Wednesday Feb 28, 2024

GOOD MORNING

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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.

Today’s Weather INDEX

February Local Mainland Business International Viewpoint Noticias en Español Entertainment Science

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Health Kitchen Legals Sports Games Horoscope Cartoons

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Municipality of Cataño ranks first in execution of recovery funds

By THE STAR STAFF

The Municipality of Cataño has achieved a rating of 99.25 in the execution of the funds allocated for recovery projects, according to the Recovery and Execution Index published by the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resiliency (COR3) in its transparency portal for the first quarter of 2024, the agency said Tuesday.

The index ranks Cataño as the top performer, or the number one position among all municipalities, in project execution.

“In Cataño, we have put all our efforts, knowledge and expert personnel into managing the efficient execution of federally funded projects,” Cataño Mayor Julio Alicea Vasallo said in a written statement. “This achievement demonstrates our work and commitment to the full recovery of our people in these past 25 months of our administration.”

The Municipality of Cataño has received a total of $25.1 million for permanent recovery projects. Of this amount, $9.8 million is in the auction stage, $9.4 million in the construction stage, and $5 million in the design stage. In addition, a total of $636,097 in projects has been completed, and $219,919 remains in the planning stage.

“Among the upcoming projects financed with federal funds from the recovery from Hurricane Maria are: improvements to the CDT [Diagnosis & Treatment Center] Job Andújar and different sports facilities,” the mayor said. “In addition, we hope to advance in the construction of: La Esperanza Park, improvements to different municipal buildings, and repairs and improvements to the Cosme Beitía Coliseum for this year.”

“These projects are only funded by Hurricane Maria recovery [funds], but the municipality is also in the process of other important works and initiatives financed with other funds, including federal and state,” he added.

The Recovery and Execution Index (IRE-4339) is a tool that evaluates and measures the progress of subapplicants and entities involved in the reconstruction process throughout the island. The index provides a clear view of the progress in the execution of each project and reports on the amount of work remaining to complete the recovery program. The data provided by each municipality in the quarterly reports are available on COR3’s transparency portal https://recovery. pr.gov/es.

“In Cataño, we have put all our efforts, knowledge and expert personnel into managing the efficient execution of federally funded projects,” Cataño Mayor Julio Alicea Vasallo said.

HMS Ferries is part of parent company’s bankruptcy petition, lawmaker says

By THE STAR STAFF

Contrary to remarks made by government officials, HMS Ferries Puerto Rico, which provides ferry transportation on the island, will undergo a restructuring process as part of the bankruptcy filed earlier this month by its parent company.

House Majority Leader Ángel Matos García said bankruptcy documents from Hornblower Group show that HMS Ferries was included in the bankruptcy restructuring along with some 105 affiliates. Hornblower said in the bankruptcy petition that it has $500,000 to $1 billion in assets, but also $1 billion to $10 billion in liabilities.

Senate

“The bankruptcy by Hornblower, parent company of HMS Ferries, was filed on February 21 of this year,” Matos García said. “In the annexes, it can clearly be seen that HMS Ferries Puerto Rico was included as an entity that enters the bankruptcy restructuring process and that Banco Popular de Puerto Rico is one of the creditors affected by this bankruptcy.”

Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3A) Director Fermín Fontanés Gómez had indicated that the bankruptcy would not affect ferry operations on the island and that everything remained normal on the offshore municipal islands.

“It is obvious that HMS Ferries had to notify P3A and ATI [the Integrated Transportation Authority] so that they could submit the

default letter so that Puerto Rico’s rights are not affected by this bankruptcy,” the legislator said. “If the notification was not made, it is an act of negligence. Where is the [La] Fortaleza chief of staff, and what does she think about this scandal that involves state and federal funds?”

Matos García said he will be calling a public hearing in the coming days so that the people know the whole truth about “this bad business for the country.”

HMS Ferries signed a 23-year contract in 2021 to operate ferry routes between the main island and the offshore island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, as well as between Old San Juan and Cataño. The government agreed to pay $750 million.

majority leader denounces planned sale of public properties as illegal

By THE STAR STAFF

Senate Majority Leader Javier Aponte Dalmau introduced two resolutions Tuesday to investigate what he termed as the illegal sale of public properties belonging to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and the Roosevelt Roads Redevelopment Authority without legislative approval.

Senate Resolution (SR) 913 orders the Senate Strategic Projects and Energy Committee to investigate PREPA’s planned sale of around 36 properties that belong to the bankrupt public corporation without complying with the procedures required by law.

“PREPA has plans to sell some 36 disused properties and the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory [AAFAF] is in charge of the appraisals

and the legal aspects,” Aponte Dalmau said. “They cannot do this secretly. It has to go through the Legislative Assembly, which is the one that authorizes the sale of the assets.”

SR 912, meanwhile, orders the same committee to investigate the irregularities reported by the Financial Oversight and Management Board as part of its ordering the Department of Economic Development and Commerce to cancel several contracts with Loopland Development LLC for the development of luxury tourist projects in the old U.S. naval base in Ceiba.

The lawmaker said the administration of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia is trying to sell the assets of the people of Puerto Rico “in a concealed manner and without obtaining the authorization ordered by Act 508-2004, known as the “Roosevelt Roads Naval Station Land and

Co-op execs to hold 22nd national convention in Ponce

By THE STAR STAFF

The Cooperative Executives Association of Puerto Rico (ASEC) announced that its 22nd national convention, under the theme “Strategic Sustainability and Cooperativism: An Agenda for Solidarity Action,” will be held Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 at the Ponce Hilton Golf and Casino Resort Hotel.

Aurelio Arroyo González, chairman of the ASEC board of directors, said the convention’s educational agenda will include local

and international speakers.

“The relentless search for strategic sustainability is a constant for cooperatives in Puerto Rico,” Arroyo González said in a written statement. “Cooperatives are the best example of how it is possible to harmonize efficiency and social, financial and environmental responsibility.”

He noted that this year the convention opens on Friday morning with a presentation by Rafael Torrech San Inocencio entitled “So That Our Proposal Does Not Go Unnoticed: Indispensable Issues in the Drafting of a Fund-

ing Proposal.” Also appearing on the first day’s agenda will be John Stoltzfus, manager and head of strategic investments at Oppenheimer Asset Management, who will address the topic “Economic Prospects of the Financial Markets” and participate in the forum “The New Global Political Realignment and Its Impact on the Economy.”

The panel discussion will be moderated by René Vargas Martínez, executive director of the Inclusiv network on the island, and also will feature Dr. Carlos Severino, Dr. Maya Vélez Serrano and the economist and direc-

Facilities Redevelopment Authority Act.”

“Last December, the [oversight board] criticized the government’s lack of transparency when it ordered that the contract to develop a million-dollar tourist complex that included the Loopland Hotel in Roosevelt Roads be voided because they did not request prior approval,” Aponte Dalmau stated.

“We do not know who is behind Loopland and its contracts that propose a development of more than $500 million,” he said. “Another covert and strange project that we have to investigate thoroughly to protect Puerto Rican heritage.”

Aponte Dalmau said Act 508 allows the Roosevelt Roads Redevelopment Authority to dispose of or sell public property as long as it obtains legislative approval.

“Cooperatives are the best example of how it is possible to harmonize efficiency and social, financial and environmental responsibility,” said Aurelio Arroyo González, chairman of the board of the Cooperative Executives Association of Puerto Rico.

tor of the League of Cooperatives, Heriberto Martínez Otero.

Senate Majority Leader Javier Aponte Dalmau

House Majority Leader Ángel Matos García

Fiscal board, gov’t agree on implementation of early retirement law

By THE STAR STAFF

After more than two years, the Puerto Rico government and the Financial Oversight and Management Board have agreed on an early retirement program for public workers that will allow more than 1,000 to retire at the end of March.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and Omar Marrero Díaz, executive director of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, announced Tuesday that a final stipulation for the partial implementation of Act 80-2020, “the Incentivized Retirement Program and Justice for Our Public Servants Act,” has been tempered to the requirements of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, commonly known as PROMESA.

Act 80 was declared void in May 2022 by the U.S. District Court. However, the government and the oversight board agreed to implement the program partially.

“Today we can announce that the Incentive Retirement Program is a reality and that eligible non-essential employees

[under] laws 1 of 1990 and 447 of 1951 will be able to retire with a lifetime pension of 50 percent while achieving significant savings for the government,” the governor said. “Once again we fulfill our commitment so that our public servants

have a dignified retirement.”

Marrero Díaz added that “this agreement was reached after more than two years of arduous negotiations with the Oversight Board following an exhaustive and detailed evaluation process to enable the retirement of each of the 1,130 public servants who will finally participate in the incentivized retirement.”

The agreement also enables contributions of some $103 million to the Pension Reserve Trust, from the savings achieved through the partial implementation of Law 80-2020, Marrero Díaz said.

The 1,130 public employees, whose jobs were classified as non-essential by their employers, will be able to retire with 50 percent of their highest annual remuneration in the past three years at the time of joining. In addition to their lifetime pension, they will receive a $100 monthly contribution to the medical plan until they turn 62, plus payment of their accumulated vacations. The effective date of departure of the impacted employees will be March 31 of this year.

Pact signed to digitize island historical documents located in mainland US

By THE STAR STAFF

The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) on Tuesday announced the signing of a collaborative agreement with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for the digitization of historical documents about Puerto Rico that are located in the mainland United States.

The agreement was signed by ICP Director Carlos Ruiz Cortés and Archivist General of the United States Colleen Shogan. To mark the agreement, a formal ceremony was held at the NARA Research Center in Washington, D.C., in which the acting archivist of the United States, William Bosanko; Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) Executive Director Luis Dávila Pernas and the general archivist of Puerto Rico, Hilda Ayala González, participated.

With the alliance, the ICP will seek to identify and digitize

historical sources located outside of Puerto Rico to promote greater access to shared documentary heritage. The project is possible thanks to funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Puerto Rico, which is in its second phase, for “Cultural Rescue.”

“We continue to seek new access to information about Puerto Rico and expand the fundamental knowledge of our history,” Ruiz Cortés said in a written statement. “This information will be available both in the NARA online catalog and in the digital repository of the General Archive of Puerto Rico. This important digitization project adds to the one already carried out with the Ministry of Spain and the one we have with Family Search.”

The documents that are to be digitized represent only a sample of the great wealth of collections that are found outside the island and that are fundamental to understanding the relationships that have developed between Puerto Rico and the United States since 1898. During the selection of NARA

collections, specialized personnel participated in the evaluation of documents, and part of the ICP work team, in addition to the executive director and the general archivist of Puerto Rico, included as evaluators the former director of the Arts Support Office, Albeyra Rodríguez and the coordinator of academic and virtual affairs, Pablo Crespo.

“This collaborative agreement also represents a commitment on the part of the National Archives to increase and improve access to the collections they guard through the inclusion of documentation from Puerto Rico in their internal digitization plans, reaffirming the importance of these efforts that we are carrying out together for the benefit of our communities of researchers,” said Ayala González, the island’s general archivist.

The digitization work, which began in February, is expected to be completed in November of this year, through the services of a company specialized in documentary heritage.

Liberty reports 85% of mobile customer migration completed

By THE STAR STAFF

The telecommunications company Liberty announced on Tuesday that it is in the final stretch of its mobile customer migration process, which it says is 85 percent along.

Eduardo Díaz Corona, senior vice president and general manager of Liberty, anticipated that the migration process will be satisfactorily completed between March and April.

“Our technicians have worked tirelessly to solve the technical challenges and we have made great strides,” Díaz Corona said in a written statement.

The official said the migration has been an effort to

modernize and improve Liberty’s mobile service network, offering customers better roaming coverage and more personalized service. Even though most customers have migrated seamlessly, some have experienced service interruptions.

Referring to an ongoing investigation by the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau, Díaz Corona said Liberty has been cooperating since the beginning of the investigation in November and will continue to do the same.

Liberty has issued recommendations for customers who have not yet completed the transition, such as updating the operating system of their devices, restarting their mobile devices or, in some cases, changing the SIM card.

Once the migration process is complete, Liberty customers will be able to enjoy simplified billing and more efficient account management, the company said.

Liberty recommends that customers keep their devices up-to-date and follow instructions specific to brands like Samsung. In addition, the mobile messaging application WhatsApp has been made available to communicate in the event of a service interruption.

For more information or assistance, customers can contact Mobile Customer Service at 1(833) 641-3035, visit a Liberty store, contact WhatsApp at (787) 355-3535, or for those still pending migration, call 611 or 1(800) 331-0500.

Omar Marrero Díaz, executive director of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority

Republican demands and divisions drive impasse toward a shutdown

By CATIE EDMONDSON

The spending showdown that has brought the government to the brink of a partial shutdown this week is being fueled by Republicans in Congress, who, after failing in their efforts to slash federal funding, are still insisting on right-wing policy dictates.

House Republicans loaded up their spending bills with hundreds of partisan policy mandates, a vast majority of which had no chance of passing the Democraticcontrolled Senate or being signed by President Joe Biden. They include measures to target various pieces of Biden’s agenda, such as one to restrict access to abortion medication and another to restrict the Department of Veterans Affairs from flagging veterans deemed mentally incompetent in a federal background check needed to buy a gun.

With just four days remaining before funding lapses for roughly one-quarter of the government, some of those issues are emerging as major sticking points in negotiations to reach a deal to keep the money flowing. Republicans also are still seeking to cut federal programs aimed at providing nutrition assistance for low-income families as well as for women and infants.

Complicating the picture for Speaker Mike Johnson, who met at the White House on Tuesday with Biden and the other top congressional leaders, Republicans themselves

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 14, 2024. The spending stalemate that has brought the government to the brink of a shutdown is being fueled by GOP demands to add conservative spending mandates opposed by President Biden and Democrats. (Kenny Holston/The New

York Times)

have been divided over what to push for in spending talks. Ultraconservative lawmakers who rarely support spending legislation have been the loudest voices in favor of cuts and hard-line policy provisions, but more

mainstream and politically endangered Republicans have refused to back them.

In one case last fall, the more moderate lawmakers helped to sink a spending bill that prevented money from being spent to enforce a District of Columbia law that protects employees from being discriminated against for seeking contraception or abortion services.

Republicans have also sought to reverse a new rule by the Food and Drug Administration allowing mifepristone — the first pill used in a two-drug medication abortion regimen — to be distributed through the mail and at retail locations. And they want to ban the VA from flagging that a veteran has been deemed mentally incompetent in a federal gun background check without a court order.

“These hard-right chaos agents in the House do not represent a majority of Republicans in the country,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, said Tuesday before the White House meeting. “They do not represent a majority of Republicans in the Senate. They do not even represent a majority of Republicans in the House. Yet, they are trying to bully everyone else into submission to get what they want.”

If Congress does not approve a fresh tranche of funding before Friday at midnight, funding for military construction, agriculture, transportation and housing programs will lapse. Funding for all other agencies, including the Pentagon, is set to expire at

How California’s rainy season is shaping up so far

By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA

With its Mediterranean climate, California receives most of its annual precipitation in just a few months, with the bulk of it falling from December to February.

That means that by the time March 1 comes around, the state usually has a good sense of how much water it is going to have for the rest of the year.

