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.
The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) has published a request for proposals (RFP) to revitalize and co-manage the Parque las Cavernas del Río Camuy (Camuy River Caves Park).
While the DNER described the RFP as a co-management arrangement, it is a request for a private partner in the form of a public-private partnership with the DNER instead of with the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A).
private partnership to rehabilitate and run the Camuy River Cave Park. The agency informed the DNER that it was not recommending a public-private partnership arrangement to turn the Camuy River Caverns into a major tourism attraction.
The caverns are part of an extensive network of limestone caves and underground waterways carved out by the Camuy River, the third-largest underground river in the world. The caves were discovered in 1958.
The conclusion of the P3A was made following a feasibility study.
“This request for proposals is not simply about the co-management of the park, but about its transformation into an educational and environmental conservation center,” DNER Secretary Anaís Rodríguez Vega said in a written statement. “We want to maximize its potential for future generations and foster sustainable economic development in nearby communities. It is imperative to mention that the park will continue to be the inheritance of the people of Puerto Rico.”
Rodríguez Vega noted that Act 23 of June 20, 1972 (DNER Charter Law), allows the agency to contract with municipalities, nongovernmental organizations, and public and private entities for the administration, concession, operation, subcontracting, and delegation of the parks of Puerto Rico in a manner commensurate with the public interest. Section 5(w) of the DNER’s statute and regulations allows the issuance of proposal requests.
The selected proponent will be responsible for day-to-day operations, from park admission to food and merchandise sales. They must provide mandatory services such as group tours, visitor maps, educational programs, and other authorized services such as interpretive tours and private activities.
Proposals should detail costs, required personnel and specific strategies for offering services. In addition, they must include conservation strategies and compliance with all applicable laws. The contract will run for five years, with the possibility of a 10-year extension. The selected proponent is expected to collaborate on improvement projects financed with local, federal or private funds.
The deadline for submitting proposals is Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. The selection of the proponent is scheduled for Nov. 17.
Given the limited information on the project, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) in June rejected forming a conventional public-
“Although the findings of this study suggest that an alternative P3 model would improve the operation, maintenance, and overall performance of the Cave Park, the Authority concludes that given the limited information available and the size of this Project, it should not be sought under a conventional P3 arrangement,” the agency said in June.
However, the P3A told the DNER to procure a five to 10-year agreement with a private third party to maintain and operate the Cave Park, although the procurement would not be done under the public-private partnership law.
“A private operator will bring efficiency in the operations and maintenance of the Cave Park, as well as offer insight and know-how as to the infrastructure enhancements needed,” the P3A said.
By THE STAR STAFF
Quanta Services, one of the parent companies of LUMA Energy, the private operator of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) transmission and distribution system, asked the island’s energy sector regulator to remove it from the list of firms banned from participating in any capacity in any of six tenders for renewable energy projects.
The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), in a resolution dated Sept. 1, gave PREPA five days to file its reply.
On Feb. 22, 2021, PREPA issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the first of six renewable energy tenders. As part of the process, PREPA issued a list of “Restricted Parties,” and neither they nor their respective directors, officers, partners, employees, and persons, or legal entities related to them have since been eligible to participate as team members or to otherwise assist any proponent or team member, directly or indirectly, in the tender. In doing so, PREPA sought to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
“Proponents should be aware that the list of restricted parties is not exhaustive and that a person that is not included as a restricted party may still be prohibited from participating in the proposal and project,” PREPA said. “Finally, except as to any Restricted
Party, the fact that a person provides or has provided services to PREPA, PREB, or the [Financial Oversight and Management Board] in matters not related to the proposal and project may not automatically prohibit such person from participating in the proposal and project.”
The PREB later removed PREPA from overseeing the six proposed tenders in
2021 and decided to hire an independent contractor to manage the tenders, arguing that PREPA was too slow in increasing the use of renewable sources. In January 2022, PREB assigned the new responsibilities to Accion Group.
Accion Group has conducted the tenders for Tranche 2 and 3 already. The deadline to bid for the third tranche of renewable energy tenders was Sept. 1.
Since PREPA had initially included Quanta as a restricted party in the RFP for Tranche 1, the PREB has continued to include Quanta as a Restricted Party in the RFPs for Tranche 2 and for Tranche 3.
On July 18 of this year, Quanta sent a letter to the Accion Group seeking its removal from the “Restricted Parties” inclusion.
Quanta specifically requested that Accion Group consider revising the restrictions on “Restricted Parties” for all past and current tranches of renewable energy generation and energy storage resource projects and any future RFPs to allow Quanta and similarly restricted companies to participate as contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and vendors in the development, design, engineering, procurement, construction, supply, installation, commissioning, testing or maintenance of those projects.
“Please note that Quanta is not requesting that it or any of its companies or similarly situated service providers be allowed to participate in such projects as a Proponent or Resource Provider or to own otherwise or operate energy generation resources,” the PREB resolution says.
The 24 parties restricted from participating in the tenders in any capacity include ATCO, LUMA Energy’s other parent company, and LUMA Energy itself.
Classes at Puerto Rico’s public schools will be suspended this Friday in order to take measures to address the heat in the classrooms, interim Education Secretary Yanira Raíces Vega announced late last week. Given the importance of the issue, and in order to provide adequate guidance to staff and the school community on the identification of warning signs of heat-related illness, as well as the need to develop contingency plans and discuss them in detail with staff and the school community, the determination was made in order to allocate the time for the preparation, execution and dissemination of contingency plans adapted to the conditions and particularities of each school in the face of the ongoing summer heat wave, the Education chief said in a communication to teachers and support staff.
On Friday morning, school principals will guide school staff and conduct the review and adequacy of contingency plans, ensuring they are aligned with the specific conditions
of the school and the needs of staff and the school community. In addition, time will be provided for an opportunity to coordinate and strengthen response strategies.
In the afternoon of the same day, each school principal will convene parents and guardians, in person, to participate in information meetings on the measures being implemented in the school in response to the heat wave. The meetings can be held as an assembly or through direct guidance from teachers to parents from the homeroom. To this end, they will ensure that families are properly informed about the measures that will be implemented to maintain the safety and well-being of their children in a safe and healthy educational environment, the official noted.
“We are committed to maintaining open communication with the education community and are determined to work closely with families, school staff, and relevant authorities to address the issue of the heat wave and its effect on student learning effectively,” Raíces Vega said. “It is important to highlight that this action plan will be evaluated periodically.”
Gutiérrez/The
The presidents of the Puerto Rico Mayors Federation and Mayors Association, Gabriel Hernández Rodríguez and Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, respectively, made a joint request to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to accelerate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) project to install several mega-generators on the island to complement the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) with at least 700 megawatts (MW) of additional power.
“This pledge, to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), would allow the island’s power plants to be systematically taken offline while much-needed major repairs were made,” said Hernández Rodríguez, who is the mayor of Camuy.
“Since hurricanes Irma and Maria made landfall in September 2017, and Fiona in September 2022, the more than three million U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico have struggled with constant blackouts and voltage fluctuations, primarily due to an aging power system in urgent need of repair, and renewal,” the mayors said in a letter to Granholm, co-written in a rare show of bipartisanship.
Hernández Ortiz, the mayor of Villalba, added that “this problem knows no political affiliations or ideologies, harming all social and economic sectors, adversely affecting daily life and social activities, as well as commercial operations at all levels.”
“In addition, the lack of energy threatens the fragility
of the lives of people with delicate conditions throughout Puerto Rico,” he said.
Both mayors noted that the recent record high temperatures on the island, coming in the midst of the hurricane season, which peaks this month, represent a combination with long-term damaging effects on people in terms of their lives and the economy.
In fact, in recent days, the island’s power-generation system has not been able to produce enough capacity, and the required operating reserve has not been sufficient to meet peak demand hours, as reported by LUMA Energy and GeneraPR.
“As of today, the fulfillment of that promise [of emergency
generators] is in process,” Hernández Ortiz said. “Generators installed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers (USACE) currently total 350 MW. This barely covers the current deficiency of the system and only 20% of the required reserve of the system.”
“Although they are certainly appreciated by the population, those 350 MW will hardly allow Puerto Rico’s energy system to sustain itself, thus prolonging and postponing the repairs and modernizations that it needs so much,” he added.
The mayors told Granholm in that letter that “what we convey to you, who was appointed by President Joe Biden to address the island’s energy situation, is no longer a cry for help from government officials, or the private sector; all citizens living in Puerto Rico need FEMA and USACE to take a firm step forward and fulfill their promise, manifested by the following:
• Complete the installation of 200 MW at the San Juan Power Plant site.
• Synchronize those units with the generation system.
• Install additional capacity to reach at least the promised 700 MW.
“We appreciate your attention and recognize your interest in the subject, which is evidenced by your constant visits to the island to meet with a variety of groups,” the mayors wrote. “We look forward to prompt action and support regarding this urgent matter.”
A copy of the letter to Granholm was sent to Gretchen Sierra Zorita, the director for Puerto Rico and the territories in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
As a part of municipal strategies to manage tsunami response in Puerto Rico’s coastal regions, Canóvanas Mayor Lornna Soto Villanueva has called on community leaders and heads of municipal dependencies to collaborate on strengthening preparedness given the possibility of a tsunami event, which could impact the town through its rivers. (Photo courtesy of Ricardo Franco)
By THE STAR STAFFNatural disasters happen all around the globe, and Puerto Rico is no stranger to such events. Hurricanes are quite common as they can and do develop every season, sometimes finding their way to the island. Earthquakes can also be rather common because of Puerto Rico’s position near the edge of a tectonic plate, although less so than hurricanes and, of course, much more unpredictable.
Another aspect of earthquakes’ unpredictability is that they can also lead to tsunamis. Although their occurrence is not as common as in some other places in the world, Puerto Rico has suffered from two tsunamis on its coasts in recorded history.
That being said, preparation is always a good thing as one never knows when an earthquake is going to occur, or if that earthquake is going to cause a destructive tsunami.
In light of this, as a part of municipal strategies to manage tsunamis in the island’s coastal regions, and their potential effects on the municipality of Canóvanas, which could impact the town through the rivers, Mayor Lornna Soto Villanueva announced late last week that she has called on community leaders and leaders of municipal dependencies to strengthen the preparation and response of the community given the possibility of a tsunami occurring, and its potential overall effect on the northeastern municipality. The call was made in collaboration with the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the TsunamiReady program.
“The TsunamiReady program’s main objective is to reduce the risk of disasters created from tsunamis in communities located in coastal and adjacent areas,” Soto Villanueva said. “This initiative is centered on empowering the communities, municipalities and emergency management officials to strengthen their local operations through preparation of action plans, given the possible event of a tsunami, and proportionate education to the exposed community.”
Canóvanas’ Municipal Emergency Management Director Hommy Vázquez noted that “during recent months, the personnel of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, the Bureau for Emergency Management and Disaster Administration, the National Weather Service and the Municipality of Canóvanas
have been working tirelessly on the review and improvement of the Tsunami Emergency Response Plan to recertify us.”
“Recognizing the critical importance of an efficient and coordinated response, collaboration between these entities has been essential to guarantee the safety of our community,” he said. Soto Villanueva added: “I appreciate and value this joint effort to strengthen participation in possible emergency situations and improve our response and recovery capacity, in order to have a safer and more resilient future for our people.”
Pablo José Hernàndez Rivera, the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for resident commissioner in the 2024 elections, has been spending time in the western region of Puerto Rico recently, meeting with local leadership. The main topic in the meetings has been reorienting the work of the island’s delegate to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. toward promoting economic development, after what Hernàndez Rivera says have been 20 years of failed attempts focused only on Puerto Rico’s political status.
“This morning we were in San Germán with Nelson ‘Crucito’ Cruz, municipal legislator of the PDP, and ex-senator Jorge Ramos Vélez,” Hernàndez Rivera said last Friday. “The west side of the island needs a resident commissioner who represents the interests of everyone, which are economic development and economic well-being, and not just of some selected individuals, as the New Progressive Party has done over the past 20 years with plebiscites.”
Ramos Veléz added that during a meeting at El Trapiche de San Germán bakery various topics were discussed, such as the municipal development plan, assigning federal funds and various proposals for the elderly and youth of the region.
The candidate also visited Villa Pesquera de Puerto Real in Cabo Rojo to speak with various leaders of the region, and met with Hormigueros Mayor Pedro García and ex-district lawmaker Carlos Bianchi Angleró. The Hormigueros mayor told Hernàndez Rivera about his town’s need for development in the areas of housing and social interest projects to close the actual deficit of 600 units.
“The Hormigueros municipality has been acquiring land in the urban area to develop this initiative,” García said. “That night there was a conversation with the district representative Joel Sánchez at the Douglas Highway Inn in Cabo Rojo.”
On Saturday, Hernàndez Rivera visited the Cabo Rojo market square, followed by a well-attended antiques fair at Inter-American University of San Germán. He also visited former San Germán mayor Isidro Negrón Irizarry and former Senate president Antonio Fas Alzamora.
“In each of the towns that I have visited, the claim is basically the same: people who are members of the PDP, as well as other parties and non-affiliates, recognize the importance of economic development in all its aspects,” the candidate said. “I’m going directly to Washington for that, and in that mission I have everyone’s support.”
By THE STAR STAFF
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded nearly $24.5 million for permanent repairs to the facilities of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (DCR) due to damage caused by Hurricane Maria.
The funds will address damage to correctional institutions, as well as structures where inmates receive rehabilitation services.
“As the agency responsible for providing custody and rehabilitation to the correctional population, the Department needs facilities that allow its staff to provide
quality services,” Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José Baquero said in a press release issued Sunday. “The agency’s funding seeks to support the standards of the correctional system, while preserving the health and safety of inmates, employees and visitors.”
The Guayama Correctional Complex, with some 1,200 inmates, is the DCR site most in need of reconstruction. The facilities require over $11.3 million for roof treatment to prevent leaks, acrylic domes to protect equipment against wind pressure, replacement of the air conditioners and solar panels, and surge protectors for the electric gates, among other work. Repairs will consider mitigation measures for future atmospheric events.
By THE STAR STAFF
Legal Services of Puerto Rico (SLPR by its Spanish initials) announced the expansion of its telephone legal advice service known as “Teleabogado” to every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. so that a greater number of clients have the opportunity to obtain legal advice and guidance through a call. Citizens can access the service by calling 1-800-981-5342 or 787-728-5070.
SLPR Executive Director Hadassa Santini Colberg said “expanding the Teleabogado service on Saturday responds to our interest in making legal services more accessible to eligible citizens, and that they receive free and appropriate legal advice according to their case.”
To receive the service, the interested person is evaluated for
eligibility on the same call and depending on the nature of their case, is transferred to the Teleabogado service, where they will have the opportunity to consult with an attorney.
“The Teleabogado service is characterized by offering faster response to the client, as well as for the accessibility and convenience of making the consultation from home, work area or any other place, without the need for the person to have to travel to an office,” Santini Colberg said. “This service also stands out for being one of quality since each call is answered directly by a lawyer, who offers each legal consultation by phone with the same attention as if he did it in person.”
