Wednesday Apr 12, 2023

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.

Governor declares coastal erosion state of emergency

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia signed an executive order Tuesday declaring a state of emergency to tackle the problem of beach and coastal erosion head-on.

Besides declaring a state of emergency, Executive Order (OE by its Spanish initials) 2023-009 orders the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) to execute a specific action plan to deal with coastal erosion with the support of state and federal agencies.

In addition, the governor announced the allocation of $5 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and $100 million from the Housing Department’s Infrastructure Mitigation Program under the Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation program for the effort.

“This Order reiterates that the public policy of our government will be the greatest protection, conservation and sustainable use of the coastal zone and all its natural resources, achieving an adequate balance between the public and private development of the coastal zone and the management and protection of coastal resources,” Pierluisi said.

as never before, the necessary funds for implementation and establishes the specific public policy on the problem, she said.

The order establishes measures among which stand out the removal of facilities in ruins and/or abandoned facilities in the coastal zone and a committee that will give direction to those actions, The DNER is ordered, in collaboration with the municipalities, the island Planning Board and other public, private and nonprofit entities, as well as academia, to conduct an inventory of uninhabited properties and abandoned structures.

Housing Secretary William Rodríguez Rodríguez noted that “part of the purpose of recovery funds is to address needs that may get worse in the future.”

“With this in mind and following the governor’s public policy, it is that the strategic investment of these $100 million in mitigation funds is made to address a clear need to prevent further loss and damage in the highest risk areas, which have already seen the significant erosion of their coastlines with each cyclone or storm that has impacted our island,” he said.

INDEX

“At the same time, the Order establishes as a priority scientific research, citizen participation, and assistance to coastal communities to control pollution and implement urgent measures to address the vulnerabilities of the coast and promote resilience and sustainability,” he said.

In 2021, the governor declared an ecological emergency to stop hard coral tissue loss disease and hosted multiple courses of action from the Committee of Experts on Climate Change.

The DNER, meanwhile, will take all necessary steps to raise funds in addition to those from ARPA and the Housing Department.

In the order, which seeks to implement concrete measures for prevention, mitigation, adaptation and resilience to sea level rise and coastal erosion, the governor instructed agencies to deal with permits, endorsements, consultations or certifications under the provisions of the 2000 Law on Procedure for Emergency Situations or Events. The requirements of OE-2023-003 extend the emergency declaration as it applies to the infrastructure for the damages caused by hurricanes Irma, María and Fiona and by the earthquakes of 2020.

DNER Secretary Anaís Rodríguez Vega stated that the emergency declaration “shows once again the commitment and proactivity of this administration to mitigate the consequences of global warming and its concern for natural resources.”

The OE provides guidance for possible prevention, mitigation, adaptation and resilience, and allocates,

Puerto Rico has about 1,121 kilometers of coastline, which includes beaches, cliffs and rocks, vegetation, and alluvial and anthropogenic coast. Of that coastal strip, about 37 percent is beaches and covers 44 municipalities. In addition, research conducted by the University of Puerto Rico’s Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico shows some 99 kilometers of coastline has migrated into the land area.

Besides declaring a state of emergency, Executive Order 2023-009, issued by Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Tuesday, orders the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources to execute a specific action plan to deal with coastal erosion with the support of state and federal agencies.

Senator asks House to approve anti-cyber discrimination bill

By THE STAR STAFF

New Progressive Party Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera asked the House of Representatives on Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 837, of her authorship, which establishes the “Anti-Cyber Discrimination Law” in order to eliminate technological barriers to the availability of public services, forcing each agency to maintain the alternative that such services can be requested through traditional means, including in person or through paper forms.

The bill was approved in the Senate unanimously (22-0) on Aug. 22, 2022. Since Aug. 30, the measure has been in the Government Committee of the lower chamber.

“Our seniors deserve the best possible quality of life, free of problems. However, the reality is different,” Riquelme said. “As is public knowledge, on our island some 888,786 people are 60 years or older; that figure is one of the highest in the entire nation. Another important fact is that internet users over the age of 65 represent

less than 7 percent of the population. These people, in their vast majority, are accustomed to a different way of interacting with the government, a personal way, of visiting government agencies to carry out their efforts.”

“It is necessary to modernize public service systems through the application of new technologies,” the at-large senator continued. “However, it is also necessary to recognize that for a sector of the population, cyber systems have created greater barriers to access to public services than those intended to be eliminated. We cannot neglect or penalize this sector of our population while solving the problems that prevent true universal access to public services. Therefore, it is necessary that these beneficiaries be provided with the alternative of requesting public services through traditional means.”

In recent months, senior groups have demanded that applications for help from the Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program also be made on paper, given the reality that many do not master the systems to apply online.

Senate bill aims to make housing more accessible

By THE STAR STAFF

Independent Sen. José “Chaco” Vargas Vidot has filed Senate Bill 1164, a measure that seeks to reduce the terms of usurpation of real estate in order to make housing more accessible.

Vargas Vidot said events such as hurricanes Irma, Maria and Fiona, earthquakes, and even rising rental and sale prices reflect the need for a bill that reduces the terms of usurpation of real estate.

“There is a housing crisis that has caused gentrification, and that crisis is intimately related to housing [units] that, because they do not have ownership, instead of passing directly to those who inhabit them, become part of the catalog

of speculators,” said Vargas Vidot, who authored the bill. “We have seen for years how FEMA has denied essential aid due to lack of ownership that can be resolved with this bill. I believe that it is time to validate the natural right that a person should have by family line or occupation, and begin in this way to prevent the crisis of homelessness that plagues the country.”

At present, the usurpation of a real estate property can be finalized after 10 years of being in good faith with fair title, known as the ordinary manner, and after 20 years in an extraordinary way, without just title, also called “bad faith.” The latter had been 30 years, but changes to the Civil Code in 2020 reduced that term to 20 years recognizing that, as a common mode of acquisition of housing in Puerto Rico, such an extensive term is not accessible to island residents.

Even so, the waiting time to acquire title to the property depends on the manner in which the property or land was obtained and whether the terms elapsed as of Nov. 28, 2020, the date on which Puerto Rico’s new Civil Code went into effect. The change in 2020 was specifically in recognition of the problems represented by abandoned houses and with the intention of protecting those who dedicate effort and money to refurbish them in order to provide shelter for their families.

However, the time reduction has done little, Vargas Vidot said, since the term of 20 years is almost unattainable and the reduction was made prospectively, so he sees the need to reduce it even more, to 10 years, so that it becomes accessible and does not deprive thousands of island families of decent housing.

Likewise, the term of the usurpation of real estate in an ordinary way would be reduced to five years under the legislation.

“This has the same purpose, that the right to housing is a true one, and not a privilege,” the senator said, noting that the right established should the measure become law would

apply retroactively to people who are currently complying with the terms of usurpation.

Vargas Vidot noted that such a reduction in the terms of usurpation has already been seen in other jurisdictions in Latin America. For example, in Colombia, Article 2529 of its Civil Code provides for ordinary usurpation whereby for real estate, the term will be five years to complete the acquisition. Meanwhile, the extraordinary one, according to Article 2532 of the Colombian Civil Code, requires the fulfillment of possession of 10 years. The senator added that as recently as 2002, the statutes were amended to reduce the terms of both usurpations.

Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera

Sen. José Vargas Vidot

FEMA greenlights first phase of Vieques-Culebra solar microgrid project

By THE STAR STAFF

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved the first phase of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) project to design a new solar-powered microgrid system for the offshore island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, according to a statement.

The total cost of the project is nearly $97 million across two phases and will be fully funded by FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The information was provided by the American Public Power Association, citing FEMA. The approval took place on March 29.

The microgrid, which will be able to function independently from the main grid, includes a 12.5-megawatt (MW) solar-based system forVieques and another 3-MW system for Culebra. The grids aim to increase power generation capabilities and leverage renewable energy through solar

panels, making the project more sustainable, FEMA said.

The first phase of the project, which accounts for over $10.2 million of the total project cost, will consist of architectural and engineering design services, a geotechnical study and an electrical load assessment, among other preconstruction activities.

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) provides funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments so they can develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a way that reduces, or mitigates, future disaster losses in their communities. Funds for projects under the program are obligated in phases as preliminary steps are completed that may lead to the approval of additional funding obligations.

Puerto Rico has access to roughly $4 billion in HMGP funding, the maximum allocated by Congress. To date, FEMA has allocated nearly $3 billion under this program in addition to over $29 billion under its Public Assistance program to help the island rebuild after Hurricane Maria.

Women’s Foundation distributes $600,000 to various feminist organizations

By THE STAR STAFF

The Women’s Foundation in Puerto Rico (FMnPR) announced Tuesday, that it will distribute $600,000 from its Reproductive Justice, Mitigation and Economic Justice funds for the development of six educational community projects aimed at empowering young people and pregnant people about their rights so they can make informed decisions about their bodies.

The organizations that will receive the funds are Alianza Mujeres Viequenses, Caderamen, Campaña Aborto Libre PR, Mujeres de Islas, Nuestra Escuela and WetJustice. Educational projects will include those related to issues of abortion rights and access to contraceptives, the availability of midwives and doulas, and consent.

Some of the projects in line for funding are the development of training manuals for peer education in Vieques and Culebra; the realization of experiential workshops

for young people from 12 to 17 years old and their caregivers for the recognition, exercise and defense of their sexual and reproductive rights; and the realization of a video on the right to abortion to promote community conversations on the subject.

“At this critical time, when our rights are under extreme fundamentalist attack, we have much more reason to support the Reproductive Justice movement,” said Verónica Colón Rosario, executive director of the Women’s Foundation in Puerto Rico. “We decided not to stay out of the situation.”

Colón Rosario pointed out that reproductive justice is about much more than bodies, but is an intersection of race, economic, and LGBTQIAP+ justice, and is about all the issues that affect people’s ability to live free from oppression.

Meanwhile, 17 organizations were beneficiaries of the Economic Justice and Mitigation funds, which, on this

occasion total $560,000. The organizations are A Flor de Piel, Casa Juana Colón, Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, Equilátera-Todas, Proyecto Matria, SIEMPREVIVAS RUM, SIEMPREVIVAS METRO, Caderamen, Capromuni I y II, Centro de la Mujer Dominicana, Colectivo Ilé, Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres (Centro Paz para Ti), Hogar La Bondad, Hogar La Piedad, Hogar Nueva Mujer Santa María de la Merced, Casa Ruth for Battered Women and La Casa de Todos.

As part of its feminist philanthropy practice, FMnPR provides flexible grants to address the operational part of feminist entities and collectives, which is often neglected by federal or state proposals. The Economic Justice Fund seeks to strengthen the administrative structure of organizations to foster their long-term sustainability. It is aimed at paying salaries and funding professional services, and people specializing in submitting grant proposals and creating strategic alliances.

Reports of excessive fees charged by PRASA spark Senate probe

By THE STAR STAFF

Guayama District Sen. Gretchen Marie Hau Irizarry and at-large Sen. Juan Zaragoza Gómez filed a resolution Tuesday to investigate the processes carried out by agencies, departments and public corporations of the Puerto Rico government at the time of being allocated funds.

Specifically, the measure directs the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Essential Services and Consumer Affairs, chaired by Hau, to investigate the systems of permits and services provided by agencies, departments

and public corporations.

“To cite an example, let’s see that since July 1, 2022, a new fee structure came into force in the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) that has been the subject of multiple criticisms and accusations,” Hau said. “In particular, it is alleged that a large majority of the costs associated with services and activities provided by this corporation reflected a considerable increase.” The resolution states that in the case of new drinking water connections, the previous rate established for half-inch pipes amounted to $800. However, since the new fee structure entered into force, for that same service PRASA charged $1,931.40.

The microgrid, which will function independently from the main grid, includes a 12.5-megawatt solar-based system for Vieques and another 3-megawatt system for Culebra.

Sens. Gretchen Marie Hau and Juan Zaragoza

Special prosecutor to look into whether ex-Guaynabo mayor broke the law in leasing of municipal property

By THE STAR STAFF

The Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel announced Tuesday a probe into whether federally convicted former Guaynabo Mayor Ángel Pérez Otero illegally gave the green light to the leasing of municipally owned property.

The panel appointed a Special Independent Prosecutor to investigate following a recommendation made by Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli Hernández.

Emilia E. Arill García and Leticia Pabón Ortiz will investigate as special independent prosecutor and delegated prosecutor, respectively.

According to the preliminary investigation report issued by the Justice Department’s

Division of Public Integrity and Comptroller Affairs (DIPAC by its Spanish acronym), the case is based on an audit report.

The investigation found that Pérez Otero ceded the use of some facilities and municipal offices of the Guaynabo Medical Mall building to a private entity without the payment of rental fees and without the authorization of the City Assembly.

The then-mayor also later extended the lease for an additional nine months to the same company, violating the relevant legal provisions.

From the DIPAC report’s analysis and the evidence accompanying it, Pérez Otero may have violated Articles 262 and 264 of the Penal Code.

Special prosecutors Arill García and

Pabón Ortiz will have 90 days to carry out the investigation.

A federal jury last month convicted Pérez Otero for engaging in a bribery scheme. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Pérez Otero, 52, was involved in a bribery conspiracy. From sometime in late 2019 through May 2021, he accepted thousands of dollars in cash bribes regularly from the owner of a construction company. In exchange for those payments, Pérez Otero agreed to obtain and retain contracts for the company and ensured that its invoices were promptly paid.

Pérez Otero was convicted of conspiracy, federal program bribery, and extortion. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in

prison on the extortion charge and 10 years in prison on the bribery charge.

Victims in Guayama drive-by shooting identified

By THE STAR STAFF

Authorities on Tuesday identified the victims of the second mass shooting in Puerto Rico so far this year, which occurred Monday on the premises of a business in the Guamaní neighborhood

of Guayama.

According to the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, the shooting killed Isidro Berríos Valentín, 53, Misael Marrero Velázquez, 26, and another man who had not yet been identified at press time.

The events occurred after 4 p.m.

Monday. The police were alerted through the 9-1-1 Emergency System and upon arriving at the scene they found several wounded gunshot victims, including three in more serious condition who died from their wounds.

According to the police investigation,

the victims were gathered on the premises of the establishment when individuals shot them from a moving vehicle.

Another two individuals who were wounded by gunfire were taken to a hospital, where they remained under observation Tuesday.

$20 million designated for borrowing by small construction firms

By THE STAR STAFF

Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico (EDB) President Luis Alemañy González announced Tuesday the designation of $20 million in funds under the State

Small Business Credit Initiative’s (SSBCI) “Impulso a Tu Negocio” program that will be used to provide lines of credit for working capital to companies in the construction industry.

The announcement, which was made in conjunction with the Builders Association, said

the funds are part of the $109.3 million granted to the EDB by the federal Treasury Department through the “Impulso a Tu Negocio” program. The initiative allocates federal SSBCI funds to capitalize on local programs to support small and midsize enterprises.

“Although at the moment there is an unprecedented amount of federal funds, there are many contractors requesting lines of credit in order to recruit employees, pay for payroll, operating expenses and utilities, and buy materials, with the aim of being able to complete the project and certify it for FEMA or CDBG-DR [Community Development Block Grant] to reimburse them,” Alemañy González said. “Not having the money beforehand, they cannot execute projects, federal funds are not used and contractors end up going bankrupt. The [building] contractor sector is one of the sectors with the greatest rate of bankruptcies along with the restaurant sector, among others.”

The EDB president added that “Governor Pedro Pierluisi has been emphatic that it is necessary to continue identifying resources to strengthen the construction industry, in order to promote economic development and expedite the infrastructure works that are being carried out throughout the island.”

The performance of the construction industry is a key mechanism for the development of any region since it creates and improves infrastructure, which increases fixed capital, impacting economic activity, local and foreign investment, and generating jobs, both direct and indirect, Alemañy González said. According to data provided by the EDB’s Center for Economic Studies, cement sales for February 2023 totaled 1,217,300 bags of 94 pounds, not seasonally adjusted, representing an increase of 3.4% compared to February 2022 and marking the third period of positive growth after three consecutive year-on-year reductions.

Former Guaynabo Mayor Ángel Pérez Otero

“Not having the money beforehand,” building contractors “cannot execute projects, federal funds are not used and contractors end up going bankrupt,” Economic Development Bank President Luis Alemañy González said.

US-born children, too, were separated from parents at the border

By MIRIAM JORDAN

The Trump administration intentionally separated thousands of migrant children from their parents at the southern border in the spring of 2018, an aggressive attempt to discourage family crossings that caused lasting trauma and drew widespread condemnation.

What is only now becoming clear, however, is that a significant number of children who are U.S. citizens were also removed from their parents under the so-called zero tolerance policy, in which migrant parents were criminally prosecuted and jailed for crossing the border without authorization.

Hundreds, and possibly as many as 1,000, children born to immigrant parents in the United States were removed from them at the border, according to lawyers and immigrant advocates who are working with the government to find the families.

In many cases, the U.S.-born children were placed into foster care for lengthy periods, and some have yet to be reunited with their parents, lost in the system nearly five years after the separations took place.

“We don’t even know where these parents are today, and whether or not they know where their children are,” said Paige Chan, executive director of the nonprofit Together and Free, who has been working with a federal task force charged with tracking the whereabouts of separated families. “The U.S. government is only beginning to account for the number of U.S. citizens put through this unimaginable trauma.”

Some 5,500 foreign-born children were already known to have been separated from their parents under the policy. The separations usually lasted for a matter of weeks, but in some cases they lasted years.

The revelations represent the first confirmation that U.S.-born children traveling with migrant parents were also subjected to the separation policy, which became official along the entire border in April 2018 after it was piloted in El Paso, Texas, the previous year.

As U.S. citizens, the children did not necessarily have any additional rights that would have prevented them from being taken from parents who were jailed, legal

analysts said. In fact, it may have put them at a disadvantage: Their status as citizens automatically placed them under the oversight of state child welfare authorities, complicating efforts to keep track of them and reconnect them with parents.

While foreign-born children were transferred to shelters operated by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, where they were entered into federal databases and eventually allowed to speak with their parents by telephone, there was no such system for children dispatched to state foster care systems. State family courts, using varied sets of criteria, were left to decide independently how to handle the cases.

The situation became even more difficult when parents were deported.

“Theoretically, a state dependency court would determine whether it is in a child’s best interests to be reunited with a parent, even if the parent has been removed or is facing imminent removal,” said Carlos Holguin, a lawyer who has represented thousands of migrant children in federal custody.

If a judge decided against returning a child to a migrant parent and no U.S. relative was available, the child might be placed in foster care until he or she reached

the age of 18, Holguin said.

Most of the children involved were born in the United States to immigrant parents who then went back to their home countries, only to return amid a worsening economy and escalating gang violence in Central America and Mexico.

The parents of U.S. citizens are not automatically allowed to remain in the United States, although such children after turning 21 can sponsor the parent for a green card.

Because official records are scattered and incomplete, it will take months for the government to review additional files to identify separated parents and children and then try to determine their whereabouts in the United States or abroad, said several immigrant advocates who have been working with the interagency task force, led by the Department of Homeland Security, to track the cases.

Angelo Fernandez, a spokesperson for the department, confirmed that an unknown number of U.S. citizen children had been caught up in the border separations and said the task force was “combing through records” to identify them.