The state keeps track based on a “water year” that runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so the whole winter rainy season will fall in the same year’s statistics. As of Sunday, California had received slightly more rain than usual this winter — 105% of the average, according to state data.

In some parts of the state, though, it’s been much rainier than normal.

Los Angeles, which just endured one of its wettest storm systems on record, had received 159% of its annual average rainfall as of Sunday. San Diego was at 133%, and Paso Robles at 160%.

Though the winter storms have often been damaging, they’re mostly good news for the water supply. The state’s reservoirs are at a healthy 119% of their normal levels, in part because they are still benefiting from the backto-back “atmospheric rivers” that slammed California last winter.

But the state’s snowpack, which accumulates in the Sierra Nevada and typically provides 30% of the state’s water supply for the year, isn’t faring quite as well.

Last year’s snowpack was one of the largest on record, but as of Monday the snowpack this year was only about 82% of average. Snowpack levels typically peak around April 1, the end of California’s rainy season, and the current levels are only 70% of the April 1 average, according to state data.

But that could change soon.

A heavy storm is expected to arrive in eastern California on Thursday and last through Sunday, bringing strong winds and plenty of snow, forecasters say. The storm could drop 7 to 8 feet of snow in the eastern Sierra, and 3 to 4 feet at Lake Tahoe, according to Brittany Whitlam, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada.

Forecasters are warning people to reconsider travel plans in the mountains, because

midnight on March 8.

Driving the impasse are the same dynamics that have persisted since this Congress began a year ago. Hard-right Republicans have tried to use their party’s razor-thin majority in the House as leverage to wring spending cuts and conservative policy conditions on how federal money can be spent from Biden and Democrats in the Senate. And the Republican speaker — first Kevin McCarthy and now Johnson — has worked to appease that restive group, agreeing to tailor the spending bills to its demands, even though many of its members have rarely, if ever, supported appropriations bills during their time in Congress.

The result has been that congressional leaders have three times had to turn to Democrats to help them fund the government with short-term spending bills.

Right-wing Republicans have grown increasingly unhappy as they have watched government funding keep flowing without cuts or policy changes, and they are ratcheting up pressure on Johnson to secure some kind of conservative victory in the current spending negotiations.

Johnson told Republicans on Friday during a conference call that they should not expect the inclusion of many of their major policy priorities, though he said he expected to secure a number of more minor victories.

A pedestrian crosses the road on a rainy morning in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood in Los Angeles, Feb. 19, 2024. California receives most of its annual precipitation from December to February, and Los Angeles, which just endured one of its wettest storm systems on record, has reached 159% of its annual average rainfall as of Feb. 25. (Mark Abramson/The New York Times)

the roads there are expected to be slick and the wind gusts dangerous. There have been other sizable storms in the region recently, but “this is definitely the biggest we’ve seen so far this season,” Whitlam said.

Supreme Court seems wary of state laws regulating social media platforms

By ADAM LIPTAK

The Supreme Court seemed skeptical earlier this week of laws in Florida and Texas that bar major social media companies from making editorial judgments about which messages to allow.

The laws were enacted in an effort to shield conservative voices on the sites, but a decision by the court, expected by June, will almost certainly be its most important statement on the scope of the First Amendment in the internet era, with broad political and economic implications.

A ruling that tech platforms have no editorial discretion to decide which posts to allow would expose users to a greater variety of viewpoints but almost certainly amplify the ugliest aspects of the digital age, including hate speech and disinformation.

Though a ruling in favor of big platforms like Facebook and YouTube appeared likely, the court also seemed poised to return the cases to the lower courts to answer questions about how the laws apply to sites that do not seem to moderate their users’ speech in the same way, like Gmail, Venmo, Uber and Etsy.

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The justices, over almost four hours of arguments, differed about whether the laws, which have been blocked for now, should go into effect in the meantime. But a majority seemed inclined to keep them on hold while the litigation moves forward. Several justices said that the states violated the First Amendment by telling a handful of major platforms that they could not moderate their users’ posts, drawing distinctions between government censorship prohibited by the First Amendment and actions by private companies to determine what speech to include on their sites.

“I have a problem with laws that are so broad that they stifle speech just on their face,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh read a sentence from a 1976 campaign finance decision that has long been a touchstone for him. “The concept that government may restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amendment,” he said, indicating that he rejected the states’ argument that they may regulate the fairness of public debate in private settings.

“I wonder,” Chief Justice John Roberts said, “since we’re talking about the First Amendment, whether our first concern should be with the state regulating what, you know, we have called the modern public square.”

Henry C. Whitaker, Florida’s solicitor general, responded that “the state has an interest, a First Amendment interest, in promoting and ensuring the free dissemination of ideas.”

Justice Elena Kagan said the major platforms had good reasons to reject posts inciting insurrection, endangering public health and spreading hate speech. “Why isn’t that a First Amendment judgment?” she asked.

The court’s three most conservative members — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — seemed sympathetic to the state laws. All three said phrases like “content moderation” were euphemisms for censorship.

When the discussion turned to less prominent sites, the justices across the ideological spectrum were troubled by the lack of information about them in the record before the court. Several indicated that they might analyze the First Amendment question differently depending on the platform.

Kagan asked whether states could tell services like Venmo, Dropbox and Uber that they may not discriminate on the basis of their users’ viewpoints.

“Wouldn’t that be all right?” she asked Paul D. Clement, a lawyer for the challengers.

Clement said no, responding that all of those services “are still in the expressive business,” meaning that speech is part of their core activities in ways not true of, say, a gas station or ice cream stand.

Other justices asked about email and messaging services.

“Does Gmail have a First Amendment right to delete, let’s say, Tucker Carlson’s or Rachel Maddow’s Gmail accounts if they don’t agree with his or her viewpoints?” Alito asked Clement.

Clement responded that the service “might be able to do that,” adding that such questions had not been the focus of the litigation.

He added that forbidding the platforms to make distinctions based on viewpoint would destroy their businesses.

The laws, from Florida and Texas, differ in their details. Florida’s prevents the platforms from permanently barring candidates for political office in the state, while Texas’ prohibits the platforms from removing any content based on a user’s viewpoint.

“To generalize just a bit,” Judge Andrew S. Oldham wrote in a decision upholding the Texas law, the Florida law “prohibits all censorship of some speakers,” while the one from Texas “prohibits some censorship of all speakers” when based on the views they express.

The two trade associations challenging the state laws — NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association — said that the actions Oldham called censorship were editorial choices protected by the First Amendment, which generally prohibits government restrictions on speech based on content and viewpoint.

The groups said that social media companies were entitled to the same constitutional protections enjoyed by newspapers, which are generally free to publish what they like without government interference.

Kavanaugh appeared to embrace that position, asking Whitaker, the lawyer representing Florida, whether states could tell publishing houses, printing presses, movie theaters, bookstores and newsstands what to feature.

Whitaker said that newspapers and bookstores are engaged in “inherently expressive conduct,” while “our whole point is that these social media platforms are not like those.”

He said that, indeed, the platforms were common carriers required to transmit everyone’s messages and that the Florida law protected free speech by ensuring that users have access to many points of view.

Several justices said it was hard to reconcile the platforms’ arguments Monday with what they had said last year in cases concerning Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects social media companies from liability for what their users post.

In those cases, Thomas said, the platforms maintained that they were merely conduits for others’ speech. “Now you’re saying that you are engaged in editorial discretion and expressive conduct,” he told Clement. “Doesn’t that seem to undermine your Section 230 arguments?”

Clement responded that a key part of the provision was meant to protect platforms from liability for making editorial judgments.

Loyalty Finance LLC

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Feb.

2024. The high court heard arguments on Monday, Feb. 26, that could fundamentally alter the way social media companies police their sites. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

Arrest of migrant in Georgia killing turns city into latest battleground on immigration

Mourners attend a vigil for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student found dead on a trail at the university, on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., Feb. 26, 2024. Anger over immigration policy has been added to the grief on campus after a migrant from Venezuela was charged with kidnapping and murdering Riley. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times)

By RICHARD FAUSSET and ALESSANDRO MARAZI SASSOON

When a 22-year-old nursing student was found dead on a wooded trail at the University of Georgia in what’s believed to be the first homicide on campus in nearly 30 years, it set off waves of grief and fear that shook the university to its core.

But when a 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela was charged Friday with kidnapping and killing the student, Laken Riley, it did something else: It transformed Athens and Clarke County, a community of about 130,000 people some 70 miles east of Atlanta, into the latest flashpoint in the political fight over U.S. immigration policy.

In a social media post Monday, former President Donald Trump called the suspect, Jose Antonio Ibarra, a “monster,” and blamed

President Joe Biden for an “invasion” that is “killing our citizens.” Earlier in the day, at an event at the university, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia decried “an unwillingness by this White House to secure the southern border.”

A third Republican, Rep. Mike Collins, who represents Athens, wrote on social media: “The blood of Laken Riley is on the hands of Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas and the government of Athens-Clarke County,” referring to the unified city-county government.

Such statements have struck many liberals as demagogic rhetoric piled atop a horrific crime. In an interview Sunday, Kelly Girtz, the Democratic mayor of Athens-Clarke County, said the conversation should be focused on mourning the victim, and blaming an individual rather than a group.

“This murder was a violent, heinous act,” he said, “and it rests squarely on the shoulders

of the perpetrator.”

The relatively liberal culture of Athens, its local immigration policies and the border crisis have combined with a brutal crime to create a toxic brew at Georgia’s flagship university, where student politics runs the gamut.

Outside the student center, Ella Jackson, 19, a freshman from Milton, Georgia, said she did not feel unsafe or worried. But she took issue with the local government’s policy on immigrants living in the country illegally. “I don’t really think it’s our job to house the illegal immigrants, and especially so close to a college campus.”

In recent years, the city of Athens has seen a rise in local left-leaning politicians, Girtz among them, who have brought a new focus to questions of social justice and righting what they see as lingering Deep South wrongs. They have not been shy about their embrace of immigrants who are in the country illegally and a Hispanic community whose numbers have increased drastically in and around Athens in the past 30 years.

At the same time, Athens remains a kind of sacred space for Georgia conservatives. The enormous university, set in the middle of town, has educated many of Georgia’s most powerful Republicans, including Kemp, an Athens native. And the school’s winning football team, as well as the tailgating and adulation that it engenders, are core Georgia traditions that Kemp and others conspicuously weave into a conservative tapestry of culture and policy.

Kemp, a former Athens homebuilder and developer, won his first governor’s race in 2018 with an audacious ad in which he declared, “I got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take ’em home myself.” This month, he pledged to send Georgia National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico.

Girtz was first elected in 2006 to the commission that governs the unified city-county government. He said Athens’ more activist band of politicians and their supporters grew, to some extent, out of the new wave and post-punk music scene that famously sprouted in Athens in the early 1980s, giving the world R.E.M. and the B-52s.

On Sunday morning, at a coffee shop near campus, the mayor, in an olive military jacket and a ball cap, dismissed the idea that he was responsible for the killing. He said Collins, who accused him of having blood on his hands,

harbored “a kind of cartoon narrative around how the universe operates.”

Along with addressing matters of race and class that had long separated many of Athens’ Black and white residents, the new liberal lawmakers hewed to a defiantly anti-Trump stance on immigrants, many of whom came to Athens to work at poultry plants or arrived during the building boom of the early 2000s.

In 2018, the local sheriff at the time, Ira Edwards, under pressure from Girtz and others, ended the practice of holding arrested immigrants in jail for 48-hour periods to give federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials an opportunity to pick them up for potential deportation.

And in 2020, voters elected a liberal district attorney, Deborah Gonzalez, who pledged to “take into account collateral consequences to undocumented defendants” in making charging decisions.

Conservatives were appalled by all of it — and remain so.

On Monday, state Rep. Houston Gaines, an Athens Republican, noted that Ibarra, the suspect in the University of Georgia killing, was issued a criminal citation for shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens in October, according to court records. Records show that a bench warrant was issued, meaning that he likely skipped a court date.

There exists “an atmosphere of Athens being a place welcoming to people who, frankly, shouldn’t be in the United States,” Gaines said.

Ibarra was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol for crossing the border illegally in September 2022 and was released quickly with temporary permission to stay in the country, authorities said.

That release, or parole, was a practice that the Biden administration used when officials were overwhelmed with high numbers of crossings. It ended that practice about six months later.

In August, Ibarra was arrested in New York City on charges of child endangerment and violation of a driver’s license law, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He eventually moved to Athens and was living in an apartment within walking distance of the crime scene.

Gaines said this week that he and other Republicans would try in the coming days to push bills to tighten up policies around immigrants lacking permanent legal status.

At a trailer park north of town, Jose Tapía, 50, a construction worker from Mexico and a legal U.S. resident, said he expected things to get tougher for his neighbors who are immigrants. “I think there’s going to be more tension,” he said. “I’m sure the police are going to be more strict.”

Man dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington, Air Force says

By AISHVARYA KAVI

An airman who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington in protest of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip died of his injuries Sunday night, a spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force, Rose M. Riley, said Monday.

The airman, Aaron Bushnell, 25, of Whitman, Massachusetts, was a cyberdefense operations specialist with the 531st Intelligence Support Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas and had served on active duty since 2020, the Air Force said in a statement Monday night.

Bushnell appeared to have filmed the protest Sunday and livestreamed it on the social media platform Twitch. The New York Times could not confirm who was behind the account that posted the video, but the footage matched the details of the episode released by police.

A man dressed in fatigues identifies

Medications for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments used by a woman in Alabama, Feb. 22, 2024. An explosion in front of the state attorney general’s office in Montgomery was set off one day after Steve Marshall, Alabama’s attorney general, announced that he did not plan to prosecute IVF providers or families seeking treatment after a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally considered children. (Wes Frazer/The New York Times)

himself in the video as Bushnell and calls himself an active-duty Air Force officer.

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” a man says in the video, echoing language that opponents of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza have used to describe the war. “I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.”

Standing in front of the gates of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, he sets his phone down to douse himself in a clear liquid from a metal bottle. He then lights himself on fire while yelling, “Free Palestine!” until he falls to the ground.

The video shows law enforcement officers approaching him seconds before the fire catches. One is heard off-camera saying, “Can I help you, sir?” The officers scramble for more than a minute to put out the flames.

Officers with the U.S. Secret Service

were the first to respond at the embassy, in northwestern Washington, around 1 p.m., said Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson with the city’s fire department. Bushnell was taken to a hospital.

The New York Times viewed the video before Twitch removed it Sunday afternoon, replacing it with a message saying that the channel violated the platform’s guidelines. It was the only video posted to the account, which had a Palestinian flag as its header image.

“When a tragedy like this occurs, every member of the Air Force feels it,” Col. Celina Noyes, the commander of the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, to which Bushnell was assigned, said in a statement Monday night. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Senior Airman Bushnell.”

No staff members of the Israeli Embassy were injured, according to Tal Naim, a spokesperson for the embassy.

Officers with the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were still working with Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the episode, authorities said Monday.

Protests against Israel have become a near-daily occurrence across the country since Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed at least 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. More than 29,000 people have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

As international calls for a cease-fire have grown and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deepened, the Israeli Embassy has been the site of protests that have sometimes resulted in arrests — but seldom in violence.