Teleabogado offers guidance and legal advice in family, consumer, housing, probate, employment and criminal record expungement matters. In the event that the eligible applicant needs additional services, the request for service may be transferred from Teleabo-
gado to the Direct Service Center closest to their residence. Teleabogado is also available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
President Joe Biden offered his support and condolences to a Florida community hit hard by Hurricane Idalia after being snubbed by Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor and a potential rival for the presidency.
Biden and Jill Biden, the first lady, took an aerial tour of Live Oak, a small town east of Tallahassee; received a briefing from federal and local emergency medical workers; and met with members of the community. In brief remarks, the president vowed that the federal government would support those affected for as long as it takes to recover.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he said. “The federal government, we’re here to help.”
In normal times, the politics of disaster dictate that Biden would link arms with DeSantis in a bipartisan display of unity to show those who suffered — and potential voters across the country — that they care.
These are not normal times.
DeSantis did not greet Biden at the airport or join him for the briefing and tour of the damage, choosing instead to hand out donated Chick-fil-A meals to people in Horseshoe Beach, about 70 miles away.
At a news conference Friday, DeSantis said he had told Biden that it “would be very disruptive to have the whole kind of security apparatus” that comes along with a presidential visit. He said he had also relayed that “we want to make sure that the power restoration continues, that the relief efforts continue.”
There was little evidence in Live Oak that the president’s arrival was causing disruption. Local officials in the city said that power and communications were being restored quickly and that search and rescue operations had been completed by Saturday morning, before the president and his motorcade arrived.
The governor’s decision not to join the president came just hours after Biden confirmed to reporters that he would meet with DeSantis. White House officials responded by saying the president had told DeSantis he planned to visit before announcing it publicly — and that the governor had not expressed any concerns at that time.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday that the White House and the governor’s team had agreed on the location for the visit earlier in the week, and that DeSantis’ aides had not raised any security or operational objections.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who often clashes with Biden, did join the president Saturday, praising him for taking swift action even before the storm made landfall.
“The president did a great job with the early declaration” of a natural disaster, Scott said. He called it a “big deal” that Biden and FEMA had moved so quickly to help the area. “These are not rich communities,” he said. “Many of them struggle.”
About 6,850 people live in Live Oak, the seat of Suwannee County, and more than one-quarter of the residents live in poverty, according to census data. Forty-two percent of the population identifies as Black, 42% as white and 8% as Hispanic. Donald Trump won 78% of the county’s vote in 2020.
“The spirit of this community is remarkable,” Biden said
after touring one neighborhood with many downed trees. “When people are in real trouble, the most important thing you can give them is hope. There’s no hope like your neighbor walking across the street and see what they can do for you.”
At the Suwannee Riverside Elementary School, near where Biden received his briefing, members of the National Guard were handing out water and other basic supplies to a long line of cars. Across the street at the local high school, dozens of mobile disaster units had been set up to provide sleeping quarters for rescue workers.
Biden shrugged off the governor’s decision not to meet with him.
“He may have had other reasons, but he did help us plan this,” the president said. “He sat with FEMA and decided where we should go.”
But Saturday underscored the tensions between the two politicians, whose campaigns have been lashing out at each other for months. A recent Biden for President email called DeSantis a politician who oversees an “inflation hot spot” and supports an “extreme MAGA blueprint to undermine democracy.” At the Republican debate last month, DeSantis said the country was in decline under Biden and accused Biden of staying “on the beach” while the people of Maui suffered devastating fires.
The stakes are high for both men. Biden has struggled with mediocre approval ratings and arrives in Florida following criticism that his initial response to reporters on the Maui wildfires was a lackluster “no comment.” DeSantis has seen his polling numbers plummet as his onetime benefactor, Trump, has become a fierce rival, attacking at every turn.
Jason Pizzo, a Democratic state senator from South Florida, said DeSantis’ decision smelled like politics, saying that “campaign strategy has replaced civility and decorum.”
This past week, before Biden announced his trip, DeSantis suggested that it was important to put politics aside in the interests of his state.
“That has got to triumph over any type of short-term political calculation or any type of positioning,” he said.
White House officials appeared to take his comments at face value. On Thursday, Liz Sherwood-Randall, the president’s top homeland security adviser, told reporters that Biden and DeSantis “are very collegial when we have the work to do to-
gether of helping Americans in need, citizens of Florida in need.”
But 24 hours later, that collegiality faded.
A joint visit Saturday would have been their first joint event together since DeSantis officially announced he was running for president. Biden and the governor met in the aftermath of the collapse of a condominium building in June 2021 and after Hurricane Ian last year.
After Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28, Biden waited seven days before visiting Florida on Oct. 5. Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
Hurricane Idalia, which hit Florida as a Category 3 storm, forced DeSantis off the campaign trail. But it also allowed him an opportunity to project strength, which he has not always done as a presidential candidate. DeSantis launched his candidacy with a disastrously glitchy event on Twitter. He has at times struggled to take on Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, and has repeatedly rebooted his campaign amid a fundraising shortfall, layoffs and a shake-up of his senior staff.
Facing the powerful hurricane, however, the governor sprang into action, as many Florida governors have done in the past.
He blanketed local and national airwaves with hurricane briefings, telling residents in the storm’s path that they needed to evacuate. His official schedule showed that he started his workdays at 4 a.m. And early surveys after the storm had passed showed that the damage was not as severe as originally feared, even though many homes and businesses were flooded and the area’s cherished fishing industry may be in long-term peril.
Biden’s administration also moved quickly to confront the storm. Officials said that by Friday there were 1,500 federal personnel in Florida dealing with the storm, along with 540 Urban Search and Rescue personnel and three disaster survivor assistance teams.
FEMA made available more than 1.3 million meals and 1.6 million liters of water, officials said. Other efforts were underway by more than a half-dozen other federal agencies.
So far, state officials have confirmed only one death as being storm-related as of Friday. Power had been restored to many homes. Roads and bridges were being reopened.
By ORLANDO MAYORQUIN
Thousands of attendees at the Burning Man festival in a remote stretch of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada were told Saturday to conserve food, water and fuel after heavy rainfall trapped them in thick mud.
The event, which takes place in Black Rock City and began Sunday, was interrupted by heavy rains Friday night, and organizers directed attendees to shelter in place as rain poured over the area.
The festival site received more than half an inch of rain overnight Friday, organizers said. While it had stopped for much of Saturday, more was expected in the evening and into Sunday morning, with a slight chance of thunderstorms, they said.
Except for emergency services, vehicles have also been prohibited around Black Rock City.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that officials had closed the entrance to Burning Man for the remainder of the event, which ends Monday.
Festivalgoers could be trapped for several days, organizers said.
“The gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed,” organizers announced Saturday morning. “Ingress and egress are halted
until further notice.”
Black Rock City is a temporary community that pops up each year in the middle of a vast desert known as “the playa” for Burning Man. The makeshift town hosts more than 60,000 people every year and is a three-hour drive from the nearest airport, which is more than 100 miles away in Reno, Nevada.
Videos on social media have shown Burning Man attendees trudging through flooded fields and dense mud. Portable restrooms, recreational vehicles and people appeared to be slathered in the muck. Some tied trash bags around their shoes.
Burning Man, which has been around since the 1980s, is a self-described “community and global cultural movement” that is premised on countercultural principles, such as radical selfexpression.
The festival is known to draw crowds of people dressed in eclectic garments and costumes, and it has been popularized over the years by a steady stream of celebrity and mogul attendees.
The event features art installations and culminates with the burning of a giant sculpture of a man, giving it its name.
Tara Saylor, who is attending this year’s festival, told the Los Angeles Times, “Burning
Man is radical self-reliance and we’re being put to the test.”
Despite the weather, Burning Man attendees said they were prepared and trained for such conditions. The event is “much different than going to a music festival like Coachella,” said Kaz Qamruddin, who is attending his sixth “burn.”
“We have very smart people here,” he said in a phone interview Saturday.
People have medical supplies and warm clothes and are helping to keep others safe and dry, he said.
Attendees have also opened their RVs to those who had been staying in tents, which were the most vulnerable to the water, Qamruddin said. This year’s Burning Man has had to contend with multiple snags. On the festival’s opening day, environmental activists blockaded the entrance, creating a logjam, NBC News reported.
And with incredibly muddy conditions, water puddled to their ankles and more rain expected tonight, attendees are unlikely to leave until early next week.
Qamruddin already changed his departing flights to next Friday — after initially planning to leave Sunday.
“This is a very kind, open, sharing, giving community,” he said. “We’re safe. I feel good.”
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Bill Richardson, who served two terms as governor of New Mexico and 14 years as a congressman, then continued to devote himself to liberating Americans who were being held hostage or who he believed were being wrongfully detained by hostile countries overseas, died Friday at his summer home in Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. He was 75.
His death was announced by the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he founded. A cause was not given.
Under President Bill Clinton, Richardson was also ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding Madeleine Albright in early 1997, after having served in the House of Representatives, as a member of the New Mexico delegation, from January 1983 to February 1997, and as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He was Clinton’s secretary of energy from 1998 until 2001.
Born in California — his mother had traveled to Pasadena from Mexico City, where the family was living, to give birth so there were would be no question about his citizenship — and descended from William Brewster, a passenger on the Mayflower, Richardson was the nation’s only Hispanic governor during his two terms, from 2003 to 2011.
Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., described Richardson in a statement as “one of the most powerful Hispanics in politics that this nation has seen.”
But his home-state popularity — he was reelected in 2006 by a 68% to 32% margin, a record for New Mexico — did not translate into national office.
In 2008, Richardson mounted a short-lived campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination but finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Despite having served in the Clinton administration, he endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.
After winning the presidency, Obama nominated Richardson as secretary of commerce, but Richardson withdrew because of a pending investigation into allegations of improper business dealings in his home state. No charges were ever filed against him, and the investigation was later dropped.
After Richardson completed his second term as governor, he honed the quasi-public and freelance diplomacy skills that
he had learned first in college and further developed on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and when he worked on congressional relations for the State Department under Henry Kissinger.
His separate humanitarian missions on behalf of some 80 families won the release of hostages and American servicemen in countries hostile to the United States, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and Colombia.
“I plead guilty to photo ops and getting human beings rescued and improving the lives of human beings,” he once said.
In 2006, he persuaded President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to free Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Paul Salopek.
The next year, he went to North Korea to recover the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War.
He helped negotiate the release of Michael White, a Navy veteran who was freed by Iran in 2020; flew to Moscow for a meeting with Russian government officials in the months before the release last year of Trevor Reed, a Marine veteran, in a prisoner swap; and worked on the case of Brittney Griner, a WNBA star who was held prisoner and later released by Moscow.
He also helped secure the 2021 release of American journalist Danny Fenster from a Myanmar prison and this year negotiated the freedom of Taylor Dudley, who had crossed the border from Poland into Russia.
William Blaine Richardson III was born Nov. 15, 1947, in Pasadena. His father, who was of Anglo-American and Mexican descent, was a bank executive from Boston who worked in Mexico for what is now Citibank and had been born on a ship en route to Nicaragua when his own father, a biologist, was on his way to collect museum specimens.
“My father had a complex about not having been born in the United States,” Richardson told The Washington Post in 2007.
That was why his mother, Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada Marquez, the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Spanish father who had been his father’s secretary, was dispatched to California to give birth to Richardson.
When he was 13, Richardson was sent to the United States and attended Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor’s degree in French and political
science in 1970 from Tufts University in Middlesex County, Massachusetts — he also pitched in the Cape Cod League — and a master’s in international affairs in 1971 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts.
In 1972, he married Barbara Flavin, whom he had met in high school. She survives him. His survivors also include their daughter, Heather Blaine Richardson.
After working in Washington, Richardson had become smitten with politics and moved to New Mexico, where, given his Hispanic heritage, he figured he had the greatest chance of being elected to public office. He ran for Congress in 1980 and lost — his only electoral defeat until the 2008 presidential race — but was elected from a new district covering northern New Mexico in 1980.
As governor, he raised teachers’ salaries, abolished the death penalty, signed legislation to allow New Mexicans to carry concealed handguns, established a fund to pay for public works, supported gay rights, raised the minimum wage and offered prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds. But he declined to pardon William H. Bonney, known as Billy the Kid, for killing a New Mexico sheriff 130 years earlier. (Bonney was said to have been promised a pardon if he testified in another case.)
Richardson said of his two terms as governor: “It’s the most fun. You can get the most done. You set the agenda.”
The remnants of Hurricane Idalia were dissipating Saturday and pulling away from Bermuda, days after it made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast and swept across the Southeast.
On Friday, the storm, which was once a powerful Category 4 hurricane, had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone. At 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, the storm was about 125 miles east of Bermuda, and tropical storm-force winds extended up to 205 miles from its center, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.
Idalia had sustained winds of 60 mph, the hurricane center said.
Swells generated by Idalia will affect the southeastern U.S. coast and Bermuda through the weekend, the center said, adding that they would likely cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
Bermuda, a British territory in the North Atlantic with about 65,000 residents, is nearly 900 miles east of South Carolina.
It has been a busy week in the Atlantic.
Idalia was one of several other storm systems: Tropical Storm Katia, which formed Saturday, was expected
to weaken Sunday; Hurricane Franklin, which became an “extratropical” cyclone Friday; Tropical Storm Jose, which was absorbed by Franklin; and Gert, which regenerated into a tropical storm Friday and was expected to be absorbed by Idalia.
Idalia made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday in a sparsely populated area of the Big Bend region, where the state’s peninsula meets the Panhandle. It was the first major storm to hit Florida this hurricane season. While it swamped fishing villages and beach towns along the coast, the damage did not appear to be as bad as had been feared.
The United Auto Workers union and the three Detroit automakers have less than two weeks to negotiate a new labor contract, and a strike of some sort seems increasingly likely.
The union’s president, Shawn Fain, has primed rankand-file members to be prepared to walk off the job if the union’s long list of demands for improved wages and benefits are not met.
A strike against one of the companies, especially a prolonged stoppage, could send an economic jolt through several Midwestern states and crimp the profits of General Motors, Ford Motor or Stellantis. GM workers walked out for 40 days in 2019 before reaching an agreement.
A strike against all three — a step the union has never taken but one Fain has said he is willing to call for this year — could have a noticeable impact on the broader U.S. economy.
“If that happens, even a short strike would impact economies throughout Michigan and across the nation,” said Patrick Anderson, the CEO of the Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing, Michigan.
The talks are playing out as automakers are spending tens of billions of dollars to transition to electric vehicles, which require fewer workers to assemble than traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The terms of the new contract will determine how both autoworkers and the companies fare in an EV-centric industry.
An agreement before the contracts expire Sept. 14 is still possible, and talks could continue beyond that date without a walkout. But Fain has repeatedly said he views Sept. 14 as a deadline — the day a strike could begin. He was elected to the UAW presidency last year as an insurgent, ousting the incumbent on a vow to take a more combative and confrontational approach in the talks than his recent predecessors.
“President Fain has declared war, and that usually means there’s going to be a battle, and that battle would be a strike,” said Sam Fiorani, the vice president of global vehicle forecasting at Auto Forecast Solutions, a market researcher. “The UAW leadership is in a position now where they have to prove to the members that they are fighting for them, so it’s pretty unlikely there won’t be a strike.”
