market has collapsed, we’ve got all these rental properties over and job done.’”

18

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Conservatives try to lock in power

By CHARLES M. BLOW

T

he death of the iconic Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has shocked the political world, altered the contours of the upcoming election and induced an overwhelming dread among liberals who fear some basic rights could now be in jeopardy.

Donald Trump and his Republican accomplices in the Senate may want to jam a nominee through the confirmation process, but it remains unclear whether the Senate will hold a vote before Election Day. If it did, it would represent a colossal act of hypocrisy since many of the same senators refused to even give Barack Obama’s last nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing, arguing that it was inappropriate to fill a seat on the court in an election year.

But Republicans have the power to force a vote, and barring defections, they could exercise it.

This is all about power for a group of people who feel their grip on power slipping away.

They are trying to reshape the courts for a generation, if not longer, so that as their numerical advantage slips away, their power imbalance will have already been enshrined. As America becomes less religious and less white, more galvanized to fight

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The Supreme Court in Washington, Aug. 26, 2020. “The death of the iconic Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has shocked the political world, altered the contours of the upcoming election and induced an overwhelming dread among liberals who fear some basic rights could now be in jeopardy,” writes The New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. climate change, more open to legalizing marijuana and more aware of systemic racism, the religious conservative spine of the Republican Party is desperate for a way to save a way of life that may soon be rendered a relic.

According to the Pew Research Center, 78% of white evangelical voters are Republicans or lean Republican. So are 62% of white men without a college degree, 60% of rural southerners and 57% of people who attend religious services weekly.

Many of those demographics are under threat.

The United States will be majority-minority by 2045 and by 2060 there will be nearly as many Hispanic children in the country as white ones.

At the same time, the percentage of Americans who are not affiliated with a religion keeps rising — up 9 percentage points since 2009, to 26% in 2019 — and the percentage of people identifying as Christians keeps falling — down 12 percentage points, to 65% over the same decade, according to another report from Pew. Continued urbanization means that many of those rural southern areas are losing population. For instance, an Atlanta Journal Constitution analysis last year, reported by The Associated Press, found that: “More than half of the small towns in Georgia — those with populations under 10,000 — have lost population since 2010. Meanwhile, only 1 in 6 towns with populations of 10,000 or above have lost residents.”

The AP then pointed out the ways these rural areas are suffering: “Rural residents can face a myriad of challenges including access to good jobs, transportation and health care. Manufacturing jobs have dried up in many places, while modernization and new technology means fewer people are needed for farming.

And many people are deciding to have smaller families than was typical a century ago.”

Lastly, the percentage of Americans with college degrees keeps rising, moving from 4.6% in 1940 to 36% in 2019.

Conservatives see all of these trends, and they are alarmed. So, they want to freeze time, or even turn it back. Their reading of the Constitution is stuck in the understanding of it when it was written.

It is the same for religious texts. They want to return to a pre-1960s era, before the civil rights movement, women’s rights movement and the gay rights movement, before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and Roe v. Wade, before the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage, before there was a Black president and a browning country.

This is why they happily cheer Trump’s attack on immigrants — both legal and undocumented. It is why they encourage efforts to disenfranchise voters. It is why Trump’s attacks on cities resonate, as does his MAGA mantra.

And this is why they will move heaven and earth to fill Ginsburg’s seat.

Controlling the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, is the surest way for these conservatives to continue to wield power even as their ranks thin.

And the rest of us have to be prepared to live in a world where the minority of the people can have most of the power. We have to come to grips with the ways in which the system is broken. A president who lost the popular vote will have nominated a third of the Supreme Court. A Senate Republican majority, which as Vox’s Ian Millhiser pointed out last year, “represents 15 million fewer people than the Democratic ‘minority,’ ” will likely vote to confirm that nominee.

What most Americans believe or want will be of little consideration. A 6-to-3 conservative advantage on the Supreme Court could be an almost impossible hurdle to clear and could lead to a turning back of the clock on many liberties we now take for granted.

Social progress is now on the chopping block.

In this way, for many of us, Donald Trump’s legacy will likely be with us for the rest of our lives.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

19

Piden ayuda para localizar a joven víctima de presunto secuestro Por THE STAR

L

a Policía pidió ayuda para localizar a una joven de 20 años, a quien desconocidos la subieron a la fuerza a un auto y se la llevaron, según denunció su familia.

El incidente ocurrió la noche del jueves 17 de septiembre, en el barrio Sabana Seca de Toa Baja.

La querellante le dijo a la Policía que un hombre de tez trigueña, de aproximadamente 5 pies y seis pulgadas de estatura, mediante la fuerza subió a la joven de nombre Rosimar Rodríguez en contra de su voluntad a un vehículo Suzuki color blanco.

Al momento de los hechos Rosimar vestía camisa gris, mahón color azul y zapatillas deportivas color rojo

y blanco. La joven mide cinco pies con cinco pulgadas de estatura y pesa 130 libras aproximadamente La querella es investigada por el agente Joel Correa, de la división de Homicidios del Cuerpo de Investigaciones Criminales de Bayamón.

La familia de Rosimar Rodríguez mantiene en las redes sociales una campaña para pedir pistas que permitan encontrar a la joven. Los números a llamar son: 787 949 1129 y 787 261 1600.

La Policía exhortó a la ciudadanía que de poseer información que ayude con el esclarecimiento de casos, llamar al 787-343-2020 o la aplicación de teléfonos inteligentes BASTA YA o a través de Twitter en @PRPDNoticias y en Facebook www.facebook/prpdgov.

Asociación de Laboratorios Clínicos solicita investigación a la Junta de Directores de ASES Por THE STAR

L

a Asociación de Laboratorios Clínicos (ALC), solicitó el lunes, una investigación urgente a la Junta de Directores de la Administración de Seguros de Salud (ASES) ante “la inacción” para atender múltiples querellas presentadas para que realicen las gestiones pertinentes con la diligencia que amerita, según lo informó el presidente de la entidad, Juan Rexach y el asesor legal de la entidad, licenciado Luis Romero.

“Desde abril hemos presentado

querellas en ASES para que se investiguen las acciones discriminatorias y abusivas de las aseguradoras del país y esta agencia se ha hecho de la vista larga. Por ello, presentamos esta solicitud de investigación ante la Junta de Directores, encabezada por el secretario de Salud Lorenzo González, de quien esperamos su intervención para que haga valer las funciones esenciales de esta agencia”, sostuvo Rexach en declaraciones escrita.

De acuerdo con la solicitud presentada, entre los asuntos sin resolver por ASES está la determinación arbi-

traria de las aseguradoras de reducir las tarifas pagadas a los laboratorios hasta en un 70 por ciento. De igual forma, se le solicitó a ASES adoptar los lineamientos que emitió CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) en una carta normativa que incorpora una nueva tarifa aumentada para los laboratorios clínicos por concepto de ciertas pruebas de COVID-19.

Por otra parte, el asesor legal de la entidad, licenciado Luis E. Romero expresó que “nos preocupa que esta situación ocurra en una agencia que ha tenido serios señalamientos de corrupción en el pasado, precisamente por actuaciones donde han favorecido las aseguradoras en perjuicio de los proveedores”.

