The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Financial Oversight and Management Board has rejected legislation that would prevent individuals who work for the government from also working for the oversight board, arguing it goes against a clause in the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) that bars the government from interfering with board activities.
The oversight board made its remarks in response to an Oct. 10, 2023 letter sent by Senate Finance, Federal Affairs & Oversight Board Committee Chairman Juan Zaragoza Gómez after conducting a review of House Bill (HB) 1261.
The oversight board said the bill would put the commonwealth and the board itself at risk of not having access to qualified advisers to assist them. While the oversight board said it supports efforts to eliminate actual or potential conflicts of interest, the bill, it said, could put at risk the provision of services that benefit the people of Puerto Rico. HB 1261 seeks to amend Article 5 and Article 7 of Act 237-2004, the “Act on Contracting Professional or Advisory Services.”
Furthermore, the oversight board said, the bill assumes that the board and the commonwealth have divergent interests on all matters, “when in reality the Oversight Board and the Commonwealth are aligned on most matters.”
“While the Oversight Board recognizes that there are instances where a contractor or consultant should be disqualified from working for the Commonwealth as a result of work performed for the Oversight Board (and vice versa), the blanket prohibition that appears to be envisioned by the bill would be overbroad and reduce market competition,” the letter notes.
While contractors with conflicts of interest should not be engaged by the commonwealth or the oversight board, the board said the broad limitation on the contractors the commonwealth and the board can hire could end up limiting the ability of both to engage unconflicted contractors who may be the best suited for an engagement.
“The Bill impacts the Oversight Board by prohibiting professionals and advisors from working for both the Government and the Oversight Board,” said the letter written by oversight board’s general counsel, Jaime A. El Koury. “Specifically, it contains, among other provisions, a requirement that all contracts entered into by the Puerto Rico government, including any of its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, municipalities, public corporations, or political subdivisions contain a clause prohibiting any contracting entity that provides professional or advisory services to the Oversight Board from being a contractor for the Commonwealth for functions similar to those performed for the Oversight Board.” The bill also declares it to be a conflict of interest for any contractor that provides professional or advisory services to the oversight board to simultaneously serve as a contractor for the commonwealth “for functions similar to those performed” for the oversight board, and any contractor for the commonwealth to perform functions that are “directly or indirectly related to the information, functions, orders, requests, funds, budget, economic studies, legal matters, debt restructuring, bond renegotiation or other financial agreements” that it acquired through its work with the oversight board.
The board said it has procedures in place to identify potential conflicts of interest and contractual arrangements for the disclosure of such conflicts.
Accordingly, the oversight board said, the legislation violates a provision in PROMESA, which bars the governor and the Legislature from “exercis[ing] any control, supervision, oversight, or review over the Oversight Board or its activities.”
Moreover, PROMESA generally seeks to promote market competition for government services, the oversight board said.
While artificial intelligence will never replace humans in health areas, it may impact labor, a group of experts said at a recent Puerto Rico Hospitals Association training forum on technological changes and their application to medicine.
“We hold this forum annually in Puerto Rico so that the entire health sector can get updated on changes and new technological concepts applicable to the health industry,” said Pedro. J. González, executive vice president of the Puerto Rico Hospitals Association. “Among the topics discussed is the use of artificial intelligence as a tool, which, when used properly, can be used to achieve great results in medicine. However, it is important to note that from the labor standpoint, using artificial intelligence impacts health service organizations. From the perspective of medicine, its use could be broad. However, the human element can never be replaced when discussing patient care. Artificial intelligence is a great tool to help diagnose a condition or disease. Still, it requires the participation of a human being so that they can evaluate or interpret all the information provided by a computer or a “robot.”
The Harvard School of Medicine has said AI has the potential to transform health care and disrupt the field of medicine in significant ways, showing remarkable progress in tasks such as diagnostics, data analysis and precision
medicine. AI is already being applied in areas ranging from patient triage to cancer detection.
There is speculation about AI eventually replacing physicians, particularly in fields like radiology, pathology and dermatology, where AI’s diagnostic ability can match or even exceed that of clinicians.
At the meeting, health professionals learned about the “status” of implementing technology in the sector. Likewise, they discussed the use of technology and telemedicine to aid in the agility and quality of patient services.
“Daily technological advancement has great challenges. Specifically, the hospital industry faces a range of new applications. Likewise, we are facing new guidelines from the federal government that have said, among other things, that by January 1, 2027, there will be uniformity with the implementation of new requirements related to denials of services produced by insurance companies,” González said. “On this occasion, we had the participation of different sectors of the industry such as Home Health, 330 Outpatient Centers and private Diagnostic and Treatment Centers.”
Also discussed at the forum was cybersecurity and how to face and prevent constant attacks from external elements, or hackers.
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary General Gerardo “Toñito” Cruz Maldonado announced late last week that a legal appeal was filed to seek the decertification of Luis Manuel Irizarry Pabón as a candidate for mayor of Ponce, for failing to comply with an agreement reached within the party.
“As we announced last Wednesday, based on the violation of the agreement and the Internal Regulations of the PDP, today [Friday] the legal appeal was filed electronically in the Court of San Juan with the purpose of having Dr. Irizarry Pabón decertified as a candidate for Mayor of Ponce for this year’s elections,” Cruz Mal-
donado said in a written statement.
“Our lawyers will seek not only to immediately summon Dr. Irizarry Pabón, but we are asking the Court to summon him so that he has to testify under oath at the case hearing,” the official said.
The PDP secretary general added that the lawsuit seeks to protect the interests of the PDP in Ponce and “ensure that we can organize in time a process to fill that vacancy with a broad participation of our affiliated constituents.”
“The filing of this lawsuit reflects our commitment to the principles of transparency and public accountability to end a chapter of uncertainty affecting other PDP candidates in the [Ponce] Senate district,” Cruz Maldonado said.
The incentive consists of $2 for each 30-pound box of pineapples sold from Oct. 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, or until the allocated funds run out.
By THE STAR STAFFWith the aim of mitigating pineapple production costs and providing a competitive industry on the island, Agriculture Secretary Ramón González Beiró on Sunday established through Administrative Order 2024-04 a provisional incentive to mitigate increases in the cost of supplies and materials for the production and sale of pineapples in Puerto Rico.
The incentive consists of $2 for each 30-pound box of pineapples sold from Oct. 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 or until the end of the allocated funds of $250,000.
“Currently, the costs of supplies, materials and equipment for the commercial production and sale of pineapple
cultivation in Puerto Rico have increased considerably,” González Beiró said. “For this reason, we have worked to identify funds that help pineapple farmers minimize expenses.”
Among the eligibility requirements for the aid, the farmer must have an insurance policy with the Agricultural Insurance Corp. (CSA), be registered on the AgroPerfil platform and meet all the eligibility requirements of the Regional Incentive Program, among other conditions. Applicants must complete the Application for Approval of Agricultural Practices, which can be found on the same platform.
More information is available at the eight regional offices around the island: San Germán, Utuado, Lares, Caguas, San Germán, Ponce, Naranjito and Arecibo.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated over $335 million to acquire temporary power generators for the Palo Seco and San Juan power plants, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia announced late last week. Pierluisi said FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had installed the power generators to stabilize energy generation after the passage of Hurricane Fiona, according to a statement issued by La Fortaleza.
“I thank the Biden-Harris administration and Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator, and their entire staff for this significant allocation of funds. This million-dollar obligation will clear the way for continuing with the purchase process of 17 generators distributed between the plants in Toa Baja and San Juan, which generate 350 megawatts,” the governor said. “At the same time, the electrical infrastructure’s permanent reconstruction and risk mitigation projects will strengthen the energy system to benefit the economic development and quality of life of our people.”
Intervening with the federal funding allocation that will allow the operation of the temporary generators to continue until December 2025 was the work team at the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3), the Public-Private Partnerships Authority, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, Pierluisi said.
“At COR3, we worked as a team to ensure that, in record time, but in compliance with applicable regulations, FEMA allocated the funds for this equipment acquisition,” COR3
Manuel A. Laboy Rivera, executive director of the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience
Executive Director Manuel A. Laboy Rivera said. “Once the funds are allocated, the purchase contract continues the established process that requires the evaluation and approval of the Financial Oversight and Management Board. We are very optimistic that the entire transaction will be completed
on or before March 15.”
Nancy Casper, a FEMA expert adviser, said that through the Direct Federal Assistance program, FEMA has provided temporary generation due to the impacts of Hurricane Fiona on an already fragile electrical grid.
“Although the immediate threat caused by Hurricane Fiona no longer exists, temporary energy support remains necessary for Puerto Rico to complete necessary repairs and replacements to existing infrastructure,” Casper said.
After the PREB determined that PREPA’s proposal was consistent with the utility’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the funds were obligated through Section 428 of the Stafford Act of the FEMA Public Assistance program. The purpose of IRP is to guarantee the development of the electrical energy system in Puerto Rico and improve the system’s reliability, efficiency and transparency.
PREPA Executive Director Josué Colón Ortiz stated that “at the Electric Power Authority, we continue to work in continuous and close collaboration with the COR3, FEMA, Genera PR, and the Public-Private Partnerships Authority to complete the acquisition and permit process of these temporary generators to ensure their uninterrupted operation for the benefit of the residents of Puerto Rico, while we continue with the reconstruction projects and improvements of our energy system.”
The equipment to be purchased operates on liquefied natural gas, making it cleaner and more environmentally friendly than current diesel generators. In addition, officials said, the more efficient devices require fewer repairs and maintenance, reducing the chances of blackouts.
When police arrived at the scene, they found a completely burned out Hyundai Elantra with multiple bullet holes, as well as a gray 2007 Toyota Corolla that had been damaged by fire because it was near the burned car.
By THE STAR STAFFPolice are investigating an incident in which several vehicles were burned and others were subjected to gunfire at around 4:07 a.m. on Saturday, on highway PR-177, Los Filtros, in front of the entrance to the La Rosaleda residential complex in Guaynabo.
According to a law enforcement report, a call to the 9-1-1 Emergency System alerted the police to the situation. When the police arrived, they found a completely
burned Hyundai Elantra vehicle with multiple bullet holes, as well as a gray 2007 Toyota Corolla that had been damaged by fire because it was near the burned car.
In addition, the following cars were damaged by bullets: a gray 2020 Kia Rio, a gray 2004 Hyundai Brío and a black 2010 Honda Odyssey minivan.
Fire Department personnel extinguished the fire, and no injuries were reported in the incident.
Police working the scene seized 96 .40-caliber casings and several rounds of ammunition.
Atriple homicide was reported at around 10:16 p.m. on Saturday, on highway PR-552 in the Guayabal neighborhood of Juana Díaz.
According to the police report, a call was received by the 9-1-1 emergency system about gunfire. When
police arrived at the scene, they found the bodies of brothers Ricardo and Ángel Luis Santiago Torres and their uncle Alberto Torres Cruz on the pavement and in a wine-colored Nissan Pathfinder vehicle.
Officers assigned to the Homicide Division of the Ponce Criminal Investigation Corps and prosecutor Antonio Cintrón Almodovar took charge of the investigation.
Brannen McElmurray
By THE STAR STAFF
New Fortress Energy (NFE) said it plans to invest some $200 million in fuel switch work in Puerto Rico over the next two years.
The information was provided by the firm’s chief financial officer, Christopher Guinta, during NFE’s fourth quarter and full year 2023 results presentation.
NFE’s new business vice president,
Brannen McElmurray, said there is about 1 gigawatt (GW) of potential conversion, fuel switch or supplemental power opportunities on the island, highlighting the role of gas in providing baseload power as the grid transitions to renewable energies.
The majority of Puerto Rico’s generation assets are now managed by NFE or its subsidiary, GeneraPR. NFE’s footprint consists of 5 GWs of power across 17 sites, more than 700 employees, and 1.5 million customers.
“We manage 85% of Puerto Rico’s total generation capacity, but 57% of this capacity continues to run on diesel or HFO [heavy fuel oil]. This creates a tremendous near term opportunity for NFE’s business,” McElmurray said. “Our footprint allows us to execute on a variety of strategies such as fuel switch, supplemental power, and other fuel optimization initiatives for which NFE is well positioned to be the infrastructure provider of choice to deliver value to the Puerto Rico ratepayer.”
Through Genera, the company is adding large-scale battery energy storage systems to the grid, reducing frequency of load sheds by 90%, adding additional generation through peakers and black start assets, “and we’re implementing a fuel switch and supplemental power strategy to add megawatts now and ancillary services later, to strengthen the grid and make it renewable ready,” McElmurray said.
The expected funds from operations for 2024 is around $1.25 billion, minus the $250 million of net capital expenditures, which is around $1 billion that can be used to pay down debt. To that end, the NFE official said, the company is evaluating potential refinancing opportunities to address debt maturities in the ordinary course, including the 6.75% notes due in 2025, and monitoring the market.
“As part of our process of refinancing and deleveraging goals, NFE is working on several alternatives,” McElmurray said. “The
first is debt reduction driven by free cash flow and asset sales; two, growth initiatives to be funded by asset-level debt; three, adding to its power portfolio with over 2 gigawatts of power in Brazil; and increasing volumes and executing long term fuel switching in Puerto Rico.”
Asked about public filings and reports regarding the Federal Emergency Management Agency wanting to wind down its involvement as early as this month and their impact on current contracts, any potential sources of income and cash related to NFE assets, McElmurray said NFE was selected to install 150 megawatts (MW) of temporary generation units at Palo Seco and 200 MW of units at San Juan. The island government plans to purchase the units.
“In terms of future, there’s about one gigawatt of potential conversion fuel switch or supplemental power opportunity, because if you look at the way the Puerto Rico grid is evolving, essentially what’s happening is the HFO and diesel plants are going to run off, and in its place, it’s effectively going to be gas from a thermal perspective, and then that over time will provide ancillary services as the grid continues to transition to renewables. From an NFE perspective, our strategy is megawatts now, ancillary services later, but under all scenarios the power that we’re providing, supporting, and then ultimately fueling, we expect to be there for the indefinite future,” he said.
The Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico (BDE by its Spanish initials), along with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), brought together representatives of the main commercial banks and local cooperatives in recent days with the purpose of continuing to promote financing under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
Alexis Luna of the FDIC highlighted during his presentation that the federal Treasury recognized the effort of the BDE with the SSBCI initiative during the report it published in December 2023. The report indicated that, of the 62 jurisdictions in the United States, Puerto Rico ranks 31st in the highest amount of funds used.
“For this reason, we continue to analyze
and approve financing under this initiative, to continue promoting the economic development of the island,” BDE President Luis Alemañy said in a written statement. “We urge entrepreneurs to approach their banks and cooperatives, and ask them about these programs with the BDE.”
“We are constantly looking for different and innovative ways to continue supporting the development of new entrepreneurs and strengthen existing businesses with financing between 4% and 8% interest rates,” Alemañy added. “With the multimillion-dollar allocation by the Federal Treasury, we will help the economic development of our island, and the creation and retention of direct and indirect jobs.”
The SSBCI initiative, known in Puerto Rico as “Impulso a tu Negocio,” offers local entrepreneurs two credit programs to finance with the support of a local bank or cooperative:
participating loans and collateralized support.
“The goal of ‘Boost Your Business’ is to provide access to capital to small businesses, businesses owned by low- and moderateincome individuals, or disadvantaged communities,” noted Samuel Carlo, chief financial officer of the BDE, who also serves as project manager for the implementation of the SSBCI program on the island. “In the Loan Participation Program, the BDE can purchase up to 50% of an eligible transaction with a local bank or cooperative. In the case of collateral support, the BDE offers a cash collateral of up to 50% of the transaction, which guarantees the repayment of the term loan or line of credit for the contracted period.”
With the two programs under “Boost your Business,” local entrepreneurs will be able to finance the acquisition of real estate, equipment, inventory, working capital, costs of
establishing a new business or improvements to existing businesses. Funds can be used to purchase any tangible or intangible asset, with the exception of capital gains.
Luis Alemañy, president of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico
The
San Juan Daily Star Monday, March 4,
By NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHSJustin Homen kept driving across his vast Texas ranch, but he only found the same bleak scenes: blackened grassland, charred cow carcasses and smoldering debris turned almost entirely to ash.
Then he arrived at the place he thinks of as a hidden oasis: a pond and small lake that, in better times, bask in the emerald glow of looping, leafy trees and tall grass. As he stepped out of the cab of his truck and onto the singed grass, his mutter was nearly drowned out by the wind.
“Pretty sickening.”
On a normal Friday afternoon, he might check on his herd and then come here with an old friend, pour a glass of whiskey and cast a line into the pond. Now, he was facing the realization that almost all of his family’s century-old ranch, a swath of land nearly the size of the Manhattan borough of New York City, had burned last week when the largest fire in state history tore through the Texas Panhandle.
Homen, 41, finds himself among scores of cattle ranchers across the Great Plains looking at an uncertain future. Thousands of animals have been killed, and outbuildings and homes have been destroyed in fires across Texas, Nebraska and Kansas. The Smokehouse Creek fire, near Homen’s ranch outside the town of Pampa, has expanded to more than 1 million acres and hreatened to grow further over the weekend with windy, dry conditions expected.