The auto industry as a whole, including foreign-owned companies with operations in the United States, makes up about 3% of the country’s gross domestic product. A 10-day strike against the three Detroit automakers would result in total wage losses of $859 million and manufacturers’ losses of $989 million, according to estimates by Anderson’s firm.
In August, Fain sent each company a list of demands, including higher wages, improved benefits, a resumption of regular cost-of-living wage bumps to ward off the impact of inflation and an end to a wage structure that leaves newer hires making one-third less than veteran workers. Fain suggested as much as a 40% wage increase, noting that the CEOs of
each of the companies had their compensation packages rise substantially in the last four years.
He also called for contract provisions that would require the automakers to pay workers to do community service if their plant closes, describing it as a way to deter the companies from shuttering factories and to protect towns and local economies from being ravaged by the loss of a major employer.
“The manufacturers can absolutely afford some of those demands, but the more they get, the less competitive the companies are going to be,” Fiorani said.
In a video message streamed on Facebook on Thursday, however, Fain said the union and the automakers remained far apart. Ford, he said, offered wage increases and other provisions that were “insulting” to the UAW.
In a statement, Ford said it had offered a 9% wage increase and one-time lump-sum payments that, combined, would increase a worker’s income by 15% over the four-year contract. Fain said lump-sum payments helped but did not improve a worker’s income over a long period.
The UAW and Ford are also at odds over profit-sharing bonuses, the use of temporary workers, cost-of-living wage increases, retiree health care and several other matters.
Fain said that GM and Stellantis had not provided counteroffers to the union’s proposals and that the UAW had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board contending that the two companies were not negotiating in good faith.
“I know this update is infuriating, and believe me when I say I’m fed up,” he said. “Our goal is not to strike. Our goal is to bargain a fair contract, but if we have to strike to win
GM said it was “surprised by and strongly refutes” the charges in the NLRB complaint. “We have been hyper-focused on negotiating directly and in good faith with the U.A.W. and are making progress,” Gerald Johnson, GM’s vice president of global manufacturing, said in a statement.
Stellantis was “disappointed to learn that Mr. Fain is more focused on filing frivolous legal charges than on actual bargaining,” the company said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend this charge when the time comes, but right now, we are more focused on continuing to bargain in good faith for a new agreement.”
In recent weeks, workers have organized several dozen rallies and other gatherings to prepare for picketing. “I think the membership is energized,” said Christine Bostic, a battery tester at a GM electric vehicle plant in Detroit. “The facts are on our side. If it comes to a strike, I’m ready for that.”
To soften the impact of a stoppage, the union has amassed a strike fund of $825 million. It plans to pay striking workers $500 a week and cover their health insurance premiums while they are out of work.
In recent days, Fain joined the union’s negotiating teams in their talks with each of the automakers, an unusual step. Normally, the UAW president does not take a direct role until the final days or hours of negotiations.
On Wednesday, he took part in discussions with Stellantis, where tensions between the two sides have been high. When Stellantis responded to Fain’s demands with a list of cost concessions it wanted from the union, Fain took to Facebook to denounce them, dropping the document into a wastebasket.
Decades ago, when the UAW had more than 1 million members and the Big Three — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now part of Stellantis — had almost no foreign competition, a strike by the union could shut down a significant portion of the U.S. economy.
Today, the union is much smaller. GM, Ford and Stellantis employ about 150,000 UAW workers, and those companies make only a little more than 40% of the cars and trucks sold in the U.S. market.
But the union entered this year’s talks in a much stronger negotiating position than it had in years. In the past, the Detroit companies were struggling badly against foreign rivals that operate nonunion plants in the South, like Toyota and Honda, and had a significant cost advantage. In most of the last several contracts, GM, Ford and Stellantis had to get concessions on wages and benefits to survive.
Over the last 10 years, however, all three companies have rung up record profits, thanks in part to the concessions they won from the union as well as the shift in consumer preferences to high-margin trucks and large SUVs.
In the first half of this year, Ford made $3.7 billion and GM made $5 billion. Stellantis reported profits of 11 billion euros (about $11.9 billion).
Signs of rising consumer stress are causing some fund managers to be more conservative in their forecasts, even as the broader stock market continues to rise.
As unemployment remains near historic lows, the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting rate hikes are beginning to weigh on budgets.
About $1.1 trillion in federal student loan payments will resume in October, potentially giving consumers a “payment shock” of $500 or more a month, according to a study by TransUnion (NYSE:).
“The US consumer is on thin ice as we head into 2023,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. She is more bullish on bonds and defensive sectors like healthcare ahead of the holiday shopping season in Q4.
The US economy added 187,000 nonfarm payrolls in August, slightly above expectations, while the unemployment rate rose to 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. The government has significantly lowered its previously released estimates for June and July job growth.
Further contractions in the labor market are likely to be a double-edged sword for investors as they ease some inflationary pressures while weighing on consumer spending.
Total consumer spending rose slightly more-than-expected in August, while the savings rate fell to its lowest level since November 2022, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
Consumers will use up their excess savings accumulated during the pandemic “very soon,” said Jake Jolly, senior investment strategist at BNY Mellon (NYSE:) Investment Management, which is underweight equities and expects the U.S. economy to be headed for a recession .
“The real question is how long can consumer spending surprise on the upside,” he said, adding that bonds continue to look more attractive amid yield growth that has risen to over 4%.
Overall, consumer spending growth will slow to 0.9% in 2024 from 2.3% in 2023, said Gregory Daco, chief economist at accounting giant Ernst & Young, due to higher interest charges, fewer available savings and student loan payments. He said the economy will see below-trend growth for several quarters.
Investors will get an updated overview of consumer credit usage next week and an overview of the ISM services sector, which makes up two-thirds of the economy.
Betting against consumer spending has been a losing bet so far. The US economy continues to grow at an annual rate of 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate.
Interest rates are likely to fall throughout the fourth quarter of the year and into 2024 as inflation fears ease, giving consumers some cushion, said Jason Draho, head of asset
allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, who expects the Investors notice any setbacks in consumer stocks.
“The US consumer, and therefore the economy, should remain quite resilient well into 2024,” he said.
The consumer discretionary sector, which includes stocks like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:), Royal Caribbean (NYSE:) Cruises, and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:), is up nearly 34% year-to-date, nearly doubling like that as a
whole.
Still, the sector has lagged lately, gaining less than 1% since July 1, while the S&P 500 is up almost 2% over the same period.
Even if consumer spending falls significantly, the sector’s strong recovery is likely to fade as the overall tech-driven market slows in the fourth quarter, said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co.
As a result, Villere is adding to positions in defensive sectors like healthcare that are not lagging behind.
“We believe it’s premature to move away from the consumer now, but we can expect a recession in the first quarter as the Fed’s rate hikes begin to take hold,” he said.
Russian forces launched waves of drones at the Odesa region of southern Ukraine in an hourslong overnight assault, officials said Sunday, the latest bombardment to target port infrastructure since Moscow pulled out of a deal allowing safe passage for Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
Serhii Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said that port facilities on the Danube River had been hit and that two workers were injured in the attack, which lasted more than three hours and involved more than two dozen drones. Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 22 out of 25 attack drones and the State Emergency Service posted photos of firefighters in the region trying to extinguish a blaze.
Bratchuk did not specify where exactly the strikes landed, but local Ukrainian media reported explosions in the port city of Reni on the Danube, just across the water from Romania. Russia’s ministry of defense claimed that its drones had struck fuel storage facilities there; the claim could not be independently verified.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, condemned the overnight attack. In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, he accused Russian forces of targeting ports “in the hope they will be able to provoke a food crisis and hunger around the world.”
Ukraine’s main Danube ports represent a potentially perilous tripwire, because they lie so close to Romania, a member of NATO, and therefore to territory covered by the alliance’s commitment to collective security. On Sunday, Romania’s defense ministry said it had been monitoring the overnight drone attacks in real time and denounced what it called “unjustified” assaults on infrastructure in Ukraine.
For years, Ukraine’s Danube ports played a secondary role, with the primary conduit for the country’s grain exports being Black Sea ports such as the one in the city of Odesa. But that changed when Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain agreement in July, threatening all ships moving to and from Ukraine.
The Danube delta became an immediate alternative waterway for grain ships. But then Russia began attacking the smaller ports on the river as well, bombing Ukrainian grain-loading facilities there. In mid-August, granaries and warehouses in Reni and Izmail, another port on the river, were damaged as a result of Russian attacks.
In an attempt to get exports of grain and other goods moving again, Ukraine established a temporary corridor through the mines it has deployed
along the coast, allowing ships to reach the territorial waters of Romania and then Bulgaria and Turkey, NATO members all. That has begun to allow civilian ships that have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since before Russia’s full-scale invasion to finally depart the country.
A handful of vessels have used the corridor in recent weeks, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Saturday that two more ships had successfully navigated passage. He later hailed Odesa as “a port on which the lives of various nations depends” in his overnight address, just hours before the latest strikes.
The attacks in the Odesa region came amid international efforts to revive the grain deal. Russia has been touting what it casts as an alternative to the agreement, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and helped stabilize food prices across the world but which Moscow complained was carried out unfairly.
Precise details of the Russian proposal remain scant, but it is expected to be on the agenda when
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts Turkey’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for bilateral talks Monday in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
Here’s what else is happening in the war:
— Ukrainian officials said a Russian strike had hit a residential building in the eastern town of Vuhledar on Saturday, killing a man and his wife. The prosecutor general’s office said on Telegram that the couple’s 19-year-old daughter and another resident of the town were injured.
— Russian shelling in the Donetsk region Sunday killed an 84-year-old man in his home and injured his 85-year-old wife, the regional prosecutor’s office said on Facebook. Four other civilians were also injured.
— A 36-year-old resident of the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine died in a mine explosion off the Black Sea coast Sunday after he ignored signs warning people to stay out of the water, Ukraine’s southern operational command said on Telegram. Mines have killed at least 237 people since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian state emergency services reported last week.
Shattered glass surrounds the abandoned swimming pool, along with dilapidated benches, broken tiles and a single dirty mattress. Local police officers have identified the forsaken spot as one of the places where they say two young girls were repeatedly raped by a gang of their peers, all residents of the Italian town of Caivano, on the outskirts of Naples.
Although the rapes of the two girls, cousins just 10 and 12 years old, took place over many months, they seized national attention this past week after they were reported by the local news media, hurling the issue of violence against women and girls in Italy back into the spotlight.
Those assaults were among a host of horrific crimes that have been in the news this summer. Two weeks ago, the focus was on a group of seven young men, including one 17-year-old, who are under investigation in the rape of a 19-year-old woman in Palermo. Before that, there were cases of women being stabbed, shot or poisoned by their partners or those known to them.
The cases have provoked debate in Italy over its neglected areas, its often chauvinistic attitudes toward women and the dangerous amplifying role played by social media. They have also exposed deep divisions over the persistence of the problem of violence against women and how to address it.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Caivano, almost certainly a first for the working-class town of 37,800, where heroin addicts inject openly during the day. Italy’s first woman to hold the office and the first from the far-right, Meloni skated past the many issues pertaining to women, focusing instead on law and order and calling the crimes “barbaric.”
“This territory will be cleaned up, and you will soon see the results of our presence here,” she said, referring to the problems of “illegality and drugs.” She pledged to reopen the sports center, build a new multimedia library and send more teachers to Caivano’s schools.
“There can’t be stateless zones in Italy,” she said, speaking from the courtyard of the local school. “And I am telling this to the many Caivanos of Italy.”
A day before Meloni’s visit, dozens of police officers kept watch on street corners and in parks where the grass grew kneehigh. In the wake of the violence, local officials said they would send more officers to patrol the area.
“We don’t need more policemen,” said one older resident, Antonio, who declined to give his full name for fear of being ostracized in his neighborhood. “We need more time in school, more social workers and more psychologists to help children in families who can’t take care of them.”
The two young cousins grew up in public housing in the Rione IACP district, in what neighbors described as troubled families. A juvenile court decided to move them to a foster home. Their case is under investigation, and no charges have yet been filed.
“Now that the girls are safe with the competent authorities, we need to think about all the other kids who live here,” said Bruno Mazza, president of A Childhood to Live, an organization that runs the only afternoon activities for children in that neighborhood. “We can’t move everybody out; we need to start from here and now.”
Advocates for women say cases of violence against women and girls are not necessarily growing, but they get more sensational attention in the summer months when news cycles are slow.
Experts said the numbers in Italy, where 27% of women say they have experienced violence, were roughly in line with those of other European countries.
“These are cases that resonate, but they are unfortunately nothing new,” said Antonella Veltri, president of the Network of Women Against Violence, which runs shelters across the country. “This is a cultural phenomenon, deeply rooted in a chauvinist society for decades.
“Now it’s taking a new, even more horrible turn with social media that acts like a
megaphone,” she said.
Veltri was referring to the sensation created by another recent case of gang rape in Palermo, which is still under investigation. This summer, seven young men met a 19-year-old woman at a downtown club. According to police, they persuaded the bartender to pour her several drinks, encouraged her to smoke marijuana and then took her to an isolated warehouse, where they raped her, beat her and filmed the abuse.
A frame from security video that appeared in the news media showed them carrying her through the streets, as she could barely walk. Another shot showed them leaving her on the ground as they headed to a nearby deli.
Italian newspapers published leaked excerpts alleged to be from the men’s WhatsApp messages and conversations. In one, the night was described as “100 cats on top of a bitch.” In a tapped conversation, one of the rapists reportedly said it was disgusting because it was “too many” on her, but he justified it by saying “flesh is flesh.”
Eventually, the names and addresses of those accused in the case became public, and their social media accounts were filled with insults. But the same was true of the woman’s Instagram account. In an interview in an Italian newspaper, she spoke of having suicidal thoughts. Authorities eventually took her to a shelter.
According to a recent report from the national statistics agency ISTAT, there is still a pervasive view in Italy that women who are abused were somehow at fault, courting the aggression.
That attitude was echoed this past week by Andrea Giambruno, a television
anchor on a national commercial channel, who is also Meloni’s partner and father of her daughter.
Everyone had a right to enjoy themselves and even get drunk, he said, but if women avoided getting drunk, they might avoid “getting found by the wolf.”
The remark caused an uproar among leftist politicians and activists. Giambruno, expressing disgust for his critics, defended himself by reminding them that in the same broadcast, he had called the rapists “beasts” and their acts “abominable.”
Meloni has not publicly addressed his remarks.
The idea that women’s actions or clothing can trigger violence permeates even the courts in Italy, where sexuality and sexual violence are still not always differentiated.
This year, a court in Florence acquitted two 19-year-olds who were accused of raping an 18-year-old at a party, finding that there had been a “mistaken perception of consensus,” since she had slept with one of them in the past.
The European Court of Human Rights and U.N. authorities have often condemned Italy’s courts for decisions in rape cases that used offensive language: One acquitted the accused and said he had been “passionate,” and another victim was called “uninhibited.”
Such treatment discourages women from coming forward, said Ilaria Boiano, a lawyer for the Differenza Donna women’s association, which runs the national emergency number for women who are victims of violence.