In December, a protester self-immolated in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta in what police said was “likely an extreme act of political protest.”

Explosive detonates outside Alabama attorney general’s office

By LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA

An explosive device was detonated early Saturday outside the Alabama attorney general’s office in downtown Montgomery, Steve Marshall, the attorney general, said in a statement Monday.

The explosion, which Marshall said had not injured anyone, was set off one day after he announced that he did not plan to prosecute IVF providers or families seeking treatment after a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally considered children.

The statement did not say whether the explosion had caused any damage, whether the motive for the act was known or whether there were any suspects.

A spokesperson with the attorney general’s office said Monday that she could not provide any information beyond the statement, and directed further questions to the Alabama Law Enforce -

ment Agency.

The agency, which is investigating the explosion, said it received a report Monday morning about a suspicious package near the intersection of Washington Avenue and South Bainbridge Street in Montgomery.

“It was determined that the suspicious package was an explosive device that was detonated in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 24,” the agency said in a statement Monday evening. “Nothing further is available as the investigation remains ongoing.”

The Alabama Supreme Court ruling — which was issued earlier this month in

appeals cases brought by couples whose embryos were destroyed at a fertility clinic in Mobile — has shaken the world of reproductive medicine, casting doubt over fertility care for would-be parents in Alabama and raising complex legal questions. It has also led some clinics in the state to halt IVF treatments and has left many women in limbo.

On Friday, the attorney general’s office moved to ease some of those anxieties. Marshall “has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers,” Katherine Robertson, the office’s chief counsel, said in a statement.

Boeing’s safety culture faulted by FAA in new report

By NIRAJ CHOKSHI

Boeing’s safety culture remains flawed, despite improvements made after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019, a Federal Aviation Administration report released earlier this week found.

The report, written by a group of experts convened a year ago at Congress’ behest, found that there was a “disconnect” between senior management and other employees at Boeing, which makes commercial airplanes as well military aircraft and technology. The company, the panel found, has at times been “inadequate and confusing” in the way it has administered its safety culture.

In a statement, the FAA said it would “immediately begin a thorough review of the report” and take action on its recommendations as appropriate.

“We will continue to hold Boeing to the highest standard of safety and will work to ensure the company comprehensively addresses these recommendations,” the agency said.

Boeing said in a statement that it supported the panel’s work and acknowledged that, although it had taken “important steps” to improve its safety culture, “there is more work to do.” Since 2019, the company, from its board of directors on down, has made changes to emphasize safety.

New concerns about the company’s safety culture emerged last month after a panel blew open on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane during an Alaska Airlines flight. The FAA report

does not refer to that incident, but the National Transportation Safety Board has said the panel, known as a door plug, on the Alaska plane may have left Boeing’s factory without critical bolts to hold it in place.

After the incident, Boeing management has encouraged employees to share concerns about safety.

“Our people on the factory floor know what we must do to improve better than anyone,” Boeing CEO David Calhoun said in a message to employees Jan. 31. “We should all seek their feedback, understand how to help and always encourage any team member who raises issues that need to be addressed. We will go slow, we will not rush the system, and we will take our time to do it right.”

The FAA panel issued 53 recommendations, based on a review of thousands of pages of company documents and more than 250 interviews, each lasting at least an hour. The recommendations include urging Boeing to better communicate and define the language it uses to reinforce safety and to do more to convince employees that their anonymity will be protected when they report concerns or problems. The report mainly focused on policies and procedures that Boeing could improve, rather than highlighting specific failures.

Internally, Boeing has for years encouraged employees to be proactive in protecting safety and other principles valued by the company by urging them to “seek, speak and listen.” But the panel found that there had been “little or no attention given to seek or listen.”

The panel also reviewed changes Boeing made to a pro -

Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes on the assembly line at the Boeing plant in Renton, Wash., on March 27, 2019. A Federal Aviation Administration report released on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, found flaws in Boeing’s safety culture while noting that the airplane manufacturer had made some improvements since two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

gram under which the FAA delegates some of its authority to company employees. That practice attracted intense scrutiny after the fatal crashes, although experts say Congress would need to authorize the agency to spend a lot more money and hire many more people to do that work itself.

Changes that Boeing made to that delegated authority program helped to protect employees from interference or punishment, but the panel found that opportunities for retaliation remained. The panel also concluded that Boeing should do more to account for human factors in aircraft design and operation, including collecting more input from pilots.

Macy’s will close 150 stores but expand Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury

By JORDYN HOLMAN

Macy’s said Tuesday that it would vastly reshape its strategy and retail footprint, closing about 150 Macy’s stores over the next three years while expanding its upscale Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury chains.

The moves put the stamp of the company’s new CEO, Tony Spring, on an effort to keep the largest department store operator in the United States profitable and stave off a pending takeover bid.

It is the second major downsizing of the Macy’s chain since 2020 and will leave the company with 350 stores, slightly more than half the number it had before the pandemic.

The overhaul is intended to “accelerate our path to market share gains, sustainable, profitable growth and value creation for our shareholders,” Spring, who took over this month, said in a statement.

Macy’s said it planned to close “underproductive locations,” noting that they accounted for 25% of the company’s overall square footage but just 10% of sales. The company said it expected to take in $600 million to $750 million by selling these stores and streamlining some of its warehouses.

The company said it would start notifying workers Tuesday at stores it planned to close. It plans to shutter roughly 50 stores this fiscal year and the rest of the 150 by the end of 2026.

While the Macy’s stores close, the company plans to add 15 Bloomingdale’s locations. Bluemercury, its beauty chain, will add 30 stores, while others will be remodeled. As of November, there were 58 Bloomingdale’s and 158 Bluemercury locations.

The decision to pare the midmarket Macy’s chain while increasing the luxury chains’ presence is a sign that Spring wants to reposition the company’s overall image so consumers see it as a higher-end destination.

Customer research showed that people wanted a better shopping experience at Macy’s, the company said, whether with improved visual merchandising or more help from store workers. The savings that the company expects from this strategy, including the sale of some of its assets, could help underwrite such improvements.

Spring, who spent four decades at Bloomingdale’s, took the corporate reins at a challenging time. In December, an investor group submitted a bid that would take Macy’s private at

a value of $5.8 billion. The investors, Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management, said that unless the retailer began sharing nonpublic information with them, they might take their offer to shareholders.

Sales have fallen as Macy’s has struggled to win over the next generation of shoppers and compete in a world increasingly oriented toward e-commerce.

Spring had already started making his mark. In January, a memo to employees from him and the departing CEO, Jeff Gennette, said the company would cut about 2,300 jobs, or 13% of its corporate workforce, as it looked to better align its resources with customer behavior and to make decisions faster. The company also said it planned to close a handful of stores.

The last major restructuring at Macy’s was in February 2020, when the company said it would close 125 stores and cut 2,000 jobs. Then the pandemic turned many stores dark for weeks, forcing the retailer to scramble to improve its website and e-commerce offerings and figure out how to bring people back to stores once they reopened.

After an initial sales boost from consumer spending on all manner of items early in the pandemic, Macy’s has faced a sales slump.

Wall Street wavers ahead of key inflation data

Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed on Tuesday as investors awaited a crucial inflation report and other economic data that would offer further clues on the timing of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and guide investor expectations.

Market focus is back on the Fed’s monetary policy path after a frenzy around artificial intelligence in the previous week that pushed the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and Dow Jones industrials (.DJI), opens new tab to new peaks and eclipsed concerns about delayed rate cuts.

The highlight for this week will be the release of January’s personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE)the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge - on Thursday.

If the PCE reading hints at sticky inflation, like recent data on consumer and producer prices, it could impact the Fed’s monetary policy and prompt traders to further push back their bets on the timing of rate cuts this year.

Currently, 65.6% of traders expect the Fed to start cutting rates by June, down from nearly 98% at the end of January, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Bets for a July rate cut stand at 84.8%.

Jitters ahead of the PCE data have been weighing on markets in the last few sessions, said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

“We’re trying to see what the Fed is going to do, and if we really have inflation, is inflation still growing or is it shrinking?”

Reports on gross domestic product (GDP), jobless claims and manufacturing activity, which are due this week, will further help in determining the state of the economy.

U.S. consumer confidence retreated in February after recording gains for three straight months, and orders for longlasting U.S. manufactured goods fell more than expected in January, data showed on Tuesday.

Investors will also look forward to comments this week from some Fed policymakers, including voting members Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, New York Fed chief John Williams and Fed Board Governor Christopher Waller.

At 11:38 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab was down 178.68 points, or 0.46%, at 38,890.55, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab was down 4.66 points, or 0.09%, at 5,064.87, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab was up 18.07 points, or 0.11%, at 15,994.33.

Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the red, led by energy (.SPNY), opens new tab, which slipped 0.4%, while utilities (.SPLRCU), opens new tab were top gainers with an advance of 1.5%.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index (.RUT), opens new tab rose 1.3%.

Aiding the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab, Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab outperformed megacap peers with a 1.4% rise.

Viking Therapeutics (VKTX.O), opens new tab surged 93.7% after its experimental drug to treat obesity helped pa-

tients achieve “significant” weight loss in a mid-stage study. U.S. drugmaker Amgen (AMGN.O), opens new tab, which is also developing a weight-loss drug, dropped 2.6%, pressuring the Dow Jones.

The

Kremlin warns against NATO ground intervention in Ukraine

By PAUL SONNE and CONSTANT MÉHEUT

Aprovocative comment by President Emmanuel Macron of France about the possibility of putting troops from NATO countries in Ukraine has prompted a warning from the Kremlin and hurried efforts by European leaders to distance themselves from the suggestion.

The fractured messaging underscores how Ukraine’s allies are struggling to agree on new ways to help Ukraine as resolve weakens in the United States and Russia advances on the battlefield.

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that a ground intervention by any NATO country would lead to a direct clash between the Western military alliance and Russian forces, fraught with potential dangers, and called the open discussion of such a step as “a very important new element.”

“This is of course not in the interest of these countries,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said in comments to reporters.

The warning came a day after Macron said “nothing should be ruled out” regarding the possibility of a NATO country sending troops to Ukraine, though he said there was no consensus on the matter.

Ukraine.

The discussion of a possible ground intervention in Ukraine by a NATO member country — seen as unlikely by most analysts — overshadowed more pressing questions about deficits in materiel that Ukraine is experiencing at the front. Europe’s withered defense industry is struggling to make good on existing ammunition pledges, let alone make up for the United States.

The European Union has acknowledged that it will miss its target of providing 1 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by March 1. Macron said Monday that “it was probably an unwise commitment,” noting that Europe does not have sufficient stocks or production capacity to meet this target.

“Talking about possible deployments by NATO member countries to Ukraine is a bit of a red herring,” said Andrew S. Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The really decisive question is what can the Europeans do to compensate for the lack of U.S. military support.”

“Anything is possible if it is useful to reach our goal,” Macron said, speaking after a meeting with European leaders in Paris about future support for Ukraine. Reminding leaders that the West was doing things it didn’t imagine two years ago, like sending sophisticated missiles and tanks, he said the goal was to ensure “Russia cannot win this war.”

Poland, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic rushed to emphasize they were not considering putting troops on the ground in Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also told The Associated Press the alliance itself had no such plans.

France clarified that Macron was trying to emphasize how Europe must consider new actions to support Ukraine.

The French foreign minister, Stephane Séjourné, said new assistance to Ukraine in the areas of mine clearance, cyberdefense and weapons production “could require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting.”

“Nothing should be ruled out,” Séjourné said. “This was and still is the position today of the president of the republic.”

The back and forth highlighted how NATO, despite becoming more powerful with the approval of Finland and Sweden as new members, has found itself grasping for solutions in Ukraine.

Western nations have a number of options short of inserting ground troops into the conflict zone. Ukraine has asked for more fighter jets, long-range missiles, ammunition and air defenses, as its troops fend off a Russian advance that led Ukraine to retreat from the city of Avdiivka this month.

Acrimonious exchanges between Russia and the West have become commonplace during the twoyear war. The Kremlin has often responded to Western actions with provocative threats of confrontation, including regularly reminding its adversaries of its nuclear arsenal. But despite those bellicose warnings, it has refrained from conducting strikes against Ukraine’s Western allies, including sites involved in providing weapons to

Macron on Monday said he was open to European nations purchasing ammunition for Ukraine from places outside the European Union. The Czech Republic has been pushing for those purchases to help with immediate shortages, as Republicans in Congress hold up the provision of new military aid from the United States.

“The Europeans have had two years now to get their act together and mobilize their industrial base,” Weiss said. “Everything else is just a bright shiny object to distract from that shortcoming.”

Since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, the United States and most of its European allies have categorically ruled out the possibility of a direct intervention by NATO troops in the conflict, warning that such a step could escalate into nuclear war.

President Joe Biden openly said U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine in the weeks before the invasion and has reiterated that position in the days since. His administration, seeking to avoid any chance of a nuclear exchange, made avoidance of a direct clash between Russian and American troops the “North Star” of its response to Moscow’s invasion.

The question of a NATO country putting troops on the ground initially received renewed attention Monday, before the Paris summit, when the Kremlin-friendly prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, said other countries in the NATO alliance were discussing bilateral deals to insert ground forces in Ukraine — a step he said Slovakia would not take.

Macron made his comments later in the day, calling Moscow’s defeat “indispensable” for European security. He declined to say which nations might consider sending ground troops, arguing that “strategic ambiguity” was necessary to keep Russia guessing.

But the quick denial by his fellow European leaders led to confusion about the unity of the alliance and questions about whether his comments amounted to an empty threat.

Soldiers with Ukraine’s 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade fire their 122mm artillery piece towards a Russian position near the village of Marinka, in southeastern Ukraine, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2022. A provocative comment by President Emmanuel Macron of France about the possibility of putting troops from NATO countries in Ukraine has prompted a warning from the Kremlin and hurried efforts by European leaders to distance themselves from the suggestion. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

After US strikes, Iran’s proxies scale back attacks on US bases

By FARNAZ FASSIHI, ERIC SCHMITT and JULIAN E. BARNES

Iran has made a concerted effort to rein in militias in Iraq and Syria after the United States retaliated with a series of airstrikes for the killing of three U.S. Army reservists this month.

Initially, there were regional concerns that the tit-for-tat violence would lead to an escalation of the Middle East conflict. But since the Feb. 2 U.S. strikes, U.S. officials say, there have been no attacks by Iran-backed militias on U.S. bases in Iraq and only two minor ones in Syria.

Before then, the U.S. military logged at least 170 attacks against U.S. troops in four months, Pentagon officials said.

The relative quiet reflects decisions by both sides and suggests that Iran does have some level of control over the militias.

The Biden administration has made clear that Iran would be held accountable for miscalculations and operations by proxy forces, but it has avoided any direct attack on Iran. The U.S. response “may be having some effect,” Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., a retired head of the Pentagon’s Central Command, said in an interview.

“The question is are the militias attacking or not,” he added, “and at least for now, they are not.”

