Monday Sep 22, 2025

2 GOOD MORNING

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

Today’s Weather

Obesity-associated cancers may be on the rise in Puerto Rico

By THE STAR STAFF

The incidence of obesityassociated cancers in Puerto Rico rose significantly between 2000 and 2022, according to research presented at the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held last week.

Individuals with obesity have a much higher cancer risk, from a 10% increase to a seven-fold increase in risk across multiple types of cancers, compared with individuals who do not have obesity, explained presenter Carola T. Sánchez-Díaz, MS, PhD, assistant investigator in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC). Obesity-associated cancers, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), include esophageal cancer, upper stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, postmenopausal female breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, kidney cancer, meningioma, and thyroid cancer.

T. Sánchez-Díaz, MS, PhD, assistant investigator in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center.

From 2000 to 2022, women under 50 had the highest increase in obesity-related cancers, with an AAPC of 4.9% and 4.6% among those 30 to 39 and 40 to 49 years old, respectively. “It is most concerning to find that women under 50 are experiencing the most significant increases in obesity-related cancers,” said Sánchez-Díaz.

Sánchez-Díaz explained that among men under 40, the largest increases were for thyroid cancer (AAPC: 7.5%), kidney cancer (AAPC: 4.4%), and colorectal cancer (AAPC: 4.0%). Women under 40 showed the highest increases in thyroid cancer (AAPC: 6.1%), colorectal cancer (AAPC: 5.0%), and uterine cancer (AAPC: 4.9%). In addition, women aged 40 to 49 experienced significant increases in pancreatic, kidney, and ovarian cancers, while men in the same age group showed increases in multiple myeloma.

In 2023, the overall obesity prevalence in the United States and its territories was about 20%. In Puerto Rico, however, obesity prevalence exceeded 36%, making it one of the jurisdictions with the highest rates in the nation.

The study led by Sánchez-Díaz evaluated the incidence and trends of obesity-related cancers in Puerto Rico between 2000 and 2022, drawing on data from the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry. Looking ahead, Sánchez-Díaz explained that the island’s unique social and environmental context—including economic crises, infrastructure failures, natural disasters like Hurricane Maria and earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic—may have played a role in shaping lifestyle behaviors. These disruptions can restrict access to cancer screening, health care, nutritious foods, and safe spaces for physical activity, all of which heighten obesity risk. With Puerto Rico already facing high rates of obesity, her team and collaborators at the UPRCCC are now seeking to determine whether these factors are contributing to the disproportionate rise in obesity-associated cancers observed on the island.

From 2000 to 2022, the incidence of obesity-related cancers increased significantly, with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of 1.4%, while non-obesityrelated cancers remained stable.

The study found that between 2018 and 2022, a total of 35,468 cases of obesity-associated cancers were reported, corresponding to an overall age-adjusted incidence rate of 213.18 per 100,000 population. The overall age-adjusted incidence rate from 2000 to 2017 was 193.66 per 100,000 population, which may show the effect of natural disasters like Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity-associated cancer incidence. However, further research is needed to fully assess the impact of these events.

She explained the need to understand the unique challenges Puerto Ricans face and to develop public policies that support healthier living and highlighting that cancer screening is essential for early detection, especially for these younger age groups. “Our purpose is to show that Puerto Rico has a unique context and history that cannot be generalized from U.S. mainland data,” Sánchez-Díaz added.

Limitations of the study include the restriction of 2017 data to January through June due to population shifts following Hurricane Maria. Additionally, data from 2020 were excluded from trend analyses because of COVID19-related disruptions. Individual-level data on body mass index, behaviors, and health care access were not available, limiting the ability to directly attribute observed trends to obesity.

The study was supported by a federal grant from the CDC-National Program of Cancer Registries to the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry at the UPRCCC.

Carola

Swain will review LUMA Energy’s petition to stop DACO’s suit

By THE STAR STAFF

Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who oversees the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy case, will review LUMA Energy’s petition to stop the Department of Consumer Affairs’ lawsuit that seeks to overturn a liability waiver that exempts the private operator from compensating customers for damage caused to their appliances.

Swain ordered the parties to file responsive papers to the petition by October 2. Reply papers must be filed by October 9.

LUMA Energy filed the urgent motion and memorandum of law last week seeking an order, enforcing the automatic stay and directing the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO) to withdraw the writ for Intrajurisdictional Certification filed before the Puerto Rico Supreme Court and a complaint filed before the San Juan Court of First Instance.

LUMA wants the court to order DACO to cease its prosecution of the Commonwealth Court Litigation in violation of the automatic stay imposed in the federal bankruptcy case.

“The stay is intended to protect the interests of creditors as well as debtors, and [t] hose persons whom Congress has designated as beneficiaries of the stay have standing to assert[] its violation,” LUMA Energy said.

DACO sued LUMA Energy, the private operator of PREPA’s transmission and dis-

tribution system, to declare null and void a portion of its operation agreement that exempts LUMA from having to pay customers for appliances damaged because of blackouts.

The Puerto Rico Transmission and Distribution System Operation and Maintenance Agreement (T&D OMA) dated June 22, 2020 is a critical post-petition contract between LUMA, the PREPA, and the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority.

Since execution of the agreement over five years ago, LUMA says various parts of the government have sought to undermine and undo it.

“Now, the Government (through DACO) is once again trying to undermine and undo the T&D OMA. This time, the Government is not attempting to void the entire T&D OMA. Instead, the Government now seeks to void one key provision in the T&D OMA, a liability waiver provision, recognizing that this provision is a material part of the T&D OMA and hoping that its removal will trigger a cascading series of events that ultimately will achieve the Government’s desired end result – termination of the T&D OMA and insider operation of the T&D System once again,” LUMA Energy said.

The Government’s new tactic seeking to only void a section of the T&D OMA for allegedly violating Puerto Rican law, and not

the entire T&D OMA, is a distinction without a difference, the private operator said.

On July 22, 2025, DACO filed the Commonwealth Court Litigation against PREPA, LUMA, and the PREB in the San Juan Court of First Instance.

The complaint also requests that all citizens be allowed to file claims for damages caused by negligence and fluctuations in electrical service with LUMA. DACO esti-

New prices set for fresh and UHT milk

By The STAR STAFF

The Department of Agriculture, through the Office of Dairy Industry Regulation (ORIL), announced the approval of Administrative Order 2025-19, which establishes a new pricing structure for fresh milk and UHT milk at all levels, effective September 25, 2025.

ORIL has thoroughly reviewed the cost chain and margin distribution at all levels of the industry, with the goal of ensuring fair compensation for farmers and processors without causing substantial increases in the final consumer price. Consequently, certain packages of fresh milk have remained unchanged in price, while others have undergone carefully balanced, minimal adjustments.

Among the provisions of Administrative Order 2025-19, the consumer price for key containers such as the quart of fresh milk remains unchanged, remaining between $1.89 and $1.98, thus avoiding unnecessary price increases that could affect the purchasing power of Puerto Rican families. This price stability has been possible thanks to an equitable redistribution of profit margins among producers, processors, and retailers, prioritizing the public interest over profit margins that do not respond to the collective well-being. Furthermore, the financial health of the dairy sector is strengthened through adjustments that prevent the closure of dairy farms, promote sustainable practices, and ensure the continuity of local supply.

“The Governor was clear: consumers

cannot bear the brunt of rising costs. In this administration, protecting people’s pockets is a top priority, and we have delivered on that,” said Department of Agriculture Secretary Josué E. Rivera.

The entire process was supported by a rigorous economic analysis and a formal call for public hearings, complying with legal requirements and reaffirming this administration’s commitment to transparency, citizen participation, and consumer protection.

“ORIL conducted public hearings and a comprehensive economic study, complying with all the legal requirements established by Act No. 34 of 1957, and reaffirming the Government of Puerto Rico’s commitment to transparency, equity, and sustainable agricultural development. This is a clear

mates that more than 1,800 claims could be filed.

On August 8, 2025, DACO requested that the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico take the case out of the hands of the lower court by filing a Writ for Intrajurisdictional Certification. On August 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico issued the Writ for Intrajurisdictional Certification filed by DACO.

ORIL has thoroughly reviewed the cost chain and margin distribution at all levels of the industry.

example of public policy with a social focus. We were entrusted with protecting consumers at every step, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” the secretary concluded.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) of the Public Service Regulatory Board has issued an order to show cause against the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and three energy firms for failing to comply with the initial phase of battery system installations for solar energy storage.

In its proposal for the Accelerated Storage Addition Program submitted to the Energy Bureau on April 26, 2024, LUMA emphasized that Phase 1 projects could begin immediately since they did not require network upgrades and had minimal interconnection costs. Some independent power producers (IPPs) claimed they could be operational in less than 12 months, and implementation was planned for April 2025, the PREB said in an order issued September 19.

Despite the approvals and extensions granted, the document states that none of the agreements have been executed. In addition to PREPA, the Accelerated Storage Addition Program (ASAP) also involves the companies Ecoeléctrica, San Fermín Battery Project LLC, Infinigen Horizon ASAP LLC, and Infinigen Oriana ASAP LLC.

According to PREPA, in a motion filed in August, only

Ecoeléctrica responded to PREPA’s update request, indicating it is working on completing the required documentation and expects to be ready to execute the contract by September 2025. However, the San Fermín Battery Project LLC, Infinigen Horizon ASAP LLC, and Infinigen Oriana ASAP LLC have not responded to PREPA’s communications nor submitted the required documentation, despite PREPA’s initial email sent on June 27, 2025, and a follow-up on July 24, 2025.