Entre las razones que motivaron la revisión de las tarifas se encuentran los costos que implica administrar las pruebas, la sofisticación que requiere de los laboratorios clínicos el procesamiento de los especímenes y otros factores de índole operacional. Sin embargo, en Puerto Rico la mayoría de las aseguradoras optaron por imponer los códigos utilizados por ASES en el Plan de Salud del Gobierno (PSG) para pacientes de Medicare y Medi-

caid, lo que impide que estos puedan satisfacer los costos de la administración de las pruebas y los costos vinculados a la prestación del servicio.

“Esperamos que la Junta de directores de ASES establezca los lineamientos de rigor necesarios para que esta agencia cumpla con sus obligaciones. Buscamos que se garantice el pago por servicios médico-hospitalarios para los beneficiaros del PSG, así como un pago justo de los servicios que ofrecen los laboratorios clínicos, y que se ordene el reembolso a los laboratorios de la comunidad del dinero que ilícitamente han sido retenidos por las aseguradoras producto de la reducción ilegal de tarifas que se han venido observando desde 2017.

Sin lugar a dudas, la dilatación en investigar y resolver todos estos asuntos va en detrimento de los pacientes, pues al final son quienes sufren las consecuencias al ver limitados los servicios que reciben de los laboratorios”, puntualizó el licenciado Romero.

La ALC es una organización con 50 años de existencia que agrupa a unos 200 laboratorios clínicos alrededor de la isla.

20

Madison Anderson Berríos: ‘To be Puerto Rican is much more than just a language’ Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019 speaks with The Star days before her groundbreaking reign comes to a triumphant end

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

“I

think sometimes, we have this human error to just judge on the physical and not take the time to really get to know someone and to see what values and qualities one possesses.

Through my reign, I was able to show my charisma, show ‘mi valentía’ (my courage), my strength, the desire I had to represent Puerto Rico every single day.”

This is what Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019 Madison Anderson Berríos said confidently to The Star on Monday as she prepares to give her crown to the next queen that will represent the Island on Thursday at the television special “Te Ofrezco Mi Corazón” at 7 p.m. on Wapa and Wapa América, as there will be no traditional pageant due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone would have loved to have a traditional pageant, but

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

I think how I am leaving and giving my crown and passing it to the next queen really would describe my whole year. It has been real breaking and changing the mold on what it is to be a beauty queen and I think ‘Te Ofrezco Mi Corazón’ really symbolizes that as well; it’s very unconventional but beautiful in its own special way,” Anderson Berríos said. “I won’t be missing the final walk because this program is just so beautiful, it’s exciting; we have to adapt to the new reality that we are living and we have to look for the positive through this unusual situation.”

Anderson Berrios spoke joyously to the outlet about her experiences representing the island and every Puerto Rican citizen that has become part of the Diaspora on an international platform, moreover, she said that she feels satisfied to be able to show to the public who she really was, even if she had naysayers deny her reign at the beginning.

“To be Puerto Rican is much more than just a language, it’s the love that you have for your country, the love that you have for your people, your traditions, your culture, your mannerisms, I think that people were shocked to see that my mannerisms were super Puerto Rican because I wasn’t raised in Puerto Rico; I was raised by a Puerto Rican family in Florida, but that doesn’t take away ‘mis raíces’ (my roots),” she said. “There’s 5.5 million Puerto Ricans living outside of the island, there’re 3 million on the island, and people who identify with ‘la diáspora’, people that have been able to identify with me has been so powerful.

I was so happy that I was able to represent them through my actions and through a lot of love because I’m not one to judge people who wanted to judge me; this has been a learning experience for everyone.”

On the other hand, she said that being Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019 “was the greatest privilege and honor to be able to exchange with others, inspire the youth and bring back something positive to Puerto Ricans.” As for what she will miss the most as the queen, she said that she will miss every single member of her team, being on interviews and photoshoots, and being able to have the name of the island on her chest.

As The Star asked for a response to the critics against Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi, the queen said that she was able to empathize with her.

“I identify with what she was experiencing in my own special way, but I would also focus on the positive things people had said about her, she made it in her own special way representing her culture, we need to focus more on that and to have more tolerance and respect for different diversities of beauty,” Anderson Berríos said.

As for her future after Miss Universe, Anderson Berríos said that she is excited as she is involved on a project that is still in the works and expects “bringing a lot of happiness and celebration to my island”, likewise, she told The Star that she will keep advocating to create awareness against domestic violence and fight for equality, justice and women’s rights for the rest of her life.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

21

This year’s Emmy winners want you to vote

By MAYA SALAM

A

s vigils honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who died Friday, continued throughout the United States on Sunday, television stars gathered virtually for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, one of the first major awards shows to take place during the pandemic.

The loss wasn’t explicitly mentioned until more than an hour into the show, when Regina King said, “Rest in power, RBG,” while accepting her acting Emmy for “Watchmen” and wearing a shirt bearing Breonna Taylor’s likeness. But calls to vote were plentiful — perhaps not surprisingly, with the battle to fill the vacancy left by Ginsburg already in full swing in Washington.

More surprising, perhaps, was how some winners and presenters stressed the more practical aspects of voting. As James Poniewozik, the chief television critic for The New York Times, put it Sunday night: “It’s not super unusual for recipients to make political statements at awards shows. But I’m struck by how many are emphasizing how to vote — as in logistically — which honestly is a political statement in itself in this election.”

“You’ve got to vote,” King said.

“I would be remiss not to mention that, being a part of a show as prescient as ‘Watchmen.’ Have a voting plan, go to Ballotpedia.com. Vote up the ballot please. Go to Ballotpedia. com and find out who you’re voting in your municipal elections. It is very important. Be a good human.”

Earlier in the show, while presenting, Tracee Ellis Ross, who was nominated for “black-ish,” said: “Stay safe, make a plan for voting, wear a mask.” She asked Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted from an almost empty Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, “Is there a census form, and is my polling location in the gift bag?”

Kimmel, who has hosted the Emmys twice before — in 2016 and in 2012, both general election years —

“You’ve got to vote,” Regina King said while accepting her Emmy for “Watchmen.” “I would be remiss not to mention that.” led the in memoriam segment with a short remembrance for Ginsburg.

Daniel Levy, who won several Emmys for “Schitt’s Creek,” and Mark Ruffalo, who won for “I Know This Much Is True,” also emphasized the importance of making a plan to vote.

They both urged Americans to vote for love, compassion and kindness.

Another recurring theme Sunday night was racial justice. Uzo Aduba, who won for her role in “Mrs. America,” also wore a shirt paying tribute to Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old emergency room technician who was killed by police in a botched drug raid in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.

Damon Lindelof, the creator of “Watchmen,” another Emmys favorite, wore a shirt that read “Remember Tulsa ’21,” a reference to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which the show depicted. And Sterling K. Brown, while presenting the final award of the night for best drama series, wore a Black Lives Matter shirt, printed with the letters BLM and a raised fist.

One the most fervent messages

of the night was delivered by Anthony Anderson, who was nominated for “black-ish.”

“You know, we have a record number of Black Emmy nominees this year, which is great,” he told Kimmel and viewers. “This Emmys would have been NBA All-Star weekend and Wakanda all wrapped into one. This was supposed to be the Blackest Emmys ever. You all wouldn’t have been able to handle how Black it was going to be. But because of COVID, we can’t even get in the damn building.”

“We would have had speeches quoting our great poets, like Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Cardi B,” Anderson went on. “I’m still rooting for everybody Black. Because Black stories, Black performances and Black lives matter. Say it with me, Jimmy.”

The pair chanted “Black lives matter,” with Anderson urging Kimmel to raise his voice. “Louder, Jimmy. Say it so that Mike Pence can hear it.”