The fire’s consequences are far-reaching for ranchers, like Homen, whose cattle were largely spared. Scorched grazing lands means their surviving cows may starve if left alone. For many, the tasks ahead feel gargantuan: bury dead cattle, mend broken fences, distribute bales of hay trucked in from hundreds of miles away.
“It’ll end ranching for some,” said Tate Rosenbusch, who met Homen in middle school when the two would show livestock together and who worked for a time at an agriculture-focused bank. “There’s some that will not be able to get back into it — either they’re just emotionally or financially drained.”
And starting over will not be easy. Cattle prices have shot up amid dry condi-
tions in recent years, meaning the idea of replacing the dead cows is a nonstarter for many ranchers.
Interest rates are also high, making loans less appealing, and many ranchers are facing a stack of bills this time of year as they prepare for spring planting, plowing fields, buying fertilizer and seeds and shelling out for gas for their equipment.
“It’s never a good time, but right now is a really, really bad time,” said Rosenbusch, 41, who owns a farm and also helps run a trucking and towing company.
How soon the land recovers is largely out of their hands.
“It’s all dependent on rain at this point,” Rosenbusch said. “Unfortunately, none of that is in your control. You can do all the rain dancing you want to.”
The Smokehouse Creek fire began Monday and spread quickly in the sparsely populated areas near Texas’ border with Oklahoma.
Homen and Rosenbusch cut open fences, hoping the cattle would be able to escape if necessary. When the flames arrived, they drove out in trucks with water tanks to try to beat back the flames. For a time, they kept the fire at bay, but then the wind shifted.
All was lost.
“We worked our ass off on it for 30 hours and saved maybe 100 acres,” Homen said. He and Rosenbusch recalled how they would put out a fire on a patch of land only to turn around a few minutes later and see it ablaze again.
Now, many ranches are strewn with dead and injured animals.
For those who lost a large number of animals — some lost hundreds — the immediate problem is figuring out how to bury them all. A state contractor, Lone Star Hazmat, was trawling the roadways this past week, loading onto a truck dozens of dead cows that had made it to the road before perishing.
And even for the cattle that survived, Homen said, the fire and smoke could cause health problems down the road or lead pregnant cows to give birth prematurely.
That could mean a financial hit a year from now if ranchers have fewer yearlings to sell, either for reproduction or to meat producers. And for now, there is the urgent problem of keeping the cows fed with no grass to munch on.
On Friday, Homen and Rosenbusch visited several dozen cows on farmland that Homen operates near his ranch. The cows
had been eating the remains of corn and sorghum harvested last fall, and the fire passed them by. Homen said he usually moves the cows down to his ranch by this time of year but hadn’t gotten around to it yet, a delay that had ended up saving the lives of many of the cows.
The cows mooed and jostled with each other as Homen dumped cubes of feed from his truck for them to eat. For now, ranchers are largely relying on truckloads of hay brought in by generous farmers, much of them from many miles away.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Sam Schafer, a rancher who described himself as semiretired and who was marveling at the stacks of hay being dropped off this past week. Donning a cowboy hat and a white button-down shirt, he was helping to deliver bales a few at a time to ranches in the area, including Andy Jahnel’s.
Jahnel said he had fled his home as the fire raced toward his property, which has been in his family since the turn of the 20th century.
“I left because there was a cloud of smoke like a tornado coming,” Jahnel said. “Just dark black.”
Of his 1,120 acres, only about 25% remained unscathed, he said. All 13 of his horses had miraculously survived.
The temporary solution of delivering hay is one that will not last for many ranchers. Homen and Rosenbusch said that after the donations stop coming, individually feeding cattle — rather than having them graze — would not make economic sense.
“If you have to feed them every bite, they’re going to eat and you’re going to go broke,” Rosenbusch said.
As Homen surveyed the property Friday, he and Rosenbusch tried to find any positive they could in the destruction that the fire had wrought. The fire moved so quickly that it had burned only around the ranch’s structures. And, if they were lucky, the inferno probably had also taken out the moles that chewed through electric lines and gotten rid of those invasive Russian olive trees.
But the path ahead felt heavy.
President Joe Biden continues to lose crucial support among Latino voters, with an increasing number of those voters saying they are more likely to vote for former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College.
The poll shows Trump edging out Biden among Hispanic
voters, with 46% supporting Trump and 40% favoring Biden, but because Latino voters make up just 15% of the electorate, the poll’s sample size of the group is not large enough to assess small differences reliably. For a subgroup that size, the margin of error is 10 percentage points.
But the poll, and others like it, make clear that Trump has continued to make remarkable inroads with Hispanic voters.
Few observers would have predicted this kind of sup-
(Doug Mills/The New York Times)
port for a former president who, when he first declared his candidacy for the White House nearly a decade ago, claimed that many Mexican immigrants were rapists and criminals. During the 2020 election, many Democrats were stunned when Trump saw his support from immigrant-heavy precincts improve dramatically.
For much of that campaign, many Democrats presumed that Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies would repel Latino voters. And in much of the country, that presumption proved true. Roughly 60% voted for Biden, and Latino voters helped flip Arizona to Democrats in 2020. They were also central to the party’s ability to hold on to Nevada in both that election and the 2022 Senate race. But Latino voters in South Texas and Florida were also key for Republican wins in those states in 2020.
Still, many leaders in the Democratic Party maintain that Hispanic support for Trump does not represent a broad ideological shift toward Republicans. Polls have repeatedly shown that such voters say they are attracted to Trump’s stances on the economy and the border. Many Latino voters have also pointed to Trump’s personality as a key part of his appeal. Trump’s lead has grown among Latino voters in the past four years, according to Times/Siena polls.
The number of Latinos eligible to vote has increased steadily for two decades, and more than 36 million are eligible this year, an increase of nearly 4 million in just the past four years, according to the Pew Research Center. Latinos now account for nearly 15% of eligible voters, a record high.
Since 2020, both Republicans and Democrats have scrambled to shore up support with Latino voters, largely because they see the group as critical to creating a winning majority. Trump does not need the support of a majority of Latinos to win in November; merely peeling off a few percentage points among the group could prove decisive.
Historically, roughly one-third of Latino voters have supported Republicans in presidential elections. But there have been examples of greater Republican success — in 2004, George W. Bush received support from about 40% of Latinos.
Donald Trump swept three Republican nominating contests Saturday, shutting out his insurgent rival, Nikki Haley, and doubling his delegate count as he continues his march toward the party’s nomination. And it delivers to Haley yet another crushing series of defeats heading into Super Tuesday.
The former president won all 39 delegates in a Republican Party nominating convention held in Michigan; won overwhelmingly in the Missouri caucuses, picking up another 51 delegates; and won nearly 85% of the vote in the Idaho caucuses, securing all 32 of the delegates from that contest.
That means that Trump won 122 delegates Saturday, doubling his total delegate count in one day. Haley, who did not win a single delegate Saturday, remains at 24 delegates. A candidate needs 1,215 to win the Republican nomination.
The results reflect Trump’s status as the dominant front-runner in the race, winning overwhelming majorities of party stalwarts in Michigan and caucus voters in Idaho and Missouri. The results also reflect the increasingly quixotic nature of Haley’s campaign. Trump has resoundingly defeated her in contest after contest.
In Missouri, where the most delegates were awarded Saturday, Trump won every one of the state’s
114 counties, though the exact vote count is not yet clear. The results were reported in terms of how many of the 924 caucus delegates each candidate won. Trump took them all.
“Missouri Republicans have spoken loud and clear today, affirming their trust in President Trump’s leadership and rejecting the failed policies of the Democrats in Washington,” Nick Myers, the chair of the Missouri Republican Party, said in a statement.
Trump also won an overwhelming majority of the vote in Idaho’s caucuses, though turnout was much lower compared with previous years when the state held a Republican primary. Both Idaho and Missouri switched to Republican caucuses this year.
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, at during a campaign rally in Rock Hill, S.C., Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. President Joe Biden is struggling to overcome doubts about his leadership inside his own party and broad dissatisfaction over the nation’s direction, leaving him trailing behind Trump just as their general-election contest is about to begin.Thousands of residents were without power, and life came to a standstill for many in the Sierra Nevada region Saturday after a winter storm dumped as much as 2 feet of snow overnight and created treacherous conditions.
About 49,000 customers in Nevada and California were without electricity Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. With whiteout conditions in the mountains, ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area paused operations. And highway officials shut down Interstate 80, the main artery that traverses the Sierra Nevada over Donner Summit, a key trucking route from the San Francisco Bay Area. Traffic cameras revealed semi trucks parked alongside the highway, waiting out the closure.
California Highway Patrol said there was no estimated time of reopening the freeway.
The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, a research station located atop Donner Summit, reported that 20.7 inches of snow had fallen as of Saturday morning, and that 39.8 inches had fallen over the past 48 hours. Palisades Tahoe, a resort that closed ski area operations Saturday across all terrain, reported 24 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours.
Yosemite National Park remained closed at least through noon Sunday, park officials said.
Ed Miller, a resident of Tahoma on Lake Tahoe’s west shore, said he lost power around 10 p.m. Friday, before his generator kicked in a few minutes later. Miller, who has lived in the Lake Tahoe area for almost 50 years, is accustomed to power outages. He said having a generator is essential for living in the mountains, where wind gusts knock branches off trees and take down power lines on a regular basis.
In the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the huge mountain range that runs along the spine of California, forecasters rated the avalanche danger as high, and they expected avalanche hazards to worsen throughout the day because of the new snow and continued winds. Overnight Friday, winds reached as high as 171 mph.
Several avalanches were reported in the backcountry Friday, according to public observations on the Sierra Avalanche Center website, including at least one partial burial — a skier was caught when snow buried him up to his shoulders, but he was dug out about 10 minutes later. There were no injuries or fatalities reported.
In the morning in South Lake Tahoe, California, before snow plows could reach residential streets, some local residents had to fend for themselves to dig out amid the steady snowfall.
Autumn Worden, 28, plowed her four-wheel drive Subaru through deep trenches of snow. “I was rocking and rolling getting out of my neighborhood,” said Worden, a barista at a coffee roastery in Stateline, Nevada, just east of South Lake Tahoe.
“I made it to work though,” she said, adding that there was about a foot of snow on the roads when she headed out.
Bryan Allegretto, a Tahoe-area forecaster with OpenSnow, called it a “strong storm.” “We usually see a storm of
A postal worker delivers mail during heavy snowfall in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on March 1, 2024. A major snowstorm bore down Friday on the Sierra Nevada, including the Lake Tahoe area, with as much as 10 feet of snow expected at higher elevations. (David Calvert/The New York Times).
this magnitude once or twice a year.”
Allegretto, who had been up since 4:30 a.m. Saturday collecting data, said he believed that snow totals were showing less than some of the national forecasts predicted because wind can greatly reduce the snowfall.
For Sunday, forecasters with the National Weather Service said heavy snowfall was likely in the morning, with overall accumulation for the day from 3 to 9 inches. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph.
The storm disrupted plans for several events. A 26-kilometer cross-country ski race was canceled. Organizers of the North Lake Tahoe Snowfest canceled the event’s parade for the first time in its 42-year history. And the polar bear plunge in Lake Tahoe, a Snowfest tradition, was postponed a week.
Some residents, however, were determined not to let the snow disrupt their plans.
Brendan Madigan, owner of Alpenglow Sports, an outdoor gear shop in Tahoe City, will not be closing his store. “We take a lot of pride in being open,” he said. “We feel like we’ve got hardy customers — it’s the mountains — and we have a responsibility to be here if people need us.”
Madigan said many recent customers in the store have been making storm-specific purchases. Because the ski area is closed, he said, “most people are doing retail therapy.”
And though the Snowfest parade was canceled, the
parade’s after-party, called Blizzardfest, has been moved to Sunday afternoon and will take place outdoors at a local brewpub. On Saturday afternoon, it was still snowing heavily in Tahoe City. But Katie Biggers, executive director of the Tahoe City Downtown Association, still expects a good turnout.
“Tahoe locals always show up,” she said. “They’re all pretty rugged.”
Grocery store shoppers are noticing something amiss. Air-filled bags of chips. Shrunken soup cans. Diminished detergent packages.
Companies are downsizing products without downsizing prices, and consumer posts from Reddit to TikTok to The New York Times comments section drip with indignation at the trend, widely known as “shrinkflation.”
The practice isn’t new. Sellers have been quietly shrinking products to avoid raising prices for centuries, and experts think it has been an obvious corporate strategy since at least 1988, when Chock Full o’Nuts cut its 1-pound coffee canister to 13 ounces and its competitors followed suit.
But outrage today is acute. President Joe Biden tapped into the angst in a recent video. (“What makes me the most angry is that ice cream cartons have actually shrunk in size, but not in price,” he lamented.) Companies themselves are blasting the practice in marketing gimmicks. One Canadian chain unveiled a growflation pizza. (“In pizza terms,” the company’s news release quipped, “a larger slice of the pie.”)
But how does shrinkflation work, economically? Is it happening more often in the United States, and if so, does that mean official data are failing to capture the true extent of inflation? Below is an explainer of the trend — and what it means for your wallet.
Shrinkflation was rampant in 2016.
It might be hard to believe, but shrinkflation appears to be happening less often today than it was a few years ago.
The government adjusts official inflation data to account for product downsizing, and the data collectors who monitor for size adjustments caught fewer instances of shrinking
household goods and groceries in 2023 than a few years earlier.
Downsizing was frequent in 2016, when overall inflation was low. It became rarer after the start of the pandemic in 2020, and more recently it has begun returning to pre-pandemic levels, analysts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. (The economists noted that the set of products being measured changed somewhat over the years, making comparisons across time more a rough approximation than an exact science.)
But the magnitude for some products is more extreme now.
Even if downsizing is not happening as often, shrinkflation today is having a big impact in a few key categories, including sweets, detergent and toilet paper.
From 2019-23, shrinkage added about 3.6 percentage points to inflation for products like paper towels and toilet paper, up from 1.2 percentage points from 2015-19. Shrinkflation has also contributed more heavily to price increases in both candy and cleaning products in recent years.
For snacks, shrinking sizes added 2.6 percentage points to inflation, roughly in line with how much they contributed from 2015-19. The
government has not yet released an analysis on how much shrinkflation contributed to overall inflation from 2019-23.
While ‘shrinkflation’ gets measured, ‘skimpflation’ does not.
Shrinking itself is captured in official inflation data, but another sneaky force that costs consumers is getting missed in the statistics. Companies sometimes use cheaper materials to save on costs in a practice some call “skimpflation.” That is much harder for the government to measure.
If your paper towel roll costs the same but you’re getting fewer sheets — shrinkflation — that shows up clearly as a unit cost increase that is added to official inflation. If your paper towels are the same size but are suddenly made of worse material — skimpflation — the government does not record that as inflation.
In fact, food and household products broadly are not directly adjusted for quality changes other than size and weight, government statisticians said. So if your microwave dinner brand starts using vegetable instead of olive oil, or if your formerly resealable package loses its zipper, that won’t show up.
Companies do this because it works.
Companies choose to shrink their pro -
ducts rather than charge more for a simple reason: Consumers often pay more attention to prices than sizes.
When quantity goes down, “people might notice, but often, they don’t,” said John Gourville, a professor at Harvard Business School. “You don’t get sticker shock.”
In one famous example, Dannon used to sell yogurts in larger containers than its competitor Yoplait — 8 ounces versus 6. Consumers were convinced that Dannon’s yogurt was more expensive, not picking up on the fact that it was simply bigger. Eventually, Gourville said, the company caved and shrank its packaging.
“Sales of Dannon’s yogurt, which declined immediately after the size reduction, have since rebounded,” the Times reported in 2003. “And Dannon is now pocketing a larger profit on every cup of yogurt it sells.”
Not all size changes are created equal. Some can be surreptitious, like increasing the size of an indentation in the bottom of a jar or shaving the corners from a bar of soap. Consumers have a particularly difficult time recognizing size changes when they happen along three dimensions, said Nailya Ordabayeva, an associate professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business who has studied consumer responses.
“The brain is hard-wired to do simpler heuristics,” she explained.
Plus, she noted, consumers might be willing to accept smaller quantities or even prefer them in some cases. Junk food products have at times shrunk to get down calorie counts, for example.
Still, consumers might push back.
When companies are merely looking after their profits — not their consumers — some pricing experts worry that persistent shrinkflation could drive shoppers away.
When raw material costs were climbing and inflation was in the headlines, consumers most likely understood that companies needed to pass some of those increases along. They may even have preferred smaller products to bigger price tags, several experts said.
But now, overall inflation has been cooling: After peaking at 9.1% in July 2022, it had eased to 3.1% as of January. And consumers might be less willing to accept shrinkflation now that firms are facing less severe cost pressures, especially because food company profits have been — and in many cases remain — high.
As fervor for artificial intelligence sweeps Wall Street, some investors are seeking bargains in more conventional areas of the stock market.
Value stocks, typically defined as companies trading at a discount on metrics such as book value or price-to-earnings, have largely been left behind as AI put a charge into their growth-focused peers.
However, gains in some value-heavy sectors such as industrials and materials have accelerated lately. Proponents believe that’s a sign that the rally in the benchmark S&P 500 index is broadening beyond a handful of tech and growth names.