The Bureau warned that the failure to comply with the deadlines established in the ASAP Program—under which the projects could have started immediately without requiring significant grid improvements or incurring high interconnection costs—is concerning.

The PREB ordered both PREPA and the developers to provide justifications for the delays and to explain why they should not face penalties. The Energy Bureau has specified that PREPA and the developers (Ecoeléctrica, San Fermín, Oriana, and Horizon) must show cause by this week as to why the Energy Bureau should not impose an administrative fine of $10,000 for failing to execute the Phase 1 agreements.

PREPA’s response must detail all reasons that have prevented the execution of the contracts, include the status of developer compliance with the Signing Conditions, and explain why the Energy Bureau should not impose fines under these circumstances. Additionally, the developers (Ecoeléctrica, San Fermín, Oriana, and Horizon) must submit separate responses that clarify their current compliance status with the Signing Conditions, identify any obstacles that have prevented the execution of the agreements, and state why the Energy Bureau should not impose fines in this situation.

Project to strengthen protection of older adults in emergency situations is being evaluated. Regulator orders PREPA, energy developers to explain battery installation delays

By THE STAR STAFF

To strengthen the protection of older adults in emergency situations before the judiciary, the House Committee on Older Adults and Social Welfare, chaired by Representative Ricardo Rey “Chino” Ocasio Ramos, evaluated Senate Bill 650.

The measure, authored by Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, proposes amending Law 121-2019, known as the “Bill of Rights and Public Policy of the Government in Favor of Older Adults,” to streamline judicial processes through which any judge can expeditiously and sensitively address the situations faced by older adults. It also clarifies the jurisdiction of the Municipal and Superior Chambers of the Court of First Instance to grant temporary guardianships, pursuant to Article 140 of the Civil Code.

“This is an urgent and humane mechanism that guarantees access to justice and immediate protection for our seniors. This measure also seeks to empower municipal judges to order the appointment of a temporary guardian when a senior’s situation

is deemed at risk, thus protecting them and their assets,” said Representative Ocasio Ramos.

It’s worth noting that AARP, through its state director, José Acarón Rodríguez, requested the presentation of S. 650 as part of the Senior Summit held in May 2025, with the support of several organizations and professionals serving the sector.

“We have maintained close communication with all sectors serving the elderly population in Puerto Rico, in order to not only protect their rights but also promote measures that provide them with better care and quality services, ensuring a better quality of life and well-being. We must protect our seniors, and by working together we can achieve great progress,” the legislator added.

For his part, Acarón stated: “The provision that expands the protection order mechanism to give municipal judges this option creates a new line of defense for the well-being and protection of senior citizens’ assets. That’s why AARP recommends its approval, and we hope this honorable Commission will act to issue a positive report on it.”

Strangulation Manual presented to address domestic violence cases

By THE STAR STAFF

During the meeting of the National Commission for the Eradication of Violence (CNEV), the Manual on Strangulation in Cases of Domestic Violence was presented.

“A crucial tool for identifying and managing risk situations. The implementation of education and awareness programs is

essential to changing the culture that perpetuates violence,” said Women’s Advocate Astrid Piñeiro Vázquez in a written statement.

During the meeting, the attorney general emphasized that “the commitment to the well-being of victims and survivors is a non-negotiable priority.”

Piñeiro Vázquez emphasized the need to continue improving available services and resources, stating that “every

Meanwhile, Yolanda Varela Rosa, Attorney General of the Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly (OPPEA), supported the measure, which prioritizes the needs of this population. “This bill promotes public policy in favor of older adults as outlined in Law 121, by facilitating their access to justice and summary proceedings in which they can obtain legal remedies that address their access to justice and resolve the risk situations they face, while providing them with protection. After submitting our recommendations, we support its approval.”

Finally, the Secretary of Justice, Lourdes Gómez Torres, stated that the Department of Justice believes the purpose of this legislative bill is legitimate and meritorious. “We agree with the Legislative Assembly that, as stated in the Bill’s Statement of Reasons, it is imperative to clarify the jurisdiction of the Municipal Courts in order to expressly empower them to grant, through a summary procedure, temporary guardianships in accordance with the provisions of Article 140 of the Civil Code, thus guaranteeing the effective protection of older adults, their well-being, and full access to justice.”

effort counts in the task of providing support to those who need it most.” She also emphasized the importance of strengthening existing public policies, mentioning that “it is vital that our strategies are effective and adapt to the changing realities of gender-based violence.”

“Collaboration is essential to creating a safe environment for all,” reiterated Attorney Piñeiro Vázquez, adding that “we cannot allow inaction to prevail; we need a firm commitment and tangible results in our fight against violence. This is an effort that requires the active participation of everyone; together we can make a significant difference.”

According to PREPA, in a motion filed in August, only Ecoeléctrica responded to PREPA’s update request.

California bars ICE agents from wearing masks in the state

By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLAG

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed legislation Saturday that would prevent federal immigration agents from wearing masks in the state, a direct response to President Donald Trump’s deportation crackdown in the Los Angeles region.

The new law is believed to be the first such ban in the nation, though it is likely to be challenged in court before it can go into effect in January because it is unclear whether California can enforce such restrictions on federal law enforcement. The bill also applies to local law enforcement.

In recent months, videos have spread across social media showing masked and armed immigration agents handcuffing immigrants in Southern California, drawing protests and criticism in the state.

Democratic leaders and immigration activists have suggested that agents have acted with impunity, knowing that their identities were cloaked and that it would be harder to hold them accountable.

“The impact of these policies all across this city, our state and nation are terrifying. It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie — unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing,” Newsom said at a signing event Saturday afternoon at a Los Angeles high school. “This is a disgrace. This is an outrage, what we’ve allowed to happen in this country.”

(Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times)

neck gaiters, that shield their identities. It does not apply to medical masks, clear plastic face shields, respirators, eye protection or other safety devices.

Any violation of the law would be a misdemeanor.

It is extremely rare for police officers to wear masks in democratic nations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began wearing balaclavas and neck gaiters this year, in what might have been the first example of American law enforcement officers wearing masks.

Before this year, state and local leaders had been passing more laws moving in the direction of greater transparency, such as requiring officers to wear body cameras at all times to record footage that could be used in court and seen by the public.

But this week, Department of Homeland Security officials urged Newsom to veto the bill, which they said would increase harassment and assaults on officers.

“Comparing them to ‘secret police’ — likening them to the Gestapo — is despicable,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement. “Once again, sanctuary politicians are trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers.”

California’s law was opposed by numerous law enforcement agencies, who argued that officers must have the choice to cover their faces to protect themselves and their families from retaliation. Limiting the ways officers can keep themselves safe will make it harder to recruit people to work in law enforcement, they said.

But a number of Democratic-led states have proposed restricting masking by immigration agents. Lawmakers have introduced such bills in New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, among other states, though California is believed to be the only state where such a law has been passed and signed.

California’s measure would bar law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, such as ski masks, balaclavas and

Legal experts agreed that California can require local officers to unmask on the job. But it’s a trickier question when it comes to federal agents operating in the state.

A state can’t directly regulate the federal government, but it can require that federal agents follow general state laws, such as requiring officers to follow speed limits or abide by stop signs, as long as doing so does not interfere with their ability to do their job.

Aya Gruber, a constitutional law professor at the University of Southern California, said that the mask law was likely to be immediately challenged along jurisdictional lines, and that the federal government would most likely seek an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect.

“It will definitely be challenged — 100%,” Gruber said, adding that she expected it to eventually be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. “I don’t foresee this particular iteration of the Supreme Court taking the state’s side on this one, so this may be more of a symbolic piece of legislation.”

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, wrote a letter last week that urged Newsom to sign the legislation, which Chemerinsky said he believed was constitutional because it does not limit the federal government’s authority to perform its duties. Chemerinsky, a well-known constitutional scholar, said that even if a federal challenge was forthcoming, the state needed to make a forceful declaration against what he said was a practice intended to “terrorize” people.

“It’s important that the state take a stand,” Chemerinsky said in an interview. “It’s obviously not a slam dunk because there are arguments on both sides, but that’s often the case with the law.”

Brian R. Marvel, the president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, which represents over 87,000 public safety officers, said he was outraged by the passage of the law.

He said in a statement that he believed that California did not have the authority to regulate federal agents, so it would ultimately apply only to local law enforcement officers, which he called a “troubling betrayal that California’s local law enforcement community will not soon forget.” He said that limiting face coverings and opening officers up to prosecution would most likely hurt recruitment and drive officers from the state.

“This bill makes local officers collateral damage. It is a political stunt by all parties involved, plain and simple,” he said. “This bill will have a chilling effect on our profession.”

Newsom on Saturday signed four other bills aimed at restricting ICE activity in California.

One bill prevents immigration agents from entering schools without a warrant. Another requires schools and higher education institutions to notify parents when immigration enforcement is on campus.

Federal agents in April tried to enter two Los Angeles elementary schools, saying they wanted to conduct welfare checks on students they said lacked legal status. The Los Angeles Unified School District did not allow the agents to enter, and school officials were outraged that students could be vulnerable to raids.

Another bill bars immigration agents from entering hospitals without a warrant. Immigrants without legal status are allowed to receive emergency care at hospitals under federal law, and California leaders fear that the threat of enforcement may deter people from seeking medical attention.

Law enforcement officers stand watch during a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Since the beginning of June, Department of Homeland Security agents and officers have arrested nearly 2,800 immigrants in the Los Angeles area, according to the agency.