And Tyler Perry, accepting the

Governors Award, gave a stirring speech about a quilt his grandmother gave him and how it represented the African American experience.

In 2016, the last time Kimmel hosted the Emmys, he suggested that Mark Burnett, creator of “The Apprentice,” was at fault for the candidacy of Donald Trump, who hosted the reality show. “Many have asked, who is to blame for Donald Trump?” Kimmel said. Pointing out Burnett in the audience, Kimmel added: “Thanks to Mark Burnett, we don’t have to watch reality shows anymore because we’re living in one.”

“Who do you have lined up to fill the spot on the Supreme Court? Miley Cyrus or CeeLo?” Kimmel asked him.

Antonin Scalia died the February before the 2016 election.

Trump has complained about the Emmys several times over the years, calling the awards show, among other things, “a con game,” “a total joke” and “all politics.” “The Apprentice” received several Emmys nominations but never won.

22

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

How therapy pets can be a powerful way to help children in need

By MARIE CARTER

D

enzel the dog is a particular favourite among visitors Denzel the dog is a particular favourite among visitors(Marie Carter) Pets, especially dogs and cats, can have amazing therapeutic benefits for children and young people with complex emotional and behavioural needs.

Ben*, a shy child who couldn’t bear the gaze of another human, whether child or adult, was smiling for the first time anyone knew. The little boy, barely 10 years old, had experienced such severe trauma in his family background that it had left an indelible mark on his nascent personality. But, now, he was slowly but most certainly and surprisingly coming out of his shell as he reached forward again to caress the tufty mane of Lola, a five-year-old alpaca.

His eyes sparkled as Lola bobbed her head towards his arms looking for more affection. Ben gazed lovingly at Lola and told her she was a ‘good girl’. Weeks later he started to trust his surroundings more and even started to speak to people, other children and adults too.

He opened up and started healing, and learning to live life on life’s terms.

Ben is a young resident at one of Calcot Services for Children’s (www.csfc.co.uk) residential care homes called The Lodge. The homes, based in Berkshire and Hampshire, provide 52 weeks a year care and accommodation for looked-after children who have emotional, social and behavioural difficulties.

Young people admitted to the homes can vary in age between five years and 18 years, and

all have complex emotional and behavioural requirements. Each of the homes uses pet therapy to help the children heal emotionally, and emerge into the world more confidently with a greater degree of trust in others.

Ben’s remarkable transformation is one example of the healing power of animals and how exposure in a care environment to their innocence and patient kindness can transform young lives scarred by trauma, or made unbearable by emotional or behavioural difficulties. Children on the autism spectrum who find it difficult, if not impossible, to navigate their challenging emotional worlds, find pet therapy particularly beneficial. The simple act of stroking an animal can have calming effects and even help to regulate blood pressure.

Young Ben’s remarkable emotional journey was assisted by the resident alpacas which he helped to care for and love.

Rachel Redgwell, managing director at Calcot Services for Children, explains: “The alpacas were an amazing tool to support selfregulation and an aura of calm when Ben needed it most. Many a moment of sadness, frustration, anger and deep thought was spent in the alpaca field with Ben often spending long periods of time sitting and laying with his dear friends. Living alongside the alpacas taught Ben that there were alternative ways to cope with and manage big feelings. The bond between Ben and the alpacas was clear to see and indeed the most difficult part of Ben’s transition onto a long-term placement was to process and prepare for the end of living alongside the alpacas.”

Dogs, alpacas and chickens are animals that are deployed particularly in therapeutic environments to help children and young people. The feelings of acceptance and comfort that an animal can bring are what carers describe as close to “miraculous”.

Rachel adds: “For young people experiencing a period of crisis, often including some level of rejection or trauma, it was important for us to have a way in which they could have positive experiences of relationships in an enjoyable and non-threatening way. For some young people, it is appreciated that developing relationships and attachments with other humans is much too difficult, too painful and too complex.”

Children on the autism spectrum suffering sensory overload or full-blown meltdowns can benefit from pet or animal-assisted therapy.

Esteemed child psychologist Brian Levinson observed how the presence of a dog helped to strengthen an autistic child’s connection with their environment. Levinson found that when he brought his dog Jingles along to sessions with his patients, they were much more responsive and made efforts to initiate conversations.

Children with autism who have dogs as pets are also often able to form strong social bonds with the animals which can help when it comes to socialising with peers and adults.

Another organisation, the charity Parent and Child Together North East (www.pactne. co.uk), a supported housing project for vulnerable families, based in a semi-rural location on the edge of Darlington, County Durham also deploys animals in therapeutic ways. The families who live there are vulnerable for a variety of different reasons, including challenging home lives. The charity provides comfortable family homes and support includes parenting training, counselling, advice and guidance, and recreational and occupational activities.

They live in well-equipped wooden cabins and enjoy plenty of space and fresh air as well as the company of goats, alpacas, chickens and a dog.

Mick Sutcliffe, operations manager of the project, says the families all enjoy the company of the various animals but it’s the dog (a rather portly schnauzer called Schubert) who has the most therapeutic impact on the families. “Everyone knows him, plays with him, talks to him ... and feeds him,” he says.

Denzel, a bichon frise, was brought into Pondview as a therapeutic pet, the first pet for Calcot Services for Children. Before Denzil was allowed to live at the home, its managers had to submit evidence to their insurance company that proved the children could look after him; this included a stint of charity dog walking. Denzel has been living at Pondview for almost five years and is an amazing attribute to the home. The five-year old dog has seen a number of children move in and later move on from the home upon their own progression, he has provided so much comfort and love to all children placed at Pondview.

An example of Denzel’s love and therapeutic input into others’ lives has been particularly evidenced with one child; we will call her ‘Mary’.

Mary was someone who moved to live at Pondview not wanting to engage with adults and was very ‘closed off’. Mary was instantly drawn to Denzel and they would spend a great deal of their time together. Mary had said that she could talk to Denzel and he would understand and not ‘judge’ her. There were many times when they would spend quiet time together, the adults would seek both out and find them together. There was a time when Mary would open up to adults and become upset and at times distressed. Denzel would go straight to her to provide comfort, knowing that she was upset. There were also times when Mary only wanted to be with Denzel and this was respected as a great form of therapy and calming time for her.

The bond between the two has grown and developed and Mary refers to Denzel as ‘her dog’. They adore one another and recently Mary moved on from Pondview and was given a cushion with his puppy picture on it; this sits on her bed in her new home as a comforting cushion for her.

Mary will continue to see Denzel and he will be taken for visits to maintain their loving relationship and ensure Mary still has him in her life.

Whether a dog, goat or alpaca, the unconditional love and companionship of an animal can bring enormous therapeutic benefits. The remarkable journeys of the children and young people in the care of organisations that are investing the time and other resources in mining this rich therapeutic seam are surely testament to that.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

23

A new theory asks: Could a mask be a crude ‘vaccine’?

By KATHERINE J. WU

A

s the world awaits a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, a team of researchers has come forward with a provocative new theory: that masks might help to crudely immunize some people against the virus.

The unproven idea, described in a commentary published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine, is inspired by the age-old concept of variolation, the deliberate exposure to a pathogen to generate a protective immune response. First tried against smallpox, the risky practice eventually fell out of favor, but paved the way for the rise of modern vaccines.