“The latest cases are just the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately,” she said. “Many women don’t even report it.”
In a lush valley in the vast Mongolian countryside, hulking wrestlers, equestrians doing bareback tricks, throat singers and archers performed for top Vatican cardinals who snacked on dried yogurt delicacies under the shade of a ceremonial blue tent.
It was treatment worthy of an emperor for the prelates accompanying Pope Francis, who was back in Mongolia’s capital resting during his four-day trip to the country, the first ever by a Roman Catholic pontiff. But in a largely Buddhist and atheist country with barely 1,400 Catholics, some of the Mongolians at the Naadam festival in the central province of Töv on Friday were not quite clear why the Catholic clerics were there, or what Catholics even were.
“What are Catholics again?” Anojin Enkh, 26, a caterer with the Grand Khaan Irish Pub, said as she stocked a lamb and dumpling buffet for Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s second-incommand, and other top cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns and Vaticanisti in the papal press corps. “I don’t know any Catholic people.”
Francis has made visiting places where his flock is often forgotten a hallmark of his papacy. But even by that measure, Mongolia is especially off the radar, its Catholic population especially minuscule.
The country’s entire Catholic population could fit into a cathedral. It has a handful of churches and only two native Mongolian priests. On Friday, when Francis arrived, horses and goats vastly outnumbered the people
standing on the road to see his motorcade pass.
On Saturday, a couple of hundred pilgrims, most of whom had come from other countries, barely registered in the immense Sükhbaatar Square in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where Francis bowed before a huge statue of Ghengis Khan and reviewed a parade of cavalry soldiers dressed in ancient Mongolian armor.
“I am pleased that this community, however small and discrete, shares with enthusiasm and commitment in the country’s process of growth,” Francis said at an event soon afterward with Mongolia’s president at the State Palace.
The pope also put his visit into the long continuum of contact between Mongolians and the Catholic Church — a familiarity that Francis said dated back not only to the establishment of diplomatic relations three decades ago, but to “much earlier in time.”
Historians have traced that history to the seventh century, when an Eastern branch of Christianity coexisted with shamanism. Some of the commanders in the empire of Genghis Khan, who spread the Mongolian empire and his genes throughout Asia, were of the Christian faith.
Francis said Saturday that he was giving Mongolia the gift of an “authenticated copy” of a reply that Güyük, the third Mongol Emperor, had sent in 1246 in response to a missive from Pope Innocent IV.
Francis did not mention that the correspondence was not exactly chummy.
Pope Innocent had been alarmed by the Mongol Empire’s incursions and its laying waste to Christian forces in Eastern Europe. He questioned the emperor about his intentions to stretch out his “destroying hand,” beseeched him to desist, floated the idea of conversion and threatened that while God had let some nations fall before the Mongolians, he could yet punish them in this life or the next.
The Mongolian leader responded in kind — which is to say, not kindly. He told the pope and his kings to come to his court and submit to his rule. He expressed bewilderment at the pope’s suggestion of baptism, saying that God appeared to clearly be on the victorious Mongolia’s side, and warned that the pope risked becoming an enemy.
“All letters back then were like that,” Odbayar Erdenetsogt, the foreign policy adviser to Mongolia’s president, said with a shrug on Friday as horsemen behind him rode upside down, to the delight of Francis’ entourage. “Because we were a big empire.”
The earlier empire may be infamous for rape and pillage. But in some respects, it was, for the time, rather tolerant when it came to religion. In the 13th and 14th centuries, when the Mongolians controlled much of Eurasia, they fostered peaceful trading along the Silk Road: Mongolian nomads eager to do business would assess the religious affiliation of caravans crossing the Mongolian steppes and then extract from their coffers a Christian cross, a Quran or a Buddhist statue to facilitate trade.
“It was a pragmatic approach,” said Sumati Luvsandendev, a leading Mongolian political scientist who happens to be the nominal president of the Jewish community of Mongolia, which he said basically did not exist, but which the Vatican said would be represented at an interreligious event led by Francis on Sunday.
(Luvsandendev said he had not been asked to attend that gathering: “Maybe they found somebody else.”)
Perhaps the most famous of the merchant visitors to Mongolia, Marco Polo, wrote in his 13th-century “Travels” about how Kublai Khan, a Mongolian emperor and grandson of Genghis Khan, put down a revolt by “a baptized Christian.” After having the rebel rolled up in a carpet that “was dragged all over the place with such violence that he died,” the emperor made a peace offering to the Christians.
He told them, Marco Polo wrote, that the
“the cross of your God did the right thing by not helping” the rebel and later suggested that the pope send 100 wise Christians to his land with the potential of his own conversion, “so there will be more Christians here than there are in your part of the world.”
It did not shake out that way. Buddhism took hold, and Catholicism struggled.
Centuries later, in the 1920s, the Vatican sought to establish mission structures in the country, but Mongolia fell under the Soviet sphere and communism prevailed for the next 70 years. As religion was suppressed, atheism grew.
Only in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, did Catholics return, and even then they were often outnumbered by other Christian missionaries.
“Back then, there were not many Catholics here,” Erdenetsogt said after the wrestling finals at the festival. The Mongolian official recalled that when he was in high school at that time, Christians had started coming in waves. “A lot of people from Salt Lake City,” he said. “A lot of Mormons. Even had some Quakers.”
In 2003, Giorgio Marengo, a Catholic missionary, arrived and then spent three years learning the language and the lay of the land. In 2006, he and other missionaries started spreading to provinces where, he said in an interview, “there were no Catholics at all” and where there had “never been a church before.”
They eventually obtained some land from the government.
“That is where we put our two ger — one for prayer and one for activities,” he said, referring to the portable circular dwellings, sometimes called yurts, that dot the Mongolian landscape. That community, reminiscent of the early church “like after the apostles,” he said, had grown into a small parish of about 50.
“The church is still a ger,” he said. “A ger of big dimensions or size, but it’s still a ger.”
Last year, Francis stunned the Vatican by making Marengo, who is 49, the youngest cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.
On Saturday afternoon, Francis joined Marengo, Catholic missionaries and some of the few Mongolian Catholics in Ulaanbaatar at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, itself shaped like a colossal red brick ger.
In the pews, Uran Tuul, 35, a Catholic convert, said that she had been the first among her friends and family to become Catholic, but that “now there are more.” She then listened as Francis encouraged the congregation to “not be concerned about small numbers, limited success or apparent irrelevance.”
He added, “God loves littleness.”
With its Russian torture chambers and slaughter of civilians, the war in Ukraine is horrifying enough. But what if another country is taking advantage of the distraction to commit its own crimes against humanity?
Meet Azerbaijan.
You probably haven’t heard of Azerbaijan’s brutality toward an ethnic Armenian enclave called NagornoKarabakh, but it deserves scrutiny. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, whom I got to know years ago when he sought accountability for the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region, now describes what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh in a similar fashion.
“There is an ongoing genocide against 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh,” he wrote in a recent report.
We tend to think of genocide as the slaughter of an ethnic group. But the legal definition in the 1948 Genocide Convention is broader and doesn’t require mass killing, so long as there are certain “acts committed with intent to destroy” a particular ethnic, racial or religious group.
That is what Azerbaijan is doing, Moreno Ocampo argued, by blockading Nagorno-Karabakh so that people die or flee, thus destroying an ancient community.
“Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon,” he wrote. “Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.”
“It is critically important to label this as genocide,” Moreno Ocampo told me, and also crucial that the United States and other world powers — including Britain, which has been too quiet — step up pressure on Azerbaijan.
The concept of genocide was developed in part as a reaction to the Ottoman Empire’s mass killing of Armenians in 1915 and 1916, so Azerbaijan’s starvation of Armenians today suggests that history risks coming full circle. The group Genocide Watch has declared a “genocide emergency,” the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention recently issued an “active genocide alert,” and the International Association of Genocide Scholars warned of “the risk of genocide” and called for Azerbaijan to be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
The current crisis began late last year, when Azerbaijanis began blockading the only road into Nagorno-Karabakh, the Lachin corridor to Armenia, on which the territory depends for food and medicine.
The International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to remove the blockade. Instead, the Azerbaijani government established a checkpoint on the road and began blocking even humanitarian aid carried by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“People are fainting in the bread queues,” the BBC quoted a local journalist as saying from NagornoKarabakh. The report added that the Halo Trust, a nonprofit that works to clear minefields, has had to suspend operations “because its staff are too exhausted to work after queuing for bread all night and returning home empty-handed.”
One-third of deaths in Nagorno-Karabakh are attributed by local authorities to malnutrition, the BBC said. I have no way of verifying these reports, but every indication is that the situation is dire — and getting worse by the day.
Yet I fear that the West is fatigued and looking inward, for it has likewise paid little attention to other global crises other than Ukraine, from horrendous atrocities in Ethiopia to Sudan’s warlords’ slaughtering of civilians. For dictators, tragically, this isn’t a bad time to commit war crimes.
The backdrop is that authoritarian Azerbaijan has a mostly Muslim population speaking a Turkic language, while Nagorno-Karabakh has a mostly
Christian population that speaks Armenian. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Nagorno-Karabakh sought independence; a war ended with a stalemate in which the enclave operated autonomously but with close links to neighboring Armenia. In 2020, Azerbaijan fought a brief war in which it reclaimed most of the enclave, and it now wants to recover the rest — and, I suspect, to push out much of the ethnic Armenian population.
The world, including Armenia’s prime minister, acknowledges that sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan feels it has a right to integrate Nagorno-Karabakh politically and economically with the rest of the country — though this is not integration but starvation, and the one point even countries as far apart as the United States and Russia agree on is that Azerbaijan should reopen the Lachin corridor and end the suffering.
One possible compromise to end the looming catastrophe is outlined by Benyamin Poghosyan of the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia: Azerbaijan would open the Lachin road, and Nagorno-Karabakh would simultaneously open one or more roads into Azerbaijan (which Azerbaijan seeks). The U.S. State Department hinted at this approach in a statement denouncing the blockade. As part of that compromise, Azerbaijan would guarantee the freedom of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
This would be unsatisfying, for it rewards Azerbaijan for starving civilians, and no one could much trust promises from Azerbaijan. But the sad job of diplomats is to devise flawed, much-hated agreements that are better than any alternative outcome, and in this case, a defective deal is preferable to the mass starvation and ethnic cleansing of Armenians, again.
Contact Kristof at Facebook.com/Kristof, Twitter. com/NickKristof or by mail at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018.
LA FORTALEZA – El gobernador Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia firmó 17 medidas legislativas y vetó 5. Pierluisi Urrutia explicó a los presidentes legislativos, mediante carta, las razones para vetar los Proyectos del Senado 141, 962, 615 y el Proyecto Sustitutivo del Senado al Proyecto del Senado 144 y al Proyecto del Senado 147.
El Proyecto del Senado 141 pretendía enmendar la Ley para conceder una licencia a los empleados públicos para donar sangre y la Ley de Cumplimiento con el Plan Fiscal a los fines de aumentar a ocho horas al año la licencia con paga por el tiempo incurrido en la donación de sangre. Al indicar que el proyecto legislativo tiene una muy buena intención, el gobernador advirtió que la Sección 2 de la medida fue aprobada con un insalvable error de técnica legislativa. Pierluisi explicó que si hubiese firmado la medida se hubieran derogado al menos ocho beneficios marginales que incluye, la licencia para asistir a la escuela de los hijos, la licencia deportiva sin sueldo, la licencia deportiva especial, el tiempo para renovar la licencia de conducir, el tiempo voluntario de servicios de emergencias, la licencia militar y el tiempo para vacunar a los hijos.
Por otro lado, el Proyecto del Senado 962 proponía enmendar el Código de Rentas Internas para permitir a la ciudadanía retirar hasta $40 mil de cuentas Individuales de Retiro (IRA) o fideicomisos de empleados sin penalidad contributiva alguna para la compra de los equipos solares y los vehículos impulsados por energía alterna o combinada.
Tras advertir que la medida tiene un fin loable y que ya existen iniciativas de las agencias del Gobierno a esos fines, el gobernador explicó que se desvirtúa el
fin para el cual se crearon las exenciones contributivas en el Código de Rentas Internas para las cuentas IRA o fideicomisos de empleados, las cuales están basadas en, precisamente, promover ahorros a los individuos al llegar su edad de retiro y asegurar que cuenten con los medios suficientes. Además, contrasta con la política pública de la Ley de Capacitación y Planificación para la Seguridad Financiera y el Desarrollo Económico de la Fuerza Laboral en Puerto Rico de 2023 que busca fomentar la seguridad económica de la población.
En lo que respecta al Proyecto del Senado 615, se explicó que durante el proceso legislativo se aprobaron varias enmiendas que modificaron la intención original de la medida la cual tenía lenguaje que hubiese cumplido con la Ley de Apoyo a Estudiantes de Escuelas Públicas del Gobierno de Puerto Rico de 2019.
En cuanto el Proyecto Sustitutivo del Senado 144 y al Proyecto del Senado 147, el gobernador sostuvo que el texto aprobado choca con la reglamentación del sistema federal, pues el proyecto iría por encima de cualquier reglamentación que establezca prohibiciones o límites a personas que hayan cometido cierto delitos de ocupar ciertos puestos. Esto tendría el efecto de que los patronos sujetos a reglamentación federal se enfrentarán a conflictos evidentes entre las disposiciones de este proyecto de ley y la reglamentación federal.
“Esta medida persigue un fin loable al buscar permitir que personas que han cometido delito puedan reinsertarse en la sociedad. Como primer ejecutivo creo firmemente en la rehabilitación. Es por ello que presenté sendas medidas en ambos cuerpos legislativos para ciertas profesiones en Puerto Rico y para reestablecer la facultad del Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación de emitir documentos acreditativos de rehabilitación. De esta manera se permitiría contratar
personas exconfinadas en los municipios. Creo firmemente en estos modelos, que, como varios estados de la Unión, buscan ir cambiando nuestra perspectiva social sobre las personas exconfinadas y hacer valer el mandato de rehabilitación. Sin embargo, las versiones de nuestras propuestas no han sido atendidas”, destacó el gobernador.
Las medidas firmadas fueron: el Proyecto del Senado 299 en su reconsideración se enmienda el Código de Anticorrupción para el Nuevo Puerto Rico a los fines de especificar y reafirmar la intención legislativa de que en caso de que un contratista de Gobierno cometa actos delictivos el contrato será rescindido de manera inmediata y el Estado, a través del Departamento de Justicia, podrá reclamar la indemnización correspondiente.
De otra parte, el gobernador firmó el Proyecto del Senado 465 en su reconsideración, para que los celadores de línea que permanezcan como empleados de alguna agencia o entidad del Gobierno puedan ingresar voluntariamente como integrantes de la Reserva de Celadores de Puerto Rico la cual estará adscrita a la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) y al contratante.
SAN JUAN – La secretaria del Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP), Eileen Vélez Vega anunció a finales de la semana pasada que extendió el periodo para renovación de los marbetes por la situación con el sistema de inspección de vehículos.