Chan said that her organization was aware of at least 226 American children

who had been sent to the child protective services agency in San Diego County, California. Records for separated children delivered to foster care in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas do not exist, she said.

Children of a variety of ages and nationalities were caught up in the family separation policy, hundreds of whom were younger than 5 years old. The Trump administration said at the time that the policy was an attempt to deter the thousands of parents who officials said were putting their children in danger by taking them on perilous journeys to the border.

Removing children from parents who are being jailed is standard practice, the officials said. Children are commonly removed from U.S. citizen parents in other cases, for instance when women give birth while incarcerated, or where there has been parental abuse or neglect.

Still, images and audio of traumatized children weeping after being forcibly torn from their migrant parents caused domestic and global outrage, and the policy was rescinded.

A federal judge in California ordered the government in June 2018 to reunite separated parents and children, in response to a class-action lawsuit against the separation policy that was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. Federal authorities facilitated reunions for parents and children who were still in custody. But many of the parents had been deported.

About 900 deported parents and siblings have since been brought back to the United States and have been allowed to remain in the country with a temporary legal status until a long-term settlement is reached.

The reunited families have been eligible for government-funded mental health services, and the ACLU is arguing that the families should be offered a path to permanent status in the United States to compensate for the damage inflicted by the separations.

Lee Gelernt, who is leading the court case for the civil rights organization, said in court last month that discussions with the government were “moving very rapidly,” suggesting that a settlement may be imminent.

Youths are dropped off at the Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas, July 4, 2019. A government task force is tracking the fates of U.S. citizen children taken from migrant parents during the Trump administration. Some have spent years in foster care.

Gunman who killed five in Louisville left note, bought rifle legally

community process the trauma of Monday’s shooting, which Greenberg described as an “inexplicable act of violence and cruelty,” the city is planning a vigil Wednesday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center Plaza.

Police have identified the gunman as Connor Sturgeon, a University of Alabama graduate who listed his profession as a “syndications associate and portfolio banker” at Old National Bank on his LinkedIn page. Greenberg said he had access to the building because he was “a current employee.”

As officials on Tuesday dealt with the fallout from the mass shooting, several made emotional pleas to address the gun violence epidemic gripping the country and Louisville, where they said 40 people died so far this year in shootings. One person was killed in a separate shooting on Monday just blocks away from Old National Bank.

“To be honest with you, we barely had to adjust our operating room schedule to be able to do this,” Smith said of caring for the nine patients the hospital received from the bank shooting. “That’s how frequently we are having to deal with gun violence in our community.”

Monday’s shooting.

“Chief, your team was incredible yesterday,” McGarvey said at Tuesday’s briefing, addressing Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim police chief. “To run headfirst into that gunfire without question saved lives. It also changed lives. Officer Wilt, as we know, is fighting right now after being struck in the head by an AR-15 round on his fourth-ever shift as a police officer.”

Wilt, who underwent brain surgery on Monday, graduated from the police academy on March 31.

The shooting set off a familiar pattern of grief and resignation for a country that has grown accustomed to frequent rampages of gun violence, with politicians offering prayers and expressing outrage and making calls for gun control legislation that will most likely go unrealized.

Greenberg implored Kentucky’s political leaders to allow Louisville, a blue bastion in a largely conservative state, to enact its own gun control laws — especially, he said, if they cared about protecting police officers.

By TIM ARANGO

The 25-year-old man who opened fire

Monday at a bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, killing five people, told at least one person that he was suicidal before the rampage and legally purchased the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting at a local dealership last week, officials said Tuesday morning.

Speaking at a news briefing, the officials also said they had carried out a search warrant at the home of the gunman, who died in an exchange of gunfire with police, and recovered several items. The police said they would release body camera footage on Tuesday afternoon from officers who responded to the shooting.

“We know he left a note,” Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat whose district includes Louisville, said of the gunman at the briefing. “We know he texted or called at least one person to let them know he was suicidal and contemplating harm.”

Four victims remained hospitalized on

Tuesday, said Dr. Jason Smith, the chief medical officer at University of Louisville Health. Two of those people, including Nickolas Wilt, 26, who had recently graduated from the police academy and was working his fourth shift as a police officer when he responded to the shooting, remained in critical condition. Four other people who were wounded have been released from the hospital, while another who initially survived the shooting, Deana Eckert, 57, died overnight.

The other victims, all employees of Old National Bank like Eckert, were Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64. Elliott, a vice president at the bank, was a prominent Democratic fundraiser and close friend to Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky.

Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville, a Democrat, praised the quick response from the Red Cross, which provided 170 units of blood to treat victims on Monday. Noting the enormous amount of blood needed to treat gunshot wounds, Greenberg urged residents of Louisville to donate blood. And to help the

With his voice breaking, Smith, who has worked at the hospital for 15 years, described his job almost as if he were a combat medic in a war zone. “It’s more than tired,” he said. “I’m weary. There’s only so many times you can walk into a room and tell someone they are not coming home tomorrow. And it just breaks your heart when you hear someone screaming mommy or daddy. It just becomes too hard, day in and day out, to be able to do that.”

Police first got word of shots fired at the bank at 8:38 a.m. Monday, and officers arrived on the scene within 3 minutes, killing the gunman 3 minutes after that. Wilt and his field training officer, Cory Galloway, “heroically ran into a barrage of fire from a waiting assailant with an assault rifle,” Greenberg said. Galloway fired the shots that killed the assailant.

The Louisville Metro Police Department has been under intense scrutiny in recent years after a botched raid in 2020 killed Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose death provoked widespread protests; a recent Justice Department report documented entrenched racial bias and misconduct in the Police Department. But the department has drawn wide praise for its quick response to

“Please, change our state law to let Louisville make its own decisions about reducing the amount of illegal guns on our streets and gun violence that is killing far too many people in mass shootings, in individual shootings, in any shootings,” he said.

He also angrily denounced a law that allows the state of Kentucky to auction off weapons from shootings to the public after investigations are complete.

“Think about that,” Greenberg said, noting that he has ordered his administration to remove firing pins from confiscated weapons before handing them over to the state. “That murder weapon will be back on the streets one day under Kentucky’s current law.”

McGarvey, the only Democrat in Kentucky’s eight-member congressional delegation, called on Tuesday for universal background checks and measures that would allow the state to take guns from people believed at risk of harming themselves or others, known as red flag laws.

“We know this shooter purchased an AR-15 rifle on April 4,” he said. “We know he left a note. We know he texted or called at least one person to let them know he was suicidal and contemplating harm. But we don’t have the tools on the books to deal with someone who is an imminent danger to themselves or to others.”

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, left, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speak at a news conference near the scene of a shooting in downtown Louisville, April 10, 2023. At least five people were killed and eight others were injured in a shooting at a bank downtown on Monday morning, the police said. The suspected gunman died at the scene.

Expelled Democratic lawmaker is sworn back in to Tennessee House

By EMILY COCHRANE

Justin Jones, one of the two Black Democrats expelled from the Tennessee House of the Representatives for leading a gun control protest on the House floor, was sworn back in to his seat earlier this week in a swift rebuke to the state’s Republican supermajority.

Within an hour of the Metropolitan Nashville Council unanimously voting to temporarily appoint Jones back to the seat, the young lawmaker had returned to take his place in the Republican-controlled Legislature that overwhelmingly voted to expel him just four days earlier.

After leading hundreds of supporters on a march from the council meeting, Jones took his oath of office on the steps of the state Capitol, now empowered with a national platform and the backing of Democrats across the state and the country. The moment came two weeks after the mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville that prompted Jones and two other Democrats to protest in the House chamber.

“No expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us, but it will only galvanize and strengthen our movement,” Jones said in his first formal remarks.

“Power to the people!” he concluded, and the gallery erupted in cheers.

Nashville’s move to appoint Jones deepens the bitter rift between the council and the Tennessee Legislature’s Republican supermajority, which has flexed control over liberal-leaning areas and moved to rein in the autonomy of the state’s largest cities. Just hours before the vote, a judicial panel temporarily halted a law that would slash the council in half, after Nashville sued the state.

The council voted 36-0 to send Jones, the only person nominated, back to the House before a special election later this year. The fast pace of his reinstatement meant that he had not missed a single floor session in the House.

In Memphis, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners was set to consider sending Justin J. Pearson, the other expelled lawmaker, back to the Legislature on Wednesday.

William Lamberth, the House majority leader, and Jeremy Faison, chair of the House Republican caucus, issued a statement before the Nashville council’s vote, saying that “should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them.”

“Like everyone else, they are expected to follow the rules of the House as well as state law,” the two said.

Jones and Pearson can also run again for their respective seats in the coming months, and both have said that they will do so.

“We witnessed a miscarriage of justice and an egregious assault on our democracy,” said Delishia Porterfield, a councilor who lost to Jones in the Democratic primary for his Legislature seat, but formally nominated him to return to his seat. As she did so, Porterfield said the vote would “send a strong message to our state government and across the country that we will not tolerate threats to our democracy.”

The Republican-controlled Legislature had taken the rare step of moving to expel Jones, Pearson and a third lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, on Thursday, a week after they had marched to the front of the House chamber and interrupted a legislative session by leading protesters in calls for action on gun violence.

While it was only the third time since the Civil War era that an expulsion had been carried out, Republicans argued that the breach of House decorum warranted such a step.

President Joe Biden and other high-ranking national officials had voiced anger at what they viewed as an overly punitive and undemocratic action against two of the chamber’s youngest Black lawmakers. Johnson, a Knoxville Democrat who narrowly avoided expulsion by one vote, said she believed race was a factor in the decision to keep her in the body. Republicans have denied that characterization.

“They thought that if they could kick out Rep. Justin Jones that he would never again be Rep. Justin Jones,” Pearson told the crowd outside the Capitol. “They were wrong.”

With his fist held high, Jones was escorted back into the Legislature by Johnson shortly after being sworn in. Pearson watched overhead from the balcony, as their supporters chanted “Welcome home.”

Lawyers for the men — a group including former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder — warned the Legislature on Monday against any further action against them or their cities.

“Any partisan retributive action, such as the discriminatory treatment of elected officials, or threats or actions to withhold funding for government programs, would constitute further unconstitutional action that would require redress,” lawyers wrote Monday in a letter to Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican.

The decision to expel the two Democrats has further angered hundreds of students, teachers and parents already frustrated with the Republican-controlled Legislature’s unwillingness to take up any measure that would restrict access to guns.

Earlier Monday, dozens of people rallied outside the Nashville council meeting, carrying signs that read “No Justin, No Peace,” a riff on the “No justice, no peace” chants that were part of the protest that led the expulsion of the two representatives.

Six red and black ribbons hung on the dais at the front of the room, in honor of the six people killed in the Covenant School shooting last month. A councilor, Zulfat Suara, offered an opening prayer that recognized the Covenant shooting as well as a mass shooting earlier Monday in Kentucky.

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State Rep. Justin Jones, one of the two Black Democrats expelled from the Tennessee House of the Representatives for leading a gun control protest on the House floor, raises his fist to supporters after a vote by the Metropolitan Nashville Council to reappoint him, in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, April 10, 2023. Jones was sworn back in to his seat on Monday in a swift rebuke to the state’s Republican supermajority.

House panel plans Manhattan hearing. Bragg calls it a ‘political stunt.’

By ED SHANAHAN

The Republican-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee said earlier this week it would hold a hearing in Manhattan on what it called the “pro-crime” policies of the borough’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who is leading the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

The move was the latest by Trump’s congressional defenders to try to tarnish Bragg, a target of their attacks even before he announced in late March that the former president had been indicted. Trump faces felony charges stemming from a hush money payment to a porn star in the final days of the 2016 campaign.

In a message posted on Twitter, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a committee member, expressed the event’s animating idea this way: “If Bragg can spend resources indicting President Trump, he should be able to address the soaring crime in NYC.”

Bragg’s office wasted little time responding.

“Don’t be fooled,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt.”

Dismissing the premise of the hearing — that Manhattan is experiencing a surging crime wave — Bragg’s spokesperson said data issued by the Police Department last week showed declines in Manhattan in murders (down 14%), shootings (down 17%), burglaries (down 21%) and robberies (down 8%) through April 2, compared with the same period last year.

And in Bragg’s first year in office, the spokesperson said, “New York City had one of the lowest murder rates of major cities in the United States.”

The criminal case in Manhattan is one of several legal threats looming over Trump. In another, New York Attorney General Letitia

James, a Democrat, has filed a lawsuit accusing him, his family company and three of his children of fraudulently overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars. Trump is scheduled to be back in Manhattan to testify under oath in a deposition in that case on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the matter. A trial is scheduled for the fall.

Trump faces a trial this month in a lawsuit filed against him by writer E. Jean Carroll over her allegation that he raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. He has denied her accusation.

The Judiciary Committee hearing is scheduled for next Monday at a federal office building in lower Manhattan not far from where Trump, in an extraordinary scene last week,

surrendered to the authorities and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.

An announcement on the committee’s website did not list any of the witnesses who are expected to testify, but the session’s title did offer a broad sense of the subject matter: “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan.”

At least some committee Democrats plan to attend the hearing to counter the Republican narrative about Bragg, said a spokesperson for them. The panel’s Democratic members boycotted a similar “field hearing” in Arizona about border issues in February en masse.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., of Manhattan, the panel’s top Democrat and a political ally of Bragg’s, chastised Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chair, for calling a local prosecutor’s per-

formance into question at the same time that Jordan is suggesting that House Republicans might use their budget powers to influence federal law enforcement agencies.

“New Yorkers don’t need to take public safety advice from Jim Jordan, whose ‘tough on crime’ solution is to defund the DOJ and FBI,” Nadler wrote in a message on Twitter.

Jordan, Biggs and Trump’s other House allies have rallied around the former president, a declared candidate in the 2024 presidential race, since it became clear that he was likely to be charged in the hush money matter as a result of the inquiry by Bragg’s office.

Before the charges became public, Jordan and the Republican leaders of two other House committees sent a letter to Bragg demanding that he provide them with communications, documents and testimony about his investigation into Trump. And in a thinly veiled threat to Bragg, the House speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called for investigations into whether federal funds were being used for “politically motivated prosecutions.”

Bragg, who was elected to a four-year term in 2021, rejected the demands by the committee chairs forcefully, with his general counsel calling them “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.”

Jordan has continued to try to obtain documents and testimony from Bragg’s office and has called Matthew Colangelo, senior counsel in the district attorney’s office, to testify.

In her statement Monday, Bragg’s spokesperson took a swipe at Jordan, saying that Manhattan had a lower murder rate than Columbus, Ohio, which is adjacent to the district Jordan represents. (Columbus had 140 homicides last year; New York City, with more than eight times as many people, had 433.)

“If Chairman Jordan truly cared about public safety,” she said, “he could take a short drive to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron or Toledo in his home state.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a news conference following the arraignment of former President Donald Trump, in New York, April 4, 2023. The Republican-led Judiciary Committee hopes to tarnish the Democratic prosecutor who is leading the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

Drug company leaders condemn ruling invalidating FDA approval of abortion pill

By PAM BELLUCK and CHRISTINA JEWETT

The pharmaceutical industry earlier this week plunged into a legal showdown over the abortion pill mifepristone, issuing a scorching condemnation of a ruling by a federal judge that invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug and calling for the decision to be reversed.

The statement was signed by more than 400 leaders of some of the drug and biotech industry’s most prominent investment firms and companies, none of which make mifepristone, the first pill in the two-drug medication abortion regimen. It shows that the reach of this case stretches far beyond abortion. Unlike Roe v. Wade and other past landmark abortion lawsuits, this one could challenge the foundation of the regulatory system for all medicines in the United States.

“If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone,” the statement said.

Also Monday, the Justice Department filed a motion asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas until the department’s appeal of the case could be heard. Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee who has written critically of Roe v. Wade, had issued only a seven-day stay of his ruling to allow the government a chance to appeal.

“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” said the Justice Department motion, which noted that mifepristone was also used in treating miscarriages.

It added: “This harm would be felt throughout the country, given that mifepristone has lawful uses in every state. The order would undermine health care systems and the reliance interests of businesses and medical providers.”

The appeals court gave the plaintiffs — a coalition of groups and doctors who oppose abortion — until midnight Tuesday to file a response.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Erin Hawley, said in a statement Monday, “Chemical abortion drugs don’t provide a

therapeutic benefit — they can cause serious and life-threatening complications to the mother, in addition to ending a baby’s life.”

She added that “the FDA put women in harm’s way, and the agency should be held accountable for its reckless actions.”

Also Monday, the Justice Department filed a motion in a separate lawsuit over mifepristone. That case, filed in Washington state against the FDA by 18 Democratic attorneys general who challenged extra restrictions that the agency imposes on the drug, produced a contradictory order less than an hour after the Texas ruling, which was issued Friday evening.

Judge Thomas Rice, a Barack Obama appointee, did not lift the extra restrictions but told the FDA not to do anything to limit current access to mifepristone in the jurisdictions that had filed the suit, which represent a majority of the states where abortion remains legal.

In its motion in that case, the Justice Department said there was “significant tension” between the Texas and Washington rulings and asked Rice to clarify what the FDA would

be obligated to do if the Texas ruling took effect — essentially seeking instructions from the judge that would allow the agency to continue to keep mifepristone available.

The dueling rulings by two federal judges have set up a legal showdown that is likely to end up in the Supreme Court.

“This is absolutely a test of our legal system’s ability to function,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in an interview. Colorado is a plaintiff in the Washington case and one of nearly two dozen states that signed briefs supporting the FDA in the Texas case before both the district court and, on Monday, before the appellate court.

Weiser said the Texas decision violated “basic principles” about “how you make judgments based on evidence and about the authority of agencies.” He added, “The challenge is, once you start undermining those rules in one case, you undermine it for others as well.”

The larger destabilizing potential of the Texas ruling was at the root of the letter signed by the biotech and pharmaceutical executives.

Dr. Jeremy Levin, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics and former chair of BIO, a biotech trade association, said in an interview that he and a few other industry leaders had been worried about the Texas lawsuit since it was filed in November. “It completely upends the FDA’s authority,” Levin said of Kacsmaryk’s ruling. “And then, much more importantly, it opens it up to a political determination of what a medicine is or isn’t, and that is deeply harmful for vaccines, Alzheimer’s drugs, all the others.”

Legal scholars said the Texas ruling appeared to be the first time a court had tried to invalidate the approval of a drug over the objection of the FDA. For decades, Congress has given the agency authority to determine whether drugs are safe and effective.

Senior executives of more than 400 pharmaceutical and biotech companies and investment firms on Monday, April 10, 2023, issued a scorching condemnation of a ruling by a federal judge that invalidated the FDA’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, and they called for the decision to be reversed.

The ruling could be so far-reaching for pharmaceutical companies that the letter from industry leaders is probably just the beginning of the industry’s actions to oppose it, said Jennifer Oliva, a professor of law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, who signed a brief submitted to Kacsmaryk’s court by drug policy scholars in support of the FDA.

“They’re going to heavily lobby state legislatures, Congress and get involved in the courts in these battles going forward because it threatens their livelihood,” Oliva said.