Masked exposures are no substitute for a bona fide vaccine. But data from animals infected with the coronavirus, as well as insights gleaned from other diseases, suggest that masks, by cutting down on the number of viruses that encounter a person’s airway, may reduce the wearer’s chances of getting sick.

And if a small number of pathogens still slip through, the researchers argue, these might prompt the body to produce immune cells that can remember the virus and stick around to fight it off again.

“You can have this virus but be asymptomatic,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the commentary’s authors. “So if you can drive up rates of asymptomatic infection with masks, maybe that becomes a way to variolate the population.”

That does not mean people should don a mask to intentionally inoculate themselves with the virus. “This is not the recommendation at all,” Gandhi said. “Neither are pox parties,” she added, referring to social gatherings that mingle the healthy and the sick.

The theory cannot be directly proven without clinical trials that compare the outcomes of people who are masked in the presence of the coronavirus with those who are unmasked — an unethical experimental setup. And while outside experts were intrigued by the theory, they were reluctant to embrace it without more data, and advised careful interpretation.

“It seems like a leap,” said Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist based in Arizona who was not involved in the commentary. “We don’t have a lot to support it.”

Taken the wrong way, the idea could lull the masked into a false sense of complacency, potentially putting them at higher risk than before, or perhaps even bolster the incorrect notion that face coverings are entirely useless against the coronavirus, since they cannot render the wearer impervious to infection.

“We still want people to follow all the other prevention strategies,” Popescu said. That means staying vigilant about avoiding crowds, physical distancing and hand hygiene — behaviors that overlap in their effects, but can’t replace one another.

The coronavirus variolation theory hinges on two assumptions that are difficult to prove: that lower doses of the virus lead to less severe disease, and that mild or asymptomatic infections can spur long-term protection against subsequent bouts of sickness. Although other pathogens offer some precedent for both concepts, the evidence for the coronavirus remains sparse, in part because scientists have only had the opportunity to study

A new scientific paper explores the concept of variolation, the deliberate exposure to a pathogen to generate a protective immune response. the virus for a few months.

Experiments in hamsters have hinted at a connection between dose and disease. Earlier this year, a team of researchers in China found that hamsters housed behind a barrier made of surgical masks were less likely to get infected by the coronavirus.

And those who did contract the virus became less sick than other animals without masks to protect them.

A few observations in humans seem to support this trend as well. In crowded settings where masks are in widespread use, infection rates seem to plummet. And although face coverings cannot block all inbound virus particles for all people, they do seem to be linked to less illness. Researchers have uncovered largely silent, symptomless outbreaks in venues from cruise ships to food processing plants, all full of mostly masked people.

Data linking dose to symptoms have been gathered for other microbes that attack the human airway, including influenza viruses and the bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

But despite decades of research, the mechanics of airborne transmission largely remain “a black box,” said Jyothi Rengarajan, an expert in vaccines and infectious disease at Emory University who was not involved in the commentary.

That is partly because it is difficult to pin down the infectious dose required to sicken a person, Rengarajan said. Even if researchers eventually settle on an average dose, the outcome will vary from person to person, since factors like genetics, a person’s immune status and the architecture of their nasal passages can all

influence how much virus can colonize the respiratory tract.

And confirming the second half of the variolation theory — that masks allow entry to just enough virus to prime the immune system — may be even trickier. Although several recent studies have pointed to the possibility that mild cases of COVID-19 can provoke a strong immune response to the coronavirus, durable protection cannot be proven until researchers gather data on infections for months or years after these have resolved.

On the whole, the theory “has some merits,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University who was not involved in the commentary. “But I’m still pretty skeptical.”

It is important to remember, she said, that vaccines are inherently less dangerous than actual infections, which is why practices like variolation (sometimes called inoculation) eventually became obsolete. Before vaccines were discovered, doctors made do by rubbing bits of smallpox scabs or pus into the skin of healthy people. The resulting infections were usually less severe than smallpox cases caught the typical way, but “people definitely got smallpox and died from variolation,” Rasmussen said.

And variolation, unlike vaccines, can make people contagious to others.

Gandhi acknowledged these limitations, noting that the theory should not be construed as anything other than that — a theory. Still, she said, “Why not drive up the possibility of not getting sick and having some immunity while we’re waiting for the vaccine?”

24

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

When the otters vanished, everything else started to crumble

By KATHERINE J. WU

I

n 1970, Jim Estes made his first trek up to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. He was greeted by an ocean filled with furry faces.

Everywhere the young biologist looked, there were sea otters — lollygagging on kelp beds, shelling sea urchins, exchanging their signature squeals. Back then, crowds of these charismatic creatures shrouded the sprawling archipelago, congregating in “rafts and bunches, as many as 500 at once,” said Estes, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “There were so many of them, we couldn’t keep track.”

Now, Estes said, more than 90% of those otters are gone. In just a few decades, this bustling civilization has withered into a ghost town. “You can travel down 10 miles of coastline and never see an animal,” he said.

The loss is more than cosmetic. In the Aleutians’ delicate seascape, otters hold the entire ecosystem together. As they have disappeared, the rest of the local food web has started to crumble — a process that’s been accelerated and compounded by climate change, Estes and his colleagues report in a paper published last week in the journal Science.

Without otters to keep them in check, populations of sea urchins have boomed, carpeting the sea floor in spiny spheres that mow down entire forests of kelp. Now, even the living, red-algae reefs on which the swirling stands of kelp once stood are in peril.

“These long-lived reefs are disappearing before our eyes,” said Doug Rasher, a marine ecologist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine and the study’s first author.

Softened by warming and acidifying waters, the coral-like structures have quickly succumbed to the urchins’ tiny teeth, which can annihilate years of fragile algae in a single bite.

The findings point to the importance of otters in the Aleutians, where the marine mammals act not just as

Kayakers get close to a sea otter in Kachemak Bay, off Homer, Alaska, on July 19, 2004. Sea otters, which can eat nearly 1,000 sea urchins a day, have seen their numbers along Alaska’s Aleutian Islands shrink by 90 percent in recent decades. predators, but protectors, maintaining biological balance through their voracious appetites. A single sea otter can scarf down nearly 1,000 sea urchins a day. “They eat them like popcorn,” Estes said.

“The amount of things they control in this ecosystem is pretty astonishing,” said Anjali Boyd, a marine ecologist at Duke University who wasn’t involved in the study. “For their size and how cute they are, they are aggressive eaters.”

Aleutian sea otters have been in flux before. Fur traders in the 18th and 19th centuries hunted the animals to the brink of extinction, allowing sea urchin numbers to skyrocket, Rasher said. Although the urchins eagerly descended upon the local smorgasbord of kelp, the bubblegum-pink reef beneath them seems to have persisted — in part because healthy algae produce a protective limestone layer that can thwart even the most determined grazers. When otter populations recovered after trapping was restricted, the reef rebounded, too.

But against the backdrop of climate change, Rasher said, the reef’s

safety net is gone. In the past several decades, a glut of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has acidified ocean waters, making it harder for algae to armor themselves. “The reefs are producing less dense skeletons,” Rasher said. “And temperature exacerbates that issue.”

To quantify the damage, Rasher and his colleagues braved high winds and freezing waters to collect samples over several years of the dwindling algae and analyzed them in the lab.

When the oceans had been healthy, the team found, nips from urchins had barely scuffed the algae’s surface. But met with weakened reef layers, urchins excavated chasms several millimeters deep — the equivalent of up to seven years of growth.

From 2014 through 2017, some reefs shrank by up to 64%. Where algae had once coated the Aleutian sea floor like a swath of pink pavement, only patches remained.