“Durante el día de hoy [el viernes] dio inicio el proceso de renovación de los derechos de conducir en las vías, utilizando el nuevo marbete digital. El sistema, que está anclado en la plataforma de CESCO Digital está funcional y disponible a todos los ciudadanos con todas sus funcionalidades.
Alrededor del mediodía, hubo un incidente relacionado al sistema que apoya las transacciones de inspección de los vehículos en las Estaciones de Inspección (EOI) conocido como CARTEK. Este
sistema no es gestionado por el Gobierno de Puerto Rico. No obstante, este sistema es fundamental para realizar las transacciones de renovación en los centros de inspección, por lo que estamos trabajando junto a PRITS, en colaboración con el proveedor para resolver esta situación de manera expedita.
Ante este incidente y para facilitar que ciudadanos cuenten con el tiempo necesario para realizar sus transacciones se ha emitido la Resolución 2023-20, que extiende el periodo de renovación por 15 días para los propietarios de vehículos con marbetes que vencen en agosto.
Seguimos trabajando junto a los centros de inspección y sus proveedores para garantizar que los procesos continúen operando de manera eficiente y confiable”, dijo Vélez Vega en declaraciones escritas.
Gobernador firma varias medidas y veta otras
Jimmy Buffett built a pop-culture empire on the daydream of “wastin’ away again in Margaritaville”: just hanging out on a tropical beach, drink in hand, a little wistful but utterly relaxed. The empire’s cornerstone was his 1977 hit “Margaritaville,” a catalog of minor mishaps — a misplaced saltshaker, a cut foot — that were all easily soothed with “that frozen concoction.”
It’s a countryish song with south-of-the border touches like marimba and flutes, a style jovially summed up as “Gulf and Western.” It’s a resort-town fantasy of creature comforts close at hand, and, of course, it’s a drinking song. Buffett leveraged it into a major brand for restaurants, resorts, clothing, food and drink, as well as a perpetual singalong on his robust touring circuit, where his devoted fans — the Parrot Heads — gathered eagerly in their Hawaiian shirts.
Buffett cannily marketed his good-timey image; it made him a billionaire. He came up with wry song premises like the one behind “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” which starts as the lament of an attempted vegetarian who can’t resist carnivorous impulses. He brought jokey wordplay to his song and album titles and his band name, the Coral Reefers, and he summed up his career with the boxed-set
title “Boats, Beaches, Bars and Ballads.” Country singers like Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Zac Brown latched on to his seaside-and-booze themes and acknowledged his influence by sharing duets with him.
But Buffett’s songwriting wasn’t all smiley and onedimensional. “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane,” he sang in “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.” He wrote about characters with sadder-but-wiser backstories, like the 86-year-old who had lost his wife and
son in wartime in “He Went to Paris,” the hapless robber in “The Great Filling Station Holdup” and the sometime smuggler in “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” who shrugs, “I feel like I’ve drowned, gonna head uptown.”
As a conservationist, Buffett also, humorously or humbly, contemplated the power and beauty of nature in songs like “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season”; its narrator writes a song as a storm moves in, but also worries, “I can’t run at this pace very long.” In “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On,” from his 2006 album “Take the Weather With You,” the singer looked back on what Hurricane Katrina had done to New Orleans.
The backdrop to Buffett’s party tunes is often one of relief, not entitlement. He sings about mistakes, regrets, work, longing, nostalgia and, beginning decades ago, the inevitability of aging: “I can see the day when my hair’s full gray / And I finally disappear,” he sang on his 1983 song “One Particular Harbour,” a staple of his live sets.
So the drinks and parties and vacations and boat trips, or finally being able to settle down in that place by the beach, became consolations for past troubles — even if those troubles were self-made. Buffett helped listeners feel like they’d earned the good times just by holding on long enough to enjoy them. The party was justified — reason enough to order another round.
After it was announced Friday that singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett had died, a wave of tributes came from his lifelong fans, including presidents, actors and at least one sports team.
News of the “Margaritaville” singer’s death was published in a statement on his website; it did not say where he died or specify a cause. Buffett had rescheduled concerts set for this spring, saying he had been hospitalized for unspecified “immediate” health concerns.
Buffett’s music was often described as “Gulf and Western,” and his fans referred to themselves as Parrot Heads and came from all walks of life.
A day after Buffett’s death was announced, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden offered their condolences to Buffett’s family.
“A poet of paradise, Jimmy Buffett was an American music icon who inspired generations to step back and find the joy in life and in one another,” the president said in a statement, adding that Buffett’s songs were witty and wistful, celebrating “a uniquely American cast of characters and seaside folkways.”
Former President Bill Clinton looked back fondly on Buffett’s performance at the White House.
“I’ll always be grateful for his kindness, generosity, and great performances through the years, including at the White House in 2000,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “My thoughts are with his family, friends, and legion of devoted fans.”
Major sports franchises and fellow entertainers also recognized the singer’s death on social media. The NBA’s Miami Heat wrote on X that Buffett had been a longtime season ticket holder and that “Jimmy knew well the power that music and sports has of bringing people together.” And country music singer Toby Keith wrote on social media, “The pirate has passed,” calling Buffett a “tremendous influence on so many of us.”
Lawrence Leritz, an actor and choreographer, met Buffett much earlier in his career, in the 1980s, when Buffett had a small role on the soap opera “All My Children.” At the time Leritz, who played a bellhop and server on the show, didn’t know who Buffett was, and offered him some acting advice.
Leritz recalled that Buffett said: “I’ve never done this before. I’m kind of nervous. Any tips?” He said he advised
Buffett to treat the scene like a normal conversation — deliver the lines and genuinely listen to what the other actor is saying. Eventually Leritz pieced together whom he had been talking to, and now, he said, it’s a memory he holds dear.
“I think about him all the time,” Leritz said. “A lot of actors try to act tough, but he was just so sweet and open.”
Jimmy Buffett, who built a business empire around the song “Margaritaville,” performs in Key West, Fla., in 2011.In “Bottoms,” a pair of teenagers start a fight club in their high school gym. The twist: The pugilists are lesbians, and they are whaling on each other — in the guise of self-defense — as a way to attract the hottest cheerleaders. (It’s a satire on many levels.)
Writer-director Emma Seligman had the idea and sold the script — to Elizabeth Banks’ production company — even before her feature debut, “Shiva Baby,” put her on the indie filmmaker map in 2021.
“I really love teen adventure movies,” Seligman said in a phone interview, “and giving queer kids the chance to be in that story.”
Seligman, 28, grew up in Toronto in a family of film buffs. “Everyone here is always just talking about movies,” she said. By 10, she was a judge at a children’s film festival; later she got involved with the Toronto International Film Festival. She studied the subject at New York University, where she met the two stars of “Bottoms” — Rachel Sennott (who co-wrote the film) and Ayo Edebiri, a breakout actress from “The Bear.” (Seligman has an eye for talent: “Bottoms” also features Nicholas Galitzine, of “Red, White & Royal Blue,” as a quarterback boyfriend; and former NFL player Marshawn Lynch as a teacher with questionable methods.)
“Shiva Baby,” about a young woman who encounters her sugar daddy at a shiva, was based on Seligman’s experience of Jewish life and on her college milieu. “I went on one sugar date,” she said. “Not everyone was doing it, but so many people were doing it to the point where it was so normal.” (It wasn’t ultimately her thing.)
“Bottoms,” though it exists in a heightened world, is also personal. “It’s just wanting to see yourself,” said Seligman, who is gay. As she recalled Banks telling her: “You can’t underestimate how much young people want to see themselves onscreen.”
These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Q: “Shiva Baby” had a small cast and essentially one set. “Bottoms” has an ensemble and multiple locations. How did you prepare to scale up?
A: The jump was quite challenging. I knew there were going to be a million and one lessons I was going to have to learn, but I just didn’t know what they were going to be. It’s like knowing you’re about to get hazed but not knowing how.
I tried to have conversations with as many directors as I could to get their advice — Adam McKay, Greg Berlanti, who directed “Love, Simon,” and Atom Egoyan. It was helpful, but most of them were like, “You’re not going to know until you’re just doing it.” I went to [Elizabeth Banks’] house before we shot, and we talked about costume and hair and improv — it wasn’t her
giving didactic advice. It was me asking: “As a director, how do you prepare to do this?” And everyone was like, stop asking questions. Stop getting in your head.
Q: Rachel Sennott has starred in both your films. What clicked with you two?
A: Neither of us were in the industry or came from industry families. Her level of ambition and organization and her intense work ethic were really inspiring. It’s a wild thing to be like, “I’m going to devote all this time to writing two screenplays, when there’s nothing in the world telling me that this will work out.” Her energy was: “It’s not crazy, we will do it, and we will make a living.” It’s rare for someone to want to see you succeed as much as they want themselves to succeed.
Q: How did you envision Ayo Edebiri in this role?
A: I met Ayo at a party before I met Rachel. I had a vague idea of “Bottoms” in my head. And I was like, “Oh, if I ever made that high school movie, that girl would be so funny in it.” It’s been really incredible to watch her grow into the success that she’s become. It’s not a surprise at all to me, but I feel a little bit like I have street cred because I’m like, “Yeah, I knew.” She’s just so funny. We finished “Bottoms,” and “The Bear” came out a month later and her world changed.
Q: Where did you want to focus your satire?
A: The way queer teen characters are always so innocent in teen movies. Whether they’re being traumatized or finding love, they’re so sweet and often don’t have any sexual thoughts at all — or if they do, they’re not expressing it, or they’re not talking in a vulgar way. And we also wanted to satirize the way female friendship is often shoved down our throats onscreen with teen girls — characters that are like, “I love you, queen! You’re the best thing ever!” We wanted to make fun of that.
Q: “Bottoms” builds on a lot of the teen movie canon, starting with “Heathers.” What else did you use as a reference?
A: We pulled from that era of the ’90s — I guess “Heathers” is the ’80s — but that kind of female, campy, driven, high school and murder [comedy].
“Bring It On” was a big reference. That movie strikes such a beautiful tone of campiness while caring deeply about the characters — it’s right on the edge. “Pen15,” definitely — looking at the show about this beautiful female friendship, that was so ridiculous and stupid at the same time, and so relatable. That came out right around when we started writing. “Wet Hot American Summer” was a big one. There’s not murder in that. But they do get addicted to heroin for the day. And Liz is in it, which is also great.
Q: How did you find the right tone?
A: It took a long time to figure that out. I don’t think Rachel and I originally intended to have the audience care about the characters that much. We actually felt like in female comedy, there’s too much stress on, “Care about these girls” and “Care about the friendship.” We wanted to give the female characters a chance to be so [terrible] that you’re not supposed to care about them at all. But I think over the years, as we would get notes from our producers or the studio, we let up a little bit.
I really think tone is always the trickiest thing to master. And I would love one day to do a movie that’s just one genre, to see if it’s any easier than a horror-indie-dramedy-action-teen-sex-comedy, or whatever we did.
Cartagena de Indias, a colonial port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, can be so hypnotically hot (even with the ocean breeze and occasional tropical downpour) that visitors may feel as if they are drifting through a dream world of cobblestone lanes and Afro-Colombian drumbeats — a sensation captured by the magical realism in Gabriel García Márquez’s Cartagena-set novels. A weekend is perfect for a robust introduction through two adjacent, walkable neighborhoods. The Old Town is still surrounded by the stone walls built by Spanish colonists, who also left behind opulent mansions and churches. Neighboring Getsemani is an artsy, semi-residential enclave with a popular street-party scene, overlooked by the 16th-century fortress that looms on a hill nearby. And if the heat does get to you, order a limonada de coco, the slushy coconut limeade that keeps coastal Colombians deliciously cool.
Friday
3 p.m. | Snack your way around
Kick off a visit with a walking tour through the city’s connected Old Town and Getsemani neighborhoods, the triangular heart of the city between the Caribbean Sea and San Lázaro Lagoon. Several groups offer free walking tours departing from the egg-yolk-colored main gate and clock tower, called the Puerta del Reloj, the original entrance into the walled city. For a more curated experience, Cartagena Connections adapts guided tours to visitors’ interests, such as architecture, history or photography (two-hour group tours start around 123,000 Colombian pesos, or $30, per person; private tour rates vary). The popular street food tour includes stops to taste wedges of salted green mango, corn arepas filled with cheese, and mamoncillo, a local lychee-like fruit.
Some of Cartagena’s most exquisite moments are impromptu scenes found when strolling aimlessly through the Old Town’s narrow streets, past bougainvilleacovered colonial buildings and palm-tree studded squares. Walk through Parque del Centenario, a compact park that some monkeys and sloths call home. Stop by several shops within walking distance: Evok makes chocolates infused with Amazonian fruits; Ábaco Libros y Café, adored by travelers, offers a cozy world of books and coffee; St. Dom has chic Colombian designer clothes and jewelry; Loto del Sur has soaps and lotions used in some of Colombia’s finest boutique hotels; and Silvia Tcherassi has colorful long dresses. Stop by El Centro Artesano Guazuma for crafts like baskets — nicknamed four breasts for their shape — woven by Indigenous women from the Guapi area of Colombia’s western coast.
Perch on top of history by watching the sunset on the famous walls, or Las Murallas, that surround the Old Town. King Phil-
ip III of Spain ordered the nearly 7 miles of thick stone walls built after British privateer Francis Drake captured and plundered Cartagena in 1586. The walls, along with the port and San Felipe de Barajas Castle, have been recognized by UNESCO as one of the most extensive examples of military architecture in the Western Hemisphere. Near the westernmost stretch of the wall, the sun descends right over the Caribbean. Many visitors join the long queue here to watch from Café del Mar, a restaurant beside the wall. But locals often enjoy the sunset free — and without the line — by bringing provisions and finding a spot on the wall’s warm stones, a practice they jokingly call murallando (“walling”).
8 p.m. | Taste the Caribbean
Mar y Zielo is a picturesque restaurant hidden inside a colonial mansion in the center of the Old Town. On one floor, the open kitchen faces a wall of tropical plants and a moody, open-air bar; up another set of stairs, a lush rooftop awaits for a starlit meal. Diners can try dishes with regional ingredients like stewed goat (88,000 pesos); croquettes of jaiba, a typical crab found along the Colombian coast (56,000
pesos); or, to drink, a frozen, magentacolored corozo juice, made from the tart, cherrylike local fruit (12,000 pesos).
9:30 p.m. | Revel in the Old Town
After dark, the Old Town is a cacophony of hawkers, street performers and horse-drawn carriages (skip, the animals are often not treated well). Prostitutes also frequent the area; be advised that sex trafficking has been exacerbated by instability in neighboring Venezuela. Despite these realities, the Old Town in the evening is well lit, beautiful and busy. Start at the Plaza de San Diego, on the walled city’s eastern end, where vendors sell souvenirs and snacks like carimañolas, fried yucca dough stuffed with meat (2,000 pesos). Then swing by Alquímico, a three-level party palace with a rooftop dance floor. There may be a line to enter, but usually no cover. Farther west, on the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, El Barón offers Latin America’s finest spirits paired with cigars from across the region.