The real-world costs of the digital race for bitcoin

By GABRIEL J.X. DANCE

Texas was gasping for electricity. Winter Storm Uri had knocked out power plants across the state, leaving tens of thousands of homes in icy darkness. By the end of Feb. 14, 2021, nearly 40 people had died, some from the freezing cold.

Meanwhile, in the husk of a onetime aluminum smelting

plant an hour outside of Austin, row upon row of computers were using enough electricity to power about 6,500 homes as they raced to earn bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The computers were performing trillions of calculations per second, hunting for an elusive combination of numbers that bitcoin’s algorithm would accept. About every 10 minutes, a computer somewhere guesses correctly and wins a small number of bitcoins worth, in recent weeks, about $170,000.

In Texas, the computers kept running until just after midnight. Then the state’s power grid operator ordered them shut off, under an agreement that allowed it to do so if the system was about to fail. In return, it began paying the bitcoin company, Bitdeer, an average of $175,000 an hour to keep the computers offline. Over the next four days, Bitdeer would make more than $18 million for not operating, from fees ulti-

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Wednesday, April 12, 2023 12

mately paid by Texans who had endured the storm.

The New York Times has identified 34 such large-scale operations, known as bitcoin mines, in the United States, all putting immense pressure on the power grid and most finding novel ways to profit from doing so. Their operations can create costs — including higher electricity bills and enormous carbon pollution — for everyone around them.

Until June 2021, most bitcoin mining was in China. Then it drove out bitcoin operations, at least for a time, citing their power use among other reasons. The United States quickly became the industry’s global leader.

Since then, precisely how much electricity bitcoin mines are using in America and their effect on energy markets and the environment have been unclear. The Times, using both public and confidential records as well as the results of studies it commissioned, put the most comprehensive estimates to date on the largest operations’ power use and the ripple effects of their voracious demand.

In some areas, this has led prices to surge. In Texas, where 10 of the 34 mines are connected to the state’s grid, the increased demand has caused electric bills for power customers to rise nearly 5%, or $1.8 billion per year, according to a simulation performed for the Times by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

The additional power use across the country also causes as much carbon pollution as adding 3.5 million gas-powered cars to America’s roads, according to an analysis by WattTime, a nonprofit tech company. Many of the bitcoin operations promote themselves as environmentally friendly and set up in areas rich with renewable energy, but their power needs are far too great to be satisfied by those sources alone. As a result, they have become a boon for the fossil fuel industry: WattTime found that coal and natural gas plants kick in to meet 85% of the demand these bitcoin operations add to their grids.

Their massive energy consumption combined with their ability to shut off almost instantly allows some companies to save money and make money by deftly pulling the levers of U.S. power markets. They can avoid fees charged during peak demand, resell their electricity at a premium when prices spike and even be paid for offering to turn off.

In some states, bitcoin operators’ revenue can ultimately come from other power customers. The clearest example is Texas, where bitcoin companies are paid by the grid operator for promising to quickly power down if necessary to prevent blackouts. In practice, they rarely are asked to shut down and instead earn additional money while doing exactly what they would have been doing anyway: seeking bitcoin.

Several of the companies are being paid through these agreements a majority of the time they operate.

In interviews and statements, many of the companies said they were no different from other large power users except for their willingness to shut off quickly to benefit the grid. Several objected to the method the Times and WattTime used to estimate their emissions, which calculated the pollution caused by the additional power generated to satisfy the mines’ demand, showing it to overwhelmingly come from fossil fuels.

The companies said this method held them to an unfair standard.

“The analysis cited could be used to attack any industry that consumes power,” said David Fogel, CEO of Coinmint, which operates in upstate New York. “I think the entire notion

of singling out specific industries like this is unfair.”

Many academics who study the energy industry said bitcoin mining was undoubtedly having significant environmental effects.

“They’re adding hundreds of megawatts of new demand when we already face the need to rapidly cut fossil power,” said Jesse Jenkins, a Princeton professor who studies electrical grid emissions.

“If you care about climate change,” he added, “then that’s a problem.”

Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, a bitcoin lobbying group, said in an email that the industry incentivizes the development of new renewable and natural gas plants. But power industry experts say that although some current wind farms may be benefiting modestly, renewable generation takes years to build and usually requires commitments from customers who can guarantee that they will buy power for a decade or more.

According to Jenkins, the bitcoin operations’ near-constant power demand is more likely to keep fossil fuel plants in business than to lead to more renewable energy.

Some of the bitcoin companies that WattTime found to be causing the most pollution have held themselves out as supporting renewables.

For example, Riot Platforms’ CEO described bitcoin mining as “uniquely beneficial and supportive of renewable energy.” Ninety-six percent of the power demand added by the company’s mine was met by fossil fuels, the WattTime analysis showed.

Bitcoin miners’ power play

Mining bitcoin produces steady revenue, but using so much electricity can also be a business model.

Moments of extreme weather provide especially stark examples. Take June 23, 2022 — the eighth-straight day of near-100-degree temperatures around Austin, which allowed Riot Platforms to demonstrate several ways they can turn electricity into money.

Like many industrial buyers, the company had prepurchased its power at a fraction of the price available to residential customers. Riot’s mine runs at 450 megawatts — the largest in the country.

Each day that June, its computers’ guesses were winning bitcoin worth an average of about $342,000. But the company had two additional ways to improve its profit margins.

First, it had signed up for the Responsive Reserve Service,

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a Texas power grid program that offers a way to quickly reduce strain if the grid becomes overloaded, acting as insurance against blackouts. The program pays miners, and other companies, for promising to stop using electricity upon request. In reality, they are rarely asked to shut down but are still paid for making the pledge.

From midnight to nearly 4 p.m. on June 23, Riot earned more than $42,000 from the program while continuing to mine bitcoin.

About that time, the company switched to the second technique: avoiding fees that Texas charges to maintain and strengthen the power grid. It did so by briefly shutting off almost completely.

By 6:30 p.m., the company had resumed mining. If Riot had been fully operating all day, it would have incurred an estimated $5.5 million in fees — costs that are largely made up by other Texans. Over the course of the year, this saved Riot more than $27 million in potential fees.

The company’s actions were described in data published by the Texas grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. Although the records refer to power suppliers by pseudonyms, the Times was able to identify six of the 10 Texas operations in the data.

One final mechanism lets some companies make extra money when electricity prices spike: They can stop mining and resell electricity to other customers. That earned Riot roughly $18 million last year.

From bitcoin mining, the company earned $156.9 million last year.

After accounting for the savings and revenue from each of the strategies, Riot told investors that its electricity cost in 2022 was 2.96 cents per kilowatt-hour.

By comparison, the average price for other industrial businesses in Texas was 7.2 cents. For residents, it was 13.5 cents.

‘Texas will be the crypto leader’

These opportunities have led some of the country’s largest bitcoin operations to choose Texas.

“It’s a massive financial burden to Texans,” said Ben Hertz-Shargel, who leads grid-related research at Wood Mackenzie, and was part of the team that conducted the marketbased simulation for the Times based on historical ERCOT data. Because of how the Texas market operates, the increases are steepest for residential customers, said Hertz-Shargel.

Others say increased prices will incentivize the development of cheaper types of power generation.

In Texas, the companies have powerful allies. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet that “Texas will be the crypto leader” and hosted the Texas Blockchain Council at the governor’s mansion. The grid’s former interim CEO declared himself “pro bitcoin,” and the current vice chair of the grid’s board is a former adviser to the Texas Blockchain Council. Still, in March, three Republican state senators joined in sponsoring a bill that would restrict tax breaks for miners and place strict limits on their participation in programs such as the Responsive Reserve.

In Rockdale, where two of the largest mines in the country operate just outside the city limits, the city manager, Barbara Holly, told the Times that the town used to be “a fairly wealthy little community.” She said that changed when a large industrial plant that had provided thousands of jobs closed more than a decade ago. “It just cut the legs out from under this community,” she said.

It was the old aluminum smelter, now home to the Bitdeer mine.

The Riot Platforms bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, on Feb. 28, 2023. This mine uses 2.5 times the power of all the subway cars in New York City.

S&Amp;P 500 Inches Higher Ahead Of Inflation Data

The benchmark S&P 500 edged higher on Tuesday, with economy-sensitive energy and material stocks leading gains ahead of Wednesday’s inflation data that is likely to determine the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next policy move.

Losses in megacap stocks such as Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq as U.S. Treasury yields crept higher, while gains in industrial stocks such as Caterpillar Inc boosted the Dow.

Hopes that the Fed will soon end its aggressive monetary policy tightening campaign spurred a rebound in the S&P 500 this month after the collapse of two U.S. mid-sized lenders sparked a selloff in March.

A strong labor market report on Friday, however, lifted bets that the U.S. central bank will increase rates by 25 basis points in May, with money market traders pricing in a nearly 70% chance of such a move, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch tool.

This marks a shift in traders’ bets of a pause in the Fed’s policy tightening after recent weak economic data raised the possibility of a U.S. recession.

“People are waiting for the important events - CPI, PPI and banks that are going to report earnings,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

“If the Fed does get to a point where it simply holds rates steady, the markets can potentially do well with that. My concern is if they continue to tighten, it’s going to continue to cause stress on some banks.”

Data on Wednesday is expected to show consumer prices grew 5.2% in March after a 6.0% rise in February. However, core prices are seen rising 5.6%, at a slightly faster pace compared with a 5.5% rise in February.

Investors will also scrutinize earnings reports from the big U.S. banks Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co on Friday for clues on the overall health of the banking sector.

Analysts expect first-quarter profits at S&P 500 companies to fall 5.2% year-on-year, the worst contraction since the third quarter of 2020 and a stark reversal from the 1.4% annual growth forecast at the beginning of the year, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

At 12:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 136.25 points, or 0.41%, at 33,722.77, the S&P 500 was up 5.13 points, or 0.12%, at 4,114.24, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 46.54 points, or 0.39%, at 12,037.82.

Remarks later on Tuesday from voting members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee will be parsed for more clues on the central bank’s policy moves.

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with gains in material and energy shares offsetting losses in technology stocks. Shares of crypto-related companies such as Coinbase Global Inc, Riot Platforms Inc and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc climbed between 8% and 12% as bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for the first

COMMODITIES CURRENCY

time in 10 months.

CarMax Inc rallied 11.4% as the used-car retailer reported a quarterly profit that beat estimates.

Moderna Inc fell 4.3% as the company said its closely watched flu vaccine did not meet the criteria for early success in a late-stage trial.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.58-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.56-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 72 new lows.

How Ukraine won the war to keep the lights on

By MARC SANTORA

Electric trams are running again in Kyiv, and electric scooters dot the sidewalks. With curfew extended to midnight, the streets are bright and buzzing. Portable generators, nearly impossible to find as they flew off the shelves in December, are being sold at half price.

The Kremlin’s campaign to break the Ukrainian will to fight by turning winter into a weapon and knocking out power ultimately failed — but there were moments when it seemed that all might be lost.

The darkest week in a long, cold season came in mid-November, when Russian missiles streaked in from three directions, bearing down on Ukrainian power plants.

Energy officials, gathered in a secret bunker in Kyiv, watched alarms flash on the large screens mapping the country’s energy grid as critical substations, thermal power plants and hydroelectric facilities all went dark. Then something happened they had never seen before over weeks of bombardment: All of the nation’s nuclear power plants were thrown into blackout.

Within seconds, control rods positioned above reactors at Ukraine’s three working plants dropped into cores to absorb neutrons and stop the chain reaction that could lead to a meltdown. The reactors, which provide 50% of the country’s energy, went offline.

At the same time, Russian missiles and drones severed Ukraine’s connection to the European grid, a critical source of energy that has helped Ukraine prevent collapse in its own grid.

On a continent of light, Ukraine was an island of darkness. Millions had no heat. Toilets did not flush. Lines formed at old wells as people lugged jugs of water to pitch-dark apartments in Kyiv. Internet service went down for many. Officials discussed mass evacuation plans.

“These were some of the most difficult days,” Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Galushchenko, said in an interview.

Given the depth of the crisis — outlined in more than a dozen interviews with senior energy officials, utility workers, government officials and military intelligence — it is all the more remarkable that as winter has released its icy grip, Ukraine’s power grid not only survives but was even able, in early March, to produce surplus energy for the first time in months.

Major challenges to the power supply, however, may still loom.

Staving off the relentless bombardments has dramatically depleted Ukraine’s air defenses, newly leaked Pentagon documents show, and there is concern that Russian bombers may soon be able to prowl the skies of Ukraine’s cities unscathed.

But for now, rather than break Ukrainian spirit, the bombardments have only made Ukrainians more determined.

Some 97% of Ukrainians surveyed now say they believe they will win the war, and 74% predict that Ukraine will retain all the territory within the borders internationally recognized in 1991. The national survey released in March, was conducted by the National Rating Group, the largest independent research organization in Ukraine.

Still, there remains much work to be done. The Russian assaults destroyed or damaged more than 40% of the nation’s energy infrastructure, and it will cost billions of dollars to repair, according to a new report by the World Bank.

It was not just missiles.

In the towns and cities where Russian forces were forced to withdraw, infrastructure was deliberately destroyed as the invaders fled. They littered the ground with thousands of mines, making repair work slow and treacherous. And all along the front, ruined towns and villages were without power for months.

The first wave of missiles left Ukrainian power workers stunned.

“Everyone had big eyes,” said Ihor, the

chief engineer at a critical substation.

But after two to three weeks, he said, the pattern of Russian airstrikes became clear, and utility workers learned measures to protect some of the most vital equipment.

“The next attacks were scary, but we already knew what to do,” Ihor said. “We felt much more confident.”

The New York Times was allowed to visit several substations that had come under repeated attack on the condition that it not reveal their locations or the full names of employees, for safety reasons.

At the heart of every power substation are hulking, high-power autotransformers. These are used to convert electricity from high voltage during transmission to low voltage for distribution to consumers.

Ukrainian officials suspect that Russian missileers, assisted by electrical engineers and detailed maps of the Ukrainian grid, knew precisely what to target. New transformers cost about $2 million and weigh hundreds of tons, and Russia destroyed dozens of them.

But Russia’s grid attacks also backfired somewhat, prompting Ukraine’s supporters to speed up delivery of the air defense systems that Kyiv had wanted since the first days of the war.

Since Ukraine obtained these systems, the damage inflicted by missile bombardments decreased dramatically, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of the Ukrainian national electric utility, Ukrenergo, said in an

interview in March.

Ukraine, however, still has few defenses against ballistic missiles, and it was unable to shoot down six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles in the last large-scale attack, on March 9.

Kudrytskyi said that engineers worked closely with the military to track incoming waves of missiles and drones and tried to prepare the grid to limit damage.

Without going into technical details for security reasons, he compared it to the balance of riding a bicycle. The system needs to always maintain stability between generation and consumption, and a fluctuation of as little as 1% can create cascading events that ripple through the entire system and cause widespread outages.

Russia’s goal has been to tip the system off balance. Ukraine has found ways to make that much harder, in part by severing its connection to the Russian power grid and connecting to the European system.

Russian forces tried repeatedly to hit the lines from Europe to Ukraine, and two major attacks in November did briefly sever that connection. That was also when the nuclear power plants lost power.

But it was while visiting one of those plants a few months later that Galushchenko, the energy minister, became convinced Ukraine would weather the winter. Repair work that might have been expected to take 260 days of work, he found, had been completed in just 40.

For millions of Ukrainians, the battle over energy could be felt every time their lights went out.

“It was a crazy time,” said Julia Shpyg, the manager at the Electric Cinema amphitheater. “I woke up one day and had no power. I went to work, thinking there would be power here and it was also out. That is when I knew how bad it was.”

“Going to the movies is like a vacation, a few hours to forget about the war,” Shpyg said. Now that was being put in doubt.

But the theater, like many businesses, found a way to stay open, using generators to offer limited showings.

Now, it no longer needs the generators, and the only interruption audiences have to deal with are the near-daily air alarms, a reminder that Russia has not given up trying to batter Ukraine into submission.

“Hopefully, we will never have to go through another winter like the one we just lived through,” Shpyg said.

Passengers ride on an electric tram in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 6, 2023.

For Biden, an era when treaties are more likely to be broken than brokered

By PETER BAKER

President Joe Biden leaves Tuesday for Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence. But the commemoration also serves as an unspoken reminder that such diplomatic breakthroughs have become a thing of the past.

At a time of ferocious warfare in Europe and crackling tension elsewhere around the globe, the sort of bold, painstaking negotiation that brought peace to the Emerald Isle a quarter-century ago has largely disappeared from the scene. Bargaining tables sit empty these days. Shuttle diplomacy planes have been grounded. Treaties are more likely to be broken than brokered.

It would be too much to call it the death of diplomacy, but there certainly is a dearth of diplomacy for now. While Biden fervently believes in deal-making, his efforts to revive the Iran nuclear accord have collapsed, and it is widely considered futile to even try to end the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict or negotiate with North Korea at this point. The Russians have suspended the New START treaty, the last major RussianAmerican arms control agreement, and there appears to be little prospect for diplomacy to halt the fighting in Ukraine in the near term.

Even on the international economic front, once a fruitful field for American presidents to leave their mark, there is little meaningful movement to continue the integration of recent years. Biden opted against rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping free trade pact negotiated by a previous administration he belonged to, nor is he pursuing any other major free trade agreement, making him the first president not to do so in four decades.

“There’s something about the moment that doesn’t make it very ripe,” said Martin S. Indyk, who served as ambassador to Israel twice and later as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace. “It’s harder to get big agreements when you’re in this adversarial engagement, both with Russia and with China.”

With the revival of great power competition on the scale of the Cold War, the ground for diplomacy has shifted. There is little appetite in Moscow or Beijing for meeting in the middle, while some of the world’s seemingly intractable disputes such as that between Israel and the Palestinians have settled into a stalemate locked in geopolitical cement.

Domestic politics have not eased the way for major international agreements either. The rise of Donald Trump ushered in a nationalist, even isolationist, moment in the United States that eschews foreign entanglements. Globalism, once the bipartisan consensus, has become a bad word and with it the notion of tying American interests to those of other countries.

That represents a pretty drastic change in less than a decade. After securing the New START treaty in his first term, Obama in his later years in office presided over a flurry of major diplomatic accords, including the Iran nuclear deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris climate accord and an opening to Cuba after more than half a century. “Part of our goal here has been to show that diplomacy can work,” Obama said at the time.

But the array of agreements he put in place did not survive long once Trump took office. The new president pulled the United States out of the Iran deal, the Pacific partnership and the Paris accord. He halted and to some extent reversed the opening to Cuba. He withdrew from longstanding pacts including the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty and even threatened to leave a 19th century postal treaty before reversing

course after winning concessions.

While Trump fancied himself a stellar negotiator, he sealed fewer major agreements than he scuttled during his four years. His promise to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, which he considered “maybe not as difficult as people have thought,” proved to be just as difficult as people thought. His efforts to strike a bargain with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to get rid of that country’s nuclear weapons and to rewrite trade rules with China to favor American interests both failed.

His most notable successes were an update of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, with Canada and Mexico, and the Abraham Accords, which opened diplomatic relations between Israel and several of its small Arab neighbors. The most consequential agreement Trump struck may have been his deal with the Taliban to pull American troops out of Afghanistan, an accord one of his own national security advisers called a “surrender agreement” and which was later executed by Biden.