Equipo y materiales de oficina, escuela,

September 22, 2025 6

The obscure liberal group seeking to curb Republican downballot dominance

By NICK CORASANITI

Last year, as Democrats were dealt big setbacks in federal races nationwide, a small crop of well-funded candidates in Florida picked up 15 school board seats that had been targeted by conservative groups in competitive counties.

Now, the obscure organization that backed those Florida candidates is planning a substantial expansion to cover more than half the country.

Pipeline Fund, a left-leaning group that helped funnel more than $1 million, plus support and training, into the Florida races, is vying to establish itself as a lib-

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eral counter to the sprawling downballot infrastructure on the right that has helped Republicans notch wins on school boards, in county offices and in local judicial races.

Those Florida victories “kind of wiped the floor with Moms for Liberty,” said Denise Feriozzi, the cofounder and executive director of the Pipeline Fund, referring to the conservative parents rights group that has focused intently on gaining influence at the hyperlocal level.

Her remarks were part of her keynote address this past week at the Pipeline Fund’s private conference in Philadelphia.

A spinoff from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a network of liberal organizations funded by George Soros, the Pipeline Fund started on its own last year with a focus on downballot elections. The group is part benefactor and part matchmaker, identifying candidates for these races and connecting them with state and national organizations for funding and support.

At the conference, Feriozzi announced that her organization would expand into 21 states for the 2026 elections, in blue states like Massachusetts and Colorado and deepred states like West Virginia and Alabama, looking to identify and recruit thousands of candidates to run for local races.

“Our path forward starts with great people running and serving in state and local offices,” Feriozzi said. “Because the fight for democracy does not stop at state lines. It has to be everywhere.”

To meet these bigger ambitions, the group has corralled the efforts of national liberal organizations like Demand Justice, Sister District and the National Democratic Training Committee with its own state-based organizations. The group said it raised nearly $6 million in 2024 and had raised more than $6 million so far in 2025, though its tax forms have not been released publicly yet.

The Pipeline Fund borrows some concepts from Steve Bannon’s precinct

the co-founder and execu-

director of the Pipeline Fund, in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 2025. A liberal group that was spun off from a network funded by George Soros is looking to build off 2024 victories in Florida to help elect candidates to school boards and other local offices.

(Michelle Gustafson/The New York Times)

project, which sought to recruit and run far-right conservatives for local positions, like school boards, town clerks, county boards and county parties, to both take over local government and, eventually, the Republican Party. And the group is looking to counter the influence of organizations like Moms for Liberty, which have influenced education policy nationally through school board elections.

But that does not mean solely engaging in the culture war issues animating the right.

“The book bans and anti-LGBTQ sentiment, those things are all real, but while you’re going around and talking to parents and taxpayers and voters, they’re still primarily talking about baseline issues,” Louise Valentine, the executive direc -

tor of Lead Ohio, a group backed by the Pipeline Fund, said during a panel at the Philadelphia conference.

She recalled talking to a candidate who had been knocking on doors. “She’s like, ‘I’m getting a lot of questions about why lunchtime is so short at middle school.’” Other candidates heard about bullying at school, or playing time on the school basketball team. “These are some of the things that are still on people’s minds,” she said Valentine, who serves on a school board, acknowledged that running for such seats can be difficult, as candidates cannot expect to raise six figures or afford a campaign manager or staff.

One goal of the Pipeline Fund, which operates largely behind the scenes, is to help offset that burden by connecting local groups and candidates with established national organizations. Mary Kusler, a senior director at the National Education Association and a member of the Pipeline Fund board, said the Pipeline Fund helped the NEA, the nation’s largest teachers union, identify more than 5,000 current school board members who are also members of their union.

Local, state and national groups are always looking for promising potential candidates. The Pipeline Fund wants to be a one-stop shop for this kind of data, and it has built a national database to help identify and recruit people.

Easy access to this critical data has helped Lead NC, an affiliate in North Carolina, identify a “select set” of judicial races for 2026, and helped Lead PA identify 59 school board candidates in Pennsylvania for elections this year.

“This is something I’ve been dreaming of,” Oliver Truong, the executive outreach director of Lead PA, said in an interview. The database has over 12,000 prospects in Pennsylvania sourced from partner organizations. “It’s massive time savings,” he said. “I’m able to get to those conversations about running faster, as opposed to being mired down by list-management.”

With tens of thousands of school board races across the country, identifying candidates is only part of the challenge Democrats face in catching up to Republicans on these local races. But in Philadelphia, Kusler remained undaunted.

“If we are not stepping up and asking people to run,” Kusler told the crowd, “who is?”

Denise Feriozzi,

tive

Trump’s economic magic trick is coming undone NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

By JAMELLE BOUIE

The essence of President Donald Trump’s pitch to the American people last year was simple: They could have it both ways.

They could have a powerful, revitalized economy and “mass deportations now.” They could build new factories and take manufacturing jobs back from foreign competitors as well as expel every person who, in their view, didn’t belong in the United States. They could live in a “golden age” of plenty — and seal it away from others outside the country with a closed, hardened border.

Trump told Americans that there were no trade-offs. As the saying goes, they could have their cake and eat it, too. Even better, eating the cake would, on its own, produce more cake — no need for new ingredients or the skill, time and labor necessary to make something new.

In reality, this was a fantasy. Americans could have a strong, growing economy, which requires immigration to bring in new people and fill demand for labor, or they could finance a deportation force and close the border to everyone but a small, select few. It was a binary choice. Theirs could be an open society or a closed one, but there was no way to get the benefits of the former with the methods of the latter.

Millions of Americans embraced the fantasy. Now, about eight months into Trump’s second term, the reality of the situation is inescapable. As promised, Trump began a campaign

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of mass deportation. Our cities are crawling with masked federal agents, snatching anyone who looks “illegal” to them — a bit of racial profiling that has, for now, been sanctioned by the Supreme Court. The jobs, however, haven’t arrived. There are fewer manufacturing jobs than there were in 2024, thanks in part to the president’s tariffs and, well, his immigration policies.

We got a vivid glimpse of what it looks like for harsh immigration policies to undermine growth and investment earlier this month, in Georgia, when immigration officials detained hundreds of South Korean nationals working at a battery plant in a small town outside Savannah. On Sept. 4, a large detachment of federal, state and local law enforcement descended on an electric vehicle battery plant operated by Hyundai and LG Electronics. The raid, which the administration described as one of the largest-ever single-location enforcement operations conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, was aimed at just four people. Officials detained nearly 500, the large majority of whom were South Korean workers brought to the plant to assist with its construction.

While it appears that some workers had entered the United States illegally or were present on expired visas, lawyers for others say that their clients had the legal right to work in the United States. The workers, who were held for more than a week, described terrible conditions.

“Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink,” The Hankyoreh, a daily newspaper in South Korea reported. “The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours.”

The consequences of this raid go beyond the trauma inflicted on the workers. The South Korean public is furious, not the least because this raid came just weeks after the country’s government promised to pour billions of dollars into new investments in the United States. “If U.S. authorities detain hundreds of Koreans in this manner, almost like a military operation, how can South Korean companies investing in the U.S. continue to invest properly in the future?” asked Cho Jeongsik, a lawmaker from the liberal governing Democratic Party.

President Lee Jae Myung warned that if the United States continues this harsh treatment of South Korean workers, it might “seriously affect” plans for future investment. “As things stand now, our businesses will hesitate to make direct investments in the United States,” he said. One assumes that other countries are taking note and may adjust their plans in response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Beyond this raid, we can see the economic consequences of the president’s immigration policies on workforces across the country. In states with large numbers of immigrants lacking permanent legal status, the construction,

agricultural and hospitality sectors have seen a decline in growth this year, according to a recent report from the Economic Insights and Research Consulting group. The Congressional Budget Office warned last week that the U.S. population is projected to grow more slowly than expected — and potentially even contract — as a result of deportations and other anti-immigration policies. The result could be higher inflation and lower economic growth in the near future. And according to an analysis from the Wharton School, the president’s alma mater, a long-term crackdown on immigration could shrink the economy by up to 1% of gross domestic product and depress wages for the typical American worker. We could also discuss the way that the president’s singular focus on intimidating, harassing and removing immigrants has threatened the livelihoods of countless thousands of America’s farmers, many of whom backed the president in the last election. “People don’t understand that if we don’t get more labor, our cows don’t get milked and our crops don’t get picked,” one Pennsylvania dairy farmer and three-time Trump supporter told Politico.

When you combine the president’s immigration policies with his large and unpredictable tariffs on imported goods — a move that has choked off an important avenue for economic growth — you have an approach almost guaranteed to induce stagflation. Some experts see exactly that on the horizon. None of this comes as a surprise. It is what you should expect from an agenda that simultaneously seeks to close the doors to newcomers, toss out a large number of productive workers and impose a new mercantilist order on the world. Trump told voters that they could indulge their resentments and still walk away richer and more prosperous. But they can’t. To embrace nativism in a global, connected economic world is to sacrifice prosperity for the sake of exclusion, just as the main effect of racial segregation in the American South was to leave the region impoverished and underdeveloped.

It’s hard to imagine that Trump cares much whether or not his promises work out for the people who believed them, to say nothing of the nation at large. He already has what he wants: freedom from accountability for a lifetime of lawbreaking and an easy way to line his pockets. The American people may not profit from his presidency, but he will. Indeed, he already has.

Institución logra primera acreditación en PR de un Centro Comprensivo Avanzado de Stroke y

El Sistema de Salud Menonita anunció que su Hospital Menonita Caguas ha sido distinguido con una acreditación sin precedentes en Puerto Rico como Centro Comprensivo Avanzado de Stroke y Neurociencias, otorgada por la Comisión Conjunta (Joint Commission). Esta certificación incluye el prestigioso Gold Seal of Approval®, así como el Heart-Check mark de la American Heart Association y la American Stroke Association, reconociendo el compromiso del hospital con los más altos estándares en el manejo y tratamiento de eventos cerebrovasculares, y se une a la acreditación como Primary Stroke Center otorgada en mayo de este mismo año al Hospital Menonita Ponce.