The lull also marks a sharp turnaround by Iran. Tehran had for months directed its regional proxies in Iraq and Syria to attack U.S. bases in the Middle East as part of a wider battle against Israel, which is fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. and Iranian officials interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

As the proxies’ attacks intensified, culminating in the deaths of three American soldiers, Iranian leaders worried that the level of autonomy provided to the militias was starting to backfire and might drive them into war, according to Iranian and U.S. officials.

“They are scared of direct confrontation with the U.S., they know that if Americans are killed again it would mean war,” said Sina Azodi, a lecturer at George Washington University and an expert on Iran’s national security. “They had to put the brakes on the militia and convince them that a war with the U.S. could harm Tehran first and then by extension the entire axis.”

Iran finances, arms and provides technical support and training for a network of militant groups in the region that it calls the Axis of Resistance.

The groups include Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Houthis in Yemen; militias in Iraq, such as Kataib Hezbollah and Hashd al-Shaabi; Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza; and militias in Syria. While Iran directs an overall strategy to the axis, the level of day-to-day control and coordination runs a spectrum. Tehran has most influence over Hezbollah, with the Syrian and Iraqi militia falling in the middle and the Houthis being the most autonomous.

The Iranian effort to rein in the forces began soon after the killing of the three American soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan on Jan. 28, as Washington vowed a forceful response.

Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the high-level Iranian general

One of three coffins containing U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a January drone attack in Jordan is transferred at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Feb. 2, 2024. Tehran, wary of igniting open warfare with Washington, has told militia groups it backs to curtail assaults on targets such as military installations, Iranian and American officials say. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

killed by an American drone strike in 2020, kept the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria on a tight leash. That was largely because, for most of his tenure, war was raging in both countries, and he commanded the militia to fight Americans and then Islamic State terrorist groups. But when Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani succeeded him, most of those conflicts had settled, and Ghaani assumed a hands-off leadership style, setting only broad directions, according to analysts.

Ghaani, commander in chief of the Quds Forces, the branch of the Revolutionary Guard tasked with overseeing the proxies, has nonetheless been involved in coordinating the strategy toward Israel and the United States for the various militias during the current war in Gaza.

He led a series of emergency meetings in late January in Tehran and Baghdad with strategists, senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and senior commanders of the militia to redraw plans and avert war with the United States, according to two Iranians affiliated with the Guard, one of them a military strategist. Reuters first reported on the general’s visit to Baghdad.

In Baghdad, Ghaani held a long meeting with representatives of all the Shia militant groups who operate under the umbrella of a collective they call Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The collective had been carrying out and then claiming responsibility for dozens of attacks on U.S. bases, and Washington blamed the group for the drone attack that killed the Americans.

Ghaani told them that Iran and the various militia groups had made enough gains in pressuring the United States because President Joe Biden was facing intense criticism for his staunch support of Israel and fissures had emerged between

him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the two Iranians affiliated with the Guard said. A war between Tehran and Washington could also jeopardize the long-term goal of rooting out the United States from the region, he told the group, the two Iranians said.

The outcome of Ghaani’s consultations was a new strategy that called for Iraqi militias to stop all attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, including in the Kurdistan region in the north, and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. In Syria, militia groups have been asked to lower the intensity of attacks on U.S. bases to avoid fatalities, according to Iranian officials and U.S. intelligence assessments. But the groups active against Israel in Lebanon and Yemen would continue at pace, the Iranians familiar with the strategy said.

Once the attacks on Americans subsided, the United States withheld striking at least one senior militia leader after Feb. 2 to avoid disrupting the pause and stoking more hostilities, according to a Defense Department official.

Another U.S. official said the Pentagon was prepared to hit more militia targets if necessary but had determined that carrying out more strikes now would be counterproductive.

The military strategist with the Guard said Iran believed a direct war with the United States would work in favor of Israel at a time when world opinion had turned against it because of the heavy toll in civilian deaths and suffering in Gaza. After more than a decade, the strategist said, Iran believes that it is enjoying a surge of popularity among Arabs, who are angry that their own countries’ leaders are not doing enough to support Palestinians.

Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, said last week, “Our assessment is that Iran doesn’t seek a wider regional conflict.”

“But they do support these militia groups that attack our forces,” she added.

While a key part of the Washington-Tehran confrontation is on a hiatus, other destabilizing dynamics in the region remain active and unpredictable. Iran and Israel are engaged in an continuing shadow war, including a recent covert assault by Israel on two main gas pipelines in Iran and strikes on residential compounds linked to Iran in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Iran has not yet openly retaliated against Israel after those attacks.

Colin P. Clarke, director of policy and research at the Soufan Group, an intelligence and security consultancy, said: “Iran has this uncanny ability to walk up right to the line and not cross it.”

But, he added, “It doesn’t feel stable, and it doesn’t feel like we are over the hump, and things could really change at any moment.”

In Ukraine, Russia is inching forward death by death

Members of a humanitarian group carry the body of a Russian serviceman near Koroviy Yar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Jan. 7, 2023. Russia has made several adjustments after a disastrous year but still appears far more comfortable absorbing big losses in troops and equipment, even to make small gains. (Nicole Tung/The New York Times)

By THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF and ANATOLY KURMANAEV

As the Russian military launched its offensive on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka last fall, Ukrainian troops noticed a change in their tactics as column after column of Russian forces were ravaged by artillery fire.

Russian forces divided their infantry formations into smaller units to avoid being shelled, while the amount of Russian airstrikes increased to hammer the city’s defenses.

It was one of several adjustments the Russians made to help reverse their fortunes after a disastrous first year. But these changes were obscured by one glaring fact: The Russian military was still far more willing to absorb big losses in troops and equipment, even to make small gains.

Russian forces have a different threshold of pain, one senior Western official said this

month, as well as an unorthodox view of what is considered an acceptable level of military losses.

Hundreds of thousands of both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including tens of thousands last year in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Another town to the south, Marinka, fell to Russia in January, after heavy fighting and more losses.

Avdiivka was among the most costly.

The various Russian casualty estimates circulating among military analysts, pro-Russian bloggers and Ukrainian officials suggest that Moscow lost more troops taking Avdiivka than it did in 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

But casualty numbers are difficult to verify — inflated by the side inflicting casualties and downplayed by the side suffering them — leaving the true cost unknown. The official figure of

Abogada-Notaria

Familia

Soviet dead in Afghanistan, around 15,000, is considered to be significantly understated.

One prominent military blogger wrote that the Russians had lost 16,000 troops at Avdiivka, a number that for now remains impossible to confirm.

“Despite Russia’s heavy losses in Avdiivka, they still have a manpower advantage along the front and can continue assaults in multiple directions,” said Rob Lee, a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, which is based in Philadelphia.

Russia’s slow grind forward comes as European nations move to bolster support for Ukraine and strengthen their own protections against potential Russian aggression. On Monday, NATO cleared the final hurdle for approving Sweden’s membership, less than a year after Finland joined, an expansion of the military alliance that defies the hopes of President Vladimir Putin of Russia of fracturing the unity of his adversaries.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died fighting Russia. His comments drew notice for how rare they were; participants in war hardly ever reveal casualty numbers. But most Western analysts and officials say the toll is far higher.

Since the start of the invasion, Russia has been willing to pay a particularly high cost to advance in the area of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, where Avdiivka is. Parts of this traditionally Russian-speaking region have been occupied by Russia’s proxies since 2014, and in trying to justify the full-scale invasion, the Kremlin has spuriously claimed to be defending its Russian speakers, saying they want to be part of Russia.

Some military analysts say taking full control of the Donbas is the bare minimum the Russian government needs to present the invasion of Ukraine as a victory at home. That perhaps explains Moscow’s willingness to absorb huge losses to make marginal advances.

Avdiivka has been strategic as well as symbolic for Russian war propaganda because of its proximity to Donetsk, the Donbas’ largest city, which has been under the Russian-backed occupation since 2014. Securing Avdiivka would move Ukrainian artillery away from the city, reducing civilian casualties and pressure on rear supply lines.

The Kremlin’s propensity to fire more shells, mass more people and lean on a much larger and capable air force in this war allowed it to gradually turn the tide against Ukraine’s deep defenses in Avdiivka. The huge cost in

wounded and dead, some analysts say, was just the byproduct of a strategy that largely achieved its goal, despite the loss of men and materiel, especially as Western military aid and Ukrainian ammunition subsequently dwindled. At least for now.

A Russian military analyst close to the defense industry, Ruslan Pukhov, wrote last week that the assault on Avdiivka was part of a wider Russian strategy of pressuring Ukrainian forces along the entire 600-mile front line with thrusts and probes to exhaust the enemy “by a thousand cuts.”

“Such a strategy, however, is quite costly for the Russian Armed Forces in terms of losses, which could lead to depletion of its forces,” Pukhov wrote in a Russian current affairs magazine. “This, in turn, could give the Ukrainian side the initiative once again.”

Most analysts, however, are issuing sobering assessments of Ukraine’s prospects for 2024 if it does not receive U.S. aid. As the war enters its third year, both sides are struggling to find enough men to continue fighting at the same level of intensity. Russia’s much larger population, about 144 million, which is three times that of Ukraine, gives it a significant edge in manpower.

The scale of Russia’s losses has partly negated the impact of this arithmetic.

The Kremlin’s decision to call up 300,000 men in September 2022 — for the first time since World War II — has shocked and unnerved the nation, according to polls. Hundreds of thousands of men had already fled the country when the war began, threatening to shatter the image of normalcy cultivated by Putin.

Since then, the government has tried to postpone another round of mobilization for as long as possible. Instead, it has boosted financial and legal incentives to attract convicts, debtors, migrants and other vulnerable social groups to the front as volunteers. It has also begun to strictly enforce the country’s previously lax mandatory military service for young men.

In a post published on the Telegram messaging app on Feb. 18, a pro-war Russian military blogger cited an anonymous military source claiming that since October, Russian forces had sustained 16,000 “irreplaceable” human losses as well as that of 300 armored vehicles in the assault on Avdiivka. The Ukrainian forces had sustained 5,000 to 7,000 irreplaceable human losses in the battle, the blogger, Andrei Morozov, wrote.

These claims could not be independently verified.

Lcda.

Alabama’s IVF ruling shows nation’s slide toward theocracy

By CHARLES M. BLOW

If you don’t think the United States is sliding toward theocracy, you’re not paying attention.

The drumbeat of incidents moving us ever closer to the seemingly inescapable future is so steady and frequent that we’ve developed outrage fatigue — we’ve grown numb.

For instance, on Feb. 16, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, and that destruction of those embryos, even by accident, is subject to the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. In his concurring opinion, the chief justice of the court, Tom Parker, wrote, “Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

The ruling could mean less access to reproductive care in Alabama if specialists in the field of in vitro fertilization simply choose to practice in states that don’t threaten their efforts.

There have been cases before in which embryos were destroyed as a result of negligence, but the Alabama decision significantly ups the ante. It essentially turns cryopreservation tanks into frozen nurseries.

The idea is absurd and unscientific. It is instead tied to a religious crusade to downgrade the personhood of women by conferring personhood on frozen embryos.

I called Sean Tipton, the chief advocacy and policy officer at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, who said: “One of the points in the abortion debate is, ‘Is it really about

abortion or is it about controlling women and controlling sex?’ And this clearly exposes the idea that it’s not just about abortion.” He said, “There is no more pro-life medical treatment available, ever, than in vitro fertilization, and this decision clearly threatens the ability for that to continue.”

Control of women’s bodies is the endgame. And some religious conservatives won’t stop until that goal is achieved. For that reason, intervening victories — like the overturning of Roe v. Wade — will never be seen as enough; they will only intensify a blinding sense of righteousness.

There is an array of reproductive rights cases percolating around the country that could make their way to the Supreme Court — the same court that Donald Trump brags about transforming, having appointed one-third of its justices. The legal and political battles over these issues are far from over, and the preservation of women’s remaining rights is far from certain.

The only thing that seems to be temporarily stopping congressional Republicans from pushing for a national abortion ban — after years of arguing that their goal was merely to allow individual states to make their own laws — is that the issue of reproductive choice is an electoral loser for their party.

But now Trump is reportedly talking privately about supporting a national 16-week abortion ban, with some exceptions.

This is what many of his supporters want, and many of them believe he has been singularly chosen by God to advance their theocratic aims. It’s one of the reasons that they overlook Trump’s glaring flaws and the fact that Trump himself is not a particularly religious man.

It’s worth noting that many of the right’s efforts, including on the issue of abortion, are led by men who want births but can’t give birth, reflecting an imbalance between power and expectation that may carry over to a younger generation. A fasci-

nating new report from Pew Research found that although men and women 18 to 34 “are about equally likely to say they want to get married,” 57% of young men say they want children one day, compared to just 45% of young women.

Abortion is just one front on which this religious fight is being waged. As of last week, the ACLU was tracking 437 antiLGBTQ+ bills being considered by state legislatures.

Then there’s the alarming effort by conservative groups to transform and reshape the federal government in ways that curtail American freedoms, but also, according to Politico, to bring Christian nationalist ideas into a second Trump administration.

To those advancing these ideas, the will of God counts more than the will of the American people, even when Americans object or disagree.

Reportedly, one idea among the various proposals is invoking the Insurrection Act on Trump’s first day back in office to facilitate deployment of the military against protesters.

We are perilously close to all of this becoming a reality, potentially aided and abetted by disaffected Democratic voters.

I’m talking about many Democrats with single-issue objections to President Joe Biden — whether it’s opposition to his position on the Israel-Hamas war, disappointments about the overall state of the economy or concerns about the president’s age — who haven’t committed to supporting his reelection, who don’t seem to see that in November the country faces one of the most existential electoral decisions it ever has faced.

If these Democrats decide to punish Biden by sitting it out, they could wind up performing one of the greatest acts of self-immolation in recent political history: abandoning an administration committed to the protection of democracy and possibly allowing the ascension of a theocracy intent on destroying the very freedoms that progressives cherish.

Estudiantes de Cornell llegan a Cayey para aportar sobre urbanismo con jóvenes del municipio

POR EL STAR STAFF

CAYEY – Un grupo de estudiantes de maestría en planificación y arquitectura la Universidad de Cornell de Nueva York se encuentran en la Isla por invitación del alcalde de Cayey para aprender sobre la realidad de Puerto Rico y particularmente de la manera en que la ciudad ha ido trabajando su planificación urbana y el manejo responsable de sus recursos naturales. Los visitantes fueron recibidos por un grupo de jóvenes funcionarios municipales que desarrollaron intensa y productiva dinámica sobre cómo la planificación incide en la vida social y comunitaria de los pueblos.

El alcalde Rolando Ortiz Velázquez señaló que “en la misión que tenemos de promover el conocimiento, la planificación urbana responsable y el manejo juicioso de los recursos, generamos estas iniciativas donde combinamos el saber y la experiencia propia con la forma en que se vive y trabaja en otras latitudes. El tener este talentoso grupo de estudiantes de Cornell es una ventaja para ellos y para nosotros. Los jóvenes que ya componen el equipo administrativo y de ejecución municipal de Cayey son los llamados a llevar a cabo esta labor”.