Biden came to office determined to repair ties that frayed under Trump and quickly rejoined the Paris climate accord. But with free trade deeply unpopular in his own party, Biden chose not to rejoin Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership and has made no

effort to forge a free-trade agreement of his own, unlike every president since Ronald Reagan. Instead his trade office is focusing on more limited agreements including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, aiming to raise labor and environmental standards without offering more market access.

And while they do not have major new treaties to sign, Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have successfully unified NATO against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and won support from other countries as well. American diplomats helped pave the way for Finland to join the alliance and are working to overcome Turkish objections to admitting Sweden. One administration official said that if the Good Friday Agreement was a home run, Biden has hit some solid singles and doubles.

Many diplomatic agreements are the product of several administrations, with one president benefiting from the spadework of predecessors. NAFTA, for instance, originated under Reagan as a pact between the United States and Canada; President George H.W. Bush expanded it to Mexico, and President Bill Clinton pushed it through Congress.

Trump left little for Biden to continue pursuing other than the Abraham Accords, which the current president would like to expand to include Saudi Arabia. So far, the Biden administration has brokered an expansion of airspace rights for Israel over Saudi Arabia, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had demanded other major concessions before agreeing to full diplomatic relations.

Even then, the Saudis are playing the Americans off other major powers these days, collaborating with Russia in setting oil prices over Washington’s objections and relying on China to facilitate a restoration of diplomatic relations with Iran.

The Good Friday Agreement that Biden will honor in Northern Ireland this week was no overnight success. In fact, it came together only after three previous attempts failed. And even after it was hammered out with the help of Clinton in 1998, the disputes did not actually end.

“The reason it succeeded when the others failed was because it was inclusive, because there were leaders on both sides ready to take risks and because there was a mutually hurting stalemate — both sides were tired,” said Jonathan Powell, who was chief of staff to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and his chief negotiator for Northern Ireland peace talks.

President Joe Biden arrives aboard Marine One at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, from a weekend trip to Camp David, on Sunday, April 9, 2023.

China brandishes military options in exercises around Taiwan

By CHRIS BUCKLEY and AMY CHANG CHIEN

China sent record numbers of military aircraft, as well as naval ships and an aircraft carrier near Taiwan earlier this week in the final day of military exercises choreographed to raise pressure on the island while stopping short of an escalation that could set off a conflict.

China has said the three days of drills were retaliation against a visit by President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan to the United States last week and her meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Beijing claims Taiwan, a self-governed democracy, as its territory and opposes such exchanges with the island’s leaders.

China has also seized the opportunity to use the drills to signal that Taiwan would be vulnerable if Beijing ever set out to claim the island by force, and that the United States could not be trusted to step into such a conflict.

During the drills, Chinese fighter jets practiced taking off from the aircraft carrier Shandong off the east coast of Taiwan, an island about 100 miles from China. Other ships maneuvered in the seas around Taiwan. Troops from the People’s Liberation Army were scheduled to hold live-fire practice off a small Chinese island that hugs the Chinese coast.

By Monday evening, 91 Chinese military aircraft had flown into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone — a selfimposed buffer around the island — on that day, according to estimates issued by Taiwan’s defense ministry. That marked the highest daily total of such Chinese sorties since Taiwan began regularly releasing the data in 2020. The previous high was 71, set in December and again on Saturday. The air defense identification zone is much broader than Taiwan’s sovereign airspace.

“Are the ‘security assurances’ provided by the United States reliable? The answer is, of course, negative,” an editorial in the Chinese military’s main newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily, said Sunday. “Its sinister designs to use Taiwan as a pawn, courting disaster for the two sides of the strait, are there for all to see.”

Experts have said the Chinese drills have been smaller and less menacing than similar exercises held in August to simulate a blockade after Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, visited Taiwan.

Even so, China’s display of force this time was full of intimidating messages and images warning of the potential consequences if it defies Beijing’s demands for unification.

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, which oversees an area including Taiwan, said its forces were holding “simulated precision attacks,” and shared a short, crude cartoon of missiles raining around the island, and striking near or on two of its biggest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung. The command also issued a video purporting to show a bomber taking part in the exercises.

“I’ve arrived in skies north of Taiwan Island. The plane is operating normally and the missiles are in good shape,” a pilot says. The video ends with a voice saying: “Missile ready. Fire!”

Live-fire exercises were scheduled to take place Monday in the waters off Pingtan, an island in Fujian province, opposite Taiwan, but details of what took place there were scant. Later Monday, the Chinese military declared that the exercises were completed and had honed its ability to “smash ‘Taiwanese independence’ separatism and external meddling in any form.”

“These exercises demonstrated a rapid response capability — they were announced in the morning, and the forces assembled in the afternoon to start military drills,” Song Zhongping, a commentator in Beijing who is a former military officer, said in messaged answers to questions.

“Each exercise will bring

improvements, and that’s because each exercise is a preparation for battle,” he said. “I, for one, don’t think that the deterrent level of these exercises has been any less than in August.”

Taiwan’s military has responded to the Chinese exercises with its own stream of images and announcements showing aircraft, soldiers and vessels ready to defend the island.

“What is quite worrisome is that, owing to the sharp increase in naval and air forces from both sides of the strait at close quarters near the median line and around Taiwan, the risks of accidents leading to an inadvertent exchange of fire have greatly increased,” said Chieh Chung, an adjunct assistant professor of strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan.

China said Sunday that one of its ships was as close as 5 nautical miles from a Taiwanese naval ship. Taiwan’s defense ministry said that the island’s forces were under orders to avoiding setting off incidents.

“As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will not engage in escalating clashes or provoking disputes,” the island’s foreign ministry said Monday.

China launched the exercises Saturday, shortly after President Emmanuel Macron of France finished a visit to China in which he sought to bolster cooperation and urged China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Macron had told reporters that the Taiwan issue was not for him to judge and he did not detect any Chinese desire to “overreact.”

Many Taiwanese residents seemed largely unruffled by the exercises. They have lived under Chinese threats for decades, and many see a real war as a distant danger.

“The drills in 2022 were totally different,” said Tsao Chihping, 26, a tour guide on Dongju Island, a Taiwanese island about 15 miles from Pingtan, China, who said she didn’t hear or see the past days’ exercises. “I don’t feel the same tensions of last summer.”

Ground staff install missiles on a Taiwan Air Force Mirage 2000-5 jet fighter at Hsinchu Air Base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, April 8, 2023.

A look at Northern Ireland 25 years after peace accord

By MARK LANDLER

Twenty-five years ago, Britain and Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement, ending decades of bloodshed known as the Troubles. At the stroke of a pen, Northern Ireland became one of the world’s most ambitious experiments in how to reconcile a deeply divided society.

Even now, remnants of separation between Protestant and Catholic Northern Ireland linger: barriers between neighborhoods known as peace walls; murals with images of Queen Elizabeth II or Irish republican heroes; the Union Jacks and Irish tricolors that flutter from lampposts.

But more and more, these are relics. As it commemorates a quarter-century of peace, Northern Ireland is searching for its place as part of both the United Kingdom and the island of Ireland, seeking to turn ancient divisions into a formula for future prosperity.

At the heart of the Good Friday Agreement is a commitment to preserve a political balance between unionists, most of them Protestant, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists, most of them Catholic, who favor unification with the Republic of Ireland.

That is a challenge because for the first time, Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland. The prospect that this could lead to a unification of Ireland has alarmed unionists, who seize on holidays and historical anniversaries to assert their religious identity. Nationalists, more confident of their future, celebrate their Irish identity at sporting events.

In the decades since the Troubles subsided, Northern Ireland has become like many Western countries — a secular society in which the younger generation has little time for the sectarian preoccupations of their parents and grandparents.

Whether in pubs or concert halls, young Protestants and Catholics tend to mix easily, united by the quest for fellowship and a good time. For them, the rainbow Pride flag is just as likely to hang from the ceiling as the Irish or British flags.

The barbed wire and border posts that once divided Northern Ireland from Ireland had largely vanished even before the 1998 agreement. But there are still scars, such as the euphemistically named peace walls that snake through Belfast. Some, including the one that separates Catholic Springfield Road from Protestant Springmartin Road, are visible for miles.

Another has become a magnet for tou-

rists, who cruise past it in taxis, imagining the violent past as the residents of the Falls Road, Belfast’s Catholic stronghold, and the Shankill Road, its Protestant counterpart, go about their daily lives.

For Northern Ireland’s hard-core unionists, known as loyalists, Brexit was painful, with many despairing that it drove a wedge between them and the rest of the United King-

dom. They yearn for links to the union, celebrating the British monarch in murals or marching in parades that honor Protestant icons such as William of Orange. But those in loyalist enclaves such as Belfast’s Sandy Row, economically depressed and politically isolated, increasingly feel left behind. Many residents dwell on grievances of post-Brexit life and see little hope for a brighter

future.

For Catholics, who long felt the boot of British rule in Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland, the future seems rosier. Sinn Fein, the major party on the Irish nationalist side, became the largest party in the North’s assembly in elections last year.

It has appealed to voters with an emphasis on kitchen-table concerns including education and health care. For now, these issues matter more to growing Catholic families than a united Ireland.

But reminders of the bloodstained past can be jarring. In East Belfast, not far from the shipyard where the doomed Titanic ocean liner was built, the image of a masked paramilitary gunman glowers from the side of a building.

Victims of violence, and their families, struggle with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s years of conflict. Some still campaign for new investigations into long-ago car bombings or murders, desperate for justice in a society eager to move on.

The strife of the Troubles scared away foreign investors, leaving Northern Ireland with a corroded economy at a time when Ireland was benefiting from membership in the European Union.

But there is a new mood of optimism in the trendy cafes of Belfast and other cities. The unique nature of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade status gives it unfettered access to the United Kingdom as well as to the vast European single market.

From the wave-lashed basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway to the jutting prow of the Titanic museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland is restyling itself as a tourist destination, famous for attractions other than the Troubles.

Artists are turning derelict buildings in Belfast into studios, part of a booming contemporary art scene. In popular culture, Northern Ireland’s second-largest city, Derry, has become synonymous with the popular television series “Derry Girls.”

Still, the past never fully releases its grip on Northern Ireland, whether in the politically charged murals or the dueling flags that tell visitors when they have entered a loyalist or a nationalist neighborhood.

The Knockagh Monument attests to this enduring ambiguity. It was built to honor those who died in World War I, and later both world wars. But the First World War has come to be identified with loyalists and unionists, even though Protestants and Catholics fell together on its battlefields.

A derelict ground in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 17, 2023.

Artist Johnny McEwen works at his studio in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 30, 2023.

Putin’s energy offensive has failed

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Russia has launched four great offensives. Three were military; the fourth was economic. And while you don’t hear much about that last offensive, its failure offers some very important lessons.

Everyone knows about the first military offensive: the attempted blitzkrieg that was supposed to seize Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities in a matter of days. Many observers — especially, but not only, Western right-wingers who fetishized the perceived prowess of Russia’s un-woke military — expected this blitzkrieg to succeed. Instead, it turned into an epic defeat: Stalled by a dogged Ukrainian defense, the Russians eventually retreated after suffering huge losses.

The second offensive was more limited in scope: a spring attack on eastern Ukraine. Here again, many observers expected a decisive Russian victory, perhaps the encirclement of much of Ukraine’s army. And the Russians did make some advances thanks to overwhelming artillery superiority. But this offensive stalled once Ukraine acquired Western precision weapons, especially the now famous HIMARS, which wreaked havoc on Russian rear areas. And Ukraine was eventually able to launch counterattacks that regained significant ground, notably retaking Kherson.

The third Russian offensive, a winter attack in the Donbas region, is still underway, and it’s possible that Ukraine may choose to pull out of the embattled city of Bakhmut, a place of little strategic importance that has nonetheless become the scene of incredibly bloody fighting. But most observers I read view the enterprise as a whole as yet another strategic failure.

In some ways, though, Russia’s most important defeat has come not on the battlefield but on the economic front. I said that Russia has launched four great offensives; the fourth was

the attempt to blackmail European democracies into dropping their support for Ukraine by cutting off their supplies of natural gas.

There were reasons to be concerned about this attempt to weaponize energy supplies. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine initially disrupted markets for several commodities — Russia is a major oil producer, and both Russia and Ukraine were major agricultural exporters before the war — natural gas seemed like an especially serious pressure point. Why? Because it isn’t really traded on a global market. The cheapest way to ship gas is via pipelines, and it wasn’t obvious how Europe would replace Russian gas if the supply were cut off.

So many people, myself included, worried about the effects of a de facto Russian gas embargo. Would it cause a European recession? Would hard times in Europe undermine willingness to keep aiding Ukraine?

Well, the big story — a story that hasn’t received much play in the news media, because it’s hard to report on things that didn’t happen — is that Europe has weathered the loss of Russian supplies remarkably well. Euro-area unemployment hasn’t gone up at all; inflation did surge, but European governments have managed, through a combination of price controls and financial aid, to limit (but not eliminate) the amount of personal hardship created by high gas prices.

And Europe has managed to keep functioning despite the cutoff of most Russian gas. Partly this reflects a turn to other sources of gas, including liquefied natural gas shipped from the United States; partly it reflects conservation efforts that have reduced demand. Some of it reflects a temporary return to coal-fired electricity generation; much of it reflects the fact that Europe already gets a large share of its energy from renewables.

And yes, it was an unusually warm winter, which also helped. But the bottom line, as a report from the European Council on Foreign Relations puts it, is that “Moscow failed in its effort to blackmail EU member states through withholding gas.” Indeed, Europe has stepped up its military aid to Ukraine, notably by sending main battle tanks that may help the coming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

So what can we learn from the failure of Russia’s energy offensive?

First, Russia looks more than ever like a Potemkin superpower, with little behind its impressive facade. Its much vaunted military is far less effective than advertised; now its role as an energy supplier is proving much harder to weaponize than many

imagined.

Second, democracies are showing, as they have many times in the past, that they are much tougher, much harder to intimidate, than they look.

Finally, modern economies are far more flexible, far more able to cope with change, than some vested interests would have us believe.

For as long as I can remember, fossil-fuel lobbyists and their political supporters have insisted that any attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be disastrous for jobs and economic growth. But what we’re seeing now is Europe making an energy transition under the worst possible circumstances — sudden, unexpected and drastic — and handling it pretty well. This suggests that a gradual, planned green energy transition would be far easier than pessimists imagine.

EL CAPITOLIO – Durante los trabajos de la Sesión Ordinaria este martes, el Senado dio paso a informes avalados por la Comisión de Nombramientos que dirige el presidente José Luis Dalmau Santiago, referente a diversas designaciones.

El cuerpo legislativo otorgó consejo y consentimiento a los nombramientos de la licenciada Ruth Myriam Pérez Pérez para un nuevo término corno Fiscal Auxiliar II; del CPA Luis Torres Llompart como Miembro de la Junta de Gobierno de la Universidad de Puerto Rico; el doctor Aurelio Segundo Díaz como Miembro de la Junta de Licenciamiento y Disciplina Médica y José Francisco Nazario como Comisionado en la Comisión de Practicaje de Puerto Rico, en capacidad de representante de la Asociación de Navieros de Puerto Rico, para un nuevo término que vence el 7 de enero de 2027.

Además, aprobó las designaciones de René Acosta Benítez y Jorge Jorge Flores como miembros de la Junta de Directores de la Corporación para la Promocións de Puerto Rico como Destino (por sus siglas en inglés, DMO).

De otro lado, se le dio paso a la Resolución del Senado 138 de la senadora del Partido Nuevo Progresista, Keren Riquelme Cabrera que ordena a la Comisión

LA

FORTALEZA – El gobernador Pedro Rafael Pierluisi

Urrutia dijo el martes sentirse dolido ante la alegación de culpabilidad en el Tribunal Federal, por parte de sus primos, Walter y Eduardo Pierluisi, supuestamente relacionado a fondos federales.

“Yo lo que conozco del tema es lo que los medios han publicado, principalmente a base de las expresiones del licenciado Osvaldo Carlo. A base de esas expresiones, si, aparenta ser el caso que mis primos van a aceptar su culpabilidad en cuestión de próximo días. No tengo el detalle de los delitos cometidos. Me apena la situación porque son primos mios. Pero me molesta

de Desarrollo de la Región Norte realizar un estudio sobre la situación actual de la industria lechera en Puerto Rico, incluyendo sus necesidades y problemas más apremiantes.

“La meta es que sirva de zapata para tener una industria de leche vibrante y ajustada a la realidad de Puerto Rico”, expresó Riquelme en su turno sobre la medida. A su vez, mencionó que “la industria lechera tiene muchos retos. Igualmente, es una de las industrias más importantes de Puerto Rico y representa poco menos de una tercera parte de los ingresos agrícolas”.

También, fue aprobado el Proyecto del Senado 1003, de administración y presentado por la delegación novoprogresista. La medida busca viabilizar de manera excepcional la configuración de la Junta de Contratistas de Servicios de Impermeabilización, Sellado y Reparación de Techos de Puerto Rico y permitir la otorgación de la licencia a sus integrantes sin necesidad de tomar examen alguno, sujeto al cumplimiento de ciertos requisitos. Además, permitir un nuevo término de seis meses para que dicha Junta, una vez constituida, otorgue licencias sin la necesidad de examen, sujeto al cumplimiento de ciertos requisitos.

El senador del distrito de Ponce, Ramón Ruíz Nieves, se expresó favor de la pieza legislativa y expresó que “la medida pretende que se pueda designar nuevamente la Junta que ha estado inoperante con unos

de igual manera. Porque toda corrupción es reprochable. Todo acto de corrupción es repudiable, venga de donde venga, incluyendo de mis familiares. Me apena porque estamos hablando de familia, pero aquí no hay excepciones. Lo he dicho y lo repito, aquí en Puerto Rico no hay impunidad. El que falla tiene que responder”, dijo el gobernador en conferencia de prensa.

“En cuanto a mi administración, por lo que conozco y es lo que ha expresado en el pasado nuestro secretario de la Vivienda y de igual manera, el administrador de Vivienda Pública, tan pronto tomaron conocimiento o detectaron posibles irregularidades, actuaron, le cancelaron los contratos a la empresa de mis familiares. No tituberaron, hicieron lo que tenían que hacer. O sea, y en cuanto a qué impacto podría tener esto, pues, yo pienso que ninguno. Porque en cualquier fami.lia, alguien puede fallar. Lo importante es que responda. Y en mi administración no hay tolerancia. Otra vez, sea quien sea, venga de donde venga”, añadió.

Cuestionado sobre las posibles causas por las cuales se espera, según reportes de prensa, que este jueves, tanto Walter, como Eduardo Pierluisi, se declaren culpables por un supuesto esquema de fraude de poco más de 4 millones de dólares de programas federales, si el gobierno busca recuperar el dinero, el gobernador contestó:

requisitos relacionados al trabajo que ocupa. Actualmente, personas hacen reclamos y encuentran que las empresas no estan licenciadas y no se puede hacer reclamación”.

La pieza legislativa señala en su exposición de motivos que “de esta forma, nos aseguramos que estos profesionales formen parte de la cadena de trabajadores importantes para la reconstrucción de Puerto Rico. Todo lo anterior se haría como parte de un ejercicio de política pública del Estado para poder modernizar todas nuestras normas relacionadas con la fiscalización y licenciamiento de las profesiones conforme al alto interés público para la debida protección del consumidor que contrata los mismos”.