“There’s clearly an investment case for value stocks over the long term,” said Que Nguyen, chief investment officer of equities at Research Affiliates. “These companies are still very, very cheap and many of them have already gone through the difficult process of restructuring their businesses and balance sheets.”
The S&P 500 is up 7.7% in 2024 and stands at a record high. The S&P 500 Value Index is up 3.3% year-to-date, lagging the 11.6% gain in the S&P 500 Growth Index. Yet some valueheavy sector have shown signs of life in recent weeks.
The S&P 500 industrial sector rose 7.1% last month, driven by rallies in General Electric and Howmet Aerospace. The broader index gained 5.8% in that period.
The materials sector gained 6.7% in February, led by Vulcan Materials and Ecolab . Consumer discretionary, home of recent gainers such as Chiptole Mexican Grill and Ralph Lauren, rose nearly 9%.
One major draw: value stocks are relatively cheap compared to the rest of the market. The health care sector trades at 18.9 times forward earnings with energy trading at a 12.2 multiple, much less than the 20.8 forward earnings for the S&P 500 after a rally lifted the benchmark 42% from its October 2022 lows.
Michael Hunstad, Northern Trust Asset Management’s deputy chief investment officer and head of global equities, believes multiples have grown too steep for the S&P 500 and the so-called Magnificent Seven group of growth and technology stocks that have led its rally. Tesla’s drop of nearly 20% this year illustrates how quickly such stocks can reverse, he said.
“We expect to see more risk to the downside for multiples, particularly among the Mag 7,” said Hunstad, who has been increasing his positions in value-focused sectors such as healthcare and energy.
Hunstad also believes value stocks could better weather a prolonged period of elevated interest rates than growth names, as their cash flows are shorter-term and less sensitive to borrowing costs.
While investors still expect the Fed to cut rates this year, they have reduced expectations for how quickly and deeply the central bank will cut rates, as a stronger-than-expected economy could reignite inflation if monetary policy eases too soon.
Next week’s congressional testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell could shed light on policymakers’ views. Investors are also awaiting U.S. employment data next Friday.
Betting against growth stocks has been dangerous over the last decade, when searing rallies in shares of companies such as Apple, Google-parent Alphabet and Meta Platforms led markets higher. The S&P 500 Value index is up about 110% over the last 10 years, compared with a nearly 235% gain in the S&P 500 Growth index.
Broader sentiment toward value has waned, by some measures. A net 13% of fund managers polled by BofA Global Research expect growth stocks to outperform value names over the
next year, the highest conviction level since May 2020.
Still, some strategists argue the productivity gains promised by AI could lift all boats long-term, benefiting value stocks as well as growth shares.
Robert Robotti, chief investment officer of Robotti & Company, believes value stocks are likely to see the largest efficiency gains from adopting AI, bolstering their margins and pushing up valuations. He has increased his stake in industrial and healthcare stocks as a result.
“The application of AI is going to be across the entire company and that’s not limited to the guy selling the chip,” Robotti said. “It’s the guy buying the chip and increasing his efficiency who is going to benefit.”
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — After Altair Jaspe moved from Venezuela to the Colombian capital, Bogotá, she was taken aback by the way she was addressed when she walked into any shop, cafe or doctor’s office.
In a city that was once part of the Spanish empire, she was no longer “señora,” as she would have been called in Caracas, or perhaps, in her younger years, “muchacha” or “chama.” (Venezuelan terms for “girl” or “young woman.”)
Instead, all around her, she was awarded an honorific that felt more fitting for a woman in cape and crown: Your mercy.
Would your mercy like a coffee?
Will your mercy be taking the appointment at 3 p.m.?
Excuse me, your mercy, people told her as they passed in a doorway or elevator.
“It brought me to the colonial era, automatically,” said Jaspe, 63, a retired logistics manager, expressing her initial discomfort with the phrase. “To horses and carts,” she added, “maybe even to slavery.”
“But after living it,” she said, “I understood.”
In most of the Spanish-speaking world, the principal ways to say “you” are the casual “tú” and the formal “usted.” But in Colombia, there is another “you” — “su merced,” meaning, “your mercy,” “your grace” or even “your worship,” and now contracted to the more economical “sumercé.”
(In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, there is yet a different “you” employed — the hypercasual “vos.”)
In Bogotá, a city of 8 million people nestled in the Andes Mountains, “sumercé” is ubiquitous, deployed not just by taxi drivers and shopkeepers to attend to clients (”How can I help your mercy?”), but also by children to refer to parents, parents to refer to children, and (sometimes with tender irony) even by husbands, wives and lovers to refer to each other (“Would your mercy pass the salt?” or “Your mercy, what do you think, should I wear these pants today?”).
It is used by the young and old, by urbanites and rural transplants, by Bogotá’s most recent past mayor (“Trabaje juiciosa, sumercé!” — “Get to work, your mercy!” — she was once caught on camera yelling at a street vendor), and even
Bogotá, Colombia’s central plaza, where one is likely to be greeted by vendors as “your mercy,” on Feb. 21, 2024. In parts of Colombia the term has come to signify respect and affection. (Nathalia Angarita/The New York Times)
by the front woman for one of the country’s best-known rock bands, Andrea Echeverri of Aterciopelados.
The Spanish founded Bogotá in 1538 after a brutal conquest of the Indigenous Muisca people, and the city soon became a center of colonial power.
“Sumercé” is indeed a relic of that era, and scholars have documented its use as a sign of courtesy in institutional relationships (a letter from the governor of Cuba to the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1518); a sign of respect in families (one brother-in-law to another in 1574); and, in particular, as a sign of servitude from slaves or servants to their masters.
But modern-day advocates of “sumercé” say its current popularity lies in the fact that it has lost that hierarchical edge, and today signifies respect and affection, not reverence or a distinction of social class.
Jaspe said she eventually came to see “sumercé” as a casual term of endearment, as in “Sumercé, qué bonito le queda ese sombrero” (“Your mercy, how lovely that hat looks on you”).
After Colombia gained its independence from the Spanish in the early 1800s, “sumercé” hung on in the department of Boyacá, a lush agricultural region in central Colombia, just north of Bogotá.
“tú.”
Eventually, “sumercé” migrated south along with many Boyacenses, to Bogotá, becoming as much a part of the lexicon of central Colombia as “bacano” (cool), “chévere” (cool, too), “parce” (friend), “paila” (difficult), “qué pena” (sorry) and “dar papaya” (literally, “give papaya,” but more figuratively, “act oblivious,” as in “Your mercy, don’t act oblivious in the street; you’ll get robbed!”).
For the most part, “your mercy” has remained a feature of central Colombia and is rarely used on the country’s coasts, where “tú” is more common, or in cities such as Cali (“vos”) and Medellín (“tu,” “usted” and sometimes “vos.”)
But in the capital and its surroundings, “sumercé” is emblazoned on hats, pins and T-shirts and incorporated into the names of restaurants and markets. It is the title of a new documentary about Colombian environmental activists. And it is celebrated in songs, podcasts and Colombian Spanish lessons across Spotify and YouTube.
“At this point, it marks no social class,” said Andrea Rendón, 40, of Bogotá. “We are all sumercé.”
A recently released music video, “Sumercé,” by rapper Wikama Mc, embodies the folk-cool status the phrase has achieved.
In a house party scene that could be set almost anywhere in the Colombian Andes, the artist sports a ruana while celebrating the “Colombian flow” of the female object of his affection, who he brags “dances carranga” — folk music popularized by Velosa — and also reggaeton, modern party beats popularized by international megacelebrities such as J. Balvin.
“Talk to me straight, sumercé,” he raps, before offering his girlfriend a cordial tip of his traditional felt hat.
The song has attracted more than 18,000 views since it was uploaded to YouTube in December. Impressive, considering the artist has 500 followers on the platform.
Echeverri linked her use of the phrase to a punk aesthetic, which seeks a “horizontal” relationship with everyday people. (In a recent video interview, she used it to draw the program’s host closer, speaking of a remake of one of “those songs that maybe your mercy has heard so many times.”)
Sumercé, she explained in a separate interview, “is affectionate, but also respectful.”
Jorge Velosa, a singersongwriter and famous voice of Boyacá (he once played New York’s Madison Square Garden in the region’s traditional wool poncho, known as a ruana), recalled that in his childhood home, “sumercé” was how he and his siblings referred to their mother, and their mother to referred to them.
“Sumercé,” he said, was a sort of middle ground between the stiff “usted” — used only in his house as a preamble to a scolding — and the almost overly casual
Not everyone sees it that way, of course. Carolina Sanín, a well-known writer, has criticized those who argue that “sumercé” is so ubiquitous in Colombia that it should be embraced, uncritically, as a cultural norm.
Even in a region known for its pronounced inequality, Colombia’s class divisions remain particularly entrenched. It takes the average poor Colombian 11 generations to reach the national median income, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, two more than in Brazil, three more than in Chile and five more than in Argentina.
Decades of violence have reinforced these barriers, allowing a small group to amass capital and territory. To some, “sumercé” can feel like a perpetuation or even a celebration of these hierarchical relationships.
“Not paying into the social system and accumulating land have also been referred to as ‘our custom,’” Sanín wrote on Twitter.
Israel’s reluctance to fill the current leadership vacuum in the northern Gaza Strip formed the backdrop to the chaos that led to the deaths Thursday of dozens of Palestinians on the Gaza coast, analysts and aid workers have said.
More than 100 were killed and 700 injured, Gaza health officials said, after thousands of hungry civilians rushed at a convoy of aid trucks, leading to a stampede and prompting Israeli soldiers to fire at the crowd.
The immediate causes of the chaos were extreme hunger and desperation: The United Nations has warned of a looming famine in northern Gaza, where the incident occurred. Civilian attempts to ambush aid trucks, Israeli restrictions on convoys and the poor condition of roads damaged in the war have made it extremely difficult for food to reach the roughly 300,000 civilians still stranded in that region, leading the United States and others to airdrop aid instead.
But analysts say this dynamic has been exacerbated by Israel’s failure to set in motion a plan for how the north will be governed.
While southern Gaza is still an active conflict zone, fighting has mostly ebbed in the north of the enclave. The Israeli military defeated the bulk of Hamas’ fighting forces there by early January, leading Israeli soldiers to withdraw from parts of the north.
Now, those areas lack a centralized body to coordinate the provision of services, enforce law and order and protect aid trucks. To prevent Hamas from rebuilding itself, Israel has prevented police officers from the Hamas-led prewar government from escorting the trucks. But Israel has also delayed the creation of any alternative Palestinian law enforcement.
Aid groups have only a limited presence, with the U.N. still assessing how to increase its operations there. And Israel has said it will retain indefinite military control over the territory, without specifying exactly what that will mean on a day-to-day basis.
“This tragic event reflects how Israel has no long-term, realistic strategy,” said Michael Milstein, an analyst and a former Israeli intelligence official. “You can’t just take over Gaza City, leave, and then hope that something positive will grow there. Instead, there’s chaos.”
Since Israel invaded Gaza in October, following the Hamas-led attacks that devastated southern Israel earlier that month, Israeli politicians have debated and disagreed about how Gaza should be governed once the war winds down, a period that they describe as “the day after.”
Israeli soldiers on patrol during an escorted tour for journalists in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. More than 100 people were killed and 700 injured last Thursday, Gaza health officials said, after thousands of hungry Palestinian civilians rushed at a convoy of aid trucks, leading to a stampede and prompting Israeli soldiers to fire at the crowd. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)
In northern Gaza, that moment has essentially already arrived.
When U.N. officials toured the area last week to assess the damage there, they did not coordinate their visit with Hamas because it no longer exerts widespread influence in the north, according to Scott Anderson, the deputy Gaza director for UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza.
Reports have emerged of some Hamas members trying to reassert order in certain neighborhoods. But aside from limited services at several hospitals, Anderson said he saw no sign of civil servants or municipal officials. Uncollected trash and sewage lined the streets, he said.
“The leadership in Gaza is underground, literally or figuratively, and there is no structure in place to fill that void,” Anderson said in a phone interview from Gaza. “That creates a prevailing aura of desperation and fear,” which makes events like the disaster Thursday more likely, he said, adding, “It’s very frustrating and difficult to coordinate things when there’s nobody to coordinate with.”
Video has emerged of armed groups attacking convoys, and diplomats say criminal gangs are beginning to fill the void left by Hamas’ absence.
Without any plan, “the vacuum will either be filled by chaos and lawless gangs and criminals,” said Ahmed Fouad Khatib, an American commentator on Gaza affairs who was brought up in Gaza, “or by Hamas, which will manage
to reemerge and attempt to reconstitute.”
Power vacuums are inevitable after most wars. But critics of the Israeli government say the vacuum in northern Gaza is worse than it could have been because Israeli leaders don’t agree about what should happen next.
The country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, released a plan in late February that suggested that “the administration of civilian affairs and the enforcement of public order will be based on local stakeholders with managerial experience.” But beyond noting that these administrators could not be affiliated with “countries or entities that support terrorism,” Netanyahu gave no further details.
His plan was so vague that it was interpreted as an attempt to postpone a looming decision about whether to prioritize the goals of his domestic political base or those of Israel’s strongest foreign ally, the United States.
Vocal parts of Netanyahu’s right-wing base are pushing aggressively for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza, nearly two decades after Israel removed them. Such a plan would necessitate longterm Israeli control over the territory, making it impossible to reestablish Palestinian governance there.
Conversely, the United States and other Western powers and Arab states are
pushing for Palestinian leaders in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to be allowed to run Gaza, as part of a process toward creating a Palestinian state spread across both territories.
Pulled between those two contradictory paths, Netanyahu has opted for neither.
“He’s trying all kinds of maneuvers to keep his government calm,” said Milstein, the former intelligence official. “Because of all the tensions and all the problematic configurations in his government, he cannot take any real dramatic decision.”
The office of Netanyahu declined to comment for this article.
Nadav Shtrauchler, a former strategist for Netanyahu, dismissed concerns about Netanyahu’s strategy.
lan in his head, they’re wrong: He has a plan,” Shtrauchler said. “I think he has two plans. But I’m not sure which one he will choose in the end, and I’m not sure he knows.”
For now, Netanyahu is using the ambiguity to postpone inevitable confrontations with both his right-wing coalition allies and the United States for as long as possible, Shtrauchler and other analysts said.
Israeli officials have spoken of empowering clans in different pockets of Gaza to keep the peace in their immediate neighborhoods and protect aid supplies. But the plan is unproven and foreign diplomats are skeptical about its effectiveness.
Some Palestinians and foreign leaders say that several thousand former police officers from the Palestinian Authority, the body that ran Gaza until being pushed out by Hamas in 2007, could be retrained to fill the void. Others suggest that Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan could send a peacekeeping force to support the authority’s policemen.
In the meantime, “the Palestinians who stayed in the north of Gaza are starving to death,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor from Gaza City. “And basically, they are trying to find food in any possible way.”
Kenya and Haiti signed a security deal late last week intended to remove the last major obstacle to the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to the gangravaged Caribbean nation.
President William Ruto of Kenya said that after months of delays the agreement would “enable the fast-tracking” of a security mission that has stirred cautious hopes in Haiti, where violence is escalating, but has drawn sharp criticism from Kenyan rights groups.
The mission, backed by the United Nations and largely financed by the United States, has been on hold since January when a Kenyan court ruled the deployment illegal because Kenya and Haiti had not signed a formal reciprocal agreement.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti flew to Kenya to finalize such an agreement — even as violent gangs were rampaging through the streets of his own capital, Port-au-Prince, pressing for his ouster.
The benefits to Kenya of leading a security mission to Haiti, one of the world’s most violent and chaotic nations, are unclear. Kenya’s own police have a poor human rights record and the country faces major security challenges on its own borders, in countries including Somalia and Ethiopia.
But in a statement accompanying Friday’s announcement, Ruto insisted his country had a “historic duty” to press ahead because “peace in Haiti is good for the world as a whole.”
He did not provide the text of the agreement, nor did he indicate how quickly Kenyan police officers might deploy to Haiti. There was no immediate reaction from Kenya’s High Court, which had insisted on an agreement in its ruling on the deployment.
In Haiti itself, a new round of destabilizing
say the plan is unconstitutional and inappropriate. Human rights groups say Kenyan police have a long record of human rights abuses and a poor record in fighting terrorism, which they say does not augur well for the Haiti deployment.
But many analysts say the deployment appears to be part of a drive by Ruto to burnish his global credentials, and to strengthen his alliance with the United States, even as he faces mounting discontent at home over a severe economic downturn.
Henry came to power following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse three years ago, which plunged the country into extraordinary levels of chaos. It also prompted many Haitians to abandon their homeland, contributing to a surge of migrants into the United States.
Since Kenya announced it was willing to send security forces last summer, the situation has grown more chaotic. At least 230 people were killed in February alone as gangs battled for control of territory. The rule of law has largely collapsed: Last month, a 13-year-old girl and her father, a voodoo priest, were killed with machetes by gang members.
violence highlighted why the United States and other nations are clamoring for an international mission to rescue the island nation from the violent gangs that dominate it — even if many of those nations do not themselves want to commit troops to the effort.
On Thursday, the armed gangs that control much of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, launched coordinated attacks they said were intended to overthrow the government while Henry was traveling in Africa.