Esta acreditación, que es la más avanzada en el renglón de atención de stroke, es otorgada a hospitales capacitados para recibir y tratar los casos más complejos de ataques cerebrovasculares y enfermedades cerebrovasculares. Con dicha acreditación, el Hospital Menonita Caguas marca un hito como institución, así como para la salud en Puerto Rico, reafirmando su compromiso con ofrecer servicios y medicina de calibre mundial. El Hospital Menonita Caguas forma parte del menos de 1% de los hospitales y centros acreditados en la nación americana que logran esta prestigiosa acreditación.

Los ataques cerebrovasculares son la primera causa de incapacidad y la quinta causa de muerte en Puerto Rico. Según la American Heart Association, en promedio, en Estados Unidos una persona muere de un ataque cerebrovascular cada 3 minutos y 11 segundos. Esto equivale a 453 muertes diarias. En Puerto Rico, datos recopilados por el Centro Comprensivo Avanzado de Stroke del Hospital Menonita Caguas indican que solo un porcentaje

bajo de los pacientes de stroke llegan dentro de la ventana de tratamiento de 4.5 horas desde el comienzo de los síntomas. En ese sentido, el hecho de que un paciente no llegue a tiempo para poder recibir el tratamiento adecuado impacta directamente el pronóstico del paciente, ocasionándole discapacidad y hasta la muerte.

Ricardo Hernández, principal oficial ejecutivo del Sistema de Salud Menonita, expresó que “esta acreditación es un extraordinario logro para nuestra institución y para Puerto Rico, porque confirma que seguimos ofreciendo medicina de calibre mundial y avanzando en nuestra misión de poner atención altamente especializada a la disposición de nuestra gente y nuestras comunidades. Este logro, que se suma a la acreditación del Hospital Menonita Ponce como Centro Primario de Stroke en el pasado mes de mayo, reafirma que en Menonita seguimos impactando de forma positiva el cuidado de la salud en Puerto Rico, en un área sub-atendida y crítica como lo es la neurología”.

Presentan libro Memorias de la costa de Manuel Valdés Pizzini

E

l doctor Manuel Valdés Pizzini, profesor emérito de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR) y coordinador del Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Litoral (CIEL) del Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR), presentó su más reciente obra titulada Memorias de la costa: ensayos de etnografía, historia e imaginación antropológica, una publicación que recopila historias de vida, trabajo en archivos y reflexiones sobre las comunidades costeras del país.

“Este texto recoge unos ensayos que tratan sobre la vida en el litoral y básicamente son historias de vida, trabajo en los archivos y una condensación de esos esfuerzos en unos ensayos cortos que la gente pudiese leer y aprender de ellos”, explicó Valdés Pizzini.

El catedrático jubilado del Departamento de Ciencias Sociales abundó sobre la editorial que publicó el texto.

“Casa Paoli, un centro de investigaciones folclóricas de Ponce, bajo el mandato de Néstor Murray Irizarry, desde que le hablé, acogió la idea, y junto con el CIEL decidimos publicar el libro. La portada es una obra del artista Rafael

Trelles, y cuando la vi dije: ‘esa tiene que ser la portada’, porque yo me veía en ese alucinado soñador que está ahí, rodeado de lo que tiene a su alrededor: los negros esclavizados, la maraña del bosque costero, el manglar, la gente pescando. Eso sintetiza lo que estoy haciendo y recoge este trabajo”, agregó.

Durante la presentación, el doctor Mario A. Núñez Molina, catedrático del Departamento de Psicología, destacó el valor de Memorias de la costa como un ejercicio de rescate y justicia hacia quienes han habitado y sostenido el litoral puertorriqueño.

“Los que tienen memoria son capaces de vivir en el frágil tiempo presente; los que no la tienen, no viven en ninguna parte”, citó Núñez Molina al cineasta Patricio Guzmán, al señalar que esta reflexión resume la esencia de la obra de Valdés Pizzini.

En su análisis, resaltó cinco ideas centrales que, a su juicio, propone el libro: la pesca como terapia y refugio de dignidad; la revalorización del conocimiento comunitario; la justicia ambiental; la imaginación histórica; y la

Neurociencias

Por su parte, Ken Grubbs, DNP, MBA, RN, vicepresidente ejecutivo de Operaciones de Acreditación y Certificación y director de enfermería de la Comisión Conjunta, afirmó que “la certificación como Centro Comprensivo de Stroke reconoce a las instituciones de salud comprometidas con la excelencia y con fomentar la optimización continua en la seguridad del paciente y la calidad del cuidado. Felicitamos al Hospital Menonita Caguas por utilizar el proceso de certificación para fortalecer su programa clínico y ofrecer un cuidado más seguro, de mayor calidad y más compasivo a la población que sirve”.

Asimismo, Nancy Brown, principal oficial ejecutiva de la American Heart Association y de la American Stroke Association, indicó que “extendemos una felicitación al Hospital Menonita Caguas por este importante logro. Esta certificación demuestra su compromiso con brindar atención de excelencia a los pacientes que sufren un ataque cerebrovascular”.

El Hospital Menonita Caguas fue sometido a una rigurosa evaluación durante el mes de septiembre. Como parte de este proceso, un equipo de examinadores de la Comisión Conjunta revisó el cumplimiento con los requisitos y estándares necesarios para la acreditación. Entre los aspectos evaluados se encuentran la disponibilidad de especialistas altamente capacitados, incluyendo neurólogos vasculares, neurólogos generales, neurocirujanos, neurocirujanos endovasculares y neuro radiólogos intervencionales, además de un equipo multidisciplinario; las capacidades de imágenes avanzadas; y la atención continua las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, en una unidad de cuidados intensivos neurológicos con camas dedicadas para pacientes con ataques cerebrales.

construcción de una memoria colectiva como acto de resistencia.

Asimismo, subrayó que el texto invita a mirar la costa no como un simple destino turístico, sino como un espacio social cargado de saberes y memorias.

“Más que un libro para especialistas, Memorias de la costa es una búsqueda para todos los que creemos que otro mundo más justo, más humano y más atento a la memoria aún es posible”, puntualizó.

Por su parte, el doctor Edwin Irizarry Mora, catedrático retirado del Departamento de Economía, resaltó la publicación como una valiosa aportación histórica, etnográfica y antropológica.

“Esta obra es una especie de memoria resumida, sin la pretensión de ser completa, pero con el valor de abrirnos el apetito para que el autor continúe compartiendo relatos que tanto iluminan sobre nuestro litoral”, expresó.

El economista compartió vivencias personales vinculadas a las costas mayagüezanas y recordó que el texto permite descubrir historias y personajes que la historiografía oficial ha dejado de lado, como pescadores, familias trabajadoras y mujeres que han sostenido las comunidades costeras.

The San Juan Daily Star

Monday, September 22, 2025 9

For many Cuban ballet dancers, forging a path forward means leaving

By NINA STROCHLIC

When she was just 3 years old, Carolina Rodríguez was captivated by the ballerinas in a Cuban television show called “Eternal Dance.” She set her sights high, entering the government-run Cuban National Ballet School at 8. In ninth grade, the students were sorted into two groups: those on a path to become dancers in the storied national company and those on a teaching path. She was accepted as a performer.

While dancing, Rodríguez said, “I could forget about the issues happening around me.”

But by last year those issues proved impossible to ignore. Rodríguez, now 21, left her prized spot in the National Ballet of Cuba, joining a growing exodus of dancers fleeing the country’s collapsing economy.

Now Rodríguez lives in Oslo and dances for the Norwegian National Ballet.

“It’s not because of the National Ballet of Cuba but what’s happening outside of it,” she said, “that makes you realize that you need a better future for yourself and your family.”

In Cuba, ballet remains a proud beacon of the revolution: an art form as beloved as a national sport and one of the nation’s proudest cultural exports. But with the country facing what may be its worst crisis since the revolution, many dancers are making the hard decision to leave. Today, there are just 55 dancers in the National Ballet — a company that has at times had more than 100 dancers — bringing it back to its size in its infancy. (A representative from the National Ballet declined to comment on how many dancers have left in recent years or on how the economic situation is affecting the company.)

The company that became the National Ballet of Cuba was founded in 1948 by Alicia Alonso and her husband, Fernando. Melding classical technique with what she considered a natural musicality in Cuban culture, the company emerged as one of the world’s best.

After the 1959 revolution, the company was nationalized, and Alicia Alonso emerged as an artistic powerhouse of the new nation. Not only did her dancers tour abroad, winning international acclaim, but they also went to small towns and remote provinces in Cuba, building a nationwide appreciation for ballet. (Alonso, nearly blind, danced into her 70s and led the company until her death at 98, in 2019.)

Since the revolution, though, Cuban dan-

quietly choosing to leave behind difficult conditions: blackouts that make rehearsal spaces and exercise rooms swelteringly hot. Scarce medical supplies. Pointe shoes stuck in customs for months.

Rodríguez, who arrived in Norway in August 2024, knew she had made the right decision when she saw the modernist Oslo Opera House and its facilities: huge mirrored studios, elaborate costumes and sets, and a dedicated

moved abroad, including dancers, who were banned from returning to perform on their home stage. Today, they are free to come and go.