“Son fondos federales. Las autoridades federales son las que han tomado jurisdicción primaria en este asunto. Son las que aparenta ser el caso los que están procesando el asunto así que, en realidad, de loq ue estamos hablando son fondos federales”.

“No tengo el detalle. Hay que ver si las autoridades federales exigen la restitución. He visto informes periodísticos que hablan de que se va a restituir el dinero. Si eso es así es positivo, asi debe ser. Yo favorezco la restitución, pero otra vez, esto no está en manos de las autoridades estatales porque estmos hablando de fondos federales en programas federales”, añadió.

El mandatario dijo sentirse dolido y apenado por el asunto.

“Algo que también aquí me apena es que mis primos llevaban casi 30 años administrando residenciales públicos y que esto acabe de esta forma, a mí me duele y hasta cierto punto, si, y me apena porque después de casi treinta años que acabe en esto, es inconcebible para mi”, expresó el gobernador.

Pierluisi Urrutia estableció que no ha sostenido comunicación con sus primos.

“No he tenido comunicación con mis primos sobre este asunto o cualquier otro asunto hace ya bastante tiempo”, alegó.

Dolido y molesto el gobernador tras aceptación de culpabilidad de sus primos

Senado da paso a nombramientos de varios funcionarios del gobierno

‘Showing Up’ review: Making art in all its everyday glory

wood bases. Several of these little women are erect, and others are recumbent; one stands on her head while a few look like they’ve been captured in mid-leap. A figurine with downcast eyes and a tiny, private smile looks a bit like Reichardt.

As Lizzy works on her sculptures, their shape, details and distinct personalities emerge as do she and this wispy story. Things happen in Reichardt’s movies — minor, fleeting and profound things, just like in life. Story can seem both too grand and too impoverished a word to describe the personal, richly inhabited and realistic worlds she creates from faces and bodies, poses and gestures, rituals and habits, and her very specific grasp on time and place. But, of course, there’s always a story in how human beings navigate one another and sometimes try to bridge — and hide out in — that bristling, ineffable space between us.

By MANOHLA DARGIS

Stubbornly independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt makes small-scale movies rooted in specific worlds, both inner and outer; nearly all take place in Oregon, where she has long lived and worked. She traveled back in time for her last movie, “First Cow,” a moving chronicle of love, land and capitalism set in the Oregon Territory in the 19th century. Reichardt is back on more familiar ground in her latest, “Showing Up,” a wonderful slice of life that is set in present-day Portland and is about something that she knows intimately: making art.

The movies love tortured artists, inflamed geniuses who thunder against the establishment, aesthetic conventions, their historical epochs, God or just the nearest warm body. No one rages or slashes a canvas in “Showing Up,” although a few characters do raise their voices. At one point, the film’s stubbornly independent hero, Lizzy — a sculptor played by a revelatory, notably de-glammed Michelle Williams — leaves an angry message on a col-

Andeno Co

Tasa mínima, promedio ponderado, y máxima para préstamos personales pequeños otorgados para la semana que terminó el sábado, 8 de abril de 2023

league’s voicemail, an expletive-laced tirade that she ends with a comical bleat: “Have a great night.”

It’s a gently funny and true moment in a gently funny and true movie that perfectly captures Lizzy’s complicated interiority. By the time she makes that call, you know a great deal about her. You know that she makes sculptures in her home studio and works at an art school, although what she does there remains unclear. What’s more crucial is that over the course of this delicate, detailed movie, you become familiar with the petulantly downward slope of Lizzy’s mouth, the welcoming disorder of her apartment, the tender care that she takes with her art. You also know that she rarely smiles and scarcely ever says please or thank you.

Written by Reichardt and Jon Raymond, “Showing Up” is a portrait of an individual, but the film is universal in the sense that it’s about a woman living in the concrete here and now. Reichardt is interested in abstract ideas and everyday intangibles, but her filmmaking is precisely grounded in the material world, and so is Lizzy. If she has aesthetic principles, for instance, she doesn’t voice them. Reichardt, though, speaks volumes about art and the artistic process in this movie, which focuses on Lizzy as she prepares for a fast-approaching exhibit — a quietly fraught few days filled with painstaking creative labor as well as testy and comic interactions.

When “Showing Up” opens, Lizzy is putting the finishing touches on the textured, small-scaled figurative sculptures that she molds from clay and then paints before having them fired in a kiln at the school. (The kiln operator is played by André Benjamin, making the charming most out of a modest role.) The figures are of women captured in well-defined poses, with some mounted with rods on

That space swells and contracts, by turns narrowing and expanding until it seems as vast and impassable as the Grand Canyon. Lizzy doesn’t make it easy to bridge; it’s instructive that she’s more openly affectionate with her cat than with her mother (Maryann Plunkett), who’s her boss at the school, or with her gruff father (a lovely Judd Hirsch). Yet, while Lizzy works on her art in solitude (the cat comes and goes), she’s rarely alone for long, and the movie is filled with people, a vivid, eccentric and amusing collection that includes Jo (an essential Hong Chau), a vivacious artist who’s Lizzy’s landlord and the recipient of her angry phone call.

Lizzy has reason to be irritated at Jo, who’s taking her time with fixing her broken water heater. But Jo is more than carelessly inattentive. A jolt of energy with a pickup truck and long, sweeping hair, Jo is sexy and popular, the very picture of the hip, hot artist and the apparent polar opposite of Lizzy, with her bob and frumpy look. Jo, too, is readying a new exhibit, but her gallery is bigger than Lizzy’s and her show more prestigious: It will have a catalog! The women get under each other’s skin, but like everyone else in Lizzy’s life — her family, her colleagues, the art students, her cat and a pigeon who swoops in and stays awhile — Jo sustains her.

For Lizzy, making art is an act of self-creation, but it is also and always an act of communion, a way of being in the world and with other people. That makes “Showing Up” a somewhat reflexive self-portrait, one that owes much to Reichardt and Williams’ beautifully synced collaboration. This is the fourth movie that they’ve done together (their first was “Wendy and Lucy”), and it’s a joy to witness how perfectly aligned their work has become. Together, Reichardt and Williams — with little dialogue and boundless generosity — lucidly articulate everything that Lizzy will never say and need not say, opening a window on the world and turning this wondrous, determined, gloriously grumpy woman into a sublime work of art.

‘Showing Up’

Rated R for language. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. In theaters.

Michelle Williams, as a sculptor in “Showing Up,” is revelatory and pointedly de-glammed.

María Kodama, keeper of the Borges legacy, dies at 86

By NEIL GENZLINGER

María Kodama, a writer and translator who was best known for guarding the legacy of her husband, the masterly Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, died on March 26 in the Buenos Aires suburb of Vincente López. She was 86.

Fernando Soto, her lawyer, announced her death on Twitter. News accounts said the cause was breast cancer.

For years Kodama was Borges’ secretary, aide and traveling companion. A few months before he died in 1986, they married. Borges bequeathed the rights to his works to Kodama, and soon after his death she established the Jorge Luis Borges International Foundation to further the appreciation of his writing and protect it from what she viewed as misappropriation and misinterpretation.

In the days since Kodama’s death, news accounts have said that she apparently left no will and that the status of the Borges estate is in limbo.

“She didn’t like to talk about those issues,” Soto told The Associated Press. “She didn’t talk about her death.”

In life, Kodama was devoted to Borges, one of the towering figures of 20th century Latin American literature. Borges was some 38 years older than her, and by the time she began working for and with him, he had lost his eyesight.

“She would read to him, and he fell in love with her voice,” Andrew Wylie, her literary agent in New York, said in a phone interview, “which was something that you could easily imagine him doing, because her voice was very particular and interesting and lovely.”

It was a relationship that began, in a sense, when Kodama was a child. She was born on March 10, 1937, in Buenos Aires. Her father, Yosaburo, was Japanese, and her mother, María Antonia Schweizer, was an Argentine German. Her parents separated when she was young, and she was “brought up between two cultures,” as she put it in a 2016 interview for The Sydney Review of Books.

At a presentation recorded by the Library of Congress in 2017, Kodama said she first encountered Borges’ work when she was 5 years old and a woman who was tutoring her in English read her two of his poems, which had been written, in English, to a woman he was interested in at the time.

“He offers her his solitude, his sadness, his failure and ‘the hunger of my heart,’” she told The Sydney Review. “When she translated this for me, I asked her, ‘What is hunger of the heart?’ because obviously for a 5-year-old child, hunger is only the need to eat. She told me I would understand when I grew up.”

When she was 12, she was taken to a lecture he gave. A few years later, now a budding scholar, she

ran into him at a bookstore in Buenos Aires. She told him she had heard him speak when she was a girl; he invited her to join a study group he was leading on Anglo-Saxon literature.

Kodama studied literature at the University of Buenos Aires, where Borges was a professor. By the late 1960s, she was acting as his assistant.

Biographers have long speculated on the nature of their relationship, but there is no doubt that she read to him, took his dictation, eventually traveled with him extensively and on some works was essentially his collaborator — for instance, his “Atlas” (1984) was a collection of essays and stories based on their travels together.

The years after Borges’ death were often contentious ones for Kodama. She did some writing of her own, including publishing “Homage to Borges,” a collection of lectures she had given about him, in 2016, but much of her time was consumed with fighting legal challenges and bringing some herself over rights, translations and other issues.

“I’ve been through 30 years of hell,” she said in the interview with The Sydney Review. “I have been

defamed.”

Scholars and others complained about her handling of Borges’ archive and her view of his legacy. One controversy found its way to a Manhattan theater, where in 1987, choreographer and director Graciela Daniele presented a work called “Tango Apasionado” based on some of Borges’ writings.

The show was well received — Mel Gussow, reviewing it for The New York Times, called it “a musictheater-dance piece of breathtaking intensity” — and it seemed headed for an extended off-Broadway run and tour. Kodama had approved the original run, but once she saw the show, she refused permission for an extension without extensive changes to the dialogue.

Those changes, Daniele told the Times, “would not have been the piece we created.” (She and her collaborator, Jim Lewis, later created a different version of the show without the Borges material.)

Whatever the controversies, Wylie said Kodama and Borges were a good fit.

“She was a lovely and brilliant complement to his genius,” he said, “which was considerable.”

She leaves no immediate survivors.

María Kodama in 2007. She was an assistant to the writer Jorge Luis Borges before becoming his wife, and later, the guardian of his legacy.

FASHION

By IRIS EDÉN SANTIAGO Special to The STAR

The powerful fashion industry is giving credit to hundreds of women, artisans and textile workers in faraway continents whose handwork, beading, knotting, stitching and embroideries are the cornerstone of haute couture collections presented in pompous events in first-tier world cities.

For the last couple of years, luxe labels have really paid attention to

these ancient cultures. Destination shows are a thing: Chanel in Dakar, Dior in Giza, Louis Vuitton in Seoul. Important fashion emporiums are not just searching for inventive backdrops to stage a show. They are telling the world that these talented artisans exist and that they collaborate with them, whatever that means. It is a huge step, I would say. Hey, not every fashion look is designed, sketched and produced in the western world alone. Influences, trends, colors, patterns and silhouettes

can originate in distant locations, in the creative minds of people who never had access to a fashion design school.

Christian Dior just celebrated The Chanakya School of Craft in Mumbai for their pre fall 2023 collection held at the Gateway of India historic landmark. It was magical.

The runway was a feast of bright colors, floral patterns, and Indian motifs, with elephants, mandalas, lotus, tigers, and peacocks adorning blouses, pajama dressing, dusters, and sarong skirts. The color palette included shades of forest green, emerald green, blue, orange and marigold, but we especially loved the indigoes, the intense purple hues and of course, the super bright fuchsia.

We also loved the Nehru collars, metallic shifts, mini dresses and most of all, the architectural sari skirts worn with cropped tops in silver and gold. Almost every look was accessorized with strands of pearls and pearl choker necklaces. On their feet? Simple sandals, flip-flops or moccasins.

“I personally wanted to celebrate and showcase the incredible knowledge India offers to the international world of fashion in the field of embroidery, the mastery of the artisans who continue to work on this craft, and the commitment of Chanakya’s founders to preserving India’s history and culture, portrayed by each embroidery technique,” said Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Dior’s tribute to India

This carrot cake doesn’t require any grating (really!)

By YEWANDE KOMOLAFE

When I set out to make bolo de cenoura, a carrot cake found in Portuguese and Brazilian cuisines, I wanted to re-create what I’d had at bakeries or seen on Instagram: perfectly plated slices in vivid contrasting colors, an orange-amber crumb under a dark chocolate glaze.

Often made at home in a blender or food processor and sold at traditional bakeries, bolo de cenoura comes together with just five key ingredients: carrots, flour, sugar, eggs and oil. For celebrations, the Brazilian version is usually topped with a semi-glossy chocolate frosting called brigadeiro that’s anchored by condensed milk and cocoa powder. It adds more than just a little sweetness: It turns a bright, starch-forward cake into a rich dessert.

It was all so simple. And yet, I found myself thinking about how I wanted to modify this carrot cake, which was quickly becoming my favorite on earth.

Whenever I adapt recipes, I try to ensure that each tweak reveals something about me, that it allows a little of my personality to peek through. So I’ll add an ingredient that excites my palate, preference masquerading as personal touch. Sometimes I make a substitution because I sense a connection with a different dish rooted in similar ingredients. These adaptations end up helping me learn the boundaries of a recipe, what modifications it can take. But they also illustrate the food memories I’m always chasing — feelings I keep coming back to, flavors that make me feel at home.

Mariana Vieira, a professional baker from Bauru, Brazil, and a co-owner of Brigadeiro Bakery in New York, makes no modifications to her classic bolo de cenoura.

“It’s very homemade, and it’s not a fancy cake,” Vieira said. (At the bakery, she makes it only in single batches.)

The steps are straightforward: Gather your ingredients, purée in the blender, pour in a prepared pan and bake. Then, make the brigadeiro while the cake cools.

The carrots can be peeled or just scrubbed. The most important thing, Vieira said, is that “they should be very crispy,” in order to make the cake moist and ensure a soft crumble with every pass of a ravenous diner’s fork.

Although I love the classic version, I sneaked in a few changes to suit my taste. I folded a spoonful of sour cream into the batter for a delightful tang, and used sweetened condensed coconut milk in the brigadeiro frosting for a creamy coconut-flavored topping that coats every bite.

That hint of coconut reminds me of the sweet afternoon snacks of my childhood in Lagos, Nigeria: a small bag of coconut caramels, chuk chuk (a freshly grated coconut tossed in a pale golden caramel) or gurudi (a brittle cracker of coconut and cassava), a little burst of joy picked up on the way home from school, sometimes followed by a kanjika, a cold corn-coconut pudding finished with nut-

Bolo de cenoura (carrot cake) in New York, March 1, 2023. Bolo de cenoura comes together quickly in a blender and makes an unforgettable afternoon snack, Yewande Komolafe writes. Food

meg. This version of brigadeiro brings me right back. And just as those coconut-infused treats were there for me, this cake is there for Vieira’s boys, helping them build a connection to Brazil from many miles away. In their home, bolo de cenoura is served with guava jam or butter, or drizzled with a simple ganache and requested for birthdays and celebrations.

“It’s such a versatile cake,” she said. “It’s amazing.”

And, like any baked good, a subtle adjustment may be all you need to give it your own personal touch, something to remind you of home.

Bolo de Cenoura (Carrot Cake)

Bolo de cenauro, a carrot cake often found in Portuguese and Brazilian bakeries, is thrilling in its simplicity. A few key ingredients (carrots, flour, sugar, eggs and oil) and a blender or food processor are all you need to bring together the batter. The carrots give the cake its tender orange-amber crumb, which is finished with a brigadeiro frosting, anchored by a condensed milk and cocoa powder, that’s made while the cake cools. A spoonful of sour cream, a nontraditional addition to the batter, adds a slight tang here, and condensed coconut milk lends a subtle nuttiness to the frosting.

Yield: 12 servings

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus cooling

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

2 cups/260 grams all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

1/2 cup/115 milliliters grapeseed oil or other neutral oil, such as safflower or canola, plus more for pan

2 large or 3 medium carrots (about 300 grams), trimmed, scrubbed and roughly chopped

1 1/4 cups/270 grams sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup/112 grams full-fat sour cream

For the Brigadeiro Topping:

2 (7.4-ounce/210-gram) cans sweetened condensed coconut milk

5 tablespoons/30 grams Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Preparation:

1. Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Generously brush a 9-inch round cake pan with oil.

2. In a blender or food processor, finely chop the carrots by pulsing about 6 to 10 times until minced. Add the sugar and pulse until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add the oil and eggs all at once. Pulse until the mixture is combined and looks a bit foamy, 30 seconds. (You can also do this step without a blender or food processor: Grate the carrots into a medium bowl using the fine side of a box grater. Add the sugar, eggs and oil, and use a whisk to combine.)

3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and, using a whisk, mix until just combined. Gently mix in the sour cream and pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Bake until the sides pull away slightly from the edge of the tin and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.

4. Move the cake to a baking rack set in a sheet pan and let it cool slightly in the pan, about 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the baking rack and let cool completely.

5. While the cake cools, make the brigadeiro topping: In a small saucepan, combine the sweetened condensed coconut milk, cocoa powder and salt. Stir with a whisk over medium-low heat until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated. Increase heat to medium and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture forms large bubbles and thickens, about 12 to 15 minutes. It should fully coat a heatproof rubber spatula and drizzle off in a slow stream. Remove from heat and allow the topping to cool completely, stirring frequently to prevent a skin forming on top, and until the brigadeiro topping streaks when stirred and is thick and fudgy, about 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Spread the cooled topping over the cake, swirling the topping over the center and allowing it to drip over the edge. Let it set slightly, about 10 minutes, then shower a handful of chocolate sprinkles over the top. Cut the cake in wedges to serve.

styled by Roscoe Betsill. Props styled by Paige Hicks.

The San Juan Daily Star Wednesday, April 12, 2023 23

LEGAL NOTICE

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

REVERSE MORTGAGE

FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION FREDERICK HENRY BARREDA MONGE COMPUESTA

POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CG2021CV02346.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA PARTE

DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA

DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 2 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 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: Predio de terreno radicado en el Barrio Borinquen de Caguas, Puerto Rico, con un área de tres punto cero treinta y seis cuerdas, equivalentes a ONCE MIL NO-

VECIENTOS TREINTA Y DOS

PUNTO SESENTA Y NUE-

VE METROS CUADRADOS

(11,932.69 M.C.). En lindes por el Norte, con el solar que le fuera segregado; por el Sur, con el solar que le fuera segregado; por el Este, con una faja de terreno destinada a uso público; y por el Oeste, con la parcela “E” del plano de inscripción. Enclava edificación para fines residenciales. Finca número

22,367 inscrita al folio móvil del tomo 1600, inscripción octava, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 256 del tomo 1750, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección I, inscripción 9ª. Propiedad localizada en: PR 763 KM.