Saturday
8 a.m. | Start with local coffee
Colombia is one of the world’s biggest coffee producers, so no visit is complete without tasting a local brew. Head to the Getsemani neighborhood — a funkierin-a-good-way version of Old Town, and just a short walk away — to find Libertario Coffee Roasters, a coffee geek’s dream. Experiment with an infinitely customizable menu of java, then purchase bags of beans (around 57,000 pesos a pound) and big bottles of cold brew (49,000 pesos) to take home. The windows at the bar counter open out onto the bustling neighborhood, whose walls are covered in street art. At night, the scene is very different, but in the early morning, a soft sea breeze winds its way through the still-uncrowded streets, and fruit vendors cruise the plazas, making for perfect morning views over coffee.
From page 19
On a hill near Getsemani, looming powerfully over Cartagena like the Parthenon over Athens, Greece, is San Felipe de Barajas Castle, a mandatory stop for comprehending the scale and brutality of Spanish colonial power and the city’s importance in Latin American history. Visitors to the 16th-century fortress, which was built by enslaved Africans, can walk through its warren of eerily lit underground tunnels. On the fort’s eastern side, a 21-minute animated film retells the site’s bloody battles (Spanish with English captions). While the process can be a bit disorganized, guides at the site offer private or group tours in English (price can be negotiated; generally around 100,000 pesos per person). For visitors with mobility limitations, note that it can be a hot 10-minute walk uphill to reach the fort, and once there, some parts are accessible only by stairs. Bring water.
The petite Sambal, on a busy Getsemani street, is easy to miss but a neat travelers’ find. Its narrow space belies a full-throttle menu of well-presented takes on local favorites, including ceviche topped with fried squid (50,000 pesos) and oxtail tacos (30,000 pesos). Service is attentive, but the ambience is low-key. An open kitchen allows you to smell your meal before you see it. Don’t skip the soursop cheesecake (28,000 pesos), one of the restaurant’s creative flavor combinations. Reserve the window seat for an entertaining view of buskers passing the neighborhood’s striking street graffiti.
La Serrezuela, on the eastern end of the Old Town, in an area called San Diego, is a shopping mall that has seen plenty of heart-pumping excitement. Constructed in 1893, it originally served as the town’s central theater and bullfighting arena. In 2019, a modern shopping mall was grafted onto the old wood and stone coliseumlike structure, creating a fluid juxtaposition of past and present that has earned global design accolades. Inside, find pieces from many of Colombia’s most coveted fashion brands: reversible bikinis at Maaji, leather weekender bags at Sabandija and crisp menswear at Victor del Peral.
People walk down a pedestrian-only lane in Getsemani in Cartagena, Colombia, in August 2023. In two pedestrian-only lanes in Getsemani, tourists and locals cluster at plastic tables and lean against door frames, out of which some residents sell beer and rum drinks.
Open-air patios throughout offer views across the town’s wetlands, and the former bullfighting floor is now the food court, from which you can still see the arena benches.
5 p.m. | Rooftop hop
Don’t be inside during a Cartagena sunset. You could take a rooftop dance class set to local champeta music, an Afro-Colombian-influenced genre also called la terapia (the therapy), taught by locals through the group Black Legacy Experiences (about 123,000 pesos per person). There are many rooftop hotel bars in the Old Town to watch the sunset from as well — flit from spot to spot until one suits your vibe. Mirador Gastro Bar at Hotel Torre del Reloj has an up-close view of the city’s clock tower, which is breathtaking when lit up at night. Movich Hotel’s rooftop is one of the highest, with vast views from the infinity pool over the Old Town and to the Caribbean Sea beyond. Sophia Hotel has one of the larger rooftop pools, and offers a view of San Pedro Claver Church, the church whose eponym, Jesuit priest Peter Claver, is considered the saint of slaves (both pools are open only to hotel guests).
8:30 p.m. | Book a
Celele, an intimate restaurant on a calm Getsemani back street, feels
like a visit to someone’s home, with simple wooden tables, earth tones and exposed rafters. But the familial appearance is deceiving, as Celele stands high above Cartagena’s other restaurants. What started as a pop-up project around 2016 focused on resuscitating historic recipes with organic and local ingredients is now the most coveted seat in town. Chef Jaime Rodríguez captures Cartagena’s juncture between South America and the Caribbean in meticulously presented dishes: A smoked fish is covered in colorful flower-petal “scales” (58,200 pesos), and a coconut sorbet is served in a nearly soccer-ball-size pomelo (35,000 pesos). Reservations are essential.
10:30
Get your bearings amid Getsemani’s exploding nightlife at the Plaza de la Trinidad, a rounded, church-anchored plaza popular with skateboarders, vendors selling skewers of meat, and roving rappers who create unsolicited rhymes for tips. Stroll down the colorful Calle del Pozo to reach the pedestrian-only lanes, colloquially known as Callejón Ancho and Callejón Angosto (wide alleyway and narrow alleyway). In the evening, tourists and locals cluster at plastic tables and lean against door frames, out of which some residents sell beer and rum drinks. When you are ready to dance, walk a couple of blocks to Café Havana for a night of twirling around a central bar surrounded by black-and-white portraits of salsa’s greatest musicians. Exuberant, 10-plus-piece bands perform until 2 a.m., for a cover charge of around 50,000 pesos.
Sunday
10:30
After a night of dancing, a late and lazy brunch hits the spot come Sunday morning. Townhouse Hotel’s rooftop in the Old Town merges Latin American flavors with bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys (135,000 pesos for brunch and unlimited beverages), and a DJ and plunge pool keep the party going. A block away, the no-frills Café de la Mañana offers a much more chilled breakfast escape inside a cute, whitewashed home. There are only about a dozen tables, but the menu ranges from healthy picks like muesli with fruit juice (14,000 pesos) to a more hearty plate of chorizo and arepas (22,500 pesos).
The UNESCO-designated Old Town, Cartagena’s inner walled city, merges historical architecture with modern shops and restaurants, and is often compared to Old San Juan or New Orleans’ French Quarter.
Celele is a rising-star restaurant in the Getsemani neighborhood that serves elegantly presented Colombian-Caribbean dishes.
San Felipe de Barajas Castle is a 16thcentury fortress on a rocky crag overlooking the city.
La Serrezuela is a former bullring and theater that has been re-imagined as a shopping mall packed with local design boutiques.
Mar y Zielo is a stylish, low-lit Old Town restaurant with great service and inventive dishes made with local ingredients.
Alquímico is an acclaimed multifloor bar and restaurant, and later in the night, a discothèque.
El Barón is an unpretentious restaurant and bar that pairs beverages and cigars on a popular square.
Libertario Coffee Roasters is a coffeelover’s mecca in the middle of Getsemani.
Sambal is a small Getsemani restaurant with an open kitchen and a knockout dessert menu.
Café de la Mañana is a sweet little cafe in the historic center with affordable breakfast plates and icy cold coffees.
Casa San Agustin, a luxurious Old Town hotel with a spa and a pool, is near the elegant Alma restaurant and plenty of nightlife. Doubles start from around 2,300,000 Colombian pesos, or about $560 a night.
Casa del Coliseo is an upper midrange boutique hotel ideally located in the heart of the Old Town, with a rooftop pool and some rooms with street-facing, flower-covered balconies. Doubles start around 1,150,000 pesos.
Amarla Boutique Hotel is a sevenroom hideaway in the Old Town with a checkerboard floor that can also be booked as a whole for groups. Doubles from around 992,000 pesos.
For short-term rentals, look in the Old Town or Getsemani, where most tourist sites are concentrated. Or, a short drive away, ocean views are available in the high-rises of the Bocagrande neighborhood.
COVID cases have risen. Flu season is approaching. And new vaccines for the virus known as RSV recently became available.
This swirl of developments has left many people wondering which vaccine shots they should be getting and when.
The main message that I heard from experts is that Americans should shift how they think about respiratory viruses. For the past few cold-weather seasons (which are also when viruses spread most), we obsessed over COVID. This year, we should take a broader approach. “It’s not only COVID you have to think about,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and author of a forthcoming book, “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science.”
The good news is that there are vaccines and treatments that reduce risks from all major viruses likely to circulate this season, including COVID. “For the past couple of seasons, the notion was that COVID controlled us,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s principal deputy director. “The tables have turned, not just for COVID but for the others.”
The most immediate step worth considering involves RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus. It is a common winter virus that usually causes mild coldlike illness but can be dangerous for young children and older adults, as Emily Martin, a public health researcher at the University of Michigan, has told The New York Times. This spring, the federal government approved the first RSV vaccines, for people aged 60 and older. If you qualify, consider getting your RSV vaccine shot now. Shah, the CDC official, recently urged his mother to do so. Hotez, who’s 65, has received his own RSV shot.
Why now? RSV tends to circulate somewhat earlier than the flu. If you’re 60 or over, “you don’t want to get into November without having an RSV vaccine,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, a former White House COVID adviser and current dean of Brown University’s public health school.
What about infants? Although there is no RSV vaccine for them, children under
8 months (and some who are older) can receive an advance antibody treatment to prevent severe illness. Parents may want to ask their pediatrician about it. It’s sufficiently new that not all doctors have it yet.
The flu officially kills about 35,000 Americans in a typical year, and the true toll is probably higher. As Jha said, the flu also weakens the body in ways that make heart attacks and strokes more common, especially among the elderly. “We underestimate the impact that respiratory viruses have on our population,” he said. “The flu can knock people out for weeks, even younger people.”
Yet the flu’s toll would be lower if more people got a vaccine shot. In recent years, less than half of Americans have done so.
This year’s flu vaccine shots are now available at drugstores, hospitals, doctor’s offices and elsewhere. You may want to wait until late September or October to get one, though. The heaviest parts of flu season tend to occur between December and February. If you wait, the shot’s protection against severe illness will still be near its strongest level during those months.
3. COVID
The best defenses against COVID haven’t changed: vaccines and post-infection treatments. They are especially important for vulnerable people, like the elderly and the immunocompromised. “Overwhelmingly, those who are being hospitalized are unvaccinated or undervaccinated,” Hotez said.
The federal government is on track to approve updated COVID vaccine shots, designed to combat recent variants, in mid-September. Once it does, all adults should consider getting a booster shot. Many Americans have now gone more than a year without one, and immunity has waned.
Yes, severe COVID remains rare in people under 50, especially if they have received a vaccine shot or had the virus — and nearly all Americans fall into one or both categories. But COVID can still be nasty even if it doesn’t put you in the hospi-
tal. A booster shot will reduce its potency.
every intention of taking Paxlovid.”
The bottom line
I’ve offered specific advice here about the ideal time to get different vaccine shots. But don’t exaggerate the importance of timing. As Shah said, “What I care more about is that you get all three shots if you’re eligible rather than when you get all three.”
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CASAS VENTA
Shah argues that children (over 6 months old) should also get a COVID shot this fall, even though their own COVID risk is very low. “We should be thinking bigger than just ourselves,” he said. “Do you want to see your grandpa? Do you want to hang out with your grandma? Are you really sure you’re not going to give COVID to them?” Even some boosted older people get severe versions of COVID.
A good strategy for many people may be to get their COVID booster and flu shot at the same time, in late September or October.
And if you’re older and you get COVID, talk to a doctor about taking Paxlovid or a different treatment. It can make a big difference. “When I get COVID,” said Jha, who’s 52 and healthy, “I have
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a $9,583.23 y la cual continúa acumulándose hasta el pago total y solvente del principal a razón de $18.09 diarios (“per diem”); mas $11,885.56 por concepto de cargos por demora los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo de la deuda, en adición a costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, según pactados, disponiendose que si quedare algun remanente luego de pagarse las sumas antes mencionadas del mismo debera ser depositado en la Secretaria del Tribunal para ser entregado a la parte interesada previa solicitud y orden del Tribunal. La venta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravámenes que afecte la mencionada finca. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. LA PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 2:45 DE LA TARDE, precio mínimo es la suma de $100,000.00, según pactados en la Escritura de Hipoteca de cada finca, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, la misma se llevará a efecto el día 26 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023
A LAS 2:45 DE LA TARDE, precio mínimo es la suma de $66,666.67, equivalente a dos terceras partes (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta, en la oficina del referido, Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce Puerto Rico. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 3 DE
OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS
2:45 DE LA TARDE, precio mínimo es la suma de $50,000.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localiza en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce Puerto Rico. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confir-
mada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 17 de agosto de 2023. MANUEL
MALDONADO, ALGUACIL DE LA DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE AIBONITO BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE VÍCTOR COLÓN GARCÍA, COMPUESTA POR:
CARLOS ALBERTO COLÓN RODRÍGUEZ, LUZ VIRGINIA COLÓN BERMÚDEZ, VÍCTOR COLÓN BERMÚDEZ, SARA COLÓN BERMÚDEZ, YOLANDA COLÓN BERMÚDEZ, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESION DE CARMEN RODRÍGUEZ ARROYO, COMPUESTA POR:
SUTANO Y PERECEJO
DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO
Demandados
CIVIL NÚM: AI2019CV00464.
(001). SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE Puerto Rico, SS.
A: PUBLICO EN GENERAL.
El Alguacil del Tribunal que suscribe anuncia y hace constar: A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Comerío, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor de contado y en moneda de curso legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América y cuyo pago se efectuará en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, todo derecho, título o interés que tenga la Parte Demandada en el bien inmueble que se describe a continuación:
URBANA: Lote número 6 del Bloque A de la Urbanización Sabana Del Palmar localizada en el Barrio Río Hondo, del municipio de Comerío, con área total de cuatrocientos ocho metros,quinientos setenta y seis decímetros cuadrados. En lindes: por el NORTE, con área verde; por el SUR, con calle número 4; por el ESTE, con el lote número 7; por el OESTE, con el lote número 5. Casa: Estructura de una planta construida en hormigón y bloques, tres dormitorios, un baño, cocina, comedor, sala, marquesina. Dicha construcción tiene un área de 101.47 metros cuadrados. Inscrita al folio 36 del tomo 153 de Comerío, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Barranquitas, finca número 9,886. Dirección fisica: A-06 Sabana del Palmar, Comerío, Puerto Rico, 00782. B. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables bajo el epígrafe de este caso. C. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. D. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer a
la parte demandante el importe de la sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a la suma principal de $ 42,504.23, la suma de $5,910.83, que incluye intereses según pactados, cargos por demora y otros cargos, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma de 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se celebrará el día 29 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en la Oficina del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Comerío, por el tipo mínimo de $63,498.00. De declararse desierta dicha subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 6 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la segunda subasta lo será 2/3 partes del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $42,332.00. De declararse desierta dicha segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 13 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la tercera subasta lo será 1/2 del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $ 31,749.00. Y PARA QUE ASÍ CONSTE, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general y por un término de catorce (14) días en los sitios públicos conforme a la ley, expido la presente bajo mi firma y sello de este tribunal, hoy 18 de agosto de 2023 en Comerío, Puerto Rico. JULIÁN VEGA, ALGUACIL.
***
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CIDRA EN CAGUAS ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Parte Demandante Vs. WALEIRIA J RIVERA MEDINA
Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. CD2023CV00017 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.
A: WALEIRIA J RIVERA MEDINAURB EST DEL BOSQUE 378 CALLE PALMERAS, CIDRA PR 00739. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.
ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. José F. Aguilar Vélez cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección jose. aguilar@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law. com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en CIDRA EN CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, hoy día 22 de JUNIO de 2023. En CIDRA EN CAGUAS Puerto Rico el 22 de JUNIO de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, Secretaria. Sheila Rivera Medina, Secretaria Auxiliar.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, como agente de FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante Vs. KEVIN J. ROMERO ROSARIO
Demandado
CIVIL NÚM.: BY2022CV04495
SALÓN: 505 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS:
A: Kevin J. Romero RosarioUrb. Country EST F4 Calle 5 Bayamón, PR 00956. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto.
Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr. salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal.
Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la de-
manda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de junio de 2023. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sánchez. Militza Mercado Rivera, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE COMPU-LINK CORPORATION, D/B/A CELINK DEMANDANTE VS. SUCESION ISMAEL
ANGEL ANDRES MARTIN
CLAUSELLS T/C/C
ISMAEL A. ANDRES
MARTIN CLAUSELLS
T/C/C ISMAEL ANGEL
ANDRES MARTIN
CLAUSELL T/C/C ISMAEL
MARTIN CLAUSELLS
T/C/C ISMAEL A. MARTIN COMPUESTA POR
GUIVANNA MARTIN
GARDON, MARIA
ALEXANDRA MARTIN
GARDON; JOHN DOE
Y JANE DOE COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; HILDA
MARGARITA GARDON
STELLA T/C/C HILDA
M. GARDON STELLA
T/C/C MARGIE GARDON
STELLA T/C/C HILDA M.
GARDON MARTIN POR SÍ
Y EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
DEMANDADOS
CIVIL NUM.: PO2023CV01153.
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS
UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
A: GUIVANNA MARTIN
GARDON; JOHN DOE
Y JANE DOE COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS
DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION ISMAEL
ANGEL ANDRES MARTIN
CLAUSELLS T/C/C
MARTIN CLAUSELLS
T/C/C ISMAEL ANGEL
ANDRES MARTIN
CLAUSELL T/C/C ISMAEL
MARTIN CLAUSELLS
T/C/C ISMAEL A. MARTIN.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto.
Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.
Greenspoon Marder, LLP
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Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 7 de agosto de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARIELY FÉLIX RIVERA, SUB-SECRETARIA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE ARECIBO
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. ROSELYN
SAEZ RODRIGUEZ
Demandada
CIVIL NUM.: CCD2014-0048.
SALA: 0404. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Arecibo, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 2 de agosto de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Parcela identifi-
cada en el plano de inscripción como el solar número 1 del Bloque “B” de la Urbanización Jardines de Palo Blanco, localizado en el sector Palo Blanco del Barrio Miraflores del municipio de Arecibo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de quinientos diecinueve punto mil ochocientos ochenta y seis (519.1886) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con Lote número B-2; por el SUR, con Calle número uno (1); por el ESTE, con Calle número cuatro (4); y por el OESTE, con camino municipal. Enclava una residencial de concreto de una planta dedicada a fines residenciales. Inscrita en la Finca 45,453, al folio 40 del tomo 1,146 de Arecibo. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Arecibo. La propiedad está ubicada, según pagaré, en: B-1 Almendro (4) St., Jardines de Palo Blanco, Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante: Aviso de Demanda de fecha 24 de enero de 2014, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Arecibo, en el caso civil número CCD20140048, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecucion de Hipoteca seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Roselyn Sáez Rodríguez, por la suma de $81,318.38 mas intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 19 de octubre de 2022, al tomo Karibe de Arecibo, finca número 45,453, anotación B. Embargo según Mandamiento de fecha 2 de junio de 2014, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Arecibo, en el caso civil número CCD2014-0048, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Roselyn Sáez Rodríguez, por la suma de $81,318.38 más intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 19 de octubre de 2022, al tomo Karibe de Arecibo, finca número 45,453, anotación C. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día el 28 de marzo de 2014, enmendada el 26 de mayo de 2023, y notificada el 31 de
que si no contesta la demanda dentro del término antes indicado, radicando el original de la contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente, y notificando con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado a favor de la parte demandante sin más citarle ni oírle. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI
FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy 21 de agosto de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional. Ana Celis Márquez Aponte, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal I.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL
GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE AGUADILLASUPERIOR.
COOP DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE ISABELA VS
MEDINA MENDEZ, ISRAEL
CASO: ACD2016-0065. SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA.
SUCESION DE JUANA
NOELIA MONTANO
QUIÑONES COMPUESTA
POR; OMAYRA MEDINA
MONTANO, YADIRA
MEDINA MONTANO, ISRAEL MEDINA
MONTANO, SARA IVETTE
MEDINA MONTANO Y JOSE MANUEL
MEDINA MONTANO BO.
GUERRERO 333 CALLE
RAMAL ISABELA, PR 00662
NOTIFICACION DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. EL
SECRETARIO(A) QUE SUS-
CRIBE LE NOTIFICA A USTED
QUE EL 14 DE ABRIL DE 2023
, ESTE TRIBUNAL HA DICTADO SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA
PARCIAL O RESOLUCION EN
ESTE CASO, QUE HA SIDO
DEBIDAMENTE REGISTRA-
DA Y ARCHIVADA EN AUTOS
DONDE PODRA USTED ENTERARSE DETALLADAMENTE DE LOS TERMINOS DE LA
MISMA. ESTA NOTIFICACION
SE PUBLICARA UNA SOLA
VEZ EN UN PERIODICO DE CIRCULACION GENERAL EN
LA ISLA DE PUERTO RICO, DENTRO DE LOS 10 DIAS
SIGUIENTES A SU NOTIFICA-
CION. Y, SIENDO O REPRESENTANDO USTED UNA PARTE EN EL PROCEDIMIENTO
SUJETA A LOS TERMINOS DE LA SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA
PARCIAL O RESOLUCION, DE LA CUAL PUEDE ESTABLECERSE RECURSO DE REVISION O APELACION
DENTRO DEL TERMINO DE 30 DIAS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE LA PUBLICACION
POR EDICTO DE ESTA NOTIFICACION, DIRIJO A USTED
ESTA NOTIFICACION QUE SE CONSIDERARA HECHA EN LA FECHA DE LA PUBLICACION DE ESTE DICTO. COPIA DE ESTA NOTIFICACION HA SIDO ARCHIVADA EN LOS AUTOS DE ESTE CASO, CON FECHA DE 30 DE AGOSTO DE 2023.
LIC. FIGUEROA MERCED, GILBERTO GFMCOBROLEGAL@GMAIL.COM EN AGUADILLA, PUERTO RICO, A 30 DE AGOSTO DE 2023. Sarahi Reyes Perez, Secretario. Por: F/ Zuheily Gonzalez Aviles, Secretario Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA
TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE ARECIBO
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante Vs. LUIS O SOTO MADURO
Demandado
CIVIL NÚM.: AR2023CV00584
SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO.
EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.
A: LUIS O. SOTO
MADURO POR LA
PRESENTE: Se le notifica que contra usted se ha presentado una Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero. Por la presente se le emplaza a usted y se le requiere que dentro del término de TREINTA (30) días desde la fecha de la Publicación por Edicto de este Emplazamiento presente su contestación a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https: //unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Arecibo, P.O. Box 6005, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 00613-6005 y notifique a la LCDA. GINA H. FERRER MEDINA, personalmente al Condominio Las Nereidas, Local 1-B, Calle Méndez Vigo esquina Amador Ramírez Silva, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00680; o por correo al P.O. Box 2342, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-2342, Teléfonos: (787) 832-9620 / (845) 345-3985 / (787) 538-9920, Abogada de la parte demandante, apercibiéndose que en caso de no hacerlo así podrá dictarse Sentencia en Rebeldía en contra suya, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPIDO BAJO MI Firma y el sello del Tribunal hoy 7 de agosto de 2023. Vivian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria Regional. Brunilda Hernández Méndez, Sub- Secretaria.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN. COMPU-LINK CORPORATION, D/B/A CELINK Demandante vs. SUCESION ARMANDO
VALLE RAMON COMPUESTA POR JOHN
DOE Y JANE DOE COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA CE TRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; Demandados
CIVIL NUN. SJ2023CV06594.
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZNIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.
A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO
POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION ARMANDO
VALLE RAMON
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramaíudiciaí.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.
Greenspoon Marder, LLP
Lcda. Frances L. Asericio-Guido R.U.A. 15,622
TRADE CENTRE SOUTH, SUITE 700
loo WEST CYPRESS CREEK ROAD
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309
Telephone: (954) 343 6273
Frances.Asencio@1aw.com
Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 23 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA
RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria. Brenda Hernandez Zavala, Sec Serv a Sala.
DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN.
LEGACY MORTGAGE
ASSET TRUST 2019-PRl
Parte Demandante Vs.
Parte Demandada
CASO CIVIL NUM: SJ2023CV063S4. SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESlDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ran1ajudicial. pr/sumac/. salvo que se presente por derecho propio. en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda. Marjaliisa Colon Villanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732-7970; Teléfono: 787843-41668. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de octubre de 2021, hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $154,782.91 de balance de principal, más intereses a razón del S.62S00% anual desde el primero de septiembre de 2021, así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo la suma pactada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente. un A VISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: RÚSTICA: Parcela en el Barrio Que-
brada Arenas de Rio Piedras, municipio de San Juan. Puerto Rico, de forma triangular con un área de mil trescientos siete punto mil-quinientos setenta y dos (1,307.1572) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte. con Adolfo Vilanova, antes Cristina Reyes; por el Sur. con la parcela letra “D” a segregarse de la finca principal a dedicarse a uso público y el camino municipal, antes Bonifacio Vigío; por el Este, con la parcela ya segregada propiedad de Luis R. Rivera Rosa y Martina Cotto Ayala (la cual fue segregada de la finca principal); y por el Oeste, con Adolfo Vilanova, antes Pedro Figueroa. Enclava Casa. Es el remanente de esta finca luego de descontado un solar segregado de setecientos punto mil doscientos cuarenta y seis metros cuadrados, según surge de la escritura cuatrocientos setenta y uno (471), otorgada en San Juan el 31 de agosto de mil novecientos noventa y nueve, ante el Notario Pedro J. Caride Cruz, inscrita al margen de la inscripción decima l0ma. Inscrita al folio ciento treinta y uno (131) del Tomo ciento sesenta y ocho (168) de Rio Piedras Sur, finca número cinco mil setecientos catorce (5,714), Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección IV. SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en San Juan, Puerto Rico. A dia 28 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Sec Regional. F/ Brenda Baez Acaba, Sec Serv a Sala.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MANATÍ FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE LLC
Demandante Vs. SUCESION JULIO MUNOZ
TRINIDAD T/C/C JULIO MUÑOZ TRINIDAD
T/C/C JULIO MUÑOZ
COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados
CIVIL NUM.: MT2022CV00170.
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.
Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Manatí, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Manatí, el 12 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcado con el numero cuatrocientos ochenta y ocho (488) en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad
Rural Bajura Adentro del Barrio Bajura Adentro del término municipal de Manatí, con una cabida superficial de quinientos ochenta y siete punto sesenta (587.60) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, con calle y la parcela numero ciento veintitrés (123) de la comunidad; por el Sur, con pastos comunales; por el Este, con la parcela numero ciento noventa y cuatro (194) de la comunidad, y por el Oeste, con la parcela numero cuatrocientos setenta y cinco (475) de la comunidad. Finca número 12,554, inscrita al folio 100 del tomo 321 de Manatí, Registro de la Propiedad de Manatí. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 169 del tomo 580 de Manatí, Finca 12554, Registro de la Propiedad de Manatí, inscripción 5ª. Propiedad localizada en: SOLAR 488 PR 667 KM 3.8, BO. BAJURA ADENTRO, MANATI, PUERTO RICO 00674. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga:
N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $127,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 1 de septiembre de 2082. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubie-
re, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $127,500.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Manatí, el 19 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $85,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $63,750.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Manatí, el 26 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $68,925.23 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $7,606.13 en intereses acumulados al 31 de agosto de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.161% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $3,106.99 en seguro hipotecario; $1,281.97 en seguro; $500.00 de tasaciones; $435.00 de inspecciones; $4,135.00 en preservaciones; $1,722.50 en adelantos de honorarios de abogado; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $12,750.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan
Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Manatí, Puerto Rico, hoy 14 de agosto de 2023. Wilfredo Rodríguez Carrión, Alguacil Confidencial Placa #135.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMIERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON. ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, como agente de FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC Demandante VS. JOEL LOZADA AGOSTO Demandado CIVIL NUM.: NJ2022CV00167. SALON: 702. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. Estados Unidos de America El Presidente de los Estados Unidos El Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. SS:
A: Joel Lozada Agosto - Bo. Cedro Abajo Los Cosme 4 Calles, Naranjito, PR 00719 | HC 71 Box 3220, Naranjito, PR 00719 POR LA PRESENTE Se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste Ia 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), Ia cual puede acceder utilizando Ia siguiente dirección electrónica: httos://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que ser presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en Ia secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el t ribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de Ia parte demandante, el Lcd . Kevin Sanchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a Ia dirección kevin.sanchezi;ort-law. com, y a Ia dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO Ml FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamon, Puerto Rico, hoy 21 de julio de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 21 de julio de 2023. Lcda. Laura I Santa Sanchez, Sec Regional. Maricienid Gonzalez Torres, Sec Auxiliar.
This was the Alex Smith comeback years in the making.
He had endured a gruesome compound fracture in his right leg that led to a life-threatening infection but persisted through all of it to make a triumphant return to the NFL. Months later, in the spring of 2021, he stood with his family on a slope in Big Sky, Montana, ready for the next part of his life.
Rehabilitating his injury for his football comeback, Smith said, “was always just a means to get the rest of my life back.” As a kid, he’d enjoyed the slopes with his parents and siblings. He had not skied since he entered the NFL because his contract barred him from doing so, and he hoped his future could include creating wintry memories with his three children.
So Smith stood on top of a mountain on a leg rebuilt through 17 surgeries (“or 18,” he said. “I forget at the end,”) and hoped that if he could make it down, he’d get to be the kind of present, active parent that Doug and Pam Smith had been to him.
He exhaled and safely whooshed downhill. Shortly after, Alex Smith decided to retire from the NFL even though teams still wanted him. His body had recovered, and Smith now had time for the life that football had stolen from him. He planned on crushing his sons, Hudson and Hayes, now 12 and 10, in basketball, taking them and his daughter, Sloane, now 7, to school most mornings, and accompanying them on every skiing and snowboarding trip.
Taken No. 1 overall in the 2005 NFL draft (23 picks ahead of Aaron Rodgers), Smith had become a steady starting quarterback for San Francisco, Kansas City and finally Washington, driven initially, he concedes, by a fear of failure. He managed by learning to control what he could.
The long slog of rehabbing his leg was one of those controllable aspects of his career, and his return from the horrific injury became the defining triumph of Smith’s 16year professional career. The hill conquered, Smith slipped into an idyllic vision of retirement. The family started building their dream home. He coached Hudson’s flag football team and began doing some football commentary for ESPN.