El Departamento de Planificación Urbana y Regional de Cornell, según se señala en su portal cibernético, se especializa en un contexto dinámico y de apoyo para atender los temas de planificación más oportunos de estos tiempos, desde la justicia social y ambiental hasta la equidad y el acceso a servicios esenciales y infraestructuras. Los estudiantes y académicos trabajan desde la adaptación al cambio climático hasta el uso de la tierra, la zonificación y el transporte y la vivien-

da sostenibles.

En la tarde de ayer domingo, los visitantes compartieron con estudiantes de la Escuela Miguel Meléndez Muñoz, y juntos realizaron un recorrido por el centro urbano. La administradora de la ciudad, Natasha Vázquez, señaló que la reconstrucción de la plaza pública de Cayey ha generado también una dinámica de desarrollo económico con pequeños y medianos empresarios locales, que han aportado con propuestas variadas en los sectores de la gastronomía, comercio al detal y entretenimiento, entre otros.

Con relación al Gran Parque Urbano de Cayey, el mismo es una iniciativa del Municipio que está en proceso de conceptualización con acción voluntaria de ciudadanos y especialistas que aportan voluntariamente sus conocimientos. Uno de los estudiantes de Cornell participantes del encuentro Andrés Castelo, mexicano

del pueblo de Caborca en el estado de Sonora, señaló que “estamos estudiando planificación y revitalización urbana. En Cayey estamos viendo la conexión que definitivamente va tener la vida en una plaza pública con un parque urbano como va a tener Cayey. Estamos bien concentrados en la importancia que tienen los espacios para los peatones, transeúntes, que sean ciudades caminables”.

Uno de los temas que más discusión generó fue cómo Cayey, que en este 2024 celebra los 250 años de su fundación, planifica su futuro en función de la protección de sus recursos naturales. “Cayey significa en idioma taíno ‘lugar de las aguas’ y precisamente en nuestro centro urbano tenemos varias fuentes de agua que estamos protegiendo”, explicó Ortiz Velázquez, quien ilustró a los visitantes sobre cómo las grandes ciudades del mundo se fundaron cerca de cuerpos de agua. “Cayey no fue la excepción, y ahora la misión es proteger esas fuentes de la contaminación y maximizar su uso de manera responsable”.

Sophie Oldfield, profesora de planificación en Cornell y directora del Departamento de Planificación Urbana, expresó que “es un total privilegio estar en Cayey y haber sido recibidos por este alcalde con esta visión en cuanto al futuro de la ciudad”. Mientras, la representante por Cidra Cayey, Gretchen Hau, quien participó del encuentro, señaló que el proyecto del Gran Parque Urbano “va a ser único en Puerto Rico por su cercanía al centro urbano, donde cerca de 40 cuerdas ya están separadas para ser protegidas. En una antigua estructura que ubica en el lugar, diseñada por el maestro Ramón Frade León, se proyecta crear un Centro de Biodiversidad para propósitos de investigación académica y educación para los estudiantes de todo Puerto Rico”.

Construcción de la nueva planta de filtros Morovis Sur se completará para el 2027 según presidenta ejecutiva de la AAA

POR CYBERNEWS

MOROVIS – La presidenta ejecutiva de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA), Doriel Pagán Crespo, actualizó el martes la información sobre la rehabilitación de la planta de filtros Morovis Sur en el municipio de Morovis, la cual está programada para completarse en el primer trimestre del 2027.

“Esta instalación sufrió daños significativos tras el paso del huracán María. Para la Autoridad es nece-

sario actualizar y modernizar esta planta que sirve a nuestros clientes en Morovis. Esta rehabilitación consiste en la construcción de un nuevo sistema de presedimentación, instalación de bombas de mayor capacidad en el sistema de aguas crudas, modernización de los sistemas de polímero y desinfección, remodelación del cuarto de controles, reemplazo de metros de flujo, rehabilitación de filtros, entre otras mejoras”, dijo Pagán Crespo en declaraciones escritas.

Explicó que estos trabajos buscan optimizar el servicio de agua potable para aproximadamente 5,600

clientes de la agencia en la región de Morovis.

“Actualmente, el proyecto se encuentra en etapa de construcción en el proceso de trámites de permisos y movilización de equipos. Se estima la finalización de los trabajos para el primer trimestre del 2027”, concluyó la ingeniera.

La inversión para esta rehabilitación asciende a unos 44 millones de dólares, con fondos provenientes de la propia AAA, la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA) y el Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR).

Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet: ‘Dune’ dynasty

By AMY NICHOLSON

Director Denis Villeneuve and actor Timothée Chalamet bound into the room talking at, and over, each other in rapid French. Villeneuve is from Quebec; Chalamet was born in New York City but has dual American and French citizenship. Together, they’re a dynamic tag team dressed near-identically in head-to-toe black, although Chalamet’s shiny leather layers have more swagger. The topic of the day is galactic genocide and dubious messiahs, central themes in “Dune: Part Two,” the second installment of their cerebral space epic based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. Yet, the pair are prone to giggle fits.

“We didn’t see each other since a while, so it’s like a holiday,” Villeneuve, 56, said apologetically, switching to English. When coffee arrives at the room at the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles, the two clink mugs. “That’s our spice,” he chuckled, referring to the psychedelic substance found only on the movie’s planet Arrakis.

In “Dune,” spice is the most valuable resource in the universe. Herbert conceived of it as a glittering dust with the power to expand minds, fuel interstellar travel and incite bloody battles over its distribution. Combine the brain-melting effects of peyote, the geopolitical strife over oil and the violence of Prohibition-era bootlegging. Multiply that by the number of stars in the sky and you get the idea.

The previous “Dune,” released in 2021, won six Academy Awards. It climaxed with Chalamet’s sheltered scion, Paul Atreides, abducted from his family’s spice-mining compound and left to die in the scorching Arrakis desert, patrolled by fanged sandworms the size of the Empire State Building. To survive “Part Two,” Paul’s mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), encourages the Fremen, a tribe of desert-dwellers, to believe that her son is their long-awaited savior. The danger is that Paul might be swayed to believe it, too, even as the hallucinogenic spice peppers him with visions of a jihad waged in his name.

Heavy stuff. Not that it’s weighing down their mood. As Chalamet, 28, grinned, he said, “The great irony of working with a master like Denis is it’s not some pompous experience.” The two spoke further about the next potential sequel, the impossible quest for on-screen perfection and those in-

scientifically what is happening. Paul is a young man that is oversensitive to a hallucinogenic … not psychotic?

CHALAMET: Psychotropic.

VILLENEUVE: Psychotropic substance that gives insight into the future. I didn’t want the character to go, “OK, it’s going to happen in five minutes, I’ll take my coffee now.” Like weird dreams, they are mystical, they are enigmas. The most important thing when we dream is not the images, but the emotions.

Q: Frank Herbert’s spice was psilocybin. He was into mushrooms way before micro-dosing mushrooms became mainstream.

VILLENEUVE: From being in California —CHALAMET: In the ’60s!

VILLENEUVE: A product of his time.

Q: But people also call him a person ahead of his time who predicted elements of our future. What would he say about the present?

VILLENEUVE: He would say, “I was telling you!”

famous “Dune” popcorn buckets. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

Q: People have described your dynamic as father and son. Is that how it feels to you?

DENIS VILLENEUVE: At the beginning, I had a lot of empathy for Timothée that he was stepping forward in a production of that scale. He’s the age of my kids, and I was trying to find ways to take care of my new friend. Maybe I was paternalistic.

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET: I was grateful. The scale was so large, the actors were such titans. I felt a protected aura.

VILLENEUVE: When he walked into the set of “Part Two,” it was totally different. Much more confident. Much more solid. He was not impressed by the size of things anymore. You were jaded!

CHALAMET: No!

VILLENEUVE: It’s the first time that I had the chance to see an artist growing up in front of the camera. That’s very moving.

Q: You came into the room speaking French. Did you use it on set as your own language?

VILLENEUVE: Yes. It was the way that we were able to find intimacy in the chaos. It was our protected landscape. A second secret language.

CHALAMET: He said it perfectly. Our bubble.

Q: Audiences could have left “Dune: Part One” thinking, this Paul Atreides kid is terrific, I can’t wait to see him take over this planet. Here is where disillusionment sets in.

VILLENEUVE: Frank Herbert wanted the book to be a cautionary tale, a warning against charismatic religious leaders. He felt that he failed because people misperceived his intentions. So he wrote “Dune Messiah,” an epilogue where he made sure his ideas would be seen. I think the movie’s more tragic and more dramatic than the book because it’s closer to Frank’s intentions.

Q: You’ve talked about making “Dune Messiah,” based on Herbert’s second “Dune” novel, which picks up 12 years into Paul’s reign as Emperor of the Known Universe. Under his rule, 61 billion people have died.

VILLENEUVE: [Curses at Chalamet]

CHALAMET: I didn’t write it!

Q: But you’re waiting until Timothée is older. Six years from now, will you hide his sunscreen so he’ll age faster?

VILLENEUVE: He will look forever young. We’ll have to use the magic of AI.

Q: Yet, Paul’s visions of the future are not what will happen — they’re what might happen.

VILLENEUVE: Yeah. I tried to make sure that you could in some ways explain

CHALAMET: “I warned you —”

VILLENEUVE: It’s frightening how precise he was.

Q: I have a good friend with a tattoo of the “Dune” quote, “Fear is the mind-killer.” Has making these films affected how you handle being afraid?

CHALAMET: I’m playing a grounded character who is — simply by way of the eyes on him — going through something I can relate to.

VILLENEUVE: Movies are very long to make, so it does have an impact on your own psyche. Definitely, it put a seed inside me. I developed an aptitude to be comfortable not knowing the answer right away.

Q: It’s been a rough year for superhero movies. This story asks us to think harder about heroes, chosen ones, saviors. Timothée, is it fair to assume that if you wanted to play a superhero, you’ve had opportunities?

CHALAMET: Well, Leonardo DiCaprio said to me, “No superhero movies, no hard drugs.” Which I thought was very good.

VILLENEUVE: Which one?

CHALAMET: I follow them both! But the movie that made me want to act is a superhero movie, “The Dark Knight.” If the script was great, if the director was great, I’d have to consider it.

Denis Villeneuve, left, with Timothée Chalamet in Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2024. With “Part Two” hitting theaters, they discuss another potential sequel, the impossible quest for onscreen perfection and those infamous popcorn buckets. (Chantal Anderson/The New York Times)

From page 17

Q: “Dune” exists in a post-computer world. Computers were destroyed and everybody decided to not rebuild them.

VILLENEUVE: They banned AI and the computer. They are trying to increase the human capacities biologically, instead of having external machines. “Dune” is not much of a science-fiction movie. It’s more about embracing a new culture. For me, it’s more interesting to explore sand-walking. It’s more poetic and cinematic then a spaceship.

Q: In that spirit, you filmed in physical locations in Jordan and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that stood in for a planet where it’s only safe to be outside at sunrise and sunset. That must mean pulling off scenes in a narrow window of sunlight — go, go, go!

CHALAMET: Definitely. Those scenes with Chani [Paul’s love interest, played by Zendaya], we would shoot at dawn — sometimes over three days — because you have 30 minutes or an hour.

VILLENEUVE: It gives a lot of credit to the actors, because the cinematographer [Greig Fraser, who won an Oscar for the first “Dune”] and the director are stubborn and want a precise light that will exist for 10 minutes. I didn’t want to make any compromise. There’s scenes that on-screen look very simple, but would be shot in several different environments just to make sure that we have the right rock at the right color at the right time of the day with the precise sun. It was constructed like a puzzle.

Q: Yet, I had the impression that you welcome a bit of imperfection to balance the grandeur. Here, Florence Pugh wears a chain headdress that’s sliding off her nose. Another director might have jumped in between takes saying we’ve got to fix that, make it straight, make it perfect. You chose not to.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 18

VILLENEUVE: [Looks pained]

CHALAMET: He’s going to go edit it right now.

VILLENEUVE: No, no. It’s a balance between perfection and life. Life is chaos. I’m pretty OCD, but the performance will always prevail. I know exactly what you’re talking about. Good eye. Leonard Cohen says that when there’s a crack in something, that’s where the light comes in. I believe in that. Part of me tried to do it perfect. But life is stronger and I prefer that.

Q: Imperfections make this world feel human.

VILLENEUVE: I’m moved by what

you’re saying because it’s something that challenges me. Sometimes I know that the camera movement is not absolutely perfect, but there’s something in the performance that breaks my heart. [Expletive] it. I will choose that take because it feels more powerful.

Q: Neither of you are strangers to intense compliments. Denis, you’ve been called a genius, this generation’s Stanley Kubrick

VILLENEUVE: I learned very early in my career that the bigger the flowers, the bigger the pot that follows after. If you receive a big compliment, someone else will say that you’re a hack.

CHALAMET: That is a great quote. The bigger the flowers, the bigger the pot. Wow.

Q: And Timothée, you were nominated for your first Oscar at 22. You both must have insight into the arc of this film: the temptation to buy into your own hype.

VILLENEUVE: Fortunately, I’m always feeling like an impostor, so there’s no danger!

CHALAMET: I’d say the difference is, in this story, there’s human life at stake. The role of an actor is never that consequential. Even if you’re making powerful work and people relate to it. That make sense?

VILLENEUVE: I was not listening.

Q: I hope you’re not thinking about Florence’s nose.

VILLENEUVE: No, no, no, no, no!

The San Juan Daily Star

CHALAMET: He’s texting Joe [Walker, who also won an Oscar for editing “Dune”].

VILLENEUVE: There’s a specific moment when you know that the movie’s finished because you try to correct the editing and the movie bites you back.

CHALAMET: Don’t touch it anymore —

VILLENEUVE: It’s not perfect —

CHALAMET: I had a thought, actually, about the scene —

[Both laugh]

Q: Timothée, you once said that when Denis held [a copy of the book] “Dune” in his hands, his body language was like a little kid. How so?

CHALAMET: Just incredibly enthusiastic and playful. He would take time to think on things or go to the book. Even Austin Butler in interviews said he thought he found the voice of Feyd-Rautha [Paul’s sadistic nemesis], and then Denis said, let me dream on it.

VILLENEUVE: Bull. He’s not here, we can say that.

CHALAMET: But Denis’ total enthusiasm inspires everyone on the set. Every actor, every crew member, you want to make him proud.

VILLENEUVE: Cinema is an act of presence, an act of being totally open. I know on set I look like a 4-year-old — I’m aware of it — but having fun with the toys is the way I make cinema.

Q: Speaking of, the internet seems intimidated by the souvenir sandworm popcorn buckets.

[Chalamet shoots a quick glance at Villeneuve. Both chuckle nervously.]

VILLENEUVE: I don’t want to make stupid jokes right now that will I regret tomorrow morning. But I will say this. When I saw it, I went, “Hoooooly smokes.” What the [expletive]!? At the same time, it created a lot of fun online. So maybe it’s positive? It’s some kind of … impressive design.

Q: I respect a bold choice.

CHALAMET: I can’t tell if someone is at home right now going, “My design worked perfectly and everyone’s talking about it.” Or if someone’s brutally offended by the response.

VILLENEUVE: At the end of the day, it seems that bucket brought a lot of laughter and joy, which I think is —

CHALAMET: Something we need more of —

VILLENEUVE: But I was not —

CHALAMET: You were not personally involved in the design process.

VILLENEUVE: I thought you were!