Warmer temperatures also speed animal metabolism, driving urchins to eat even more enthusiastically than usual. “Given those two things happening simultaneously, it’s really getting hit

from both sides,” said Alyssa Griffin, an ocean biogeochemist at the University of California, Davis, who wasn’t involved in the study.

The algae’s decline also seems to be speeding up. When the researchers grew urchins and algae under conditions that simulated the preindustrial past, the present and a projected future in the lab, they found that contemporary circumstances spurred urchins to gnaw away at algae up to 60% faster. Changes yet to come will likely prompt the grazers to pick up the pace even more, the team’s analysis showed, barring sweeping change in carbon emissions.

“Just seeing that trend is staggering,” Boyd said.

The findings add yet another example to the list of ecosystems being ravaged by an ever-warming world, and underscore how food chain alterations and climate change can disastrously collide. “Predator loss can impact the environment in ways we haven’t even thought of,” Griffin said.

But these hidden relationships might contain hints of remedies. Repatriating otters could help reefs in the near-term, Rasher said, perhaps “buying us time to get our act together in terms of curbing global carbon emissions.”

That could be a difficult task, given the probable cause of the Aleutian Islands’ stunning vanishing of otters. Estes suspects that starving orcas — perhaps deprived of their preferred whale prey by industrial whaling — have turned in desperation to the little mammals, which they can gulp down by the hundreds or thousands a year. That could make it hard to sustain larger otter populations: Once introduced, they might just disappear all over again.

Estes, who is 74, hasn’t visited the Aleutians since 2015.

He doubts he will live to see the otters return. But he holds out hope that the islands will someday boomerang back to the breathtaking ecosystem he witnessed as a young man. “There was this incredible diversity,” he said. “It was spectacularly beautiful.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal, hoy 15 de ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO septiembre de 2020. GRISELDE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- DA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA Secretaria. MARLYN ANN ESSALA SUPERIOR DE SAN PINOSA RIVERA, Secretaria JUAN. Servicios a Sala.

LEGAL NOTICE

FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO Demandante v.

KELVIN CRUZ DÍAZ

Demandado CIVIL NÚM. SJ2020CV01793 (906). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO; INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: KELVIN CRUZ DIAZ Condominio San Juan Park 2, Apt. AA401 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00909 DE: FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO

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

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramaiudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Este caso trata sobre Incumplimiento de Contrato y Cobro de Dinero en que la parte demandante solicita que se condene a la parte demandada a pagar la cantidad de $14,353.67 de principal, más $1,260.39 de intereses los cuales continúan aumentando hasta el pago total y completo de la deuda a razón de $5.20 diario; y la suma de $319.13, por concepto de cargos por mora, los cuales también continuarán aumentando hasta el pago total de la deuda.; más 5% del balance adeudado, equivalente a $796.66, por concepto de honorarios de abogado; para un total de $16,729.85, más intereses que se acumulen hasta el pago. Se le apercibe que si dejare de hacerlo, se dictará contra usted sentencia en rebeldía, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle.

Lcda. Mariana Ortiz Colón Número del Tribunal Supremo 15394 221 Ponce de León Ave., Suite 900, San Juan, PR 00917, Teléfono: (787) 296-9500, Correo Electrónico: maortiz@lvprlaw.com

@

tificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 14 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 14 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, Secretario(a) REGIONAL. MARY D. CALEGAL NOTICE RRASQUILLO BETANCOURT, Estado Libre Asociado de Puer- Secretario(a) Auxiliar. to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL LEGAL NOTICE DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior Estado Libre Asociado de Puerde CAROLINA. to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de PriCOOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO mera Instancia Sala Superior de JUANA DIAZ.

EDE COOP

Demandante Vs.

Centurion Insurance Agency, Inc. por sí y como parte interesada

YESENIA PEÑA MIRANDA, ROSE Demandante Vs. MELENDEZ PIMENTEL, The Money House, Inc., EVELYN CRESPO MENDEZ, EN CARÁCTER John Doe y Richard Doe Demandado(a) DE CODEUDORAS Civil: Núm. JD2020CV00003.

Demandado(a) Civil: Núm. CA2020CV00155.

SALA: 407. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (REGLA 60). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

Sobre: Cancelación o Restitución de Pagaré Hipotecario.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: John Doe y Richard Doe P/C Lcda. Erika A: YESENIA F. Morales Marengo PEÑA MIRANDA -DIRECCION: EDIFICIO emarengo16@yahoo.com (Nombre de las partes a las que se A-1, CONDOMINIO le notifican la sentencia por edicto) PONTEZUELA APTO. EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus3M CAROLINA, PUERTO cribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de agosto de 2020, este RICO 00983-2057; Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, EVELYN CRESPO Sentencia Parcial o Resolución MENDEZ – DIRECCION: en este caso, que ha sido debiBARRIO VILLA JUSTICIA, damente registrada y archivada 905 CALLE PROGRESO en autos donde podrá usted enCAROLINA, PUERTO terarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta noRICO 00985

(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 11 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta no-

tificación 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 18 de agosto de 2020. En Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, el 18 de agosto de 2020.

Luz Mayra Caraballo García, Secretario(a) REGIONAL f/ Doris A. Rodríguez Colón, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOT ICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puer-

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

25

to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL VIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Pri- SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. mera Instancia Sala Superior A: BAXTER CREDIT de TOA ALTA. UNION; JOHN DOE &

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC Demandante Vs.

NORMA RUIZ

Demandado(a) Civil: Núm. TB2019CV00496.

SALA: 407. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: NORMA RUIZ URB EL PLANTIO, A 155 CALLE VILLA ICACO, TOA BAJA PR 00949

(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 10 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. En TOA ALTA, Puerto Rico, el 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. Lcda.Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretario(a) REGIONAL. Gloribell Vázquez Maysonet, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

RICHARD ROE

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 24 de julio de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. En CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, el 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020 CARMEN ANA PEREIRA ORTIZ, Secretario(a) REGIONAL. F/ CARMEN R. DIAZ CACERES, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

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

MTGLQ INVESTORS L.,P .

Parte Demandante VS.

RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS ANTONIO CASTRO FEBO

LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS ANTONIO CASTRO FEBO COMPUESTA POR BENIGNO CASTRO FEBO Y POR JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO LEGAL NOTICE POSIBLES HEREDEROS compuesta por su viuda, Estado Libre Asociado de PuerAIDA CRUZ DECLET, DESCONOCIDOS; to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL y sus hijos, GOYITA, ADMINISTRACIÓN DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de PriJORGE JOSÉ, ADALYS, mera Instancia Sala Superior PARA EL SUSTENTO DE de Caguas (Juncos) .

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CORPORATION

CIVIL NUM.: BY2020CV02820.