It lasted almost a year, until the day in May 2022 that upended everything.
Sloane had been sluggish earlier, but that night Smith’s wife, Elizabeth, noticed their daughter was not using her right arm and was slurring her words. She screamed for him to
call 911.
Doctors discovered a brain tumor and rushed Sloane in for an emergency craniotomy to remove it. As they rushed her into surgery, Alex Smith felt a new terror.
He’d never been scared, he said, when doctors mentioned his right leg might have to be amputated. Or when he lined up under center and put that leg in the sights of 300-pound men sent to crush him. Smith still felt like he had some level of control. It was his body on the line.
“It’s different when it’s your little girl, and you’re helpless with how terrifying that is.”
Hospitals carry a familiar scent — and angst.
Sloane is too young to recall much of her father’s playing career.
She was 2 years old when Smith had Washington atop the NFC East, hosting the Houston Texans just before Thanksgiving in 2018. He’d lived a couple NFL lives by then — labeled a draft bust in San Francisco before coach Jim Harbaugh turned his career around; steadied into a playoff contender and regular Pro Bowl selection in Kansas City before Patrick Mahomes took over.
Quarterbacking Washington that day, he
dropped back on a third-and-9, and two Texans converged, landing on top of him. Smith knew his leg was broken before a fuzzy haze completely enveloped him. He didn’t see pieces of bone jutting through his skin. Elizabeth rose from her seat. She saw Smith grab his leg but couldn’t tell if he had hurt his ankle or foot. Hudson grabbed her close as workers rushed to wheel a medical gurney onto the field in Maryland.
Smith endured four separate hospital stays in nine months to save his leg. Hospitals always have an antiseptic odor in the air, one that came to represent for Smith a mixture of hope and angst.
The familiar scent dredged up those emotions as Smith sat in the hospital during the 10-hour surgery to relieve the pressure on Sloane’s brain. Doctors described her having a slow-growing brain tumor they pointed out for him on her scans.
“You just have no idea what it means,” Smith said. “The words brain tumor are terrifying.”
The Smiths greeted Sloane after she woke from sedation after the procedure. She wiggled her right arm and spoke groggily but clearly.
The family video called Sloane’s brothers. Sloane recalled that it was Hudson’s 11th birthday. Unprompted, Sloane slowly and melodically sang him “Happy Birthday.”
The family lives from one scan to the next.
Doctors were not able to remove Sloane’s entire tumor, which was later found to be malignant, in the first surgery, so she needed a second 10-hour procedure this spring. “We found out last fall that essentially that they had missed a piece, that there was a little piece in there left over,” Alex Smith said.
The family lives “scan to scan,” with Sloane’s prognosis. She’s suffered two seizures, Smith said, and the family recently had a meeting with her school about her emergency rescue drug.
The mind leaps ahead, Smith knows. When his does, he tries returning to the moment. What are the facts? What do we know? What’s the reality?
Elizabeth projected strength during Alex’s recovery and return, telling herself that she could not be the weak link. “This is something that I don’t know where the end is,” she said. “We don’t know because of the rarity of her tumor, when it will pop his head back, if it will pop its head back.”
So the Smiths try to maintain a sense of normalcy and count daily victories, especially those on the way to Sloane’s goal of dancing competitively.
“She’s a little badass,” Elizabeth said, adding: “They know that you can overcome things, and you can fight through, and you can go back to living your life. Right? They got to go through that journey with their dad. I think it’s probably hopeful for them, right?”
Before her surgeries, Sloane was their most independent child, the one who could be swaddled and then sleep on her own through the night. The Smiths moved her into their bed following the first craniotomy so she could be properly propped up. They relished every late-night smooch and cuddle.
Sloane recently requested to sleep in her own bed the night before the new school year.
Elizabeth Smith noticed the devastation creep onto her husband’s face. She told him it was good that she was working her way back toward her own room again.
The next night, though, Sloane sleepily returned to her parents’ room.
Alex Smith lit up. Fear strangled him early in his NFL career. He tries to now snap himself into the present and control what he can.
He has this time to be the type of father he hoped to be.
“She’s back,” he said.
Ray Knight scored one of the most famous runs in baseball history, jumping onto home plate and into a sea of gleeful New York Mets teammates to end Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. It was a wild outpouring of joy from a team that played hard and celebrated harder.
But if that same play happened today, the scene would look much different. The Mets would have streamed out of their dugout and, instead of turning left toward home plate, almost certainly sprinted to their right to chase Mookie Wilson, the batter who put the ball in play, slapping his helmet and hugging him tight.
At some point the philosophy of celebrations shifted entirely, with the player who was at bat being the ultimate hero, even if the winning run scored on a fielding error. The one who touches home plate, no matter how dramatic his route to get there, is just the last click of the machine.
“It definitely has changed,” said Ron Darling, a pitcher for the 1986 Mets who is now a broadcaster. “Back then, you wanted to greet the player scoring the winning run. Now you want to reward the guy that does whatever. It’s a 100% change.”
With the playoffs set to begin next month, and the regular season synthesizing into its pennant stretches, the trend will be more evident as walkoff celebrations become more jubilant and expressive.
“It’s an electric feeling when it happens,” said CJ Abrams, the Washington Nationals’ shortstop, whose single on July 26 knocked in Dominic Smith for a walk-off win against the Colorado Rockies, igniting a celebration around Abrams. “You celebrate with the guy
who puts the exclamation point on it.”
But for years, home plate was a focal point of celebrations for walkoff wins on base hits, bases-loaded walks, sacrifice flies, balks and errors (home runs are a different matter, of course). Back then, teammates piled on the person whose physical action of touching home plate won the game — like a running back scoring a touchdown in overtime or a hockey player sliding the game-winning goal past the goalie.
Sid Bream ended the 1992 National League Championship Series by sliding home on a single by the littleknown reserve Francisco Cabrera and was smothered under a pile of his Atlanta teammates. The same went for Ken Griffey Jr. when the Mariners beat the New York Yankees in the decisive Game 5 of their 1995 American League divisional playoff.
Some Mariners players ran to Edgar Martinez, who had the game-winning hit for Seattle in the 11th inning. But Griffey was nearly lost under a massive mound of teammates, which probably would not happen today. In 2004, Johnny Damon scored the winning run in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Yankees. Half the Red Sox players went to Damon at home plate and half went to celebrate with David Ortiz, whose bloop single enabled Damon to score.
Today’s baseball teams credit the last person at bat on a winning play — almost regardless of what they did — so much so that they often ignore players whose hustle and instincts on the base paths were sometimes more consequential.
“I think we all understand how hard it is to get a hit with runners in scoring position in a situation like that,” said Jose Altuve, the Houston Astros’ second baseman, who has been involved in numerous postseason walk-offs. “Any way you get the job done — with a walk, a hit-by-pitch or a home run — you did it, and that’s what we celebrate.”
In an era when analytically driven front offices de-emphasize RBI as a pure statistic, players still believe in their value. Often, players scoring winning runs — like Dansby Swanson in Game 2 of the 2021 NLCS with Atlanta — touch the plate and immediately
look for the teammate who knocked them in.
Smith, who scored on Abrams’ game-winning single earlier this summer, said there was more value in what Abrams had done because he got the hit and the RBI.
“I only got the run,” Smith said. “He had more of a winning play, and that’s why the guys celebrate with him.”
One of the most striking examples happened at the end of Game 4 of the 2020 World Series. Randy Arozarena scored the winning run in the ninth inning after one of the wildest circuits around the bases to end a World Series game. He sprinted from first on a single by Brett Phillips (the ball was booted in the outfield). Arozarena fell down after rounding third base, scrambled to his feet and slid home safely, only because of an error by the Dodgers’ catcher. His play was opportunistic, dramatic and thrilling, and it ignited a raucous celebration. Just not with Arozarena.
As Arozarena lay on his belly, repeatedly tapping home plate with both hands and wearing a smile of delighted surprise on his face, he was completely ignored in the postgame euphoria. Willy Adames, the first teammate on the scene, literally jumped over Arozarena and ran to the outfiåeld to celebrate with Phillips. Brandon Lowe made an almost instinctive, micro-gesture toward Arozarena before running to the outfield, too, as did every other Rays player in the dugout.
“Seeing Randy trip, your heart stopped,” Lowe explained. “But once he scored, we were like, ‘We got to go get Philly.’ I think I gave up halfway trying to catch him.”
Lowe and his fellow Rays chased Phillips across the outfield as the hero evaded them at top speed, his arms carving through the air like airplane wings. That explains part of why the modern celebration focuses on the last player at bat: It is fun to chase teammates around the field.
“If you run to home plate it’s not as dynamic as chasing the guy all over the outfield,” Darling said. “It’s more fun, it’s like you are 10 years old again.”
Jeff Nelson, the former Yankees pitcher who is now a broadcaster, wondered if the stature of the players used to be factor for home plate celebrations of old. Nelson was in the Mariners bullpen on Oct. 8, 1995, when Griffey, perhaps the most popular and talented player in baseball at the time, scored to beat the Yankees.
“I went straight to home plate to jump on the pile,” Nelson recalled. “Maybe it was because it was Ken Griffey Jr. and all he meant to the team and the city. Maybe if it was someone else, we all would have gone to Edgar.”
Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta’s general manager, has seen his team celebrate numerous walk-offs in recent years, including in back-to-back games of the 2021 NLCS on the way to a World Series title. He said only players can fully explain the trend, but he suspects it reflects the modernization of the game.
“I think it’s just the culture now, where players are so much more expressive,” he said. “Back in the day you would never see players pushed around in laundry carts after home runs, or hand signs to the dugouts after hits, or bat flips. Chasing the guy in the outfield after he got the winning hit is part of that.”
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
1. Still sleeping
2. Go up
3. Frisco sch.
4. Incense
5. CIA operative (abbr.)
6. Secular
7. Far from electrifying
8. Finally
9. Confusion
10. Cousin of an ostrich
11. Meeting memo abbr.
12. "___ Dawn" (war film)
13. Ending for second or vision
18. Country bordering Tibet
22. East African language (abbr.)
24. Boat with an open hold
26. "And higher," on a sale rack sign
27. Subject of a treasured 1922 Flaherty documentary
28. Urged (on)
29. Regards 30. Heavy, as a favorite
31. Neighbor of Lib.
32. Household pest, for short
33. "May ____ you?" (suitor's request)
34. Share with the church
Across
1. In ____ (going nowhere)
5. Jessica of "The Love Guru"
9. Brightly colored aquarium fish
14. 2005 "American Idol" singer Bo
15. Ayn's John
16. Shade of brown
17. Indispensible
19. Healthily red
20. Crusoe's creator 21. Gap
23. Film rate (abbr.)
25. Was affected by an idol, perhaps 30. Not young 33. "___ be a shame if..."
35. Corporate image 36. Suddenly run (at)
37. Kindergarten students 39. One of the Earp brothers
42. Ode or haiku 43. Bjork's "___ Our Hands" 45. Farm output
47. Takes too much (abbr.)
48. Try with little chance of success
52. Washington post
53. Result of a too-high BAC 54. ___ Island
57. Munched, biblically 61. Latin line dance 65. Bindings
67. Balkan native
68. Doesn't keep up
69. Old Roman years
70. Comedian Artie
71. Stallone and Stone
72. Pope of the 16th century
38. Dutch pop singer
40. Three, in Venice
41. Designer Oldham
44. Fertilizer material
46. Play with, like a puppy
49. Stylized Japanese theater
50. Trendy pencil-topper dolls, once
51. Sacred observance
55. "____ M for Murder"
56. Like challah bread
58. Shore eagle
59. Wine, when combined
60. Computer key
61. Quarter of M
62. "Are you a man ___ mouse?"
63. Dijon denial 64. Kind of order 66. Dunderhead
Answers on page 30
Aries (Mar 21-April 20)
Kindheartedness is wonderful, but being taken advantage of can be a danger. You really need to trust your instincts to keep this from happening. If what you hear doesn’t match what you feel, trust your feeling. In the event that you get used, move past it. It would be a shame if resentment permanently dampened your giving nature.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
You have an intense nature. You probably feel things deeply and spend time lost in thought. Too much intensity can take a toll on your well-being. It might be time you got out and enjoyed yourself. Get up from your chair and take a walk. Meet someone for lunch or do a little shopping. Find something active to do to break the monotony of your routine.
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
Feed your mind today, Gemini. While you enjoy being active and social, you do get bored quickly. You’ll need to give yourself a constant supply of intriguing, fresh material in order to feel your best. Explore an interesting subject or learn a new hobby. Stimulate your mind and your body will become more energetic. Go online if you can’t get away.
Cancer (June 22-July 23)
If you’re trying to prove you have something valuable to offer, Cancer, think this through. You’re naturally friendly and can get along with almost anyone. This may already be your strength, and you probably have something great to bring to a crowd. Consider just being you and not always trying to feel a part of things.
Leo (July 24-Aug 23)
Consider putting your problem-solving skills to the test today, Leo. You have a real flair for investigating situations and figuring out what happened. If something comes your way that seems mysterious, deal with the problem directly and wrestle out the truth. If you’re baffled, use the process of elimination.
Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Virgo, try not to be fooled by others. If you don’t know a person well and you aren’t sure about him or her, trust your instincts. You tend to care about others, so it can be easy for you to feel sorry for someone and bend over backward to help. Make sure that the person you help really deserves it and you know the whole story. This can save you problems down the road.
Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)
It can be very easy to get carried away today, Libra. You might get caught up in some excitement. You need to use your head on a day like this. Double-check everything and moderate your activities. Keep your limitations in mind. There’s nothing saying you can’t do whatever it is that catches your eye. Just use caution and keep yourself safe.
Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)
The energy you feel today may have you so jittery that others don’t know what to do. The day’s aspects can really bring a boost and you’d be wise to plan to do things so you have an avenue to spend it all. Get busy with physical chores. Pull things out, organize, move furniture around - whatever it takes. It’s better to be productive than drive everyone crazy.
Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)
Venturing into something completely new and different may be what you need, Sagittarius. You have a solid practical side, but the need for excitement and adventure is likely just as strong. If you’ve been putting your nose to the grindstone a lot lately, take time off for some fun. Visit a friend or drive to a place you haven’t been to before and explore.
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)
Learning about things that interest you most is something you may want to do today. At work and home, there’s a schedule to tend to. On your own time, you’re free to learn about anything your heart desires. Intellectual growth is something you enjoy. Whether you delve into cooking, astrophysics, or genealogy, you’ll find something new.
Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)
If you meet new people today, Aquarius, be careful. Some can appear interesting because they’re bold or dangerous. Perhaps they do things you’d never dream of doing. While this may be intriguing, it can lead to trouble and hurt you if you aren’t careful. Stick to your usual standards and ethics. If danger excites you too much, it may be time to make some changes in your life.
Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)
You might have to make a choice between telling the truth and a lie. Sometimes this can be a difficult choice, especially if you’re afraid you’ll hurt someone’s feelings. However, a lie can take far more energy than the truth. Consider what you’d want the other person to do in your place. Stick to your ethics, even of it’s tough.