In August, Rodríguez visited Cuba and took her parents and grandparents out to dinner — a treat previously reserved for birthdays.

cers have slipped away, seeking opportunities, both creative and financial, abroad. In 1966, 10 dancers defected, requesting political asylum in Paris at the International Dance Festival. In 2003, 20 dancers defected during international tours. In the 2010s, small groups fled during performances in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Around that time, international relations were being relaxed, and Cuba appeared to be on an economic upturn. Then the first Trump administration imposed new penalties, and the coronavirus pandemic halted tourism.

Now inflation is skyrocketing, tourism has cratered, and last year, for the first time, the government requested aid from the World Food Program. Grocery shelves are often bare, and power rationing leaves Havana residents without electricity for up to 10 hours a day. According to Cuban government data, the population shrank by 10% from 2021 to 2024; unofficial estimates put the figure at nearly 25%. Recently, some television stars and musicians have joined the exodus.

The dancers who remain are “stuck between survival and artistry,” said Eduardo Vilaro, director of Ballet Hispánico in New York. “That art keeps them alive through difficult times.”

For most Cubans, leaving is difficult, particularly as the United States shuts its doors. It’s easier for dancers: They can defect while on tour or audition for international companies. And many from the Cuban National Ballet are

“It was something I wanted to do for a long time,” she said, adding that she got great joy from watching them order whatever they wanted, and paying the bill.

For dancers leaving Cuba, former members of the National Ballet have provided guidance.

Yasiel Hodelin, 23, got advice from Carlos Acosta, a Cuban superstar who now directs the Birmingham Royal Ballet in England. When Hodelin joined the Birmingham company in 2023, Acosta urged him to open a savings account. This January, Hodelin had saved enough to buy his family in Cuba a car. It has transformed their lives, he said. “That’s what you want, you know — just to help your family.”

When Narciso Medina, 26, joined the National Ballet of Cuba as a soloist in 2019, it was difficult to advance. Then the pandemic hit, and dancers began leaving, opening opportunities for others.

“The company had to increase how fast they trained the new dancers coming from the school,” Medina said, adding that he was cast in more important roles.

department for pointe shoes.

At the National Ballet of Cuba, she had earned about 4,700 pesos a month, or $14 at the time, the average monthly income for Cubans. (At that time, the Columbia Law Project estimated that Cubans needed at least seven times that amount to cover basic expenses.) She lived at home with her family, and there was food on the table, but times were hard.

“I decided I wanted to support them, and I didn’t want to be a burden for them,” Rodríguez said about her decision to leave.

After emailing a number of companies, she was invited to try out for the Norwegian National Ballet. She auditioned virtually and was accepted. In Cuba, she had been dancing solo roles. In Norway, she started at the bottom, in the junior company’s corps de ballet.

Her salary of 3,200 euros a month (about $3,800 currently) allows her to send money home and to travel home. For years, Cuba had a combative relationship with its citizens who

As the economy faltered, though, audiences stayed away from theaters.

But joining the Cuban National Ballet had been his childhood dream, so he stayed until the end of 2022, when he left to join his family abroad.

In November 2023, he joined BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio.

When Medina talks to his friends still in the Cuban company, they rarely discuss ballet. “We talk a lot about the fact they need to leave the country,” he said.

When he talks to old friends from his neighborhood, they tell him how hard it is to get groceries, how there’s often not enough to eat.

“In Cuba, things we take as a luxury are normal here,” Medina said, “like having internet 24/7 or eating chocolate.” He would like to move back someday, but first politics and the economy need to improve.

“If those things change, I will go back,” he said. “But I don’t think they will.”

Narciso Medina in Columbus, Ohio, where he dances for BalletMet, Sept. 7, 2025. As the country’s economy falters, members of the storied Cuban National Ballet have sought and found work in companies abroad. (Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times)

Carolina Rodríguez at the Oslo Opera House, where she now works, in Oslo, Norway, Sept. 5, 2025. As the country’s economy falters, members of the storied Cuban National Ballet have sought and found work in companies abroad. (David B. Torch/The New York Times)

Stocks

Morning bid: Central bank bonanza

Check out what ROI Editor-in-Charge Anna Szymanski and the rest of the ROI team are excited to read, watch and listen to over the weekend.

From the Editor

Hello Morning Bid readers!

U.S stocks hit record highs on Thursday, buoyed by the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut in 2025, a drop in U.S. jobless claims, and the announcement that Nvidia will invest $5 billion in the struggling U.S. chipmaker Intel.

On Friday morning, the big news in Asia was not so much that the Bank of Japan kept short-term interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, which was widely expected, but that two members voted for a hike and also that the central bank announced that it would begin selling its vast holdings of exchange-traded funds and real-estate investment trusts.

Much of the financial world’s focus this week has been on central banks, most notably the U.S Federal Reserve. Some argue that the Fed’s 25 basis point cut and dovish steer may cause it to unintentionally stumble into stimulative territory, simply because it is so challenging to determine where the so-called neutral rate is. Others argue that the Fed’s problems may be of its own making given its questionable record on inflation control.

One of the biggest takeaways from Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks was the lack of clarity surrounding the U.S. labor and inflation outlooks. This confusion is epitomized by inconsistencies between the Fed’s statements and changes to its economic predictions, argues ROI Markets Columnist Jamie McGeever. He also discusses why Fed easing could be a mixed blessing for the rest of the world.

Over in the United Kingdom, the Band of England held rates steady on Thursday but said it was slowing the pace of its quantitative tightening program. ROI Editor-at-Large Mike Dolan asks why the BoE doesn’t just scrap direct gilt sales entirely.

In the commodities markets, China’s surplus crude surged in August as robust imports and domestic production offset an increase in refinery processing.

Data about China’s crude stockpiling remains opaque, one of a growing number of blind spots in the oil market. ROI Energy Columnist Ron Bousso argues that this is mak-

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

ing it harder to determine the true supply-demand balance in the world’s most important commodity market.

On the renewables side, ROI Energy Transition Columnist Gavin Maguire discusses the widening lead Texas and California are building over the rest of the country on the clean energy front. He also explains why wind speeds around the UK in the coming months could have potentially far-reaching consequences for Europe’s gas and power sectors

And over in the metals world, ROI columnist Andy Home explains why the aluminium market, defined by historical excess, may be facing an imminent shortfall.

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As we head into the weekend, check out the ROI team’s recommendations for what you should read, listen to, and watch to stay informed and ready for the week ahead.

I’d love to hear from you, so please reach out to me at This weekend, we’re reading...

* GAVIN MAGUIRE, ROI Global Energy Transition Columnist: Airlines are racing to cut carbon emissions with biofuels, but a Reuters investigation reveals a troubling link between U.S. green jet fuel and illegal deforestation in the Amazon, raising urgent questions about the integrity of sustainability certifications and the unintended consequences of climate policy.

The

Britain, Australia and Canada recognize a Palestinian state

By MARK LANDLER

Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and putting three major U.S. allies at odds with the Trump administration.

The seemingly coordinated announcements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, at which France and Portugal are also expected to vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood.

The concerted action will deepen the diplomatic isolation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But so far, it has done little to curb his military campaign against Hamas, which has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and left much of the enclave in ruins.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer waited to act until after President Donald Trump’s state visit last week to Britain, during which Trump said he disagreed with the move, preferring to focus on securing the release of the hostages held by Hamas militants.

“I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score,” Trump said at a news conference with Starmer on Thursday, although he added, “One of our few disagreements, actually.”

When Starmer announced Britain’s plans in late July, he said a final decision would hinge on multiple conditions. Israel, he said, must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, sign up to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to secure the release of hostages, and pursue long-term peace with the Palestinians, based on a two-state solution.

Since then, Israel has bombed Hamas leaders in Qatar, the Persian Gulf state that has been the site of ceasefire negotiations, making any agreement more elusive than ever. Far from scaling back, Israeli troops have expanded their combat operations, advancing on Gaza’s main urban center, Gaza City.

For Starmer, who worked as a human rights lawyer before entering politics, the decision has nevertheless been an an-

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed Sunday that the U.K. is formally recognizing a Palestinian state despite vociferous opposition from the U.S. and Israel. His announcement follows those from Canada and Australia.

guished balancing act. He has tried to avoid daylight between Britain and the United States on issues like trade and the war in Ukraine. But Gaza poses moral and political challenges.

In his news conference with Trump, Starmer sought to put the move in the context of other steps, including pushing for the release of hostages and reviving negotiations for the creation of a Palestinian state. Recognition, he said, was “part of the overall package, which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation we’re in now.”

When a reporter from Fox News accused the prime minister of waiting for Trump to leave Britain before announcing the decision, Starmer responded with an impassioned denunciation of Hamas, which got him an approving tap on the shoulder from Trump, who said, “That’s good.”

Starmer noted that members of his extended family lived in Israel (his Britishborn wife, Victoria, is Jewish). “I understand, firsthand, the psychological impact” of the Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in October 2023, he said. “So, I know exactly where I stand in relation to Hamas.”

Domestic politics played a part in Starmer’s decision as well. Pressure to do

more has swelled within the ranks of his Labour Party, as well as in the broader public, as harrowing images and videos of suffering Palestinians have been broadcast online and in the news media.

“The U.K. government will hope that this buys them an extended period of quiet without having to take further moves,” said Daniel Levy, who runs the U.S./ Middle East Project, a research institute in London and New York. “But if Israel’s actions continue to be as egregious, aggressive and criminal as is currently the case, then that is highly unlikely to play out.”

“The U.K., along with others, will be under the spotlight of ‘What has recognition changed?’” added Levy, who once worked as a peace negotiator for Israel. “The answer will be nothing, and pressure will again intensify to take more consequential measures.”