SOBRE: ACCIÓN CIVIL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ(Nombre de las partes a las que se RICA EL PRESIDENTE DE le notifican la sentencia por edicto) LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL EL SECRETARIO(A) que sus- ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO cribe le notifica a usted que el DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: LA CODEMANDADA 17 de septiembre de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, SHARON BERRÍOS Sentencia Parcial o Resolución MANZANO en este caso, que ha sido debi3194 Crestwood Circle damente registrada y archivada Apt B, Saint Cloud, en autos donde podrá usted Florida, 34772 enterarse detalladamente de POR LA PRESENTE se le emlos términos de la misma. Esta plaza y requiere para que notinotificación se publicará una fique a: sola vez en un periódico de LCDO. RAUL TIRADO, HIJO circulación general en la Isla (RUA 8431) de Puerto Rico, dentro de los APARTADO 1251 CAGUAS, PR 00726 10 días siguientes a su notificaTEL. 258-3636/ ción. Y, siendo o representando raultirado1@gmail.com usted una parte en el procediabogado de la parte demanmiento sujeta a los términos dante, cuya dirección es la de la Sentencia, Sentencia que deja indicada, con copia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual de su Contestación a la Depuede establecerse recurso de manda, copia de la cual le es revisión o apelación dentro del servida en este caso, dentro término de 30 días contados a de los treinta (30) días de hapartir de la publicación por edicber sido diligenciado este Emto de esta notificación, dirijo a plazamiento, excluyéndose el usted esta notificación que se día del diligenciamiento. Usted considerará hecha en la fecha deberá presentar su alegación de la publicación de este edicresponsiva a través del Sistema to. Copia de esta notificación Unificado de Manejo y Adminisha sido archivada en los autos tración de Casos (SUMAC), al de este caso, con fecha de 17 cual puede acceder utilizando de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. En la siguiente dirección electróniSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el ca: https://unired.ramajudicial.

17 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. pr, salvo que se represente por Griselda Rodríguez Collado, derecho propio, en cuyo caso Secretario(a) REGIONAL. Elsa deberá presentar su alegación Magaly Candelaria Cabrera, responsiva en la Secretaría del Secretario(a) Auxiliar del TriTribunal. Si usted deja de prebunal I. sentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el LEGAL NOTICE Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO en rebeldía en su contra y conDE PUERTO RICO TRIBUceder el remedio solicitado en NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA la demanda, o cualquier otro, SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAsi el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de MÓN. su sana discresión, lo entienMARIEL BERRIOS CRUZ, de procedente. EXTENDIDO JORGE L. BERRIOS BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del TriCORTES Y JORGE LUIS bunal hoy día 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I. BERRIOS MANZANO SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria.

DEMANDANTES V. LA SUCN. DE JORGE Por: Sandra I Cruz Vazquez, L. BERRIOS TORRES Sub-Secretario (a).

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

MARIEL BERRIOS CRUZ, JORGE L. BERRIOS CORTES Y JORGE LUIS BERRIOS MANZANO DEMANDANTES V.

LA SUCN. DE JORGE L. BERRIOS TORRES

compuesta por su viuda, AIDA CRUZ DECLET, y sus hijos, GOYITA, JORGE JOSÉ, ADALYS, TODOS DE APELLIDOS BERRIOS CRUZ, EGIL RUBÉN BERRIOS CORTÉS, SHARON BERRIOS MANZANO E IRMA BERRÍOS ROMÁN, T/C/C/ IRMA BERRÍOS REYES Y BERRIOS DEVELOPMENT, CORPORATION

CIVIL NUM.: BY2020CV02820.

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

A: LA CODEMANDADA IRMA BERRÍOS ROMÁN, T/C/C/ IRMA BERRÍOS REYES 1678 Roof Rd, Sidney Center, New York, 13839

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a: LCDO. RAUL TIRADO, HIJO (RUA 8431) APARTADO 1251 CAGUAS, PR 00726 TEL. 258-3636/ raultirado1@gmail.com abogado de la parte demandante, cuya dirección es la que deja indicada, con copia de su Contestación a la Demanda, copia de la cual le es servida en este caso, dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este Emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discresión, lo entiende procedente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal hoy día 16 de SEPTIEMBRE de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria.

Por: Sandra I Cruz Vazquez, Sub-Secretario (a).

26

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Pandemic, unrest, fires? An MLB rookie still smashes home runs

By JAMES WAGNER

E

ven as the Major League Baseball season trudged along, two larger social forces were inescapable: the coronavirus pandemic and racial injustice. Outbreaks of the former severely affected the seasons of the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals, and had ripple effects on several other teams, from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees.

Until this month, the Seattle Mariners and Kyle Lewis, 25, their breakout rookie outfielder, had not been affected by any positive cases of coronavirus on the roster, or that of their opponents, since the regular season began July 23.

Then came the postponement of a three-game series against Oakland in Seattle from Sept. 1-3 because the Athletics had a positive case. The week before that, the Mariners agreed not to play an Aug. 26 game against the San Diego Padres, joining other MLB teams in following the lead of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, who sat out of their playoff game to protest systemic racism and police brutality after the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by the police in Kenosha, Wisc. In the span of nine days, Lewis and the Mariners had four games postponed.

That was all before last week added yet another twist: climate disaster.

The Mariners’ home series against the Giants was relocated to San Francisco, and another against the Padres was moved to San Diego because of poor air quality from wildfires on the West Coast. Lewis, a top contender for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, has tried not to let the season’s starts and stops and changes prevent him from smashing hits or robbing home runs with leaping grabs.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Kyle Lewis: On Aug. 26, we saw the way the world was going as far as not giving that just level of awareness.

We were talking about it when we got to the locker room. There are TVs on.

A lot of the guys were kind of uneasy.

So it was a small discussion of like, ‘Man, should we show our support, too?’ It would be kind of off base to

Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners is one of the top young players in the M.L.B. go out there and turn a blind eye to it.

So a lot of the guys just came together and wanted to show unity. Then once that decision was made, the rest of the team showed support, as well, in sticking together.

We ended up having a team meeting to be able to decide what we were going to do. We had a meeting and heard from different players’ perspectives and getting people’s opinions so we could come together and decide that we wanted to show our support as well.

I wouldn’t have felt comfortable playing. I’m looking at the way the world is going and I’m trying to show support for our community. It would’ve been hard to go out there and just be laughing and having a good time knowing that there’s a lot of people hurting and there’s a lot of people trying to make a difference and you’re not really trying to help at that point.

Back at the hotel that night, with the coronavirus protocols, you have to stay indoors, so we stayed in the hotel and kind of met up and talked as groups. We tried to use that to help people continue to understand the message we’re trying to get across. It was a good opportunity to connect

with teammates — and quite honestly, with teammates that maybe don’t have that level of awareness. But now, they’re able to be around moments like that and have these conversations. It was a cool day.

Two of my better friends, Evan White and Sam Haggerty, on the team are white (Lewis is Black). That was a perfect opportunity to talk with them and they were able to voice their opinions. We were just bouncing ideas off each other and have been. They’re incredibly supportive as well. It’s not like they’re ignorant and I’m trying to school them on things. It was just ideas like, ‘How can we really make these things have some sort of real lasting effect?’ We were able to build the awareness by sitting out the game, but we were thinking about how we can parlay that into real effect.

We didn’t have formal meetings. It was very much, ‘Hey man, let’s get together somewhere, like the lobby, and talk about this.’ I did notice that most of the team made a pretty good effort to try to really have that conversation and not sweep it under the rug and be like, ‘Oh well, we sat out today and we’ll be back tomorrow.’ I give a lot of respect to my teammates and to Dee Gordon

for leading that charge. But honestly, even my other teammates who you didn’t know if they’d be receptive of it were able to show support.

Doubleheaders aren’t fun. But if you did a doubleheader because you did something for the right reasons, and we felt like we did, then we just deal with it afterward and that’s fine. I played both games the next day. At the end of that, you’re gassed.

The day of the last game on our road trip, on Aug. 31, we found out we weren’t going to play the first two games at home against the A’s. And they didn’t know about the third game.