CHALAMET: My idea!

[Both laugh]

Denis Villeneuve, left, with Timothée Chalamet in Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2024. With “Part Two” hitting theaters, they discuss another potential sequel, the impossible quest for onscreen perfection and those infamous popcorn buckets. (Chantal Anderson/The New York Times)

The

Juan

By BECKY FERREIRA

In the stark inland desert of Patagonia in Argentina, there is a remote cave decorated with nearly 900 paintings of human figures, animals and abstract designs. Until recently, archaeologists had assumed that the rock art at this site, known as Cueva Huenul 1, was created within the past few thousand years.

But in a paper published recently in the journal Science Advances, archaeologists say that one of the cave’s most mysterious motifs, a comblike pattern, first appeared some 8,200 years ago, making it by far the earliest known example of rock art in one of the last places on Earth to be settled by our species. Cave artists continued to draw the same comb design in black pigment for thousands of years, an era when other human activity was virtually absent at the site. The cave art provides a rare glimpse of a culture that may have relied on this design to communicate valuable insights across generations during a period of climactic shifts.

“We got the results and we were very surprised,” said Guadalupe Romero Villanueva, an author of the study and an archaeologist at the Argentine government agency CONICET and the National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought in Buenos Aires. “It was a shock, and we had to re-

think some things.”

Patagonia, which spans the southern tip of South America, was not reached by humans until about 12,000 years ago. These early inhabitants thrived at Cueva Huenul 1 for generations, leaving signs of habitation.

Then, around 10,000 years ago, the area became more arid and hostile as a result of climatic shifts. The archaeological record in the cave likewise dried up for the next several thousand years, suggesting that the site was largely abandoned because of environmental pressures.

The comb motifs overlap with this

long period of hardship, according to Romero Villanueva and her colleagues, who identified the age of the paintings with radiocarbon dating. The team also found that the black paint was probably made with charred wood, perhaps from burned shrubs or cactuses.

“As interesting as the ages are, for us it’s more significant that they span, more or less, 3,000 years of painting basically the same motif during all this time,” said Ramiro Barberena, an author of the study and an archaeologist also at CONICET in Argentina as well as the Temuco Catholic University in Chile.

He added that this was evidence “for continuity in the transmission of information in these very small and very mobile societies.”

Although the meaning of the comb motif has been lost to time, the researchers speculate that it might have helped preserve the collective memories and oral traditions of peoples who endured this unusually hot and dry period.

The relationships between groups of ancient humans that developed and shared such rock art may have enhanced the odds of survival in this challenging environment, Barberena said.

Andrés Troncoso, an archaeologist in the department of anthropology at the University of Chile who was not involved with the research, said he agreed with that interpretation. The paper “provides a contribution to the discussion about how humans have dealt with climatic change in the past,” he said.

Though the purpose of the comb motif is likely to remain a mystery, the motif’s persistent presence in the cave opens a new window into Patagonia’s prehistoric peoples.

“You cannot help but think about these people,” Romero Villanueva said, adding: “They were at the same place, admiring the same landscape; the people living here, maybe families, were gathering here for social aspects. It’s really emotional for us.”

That smartphone in your hand changes how you walk

By MARKHAM HEID

Spend time on any crowded sidewalk and you’ll see heads bent over and eyes cast downward. One recent study of college students found that one-quarter of people crossing intersections were glued to a device.

“I don’t think people are aware of how much they’re distracted and how much their situational awareness changes when they’re walking and using a phone,” said Wayne Giang, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Florida who has examined the link between phone use and walking injuries.

Indeed, our devices can cause what some experts call “inattentional blindness.” One study found that participants were half as likely to notice a clown on a unicycle — a cheeky touch — while walking and talking on a phone.

But that screen in your hand isn’t just diverting your attention. It also changes your mood, your gait and your posture — and hinders your ability to get from point A to B without running into trouble.

How a phone breaks your stride

When we walk and use a phone at the same time, Giang said, we reflexively adjust how we move. Video footage of pedestrians has shown that people on phones walk about 10% slower than their undistracted counterparts.

“You see a number of gait changes that reflect slowing down,” said Patrick Crowley, a project manager at the Technical University of Denmark who has studied the bio-

“Tus sentimientos en las mejores manos”

Aceptamos la Mayoría de los Planes Funerales Pre-Arreglos sin Interes

mechanics of walking while using a phone. “People take shorter steps and spend longer time with both feet on the ground.”

These changes can gum up traffic on the sidewalk. And if walking makes up a big portion of your daily physical activity, strolling with a phone may have repercussions for your fitness, said Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of Alabama.

Looking down at a smartphone while walking — as opposed to standing up straight — can also increase the amount of load, or force, placed on the neck and upper back muscles, which can contribute to symptoms of “text neck.” And research in the journal Gait & Posture suggests all this could reduce balance and increase the risk of stumbles or falls.

How it affects your mood

When scientists want to study stress, they often ask people to perform several tasks at once. That’s because multitasking is a reliable way to stress people out.

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There’s evidence that walking while using a phone functions this way, too, even if we’re not aware of it in the moment. One experiment found that the more people used a phone while walking on a treadmill, the more their levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, tended to rise.

A 2023 study examined the psychological effects of walking in an outdoor park while looking at a phone — or not. “Generally, when people go for a walk, they feel better afterwards, and this is what we saw in the phonefree walking group,” said Elizabeth Broadbent, one of the authors of the study and a professor of health psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

“In the phone-walking groups, these effects were reversed,” she added. “Instead of feeling more positive after walking, people felt less positive — less excited, less happy, less relaxed.”

She and her study co-authors attributed these negative effects to a phone user’s lack of connection with the surrounding environment. It’s now widely accepted that spending time walking in natural spaces is good for your mood and mental health. “It appears that to get these benefits, it’s important that your attention is on the environment, rather than on your phone,” she said.

The dangers of being distracted

Most of us understand that walking and using a phone can be risky. Some cities, such as Honolulu, have even passed laws to rein in distracted pedestrians. But research on those dangers has turned up some surprises.

Giang’s work has looked at the connection between “phone-related distracted walking” and emergency department visits. Using government data spanning the years 2011 to 2019, he and his colleagues turned up nearly 30,000 walking injuries occasioned by phones. While many of those accidents occurred on streets and sidewalks, almost one-quarter happened at home. Tripping over something or falling down the stairs is a real risk, Giang said.

Age was one of the major risk factors for phone-related walking injuries, his study found. Young people from the ages of 11-20 had the highest proportion of injuries, followed by adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s — perhaps because younger people use their phones more than older people do, he said.

So how do you stay safe? If you want to check your phone, Giang recommended just stopping for a moment — preferably out of the path of other pedestrians.

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If you do walk and use your device at the same time, he advised refraining when you’re around stairs, crosswalks and cluttered or uneven terrain — all settings where, according to his research, accidents are more likely to occur.

“Even alert and aware people are injured walking,” he added. “If you’re distracted by a phone, you’re definitely putting yourself at some risk.”

Hunching over a device can mess with your gait, slow you down, and poison your mood. And that’s before you trip and fall. (Niklas Wesner/The New York Times)

Jonatan Ramos Director Funerario

This easy cauliflower salad will brighten even the bleakest days

and capers get browned and crisp. Everything is tossed with tangy-sweet raisins (or your favorite dried fruit), more red onion that’s been quick-pickled in lime juice, a green mound of arugula and parsley leaves. It’s a bright, satisfying salad that works as a substantial side dish or a light main course, either rounded out with crusty bread or served on top of a bed of rice, farro or other grains.

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower (2 1/2 to 3 pounds), cut into 1-inch florets

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea or table salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

1 large red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half-moons

3 tablespoons drained capers

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/3 cup golden raisins (or substitute another dried fruit, such as cranberries, diced apricots or dates)

Boiling water, as needed

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

1 quart (4 ounces) arugula

1 cup Italian parsley leaves

Preparation:

By MELISSA CLARK

Despite my best intentions, most of the roasted cauliflower I cook doesn’t make it past the sheet pan.

I always start out with a loftier goal, turning those sweet, caramelized florets into soup, or stuffing them into a pita, shawarma style — or, at the very least, putting them on a plate and maybe garnishing with some chopped herbs.

But then I’ll sample one or two, you know, for quality control. Before I know it, I’ve devoured half a sheet pan’s worth standing over the stove, snatching the golden, olive oil-slicked pieces one by one, fingertips burning. For a committed cauliflower admirer, a pan full of hot, roasted florets is just too seductive to resist.

For this recipe, I was determined to turn those lacyedged pieces into a dish I could share.

The key was to assemble all the other components while the cauliflower was still in the oven. With everything else at the ready when the florets came out, I’d have more of an incentive to exercise restraint — and knowing that I’d put work into the rest of the dish would make it easier to ignore.

I’d had my heart set on a hearty, warm salad, something satisfying enough to give cauliflower a starring role, but light and full of colorful vegetables, with a flavor zesty enough to offset the usual gray bleakness of February’s depths.

Another good thing about cauliflower is that, once

roasted, it becomes gentle enough to work with a multitude of flavors, whether rich and creamy cheeses, yogurt, salty pickles or sweet dried fruit.

I chose the sweet-and-sour route by soaking golden raisins and slivers of red onion in lime juice for as long as it took the cauliflower to cook — in effect creating an easy quick pickle with a pleasantly chewy texture.

To add flavor while the cauliflower roasted, I tossed the florets with spices, then sprinkled some briny capers and more red onion onto the sheet pan, letting them get crisp and brown. The hardest part of the whole thing was not gobbling them up as they cooled slightly, a necessary step so it wouldn’t wilt the arugula on contact.

It was worth the wait. This vivacious pink and gold salad, with its array of textures and smack of citrus, lit up my winter evening. And I didn’t have to burn my fingers to enjoy it.

Roasted cauliflower and arugula salad

In this hearty, colorful salad, cauliflower florets, slivers of red onion and briny capers are coated with spices and roasted until the florets turn soft and sweet, and the onions

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a rimmed sheet pan, toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, garam masala and cayenne. Spread out the florets and roast for 15 minutes.

2. Put about two-thirds of the sliced red onion, the capers, cumin seeds and a pinch of salt into a small bowl; drizzle with a little olive oil. Add mixture to the cauliflower and toss well. Roast for another 25 to 28 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are browned and tender. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Taste a cauliflower floret and add more salt if needed.

3. While the cauliflower is roasting, place the raisins in a small heatproof bowl (you can use the same bowl you used for the onions) and top with enough boiling water to cover. Let soak until they are soft (up to 15 minutes if your raisins were rock hard to start with). Drain well and return to the bowl.

4. Add remaining onion to the raisins. Toss with 1 tablespoon lime juice and a large pinch of salt.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and as much black pepper as you like. Whisk until emulsified, then taste and add more salt if needed.

6. When ready to serve, in a large salad bowl, toss together the arugula, parsley leaves, slightly cooled cauliflower mixture, pickled raisin and red onion mixture, and half of the lime dressing. Toss well, adding more dressing to taste.

Roasted cauliflower and arugula salad. Spiced and roasted florets join briny capers and sweet-sour pickled onions in this punchy salad. (Matt Taylor-Gross/The New York Times)

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE PROBATE COURT OF COFFEE COUNTY, ALABAMA

IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION PETITION OF JOXELL RAMIREZ VELEZ, CASE NO.: PRA-2023-019.

NOTICE OF ADOPTION HEARING.

NOTICE TO:

JAVIER

RAMOS TORRES

Please take notice that a Petition for Adoption in the above styled matter has been filed in the Probate Court of Coffee County, Enterprise, Alabama by the Petitioner named below and the 8th day of MARCH, 2024 at 9:00 o’clock a.m. has been set for a hearing on the same in said Court in the City of Enterprise, Alabama. Please be advised that if you intend to contest this adoption you must file a written response within thirty (30) days with the attorney for the Petitioner whose name and address are shown below and with the clerk of the said Probate Court. A copy of the Petition to Adopt is attached to this Notice as required by statue.

Attorney for Petitioner:

Thadius W. Morgan, Jr. Post Office Box 310396 Enterprise, Alabama 36331

Petitioner:

Joxell Ramirez Velez 306 W. Brunson Street Enterprise, Alabama 36330

Dated this the 31st day of January, 2024.

Jodee R. Thompson, Judge of Probate

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN BANCO COOPERATIVO DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE JAIME RIVERA CRUZ COMPUESTA POR FULANA Y FULANO DE TAL;

Demandados CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Parte con Interés

CIVIL NÚM.: BY2023CV00942

SOBRE: EJECUCIÓN DE HI-

POTECA. LOS ESTADOS UNI-

DOS DE AMÉRICA. EL PRE-

SIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS. AVISO DE PÚBLI-

CA SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, hago saber a la parte demandada, SUCESIÓN DE JAIME

RIVERA CRUZ compuesta por FULANA DE TAL Y FULANO DE TAL; CENTRO DE RECAU-

DACIONES DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES, como Parte con Interés y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 14 de septiembre de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor pagadero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o giro postal, a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, la siguiente propiedad con dirección física: 661 Calle 5, Urb. Campanilla, Toa Baja, 00949-3670 y que se describe como sigue: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número 661 en el plano de parcelación de la comunidad rural Campanilla del barrio Media Luna del término municipal de Toa Baja, con una cabida superficial de 465.02 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con calle número 5 de la comunidad; por el SUR, con carretera estatal número 865 y pozo profundo de la comunidad; por el ESTE, con parcela número 660 de la comunidad; por el OESTE, con pozo profundo y la calle de la comunidad. Finca #21,513, inscrita al folio 225 del tomo 364 de Toa Baja, Registro de la propiedad de Bayamón, Sección II. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) HIPOTECA constituida por Jaime Rivera Cruz en garantía de pagaré a favor de RG Premier Bank of P.R. o a su orden, por $112,000.00 al 7 ¼% vencedero el 1 de agosto de 2036, según Escritura #445 en Bayamón a 29 de julio de 2006 ante Hector Moyano Noriega, inscrita al folio 149 del tomo 609 de Toa Baja, finca #21,513 inscripción 7ma. Sujeta a condiciones de aceleración. (ii) DEMANDA radicada en el Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Bayamón, en el caso civil BY2019CV04826, seguido por Banco Cooperativo versus Jaime Rivera Cruz, donde se solicita el pago de la deuda garantizada con la hipoteca relacionada en la inscripción 7ma., reducida a $90,550.28 anotada al Sistema Karibe de Toa Baja, finca #21513, anotación A y Ultima, el 4 de noviembre de 2019 La hipoteca objeto de esta ejecución es la que ha quedado descrita en el inciso (i). Será celebrada la subasta para con el importe de la misma satisfacer la sentencia dictada el 1 de agosto de 2023, mediante la cual se condenó a la parte demandada pagar a la parte demandante la cantidad adeudada y vencida el 1 de marzo de 2019 ascendiente a $90,550.28 de principal, más $25,165.22 de intereses que continuarán acumulándose al 7.1/4% anual hasta el saldo total de la deuda, $4,096.20 a cargos por atrasos,

más $3,694.23 a otros cargos, mas $14,928.00 de escrow, más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, según pactado, más cualquier otro desembolso que haya efectuado o efectúe la parte demandante durante la tramitación de este caso para otros adelantos de conformidad con el Contrato Hipotecario. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 11 de marzo de 2024, a las 10:00 de la mañana, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma, la cantidad de $112,000.00 sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 18 de marzo de 2024, a las 10:00 de la mañana, en el mismo lugar, en la que servirá como tipo mínimo, dos terceras (2/3) partes del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $74,666.67. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré

TERCERA SUBASTA el día 25 de marzo de 2024, a las 10:00 de la mañana, en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $56,000.00. El Alguacil que suscribe hizo constar que toda licitación deberá hacerse para pagar su importe en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América, de acuerdo con la Ley y de acuerdo con lo anunciado en este Aviso de Subasta. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables. Se entiende que todo licitador que comparezca a la subasta señalada en este caso acepta como bastante la titulación que da base a la misma. Se entiende que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si la hubiere al crédito que da base a esta ejecución continuará subsistente, entendiéndose, además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de estos, sin destinarse a su extinción cualquier parte del remanente del precio de licitación. La propiedad para ejecutar será adquirida libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. 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 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

Wednesday,

posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, 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 subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Vendida o adjudicada la finca o derecho hipotecado y consignado el precio correspondiente, en esa misma fecha o fecha posterior, el alguacil que celebró la subasta procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura pública de traspaso en representación del dueño o titular de los bienes hipotecados, ante el notario que elija el adjudicatario o comprador, quien deberá abonar el importe de tal escritura. El alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la confirmación de la venta o adjudicación. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS LICITADORES Y DEL PUBLICO EN GENERAL y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley, expido el presente Edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, hoy 25 de enero de 2024. Edgardo Elias Vargas Santana, Alguacil Auxiliar Placa 193.