At least four police officers were killed in violence that included attacks on the interna-
tional airport and several police stations. Businesses, government offices and schools were forced to close. Gang members later boasted on social media about the police casualties they had inflicted.
Jimmy Chérizier, a gang leader known as “Barbecue,” said he wanted to prevent Henry from returning to Haiti. “With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country,” he said in a video message.
Henry tried to shrug off the threats. Speaking at a university in Nairobi on Friday, he vowed to hold elections as soon as possible to stabilize the country. “We need democratic governance in order to have people to come and invest in Haiti,” he said.
But back home, Haitian gangs appeared to be sending an “intimidation message” to show that they had formed a united front and “can strike simultaneously,” said Diego Da Rin, a Haiti expert with the International Crisis Group.
Kenya announced the mission to Haiti last summer and by October it had been authorized by both the United Nations and the Kenyan parliament. The United States is providing at least $200 million for the mission, and several Caribbean and African nations have pledged troops to bolster the Kenya-led effort.
But Ruto is proceeding in the face of staunch opposition from Kenyan critics who
Days later, a gang opened fire on a crowded minibus after the driver refused to comply with orders at a checkpoint known as a place where criminals seek to extort civilians.
More broadly, the country is on the verge of collapse. Most basic services are not functioning, under pressure from gang violence and a succession of natural disasters. About 45% of the population needs food aid to survive, according to the United Nations, which this week appealed for $674 million in humanitarian aid for Haiti.
“I’ve seen things here that I’ve never seen in my life,” Ulrika Richardson, the U.N. chief humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, told reporters Wednesday.
With Haitian police unable to quell the unrest, Henry called for international help. Alongside Kenya, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Chad and Benin have pledged troops for the mission, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Thursday.
But Henry’s own legitimacy is shaky, and he has faced regular demands to resign or hold new elections. In such tenuous circumstances, it is unclear how much a Kenya-led force might achieve.
While the United States has provided the bulk of the money for the international security mission, a U.N. trust fund for other contributions has received a lackluster response, with about $11 million committed so far, and another $78 million expected soon, Dujarric said.
When the United States and its Middle Eastern allies went to war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, there was nothing clean or surgical about the campaign.
Retaking Mosul from the militant group’s fighters, a struggle that ran from the fall of 2016 through the following summer, left between 9,000 and 11,000 inhabitants of the city dead, according to an Associated Press report, with about a third killed by the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi air bombardments. Many of those victims were simply described as “crushed” in the subsequent medical reports.
In 2021, my colleagues at this newspaper reported on a U.S. strike cell that “launched tens of thousands of bombs and missiles against the Islamic State in Syria,” but also “sidestepped safeguards and repeatedly killed civilians,” at a rate 10 times that of similar air warfare in Afghanistan.
When Western journalists reached Raqqa in Syria, the Islamic State’s de facto capital, in the fall of 2018, they found a “wasteland of war-warped buildings and shattered concrete” (to quote an NPR report), in which as many as 80% of the city’s structures were destroyed or
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Telephones:
uninhabitable.
These features of the war were widely reported, and the military strategies involved were subsequently criticized. But there was no mass movement against an American-led “genocide” in the region, no equivalent of the current rage against the Israeli campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, no self-immolations in front of the White House on behalf of the innocents dead in Raqqa or Mosul.
This difference informs one understandable response from Israelis and friends of Israel to any sweeping criticism of the Jewish state’s military campaign in Gaza. It’s not just that, from their perspective, the world and the Western media generally ignore all manner of crises, aggressions and actual campaigns of ethnic cleansing in order to make Israel a special enemy and scapegoat. It’s that the world is fine with a clear equivalent of its current campaign — with American arms supporting a grinding war against a fanatical Islamist movement, leaving cities leveled and thousands dead — so long as the fanatical movement killed Christians, Yazidis and Muslims.
But if an Islamist organization slaughters and rapes and kidnaps Jews, as Hamas did on Oct. 7, then (they argue) a new standard drops: The rules of engagement are suddenly much stricter, you can’t demand unconditional surrender, you need a cease-fire now.
This complaint captures an essential feature of the current situation: Israel sits at an intersection point for various ideologies: not just overt antisemitism but also the wider anti-whiteness and anti-colonial discourse on the left that treat it as presumptively guilty, no matter what its enemies might do.
But in the analogy to the campaign against the Islamic State you can also see the moral problem for the Israeli effort, which has not yet been resolved by five months of war. In the former conflict, the United States wasn’t just trying to remove a terrorist organization from power; it was cooperating with allies and regional powers — Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian — that had legitimate claims to the territory that the Islamic State had seized and conquered.
This was more true in Iraq than in Syria, and this being the Middle East, there was nothing especially clean about the various claims and claimants. But it was always fairly clear that if you could crush the Islamic State, there were plausible political settlements waiting on the other side, rather than a choice between pure chaos and rerunning the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
So far we don’t know if Israel can similarly crush Hamas, and we definitely don’t know what will happen if it does. In recent days The Wall Street Journal published a long reported piece highlighting Hamas’ losses but also its resilience, its continued hope “to emerge from the
rubble of Gaza after the war, declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel’s firepower, and claim the leadership of the Palestinian national cause.” Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government just released a one-page sheet of principles for the war’s aftermath that, to put it charitably, suggests that Israel isn’t anywhere close to figuring out how Gaza would be sustainably governed should Hamas be fully dismantled and defeated.
The justice or injustice of wars can be argued in advance, but it’s often only apparent in their endgames. That’s when you find out if righteous intentions are matched by the means to bring them to fruition, if the inevitable suffering was worth the objective gained.
War can be more or less hellish, but there is an unrefinable aspect to any attempt to dismantle a dug-in terrorist regime governing densely populated cities. In that sense, much of Israel’s war — the strategy, if not always the specific tactics — is what a justifiable campaign against such an enemy inevitably looks like.
But its friends should recognize that without a path to victory and peace, a war can be justifiable and still end up not being just.
SAN JUAN – La delegación del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) en la Cámara de Representantes ha radicado sobre 88 medidas, 46 de estas exclusivamente para proveer mayor seguridad a la mujer en casos de violencia doméstica. De esa cantidad, unas 30 fueron sometidas por las representantes Lourdes Ramos, Yahsira Lebrón y Wanda Del Valle.
“Marzo es designado como el Mes de la Mujer, un reconocimiento a la importancia que tiene el rol de la mujer en la sociedad, el cual es indispensable. Desde que inició el cuatrienio, la delegación del PNP en la Cámara de Representantes ha sido bien proactiva en atender la violencia doméstica con medidas de impacto directo. Agradezco a las representantes Lourdes Ramos, Yahsira Lebrón y Wanda Del Valle que han liderado el esfuerzo radicando proyectos de ley y resoluciones enfocados en brindar mayor seguridad a las víctimas de este terrible mal social”, dijo el Portavoz de la delegación, Carlos ‘Johnny’ Méndez.
“En el asunto de violencia doméstica, la compañera Wanda Del Valle, en un esfuerzo que también estuvo presente el representante Ángel Peña, radicó legislación para hacer obligatorio la imposición de un grillete electrónico
en casos de violencia doméstica. De igual forma trabajamos para concientizar sobre la necesidad de promover la integración de las mujeres con diversidad funcional en todos los aspectos de la sociedad, incluyendo la fuerza trabajadora”, expresó el líder del PNP en la Cámara Baja.
“La fuerza y la dignidad de la mujer son vitales en una sociedad mucho más equitativa e inclusiva. Por eso hemos trabajado creando empoderamiento e igualdad salarial a través del Maletín Empresarial, en apoyo a la red de albergues, protegiendo los derechos de la mujer trabajadora y de la jubilada, como en las iniciativas del Caucus Legislativo de la Mujer. No nos rendiremos jamás hasta que esta gesta de mujeres libres y valientes, también libere a nuestro pueblo de las cadenas del machismo, de la desigualdad y la marginación. Estamos de pie en esta lucha y solo de pie, seremos iguales y poderosas”, mencionó Ramos.
Los legisladores novoprogresista han radicado medidas para crear un rótulo de permiso para estacionamiento a mujeres en estado de gestación (Wilson Roman, Proyecto de la Cámara [PC] 941 y Joel Franqui con el PC 1679), para establecer el ‘Fondo Rotativo para la Autogestión en Comunidades Especiales y las Mujeres en Desventaja Económica’ (Yazzer Morales, PC 890), desarrollar una certificación escolar contra el abuso y violencia domésti-
ca (José ‘Che’ Pérez, PC 1566), entre otras.
“Continuaremos trabajando arduamente para atender las necesidades de nuestras mujeres en todas las facetas. Para nosotros el asunto de la vivienda accesible es uno de los más importantes, y hacia esa línea estamos trabajando”, mencionó Lebrón.
Entre otras medidas se encuentra la Resolución de la Cámara 247, suscrita también por legisladores de varias delegaciones, la cual evalúa el uso de los fondos públicos asignados a entidades sin fines de lucro que trabajan con casos de violencia doméstica.
– Como parte de su objetivo de promover el desarrollo económico de la ciudad y de la Región Centro Oriental de Puerto Rico, la Administración Municipal de Caguas dio la bienvenida a LIFT, operado por el American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII).
“La presencia de LIFT en nuestra ciudad representa un potencial catalizador para el desarrollo económico y tecnológico de Caguas y todo Puerto Rico. Este instituto desempeña un papel fundamental en la promoción de la innovación y la investigación en la manufactura de materiales livianos. Su enfoque de colaboración entre la industria, instituciones académicas y el gobierno creará en nuestra región un entorno propicio para abordar desafíos tecnológicos, acelerar la adopción de tecnologías avanzadas y mejorar la competitividad de nuestras empresas locales. Además, contribuirá a la generación de empleos especializados, fomentando así una fuerza laboral vibrante”, afirmó el alcalde de Caguas, William Miranda Torres, en la resolución que autoriza el arrendamiento de un local municipal a este instituto.
El primer ejecutivo municipal agregó que “LIFT se une
al distrito de innovación de nuestra ciudad compuesto por otras facilidades enfocadas en la innovación, ciencias y tecnología, ubicadas en el centro urbano como: la Escuela Especializada en Ciencias, Matemáticas y Tecnología (CIMATEC), el Centro Criollo de Ciencia y Tecnología (C3Tec), la Iniciativa Tecnológica Centro Oriental y el Business Response and Recovery Center and Incubator que está en construcción”.
El local arrendado comprende un espacio de 28,043 pies cuadrados y está ubicado en el quinto piso del edificio Lincoln Center Plaza. El arrendamiento se estableció por cinco años, pero es renovable por dos términos adicionales de igual cantidad de años y por el tiempo adicional que se identifique como necesario para seguir produciendo resultados positivos para Caguas.
LIFT es una asociación público-privada sin fines de lucro entre la industria, la academia y el gobierno, que sirve como acelerador en el desarrollo e implementación de materiales avanzados, procesos de fabricación, ingeniería de sistemas y capacitación de una fuerza laboral altamente calificada.
Entre sus objetivos está mejorar la eficien-
cia y la competitividad en diversas industrias que sirven al Departamento de Defensa (DOD) de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica. Miranda Torres explicó que, en septiembre del 2023, LIFT se comunicó con la administración municipal y dejó saber su interés de establecer un centro de capacitación profesional en Caguas. “Por tratarse de un asunto de gran beneficio para la ciudad, funcionarios municipales junto al personal de LIFT recorrieron diversas localidades municipales para identificar un espacio que sirviera para los propósitos de la organización”, indicó el alcalde.
For Olga Pericet, flamenco is an invitation: to play and to explore the limits of her imagination onstage. “I like to keep things spontaneous and alive,” she said in an interview from Madrid. Pericet, who comes from a family of flamenco dancers and teachers, has a deep respect for the traditions of the form. But she also finds inspiration in unexpected places, like Quentin Tarantino’s films or the dances of Martha Graham.
“I’m bipolar that way,” she said. “I like to mix it all.”
Flamenco — the music and dance — is steeped in history, its origins arising from the mingling of Roma culture with the cultural melting pot of southern Spain. It is also an art in constant flux, with a flair for reinvention. Over the years the Flamenco Festival, which arrives in New York each spring, has offered a window on its evolution.
This year the festival has three dance programs at City Center, beginning March 8, each invoking a range of associations: to past dance forms, to flamenco auteurs and to the central role of the flamenco guitar. Pericet’s “La Leona” takes its inspiration from a 19th-century guitar prototype that produced the rich, resonant sound we now associate with flamenco music.
The Ballet Nacional de España’s “Invocación” is a largescale ensemble work that looks specifically to the past.
And the “Gala Flamenca” focuses — as it does every year — on the figure of the solo dancer as virtuoso and innovator, endlessly drawing from and adding to tradition. Two performers in the gala will wear the regal bata de cola — a colorful dress associated with traditional flamenco shows — but this time one of them, Manuel Liñán, is a man who has become a specialist in the handling of its voluminous folds. A symbol of tradition meets the fluidity of contemporary selfpresentation.
“This year the festival includes the polar opposites within flamenco,” its creator and director, Miguel Marín, said in a video call from his home in Torrox, on the Costa del Sol. “The past is always a source of inspiration, but sometimes that inspiration is transformed into pure fantasy,” he said.
The festival’s programming — 22 shows scattered over theaters across town — emphasizes the role of the guitar in Spanish music and dance; most will include tributes to Paco de Lucía, the great guitarist, who died in 2014.
The guitar plays a central role in Pericet’s “La Leona,” an intimate show in which she dances alone, accompanied by four male musicians. The title, “La Leona,” or “the lioness,” has a double meaning. The lioness is clearly Pericet, whose potent imagination is revealed in every striking image.
It is also a reference to a guitar created in 1856 by luthier Antonio de Torres, who gave it the name “La Leona.” With its larger dimensions and more rounded shape, Torres’ guitar was able to project a more resonant, or leonine, sound. It became the prototype for the contemporary flamenco guitar.
“I wanted to become the body of that guitar,” Pericet, 48, said, “and to shed light on everything around it and its
Olga Pericet, whose “La Leona” will be a part of Flamenco Festival at City Center, photographed in Madrid, on Feb. 21, 2024. Pericet’s “La Leona” and a dance panorama by Ballet Nacional de España look to the past, with an eye to recovery and invention.(Jordi Terry/The New York Times)
origins, which for me is the origin of flamenco.” Rising from a geyser of pink-hued ruffles, Pericet appears, guitar-shaped cutouts hanging from her limbs and obscuring her face, something like a cross between a popular saint and a surrealist painting.
By the end of the evening she has become one of the musicians, rapping out rhythms on a wooden guitar-shaped board with her hands while drumming with her feet in classic flamenco footwork, or zapateado.
The imagery in this highly personal evening is as fluid as Pericet’s exploration of gender and the body. At one moment she dances with bare breasts; at another, she wears a man’s suit and dances a farruca, a traditionally male dance. Later, she performs a dance with castanets, to 19th-century guitar music.
“I wanted to go forward and backward in time, to mix everything,” Pericet said. “All of these elements, from the past and present, are powerful, and I want to use them all.”
The Ballet Nacional’s “Invocación,” though sprawling and far less personal, also contains an impressive sampling of textures and moods.
The evening is like a living panorama of Spanish dance that begins with the 18th-century escuela bolera — a variant of ballet — and then moves on to the hybrid style developed for 20th-century audiences, and finally to the theatricalized
flamenco dancing of choreographer Mario Maya, who died in 2008. The impression is one of profusion and richness.
The idea, Rubén Olmo, its creator, said on a video call from Madrid, was to “show all the different styles that exist within Spanish dance.”
This visit, the company’s first to New York in five years, is its first under the direction of Olmo, a flamenco dancer and choreographer who took the reins in 2019. (The company was established in 1978, as a repository for Spanish dance.) Olmo, 44, is in many ways a typical example of a contemporary flamenco artist, conservatory-trained, with a long trail of collaborations behind him and the experience of running his own company.
Like Pericet’s, his background goes beyond strict flamenco to other dance forms: from folkloric dances to ballet to the hybrid dance known as danza estilizada, which combines a bit of everything, including the handling of castanets and large, fringed shawls called mantones. “The flamenco dancers of today are dancers first and foremost,” Olmo said, “and then flamenco dancers.”
“A lot of these elements from the past,” he said, speaking of things like the bata de cola and castanets, “have been a little bit lost in presentations of contemporary flamenco, replaced by a more contemporary look and approach.”
Recent flamenco shows have tended to focus on footwork, on the virtuosity of a dancer or on an idea, and to favor dark palettes and moods. “I have no problem with that,” he said, “but at the same time it’s true that Spanish dance and flamenco have a special essence, and it’s important that that essence and identity not be lost.”
As different as these shows may be, they all spring from a sense of ownership of the tradition. The totality of Spanish music and dance lies before these dancers and choreographers, to do with what they like. Liñán re-imagines what a dance in a bata de cola can be; Olmo distills the various strands of Spanish dance in a single solo, which he transfers from his own body to that of a female dancer; Pericet turns herself into the embodiment of Antonio de Torres’ guitar.