He and other critics fault the British government for not having done more already. Britain has stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, despite calls to do so by Labour members of Parliament and legal experts. And while it has suspended some weapons sales to Israel, it continues to supply parts for F-35 fighter jets, used by the Israeli air force in strikes on Gaza. The government issued sanctions on two far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s Cabinet: Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister. Downing Street also signaled it could arrest Netanyahu if he entered Britain, pledging to fulfill its “legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.” The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him last November.

Britain’s actions have chilled relations with Israel, with Netanyahu showing particular anger at the plan to recognize Palestine.

The move rewards “Hamas monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims,” Netanyahu said in a post on social media in July. “A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW. ”

Oil sanctions have made Russia’s shadow fleet swell

By JEANNA SMIALEK

From early in Russia’s war with Ukraine, the West hit Russia with economic penalties aimed at strangling its profits from oil sales. As Europe announces its 19th round of sanctions, an uncomfortable reality has sunk in.

Russia quickly found a workaround to profit from oil in spite of a price cap and import restrictions. By building up a huge fleet of dilapidated ships with hazy ownership that covertly shuttle its fuel to far-flung markets, it has managed to evade the sanctions and make money.

Now, it is becoming increasingly clear that the vast expansion of this shadow fleet comes with serious and potentially long-lasting effects. The rickety ships pose dire risks to the environment, and the trend has created a huge illicit shipping economy that some experts worry could outlast the war. That could pave the way for nations to continue skirting the existing order, with nations including Russia and Iran as shippers, and China and India as customers.

“A lot of people want to do the easy part — impose sanctions — but we’ve actually caused a bigger problem,” said Ian Ralby, an expert in maritime security and founder of the research firm I.R. Consilium. “The sanctions don’t put them out of business. They put them out of legitimate business.”

The shadow fleet accounts for about 17% of all in-service oil tankers sailing the ocean today, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a research firm. There were 940 ships in the fleet as of earlier this year, up 45% from a year ago, based on the firm’s estimates.

While there were some boats with dubious ownership and shipping practices in operation before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they became far more common after the start of the conflict.

By late that year, Europe had banned Russian seaborne oil imports, which meant that the country suddenly needed India and China to buy its oil. With its vessels tied up on longer journeys to those farther ports, Russia needed more of them.

Russia also wanted to avoid a price cap. The Group of 7, the European Union and Australia had restricted companies from providing insurance and other services in cases where Russian crude oil was sold above $60 a barrel, a cap the European Union and Britain have since dropped even lower.

So ships affiliated with Russia began to use sketchy insurance or none at all. They started to fly third-country flags and to send false location information to cover up where they had loaded their cargo.

By making it harder to tell if oil had come from Russia, they created an air of plausible deniability for oil buyers.

As those ships have become essential to Russia’s oil economy, they have also created the risk of an oil spill or other maritime disaster. The average age of the ships is about 20 years, based on S&P data, compared with 13 years for the oil fleet broadly.

“Lack of insurance combined with the really old vessels — this just increases the risk of environmental catastrophe,” said Natalia Gozak, office director of Greenpeace Ukraine.

Nor is an environmental peril the only threat. Clandestine ships have been suspected of committing underwater sabotage —

An oil refinery in Orsk, Russia. The country has used a fleet of ships to transport oil and defy sanctions.

hitting pipelines or cables — and making it look accidental.

The shadow fleet comes with an even more obvious drawback. It has “limited the cap’s efficacy,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a report this month, keeping money flowing into Moscow’s coffers and helping it to fund the war in Ukraine.

That doesn’t mean that the sanctions are a mistake, supporters say.

Ben Harris, a former Biden administration Treasury official and an architect of the price cap, pointed out that the sanctions, even if imperfect, cost Russia. It’s expensive to ship oil to India or China and to build up the shadow fleet.

“Enforcement is the real challenge,” he said.

For now, countries are applying even more sanctions to combat the shadow fleet.

The European Union has put more than 500 shadow-fleet ships on sanction lists as of its latest announcement, which makes ports

more reluctant to work with them. The United States, Britain, Canada and Australia are also going after the vessels. The goal is to turn the ships into the pariahs of the sea.

But Russia continues to add vessels to take their place.

“You have this dreadful expression in America: Whac-A-Mole,” said David O’Sullivan, the EU sanctions envoy. “Circumvention is a bit like that.”

Still, Russia must pay for the new ships.

“Everything we have done ends up costing them a lot more,” O’Sullivan said.

But it’s an imperfect solution. Shadow fleet ships have found ways around the blacklisting. They off-load cargoes at sea, or they “flag hop,” changing their registrations to conceal their identities.

In the meantime, as Ralby warned, the West is prodding Russia to create a vast illegal economy.

But government officials argue that the alternative — doing nothing — is not a real choice.

What the Fed’s rate decision means for your finances

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

The Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by a quarter of a point last week, its first cut in nine months.

The change won’t have a significant effect on consumers’ financial lives, but it may provide a tiny bit of relief for people carrying credit card debt, while savers may see slightly less generous yields.

The more consequential issue is whether the Fed will continue to maintain its long-held independence under the norm-busting pressure from President Donald Trump, who has assailed the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, urging him to resign, while attempting to oust Lisa Cook, a Fed governor.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants rates to fall more swiftly, but politicizing the Fed can be disastrous for the broader economy, consumers and the credibility of the American institution worldwide.

Here is where various interest rates stand now.

Auto rates

What’s happening now: Auto rates have been largely stable but remain elevated, while new car prices are slowly beginning to rise. But tariffs are soon expected to push them up more sharply.

Car loans tend to track with the yield on the five-year Treasury note, which is influenced by the Fed’s key rate. But other factors determine how much borrowers actually pay, including credit history, the type of vehicle, the loan term and the down payment. Lenders also consider the levels of borrowers becoming delinquent on auto loans. As those move higher, so do rates, which makes qualifying for a loan more difficult, particularly for people with lower credit scores.

The average rate on new car loans was 7% in August, according to Edmunds, a car shopping website, largely unchanged from July and August 2024. Rates for used cars were higher: The average loan carried a 10.7% rate in August, down just slightly from 10.9% in July and 11.3% in August 2024.

Where and how to shop: Once you establish your budget, get preapproved for a car loan through a credit union or bank (Capital One and Ally are two of the largest auto lenders) so you have a point of reference to compare financing available through the dealership, if you decide to go that route. Always negotiate on the price of the car (including all fees), not the monthly payments, which can obscure the loan terms and what you’ll be paying in total over the life of the loan.

Credit cards

What’s happening now: Cardholders carrying balances may eventually receive a little relief from Fed rate cuts: The rates paid on card debts should fall, though card issuers are generally slower to act, and changes could take a couple of billing cycles to reflect any changes. Last week, the average interest rate on credit cards was 20.12%, according to Bankrate.

And much depends on your credit score and the type of card. Rewards cards, for instance, often charge higher-thanaverage interest rates.

Where and how to shop: Last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent up a flare to let people know that

Homes under construction in Draper, Utah, June 4, 2024. The Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by a quarter of a point on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, its first cut in nine months. (Kim Raff/The New York Times)

the 25 biggest credit card issuers had rates that were 8 to 10 percentage points higher than smaller banks or credit unions. For the average cardholder, that can add up to $400 to $500 more in interest a year.

Consider seeking out a smaller bank or credit union that might offer you a better deal. Many credit unions require you to work or live someplace particular to qualify for membership, but some bigger credit unions may have looser rules.

Before you make a move, call your current card issuer and ask them to match the best interest rate you’ve found in the marketplace that you’ve already qualified for. And if you do transfer your balance, keep a close eye on fees and what your interest rate would jump to once the introductory period expires.

Mortgages

What’s happening now: Mortgage rates have been trending lower on expectations of a slowing economy, but whether they continue to edge lower depends on a variety of factors; if inflation persists, for example, they could reverse course and rise again.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages don’t move in tandem with the Fed’s benchmark, but instead generally track with the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, which is influenced by a variety of factors, including expectations about inflation, the Fed’s actions and how investors react.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.35% as of Sept. 11, according to Freddie Mac, down from 6.5% the previous week but up from 6.2% a year ago.

“Mortgage rates are likely to continue trending toward the 6% range by the end of the year,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality, a property data and analytics firm, “although they are still expected to remain above 6%.”

Other home loans are more closely tethered to the central bank’s decisions. Home equity lines of credit and adjustable-rate mortgages, which carry variable interest rates, generally adjust within two billing cycles after a change in the Fed’s rates.

Where and how to shop: Prospective homebuyers

would be wise to get several mortgage rate quotes — on the same day, since rates fluctuate — from a selection of mortgage brokers, banks and credit unions.

That should include the rate you’ll pay; any discount points, which are optional fees buyers can pay to “buy down” their interest rate; and other items like lender-related fees. Look to the “annual percentage rate,” which usually includes these items, to get an apples-to-apples comparison of your total costs across different loans. Just be sure to ask what’s included in the APR.

Savings accounts and CDs

What’s happening now: Everything from online savings accounts and certificates of deposit to money market funds tend to move in line with the Fed’s policy. That means savers are no longer benefiting from the juiciest yields, but you can still find returns at online banks of 4% or more, at least for the moment.

Traditional commercial banks’ yields, meanwhile, have remained anemic. The national average savings account rate was recently 0.61%, according to Bankrate.

Where and how to shop: Rates are one consideration, but you’ll also want to look at providers’ history, minimum deposit requirements and any fees (high-yield savings accounts don’t usually charge fees, but other products, like money market funds, do). DepositAccounts.com, part of LendingTree, tracks rates across thousands of institutions and is a good place to start comparing providers.