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS-

TANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA BAJA

LEGACY MORTGAGE

ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1 Demandante Vs. LA SUCESIÓN DE LYDIA ESTHER OTERO PADILLA COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS,

Demandados

CIVIL NUM. VB2021CV00478

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTE-

CA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA.

EDICTO DESUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA.

EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ES-

TADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUER-

TO RICO. SS.

A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE

HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

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 Vega Baja, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque gerente, giro postal, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América al nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja, el 4 de abril de 2024 a las 9:00 de la mañana, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número 652 en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Almirantito del Barrio Almirante Norte del término municipal de Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 511.10 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, con la parcela número 650 y acceso de la comunidad; por el Sur, con parcela número 653 de la comunidad; por el Este, con parcela número 651 y la calle de la comunidad; y por el Oeste, con parcela número 654 de la comunidad. Consta inscrita al folio 146 del tomo 381 de Vega Baja, finca 27,715, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Cuarta de Bayamón. Propiedad localizada en: Bo. Almirante, Sector Almirantito, Carr. 160 Km. 2.5, Vega Baja, PR 00693. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución no está gravada por cargas posteriores o preferentes a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: 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 mínimo de subasta la suma de $43,774.99, 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

The San Juan Daily Star

de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja, el 11 de abril de 2024 a las 9:00 de la mañana, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $29,183.33 dos tercios (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la tercera subasta, la suma de $21,887.49 la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Vega Baja, el 18 de abril de 2024 a las 9:00 de la mañana. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $35,054.83 en principal, más los intereses al 6.996% anual desde el día 15 de noviembre de 2020, así como los intereses acumulados y por acumularse a partir de esa fecha y hasta el total y completo repago de la deuda; la cantidad de $1,317.73 denominado como balance diferido que no genera intereses; cargos por demora equivalentes al 5.000% de todos aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento hasta el total y completo repago de la deuda; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; $4,377.50, para el pago de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado como suma pactada a dichos efectos en el pagaré; así como cualquier otra suma que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. 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 Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, hoy día, 8 de

febrero de 2024. Firma Ilegible, Alguacil De Subastas Tribunal De Primera Instancia Centro Judicial De Vega Baja Sala Superior.

LEGAL NO+TICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA

607-609

CONDADO ST., LLC. Demandante, V. SUCESIÓN DE AMEDE CHARDÓN VÁZQUEZ, COMPUESTA POR FREDERIC CHARDÓN

DUBOS, FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL; SUCESIÓN DE YVELINE

DUBOS NOCCIOLINI, COMPUESTA POR FREDERIC CHARDÓN

DUBOS, KRISTIANNE CHARDÓN QUIÑONES, FREDERIC E. CHARDÓN

QUIÑONES, MÍA SARA CHARDÓN QUIÑONES, REBECA SÁNCHEZ DE LARACUENTE, Demandado.

CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2022CV00712

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA.

A: LOS CODEMANDADOS DE EPIGRAFE Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de una Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, el 29 de marzo de 2023, notificación enmendada el 21 de abril de 2023, y publicada el 26 de abril de 2023, una Orden de Ejecución de Embargo emitida el 22 de agosto de 2023 y un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Embargo emitido el día 28 de agosto de 2023, que le ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Aguadilla; procederá a vender en 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, dinero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, o letra bancaria, con similar garantía de todo título, derecho o interés de los demandados de epígrafe sobre el inmueble que adelante se describe. Se anuncia por la presente que la subasta habrá de celebrarse para la finca 4906 (oficina 707) el día 19 de marzo de 2024, a las 11:00 de la mañana; y para la finca 4907 (oficina708),

el día 19 de marzo de 2024 a las 11:05 de la mañana; en mi oficina localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, sobre los inmuebles que se describen a continuación: A)Oficina 707 URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Oficina #707. Colinda por el OESTE, en 26’ 1”, con la pared interior que lo separa de la oficina #706; por el ESTE, en igual medida, con la pared interior que lo separa de la oficina #708; por el NORTE, en 15’ 1”, con pared que lo separa del pasillo común; y por el SUR, en igual medida, con la pared exterior del edificio hacia su colindancia con la calle denominada “Rolan”. Comprende un área de 395 pies cuadrados, aproximadamente, y tiene su entrada y salida hacia el Norte por el pasillo común con el cual colinda por ese lado. El local descrito forma parte del séptimo piso del edificio denominado “Condominio Condado”. Porcentaje en los elementos comunes del edificio de 0.015%. FINCA NÚMERO: 4906, inscrita al folio 221 del tomo 151 de Santurce Sur, Registro de la Propiedad, Sede Metropolitana, sección primera de San Juan. Dirección física: 609 Condado St., Oficina 707, San Juan PR 00907 B) Oficina 708 URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Oficina #708. Colinda por el OESTE, en 24’ 8”, con pared interior que separa de la oficina #707; por el ESTE, en 19’ 8”, con la pared exterior del edificio hacia su colindancia con propiedad de Gabriel T. Guijarro y en 5’ con pared interior que la separa de pasillo común; por el NORTE, en 3’ 9”, con pared pasillo común y en 13’ 3”, con pared interior que lo separa de espacio común dedicado a escalera de escape; y por el SUR, en 17’, con la pared exterior del edificio hacia su colindancia con la calle “Rolan”. Comprende un área de 359 pies cuadrados, aproximadamente, y tiene su entrada y salida hacia el Norte por el pasillo común con el cual colinda por ese lado. El local descrito forma parte del séptimo piso del edificio denominado “Condominio Condado”. Porcentaje en los elementos comunes del edificio de 0.014%. FINCA NÚMERO: 4907, inscrita al folio 227 del tomo 153 de Santurce Sur, Registro de la Propiedad, Sede Metropolitana, sección primera de San Juan. Dirección física: 609 Condado St., Oficina 708, San Juan PR 00907. Las subastas se llevarán a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al demandante, total o parcialmente, según sea el caso, de la referida sentencia que fue dictada por la suma de $13,125.38 correspondiente a la oficina 707 y la suma de $11,928.74

abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: RUSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número y letra C guion veintiséis (C-26) en el plano de parcelación de la comunidad rural La Montalva de Barrio Ensenada del término municipal de Guánica, con una cabida superficial de cero punto mil ciento tres (0.1103) cuerdas, equivalentes a cuatrocientos treinta y tres punto sesenta y dos (433.62) metros cuadrados. En lindes: Norte, con Autoridad de Tierras de Puerto Rico; Sur, con la calle Roberto Clemente de la comunidad; Este, con la parcela C guion veintisiete (C-27) de la comunidad; y por el Oeste, con la parcela C guion veinticinco (C-25) de la comunidad. Inscrita al folio ciento cuarenta (140) del tomo ciento ochenta y cinco (185) de Guánica, finca número seis mil trescientos ochenta (6,380). Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán. SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en Ponce, Puerto Rico. A 8 de febrero de 2024. Carmen

G Tiru Qulñones, Secretaria Regional. Ereina Agront Leon, Sub-Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE AIBONITO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante Vs. REINALDO BURGOS COLÓN

Demandado

CIVIL NÚM.: OR2023CV00158

SALÓN: 003 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EM-

PLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉ-

RICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE

LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: REINALDO BURGOS COLÓN – BO. BARROS

CARR 157 KM 3.0

OROCOVIS, PR 00720 / HC 2 BOX 7933, OROCOVIS, PR 00720.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Ma-

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 24

nejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EX-

TENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Orocovis Puerto Rico, hoy día 14 de noviembre de 2023. En Aibonito, Puerto Rico, el 14 de noviembre de 2023. Elizabeth González Rivera, Secretaria. Natalia Burgos Maldonado, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE AIBONITO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante Vs. MIGUEL A. RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ

Demandado CIVIL NÚM.: OR2023CV00160

SALÓN: 003 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: MIGUEL A. RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ – CARR 156

K2 H4 INT, OROCOVIS, PR 00720 /PO BOX 278, OROCOVIS, PR 00720-0278

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar

su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Orocovis, Puerto Rico, hoy día 14 de noviembre de 2023. En Aibonito, Puerto Rico, el 14 de noviembre de 2023.Elizabeth González Rivera, Secretaria. Natalia Burgos Maldonado, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN.

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Demandante v. ARIANA I MATOS CONCEPCION

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TB2023CV00282 (SALÓN 505). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

KENMUEL JOSÉ RUIZ LÓPEZ KENMUEL.RUIZ@ORF-LAW.COM

A: ARIANA I. MATOS CONCEPCION

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 08 DE FEBRERO DE 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha

de 09 de FEBRERO de 2024. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 09 de FEBRERO de 2024.

LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretario(a). f/MARIA COLLAZO FEBUS, Secretario(a) Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN. ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante v. YAIMALIZ VAZQUEZ KUILAN

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TB2023CV00232 (SALÓN 703). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. KENMUEL JOSÉ RUIZ LÓPEZ KENMUEL.RUIZ@ORF-LAW.COM A: YAIMALIZ

VAZQUEZ KUILAN

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 DE FEBRERO DE 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 20 de FEBRERO de 2024. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, el 20 de FEBRERO de 2024.

LAURA I. SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretario(a). f/LUREIMY ALICEA GONZALEZ, Secretario(a) Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FERNANDEZ JUNCOS HOLDINGS, LLC

Demandante V. SUCESION DE ANA CELIA

RAMOS GARCIA Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

ALEJANDRO BELLVER ESPINOSA ALEJANDRO@BELLVERLAW.COM CASO NÚM.: SJ2023CV08070 (SALÓN 505 CIVIL) SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESION DE ANA CELIA RAMOS GARCIA

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 20 DE FEBRERO DE 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 26 de FEBRERO de 2024. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 26 de FEBRERO de 2024. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria. f/LUCRECIA PAGAN MORALES, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. YASMIN MEJIAS REYES

T/C/C YAZMIN MEJIAS

REYES Y OTROS

Demandado(a) JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS JCFORTUNO@FORTUNO-LAW.COM

Caso Núm.: CG2023CV03842 (SALÓN 0301 SALA CRIMINAL) Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: YASMIN MEJIAS

REYES T/C/C YAZMIN MEJIAS REYES

CONDOMINIO BALCONES

LAS CAT AUNAS APTO.

533 CA GUAS, PR 00725 DIRECCIÓN POSTAL: COND. BALCONES LAS CATALINAS 214AVE. BOULEVARD CAGUAS,

PR00725 - 5526; URB. CARIBE GARDENS

G-2 CALLE LIRIO CA

GUAS, PR 00725-3412

Y 8291 DAMES POINT

CROSSING BLVD. NORTH APT. 4203

JACKSONVILLE FL 32277

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 21 DE FEBRERO DE 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 23 de febrero de 2024. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 23 de febrero de 2024. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. F/Sandra Trinidad Cañuelas, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. MERARI VALENTIN CRESPO Y OTROS

Demandado(a) JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS

JCFORTUNO@FORTUNO-LAWCOM JUAN O CALDERON LITHGOW ATTYNOTAR@GMAIL.COM

Caso Núm. : BY2019CV05189 (Salón 504) Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y SUT ANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y /O PARTES CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS MARIO LÓPEZ MARTÍNEZ

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 13 DE FEBRERO DE 2024, este Tribunal ha dictado Sen-

The San Juan Daily Star

tencia, 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 22 de febrero de 2024. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 22 de febrero de 2024. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria. F/Vivian J. Sanabria Ortiz, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE: COAMO. ORIENTAL BANK

DEMANDANTE VS. SUCESION DE OTONIEL HERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ COMPUESTA POR SUS HEREDEROS CONOCIDOS MARITZA

ALVARADO DAVID, POR SI; MELANIE HERNANDEZ ALVARADO, YAMILES HERNANDEZ AL VARADO, MADELINE HERNANDEZ T/C/C MADELINE HERNÁNDEZ RIVERA Y CINTHIA

HERNANDEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O

PARTES CON INTERES EN LA SUCESION

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: Al2023CV00628.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDIC-

TO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU EL ESTADO

LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. ss.

A: CINTHIA HERNÁNDEZ

COMO HEREDERA

CONOCIDA DE LA SUCESIÓN DE OTONIEL

HERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL

COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS

O TERCEROS CON INTERÉS DE DICHA

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le apercibe que conforme al artículo 1578 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §11021, usted tiene 30 días para aceptar o repudiar la herencia desde la publicación de este edicto. A esos efectos, de no rechazarla, se tendrá la herencia por aceptada. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO

FAS, C.S.P.

LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RÚA NÚM.: 11416

PO BOX 3908, GUAYNABO, PR 00970

TEL: 787- 751-5290, FAX: 787-751-6155

E-MAIL: ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com En Como, Puerto Rico, a 23 de febrero de 2024. Elizabeth Gonzalez Rivera, Sec Serv a Sala. Sonia I Ortiz Hernandez, SubSecretario.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYA-

BANCO

The

San Juan Daily Star

210-2015). Expedido el presente en Bayamón, Puerto Rico a 21 de febrero de 2024. Edgardo

Elias Vargas Santana, Alguacil Auxiliar Placa 193, Alguacil Del Tribunal Primera Instancia Sala De Bayamón.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

MARIA MERCEDES VALDEZ FERNANDEZ, Demandante Vs. SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE DESARROLLO

URBANO Y VIVIENDA DE LOS ESTADOS

UNIDOS DE AMERICA

T/C/C SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL, Demandados.