4.7 INT., BO. BORINQUEN, CAGUAS PR 00725. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $382,500.00.

Fecha de Vencimiento: 12 de mayo de 2088. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas 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 $382,500.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $255,000.00, 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 $191,250.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 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 $220,819.14 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $36,257.95 en intereses acumulados al 1 de marzo de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.317% anual hasta

su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $9,544.37 en seguro hipotecario; $5,355.00 en tarifas de servicio; $2,016.00 en seguro; $555.00 de tasaciones; $480.00 de inspecciones; $615.00 en adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $38,250.00, 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 Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy 24 de marzo de 2023. Carlos Delgado Cruz, Alguacil Regional. Ángel Gómez Gómez, Alguacil Placa #593.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE VEGA BAJA SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. OMAR ALONSO MARRERO GONZÁLEZ, SU ESPOSA NOELYS COLÓN PÉREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: VB2022CV00590.

Sala: 201. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNI-

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 24

DOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja, Vega Baja, 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 9 de marzo 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:

RÚSTICA: Propiedad Horizontal: Apartamento número 144 localizado en el edificio número 1, piso 4 del Condominio Vistas de la Vega, el cual está situado en el Barrio Espinosa del término Municipal de Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. Unidad individual de vivienda de un nivel de altura construida de hormigón reforzado y bloques de concreto, con puertas de madera y ventanas de aluminio y cristal. Según se detalla en el plano; colinda por el NORTE, con el área verde del proyecto; por el SUR, con la Unidad de Apartamento número 143; por el OESTE, con el patio posterior del Edificio; y por el ESTE, con el “planting”, acera, área de estacionamiento y la Calle interior del completo. Esta unidad consta de un área de construcción bruta de 805 pies cuadrados, equivalente a 74.7845 metros cuadrados. Como área privada de vivienda, dividida como sigue: incluye sala, comedor, cocina, un baño, área de lavandería, tres dormitorios con clóset y una terraza exterior techada. A esta unidad le corresponde el 0.625% en los elementos comunes generales del Condominio Vistas de la Vega. A esta unidad le corresponde, para su único y exclusivo uso como elemento común limitado un área de estacionamiento de 2.50 metros de ancho y cuyo número de estacionamiento asignado es el 144. Inscrita en la finca número 19,734, al folio 65 del tomo 322 de Vega Alta. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de Bayamón. La propiedad ubica, según pagaré, en: 144 Vistas de la Vega, Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 9 de enero de 2023, archivada en autos y notificada el 9 de enero de 2023, publicada en un periódico de circulación general, “The San Daily Star”, el 12 de enero de 2023 en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $76,549.09 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 6.875% desde el 1ro de septiembre de 2017; cargos

por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $9,000.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. 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 25 DE MAYO DE 2023

A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal de Vega Baja, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $90,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 1 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal de Vega Baja, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $60,000.00, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 8 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal de Vega Baja, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $45,000.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. 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 confirmada 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 Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de marzo de 2023. LUIS F. ORTIZ ROSA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #838. DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA BAJA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. HILDA ELENA

GONZALEZ ORTIZ

Demandada Civil Núm.: CA2022CV01234. Sala: 407. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN 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 Carolina, Carolina, 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 13 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría del

The San Juan Daily Star

Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número veinticinco de la manzana ciento ochenta y cuatro en la Urbanización Villa Carolina, Quinta Sección, situada en el Barrio Hoyo Mulas de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de trescientos cuarenta y tres metros cuadrados con doscientas milésimas de metro. En lindes por el NORTE, con la calle quinientos diecisiete, distancia de catorce metros y trescientas milésimas de metro; por el SUR, con los solares treinta y dos y treinta y tres, distancia de catorce metros y trescientas milésimas de metro; por el ESTE, con el solar veinticuatro, distancia de veinticuatro metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar veintiséis, distancia de veinticuatro metros. El inmueble antes descrito contiene una casa de concreto, diseñada para una familia. Inscrita al folio 232 del tomo 839 de Carolina Sur, finca número 33,727, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Segunda de Carolina. La propiedad está ubicada en: 184-25 C 517 Villa Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, 00985. La hipoteca que se pretende ejecutar tiene el siguiente gravamen posterior: Aviso de Demanda de fecha 22 de abril de 2022, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, en el caso civil número CA2022CV01234, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Hilda Elena González Ortiz, por la suma de $115,397.21 mas otras sumas, anotado el día 18 de agosto de 2022, al tomo Karibe de Carolina, finca número 33,727, anotación C. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 18 de enero de 2023, notificada el 19 de enero de 2023, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $115,397.21 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 4.125%, anual desde el 1ro de octubre de 2021, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $11,775.61 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. 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 5 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $117,756.15. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 12 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $78,504.10, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 19 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $58,878.07, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. 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 confirmada 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 consecuti-

la suma estipulada para honorarios de abogado pactada en la escritura de hipoteca y cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquiera concepto legal se devenguen hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número cinco (5) del bloque E, del plano de inscripción de la Urbanización El Rocio del término municipal de Cayey. Tiene un área superficial de trescientos setenta y ocho puntos cero cero metros cuadrados (378.00 m/c). Sus colindancias son las siguientes: por el NORTE, con una alineación de veintisiete punto cero cero (27.00) metros lineales, con el solar número seis (6) del bloque; por el SUR, con una alineación de veintisiete punto cero cero (27.00) metros lineales, con el solar número cuatro (4) del bloque E; por el ESTE, con una alineación de catorce punto cero cero (14.00) metros lineales con el solar número seis (6) del bloque D; por el OESTE, en una alineación de catorce punto cerro cero (14.00) metros lineares con la calle cuatro (4). Enclava casa. Inscrita al Folio ciento sesenta y uno (161) del Tomo quinientos treinta y seis (536) de Caguas Sección I. Finca veintiún mil cuatrocientos treinta y cuatro (21,434) Registro de la Propiedad Caguas Sección I. Dirección Física: Urbanización El Rocio E-5, Cayey, Puerto Rico 00736. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 3 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $290,182.85 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 10 DE MAYO DE 2023,

A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA y el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $193,455.23. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 17 DE MAYO DE 2023,

A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $145,091.42. El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipotecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta

fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. (Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Caguas, Puerto Rico, a 3 de abril de 2023. EDGARDO

ALDEBOL MIRANDA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE CAGUAS.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BAYAMÓN REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC.

Demandante V. CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL SERVICES, CORP.; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2022CV04618. Sala: 505. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL SERVICES, CORP., JOHN DOE y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 3 de abril de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 4 de abril de 2023. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 4 de abril de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA.

MILITZA MERCADO RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE VEGA BAJA

HACIENDA DEL MAR

OWNERS ASSOCIATION

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE WILLIAM

EDWIN HODGE, COMPUESTA POR

FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANA DE TAL

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CD16-345. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, ALG.

FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ

COLLAZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público

HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 6 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Horizontal: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento: A-501. Cabida 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Vacation Club Regime, located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific Vacation Club Right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-501 and includes the right to use such unit during 12 week of each year until December 31 of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 12 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of a right to use a specific week in Unit A-501 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the time prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such excessive, other owners of Vacation Club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and other owners of timeshare of Vacation Club Rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first serve reservation basis and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the Vacation Club Regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Se separa del Régimen Vacacional Haciendas del Mar, Finca 12667 al folio 180 del tomo 232 de Vega Alta. Descrita conforme a la inscripción 1ra. Al Tomo de Hoja Móvil número 100 de Vega Alta. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 16,978 inscrita al tomo de Hoja Móvil número 96 de Vega Alta. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a

Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $7,662.92 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento de los elementos comunes correspondientes a la unidad A 501 semana 12. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones.

Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY

OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE TOA ALTA HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION

Demandante Vs. RAYMOND LUIS

ROSARIO ALBINO Y ADA MONSERRATE

ROJAS RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TA2018CV00840. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 13 de febrero de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento Multivacacional: A-502 SEMANA 23. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-502 and includes the right to use such unit during the 23 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 36 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit A-502 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval.

In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit

to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 13,328, inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 52 de Vega Alta, inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $12,555.47 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento de los elementos comunes correspondientes a la unidad A-502, semana 23. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Toa Alta, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de

Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR. LEGAL NOTICE

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

OWNERS ASSOCIATION

DEMANDANTE vs. ROBERT DOSCHER, PHYLLIS DOSCHER Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

DEMANDADA

CIVIL NUM. : VB2018CV00746. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA- Finca 13,744. Yo, Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 9 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: 1) A 703-5; Finca 13,744. Número de Catastro:--Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento Multivacacional: A-703 SEMANA 5. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-703 and includes the right to use such unit during the 5 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 5

Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club or a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit A-703 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 13,744 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 58 de Vega Alta, inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $9,083.65 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento de la unidad A 703 semana 5. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: Subasta: Se celebrará el día 6 de junio de 2023, a las 9:30 a.m. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20)

días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA.

HACIENDA DEL MAR

OWNERS ASSOCIATION

DEMANDANTE vs. ROBERT DOSCHER, PHYLLIS DOSCHER Y LA

SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

DEMANDADA

CIVIL NUM. : VB2018CV00746.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO.

EDICTO DE SUBASTA- Finca 13,745. Yo, Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al

Público HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 9 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad in-

mueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: A 703-6- Finca 13,745. Número de Catastro:--Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento

Multivacacional: A-703 SEMANA 6. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-703 and includes the right to use such unit during the 6 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 6 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club or a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit A-703 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 13,745 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 58 de Vega Alta, inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $8,613.83 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento de la unidad A 703 semana 6. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: Subasta: Se celebrará el día 6 de junio de 2023, a las 9:45 a.m. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de di-

cha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante Vs. ERIC ALBERTO ALEMÁN MARRERO, MARÍA DE LOS ÁNGELES CATALÁN MOLINA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, POR

ELLOS COMPUESTA

Demandada

Civil Núm.: CG2019CV01129. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 21 de febrero de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB

VACACIONAL HACIENDA

DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento Multivacacional: B-508 SEMANA 29. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit B-508 and includes the right to use such unit during the 29 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 29 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit B-508 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 1.2194% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 14,330, inscrita

al tomo de hoja móvil número 66 de Vega Alta, inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $9,083.65 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento de la unidad B 508, semana 29. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Caguas, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del

Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE COMERÍO

HACIENDA DEL MAR

OWNERS ASSOCIATION

Demandante Vs. FRANK HERNÁNDEZ RUIZ, CARMEN

MILAGROS ARROYO

RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Demandada

Civil Núm.: CR2019CV00348. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 11 de enero de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal de Comerío, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento: UNIDAD B-108 SEMANA 28. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit B-108 and includes the right to use such unit during the 28 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 28 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit B-108 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime

and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 1.2194% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 14,184 inscrita por asiento abreviado al folio 3379 del tomo 332 de Vega Alta, según inscripción 5ta. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $12,516.50 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Comerío, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general

en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY

OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE TOA ALTA

HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS

ASSOCIATION, INC.

Demandante Vs. MARBELLY COROMOTO

ARROYO CURTIS y FULANO Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE JORGE

CACHO NEGRETE

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TA2019CV01692.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO.

EDICTO DE SUBASTA – Finca 15,012. Yo, ALG. FREDDY

OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLA-

ZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO

SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 15 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal de Toa Alta, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Unidad B 312-

20, Finca 15,012: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB

VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento: UNIDAD B-312 SEMANA

20. Cabida: 101.42 Metros

Cuadrados located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit B-312 and includes the right to use

such unit during the 20 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 20 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club or successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit B-312 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 1.2575% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 15,012 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 77 de Vega Alta, inscripción Ira. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $9,087.31 por las cuotas de mantenimiento de la unidad B 312-20. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extin-

ción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Toa Alta, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY

OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE VEGA BAJA.

HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS

ASSOCIATION, INC.

DEMANDANTE vs. SHELLIA LAVONIA

JENKINS WARD; FULANO Y SUTANA DE TAL, COMO MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE CECIL

EDWARD WARD

DEMANDADA

CIVIL NUM. : VB2022CV00237.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO.

EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO

SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 9 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta

y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro:---.Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento Multivacacional: A-502 SEMANA 10. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. Located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-502 and includes the right to use such unit during the 10 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 10 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit A-502 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval.

In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 15,331 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 83 de Vega Alta, según inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $14,432.42 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: Subasta: Se celebrará el día 6 de junio de 2023, a las 11:00 a.m. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará

a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 27 de marzo de 2023. Freddy Omar Rodriguez, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA.

LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES, POR ELLOS COMPUESTA

DEMANDADA

CIVIL NUM. : VB2022CV00244.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO

SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 9 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro:---.

Propiedad Horizontal: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento: A-505 SEMANA 14. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit A-505 and includes the right to use such unit during the 14 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 14 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit A-505 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 2.63132% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad

corresponde a la finca número 16,837 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 95 de Vega Alta, según inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $14,432.42 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: Subasta: Se celebrará el día 6 de junio de 2023, a las 11:15 a.m. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del

Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA.

HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

DEMANDANTE VS. HENRY WILLIAM OCASIO MUÑOZ, MARIELA

ONEILL BECERRIL Y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales, compuesta por ambos

DEMANDADA

CIVIL NUM. : VB2022CV00247.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Yo, Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO

SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 9 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Número de Catastro:---.Propiedad Horizontal: CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta.

Apartamento: B-109 SEMANA 1. Cabida: 101.42 Metros Cuadrados. CONDOMINIO CLUB VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit B-109 and includes the right to use such unit during the 1 week of each year until December 31, of the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 1 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club o a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit B-109 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world

affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 1.2194% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 14,510 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 58 de Vega Alta, según inscripción 1ra. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades:

$14,432.42 por concepto de cuotas de mantenimiento. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: Subasta: Se celebrará el día 6 de junio de 2023, a las 11:30 a.m. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por

espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. Freddy Omar Rodriguez Collazo, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante Vs. MARBELLY COROMOTO ARROYO CURTIS y FULANO Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE JORGE CACHO NEGRETE

Demandados

Civil Núm.: TA2019CV01692. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA – Finca 16,472. Yo, ALG. FREDDY

OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, Alguacil del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Vega Baja, al Público HAGO

SABER: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que se me libró con fecha de 15 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría de este Tribunal, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor con dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o letra bancaria con similar garantía, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada de epígrafe sobre la siguiente propiedad inmueble perteneciente a la parte demandada, la cual se describe a continuación: Unidad B 408-

46, Finca 16,472: Número de Catastro: Propiedad Multivacacional: CONDOMINIO CLUB

VACACIONAL HACIENDA DEL MAR de Vega Alta. Apartamento: UNIDAD B-408 SEMANA

46. Cabida: 101.42 Metros

Cuadrados located in the Sabana Ward of the Municipality of Vega Alta. This specific vacation club right is coupled with a special property right to the above mentioned Unit B-408 and includes the right to use such unit during the 46 week of each year until December 31, of

the year 2070, such week commencing at 12:00 noon on the 46 Saturday of each calendar year and ending at 12:00 noon of the same day of the following week, coupled with the membership in the Hyatt Vacation Club or a successor club. Notwithstanding this specific vacation club right allocation of right to use a specific week in Unit B-408 the use of the said unit during the described time interval is subject to the exercise by the owner of certain priority rights during a fixed period of the prior to the commencement of said interval. In the absence of such exercise, other owners of vacation club rights in the Haciendas del Mar, Vacation Club Regime and owners of timeshare or vacation club rights in resorts throughout the world affiliated to the Hyatt Vacation Club, may use the unit to with this vacation right pertains during the above described interval on a first come, first come, first serve reservation basis, and the owner of this vacation club right may use units of this Vacation Club Regime and in such other affiliated resorts, as more fully described in the Deed of Dedication of Hacienda del Mar, a Vacation Club Regime to the vacation club regime. This vacation club right has been assigned a share of 1/52 of 1.2194% in the Facilities and common expenses of the vacation club regime. Esta descripción de la propiedad corresponde a la finca número 16,472 inscrita al tomo de hoja móvil número 92B de Vega Alta, inscripción Ira. Registro de la Propiedad Bayamón, Sección III. La venta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a Hacienda del Mar Owners Associaton el importe de la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $8,421.97 por las cuotas de mantenimiento de la unidad B 408-46. La fecha y hora de la subasta es como sigue: SUBASTA: Se celebrará el día 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 10:45 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta de dicha propiedad se llevará a efecto en mi oficina situada en el local que ocupa este Tribunal en el Centro Judicial de Vega Baja, advirtiéndose que el que obtuviere la buena pro de dicha propiedad consignará en el acto del remate el importe de su oferta en moneda legal, en adición a los gastos de la subasta, siendo éste el mejor postor. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante el título del inmueble y las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistiendo, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Si se declara desierta la subasta se

dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse al demandante la finca dentro de los veinte (20) días siguientes, si así lo estimare conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento del caso de epígrafe están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Puerto Rico, Sala de Toa Alta, durante horas laborables. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda persona que tenga interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, si alguna, y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general el presente edicto se publicará en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico dos (2) veces por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones. Se fijará, además, por espacio de dos (2) semanas mediante avisos por escrito visiblemente colocados en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio donde ha de celebrarse la subasta, estos lugares serán: la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la comandancia de la Policía más cercana al Tribunal de Vega Baja. Se notificará a la parte demandada copia del edicto de subasta mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Expido el presente edicto bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a 28 de marzo de 2023. ALG. FREDDY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ COLLAZO, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de MAYAGUEZ.

ZULMAL Y ORTIZ TORRES

Demandante v. ARAMIS

CARTAGENA ACOSTA

Demandado(a)

Civil: MZ2022RF00546. Sobre: DIVORCIO, RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: ARAMIS

CARTAGENA ACOSTA

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO{A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que 28 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días

siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 30 de marzo de 2023. En MAYAGUEZ , Puerto Rico , el 30 de marzo de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, Secretaria. Lourdes Garcia Cuevas, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA MUNICIPAL / SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA ASOCIACIÓN DE RESIDENTES COMPLEJO

LAS CASCADAS II, INC.

Demandante V. WILLIAM RUIZ TORRES, YEISA ACEVEDO, AMBOS POR SI Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado Civil Núm.: TA2022CV00853.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: WILLIAM RUIZ TORRES, YEISA ACEVEDO, AMBOS POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS. Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante ha presentado ante este Tribunal Demanda contra usted( es), solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: Demanda de COBRO DE DINERO, por concepto de cuotas de mantenimientos vencidas y no pagadas por la suma de $19,302.00 al 22 de agosto de 2022. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

LCDO. MELVYN E. FONTAN LOZADA Colegiado Núm. 15768, RUA: 14519 PO Box 124, Bayamón, PR 00960-0124 Tel. 787-340-6604 Fax 787-261-9168

E-mail: melfonloza@live.com, melvynfontan@gmail.com

Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a

partir de haber sido diligenciado este Emplazamiento, Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deje 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. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, a 31 de marzo de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

MARÍA MIRANDA MEJÍA, también conocida por María Miranda, también conocida por María Mejía, también conocida como María V. Pantoja Miranda

Demandante VS. EDUARDO AMADO MEJÍA RODRÍGUEZ también conocido por Eduardo Amado Mejía y también conocido por Eduardo A. Mejía

Demandado

CASO CIVIL: SJ2022RF01043.