When we got home, we found out they had canceled the third game, too. So we had one off day and then returned to practice the second and third days.

That was bizarre because it felt like a lot longer because we had been playing so much. To take three days off is kind of bizarre in the middle of the season. By that third day, everybody was antsy and everybody was like, ‘When are we going to be able to go back to playing?’ Guys had a rhythm going and you want to keep that going.

The baseball is the same. The weirdest part is just the hotel life because you’re kind of cooped up in your room a lot. Which isn’t to say you just want to be outside all of the time, but it’s a little weird traveling to a city and you don’t even go outside of the hotel at all just to get a bite to eat. Baseball, when the game starts, is largely the same. It took a while to get adjusted to not having fans in the stands. It’ll be a readjustment when the fans come back. So hopefully next year, fans can come back because that element definitely adds a lot to the eighth and ninth innings.

At the hotel, you’ve got security in the lobby checking on you if you don’t have your mask on at all times. You’re getting written up for stuff. It’s a little bit bizarre trying to navigate that part of it because you’ve spent 25 years of your life doing it one way and now you got to do it another way. It’s a quick turnaround trying to change habits like that.

But we still have a lot of fun with it and being in the major leagues has been a goal of mine. It’s still a dream come true so I’m still having a lot of fun.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

27

Bryson DeChambeau wins US Open his way: in commanding fashion

By BILL PENNINGTON

T

he most repeated, and accepted, prediction before the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club was that the golf course would overwhelm the field with its time-honored combination of elusive fairways and punishing rough.

That forecast was not wrong. Every golfer but one failed to shoot under par in the championship this year.

But the most prescient prophecy came from the lone player with an underpar score in the event, Bryson DeChambeau, 27, the beefy college physics major who theorized that he would overpower Winged Foot by bombing tee shots so far that it would be irrelevant whether his ball landed in the fairway or not. Almighty distance would eclipse precision.

Not only was DeChambeau right, in the wake of his runaway six-stroke victory Sunday at the 120th U.S. Open, but golf itself may be on the cusp of acceding to the new methodologies he espouses. The counterintuitive philosophies DeChambeau has preached and his unconventional tactics, including his belief that an intense strength-training regimen can significantly augment what has been largely considered a finesse sport, now have the validation of a major championship title.

Tens of thousands of young golfers watching DeChambeau dominate the field as he easily surpassed Matthew Wolff, the third-round leader who finished second, may be moved to emulate the new, hardswinging U.S. Open champion. So, in fact, might many of his brethren, even those who mocked DeChambeau as an overanalytical eccentric.

Most of the 20-something pro golfers, like the 21-year-old Wolff, already swing harder and do more weight training than their predecessors. But DeChambeau has gone further than anyone else, and not just symbolically. His average drive off the tee traveled 325 yards, the longest for any U.S. Open champion. He also shot 67 on Sunday, the only under-par round of the day.

“I think I’m definitely changing the way people think of the game,” DeChambeau, whose four-day score was 274, or six-under par. He added: “The next generation that’s coming up into golf hopefully will see this and go, ‘Hey, I can do that, too.’ I’ve just wanted to just keep pressing the status quo.”

He has done that and more. Next, DeChambeau will turn his iconoclastic delib-

Bryson DeChambeau shot a final round 67 on Sunday, and his average drive off the tee traveled 325 yards, the longest for any U.S. Open champion. erations toward conquering the Augusta National Golf Club, site of the Masters Tournament in two months. Its golf course, which is almost devoid of rough, is susceptible to a power game, especially now that DeChambeau has proved he can win at Winged Foot, where the victor’s score was five-over par the last time the club hosted the U.S. Open, in 2006.

DeChambeau is 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds — he gained 40 pounds this winter in an attempt to swing more forcefully — but Sunday evening he was asked if he wanted to become bigger before the Masters.

“Yeah, I think I can get to 245; it’s going to be a lot of working out,” he answered.

The extraordinary ball speeds he routinely generates — in excess of 200 mph — have attracted most of the attention this season, but DeChambeau is far from a onetrick pony.

Long before he bulked up, he was an NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion and exhibited the deft skills near the green nec-

essary to be a good short game player. He is a six-time winner on the PGA Tour and last month finished tied for fourth at the PGA Championship, the first golf major of the season.

On Sunday, DeChambeau relied on all of his faculties to turn the mammoth drives off the tee into three birdies, 14 pars and only one bogey.

On the first hole, Wolff, who began the round with a two-stroke lead, outdrove DeChambeau, his playing partner. DeChambeau nonetheless hit his approach shot more than 7 feet closer to the hole than Wolff did. With steadier putting, DeChambeau erased Wolff’s lead by the fourth hole and took the lead on the next hole, when he sank a 7-foot par putt and Wolff missed his par attempt from 10 feet.

DeChambeau gained two more strokes on Wolff at the 10th and 11th holes, but he exhibited the somewhat-underappreciated depth of his talent for golf at the 14th hole, which was also a turning point.

DeChambeau hit only six of 14 fairways

on Sunday, and his drive from the 14th tee was one of his worst — pulled left and into the deepest grass on the hole. He had 135 yards to a sloped green that might reject a shot from rough that typically would lack spin, or one that landed too close to the hole.

“I’ve got a lot of creativity,” DeChambeau said, explaining what transpired next.

He had an uphill lie and decided that would make it easier to hit his golf ball near the top of the face of an iron. It would reduce the impact of his swing and, in DeChambeau’s mind, let the ball land short of the green but still have some roll.

When DeChambeau made contact it sounded like a flubbed shot — as if too much grass had lodged between the club and the ball. But that was the plan.

“The ball came out dead because of the lie, and it rolled down there to 10 feet from the hole,” DeChambeau said.

He made his par putt, and Wolff missed his. The rout was on.

“That was huge,” DeChambeau said.

“If I don’t make that and he makes his, you know, we’ve got a fight.”

There were no other serious contenders DeChambeau had to worry about. Louis Oosthuizen, who shot 73 on Sunday, was in third place, eight strokes back.

After hoisting the trophy, a smiling DeChambeau was already plotting the other breakthroughs he has for golf. They include a longer, 48-inch driver — the kind more commonly used in long driving competitions, where accuracy is not paramount.

He will test some new driver heads, too.

“Tiger inspired this whole generation to do this, and we’re going to keep going after it,” DeChambeau said of Tiger Woods, who missed the weekend cut. “I don’t think it’s going to stop.”

Looking almost bemused, he paused before adding: “I kept telling everybody it’s an advantage to hit it farther.”

JOSÉ BURGOS Técnico Generadores Gas Propano

787•607•3343

28

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

LeBron James and the burden of being great(est)

LeBron James, leading the Lakers past the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, is getting closer to bringing Los Angeles a title.

By KURTS STREETER

P

oor LeBron James. There he is again, battling into the deep muck of the NBA playoffs, leading his team oh-soclose to a world title. And there he is: An omnipresent force in purple-striped hightops, so consistently great on the biggest stage that we have come to expect nothing less.

His Los Angeles Lakers are now vying with the Denver Nuggets for a spot in the NBA Finals. After Sunday’s 105-103 victory over the Nuggets — sealed by Anthony Davis with a buzzer-beater but fueled by James’ hot start — Los Angeles is now up two games to none in the best-of-seven series.

Should the Lakers advance, it would mean that James has pushed teams from three cities — Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles — to the league’s championship round in nine of the past 10 seasons.