This freedom and versatility constitute flamenco’s strength, both for artists like Pericet and for large institutions like the Ballet Nacional. “All the preconceived notions are disappearing,” Marín said. “Ten or 12 years ago, the word flamenco was associated with a series of strict parameters. But now, these artists feel free to use and explore whatever they like.”
Richard Lewis, the stand-up comedian who first achieved fame in the 1970s and ’80s with his trademark acerbic, dark sense of humor, and who later parlayed that quality into an acting career that included movies like “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and a recurring role as himself on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 76.
His publicist, Jeff Abraham, said the cause was a heart attack. Lewis announced last year that he had Parkinson’s disease.
Lewis was among the best-known names in a generation of comedians who came of age during the 1970s and ’80s, marked by a world-weary, sarcastic wit that mapped well onto the urban malaise in which many of them plied their trade.
After finding success as a comedian in New York nightclubs, he became a regular on late-night talk shows, favored as much for his tight routine as for his casual, open affability as an interviewee. He appeared on “Late Night With David Letterman” 48 times.
And he was at the forefront of the boom in stand-up comedy that came with the expansion of cable television in the late 1980s.
Neurotic and self-deprecating, typically dressed all in black, Lewis paced the stages of comedy clubs, hanging his head, pulling at his shock of black hair, riffing on his struggles in life and love. He called himself the “Prince of Pain” and so did his legions of fans.
He came by his art naturally — there was no faking his misery — but also through astute attention to the anxiety-inducing and neurosis-triggering details of everyday life.
“I’m such a madman — I’m so obsessed about the show, but that’s who I am,” he told The New York Observer in 2007. “I’m just so wired by my time onstage, my head is filled with images. It’s terrifying, but it’s also exhilarating. I’ll never not work like this.”
But it wasn’t an act. Part of Lewis’ appeal was his willingness to poke into his own wounds, drawing on his unhappy childhood, his unhappy dating life and his everyday bouts of gaping self-doubt.
If it caused him pain to be so open — and it clearly did — it also fueled his success. He was among the best-known standup comedians of the late 1980s. He played a sold-out show
The comedian and actor Richard Lewis, in Manhattan on Jan. 12, 2009. Lewis, a stand-up comedian who first achieved fame in the 1980s with a trademark acerbic, dark sense of humor, appeared in film and had a recurring role as himself on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died at home in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. He was 76. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times)
at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1989, receiving two standing ovations for 2 1/2 hours of material.
“He didn’t assume a character when he walked up onstage,” Billy Crystal, who came up with Lewis on the New York comedy scene in the 1970s, said in an interview Wednesday. “He just kind of dragged himself up there. It was refreshing. Sometimes you could see audiences just want to say, ‘Slow down. It’s going to be OK.’”
Lewis soon moved into acting. He starred as Marty Gold on the sitcom “Anything but Love,” opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, from 1989 to 1992. The show won him critical and popular acclaim and seemed to signal a move to Hollywood stardom.
But his follow-up show, “Daddy Dearest,” on which he played the son of his fellow comic Don Rickles, was a bomb, and Lewis spent the next several years seeking out bit parts in movies and single-episode roles on TV.
He had a prominent role in Mel Brooks’ comedy “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993), but otherwise he had to settle for small roles in films like “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995) and “Hugo Pool” (1997).
After two years of struggling to get acting roles, he returned to stand-up, traveling the country with his show “Richard Lewis: The Magical Misery Tour,” which was seen as an HBO special in 1996. It brought him new attention from a new generation of comedy fans and a new shot at bit parts in television.
Many of his best TV roles were on shows that shared his dark-tinged, humorous take on the world, like the animated series “The Simpsons” and “BoJack Horseman.”
Lewis was open about his struggles with alcohol, drugs and depression. He became sober in the mid-1990s and wrote about his experience in his 2000 memoir, “The Other Great Depression: How I’m Overcoming, on a Daily Basis, at Least a Million Addictions and Dysfunctions and Finding a Spiritual
(Sometimes) Life.”
He revised the book, with a new foreword, and republished it in 2008. He also wrote “Reflections From Hell: Richard Lewis’ Guide on How Not to Live” (2015).
Beginning in 1999, he had a regular role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as a good friend and golf buddy of Larry David, the show’s star and creator. He played a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a dour Eeyore who made David’s otherwise prickly self seem like Christopher Robin.
Lewis did not appear in every episode, but he appeared regularly, including in the current season, the show’s last.
Richard Philip Lewis was born June 29, 1947, in New York’s Brooklyn borough, in the same hospital as his friend and future co-star, David, and just three days before him. His family soon moved to Englewood, New Jersey. His father, Bill Lewis, owned a kosher catering business, and his mother, Blanche (Goldberg) Lewis, acted in community theater, specializing in the Jewish mother characters in Neil Simon plays.
As Lewis often related in his stand-up act, his family life was troubled. His father was never home and died when Lewis was still young. His mother was emotionally distant, with issues of her own.
“I owe my career to my mother,” he told The Washington Post in 2020. “I should have given her my agent’s commission.”
He attended Ohio State University and, after graduating with a degree in marketing, returned to New Jersey. While trying his hand at comedy at night and writing material for other comedians on the side, he worked day jobs as an advertising copywriter and a clerk at a sporting goods store.
He was miserable. One day he was in a delicatessen with his friend and mentor, comedian David Brenner, complaining about his lack of success — and his lack of sleep.
“He said, ‘What do you need to be a comic full time?’” Lewis told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1995. “I said a thousand dollars. He whipped out a check and gave it to me. I quit my job and I’ve never looked back.”
He made his stand-up debut in 1971, at a club in Greenwich Village in New York, and could be seen for the next decade sharing billings with comics like Jay Leno, Richard Belzer, Elayne Boosler and Robert Klein.
He made his acting debut in 1979, starring in the madefor-TV movie “Diary of a Young Comic,” which appeared on NBC as a fill-in for “Saturday Night Live.”
As his career took off, Lewis moved to Los Angeles, although he returned to his hometown frequently.
“New York is my home turf — I have so many friends in Manhattan,” he told the Observer in 2007. “And, tragically, so many relatives.”
He lived alone in a sprawling house above the Sunset Strip and remained proudly averse to long-term relationships until he met Joyce Lapinsky, who worked in music publishing. They dated for several years before Lewis, considering marriage, brought her to his psychiatrist. “This is as good as it gets,” he often recalled the therapist saying.
They married in 2005. She survives him, along with his brother, Robert.
In an undated image provided by Paxson Woelber, Laura Kottlowski goes Nordic skating in Alaska. When a two-week, high-pressure window of cold, clear weather froze lakes south of Anchorage, adventurous skaters, including a New York Times writer, were ready. (Paxson Woelber via The New York Times)
By ELAINE GLUSACI’d been waiting for months when I finally got the call from Alaska last March: Wild ice was on.
A roughly two-week high-pressure window of cold and clear weather had frozen Portage Lake, the terminus of Portage Glacier, some 50 miles southeast of Anchorage, and it was solid enough to skate on its wild — or natural — ice.
“Skating A-grade ice under a glacier really is a ‘take off work now and just go to it’ type of treat, even for us Alaskans,” said Paxson Woelber, who owns the Anchoragebased skate manufacturer Ermine Skate.
A few months earlier, I had purchased a pair of Ermine Nordic skates, long blades similar to speed skates that affix to the bindings of cross-country ski boots. The compatibility allows skiers to get to remote ice, then switch into blades to skate without changing boots and, as Woelber put it, “get you off the rink.”
While figure and hockey skates are designed for maneuverability, including directional changes and tight turns, Nordic skates are designed for distance. The longer, faster blades require less effort to propel, and their stability makes them more tolerant of natural conditions like bumpy or weedy ice.
But the problem with Nordic skating or any kind of wild skating — which is defined as outdoors and on naturally formed ice, regardless of the style of skate used — is finding good ice. Wild-ice seekers extol late fall and sometimes spring for freezing conditions without snowfall, which degrades ice.
“That’s why it’s so magical: It’s fleeting,” said Laura Kottlowski, a former competitive figure skater based in Golden, Colorado, whom I called in my search for wild ice.
TikTok and Instagram videos of her jumping and spinning on high alpine lakes have gone viral, and Ms. Kottlowski teaches her combination of winter mountaineering and ice skating as Learn to Skate Outside.
Wild ice 101
I’ve been skating outside since childhood, mostly on Midwestern lakes and ponds that I know well. But the kind of wilderness that Kottlowski and Woelber explore requires next-level knowledge of ice and safety gear.
Preparing to skate in the wildest spot of my life, I spent a few hours watching videos in an online class on wild ice ($149) made by Luc Mehl, a swift-water safety instructor who grew up in Alaska and swapped backcountry skiing for skating several years ago as a way to avoid avalanche risks. Based in Anchorage, he has become known for his skate safety training and stunning social me-
dia videos of him and other skaters gliding on remote frozen lakes.
When I reached him via phone to discuss my skating plan, he was just returning from Tustumena Lake on the Kenai Peninsula, where, on an overnight trip, he had crosscountry skied 8 miles to reach the lake and then skated some 50 miles.
“Part of why skating is so rewarding is it’s not a guaranteed thing,” Mehl said. “Because of its rarity, it feels special.”
Skating to a glacier
“Indoor rinks have the ambience of a Costco,” said Woelber as he, Mehl and I set off with Woelber’s fluffy Samoyed dog, Taiga, from Ermine’s workshop in a modest office complex in South Anchorage for Portage Lake the next morning.
There was nothing Costco about Portage, a roughly 5-mile-long lake ringed in snowcapped mountains separated by glacierfilled valleys in the Chugach National Forest. In the bright sun, the clearest sections of ice mirrored the landscape with the addition of a few skaters in the distance.
After carefully hiking down a rocky slope and over some crusty ice near the shore in my cross-country boots, I clicked into my blades. Mehl lent me a set of plasticsheathed ice picks to wear like a necklace, which — should I fall through the ice — I could deploy and use to stab it, creating a grip to haul myself out. He also provided a pole with a sharp tip, known as an ice probe, to test the ice as we went along.
“Two strong stabs from the elbow,”
he demonstrated by jabbing the ice, “and I know it will hold me.”
On an ice scale of A to F, we skated what my guides estimated was clear, black, A-grade ice with B-grade patches that were the texture of an orange peel, and a few C-grade sections of frozen snow. Cracks showed ice depths between 7 and 9 inches; Mehl explained that 4 inches is safe. In the center of the lake, an iceberg was frozen in place, used as an ice slide by local children.
We connected the smoothest stretches as we slalomed toward the glacier, linking unblemished patches of ice so precisely reflective of a nearby mountain that the lake looked as if it had been surfaced by a Zamboni.
Edging right around a thumb of land at the far end of the lake, we faced the looming Portage Glacier, suspended in giant milky blue blocks that rose nearly 10 stories above the frozen lake. After much gaping, we continued to its south face, gazing at a new shade of turquoise ice, shiny and dimpled by the sun.
The next day we had another, in skier’s terms, powder day — meaning perfect, hardto-resist conditions — prompting Mehl to suggest we test out Kenai Lake, a long, deep, zigzagging body of water on the Kenai Peninsula about 100 miles south of Anchorage, which he had heard was newly frozen.
There, below a hanging glacier tucked into a mountainside and beyond the moose tracks in the snow leading to the shore, was ice graded A-plus: smooth as a windless day on water, with surrounding peaks reflected in a sea green, mirrorlike surface.
“Yesterday, we got views,” said Mehl, equally thrilled by the conditions. “Today, ice!”
We could see open water about 100 yards out, but we stayed away from it, testing the ice at occasional cracks. In some areas, small waves looked as if they had frozen in motion. Others rippled gently like sand dunes. As we explored it on a calm, windless day, the lake began talking back in burbles and aquatic belches that Mehl said were nonthreatening, indicating the natural expansion and contraction of the ice. Other times, hairline cracks shot through the ice with a laserlike zing and at least once the lake mimicked a cow mooing, adding aural wonder to our tour.
In October, Mehl began posting social media videos of skating on clear, wild ice on snow-free lakes around Anchorage. But if Kenai Lake was my last wild skate of 2023, at least I slid into the sunset on peak ice.
Cohen noted the sharp decreases in the numbers of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths this winter compared with those in previous years and said a vast majority of hospitalizations had occurred among Americans who did not receive the latest shots.
Vaccination also decreases the chances of long COVID, she added.
The CDC last changed its policy on isolation for those with COVID during the omicron wave two years ago, when record infections ground the nation to a halt. The isolation period was cut to five days from 10.
sternation that it might lead the public to think COVID was no longer a threat. They also worried that without a recommendation to isolate for five days, employers might pressure employees to return to work before they are well.
Little has been done to improve indoor air quality in most places, and wearing masks can be socially uncomfortable for many people, Gounder said.
By APOORVA MANDAVILLIAmericans with COVID or other respiratory infections need not isolate for five days before returning to work or school, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late last week, a striking sign of changing attitudes toward the coronavirus.
People with respiratory illnesses may resume daily activities if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medications and if their symptoms are improving, agency officials said.
Acknowledging that people can be contagious even without symptoms, the
CDC urged those who end isolation to limit close contact with others, wear wellfitted masks, improve indoor air quality and practice good hygiene, like washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes, for five days.
The guidelines apply to COVID, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, among other respiratory ailments, which should make it easier for people to comply, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the CDC’s director, told reporters Friday.
“Our goal here is to continue to protect those at risk for severe illness while also reassuring folks that these recommendations are simple, clear, easy to understand and can be followed,” she said.
The agency is unifying the recommendation for respiratory illnesses because the symptoms are often hard to tell apart, the viruses spread in much the same way, and they can be prevented with similar strategies, said Dr. Brendan Jackson, who leads the agency’s respiratory virus response team.
Some outside experts applauded that change. “I think that makes a lot of sense, because people are not testing,” said Dr. Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center and editor at large for public health at KFF Health News.
“If you don’t know which virus you have, how are you supposed to follow the right guidance for COVID versus flu versus RSV versus the common cold virus?” she said.
Even as the agency was considering the change, some experts expressed con -
“This is again putting a lot of burden on the individual to do the right thing by public health,” she said. Making masks affordable and providing them in public spaces and workplaces would help people follow the new guidelines, she added.
Raynard Washington, public health director of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, said it was important that officials continued to emphasize that COVID still posed serious risks for many people.
Still, “having a streamlined, consolidated guidance across the respiratory viral portfolio will allow us to be able to do public health on the ground at the state and federal level, to send a very clear message to people,” he said.
The recommendations are for the general public and do not apply to health care settings or nursing homes.
Washington urged Americans to always consider that there may be people around them who are at high risk from a coronavirus infection.
“It’s not like people have on a sign that says, ‘I’m immunocompromised,’” he said.
subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 14 de febrero de 2024.
Miguel A. Torres Ayala, Alguacil Auxiliar Placa 560.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. CARMEN MILAGROS
MEDINA RODRIGUEZ
COMO MIEMBRO CON
INTERES DE LA SUCN DE MARIA MARTELINA
RODRIGUEZ LUCCA Y OTROS
Demandado(a)
JUAN C FORTUÑO FAS
JCFORTUNO@FORTUNO-LAW.COM
Caso Núm. : PO2023CV01093 (Salón 406 - CIVIL SUPERIOR)
Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA
POR EDICTO
A: BRENDA CORCHADO
T/C/C BRENDA CORCHADO MEDINA
T/C/C BRYAN CORCHADO MEDINA, JOSE
CESPEDES T/C/C JOSE
CESPEDES MEDINA
T/C/C JOE CESPEDES
T/C/C JOE CESPEDES
MEDINA; NILSA
CESPEDES MEDINA
T/C/C NILSA CESPEDES COMO HEREDEROS
CONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE ALICIA
MEDINA RODRIGUEZ; FULANO DE TAL
Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS O TERCEROS CON INTERES DE LA SUCESION DE MARIA
MARTELINA RODRIGUEZ
LUCCA T/C/C MARIA
M. RODRIGUEZ LUCCA
T/C/C MARIA RODRIGUEZ
LUCAS Y LA SUCESION DE ALICIA MEDINA
RODRIGUEZ
(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)
EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 22 DE DICIEMBRE 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 29 de febrero de 2024. En PONCE, Puerto Rico, el 29 de febrero de 2024. CARMEN G TIRU QUIÑONES, Secretaria.
MARIELLY FELIX RIVERA, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA.
ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC
Demandante v. RAFAEL B LOPEZ
Demandado(a)
Caso Núm.: SJ2023CV05426 (CIVIL 406). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. GABRIEL ANTONIO RAMOS COLÓN GABRIEL.RAMOS@ORF-LAW.COM
A: RAFAEL B. LOPEZ (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 26 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 CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 26 de FEBRERO de 2024.
KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, Secretario(a). f/KEILA GARCIA SOLIS, Secretario(a) Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMON.
FINANCE OF AMERICA LLC
Demandante V.
MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUES PIÑEIRO T/C/C
MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUEZ PIÑEIRO T/C/C
MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUEZ PNERO T/C/C
MARIA PLUGUEZ DE LOZADA T/C/C MARIA
PLUGUEZ (FALLECIO) Y OTROS
Demandado(a) YADIRA LOPEZ GONZALEZ YADIRA.LOPEZ17@HOTMAIL.COM
Caso Núm. : TB2023CV00045 (Salón 501) Sobre: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO
A: ANGEL LUIS LOZADA
PLUGUES COMO
MIEMBRO DE LA SUCN DE ANGEL LUIS
LOZADA RAMIREZ Y DE LA SUCN DE MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUES PIÑEIRO, FULANO DE TAL COMO
MIEMBRO DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE ANGEL
LUIS LOZADA RAMIREZ Y MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUES PIÑEIRO, SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBRO DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE ANGEL
LUIS LOZADA RAMIREZ Y MARIA DE LOS ANGELES
PLUGUES PINEIRO.
(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)
EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 14 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 28 de febrero de 2024. En BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 28 de febrero de 2024. LAURA I SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria. FIXIA CORDOVA CHINEA, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN
RAMON MELLA
FERRERAS, SU ESPOSA FIOLDALINA MATOS Y
LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Demandantes V. CRUZ TOLEDO REYES Y OTROS
Demandados
CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2023CV08944
SALA: 505 SOBRE: ACCIÓN CIVIL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NORTEAMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.
A: SR. JOSÉ LUIS
TOLEDO RIVERA, SR. JUAN ALBERTO TOLEDO RIVERA, SRA. SONIA NOEMÍ TOLEDO RIVERA, SRA. MARÍA MARGARITA
TOLEDO REYES, SR. JUAN ANTONIO TOLEDO REYES, SRA. LUZ CELENIA TOLEDO Y SR. VICTOR MANUEL TOLEDO CABALLERO
POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a 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), a 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 a 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, entiende que procede. Joseph G. Cepeda Acosta Nombre del (de la) abogado de la parte demandante, o de la parte, si no tiene representación legal 22,752 Número ante el Tribunal Supremo, si es abogado(a) P.O. Box 1980-341 Loíza, Puerto Rico 00772 Dirección. Teléfono 787-900-5117 Número de teléfono; número de fax. Lcdo.cepeda@gmail.com Correo electrónico. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 20 de febrero de 2024. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. Michelle Rivera Ríos, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS
CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC
Demandante V. CRUZ MELÉNDEZ
ANDINO T/C/C CRUZ MELÉNDEZ AQUINO POR SI Y COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESIÓN
Demandado(a) GENEVIEVE LOPEZ STIPES
LCDA.GLOPEZ@GMAILCOM
CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES PO BOX 195387 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 00919-5387.
ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’ S OFFICE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO TORRE CHARDÓN, SUITE
1201 350 CARLOS CHARDÓN AVE.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 00918
CASO NÚM. : JU2023CV00140
(SALÓN 705) SOBRE: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: CRUZ MELÉNDEZ
ANDINO T/C/C CRUZ
MELÉNDEZ AQUINO POR
SI Y COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA TERESA COLÓN COLÓN; Y LA SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA TERESA COLÓN COLÓN, COMPUESTA
POR SAMUEL ANTONIO
MELÉNDEZ COLÓN, CRUZ MELÉNDEZ
COLÓN, SANDRA IVETTE
MELÉNDEZ COLÓN, LUIS ENRIQUE MELÉNDEZ
COLÓN, FULANO DE TAL
Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS
(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 23 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 Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 26 de febrero de 2024. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. F/Marta E. Donate Resto, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN
CASCADE FUNDING
MORTGAGE TRUSTHB2 Demandante, V. LA SUCESIÓN DE GLADYS MARTÍNEZ
PASTRANA, también conocida como GLADYS EMILY MARTÍNEZ y como GLADYS EMILIA MARTÍNEZ, compuesta por LESLIE MARTÍNEZ
SÁNCHEZ, ISAÍAS
MARTÍNEZ OLIVENCIA, FULANO DE TAL y FULANA DE TAL como posibles herederos desconocidos con interés en la Sucesión; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES, Demandados
CIVIL NUM. SJ2023CV00584
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: La Parte Demandada, al (a la) Secretario(a) de Hacienda de Puerto Rico y al Público General: Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, 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 San Juan, el 1 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: URBANA: Residential Apartment number C dash seven (C-7) of irregular shape located in Miramar Towers Condominium in Hernández and
Las Palmas Street of the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a total prívate area of one thousand two hundred two point fifty five (1,202.55) square foot equivalent to one hundred eleven point seventy two (111.72) square meters being its lineal measurements forty six feet zero inches (46’0”) in its longest dimension by twenty seven feet three inches (26’3”) in its widest dimension which includes; floyer two closets, livingdining room, kitchen, two (2) bathrooms, three (3) bedrooms with closets, balcony, linen closet, storage closet, hall; bounding by the NORTH: with the water meter room an apartment number D dash seven (D-7); by the SOUTH, with apartment number B dash seven (B-7); by the EAST, with exterior yard; by the WEST, with a common laundry, the water meter room and a common corridor. This apartment has one entrance door with acces from and exit to the principal corridor of seventh floor of the building which connects or communicates the apartment with the elevators and the stairs through which it has access from and exit to the public thoroughfare. Le corresponde una participación equivalente a punto cero cero seis tres dos por ciento (.0063 2% ). Consta inscrita al folio 206 del tomo 207 de Santurce Sur, finca número 6,390, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Primera de San Juan. Propiedad localizada en: Apt. 7-C Hernández Street, Miramar Towers Condo., San Juan, PR00907. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por cargas posteriores o preferentes a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Reverse Mortgage securing a note in favor of Toe Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or its order, in the original principal amount of $270,000.00, plus 5.560% annual interest, due on July 27, 2097, pursuant to deed number 272, issued in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on June 1, 2010, before notary María G. Mouriño, and recorded at page 155 of volume 385 of Santurce Sur, property number 6,390, 8th inscription. Order of Attachment dated August 6, 2019, issued by the First lnstance Court of Puerto Rico, Section of San Juan, in the civil case number KCM2015-8758, by the Board of Owners of Miramar Tower Condominium, versus Gladys Martínez, for monies owed, in the amount of $6,874.63, annotated on January 12, 2021, at the Karibe volume of Santurce Sur, property number 6,390, Annotation B. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubie-
The San Juan Daily Star
re, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo mínimo de subasta la suma de $270,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una segunda subasta por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 8 de abril de 2024, a las 9:00 de la mañana, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $180,000.00 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 $135,000.00 la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 15 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 $94,164.04 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $112,619.33 en intereses acumulados al 16 de octubre de 2023 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 5.560% anual, hasta su completo pago; y otros gastos acumulados, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora hasta su pago total; 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 Toe 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 San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de febrero de 2024. PEDRO
HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA
ABEL BONILLA
VALENTIN, SUSAN
TORRES BONILLA y SUSANA VALENTÍN
TORRES herederos de la Sucesión De RAMON
ESTEBAN BONILLA VALLEJO
Demandante Vs. RAMÓN BONILLA TORO, heredero de la Sucesión
De RAMON ESTEBAN
BONILLA VALLEJO
Demandado
CASO NUM: AG2024CV00213
SOBRE: DIVISION Y LIQUIDACIÓN DE BIENES HEREDITARIOS. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU.
EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: RAMÓN BONILLA
TORO, como miembro de la Sucesión de Ramón
Esteban Bonilla Vallejo Se le notifica a usted que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría una Demanda sobre División y Liquidación de la Comunidad de Bienes Hereditarios, relacionado a la Sucesión de RAMON ESTEBAN BONILLA VALLEJO. Los Demandantes han hecho gestiones para localizarlo que han sido infructuosas, e informan desconocer su paradero. Se le emplaza y requiere para que comparezca ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Aguadilla, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.poderjudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación en la secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de expresarse dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia, previo a escuchar la prueba de valor de la parte peticionaria en su contra, sin más citarle ni oírle, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la petición, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Deberá, además, notificar copia de su contestación al Lcdo. Lutgardo Acevedo López, P.O. Box 3094, Aguadi-
lla, Puerto Rico 00605, teléfono (787) 466-9845, Abogado de los demandantes, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Si dejara de hacerlo podrá dictarse contra usted sentencia en rebeldía, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y el Sello del Tribunal, hoy, 22 de febrero de 2024. Sarahí Reyes Pérez, Secretaria. Arlene Guzmán Pabón, Sub Secretaria.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE DORADO
ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO
AGENTE DE: ACE ONE
FUNDING, LLC.
Demandante Vs.
MIGUEL A
CHEVRES SOTO
Demandado
CIVIL NÚM.: DO2023CV00117
SALÓN: 504 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: MIGUEL A CHEVRES
SOTO – PARC SAN ANTONIO 220 CALLE 2, DORADO PR 00646 / DAYBREAK RIDGE RD, AVON CO 81620 / BO
HIGUILLAR SEC SAN ANTONIO CALLE 9 #218A, DORADO PR 00646.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza por la deuda reclamada de $1,519.57 y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/ index.php/tribunal-electronico/ salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcdo. Edwin Serrano Peña cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección edwin.serrano@
orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com.
EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 12 de diciembre de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 12 de diciembre de 2023. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria. Vivian J. Sanabria, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE
FUNDING, LLC
Demandante Vs. FREDDIE RUIZ CRUZ
Demandado CIVIL NÚM.: PO2023CV02156
SALÓN: 301 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: Freddie Ruiz Cruz –Parc. El Tuque 5155 Calle Lorencita Ferrer, Ponce, PR 00728.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal.
Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. 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 FIR-
MA y el sello del Tribunal, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 18 de diciembre de 2023. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2023. Carmen Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria Regional. Sandra González Rodríguez, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO
DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAMUY ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Parte Demandante Vs. GRISELY GONZALEZ PERDOMO
Parte Demandada
CIVIL NÚM. CM2022CV00490 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: GRISELY GONZALEZ PERDOMO • HC 4 BOX 17574, CAMUY PR 00627-9501
• URB COLBERG ARRIBA
7, CAMUY PR 00627
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, 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 Hatillo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de diciembre de 2023. Vivian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria Regional. Brenda Hernández Sánchez, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE CAMUY EN HATILLO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE
FUNDING, LLC
Parte Demandante Vs. WILFREDO
SOTO SANTIAGO
Parte Demandada
CIVIL NÚM. CM2022CV00436
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: WILFREDO
SOTO SANTIAGO •
BO ZANJAS CARR 119 R 486 K2 H 1, CAMUY PR 00627 • HC 4 BOX 17365, CAMUY PR 00627-7603.
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, 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 Camuy en Hatillo, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de diciembre de 2023. Vvian Y. Fresse González, Secretaria Regional. Brenda Hernández Sánchez, Secretaria Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA.
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, Demandante, V. JOSE ANTONIO COLON RIVERA, LEVITT MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE, Demandadas.
CIVIL NÚM.: CA2024CV00365.
LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. S. S..
A: LEVITT MORTGAGE CORPORATION y JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARE a favor de Levitt Mortgage Corporation, o a su orden,
Por la suma principal de $65,600.00, intereses al 7.00%, vencedero el día I de septiembre de 2023, constituida mediante la escritura número 667, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 31 de agosto de 1993, ante el notario Luis Rodriguez Bigas, e inscrita tomo folio 31 del tomo 396, finca número 15,134, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Primera Sección de Carolina. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema
Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramaludicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.
ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE
DEMANDANTE:
Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández
RUA Núm.: 16,393
BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP
Suite 209
500 Calle De La Tanca San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901
Tel.: (787) 523-2670
Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdiazbdprlaw.com
Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 8 de FEBRERO de 2024.
Lcda. Kanelly Zayas Robles, Sec REgional. Keila Garcia, Sec Auxiliar.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA.
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, Demandante, V FLORENCIO VILLANUEVA
ALONSO Y MARIA A.
RODRIGUEZ RIOS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES
COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, CAROLINA MORTGAGE CORP., JOHN DOE, Demandadas
CIVIL NÚM.: CA20240V00380. SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VIA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: FLORENCIO VILLANUEVA ALONSO POR SÍ Y COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA CON MARIA A. RODRIGUEZ RIOS DE: BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www. poderjudicial.pr/index.php/ tribunal-electronico, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante o a ésta, de no tener representación legal. 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. Además, se le apercibe que en los casos al amparo de la Ley Núm. 57-2023, titulada Ley para la Prevención del Maltrato, Preservación de la Unidad Familiar y para la Seguridad, Bienestar y Protección de los Menores, entre los remedios que el Tribunal podrá conceder se incluyen la ubicación permanente de un (una) menor fuera de su hogar, el inicio de procesos para la privación de patria potestad, y cualquier otra medida en el mejor interés del (de la) menor. (Artículo 33, incisos b y f de la Ley Núm. 57-2023). Se le advierte de su derecho a comparecer acompañado(a) de abogado(a) en los casos que proceda. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE
Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández
NÚM.: 16,393
The
San Juan Daily Star
rdiazbdprIaw.com
EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal, hoy 9 de febrero de 2024. Lcda Kanelly Zayas Robles, Sec Regional.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO
DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE CARO-
LINA LL FUNDS
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT LLC
Demandante Vs. SUCESION JUAN JOSE
CRUZ ROSA T/C/C
JUAN J. CRUZ ROSA
COMPUESTA POR IRVIN
CRUZ OLIVIERI, NELSON CRUZ OLIVIERI; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO
POSIBLES HEREDEROS
DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Demandados
CIVIL NUM. CA2023CV04102
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO E INTERPELACION POR
EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: IRVIN CRUZ OLIVIERI, NELSON CRUZ OLIVIERI; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE SUCESION JUAN JOSE
CRUZ ROSA T/C/C JUAN J. CRUZ ROSA
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto.
Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. La Hipoteca objeto de la presente reclamación grava la propiedad que se describe a continuación: “URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Ciudad Universitaria situada
en el barrio Cuevas de Trujillo Alto que se describe en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización con el número 13 de la manzana “Z” con cabida de 384.09 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con los solares cuatro y cinco en una distancia de 16 metros; por el SUR, con la calle veintisiete en una distancia de 12.50 metros; por el ESTE, con el solar catorce en una distancia de 27 metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar doce en una distancia de 27 metros. Contiene una casa de concreto diseñada para una familia.” Inscrita al folio 78 del tomo 147 de Trujillo Alto, finca número 7208, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección IV. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 173 del tomo 769 de Trujillo Alto, finca número 7208, Registro de la Propiedad San Juan, Sección IV, inscripción 11ª. Por concepto del referido préstamo hipotecario garantizado por la Hipoteca relacionada en la demanda, la parte demandada le adeuda a la parte demandante la suma vencida, liquida y exigible de $219,739.45 por concepto de principal, la cual no incluye intereses y otros gastos acumulados hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2023. La suma global vencida, líquida y exigible incluyendo intereses y otros gastos acumulados hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2023 es de $224,279.64 y los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora posterior a dicha fecha. El Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de 2020, dispone: “Transcurridos treinta (30) días desde que se haya producido la delación, cualquier persona interesada puede solicitar al tribunal que le señale al llamado un plazo, para que manifieste si acepta la herencia o si la repudia. Este plazo no excederá de treinta (30) días. El tribunal apercibirá al llamado de que, si transcurrido el plazo señalado no ha manifestado su voluntad de aceptar la herencia o de repudiarla, se dará por aceptada.” Por la presente el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, conforme al Art. 1578, supra, y el caso Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 DPR 689 (2005), les ordena que el término de treinta (30) días, hagan declaración aceptado o repudiando la herencia del causante JUAN JOSE CRUZ ROSA T/C/C JUAN J. CRUZ ROSA. Se les apercibe a los herederos IRVIN CRUZ OLIVIERI, NELSON CRUZ OLIVIERI; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS, que de no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia
dentro del término que se le fijó, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada.
Greenspoon Marder, LLP Lcda. Frances L. Asencio-Guido R.U.A. 15,622
TRADE CENTRE SOUTH, SUITE 700
100 WEST CYPRESS CREEK ROAD FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309
Telephone: (954) 343 6273
Frances.Asencio@gmlaw.com
Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de febrero de 2024. LIC. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL, DENISSE TORRES RUIZ, SUB-SECRETARIA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE ADJUNTAS.
PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. MARÍA SOTO ROMÁN
T/C/C MARÍA SOTO
Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. LR2022CV00178 (1) SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. A LA PARTE
DEMANDADA: MARÍA SOTO ROMÁN
T/C/C MARÍA SOTO a sus últimas direcciones conocidas: SR 129 KM 19.6, (SR 454 KM 6.2 INT.) CALLEJONES, LARES
Parte Demandante VS RUBÉN
Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. AD2023CV00227.
SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO.
Se le apercibe que la parte demandante por mediación del Lcdo. Rafael Fabre Colón, P.O. Box 277, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, Tel. 787-265-0334, ha radicado la acción de epígrafe en su contra. Copia de la demanda, emplazamientos y del presente edicto le ha sido enviado por correo a la última dirección conocida. Pueden ustedes obtener mayor información sobre el asunto revisando los autos en el Tribunal. Se le apercibe que tiene usted un término de treinta (30) días para radicar contestación a dicha demanda de cobro de dinero y/o cualquier escrito que estime usted conveniente a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal de epígrafe, pero que de no radicarse escrito alguno ante el Tribunal dentro de dicho término el Tribunal procederá a ventilar el procedimiento sin más citarle ni oírle. Dada en Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, hoy 2 de febrero de 2024.