SOBRE: DIVORCIO (RUPTURA IRREPARABLE). SALA: 704. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: EDUARDO AMADO MEJÍA RODRÍGUEZ también conocido por Eduardo Amado Mejía y también conocido por Eduardo A. Mejía (NOMBRE DE LAS PARTES A LAS QUE SE LE NOTIFICA LA SENTENCIA POR EDICTO)

El secretario que suscribe notifica a usted que 31 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado sentencia, sentencia parcial o resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual pueda establecerse

recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 3 de abril de 2023. Griselda Rodríçiuez Collado, Secretaria Regional. DALIA RODRIGUEZ ESTRADA, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAROLINA

MORTGAGE ASSETS

MANAGEMENT, LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE JOSÉ

HERNÁNDEZ KUILAN

T/C/C JOSÉ HERNÁNDEZ

T/C/C JOSÉ HERNÁNDEZ

QUILAN COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE LAURA

E. BERRIOS DE HERNÁNDEZ T/C/C

LAURA HERNÁNDEZ

T/C/C LAURA E.

HERNÁNDEZ T/C/C

LAURA BERRIOS RIVERA

T/C/C LAURA ESTHER

BERRIOS RIVERA

T/C/C LAURA ESTHER

BERRIOS T/C/C LAURA

E. BERRIOS COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2020CV00554.

Sala: 407. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE JOSÉ

HERNÁNDEZ KUILAN

T/C/C JOSÉ HERNÁNDEZ

T/C/C JOSÉ HERNÁNDEZ

QUILAN COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL Y

SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES

DESCONOCIDOS;

SUCESIÓN DE LAURA

E. BERRIOS DE HERNÁNDEZ T/C/C

LAURA HERNÁNDEZ T/C/C LAURA E. HERNÁNDEZ T/C/C

LAURA BERRIOS RIVERA

T/C/C LAURA ESTHER BERRIOS RIVERA T/C/C LAURA ESTHER BERRIOS T/C/C LAURA E. BERRIOS COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. Yo, HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 4 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 2 de febrero de 2022. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el 11 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 18 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 27 de febrero de 2022, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Villa Fontana, situada en el Barrio Sábana Abajo del término Municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, marcado con el número

DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA.

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NUM.: MZ2020CV00033

SALA: 206 SOBRE: EJECU-

CIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA

Al: Público en General

A: LAURA EDIVIA

ROSARIO DOMINGUEZ

T/C/C/ LAURA E.

ROSARIO DOMINGUEZ; SUCESIÓN DE CONFESOR RUIZ

RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C

CONFESOR RUIZ

COMPUESTA POR

LAURA EDIVIA ROSARIO

DOMINGUEZ T/C/C/

LAURA E. ROSARIO

DOMINGUEZ, JULIO

RUIZ VEGA, EDNA RUIZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS;

CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Yo, IVELISSE FIGUEROA

VARGAS, PLACA #924, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 9 de mayo de 2023, a las 11:00 de la mañana en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 27 de agosto de 2021. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una segunda subasta para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 16 de mayo de 2023, a las 11:00 de la mañana; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 23 de mayo de

2023 a las 11:00 de la mañana en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 28 de junio de 2022, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación:

“ URBANA: Solar número CCinco (C-5) del proyecto residencial denominado Paseo Los Robles II, sito en el Barrio Algarrobo; Carretera Estatal Número Ciento Cuatro (104), kilómetro 1.4, Interior, del término municipal de Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. En el solar enclava una vivienda construida toda en hormigón; para una sola familia. Este solar está sujeto a servidumbres en equidad establecidas mediante la escritura número Once (11) de doce (12) de marzo de mil novecientos noventa y seis (1996) ante el Notario Luis M. Polanco Ortiz.

El solar número C-Cinco (C-5) tiene una cabida superficial de cuatrocientos cincuenta y tres metros cuadrados con treinta y siete céntimos (453.37) de otro metro cuadrados. El solar colinda por el NORTE, en quince metros lineales con cincuenta céntimos (15.50) de otro metro lineal con la Calle Uno (1) de Paseo Los Robles II y en un arco de cinco metros lineales con cincuenta (5.50) céntimos de otro con la intersección de las Calles Uno y Tres de Paseo Los Robles II; por el SUR, en diecinueve (19.00) metros lineales con el solar C-Seis (C-6) de Paseo Los Robles II; por el ESTE, en veinte metros lineales con cincuenta (20.50) céntimos de otro metro lineal con la Calle Tres (3) de Paseo Los Robles II; por el OESTE, en veinticuatro metros lineales con el solar C-Cuatro (C-4) de Paseo Los Robles II. El antes descrito solar está gravado por servidumbre a favor de Puerto Rico Telephone Company; de cinco pies de ancho y la cual discurre a través de las colindancias Norte y Este del solar.”

Finca número 39,981 inscrita en el folio 1 del tomo 1,450 de Mayagüez, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Mayagüez. Dirección de la

Propiedad: 1509 Epifanio Vidal

St. Paseo Los Robles, Mayagüez PR 00682. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $298,358.78, con interés al 5.560% anual , por concepto de balance principal del préstamo más intereses acumulados al 31 de enero de 2020 anual los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como

la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha, y la suma de $39,750.00, equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 239 otorgada el día 7 de septiembre de 2010, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Fernando E. Doval Santiago y consta inscrita al folio 177 del tomo 1503 de Mayagüez, finca número 39,981, Registro de la Propiedad Sección Mayagüez. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Entiéndase: Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $397,500.00, con intereses al 5.560% anual, vencedero el día 22 de diciembre de 2087, constituida mediante la escritura número 240, otorgada en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el día 7 de septiembre de 2010, ante el notario Fernando E. Doval Santiago, e inscrita al folio 177 del tomo 1503 de Mayagüez, finca número 39,981, inscripción 6ta. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $397,500.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será

una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $265,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $198,750.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta podrá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Si el producto de la venta fuere insuficiente para satisfacer la cantidad reclamada, se procederá a la ejecución de la sentencia en contra de la parte demandada por el remanente de las sumas no satisfechas, mediante embargo y venta en ejecución de cualesquiera otros bienes propiedad de la parte demandada en cantidad suficiente para dejar cubierta y totalmente satisfecha a la parte demandante cualquier deficiencia o parte insoluta de la sentencia dictada a su favor según dispuesto en la sentencia dictada en este caso. Se dispone, conforme con la sentencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas

publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a 31 de enero de 2023. IVELISSE FIGUEROA VARGAS, PLACA #924, Alguacil.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE RIGOBERTO VELÁZQUEZ

MALDONADO EN REP. DE HILDA MARÍA MORA

VALDÉZ T/C/C HILDA M.

MORA VALDÉZ, HILDA MORA VALDÉZ, HILDA M. VALDÉZ, HILDA MORA

E HILDA DE JESÚS Y JOSÉ RAFAEL GARCÍA COLLAZO

Demandante Vs SUCESIÓN DE RAMÓN VALDÉS ROSARIO T/C/C RAMÓN VALDÉS COMPUESTA POR SUS

MIEMBROS ZULMA VALDÉS SANTANA; RAYMOND VALDÉS SANTANA Y AGRIPINO VALDÉS

Demandado

Civil Núm.: PO2022CV01574.

Salón: 604. Sobre: LIQUIDACIÓN DE COMUNIDAD HEREDITARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. ZULMA VALDÉS ROSARIO, RAYMOND VALDÉS SANTANA, AGRIPINO VALDÉS SANTANA, A SER NOTIFICADOS POR EDICTO POR CONDUCTO DEL LCDO. ORLANDO

CAMACHO PADILLA, PO BOX 879, COAMO, PR 00769-0879.

LCDO. ORLANDO

CAMACHO PADILLA, PO BOX 879, COAMO, PR 00769-0879. (Nombre de las partes a las que se les notifica la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 04 de abril de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta no-

tificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 05 de abril de 2023. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 05 de abril de 2023. CARMEN

G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. /LOYDA E. RIVERA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA

SUPERIOR DE ARECIBO BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JOSE L. PADILLA OQUENDO POR SI Y EN REP. DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR ESTE Y EMMA DE JESUS MARTINEZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: AR2022CV01499.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESIÓN DE EMMA DE JESÚS MARTÍNEZ COMPUESTA POR JOSÉ

L. PADILLA OUENDO, FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE CUAL.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la

publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Arecibo, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA. BRUNILDA HERNÁNDEZ MÉNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL

NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. ROLANDO RIVERA GARCÍA

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2022CV03091. Sala: 506. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: ROLANDO RIVERA GARCÍAURB. BELLA VISTA J5

CALLE 13 BAYAMÓN, PR 00957-6021. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. LAURA I.

SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARILYN COLÓN CARRASQUILLO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA

SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC.

Demandante V. ALBERTO R MARTINEZ BERRIOS, FULANA DE TAL & SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado(a) Civil: TB2022CV00383. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, INCUMPLIMIENTO DE CONTRATO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. A: ALBERTO R MARTINEZ BERRIOS, FULANA DE TAL & SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 28 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

CORPORACION ISLA BUS SERVICE INC.,

Representada por Marilu

Acevedo Millet

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE RAMON DEL CARMEN OLMO CUEVAS, también conocido por Ramon del Carmen Olmo y Ramon Del C. Olmo Cuevas compuesta por Jose Ramon Olmo Olmo, Raul

Manuel Olmo Olmo, también conocido por Raul M Olmo Olmo, y la viuda Elba Marina Olmo Alvarez, también conocida por Elba M Olmo Alvarez en adelante sucesión Olmo Cuevas)

Demandado

CIVIL NUM: AR2023CV00247.

SOBRE: SENTENCIA DECLARATORIA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS

E.E.U.U. EL ESTADO LIBRE

ASOCIADO DE PR. S.S.

A: SUCESION DE RAMON DEL CARMEN

OLMO CUEVAS, también conocido por Ramón del Carmen Olmo y Ramón

Del C. Olmo Cuevas compuesta por José Ramón Olmo Olmo, Raid Manuel Olmo Olmo, también conocido por Raül M. Olmo Olmo, y la viuda ELBA MARINA

OLMO ALVAREZ, también conocida por Elba M. Olmo Alvarez

Se ha radicado en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Arecibo, en el caso de epígrafe, una Demanda sobre SENTENCIA

DECLARATORIA, por CORPORACION ISLA BUS SERVICE INC. Representada por Marilú Acevedo Millet, contra ustedes para que se ordene la subsanación de la escritura de compraventa número 3 otorgada el 2 de febrero de 2005 en San Juan, Puerto Rico ante el Notario Angel Pabón Mediavilla y una vez subsanada la misma se le ordene al Registrador de la Propiedad de Arecibo, Sección I que inscriba la misma en dicho registro. La abogada de Ia parte demandante es la Lcda. Cynthia Vionnette Rosario Gonzalez, Urb. Villamar Calle Domingo Rubio 34, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 00612; Tel. (787)400-63761(787)8789633, correo electrónico: Cvionnette@yahoo. com. Por el presente se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique al abogado de la parte demandante antes mencionada, copia de la Contestación a la Demanda, dentro de un plazo de treinta (30) días, la original deberá ser radicada en el Tribunal de epígrafe, si no radica la contestación en dicho término, se podrá anotar Ia rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, sin más citarle ni oírle, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.rarnajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso

deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretarla 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 ci tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Por Orden de este Tribunal, expido Ia presente bajo mi firma y sello oficial. En Arecibo, Puerto Rico, hoy 3 de abril de 2023. Vivian Y Fresse Gonzalez, Secretaria Regional.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. MIGUEL CRUZ LÓPEZ

Demandado

Civil Núm.: ISCI2016-01024. (306). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. 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 Mayagüez, Mayagüez, 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 17 de marzo 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:

Propiedad Horizontal: CONDOMINIO PASEO DEL FARO

I de Cabo Rojo. Apartamento:

A-304. Cabida: 257.191 Metros

Cuadrados. Linderos: Norte, en ambos niveles en 34’ 1/2” con área común. Sur, en ambos niveles en 34’ 1/2” con área común. Este, en ambos niveles en 50’ 4” con área común y terraza. Oeste, en ambos niveles en 50’ 4” con área común (escaleras) que lo separa del APARTAMENTO A-303. Apartamento residencial de forma irregular localizado en la Primera Planta del edificio A del Condominio.

---Se compone del área principal que constituye la unidad de vivienda, en su primer y segundo nivel, más 2 porciones de terreno discontinuas, que son los estacionamientos anejados, totalizando todo ello un área de 2767.3661 p/c equivalentes a 257.191m/c, a saber: Área Total de Vivienda : En su primer nivel de 121.0680 m/c y en su segundo nivel 108.6230 m/c. Tiene su puerta de entrada por su lado OESTE, que del área del pasillo conduce a las escaleras que le brindan acceso al Edificio. Consta de sala-comedor, coci-

na y 2 terrazas, 1 pasillo que brinda acceso a las siguientes áreas: área de lavandería, 2 dormitorios con closet cada uno, uno de los cuales es el dormitorio principal (master bedroom) en el cual ubica además 1 baño completo y 1 baño completo de uso general. En el segundo nivel, al cual accesa por una escalera en forma espiral ubicada en la terraza del primer nivel, se encuentra un “Kitchennette”; medio baño y un área de terraza sin techar. Le corresponden a este apartamento 2 estacionamientos como anejos exclusivos y privados del mismo, identificados con los números A-304-1 y A-304-2. con un Área Total de 295.9000 p/c equivalentes a 27.500 m/c. Los Linderos descritos corresponden al Área de Vivienda, siendo los linderos de los estacionamientos como sigue: .Estacionamiento A-304-1 colinda por el Norte en 8’ 2-1/2” con acera común, por el Sur en 8’ 2-1/2” con Avenida Salinas; por el Este en una distancia de 18’1/2” con el estacionamiento A-101 y por el Oeste en una distancia de 18’1/2” con acera común. Estacionamiento A-304-2 colinda por el Norte en 8’- 21/2” con acera común, por el Sur en 8’2-1/2” con Avenida Salinas; por el Este en una distancia de 18’ 1/2” con la acera común y por el Oeste en una distancia de 18’ -1/2” con el estacionamiento A-303. Considerando el área total de vivienda y las áreas totales de estacionamiento, le corresponde una participación en los elementos comunes GENERALES del Condominio de 0.010480%. Inscrito al folio Karibe, finca número #36,977 de Cabo Rojo, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Primera de San Germán. La propiedad está ubicada en: Apto. 304-A, Cond. Paseo El Faro, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico 00623. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 22 de junio de 2017, notificada el 27 de junio de 2017, en el presente caso civil, a saber, la suma de $150,336.28 por concepto de principal; más intereses al 2.99% y cargos acumulados hasta la fecha de pago total de la deuda, y la suma $16,800.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados (Sentencia). 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 22 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de

Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $168,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 29 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30

DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $112,000.00, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 6 DE JULIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30

DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $84,000.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. 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 confirmada 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 la-

borables. 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 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, hoy día 4 de abril de 2023. José G. Sanabria León, placa 191, Alguacil, División De Subastas, Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Sala Superior De Mayagüez.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. DENNIS JANETTE DÍAZ REYES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA REPRESENTADOS POR EL SECRETARIO DE LA VIVIENDA Y DESARROLLO URBANO(HUD

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV00074.

Salón: 703. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: DENNIS JANETTE DÍAZ REYES. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 3 de abril de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 4 de abril de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 4 de abril de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. LUREIMY ALICEA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs JESÚS JAVIER

QUIÑONES RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C JESÚS J.

QUIÑONES RODRÍGUEZ

Demandado(a)

Civil: HU2022CV00548. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JESÚS JAVIER QUIÑONES RODRÍGUEZ T/C/C

JESÚS J. QUIÑONES RODRÍGUEZ A SUS

ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES

CONOCIDAS: URB.

RAMÓN RIVERO (DIPLO) III, D27 CALLE 22, NAGUABO, PR 00718, URB. RAMÓN RIVERO, D27 CALLE 10, NAGUABO PR 007182312,64 PEARL ST APT 2, PAINESVILLE, OH 440773554 Y VISTA HERMOSA, B53 CALLE 1, HUMACAO PR 00791-4857; CORREO ELECTRÓNICO: QJESUS51@YAHOO. COM.

P/C LCDA. MARINILDA RIVERA VARGAS. EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 3 de abril de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 4 de abril de 2023. Ivelisse C. Fonseca Rodríguez, Secretaria Regional. Ivelisse M. Monclova Cruz, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES LLC

COMO AGENTE

GESTOR DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC.

Demandante V. KENNETH D. CLAUDIO ARROYO

Demandado(a)

Civil: HU2022CV01097. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: KENNETH D. CLAUDIO ARROYO P/C DE LCDO. KEVIN SANCHEZ CAMPANERO.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 29 de MARZO de 2023, este

Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 5 de ABRIL de 2023. En HUMACAO, Puerto Rico, el 5 de ABRIL de 2023. Ivelisse C. Fonseca Rodríguez, Secretaria. Karilin Morales Figueroa, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE LEGAL NOTICE

American Towers LLC is proposing to increase the ground space for an existing telecommunications tower compound by 39-feet by 78-feet, 5 inches, along with a 30ft buffer surrounding the current and proposed lease area, at Carr. #102, KM. 10.5, Barrio Guanajibo, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico 00623, tax parcel ID 283-032-006-16-001.

American Towers LLC seeks comments from all interested persons on any potential significant impact the proposed action could have on the quality of the human environment pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Section 1.1307, including potential impacts to historic or cultural resources that are listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Interested persons may comment or raise concerns about the proposed action by submitting an e-mail to enviro. services@americantower. com. Paper comments can be sent to: American Towers LLC, Attn: Environmental Compliance, 10 Presidential Way, Woburn, MA 01801. Requests or comments should be limited to environmental and historic/cultural resource impact concerns and must be received on or before May 23, 2023. This invitation to comment is separate from any local planning/ zoning process that may apply to this project.

American Towers LLC is proposing to increase the ground space for an existing telecommunications tower compound by 12-feet, 11-inches by 16-feet by 13feet, 8-inches, along with a 30ft buffer surrounding the current and proposed lease area, at Carr. 670 Km. 7.5 Bo. Pugnado, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico 00693, tax parcel ID 057-013-340-09-001.

American Towers LLC seeks comments from all interested persons on any potential significant impact the proposed action could have on the quality of the human environment pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Section 1.1307, including potential impacts to historic or cultural resources that are listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Interested persons may comment or raise concerns about the proposed action by submitting an email to enviro.services@ americantower.com. Paper comments can be sent to: American Towers LLC, Attn: Environmental Compliance, 10 Presidential Way, Woburn, MA 01801. Requests or comments should be limited to environmental and historic/cultural resource impact concerns and must be received on or before May 23, 2023. This invitation to comment is separate from any local planning/zoning process that may apply to this project.

WNBA draft: Aliyah Boston goes No. 1 to Indiana Fever

By KRIS RHIM

When Aliyah Boston was 12 years old, she took a 1,700mile journey with her sister to their aunt’s home in Massachusetts from the Virgin Islands, hoping to become a good enough basketball player to go to college for free and maybe one day make it to the WNBA.

Boston fulfilled that dream Monday night at Spring Studios in New York when the Indiana Fever selected her with the first pick in the WNBA draft. Boston is the University of South Carolina’s second-ever No. 1 pick in the draft; A’ja Wilson was the first, in 2018.