Within that time, he won two title rings with the Miami Heat, and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the cloister of the NBA’s Disney World bubble, he is making

a credible run for a championship with the Lakers.

The burden of great expectations is not new. As a high school junior, he was cast as a basketball messiah. What athlete has ever delivered so thoroughly on such early hype?

And what athlete presents more of a modern-day paradox? He is among the most successful sports stars in history, on his way to billionaire status, influential, admired and connected to at least 120 million followers on social media. Despite all of this, there are far too many who take him and his success for granted.

Just last week, the NBA unveiled the winner of its Most Valuable Player Award for this pandemic-laced season. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee’s kinetic 25-year-old star, was no doubt worthy of the award. But James was, too. He bounced back from a rare, injury-plagued season to help return the Lakers to dominance. We have never seen a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward lead the NBA in assists. He did it while his team mourned the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash in January. He did it when

the league returned to play amid a world torn by a pandemic and unrest.

He did it at age 35.

A case can be made that this season is a grander opus than any he has ever conducted. So how is it that he lost the MVP vote in a landslide? James flashed a cutting bitterness when asked about the award after the first playoff game against Denver. “Out of 101 votes, I got 16 firstplace votes” he said, noting his anger at the absurdity of not even coming close.

The mantle of greatness is not easy to hold. James knows his worth to the league and the way his presence has long altered the landscape. He has won the MVP a total of four times. Were it not for the desire to recognize players who for all their greatness operate in his shadow, he should have won eight — at the least.

There are many reasons he is taken for granted. Silly arguments over who is better, James or Michael Jordan, distract from the ability to see him for what he really is.

Race is part of the mix. There are still too many who cannot see beyond James’ physicality, his uncommon blend of size and strength and speed. Still too many who see him without nuance, first and foremost as a body. A Black body.

That allows the easy dismissal of the dedication he has always put into staying in shape — and the disregard of his sheer intelligence. James is said to possess a photographic memory. He can recall plays that occurred years ago with little trouble, and he has forged a remarkable and successful business and entertainment company, not to mention a school in his hometown, Akron, Ohio. To watch him is to watch an athlete attuned to the flow, feel and probability of every move and every moment.

John Coltrane meets Albert Einstein meets a point guard in a power forward’s body.

The genius of James, the beauty of his game and the joy he exudes playing it, has shown itself in vivid Technicolor during this playoff run. The blocks, dunks, spinning pirouettes and sprinting fast breaks.

The tips, screens, fallaways and sudden passes that cut across the court as if rocketing along on a zip line.

He has been doing this for 17 years.

Consider the span of that journey. Think of 2010. That’s the year of “The Decision,” James’ nationally televised announcement that he was leaving Cleveland for a Miami

team stocked with All-Stars. Remember how he was scorned and vilified? How a single line from that pronouncement — “taking my talents to South Beach” — became a punchline, code for narcissism and disloyalty?

But James was actually coming into his own. He was tapping into a longing that is at once universal and felt at a particular, bone-deep level in Black America: the longing to break bonds, the urge for freedom of movement, the need for self-determination and control.

The reverberating power of that decision gets lost in the haze of memory. Remember that among the players to whom he is most often compared, no one had made such a move in the prime of his career.

Not Magic. Not Kobe. Not Michael Jordan.

Even lesser players faced scorn for exercising their right to change teams. Now that kind of movement is part of the NBA’s lifeblood.

How easy it is to forget the ways in which James changed the paradigm. His shift to Miami was the dawn of an era during which he became a leading voice for African American empowerment. “The Decision” heralded a new day coming for the NBA. It would take a while longer to fully achieve, but no longer would the athletes play second fiddle to owners, or bend to the forces that want to keep the stars in a league, brimming with Blackness, from speaking out.

The backlash to this new power has been predictable, led by the “shut up and dribble” chorus that continues to chide James for demanding dignity.

He has always laughed off such inane demands. He has doubled down on the notion that he can be a beacon in the fight. “We are scared as Black people in America,” he said after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisc., unafraid to show vulnerability. He is combating that pain by helping to lead a multimillion-dollar push to staff underserved election polling sites.

Poor LeBron James?

He may be fine without the extra adulation. But in a year full of despair, we would be wise to take stock of all that he is — all of his powerful, steady brilliance — and stop taking him for granted.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

29

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

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

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

30

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

(Mar 21-April 20)

Some interesting people will be met during the course of a work or study assignment.

Make an effort to get to know a stranger and you won’t regret it. Visiting places you’ve not been to before could lead to some useful experiences. Even if your first reaction is a negative one, at least check out the options on offer.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

You need to focus if you are going to meet a deadline. There’s a lot still to get through and very little time to do it in. Determined effort will take you to your goal. Despite the eagerness of a senior colleague to push you in a certain direction, a training scheme they suggest may not be right for you. Politely turn them down.

Taurus

(April 21-May 21)

Scorpio

You had hoped to manage on your own but a project you’re tackling today will need more than one pair of hands. Asking for help will not be easy but you can’t manage this without assistance. Arrange a time to meet up with someone to get this job done before they start making other plans.

If obligations require you to travel, take the time and trouble to double check details. Confirming times and services available, planned routes and the like will do a lot to save you later frustration. Consult a medical professional if you’re concerned about your health or the well-being of a younger member of your family.

Gemini

(May 22-June 21)

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

Joint efforts will bring pleasing results. Working with a colleague who has just joined your team will give you both a chance to get to know each other. Watch your response when you hear something that instantly irritates you. You could pick up what’s being said wrongly and if you react too soon, you could put your foot in it.

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

You need to relax more. If this means lowering your sights, so be it. The reason you’re feeling so brittle and over sensitive is because you are exhausted. You’ve taken on too much and you’re taking life far too seriously.

Watching a movie or catching up on your reading will help you wind down.

Leo

(July 24-Aug 23)

Embarking on a new career path will be one way to fulfil a goal you set for yourself at the start of the year. Due to various reasons you’ve had to put these plans on hold. Now is the time to explore new work opportunities. It isn’t too late to pursue a cherished dream.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

Someone who has had a major influence in your life is starting to mean more and more to you. You may not have realised what a difference they’ve made and how much you have changed because of them until an old friend points this out to you. Now is the time to show your appreciation. Plan something special just for the two of you.

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

Muddles and mishaps will mean talking to people who have been strangers to you up until now. One person you’re in touch with will become a firm friend. A package, letter or flowers will be delivered to the wrong address. No matter how organised you try to be, strange happenings keep getting in the way.

If you haven’t already been doing so, now is the time to start planning ahead. Have contingency plans in mind, just in case current arrangements don’t go as hoped. Think of the various ways you can make the most of your talents. Showcase your ability. An influential public official can help you find work.

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

Keep active to avoid gossipmongers who want to hear your side of a juicy story. Some people don’t understand the meaning of the words it’s none of your business.’ If a nosy neighbour asks probing questions turn around and walk away. Don’t feel you have to answer them.

You are entitled to some privacy.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

Someone is in a dither wondering whether or not you are going to accept an impulsive offer. You will want to consider this matter carefully rather than rushing in. You can sense a loved one’s excitement but this isn’t going to influence you. Making the wrong choice could lead to all sorts of future complications.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

31

CARTOONS

Herman

Speed Bump

Frank & Ernest

BC

Scary Gary

Wizard of Id

For Better or for Worse

The San Juan Daily Star

Ziggy

32

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

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