CIVIL NÚM. SJ2023CV11426

SALA: 505 SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO

POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE DESARROLLO

URBANO Y VIVIENDA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

T/C/C SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Se les notifica que en la Demanda radicada en el caso de epígrafe se alega que un pagaré hipotecario fue otorgado el dia 31 de marzo de 2017, ante el Notario Público Omar A. Jiménez Pacheco, bajo affidávit número 6,415, a favor de Secretario Departamento de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda de los Estados Unidos de América, o a su orden, por la suma de $141,000.00, con intereses al 4.553% y vencedero 28 de febrero de 2096, garantizado por hipoteca constituida en virtud de la Escritura Número 16, otorgada en Carolina, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Omar A. Jiménez Pacheco, inscrita al del tomo Karibe de Fajardo, finca número 8,344, inscripción 12. El inmueble gravado mediante la hipoteca antes descrita es la finca 8,344 inscrita al tomo 220 del folio 221 de Fajardo, Registro de la Propiedad, Sección de Fajardo. La obligación evidenciada por el pagaré antes descrito fue saldada en su totalidad. Dicho gravamen no ha podido ser cancelado por haberse ex-

traviado el original del pagaré. El original del pagaré antes descrito no ha podido ser localizado, a pesar de las gestiones realizadas. El Secretario de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda de los Estados Unidos es el acreedor que consta en el Registro de la Propiedad. El último tenedor conocido del pagaré antes descrito fue Secretario de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda de los Estados Unidos. POR

LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días de haber diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo de Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/ index.php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Lcdo. Miguel A. Maza Pérez RUA NUM. 9549

HMB Law Group P.O. Box 364028

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-4028 Tel: 787-274-8383/ Fax: 787-2816689

E-mail: mmaza@maza.net Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 20 de febrero de 2024. Griselda Rodriguez Collazo, Secretaria. Michelle Rivera Rios, Sub Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. ALEJANDRA M RIVERA MELENDEZ

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NÚM. CZ2023CV00075

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL PUEBLO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: ALEJANDRA M

RIVERA MELENDEZ • BO NEGROS CARR 805

KM 2.6 INT, COROZAL PR 00783 • HC 3 BOX 17348, COROZAL PR 00783.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes

a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunalelectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@orf-law. com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO

BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, hoy día 28 de noviembre de 2023. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria. Luisa I. Andino Ayala, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE FAJARDO

MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT

PUERTO RICO, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC.

Demandante Vs. LUIS A. LOZANO

Demandado CIVIL NÚM.: FA2023CV00422

SALÓN: 206 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: LUIS A. LOZANO –PARC. SALDAÑA 102

CALLE 6, FAJARDO, PR 00738 | HC 66 BOX 8542, FAJARDO, PR 00738

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la

secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin. sanchez@orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 12 de diciembre de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria. Sheila Robles Hernández, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE COMERIO ISLAND PORTFOLIO

SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. NEISHA

HERNANDEZ MELLA

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. CR2023CV00117

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: NEISHA HERNANDEZ

MELLA • BO DOÑA

ELENA ALTO LOS PINOS

CARR 7780 KM 2.8 INT, COMERIO PR 00782 • HC 3 BOX 7591, COMERIO PR 00782

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:///www. poderjudicial.pr/index.php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abo-

gado de la parte demandante, Kevin Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin. sanchez@orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Comerío, Puerto Rico, hoy día 8 de diciembre de 2023. Elizabeth González Rivera, Secretaria Regional. Myrta E. Figueroa Aponte, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE SAN SEBASTIAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. RUTH GONZALEZ BERMUDEZ

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. SS2023CV00046 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: RUTH GONZALEZ

BERMUDEZ • BO SALTOS

CARR 445 KM 5.3, SAN SEBASTIAN PR 00685

• PO BOX 1035, SAN SEBASTIAN PR 006851035 • 700 SAINT MARYS AVE, FRANKFORT IN 46041.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:/// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@

orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, hoy día 8 de enero de 2024. Sarahí Reyes Pérez, Secretaria. Laura Lugo Crespo, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAGUAS

LEGACY MORTGAGE

ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1

Parte Demandante Vs.

LA SUCESIÓN DE JORGE LUIS DÍAZ MARTÍNEZ, COMPUESTA POR JORGE DÍAZ RAMOS, JOSÉ CARLOS DÍAZ RAMOS, CARMEN

MILAGROS DÍAZ RAMOS; ERNESTINA RAMOS

SANCHEZ, JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ERNESTINA RAMOS

T/C/C ERNESTINA

RAMOS SÁNCHEZ

POR SI Y COMO VIUDA DE JORGE LUIS

DÍAZ MARTÍNEZ Y LA ADMINISTRACIÓN PARA EL SUSTENTO DE MENORES, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Parte Demandada

CASO CIVIL NUM: CG2023CV02919 Sala 802

SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO Y NOTIFICACION DE INTERPELACION

POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS

UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN JORGE LUIS DIAZ MARTINEZ

tramita un procedimiento de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de enero de 2021, hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que Incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $58,297.61 de principal, el cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $54,805.13, más la suma de $3,492.48 de balance principal diferido, más los intereses sobre la suma de $54,805.13 al 7.658% anual, así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo la suma estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar radicado en el Barrios Tomas de Castro del término municipal de Caguas con una cabida superficial de cuatrocientos ochenta y dos punto cero cero (482.00) metros cuadrados, y en lindes por el Norte y Oeste, en quince punto cero cero (15.00) metros y treinta y seis punto cincuenta (36.50) metros, respectivamente, con la finca principal de la cual se segrega; por el Sur, en un arco de quince punto quince (15.15) metros de largo con la calle A; y por el este, en treinta y cinco punto cero cero metros, con las parcelas letra guión número U-135, U-134 Y U-133. Inscrita al folio doscientos dieciséis (216) del tomo mil ciento trece (1,113) de Caguas, finca número treinta y ocho mil sesenta y cinco (38,065), Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección l. SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Además, como posibles miembros de la Sucesión de Jorge Luis Diaz Martínez se ha presentado una solicitud de interpelación judicial para que sirva en el termino de treinta (30) días aceptar o repudiar la herencia. Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a expresarse dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publica-

ción de este edicto en torno a la aceptación o repudiación de la herencia, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante Jorge Luis Díaz Martínez y por consiguiente, responderán por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el 1578 del código Civil de Puerto rcico, 31 L.P.R.A. sec.11021. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, a 30 de enero de 2024. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. Zaida Aguayo Alamo, Sub-Secretaria. LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JERRY LUIS DIAZ

PASTRANA Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

GUILLERMO A. SOMOZA

COLOMBANI BILLYSOMOZA@YAHOO.COM Caso Núm. : CA2022CV03066 (CIVIL 409) Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA.

A: JERRY LUIS DIAZ PASTRANA, RAY FRANCISCO DIAZ

PASTRANA, CARLOS JAVIER DIAZ PASTRANA, CARLOS ROBERTO

DIAZ TORRES Y KARLA GINEIDY DIAZ TORRES. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 7 DE NOVIEMBRE 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 20 de febrero de 2024. Notas de la Secretaría: SE ENMIENDA SEGUN ORDEN DEL JUEZ MATTEI. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 20 de febrero de 2024. Kanelly Zayas Robles, Secretaria. F/Ida L. Fernández Rodríguez, Sec Aux del Trib..

Why Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole approve of new analytics whiz in dugout

By BRENDAN KUTY

The New York Yankees had a communication problem. Amid all the things that went wrong last year that led to a season general manager Brian Cashman called a “disaster,” some players felt as if the analytics they received from the front office were not delivered well, coming at the wrong time or in the wrong ways or from the wrong people. The information was good, and the intentions were better, but something was off. Even outfielder Aaron Judge alluded to it after the final game of the regular season. They needed a fix.

Enter Aaron Leanhardt, who has a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. and spent seven years as a physics professor at the University of Michigan.

“It’s an important role,” pitcher Gerrit Cole said.

Leanhardt, who spent the past two seasons as the Yankees’ assistant hitting coordinator, will be the newest face in the dugout, taking over the role previously held by Zac Fieroh. Fieroh is still employed by the club and will work in an off-the-field role.

Manager Aaron Boone said he was impressed with Leanhardt.

“Intelligence, work ethic, he’s connected well, started to forge relationships, and he’s done a good job with all of it,” Boone said.

Boone pointed out Leanhardt’s coaching background, which should help him better understand how to facilitate communication between the clubhouse and the front office. Leanhardt worked as a hitting coach in the lower level of the Yankees’ minor leagues for three seasons and has been in the organization for seven. He

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron

breaking the American League

the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 4, 2022. After the Yankees finished last season 82-80 and in fourth place in the American League East, Judge said he wanted the team to focus more on some statistics and less on others. (Nathan Hunsinger/The New York Times)

also coached at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana.

Last Thursday, team owner Hal Steinbrenner said he had been speaking with Cole recently about how information was being presented to players.

“We’ve added a new person in the clubhouse,”

Steinbrenner said, “a guy here from Tampa that is unbelievably versed and intelligent in analytics but also was a coach — a college coach, actually. Great working with people, great explaining things and teaching things and listening to what the people he’s dealing with had to say. Judge already met with him one-on-one over there for an hour or two, working with him, and he likes him. So he’s going to be a great addition.”

After the Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals to finish last season 82-80 and in fourth place in the American League East, Judge said he wanted the team to focus more on some statistics and less on others. He also suggested that the team needed a “better process” for communicating analytics to younger players.

“As a player, I do a pretty good job filtering what I need to filter, but I think maybe some of the younger guys are just kind of getting into it,” Judge said at the time.

Cole said Leanhardt’s blend of analytics knowledge and experience dealing daily with baseball players would prove vital, adding that communication between the front office and the clubhouse would not be just topdown. Leanhardt will be helpful when players want to convey messages about certain things to the front office.

“We have a lot of coaches who are versed in analytics to a certain extent,” Cole said. “But Aaron has a thesis that’s published. It’s a different level. But also just super-versed in the clubhouse dynamic and the player dynamic as well.”

If Leanhardt’s students are any indication, he should excel. His page on Rate My Professors has a perfect score.

“He’s the main faucet that kind of taps into the players,” Cole said. “It’s an important piece.”

Fajardo Cariduros open new Double A baseball season

By THE STAR STAFF

The Cariduros of Fajardo opened the new Double A Baseball season with a pair of games at their home field, Concepción Pérez Alberto Park, on Monday.

In the opening game, the Cariduros faced the Mulos de Juncos, notching their first victory 3-2.

The season was inaugurated with the official throwing out of the first pitch by former player Jimmy Figueroa, to whom the new season is dedicated. Figueroa was accompanied by Edwin Cuadrado, Pedro Nelson Ramos, José Serrano and Fajardo Mayor José Aníbal Meléndez Méndez.

The mayor paid tribute to Figueroa and

highlighted several of his victories in Double A, adding that the former hurler is the Cariduros’ victory leader. Figueroa made his baseball debut with the Cariduros in 1975 and retired in 2008. He played 31 seasons in Double A, participated in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games, and ranks second in career victories among pitchers in Double A (156).

As part of the recognition paid to Figueroa, the former ace was included on the honorary fence at the Cariduros’ home park. Figueroa and his uniform number 20 now join other standout sports figures who occupy a place on the fence.

The Cariduros are led by manager Félix Santana and his top adviser, Peyo Soto.

The new Double A Baseball season opened Monday in Fajardo with a game between the host Cariduros and the Mulos of Juncos. Former ace Jimmy Figueroa threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Judge hits his 62nd home run,

single-season record, during a game against

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

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Some rather intense work, perhaps involving indepth research, could take up much of your time today, Aries. You could spend a lot of time in libraries or on the Internet trying to discern certain facts that you need for a project that could make a big difference in your income. This can be fascinating and exciting, but there is one caution: remember to rest your eyes from time to time. You won’t want to give yourself an eyestrain headache.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Today, Taurus, you could direct an overwhelming amount of love and passion toward a current or potential romantic partner. Your friend might feel a little taken aback, but is likely to be flattered and therefore respond in a positive manner. This might not have the potential to become a committed relationship, so don’t expect anything from it. Just get to know each other, see where the bond takes you, and go with the flow.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Information that you retrieve from deep within your psyche might lead to a revelation as to a great way to increase your income, Gemini. This could be something you read and forgot, or it might be something you overheard in a restaurant. Whatever it is, look into it carefully, and then if the information seems to be accurate and useful, go for it. These days, fortunes are being made in surprising ways!

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Information that you retrieve from deep within your psyche might lead to a revelation as to a great way to increase your income, Gemini. This could be something you read and forgot, or it might be something you overheard in a restaurant. Whatever it is, look into it carefully, and then if the information seems to be accurate and useful, go for it. These days, fortunes are being made in surprising ways!

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

A new creative project of some kind, perhaps involving modern technology, could set your career in a new direction, Leo. This may be the break you’ve been hoping for, and you’re apt to be very excited about it. Any new enterprise begun today is going to have its ups and downs, but all signs indicate that it will succeed. Consider the project carefully before making a decision. Then if it feels right, go for it!

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

If you’re taking a trip any time soon, Virgo, you can expect to experience a powerful attraction for someone you meet along the way. This will definitely make your journey more interesting; however, the friendship might not survive the trip. You may be from opposite sides of the country, and one or both of you could be involved with other people. Nonetheless, if neither of those restrictions applies, it’s worth pursuing. Go for it!

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

You could soon receive news of an unexpected cash inflow, Libra. This might be money earned on your own, but it’s more likely to be investment income. If you own stocks, bonds, or land, expect their value to skyrocket. If you work for a company that has a good profit-sharing plan, don’t be surprised if the amount of profits earned this year doubles. Whichever it is, you’re on your way!

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Today the energy is on partnerships, Scorpio, probably those begun on the spur of the moment. You and a colleague might have a conversation about the possibility of going into business together. There is also the possibility that you could fall in love at first sight, maybe with someone from far away. Any sort of partnership formed today will have its ups and downs, but with work, it could succeed. If it feels right, go for it!

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Have you been entertaining the idea of changing jobs, Sagittarius? If so, put out some feelers today. You’ve been working hard and may have felt as if you’ve been barking up the wrong tree. Don’t hesitate to research possibilities on the Internet, prepare your resume, and chat up knowledgeable people in social situations. It’s time to pass carefully from reflection to action.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

A rebirth of romance in your life could take place today, Capricorn. If you’re currently involved with someone, a happy event could enrich the bond between you and bring you closer together. If you aren’t presently attached, you could be by the end of the day. You might meet someone new and exciting, probably an intelligent person who could be involved with modern technology. Make sure you look your best, and expect the unexpected!

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Today you might notice a change in yourself, Aquarius. You could look in the mirror and see that you suddenly look as gorgeous as a movie star. This change in your outer self is due to transformations taking place within. You’ve probably been releasing a lot of old traumas from the past, and therefore considerable stress and tension have vanished from your face. Treat yourself to some new clothes. It’s a great time to do it!

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Today you might notice a change in yourself, Aquarius. You could look in the mirror and see that you suddenly look as gorgeous as a movie star. This change in your outer self is due to transformations taking place within. You’ve probably been releasing a lot of old traumas from the past, and therefore considerable stress and tension have vanished from your face. Treat yourself to some new clothes. It’s a great time to do it!