The yield on the Crane 100 Money Fund Index, which tracks the largest money-market funds, was 4.09% as of Tuesday, down from 5.13% at the end of last June.

Student loans

What’s happening now: There are two main types of student loans. Most people turn to federal loans first. Their interest rates are fixed for the life of the loan, they’re far easier for teenagers to get, and their repayment terms are more generous.

For the first time in five years, rates on student loans, for money borrowed from July 1 through June 30 of next year, dropped modestly.

Undergraduate loans now carry a rate of 6.39%, down from 6.53%. Rates on loans for graduate and professional students eased to 7.94%, from 8.08%, while rates on PLUS loans — extra financing available to graduate students and to parents of undergraduates — fell to 8.94%, from 9.08%. These rates reset on July 1 each year and follow a formula based on the 10-year Treasury bond auction in May.

Private student loans are a bit of a wild card. Undergraduates often need a cosigner, rates can be fixed or variable, and much depends on your credit score.

Where and how to shop: Many banks and credit unions want nothing to do with student loans, so you’ll want to shop around extensively, including with lenders that specialize in private student loans.

You’ll often see online ads and websites offering interest rates from each lender that can range by 15 percentage points or so. As a result, you’ll need to give up a fair bit of information before getting an actual price quote.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE MAYAGÜEZ. JUSTINO

BAEZ CANDELARIO

PETICIONARIO

EX-PARTE

CIVIL NÚM.: SG2024CV00748.

SOBRE: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS

EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE

ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. ss.

A: Las personas ignoradas y desconocidas a quienes pudiera perjudicar la inscripción del dominio a favor de la parte peticionaria en el Registro de la Propiedad, Sección de San Germán, de la finca que más adelante se describirán y a toda persona en general que con derecho para ello desee oponerse a este expediente.

POR LA PRESENTE, se notifica para que comparezcan, si lo creyeren pertinente, ante este Honorable Tribunal dentro de los veinte (20) días contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto a exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga en el expediente promovido por la parte peticionaria para adquirir su dominio sobre la siguiente finca que se describe más adelante. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Petición, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende pertinente. RÚSTICA: Situada en el Barrio de “La Torre” término de Sábana Grande, compuesta de DOS CUERDAS, más o menos, de terreno, a pasto. Colinda por el Saliente, tierras de Puerto Rico, Reconstrucción Administración; por el SUR, los de Inocencio Rodríguez; por el OESTE, los de Juan Báez y por el NORTE, este mismo señor. Enclava en dicho solar una estructura dedicada a vivienda. La abogada de la parte peticionaria es: Lcda. Lourdes M. Ortiz Pagán, P.O. Box 593, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico 00623,

teléfono (787) 831-1984 y correo electrónico: lourdesm ortizpagan@hotmail.com Este edicto será publicado en tres (3) ocasiones dentro del término de 20 días, en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quieren alegar su derecho. Toda primera mención de personal natural y/o jurídica que se mencionen el mismo, se identificará en letra tamaño 10 puntos y negrillas, conforme a lo dispuesto en la Reglas de Procedimiento Civil 2009. Se le apercibe que de no comparecer los interesados y/o partes citadas, o en su defecto los organismos públicos afectados en el término improrrogable de veinte (20) días a contar de la fecha de la última publicación del edicto, el Tribunal podrá conceder el remedio solicitado por la parte peticionaria, sin más citarle ni oírle. POR TANTO, libro la presente en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, hoy 30 de julio de 2025.

Lic. Norma G Santana Irizarry, Secretaria Regional. Gabriela Laboy Acosta, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

CARLOS MANUEL

GUTIERREZ LOPEZ MARIA DEL CARMEN

LOPEZ ROSARIO

Peticionarios Vs. EX PARTE

Civil Núm.: CY2025CV00209. Sala: 301. Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y/O CON LEGITIMO.

Quedan emplazados y notificados de que en este Tribunal se ha radicado una Petición de Expediente De Dominio. Se les notifica para que comparezcan ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a su derecho convenga, en el presente caso. En la Petición se solicita que para que se declare justificado el dominio a su favor sobre la propiedad que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno con un área superficial de Mil Seis Punto Seis Mil Ochocientos Cinco Metros Cuadrados (1,006.6805 m.c.), radicado en el Sector Morrillo del Barrió Rincón en el Municipio de Cayey, Puerto Rico, y en lindes: por el NORTE con

terrenos de la Sucesión Baltazar Mendoza; por el SUR y ESTE, con terrenos de José Gutiérrez por el OESTE con Camino Municipal Existente. Se les apercibe y notifica que, si no contestan la petición radicada, radicando el original de la misma y enviando copia de su contestación al abogado de la parte peticionaria: LCDO. VALENRY RIVERA SANTIAGO; DIRECCIÓN: PO BOX 6400 PMB 2528, CAYEY, PUERTO RICO 00737; TELÉFONO: 787-7388560; CORREO ELECTRÓNICO: vrlaw@live.com dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia en su contra y se podrá conceder el remedio solicitado por los peticionarios, sin más citar, ni oír. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, a 15 de agosto de 2025. IRASEMIS DÍAZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LIZ WHARTON ROSA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

JESUS GARAY GALARZA; MARIA ESTHER COTTO MOYET Peticionarios Vs. EX PARTE

CIVIL NUM.: CG2025CV01127.

Sala: 301. Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS. A: PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y/O DESCONOCIDAS A QUIENES PUEDA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN O QUE CREAN TENER ALGÚN DERECHO REAL SOBRE LA PROPIEDAD DEL DOMINIO DEL INMUEBLE OBJETO DE LA PETICIÓN DE EPÍGRAFE. Quedan emplazados y notificados de que en este Tribunal se ha radicado una Petición de Expediente De Dominio. Se les notifica para que comparezcan ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a su derecho convenga, en el presente caso. En la Petición se solicita que para que se declare justificado el dominio a su favor sobre la propiedad que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno radicado en el Barrio Navarro sector La Pachan-

ga, Carretera Estatal número 931 Kilómetro 4.1 del término municipal de Gurabo, Puerto Rico con cabida superficial de Setecientos setenta y dos punto ochenta y nueve setenta y nueve metros cuadrados (772.8979 ) metros cuadrados equivalentes a cero punto diecinueve seis seis cuerda (0.1966 cda.) y en lindes por el Norte, en alineaciones distintas que suman 28.760 metros lineales con la Carretera Estatal 931; por el Sur en alineaciones distintas que suman 26.439 metros lineales con Doña Ángela Flores; por el Este en alineaciones distintas que suman 30.323 metros lineales con Doña Petra Flores Serrano y por el Oeste en 26.135 mts. lineales con la Urb. Estancias de Siervas de María Inc. Se les apercibe y notifica que, si no contestan la petición radicada, radicando el original de la misma y enviando copia de su contestación al abogado de la parte peticionaria: LCDO. VALENRY RIVERA SANTIAGO; DIRECCIÓN: PO BOX 6400 PMB 2528, CAYEY, PUERTO RICO 00737; TELÉFONO: 787-738-8560; CORREO ELECTRÓNICO: vrlaw@live.com dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia en su contra y se podrá conceder el remedio solicitado por los peticionarios, sin más citar, ni oír. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, a 22 de agosto de 2025. IRASEMIS DÍAZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LIZ WHARTON ROSA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA LLACG COMMUNITY INVESTMENT FUND

Demandante Vs. SUCESION MINERVA MARQUEZ QUILES T/C/C MINERVA MARQUEZ COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESION PABLO

GONZALEZ SERRANO T/C/C PABLO GONZALEZ COMPUESTA POR JOHN

ROE Y JANE ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2024CV03350.

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

DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 29 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:30 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: Solar marcado con el número 1112 del plano de inscripción del proyecto de vivienda a bajo costo denominado VBC 30 radicado en el Barrio Martín González, del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico con una cabida de 228.06 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con servidumbre de paso de la Calle número 5; por el SUR, con el Solar número 1093; por el ESTE, con el Solar número 1113 y pared medianera; por el OESTE, con el Solar número 1111. Enclava una estructura dedicada a vivienda sobre la cual existe una estructura dedicada a vivienda sobre la cual existe una servidumbre por signo aparente establecida por la corporación en la pared que divide dicha estructura de la estructura enclavada en el solar número 1113 cuya pared continuará sirviendo a esta estructura y pertenece en común pro indiviso en toda su actual extensión y espesor al propietario de esta edificación y a los propietarios de las edificaciones colindantes.” Inscrita al folio 294 del tomo 1112 de Carolina, finca número 48,382, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección II. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 164 del tomo 1507 de Carolina, finca número 48,382, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección II, inscripción 10ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. JOSE SEVE-

RO QUINONES, #1112 CALLE 5, CAROLINA, PR 00985. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $153,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 28 de septiembre de 2091. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $153,000.00, 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 Carolina, el 6 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $102,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $76,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 14 DE OCTUBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:30 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 $141,281.33 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $4,150.32 en intereses acumulados 31 de enero de 2025 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 5.060% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $1,914.15 en seguro y contribuciones; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $15,300.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado. A tenor con la Regla 44.3 de Pro-

cedimiento Civil se condena a la parte demandada a pagar intereses aplicables sobre el importe de la presente sentencia incluyendo costas y honorarios de abogado, desde esta fecha y hasta que sea satisfecha. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 12 de agosto de 2025. JOSÉ R. CRISTÓBAL ORTIZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FINANCIAL LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION GLORIA ESTHER SEVILLANO FLORES T/C/C GLORIA SEVILLANO FLORES T/C/C GLORIA E. SEVILLANO T/C/C GLORIA E. SEVILLANO FLORES COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2025CV01458. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 29 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: “URBANA: Residential apartment number “I” dash Eight (I-8) 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 private area of five hundred ninety four square feet and eighty one hundredths of a square foot (594.81), equivalent to fifty five square meters and twenty six hundredths of a square meter (55.26), being its lineal measurements twenty seven feet and three inches (27’3”) in longest dimension by twenty three feet (23’0”) in its widest dimension which includes; Foyer with closets, living dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom with closet, linen closet and hall, bounding on the NORTH, with the water meters room, exhaust and pipes shafts and a common corridor; on the SOUTH, with exterior yard; on the EAST, with apartment number “G” dash Eight (G-8) and the pipes shaft; and on the WEST, with apartment number “K” dash Eight (K- 8) and the exhaust shaft. This apartment has one entrance door with access from and exit to the principal corridor of the eighth 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 a este apartamento en los elementos comunes del condominio una participación equivalente a punto cero cero cuatro uno nueve porciento (.00419%).” Inscrita al folio 191 del tomo 205 de Santurce Sur, finca 6295, Registro de la

The San Juan Daily Star

FUND, LLC

Demandante V. OMAR A.