Diane Alvarez Villanueva, Sec General, Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Adjuntas. Gloria Rivera, Sec Auxiliar.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE LARES BANCO POPULAR DE
PR 00669, 2700 N OAK PARK AVE., CHICAGO, IL 60707-1752, 2704 N OAK PARK AVE, CHICAGO IL 60707-1752.
Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre ejecución de hipoteca por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que se adeuda las siguientes cantidades: $53,257.94 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 7.5% anual desde el 22 de septiembre de 2021 hasta su completo pago, más $616.30 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $10,400.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo, incluyendo pero sin limitarse a gastos de mantenimiento, inspecciones y otros adelantos “corporate advances”. La propiedad que garantiza hipotecariamente el préstamo es la siguiente: RÚSTICA: Comunidad localizada en el Barrio Callejones del Municipio de Lares, situada en calle pública. Tiene una cabida de 3,534.7420 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con Manuel Cardona y Edgar Colon; por el SUR, con calle pública existente; por el ESTE, con remanente de la finca principal de la cual se segrega; y por el OESTE, con camino dedicado a uso público. La cabida de la finca equivale a 0.9095 con cuerdas. Inscrita al folio 215 del tomo 324 de Lares, Finca 16837. Registro de la Propiedad de Utuado. La hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 216 del tomo 324 de Lares, Finca 16837. Registro de la Propiedad de Utuado. Inscripción séptima. La demandante es la tenedora por endoso en blanco, por valor recibido y de buena fe del referido pagaré objeto de la presente acción. La parte demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Admi-
nistración y Manejo 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 Se le advierte que si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo Puerto Rico 009703922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, (787) 708-0566 correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy, 9 de febrero de 2024, en Lares, Puerto Rico. Diane Alvarez Villanueva, Secretaria. Yanelly Perez Soto, Sub-Secretaria.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA MUNICIPAL DE BAYAMON.
VAPR FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
Demandante vs. JOSE ROSARIO REYES t/c/c JOSE R. ROSARIO
REYES y como JOSE
RAFAEL ROSARIO
REYES
Demandado CIVIL NUM. BY2023CV07006 (503). SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO REGLA60. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: JOSE ROSARIO
REYES también conocido como JOSÉ R. ROSARIO
REYES y como JOSÉ
RAFAEL ROSARIO
REYES
POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO, se le notifica que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría por la parte demandante, Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero, en la que se alega adeuda la suma de $3,197.70 de principal, más $57.39 de intereses al 5.75% anual acumulados al 5 de octubre de 2023, y de esa fecha en adelante acumula intereses a razón de $0.50 diarios, hasta su completo pago, más un 30% del principal del Pagaré estipulado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado y recargos acumulados todas cuyas
sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Se le advierte que de no comparecer en autos dentro del término de los treinta (30) días siguientes a partir de la publicación de este Edicto, se le anotará la Rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle, debiendo radicar el original de su contestación en este Tribunal, enviando copia a la abogada de la parte demandante: Leda. Adela Surillo Gutiérrez, Bufete Collazo & Surillo, LLC, P.O. Box 11550, San Juan, PR 00922-1550; Teléfono: (787) 625-9999. Para publicarse conforme a la Orden dictada por el Tribunal en un periódico de circulación general. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto que firmo y sello en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 14 de FEBRERO de 2024.
LCDA. LAURA l. SANTA SANCHEZ, SECRETARIA. IVETTE
M. MARRERO BRACERO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE KARY GERARDO NEGRON LOPEZ Demandante Vs. SECRETARIO DE LA VIVIENDA Y DESARROLLO URBANO; SECRETARY OF HOUSING ANO URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD); JOHN DOE y RICHARD ROE como posibles tenedores desconocidos Demandados
CIVIL NUM. PO2023CV03703
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 DE LA VIVIENDA V DESARROLLO URBANO
• U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 th Street S.W. Washington DC 20410.
A: SECRETARY OF HOUSING ANO URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
• U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 th Street S.W. Washington OC 20410.
A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE como posibles tenedores desconocidos
publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, LCDO.
a su dirección: PO. Box 7970 Ponce, PR. 00732. Tel: 787843-4168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cancelación de pagare extraviado. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que se extravió un pagaré hipotecario a favor de Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, o a su orden, por la suma principal de seiscientos veinticinco mil quinientos dólares ($625,500.00), con intereses al tres punto sesenta por ciento (3.60%) anual, vencedero el dieciocho (18) de noviembre de dos mil ochenta y cinco (2085), según surge de la escritura número ciento setenta y seis (176) otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día veinte (20) de febrero de dos mil nueve (2009), ante el notario Raúl Rivera Burgos, y cuya obligación está Inscrita al folio ciento trece (113) del tomo mil novecientos trece (1913) de Ponce, finca número cincuenta y un mil quinientos cincuenta y cinco (51,555), inscripción 17ma. “REVERSE MORTGAGE”. Que la propiedad sobre la cual se constituyó dicha hipoteca es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número cuarenta y dos (42) del Plano de Inscripción de la Urbanización El Monte, radicado en el Barrio Coto Laurel de término municipal de Ponce, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de dos mil quinientos cincuenta y seis punto cuatro cuatro cero siete (2,556.4407) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en un arco de cincuenta y uno punto cincuenta y cinco (51.55) metros, con la calle C de la misma Urbanización; por el SUR, en treinta y cuatro punto cuarenta y ocho (34.48) metros, terrenos de la Sucesión J. Serralles, lnc., Por el ESTE, en cincuenta y tres cero cero (53.00) metros con el solar cuarenta y tres (43) de la Urbanización; y por el OESTE, en treinta y tres punto treinta y uno (33.31) metros, con el solar cuarenta y uno (41) y en dos alineaciones distintas de dieciocho punto ochenta y tres (18.83) metros, y de nueve punto treinta y tres (9.33) metros, con el solar cuarenta (40) de la misma urbanización. Inscrita al folio ciento once (111) del tomo mil novecientos trece (1913) de Ponce, finca número cincuenta y un mil quinientos cincuenta
y cinco (51,555). Registro de la Propiedad Sección Primera (1ra) de Ponce. 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 14 de febrero de 2024. Carmen G. Tirú Quiñones, Secretaria. Hilda J. Rosado Rodríguez, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON
FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. ANGEL L. MARTÍNEZ COLÓN, SU ESPOSA
ORPHA NOEMI CORREA OLMO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA POR CONDUCTO DEL FISCAL FEDERAL DE LA CORTE DE DISTRITO DE ESTADOS UNIDOS PARA EL DISTRITO DE PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandada
CIVIL NUM. BY2023CV01346
SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HI-
POTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. ANUNCIO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Bayamón, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que los autos y documentos del caso de epígrafe estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables y que venderá en pública subasta al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, en mi oficina en el Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Sala 410, Cuarto Piso, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $156,348.63, de balance principal, los intereses adeudados sobre dicho principal y computados al 5.875% anual hasta su total pago y completo pago, desde el primero de octubre de 2018; más el 5% computado sobre cada mensualidad; cargos por demora devengados, más la suma de $21,200.00 estipulada para honorarios de abogado, pactada en la escritura de hi-
dos en el trámite del presente caso, más intereses a razón del tipo legal vigente a la fecha de la sentencia. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le(s) cite a usted(es) por edicto y que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Se le(s) emplaza y requiere que dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto excluyendo el día de la publicación de este edicto conteste(n) la demanda presentando 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://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 y enviando copia de la Contestación de la Demanda a las oficinas del LCDO. FELIPE
SANABRIA QUIÑONES; 134
Calle Mayagüez, San Juan, PR 00917; Telf.: (787) 763-9393, Fax: (787) 763-9595, Abogado de la Parte Demandante. Se le(s) advierte que si dejare(n) de contestar la Demanda en el período de tiempo antes mencionado, podrá dictarse contra usted(es) Sentencia en Rebeldía, concediéndose el remedio solicitado sin más citarle(s) ni oírle(s). EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el Sello del Tribunal.
DADA hoy 15 de febrero de 2024, en Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. F/Liz Wharton Rosa, Sub Secretaria.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-
NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS
ROSANA RODRÍGUEZ
BÁEZ POR SI Y COMO HEREDERA ÚNICA Y UNIVERSAL DE JOSÉ MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ RAMÍREZ
Demandante V. LIDIA FÉLIX POMALES
Demandado
CIVIL NUM.: CG2023CV03681
SOBRE: DIVISIÓN DE COMUNIDAD DE BIENES. EMPLAZAMIENTO. ESTADOS
UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL
PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU.
EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIA-
DO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: LIDIA FÉLIX POMALES
BARRIO SAN ANTONIO
CAGUAS, PR 00725 • PO BOX 79651 CAROLINA, PR 00984-9651.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza, se le notifica que una demanda de división de comunidad de bienes ha sido presentada en su contra. La parte demandante solicita al Tribunal que divida la comu-
nidad hereditaria sobre el inmueble adquirido junto con el Sr. José M. Rodríguez Ramírez ubicada en el Barrio San Antonio de Caguas. Por medio de este edicto se le emplaza a usted y se le requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, radicando el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notificando con copia de la misma a la parte demandante por conducto de su abogada a: LCDA. ISAMAR ESTRADA DIAZ, Calle Georgetti #9, Caguas, Puerto Rico 00725 y/o HC 05 BOX 55035 Caguas PR Tel.: 787-420-0030isamar.estradalaw@gmail.com. Se le apercibe que en caso de no hacerlo así podrá dictarse Sentencia en rebeldía en contra suya concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin mas citarle ni oírle. EXTENDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 22 de febrero de 2024. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. Eneida Arroyo Vélez, Sub Secretaria.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA TRIBUNAL SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN
JOHANNIE
HERRERA MATOS
Demandante V. FELIX EUSEBIO JOSE
Demandado CIVIL NUM.: SJ2024RF00070
SOBRE: DIVORCIO RUPTURA IRREPARABLE. EMPLAZAMIENTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: FELIX EUSEBIO JOSE • 443 CALLE CONSTANCIA
SAN JUAN, PR 00920.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza, se le notifica que una demanda de divorcio por la causal de ruptura irreparable ha sido presentada en su contra. La parte demandante solicita al Tribunal que disuelva el vínculo matrimonial entre Felix Eusebio Jose y Johannie Herrera Matos. Por medio de este edicto se le emplaza a usted y se le requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, radicando el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notificando con copia de la misma a la parte demandante por conducto de su abogada a: LCDA.
ISAMAR ESTRADA DIAZ, Calle Georgetti #9, Caguas, Puerto Rico 00725 y/o HC 05 BOX 55035 Caguas PR Tel.: 787-420-0030- isamar.estradalaw@gmail.com. Se le apercibe que en caso de no hacerlo así podrá dictarse Sentencia en rebeldía en contra suya concediendo el remedio solicitado
en la Demanda sin mas citarle ni oírle. EXTENDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 21 de febrero de 2024. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA DE CAROLINA
JAIME SOTO AGUALLO
Peticionario
EX-PARTE
CIVIL NUM. CA2023CV04087
(407) SOBRE: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. EDICTO.
ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: CUALQUIER PERSONA
QUE PUDIESE TENER INTERÉS Y TODA
PERSONA A QUIEN
PUDIERA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN SOLICITADA
POR LA PRESENTE se le notifica que ha sido presentada en este Tribunal por la parte peticionaria, una petición de expediente de dominio solicitando la inscripción del inmueble que se describe en dicha petición a nombre de dicho peticionario. El peticionario, Jaime Soto Aguallo, en unión al dueño anterior de quien adquirió la propiedad, ha venido poseyendo el inmueble de manera pública, pacífica, continua y a título de dueño, ejerciendo sobre el mismo los derechos y cumpliendo con las obligaciones de verdadero dueño sin interrupción por más de treinta (30) años. La descripción exacta del bien inmueble objeto del procedimiento es el siguiente: RUSTICA: Predio de terreno identificado como Solar A radicado en el Barrio Carraízo del término municipal de Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 3,008.5206 metros cuadrados equivalentes a 0.7654 cuerdas. En lindes por el NORTE, con solar propiedad de Jaime Soto Aguallo 144055-196-16; por el SUR, con solar propiedad de Rad-Man San Juan IV-D, LLD 144-055196-26; por el ESTE, con solar propiedad de Carlos E. González Sánchez 144-055-196-17, y por el OESTE, con solar propiedad de Banco Popular 144055-196-21. Se le notifica que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https.//unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaria del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Cidra y enviando copia a la representación legal de la parte peticionaria: LCDO.
VICTOR M. RIVERA TORRES, con dirección en la Avenida Fernández Juncos 1420, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00909, teléfono 787-727-5710, email: victor.rivera@rcrtrblaw.com. Se le advierte que este edicto se publicará en un periódico de circulación diaria general en tres (3) ocasiones dentro del término de veinte (20) días, a fin de que cualquier persona interesada pueda comparecer ante el Tribunal, dentro del término de veinte (20) días a contar de la fecha de la última publicación del edicto, a fin de alegar lo que al derecho de estos convenga. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en Caguas, Puerto Rico, a 14 de febrero de 2024. Lic. Kanelly Zayas Robles, Secretaria Regional. Denisse Torres Ruiz, Sub Secretaria.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGIÓN JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA DE SAN SEBASTIÁN NÉSTOR ORTIZ ALTIERY; DAISY BARRETO, SLG ORTIZ-BARRETO
Demandantes V. DOMINGO MONTALVO CRESPO; ÁNGEL
MONTALVO ACEVEDO; WANDALIZ MONTALVO
ACEVEDO; JUDITH MONTALVO ACEVEDO TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA
COMO JUDY MONTALVO
ACEVEDO; ANNIE MONTALVO ACEVEDO
TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA
COMO ANA MARÍA MONTALVO ACEVEDO; SANTA MONTALVO
ACEVEDO; MARCOS ANTONIO MONTALVO
ACEVEDO; AMELIA MONTALVO ACEVEDO Y GILBERTO MONTALVO ACEVEDO.
Demandados
CIVIL NÚM.: SS2024CV00047
SUMAC SOBRE: INJUNCTION PERMANENTE; SENTENCIA DECLARATORIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.
A: ÁNGEL MONTALVO
ACEVEDO • SANTA MONTALVO ACEVEDO
• AMELIA MONTALVO ACEVEDO
Por la presente se notifica que la parte DEMANDANTE ha presentado una Demanda cuya naturaleza es en la materia de Injunction Permanente; Sentencia Declaratoria en el caso SS2024CV00047. El abogado de la parte peticionarias es:
Lcdo. Nelson Esteban Vera Santiago, P.O. Box 810, Moca, Puerto Rico 00676. 787-8773516 / 787-806-6652 / verasantiagolaw@gmail.com. De ser un demandado señalado, se le apercibe que deberá contestar la demanda dentro del periodo de 30 días de haberse publicado este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo 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. Se le advierte de los efectos de no contestar la demanda, lo cual redundará en que se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. Este edicto será publicado en una (1) ocasión en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quieren alegar su derecho. Se identificará en letra negrillas tamaño 10 puntos toda primera mención de persona natural y/o jurídica que se menciona en el mismo, conforme a lo dispuesto en las Reglas de Procedimiento Civil, 2009. En San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, a 21 de febrero de 2024. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, Secretaria Regional. MARITZA LEBRON ROSADO, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN
LUISA MARÍA BATLLE
FOURNIER Y SALVADOR
ELOY BATLLE FOURNIER
Demandantes Vs. SUCN. BATLLE OJEDA COMPUESTA POR TERESA DEL CARMEN
BATLLE OJEDA, JOSÉ AGUSTÍN BATLLE OJEDA; SUCN. CARMEN MARÍA BATLLE OJEDA COMPUESTA POR SUS HIJOS ELÍAS, RAFAEL
GERARDO, FERNANDO, CARMEN, ISABEL CRISTINA TODOS CON APELLIDOS RIVERA BATLLE
Demandados CIVIL NÚM. SJ2024CV00847 (SALÓN 603) SOBRE: PARTICIÓN Y LIQUIDACIÓN DE COMUNIDAD HEREDITARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: ELÍAS RIVERA BATLLE
A: ISABEL CRISTINA
RIVERA BATLLE CUYA DIRECCIÓN Y PARADERO SE DESCONOCE.
POR LA PRESENTE, se le emplaza y se le notifica que una demanda ha sido presentada en su contra y se le requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto radicando el original de su contestación a la demanda a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://www.poderjudicial. pr/INDEX.PHP/TRIBUNALELECTRONICO, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal y copia de la misma a la parte demandante. 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 sin citarle ni oírle, o cualquier otro remedio, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. f/ ARMANDO L JIMÉNEZ LAUREANO
Abogado del Demandante Salvador E. Batlle Fournier
RUA 13800 / Colegiado 15134 PO Box 367844
San Juan, PR 00936-7844 Tel. 787-473-1780 ajimenez@capr.org Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, el 12 de febrero de 2024. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. F/Diana C. Pérez Sierra, Secretaria Servicios a Sala.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN GERMAN
JOSE RIVERA
MONTALVO EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE RIVERA MORTUARY LLC Demandante Vs. FRANCISCO AMBRIOSO SAEZ Demandada
CIVIL NUM. SG2023CV00711
SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO. EN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU.
EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: FRANCISCO AMBRIOSO SAEZ
Por la presente se les notifica que se ha radicado una Demanda donde se solicita Cobro de Dinero por la cantidad de $6,520.00 por los servicios pactados y no pagados. Por
la presente se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a la Lcdo. Carlos Cruz Martínez, Urb. Salamanca, Calle Toledo #229 San Germán, Puerto Rico 00683 teléfono (787) 5174668, email: ccruzlegal@gmail. com@gmail.com, abogado de la parte demandante, con copia de vuestra contestación a la Demanda radicada en este caso contra ustedes, dentro de un término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la publicación de este Edicto. Usted debe 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. Por la presente se le apercibe que de no comparecer a formular alegaciones dentro de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de la publicación de este Edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia de acuerdo con lo solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 6 de febrero de 2024. Lcda. Norma G. Santana Irizarry, Secretaria. Socorro Vélez Rodríguez, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYNABO
JOSÉ B. ESCOBAR
DEMANDANTE V. ORIENTAL BANK, COMO CUSTODIO DE LOS EXPEDIENTES DE R&G PREMIER BANK OF PUERTO RICO Y OTROS
Demandado(a)
ERIKA F. MORALES MARENGO EMARENG016@YAHOO.COM
Caso Núm.: GB2023CV00281 (Salón 201) Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
A: JOHN DOE / RICHARD DOE (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 26 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 repre-
sentando 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 27 de febrero de 2024. En Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el 27 de febrero de 2024. Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria. F/ Sara Rosa Villegas, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.
ANDENO CO
Demandante V. LUIS ENRIQUE
URRUTIA MARRERO
Demandado(a)
ADRIAN BRITO RODRIGUEZ
ADRIAN@BRITO.LEGAL
Caso Núm. : SI2023CV00072
(Salón 2 SALA MUNICIPAL EN SUPERIOR) Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO
A: LUIS ENRIQUE
URRUTIA MARRERO P/C LCDO. ADRIAN BRITO RODRIGUEZ
(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 OCTUBRE 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 23 de febrero de 2024. En SANTA ISABEL, Puerto Rico, el 23 de febrero de 2024. Carmen G Tiru Quiñones, Secretaria. F/ Waleska E Rivera Torres, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.
Video dinner parties, spa days, stuffed animals, favorite hoodies and cozy, colorful fleece blankets. Brauer’s Instagram feed hardly feels like the work of someone racing a 40-foot sailboat around the world in the Global Solo Challenge. But Brauer, 29, is not an average ocean racer. In 2022, Brauer had tried out for another competition, the Ocean Race, which is considered the pinnacle of professional ocean racing. Sailors in that race are highly trained, wear matching foul weather gear and have corporate sponsors. And most of them are men. Brauer, who had sailed thousands of miles on high performance ocean racing boats, felt she was ready to join their ranks. But after competing in trials in France, Brauer was told she was “too short for the Southern Ocean” and was sent on her way.
Despite her small stature — she stands 5 feet, 1 inch — Brauer rounded Cape Horn, Chile, on Jan. 26, the last of the three great capes of her journey to finish the Global Solo Challenge. It is a feat most of the Ocean Race sailors picked instead of her have never even attempted. And despite being the youngest competitor in the race, she is ranked second overall, just days away from reaching the finish line in A Coruña, Spain.
Along the way, her tearful reports of breakages and failures, awe-struck moments during fiery sunrises, dance parties and “shakas” signs at the end of each video have garnered her a following that has eclipsed any sailor’s or sailing event’s online, even the Ocean Race and the America’s Cup, a prestigious race that is more well known by mainstream audiences.
“I’m so happy to have rounded the Horn,” Brauer said in a video call from her boat, First Light, after a morning spent sponging out endless condensation and mildew from its bilges. “It feels like Day 1. I feel reborn knowing I’ll be in warmer weather. The depression you feel that no one in the world can fix that. Your house is trying to sink and you can’t stop it.”
Shifting gears, she added, “It’s all getting better.”
Brauer’s rise in popularity — she has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram — has come as a surprise to her, but her achievements, combined with her bright personality, have struck a chord. And she has set a goal of using her platform to change the image of professional ocean sailing.
“Cole wants to prove you can go around the world and watch Netflix every once in
a while and wear your pajamas,” said Lydia Mullan, Brauer’s media manager. “As for her mental health, she’s really creating a space in her routine for herself, to create that joy she hasn’t seen in other sailors.”
Four months after she began the Global Solo Challenge, a solo, nonstop race around the world featuring sailboats of different sizes, Brauer is holding strong. Sixteen sailors began the journey and only eight remain on the ocean, with Frenchman Philippe Delamare having finished first Feb. 24 after 147 days at sea.
Brauer, who was more than a week ahead of her next closest competitor as of Thursday morning, is on track to set a speed record for her boat class, and to be the first American woman to complete a solo, nonstop sailing race around the world.
Her authentic self
Brauer has been happy to turn the image of a professional sailor on its head. Competitors in the Ocean Race and the America’s Cup tend to pose for static social media posts with their arms crossed high on their chests, throwing stern glares. Brauer would rather be more comfortable.
She brought objects like fleece blankets on her journey, despite the additional weight, and said solo sailing has helped give her the freedom to be herself.
“Without those things I would be homesick and miserable,” she said of her supply list. “We need comfort to be human. Doing my nails. Flossing. It’s hard for the general public to reach pro sailors. People stop watching. If you treat people below you,
people stop watching.”
Other female sailors have noticed the same disconnect. “The year I did the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux didn’t mention that anything went wrong,” Dee Caffari, a mentor of Brauer’s who has sailed around the world six times, said of that race’s winner. “Then we saw his jobs list after the finish and we realized he was human.”
Brauer, as her social media followers can attest, is decidedly human.
They have gotten used to her “hangout” clothes and rock-out sessions. Her team produces “Tracker Tuesdays,” where a weather forecaster explains the routes Brauer chooses and why she uses different sails, and “Shore Team Sunday,” where team members are introduced.
“In the beginning I looked at what she was doing, posting about washing her knickers in bucket and I was like, ‘No! What are you doing?’” Caffari said. “I’ve been so professional and corporate in my career. She’s been so authentic and taken everyone around the world with her. Cole is that next generation of sailor. They tell their story in a different way and it’s working.”
Finding a purpose
Brauer was introduced to sailing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Those days of casual racing on the turquoise waters of Kaneohe Bay informed her vision of an inclusive sailing community. That image was shattered when she came to the mainland to try her hand at professional sailing.
“When I came to the East Coast it was so closed off,” she said of those early experienc-
es. “I couldn’t get a job in the industry. Pro sailors were jaded. They didn’t want anyone to take their job. It’s a gig-based economy. Competition, we’re pinned against each other, especially women in high-performance sailing since there are fewer of us.”
“This whole process of being a pro sailor over the past five years, I feel mentally punched in the face and my legs kicked out from under me,” she added. “I screamed and I cried. Without those experiences I wouldn’t be as mentally tough. It made me callused.”
A big break happened when she landed a gig as boat captain for Michael Hennessy’s successful Class40 Dragon. The boat was a perfect platform to hone her ocean sailing skills as she ripped up and down the East Coast delivering it to races, often alone, pushing Dragon to its limits. Her Instagram posts of those adventures drew attention, and she was invited to try out for the Ocean Race, a fully crewed race around the world in powerful 65-footers.
“I was crushed,” Brauer said of being rejected after the trials.
Brauer, though, found a new purpose. After months of living in her van and working on Dragon, she found a benefactor in F.K. Day, the president of World Bicycle Relief and the executive vice president of SRAM Corp., who, along with his brother Lincoln, agreed to buy a boat and fund a massive refit for the Global Solo Challenge, which was only three months away.
Conducting the hurricane of activity last summer in Newport, Rhode Island, Brauer knew this was her moment to shine. But representatives for her new sponsors had reservations about her bold social media experiment.
“I got a massive pushback: ‘How can you be so vain. This isn’t important. We don’t want to pay for this,’” she said. “I said none of this is going to matter if the world can’t see it.”
Her boat was covered with cameras her shore team could monitor, with technology allowing for constant recording that could be used to capture unexpected twists. Brauer got some immediate traction, but nothing prepared her for the numbers she would hit once the race began.
“We were taking bets in Spain,” said Brauer, who had to sail First Light nearly 3,000 miles from Newport to Spain as a qualifier for the race. “There was a photo of me excited we hit 10,000 followers. Ten thousand for a
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little race? That’s massive.”
A few months later she has 40 times that count.
A dangerous journey
Only a handful of solo ocean racers have been American, all of whom being male. Now Brauer has a larger following than any of them, pushing far beyond the typical reach of her sport.
“This is a really good case study,” said Marcus Hutchinson, a project manager for ocean racing teams. “For me she’s an influencer. She’s a Kardashian. People will be looking for her to promote a product. She doesn’t need to worry about what the
American sailors think. That’s parochial. She has to split with the American environment.”
Unlike her peers, Brauer is happy to do some extracurricular work along the way toward goals like competing in the prestigious Vendée Globe. “I’m part of the social media generation,” she said. “It’s not a burden to me.”
The playful videos and colorful backdrop, though, can make it easy for her followers to forget that she is in the middle of a dangerous race. Half her competitors in the Global Solo Challenge have pulled out, and ocean races still claim lives, particularly in the violent, frigid storms of the Southern Ocean.
“She was apprehensive,” Caffari said of Brauer’s rounding Cape Horn. “I told her: ‘You were devastated that you didn’t
get on the Ocean Race. Now look at you. Those sailors didn’t even get to go to the Southern Ocean.’”
The question now is how Brauer will retain her followers’ desire for content after the race is over.
“She will be unaware of the transition she went through,” Hutchinson said. “She’s become a celebrity and hasn’t really realized it.”
Brauer, however, said she received as much from her followers as she gave them.
“They are so loving,” she said. “I send a photo of a sunset, and they paint watercolors of the scene to sell and raise money for the campaign. When I start to feel down, they let me stand on their shoulders.”
In 2019, before his first season exclusively as a hitter, Shohei Ohtani had a request. He wanted to do his homework as he prepared to return from Tommy John surgery in May. Yes, Ohtani’s rookie season in 2018 as a hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels had been a flash of brilliance, but much of MLB remained new to him.
So, Ohtani examined the schedule that spring and asked Billy Eppler, who was the team’s general manager, if he could get video of the pitchers from the teams the Angels would face that summer.
Flash forward to now, and Ohtani’s relentless thirst for information continues unabated. The Los Angeles Dodgers see it firsthand every day.
“Everything he does is intentional,” manager Dave Roberts said, “which is pretty amazing but not surprising.”
Ohtani’s physical attributes are a marvel. His eye-popping presence has its own gravitational force, even in a clubhouse that includes plenty of big-money contracts and accolades. But something else has stood out during his first spring training with his new club. Teammates and club officials are learning that with the newest Dodger, it’s all in the details.
“Just how intentional every single thing
he does is, whether it’s in the weight room, out on the field, that you can’t really fully appreciate until you see it,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations.
Ohtani is a two-time MVP now, owner of the richest contract in sports. And once again, he will be limited to just the hitting part of his game in 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery.
Ohtani’s last full season exclusively as a hitter was a productive one. He had 425 plate appearances and slugged 18 home runs. He was aggressive on the bases and ranked seventh among designated hitters in overall offensive production by weighted runs created plus (120), a
statistic known as wRC+. It was good, but nowhere near the heights that would come.
This spring training, Ohtani is again being proactive about his timeline, and the Dodgers respect his judgment. That includes allowing Ohtani to choose when he feels ready to hit. He twice appeared on the club’s schedule to face live pitching before stepping to the plate for the first time two weeks ago.
But last Tuesday, in his first Cactus League game of 2024, he hit a two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox in a 9-6 Dodgers victory at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix. Ohtani has outlined his plan to be ready for opening day with the club’s hitting staff, signaling to Roberts that he will need about 50 at-bats — against live pitching, off a machine or in games — before he declares himself ready for March 20 in Seoul, South Korea.
Part of the reason, Ohtani explained this past month, is that this is not his first time going through this. For Roberts, though, it’s a
work in progress.
“It’s tough to navigate, as I’m learning,” Roberts said. “Because context is everything. And with a player like Shohei, sometimes context isn’t brought to light. So I’m just realizing that I have to be very mindful of my words, so they’re not taken out of context, just with respect to him and the organization. Because I’ve never had a dealing with a world player. I mean, there’s only one Shohei.”
It’s still a balancing act that comes down to “a lot of respect between both sides,” Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, said last week. The Dodgers have given Ohtani latitude, and Ohtani has designed a contract to help ensure that remains the case.
The Angels had watched him flourish in part because they granted him such freedom. The Dodgers are learning the intricacies of that, too.
The Dodgers have noted the differences in Ohtani’s routine. He will use his work inside the cage to work on mechanics and use his swings outdoors (a rarity) as a test of strength as he muscles tape-measure homers. They have noted the way he uses the Trajekt Arc pitching machine to get repetitions against different pitchers’ release points and pitch characteristics.
“Very meticulous,” hitting coach Aaron Bates said. “There’s a reason why he does everything.”
“He measures everything he does,” Bates’ fellow hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said.
Everything about Ohtani must be viewed within a grander context now: what it means for the richest deal in sports history, what it means for the Dodgers’ title aspirations and how the Dodgers shifted so much of their normal behavior to make such a spending spree possible.
Yet, when it comes to Ohtani himself, it is all about the small stuff.
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
Aries (Mar 21-April 20)
One or more exciting new people could come into your life today, perhaps through friends or group activities of some kind. They might actually visit you in your home. Expect to be inspired and motivated by your contact with these people and others, Aries, and to have a lot of new possibilities for your future running through your head. You might also begin to contemplate a move. Enjoy your day.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
Today is likely to prove very busy, Taurus, and full of interesting, unusual developments. You might find yourself having to run a lot of errands in your neighborhood, perhaps also making a few short visits. A lot of letters and phone calls, some with intriguing news, could also be on your agenda at this time. It could take some time for you to process all the information and make sense of it.
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
Opportunities to increase your income by working out of your home could well present themselves today. There might be more than one, and you could be tempted to take them all on. Think about this carefully before you commit, Gemini. You’re feeling energetic today, but that could flag on future days. Consider the situation honestly and objectively before making any firm decisions. You don’t want to regret it later.
Cancer (June 22-July 23)
Opportunities to increase your income by working out of your home could well present themselves today. There might be more than one, and you could be tempted to take them all on. Think about this carefully before you commit, Gemini. You’re feeling energetic today, but that could flag on future days. Consider the situation honestly and objectively before making any firm decisions. You don’t want to regret it later.
Leo (July 24-Aug 23)
Today, Leo, a subject that particularly interests you could cause you to delve into obscure sources to shed more light on it. Your intuition should help, but today you’re more inclined to search for solid evidence. You might find what you seek in an unusual place and in an unconventional way. You might want to carry a notebook and pen with you today, even if it’s just to the corner store!
Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)
Today should find you continuing to work toward cherished career and other goals. Love matters may come to the forefront, Virgo. If you’re currently involved, unexpected events could bring you that much closer to your partner. If you aren’t involved, you could meet someone exciting, perhaps through some kind of group activities. Also, a longtime friend could suddenly appear to you in a new light. Whichever it is, expect some interesting developments.
Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)
A lot of effort, energy, and enthusiasm that you’ve put into various business or personal projects in the past could finally pay off today. Don’t be surprised if you receive some unexpected praise or acknowledgement for your work. Friends and your special someone are likely to be very proud of you for this, Libra, so don’t be surprised if you receive a lot of compliments and congratulations. Go out and celebrate tonight!
Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)
Unexpected communications from people far away could open up new opportunities regarding career, education, travel, or other broadening experiences. As a result, Scorpio, new friendships could develop, as well as new ideas and possibly exciting new goals. Modern technology could play a major role in this development. A trip by air could be on the horizon, probably to a place you’ve never been before. Don’t be too overwhelmed by it all!
Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)
Unexpected communications from people far away could open up new opportunities regarding career, education, travel, or other broadening experiences. As a result, Scorpio, new friendships could develop, as well as new ideas and possibly exciting new goals. Modern technology could play a major role in this development. A trip by air could be on the horizon, probably to a place you’ve never been before. Don’t be too overwhelmed by it all!
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)
Unexpected communications from people far away could open up new opportunities regarding career, education, travel, or other broadening experiences. As a result, Scorpio, new friendships could develop, as well as new ideas and possibly exciting new goals. Modern technology could play a major role in this development. A trip by air could be on the horizon, probably to a place you’ve never been before.
Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)
As the world economy continues to boom, Aquarius, don’t be surprised if you’re surrounded by new work possibilities. More than one chance to increase your income could come your way today. The problem will be wading through all these opportunities and trying to decide which is the most appealing and workable for you. List your options and outline the pros and cons of each. Writing things down can sometimes make them clearer.
Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)
You should be feeling especially creative at this time. Social events could put you in touch with some exciting new people, Pisces. Contact with those in interesting professions could open up new personal and intellectual avenues to explore today. New friends could come your way, and your romantic situation should intensify. Expect some exciting discussions and the opportunity to learn more about the professions and personalities of the people around you.