The Minnesota Lynx selected Diamond Miller, a guard from the University of Maryland, with the No. 2 overall pick. At No. 3, the Dallas Wings chose Maddy Siegrist, a forward from Villanova University.

The Wings, who also had the fifth pick, shook up the night by trading future draft selections to the Washington Mystics for the fourth pick, Iowa State center Stephanie Soares. They took Connecticut guard Lou Lopez Sénéchal with the next pick.

Boston’s selection didn’t come as a surprise. She had been linked with the Fever since they landed the first pick at the draft lottery in November. Boston, a forward, will join a former South Carolina teammate, guard Destanni Henderson, in Indiana.

Henderson was in the audience recording on a phone and before Boston headed into a news conference they embraced and celebrated loudly.

“She was like, ‘We’re reunited and we’re teammates again,’ and I was like, ‘And it feels so good,’ you know that song?” Boston said before singing her version of the song “Reunited” by the R&B duo Peaches & Herb.

With Henderson in 2021-22, Boston had the best statistical season of her college career, ending it with a national championship win over Connecticut. Boston and Henderson will look to re-create that winning chemistry for the Fever, who have been something of a punching bag for the rest of the league.

Indiana has not made the playoffs since 2016 and has finished with the league’s worst record in the past two seasons. Last season, the Fever finished with five wins; the second-worst team, the Los Angeles Sparks, had 13.

“She’s going to have an immediate impact on this league,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said at a predraft news conference Thursday. “And I’m just thankful — I think we all are — that she opted to come into the draft.”

It was a South Carolina-laden first round as forward Laeticia Amihere was selected eighth by the Atlanta Dream, and guard Zia Cooke was taken 10th by the Sparks. Brea Beal, who anchored South Carolina’s perimeter defense, was selected by Minnesota at No. 24. Alexis Morris, the star Louisiana State guard who helped the Tigers win their first championship just over a week ago, was selected by the Connecticut Sun with the 22nd pick.

Boston had been a top player in college basketball since she arrived in South Carolina in 2019. She is a post-scoring, shot-blocking forward who anchored the Gamecocks as they amassed a 129-9 record over her four

seasons. Boston was the consensus national player of the year in 2022 and won the Naismith Award for the defensive player of the year in each of her final two seasons.

In her final year, Boston led South Carolina to its first undefeated regular season in program history. Boston’s numbers were down, partly because of South Carolina’s depth and a defensive strategy used by many opponents that made it difficult for her to get loose. The Gamecocks averaged the most bench points per game in Division I in the 2022-23 season with 36.1, almost 5 points per game more than the next closest team.

With Henderson gone, South Carolina never found a reliable scoring guard next to Cooke. So all season, teams sagged off the other guards, daring them to shoot and helping in the paint to deny Boston the ball. That’s a strategy teams can’t employ in the WNBA, because of both the scoring ability of professional guards and the league’s defensive three-second rule, which forbids defenders from standing in the paint for longer than three seconds unless they are within an arm’s length of an offensive player they’re guarding. So Boston will likely see much more 1-on-1 defense and space to roam than she had over her college career.

“I’m really excited for that type of spacing,” Boston said in a recent interview. “Because I think it just shows everyone how they’re able to, you know, just use their talent and go to work.”

For that reason, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley encouraged Boston to enter the draft this year, after the team lost to Iowa in the Final Four.

“There are defenses that are played against her that won’t allow her to play her game. And then it’s hard to officiate that,” Staley said.

Staley added: “She’s meant everything to our program. She has been the cornerstone of our program for the past four years. She elevated us. She raised the standard of how to approach basketball. She’s never had a bad day.”

Boston still had a year of eligibility remaining, the extra year granted to

athletes by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic. She likely would have been in the conversation for player of the year again, and South Carolina would have been a favorite to win the national title with her back. But perhaps the most significant incentives to stay were the earnings she could have made in college, thanks to rules that allow athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness.

Many women’s basketball players, like Boston, can make more money from collectives and endorsements as college athletes than they can earn from WNBA salaries alone; the base pay for rookies this season will range from $62,285 to $74,305, depending on the draft round.

That earning potential likely played a role in the decisions of the stars who weren’t at the draft this year. Several eligible players who may have been first-round picks opted to return to college, such as UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley, Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes and UCLA’s Charisma Osborne. (The WNBA requires players from the United States to turn 22 years old in the calendar year of the draft.)

That makes next year’s draft all the more exciting. It could be loaded with talent: Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, the two stars who headlined the Division I women’s tournament with their scoring and showmanship, will be eligible. (For her part, Reese said on a podcast that she is in “no rush” to go to the WNBA because she is making more than some top players in the pro league.)

Still, there are only 12 teams and 144 roster spots in the WNBA. Only 36 players are picked in the draft, and only about half of those players typically make an opening day roster. And without a developmental league such as the NBA’s G League, some of the best basketball players end up going overseas to play professionally.

“Our top players will not make a pro team,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said, adding: “You’re competing against, like, 30-year-old women. It’s hard. It’s competitive.”

Aliyah Boston, right, with W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert at the draft on Monday. Boston had been expected to go to the Fever since Indiana landed the top pick at the draft lottery in November.

The NBA was redesigned for drama, and it’s working

By TANIA GANGULI

The NBA’s Western Conference has been a confusing mash of disarray this season, with few teams seeming capable of separating themselves and the rest mired in a chaos borne of some combination of injuries, disillusion and malaise.

The drama reached its apogee during a 2 1/2-hour period on Sunday afternoon. Seven games between West foes tipped off simultaneously and determined half the postseason seeding, including which teams could rest for a week and which could be knocked out in the play-in tournament before the playoffs even start. There were blowouts, shenanigans and punches thrown.

It was one of the most exciting days of the season, and highlighted part of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s ethos: that change, though it may come at a cost, can be good.

The world of sports is an obstinate and unyielding realm, where tradition reigns. Two years ago, Silver met resistance when he introduced the play-in tournament, in which the teams seeded seventh through 10th compete for the last two of eight playoff spots in each conference.

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks argued that it was unfair for teams to play a whole season to land among the top eight seeds just to face elimination in the play-in tournament. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said whoever came up with it should be fired.

But two weeks ago, Silver said all but four of the league’s 30 teams still had a chance to make the playoffs. On Saturday afternoon, with two days of games left, the NBA posted a dizzying, color-coded graphic on Twitter with 64 scenarios for the final West seedings.

Did any team really want to face the Golden State Warriors, the defending champions?

How dangerous could the Los Angeles Clippers be once Kawhi Leonard locked in, and if Paul George was healthy?

A team with James and Anthony Davis is fearsome no matter its record, and their Lakers have excelled since

the trade deadline.

On the other hand, Sacramento (No. 3) and Denver (No. 1) haven’t inspired fear in conference opponents this year. The Kings, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, were well aware that some teams hoped to face them in the first round.

“If I’m another team, I’m targeting us, too,” Kings coach Mike Brown told reporters last week. He paused and shrugged. “I would target us too. And we’re the only ones that can change that narrative.”

None of this intrigue would have been possible without the play-in tournament.

This is an era when player injuries have concerned teams enough that they have been cautious by occasionally resting them. The league tried to address the wear and tear on players’ bodies several years ago by reducing the number of back-to-back games on the schedule. Adding games with a play-in tournament seemed counterintuitive to that.

It’s undeniable, though, that it made the end of the season more intriguing. With more teams in the playoff hunt, that left fewer teams willing to coast for more favorable draft positioning.

“It makes it more exciting and it keeps things really interesting all the way down the stretch,” Warriors coach

Steve Kerr said recently, adding: “I’m watching all of it for sure.”

There are certain lulls in the 82game season during which stakes are hard to manufacture. The last month of the season is often one of those times. Added interest during the regular season could help the league as it looks toward its next media rights deals after the 2024-25 season.

Every team played on Sunday. The slot at 1 p.m. Eastern time offered a slate of mostly meaningless Eastern Conference games. At 3:30 p.m. the real drama began.

Golden State (No. 6) dismantled the Portland Trail Blazers by 56 points, but it was only the team’s 11th road win. About the same time, the Mavericks, with no chance to make the playoffs, lost to the San Antonio Spurs by 21 points. At the trade deadline, the Mavericks had acquired Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets to play with Doncic and seemed to be a championship contender. And yet there they were, ending the season by losing to a 22-win team while under investigation for tanking.

The Lakers finished the season with an emphatic win over the Utah Jazz to claim the seventh seed.

The Lakers had spent most of the season floundering, with injuries further hampering a mismatched roster

that struggled to flow. They improved at the trade deadline, but by that point they needed a furious rally to give themselves even a chance at the playoffs. Finishing with the seventh-best record in the West was an accomplishment, but one that took a lot out of them.

Their reward was another game on Tuesday night, in the play-in, when their stars could use some time to heal from their bumps and bruises.

The Lakers’ opponent Tuesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves (No. 8), had the most dramatic day. They had spent all season trying to adjust to adding center Rudy Gobert, for whom they had traded away a treasure trove of assets last summer. On Sunday night, during the second quarter of their game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Gobert punched his teammate Kyle Anderson during a verbal altercation. A few minutes earlier, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels broke his right hand by punching a wall.

McDaniels is out indefinitely, and Minnesota suspended Gobert for the play-in game against the Lakers. It’s not the kind of drama the NBA wants, but it did have people talking. It also showed another example of how much can go wrong with a blockbuster trade for a star.

Then there were the Phoenix Suns and the Clippers. The Clippers were playing to stay out of the play-in tournament and the only way to ensure that was to win — even if that meant facing a star-studded Phoenix team in the first round.

“I’m not a fan of the play-in, me personally, because we didn’t make it last year and we fought so hard to get a top-eight seed,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said last week. “You don’t make it, it’s tough. But we knew today was a big game to stay away from that.”

The play-in tournament is not the last break with tradition Silver will oversee. This month the league and the players’ union agreed to add an in-season tournament to the regular season. It will add more games, but could also add drama. This weekend’s theatrics may be taken as evidence that it doesn’t hurt to try.

LeBron James and the Lakers closed the regular season with a victory to claim the seventh-best record in the Western Conference. They faced Minnesota in the play-in on Tuesday.

‘Feels like forever since we’ve been home’

By SCOTT MILLER

Many of their eyelids fluttered open by 6 a.m. Friday. It was not because the Toronto Blue Jays were eager to see the superstar Shohei Ohtani later that evening in the Los Angeles Angels’ home opener in Anaheim, California.

Rather, the bleary-eyed Blue Jays were adjusting to their third time zone in a little more than a week. The fresh energy of a new year? Six weeks of spring training in Dunedin, Florida, followed by a three-city, 10-game trip that matched the longest in franchise history to begin a season.

Briefly, the battle was with body clocks, not pitch clocks.

“Talking to a lot of the guys, everybody woke up pretty early,” the Toronto right-handed starter Kevin Gausman said. “And then went back to sleep.”

The last time the schedule challenged the Blue Jays this early, it was 1984 and they were still playing in Exhibition Stadium. Now they are in Rogers Centre, which opened as Skydome in 1989 and has been undergoing renovations. The extra suitcases to start the season were courtesy of the franchise requesting a few extra days on the road to ensure that construction was completed by the time home games began.

Consequently, when the Blue Jays were to finally have their home opener, Tuesday night against Detroit, it would be the final one played in the majors this season.

“There’s a lot of teams that have played home games and road games already, and we’re still on the road,” Toronto outfielder George Springer said. “So it’s definitely interesting.”

“St. Louis, Kansas City and Anaheim,” Gausman said. “Kind of a weird group of cities.”

If there is any team that seems well equipped to handle this quirky start, it is Toronto. Not only are the talented Blue Jays coming off a 92-win season in which they captured one of the American League’s wild cards, but the lineup cornerstones Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette long ago became accustomed to life as baseball nomads.

After debuting in 2019, what should have been each player’s first full-major league season was 2020, when baseball adjusted to the coronavirus pandemic by playing an abbreviated, 60-game schedule. Because of stringent Canadian governmental restrictions that essentially disallowed visiting teams to cross the border, the Blue Jays played their home schedule in Buffalo, New York.

“That year was obviously crazy. And then in 2021, we were in Dunedin and then Buffalo before we were able to go back to Toronto,” Bichette, 25, said, referring to more restrictions and more games at second homes. “And then last year was the lockout.”

He added: “So it’s been a few crazy years where we haven’t really had a real start to the season.”

At least this year, Bichette said, not only did the season begin on time, but even through the air miles and clock changes, the team knew Tuesday dangled at the end of the road rainbow like a pot of gold.

“When you’re in the minor leagues in whatever organization, you dream of playing in that city and seeing how those fans appreciate you,” said Bichette. “And that was kind of put on hold for us for two years or so. Yeah, it was a little disappointing and tough to handle sometimes. But I think we did a great job, to be honest.”

He added: “We competed no matter what and we didn’t complain. And I think that’s going to help us in the long run.”

The Blue Jays in these opening days of the season appear far more focused on wiping out last October’s disappointing early playoff exit at the hands of Seattle than on, say, dwindling supplies of clean socks and underwear as their laundry piles up. Among general manager Ross Atkins’ offseason transactions were the acquisitions of outfielders Kevin Kiermaier (free agency) and Daulton Varsho (trade with Arizona) and designated hitter Brandon Belt (free agency).

Early returns are especially good from Guerrero and third baseman Matt Chapman. They ranked first and second in hard-hit balls (exit velocity of 95 mph

or more) in Major League Baseball through Sunday. Chapman, Guerrero and Bichette were the top three players in the majors in hits, and Chapman ranked first in batting average (.475).

The clubhouse enthusiasm surrounding Guerrero, though, isn’t simply because of how hard he’s hitting the ball, but also how little he is chasing pitches outside the strike zone. Over his first 49 plate appearances, Guerrero, 24, had only three strikeouts to five walks. So far this season, he has moved away from his former free-swinging tendencies — and those of his Hall of Fame father, known as one of the greatest bad-ball hitters in history — and toward the version of himself that led the AL in on-base percentage in 2021.

Guerrero worked hard on pitch selection throughout the spring, his teammates said, and his growing maturity is evident.

“I’m trusting my teammates,” Guerrero said via a translator. “I’m going to go up looking for my pitch, and if I don’t get it, I’m going to take a walk and trust my teammates to hit behind me.”

Toronto manager John Schneider said that Guerrero’s overall approach “is a lot different than in years past. He’s been around the game for awhile now. And you forget how young he is sometimes.”

Schneider, in his first full season as manager after replacing Charlie Montoyo last July, knows. He is in his 15th season either coaching or managing in Toronto’s organization, and he managed Guerrero, Bichette and Cavan Biggio at Class AA New Hampshire.

All of those experiences likely factored into his short-but-to-the-point address as camp ended and the players packed ... and packed. He did it for one reason.

“You recognize it,” he said, smiling, of the difficult early schedule. “And it squashes the bitching and moaning.”

He hasn’t mentioned it again. And the Jays won five of their first eight games. To close the road trip, they overcame a six-run deficit — built in part by an Ohtani home run — and eventually beat the Angels 12-11 in the 10th inning after Ohtani grounded out with the bases loaded. Chapman hit a grand slam to make it 6-4, and Kiermaier’s two-run triple tied the score on the way to both players finishing with five RBIs.

Eventually, as usually happens in baseball, things will even out. No matter how many early wake-up calls they endure now, the Jays, like everyone else, will still play 81 road games and 81 at home, which means their schedule will eventually turn advantageous.

“There’s only so many really, really big cities that love, love their sports, and Toronto is one of them,” Bichette said, anticipating a happy homecoming. “So to go there and feel the energy, we should have a pretty good crowd there. They love their Blue Jays.”

Toronto’s young stars like Bo Bichette have plenty of experience with extended time on the road thanks to the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Answers on page 38

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

s Venus sashays into expressive Gemini, the coming weeks can find you ready to meet new people, join groups and go where the action is at. This is a fun hangout for this sociable planet, although the idea of making a commitment could seem a step too far. Light-hearted and easy-going is more the style of the moment, as well as falling in love with another’s mind, Aries.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Keen to sell items you no longer need and to replace them with a more functional and updated version? Your buying and selling ability can improve, as delightful Venus moves into your money zone, giving you an eye for a bargain. As it immediately aligns with Pluto, you could be very determined to have what you want. By hook or by crook you’ll find a way to get it.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Ready to be the star of the show? With lovely Venus dancing into your sign, her presence can enrobe you in confidence, inspiring you to purchase new clothes or encouraging you to enhance your image in other delightful ways. You’ll be drawn to people who are good with words, and together you could spend hours wrapped in conversation talking about all manner of things.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

The battle to separate your needs from those of others continues. Mars in your sign encourages you to be strong and do what you want. And as Venus enters a secluded sector, it’s time to listen to your inner wisdom and follow your heart. This gentle influence encourages you to accept yourself and to treat yourself lovingly too. Draw strength from your victories and successes.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Mars can encourage you to look inwards and discover more about what makes you tick. And yet the current emphasis suggests socializing could provide light relief. With sweet Venus making her entrance into Gemini from today, relationships may become warmer and closer, while new friendships reveal promise. Your natural charisma shines out too, so others will be drawn to you.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Making a great impression is key to getting ahead, and you’ll certainly hit the right note from today. A positive focus on a prominent sector can be a call to use charm to nail those contracts and seal those deals. Make a point of dressing to impress, as this may help your mission to succeed. You could make a deep connection with someone that turns out to be very positive.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

Sweet Venus hikes into your adventure zone from today, inspiring you to fall in love with new ideas, opportunities and people who have lived a life filled with rich experiences. You’ll be curious about so many things and keen to explore further. Does your current bond need some extra sparkle? Going away for a break can rekindle the passion. Dating may be a lot of fun too.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Venus’s angle with Pluto adds an edgier note to the coming days, but as it’s a temporary aspect, it can assist you in letting go of an issue you’ve been holding onto for no good reason. Don’t fight to get something out of your mind, just drop it! On a financial note, a positive focus on your sector of shared resources might give you a little more spending or investing power if needed.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Conversation can be the way to win someone’s heart, Archer. As sultry Venus moves into your sector of relating and the dual sign of Gemini, you may be drawn to those who are savvy, witty and a delight to be around. You might even find yourself attracted to more than one person at the same time, which could make life complicated. One encounter may be a winner though.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Co-operation is a wonderful thing, making life at work so much easier. As Venus shimmies into inquisitive Gemini, this is a great opportunity to share tips and tricks with others in your business or profession, and to network like crazy. The more people you connect with the better, and the more varied their background, the more you’ll have access to some very special opportunities.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

As Venus enters Gemini and lights up your pleasure zone, you’ll need to do a lot more socializing if you’re to enjoy life. If you’ve felt hemmed in and limited by circumstances, then you’ll actively seek ways to get out, join groups, indulge a hobby and perhaps get involved romantically. This is one of the best times to flaunt your skills and showcase your many talents.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

If you’ve had dreams of giving your place a makeover, it’s time to make a start. With a creative influence occurring in your domestic zone, you’ll be keen to explore a range of wonderful ideas and to source the materials to make it a reality. Enjoyment can arise from seeing your plans come together and looking so good, and from the envy of your friends and family, Pisces.

Speed Bump