FERRER RIVERA

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: BY2025CV01045. (Salón: 403). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERANATALIE.BONAPARTE@ORF-LAW. COM.

A: OMAR A FERRER RIVERA - RR 5 BOX 783022, TOA ALTA PR 009537723; BO PINAS SEC LA PARA CARR 828 INT, TOA ALTA PR 00953.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 10 de septiembre de 2025, 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 11 de septiembre de 2025. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 11 de septiembre de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. KEISHLA M. SANTIAGO CRUZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA BAJA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. PAUL A LLANOS RODRIGUEZ

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TB2025CV00189. (Salón: 101). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60. GABRIEL ANTONIO RAMOS COLÓN - GABRIEL.RAMOS@ ORF-LAW.COM. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. PAUL A LLANOS RODRIGUEZURB LEVITTOWN , 1216 PASEO DONCELLA, TOA BAJA, PUERTO

RICO, 00949-4125. A: PAUL A LLANOS 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 septiembre de 2025, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 16 de septiembre de 2025. En Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, el 16 de septiembre de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. GLORYMAR SALDAÑA QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

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

Demandante V. LUIS G SERRANO FLORENCIANI Y OTROS Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: MZ2025CV00689. (Salón: 206). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. GABRIEL ANTONIO RAMOS COLÓN GABRIEL.RAMOS@ORF-LAW.COM. A: LUIS G. SERRANO FLORENCIANI.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 16 de septiembre de 2025, 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 notifica-

ción. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 16 de septiembre de 2025. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 16 de septiembre de 2025. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. JOSSIE BOBE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. TANIA M. YULIAN AVILA

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SL2023CV00021. (Salón: 802). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60. EDWIN OMAR SERRANO PEÑA EDWIN.SERRANO@ORF-LAW.COM NATALIE BONAPARTE SERVERA NATALIE.BONAPARTE@ORF-LAW. COM NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: TANIA M. YULIAN AVILA

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 de noviembre de 2025, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 16 de septiembre de 2025. En CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, el 16

de septiembre de 2025. IRASEMIS DIAZ SANCHEZ, SECRETARIA. F/ELIZABETH MUÑIZ SANCHEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. ABIGAIL

BURGOS ROSARIO

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: SJ2025CV02778. (Salón: 503 CIVIL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM. A: ABIGAIL

BURGOS ROSARIO.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de septiembre de 2025, 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 17 de septiembre de 2025. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 17 de septiembre de 2025. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. GÉNESIS PIZARRO QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

MORTGAGE ASSETS

MANAGEMENT, LLC

Demandante Vs. MIGUEL ÁNGEL BIBILONI TORRES, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO

MIGUEL A. BIBILONI TORRES Y COMO MIGUEL A. BIBILONI; LA SUCESIÓN DE LINDA ROSARIO GUTIERREZ GÓMEZ, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO LINDA GUTIERREZ GÓMEZ Y COMO LINDA ROSARIO GUTIERREZ, COMPUESTA POR SUSSETE BIBILONI GUTIERREZ, FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados Civil Núm.: CG2025CV02690. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO

RICO, S.S.

A: LA SUCESIÓN DE LINDA ROSARIO GUTIERREZ GÓMEZ, TAMBIÉN CONOCIDA COMO LINDA GUTIERREZ GÓMEZ Y COMO LINDA ROSARIO GUTIERREZ, COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON INTERÉS EN LA SUCESIÓN.

Queden emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto y deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), el cual podrá acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, 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 licenciado Andrés Sáez Marrero, 623 Ponce de León Avenue, Executive Building, Ste. 1100A-2, San Juan, PR 00917, Tel. (561) 338-4101, correo electrónico, asaez@tmpllc.com, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. 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. 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. Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 9 de septiembre de 2025. IRASEMIS DÍAZ

SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA GENERAL. MARIEL CRUZ RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA MUNICIPAL CARIBE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Parte Demandante Vs. KEILA KUILAN CRUZ, JOHN DOE Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados Civil Núm.: BY2025CV03600. (502). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: KEILA KUILAN CRUZ, JOHN DOE Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS.

Queda emplazado y notificado de que en este Tribunal se ha radicado una demanda en su contra sobre Cobro de Dinero.

Se le notifica para que comparezca ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a su derecho convenga, en el presente caso. Se le notifica que deberá presentar su alegación a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual pueden acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.poderjudicial.

pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Sala Municipal, y enviando copia a la parte demandante: Lcda. Karina P. Cintrón Narváez; PO Box 193813, San Juan, PR 00919; kcintron@ esqlegalpr.com. Se le apercibe y notifica que si no contesta la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía en su contra y se dictará sentencia en su contra, conforme se solicita en la demanda, sin más citársele, ni oírsele. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal a 15 de septiembre de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. SANDRA I. BÁEZ HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE VEGA BAJA

HACIENDA DEL MAR OWNERS

ASSOCIATION, INC.

Demandante V. STEPHEN GERARD LUTZ Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: VB2025CV00468. (Salón: 201 CD, CM, TR Y CR). Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JESSICA D. MARTÍNEZ BIRRIELJMARTBIRR@YAHOO.COM.

A: STEPHEN GERARD LUTZ, SUSAN JANE LUTZ, T/C/C SUSAN JANE GOTTSHALK LUTZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 de septiembre de 2025, 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 15 de septiembre de 2025. En Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, el 15 de septiembre de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MARITZA ROSARIO ROSARIO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SEBASTIÁN FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO Demandante V. GLENDALIZ ACEVEDO GONZALEZ Y OTROS Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: SS2023CV00063. (Salón: 0002 DISTRITO SUPERIOR). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO Y OTROS. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA. JOSÉ A. LAMAS BURGOSJLAMAS@LVPRLAW.COM. A: GLENDALIZ ACEVEDO GONZALEZ, SUCESION DE CARMEN CARDONA SOTO COMPUESTA POR: ORLANDO SANTIADO CARDONA; FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO DE TAL; ORLANDO SANTIAGO CARDONA POR SI FULANO DE TAL, MENGANO DE TAL. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 04 de noviembre 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 15 de septiembre de 2025. Notas de la Secretaría: POR ORDEN DEL TRIBUNAL. En San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, el 15 de septiembre de 2025. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. LAURA LUGO CRESPO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

‘Phillies Karen’ highlights our love for jostling for home run balls and freebies

By SOPAN DEB

You may have heard about the angry Philadelphia Phillies fan who confronted a father at a Sept. 5 game in Miami, accusing him of stealing a home-run ball from her and giving it to his son, inciting an internet furor and earning her the nickname “Phillies Karen” from online observers.

That came days after another sports-related internet uproar: A business executive from Poland was caught on camera taking an autographed hat intended for a child at the U.S. Open. After a social media backlash, the man, Piotr Szczerek, apologized.

Then there is the report from Page Six of a woman biting a child in the Hamptons over a T-shirt that was shot out of a cannon at a free concert in August, part of a weekly summer series.

If it seems as if adults have forgotten how to behave at public events when presented with the prospect of a freebie, it’s hard to quantify. People have long dived into the stands to capture a wayward foul ball or headband thrown into the crowd by an NBA player from the tunnel.

As Jocelyn Saber, a former Boston Celtics cheerleader who tossed free swag to fans, put it, “‘Free’ flips a switch in people’s brains.”

The episode involving the Phillies fan put that in stark relief after footage of the confrontation was shared widely online. The video shows the aftermath of a home run that Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader slugged into left field. A man in a Phillies shirt scoots to the end of his row, where, after a brief scrum, he retrieves the ball and returns to place it in his son’s glove. A fellow Phillies fan follows and confronts him. After a brief but heated altercation, he takes the ball back from his son and hands it to her.

With social media and more camera coverage at public events, a pursuit of a souvenir that goes awry is more likely to gain wide-

New York Knicks fans celebrate at an NBA playoff watch party outside Madison Square Garden in New York, May 17, 2025. Sports events and concerts offer more opportunities than ever to reach for free keepsakes, but several recent episodes raise a question: Is fan behavior getting worse as a result? (Ye Fan/The New York Times)

spread attention.

From a psychological perspective, one reason heated interactions happen at sporting events is a natural human “level of arousal,” according to Matthew Mulvaney, an associate professor of human development and family science at Syracuse University.

In a group environment, Mulvaney said, blood pressure is likely to be higher, especially if a game is competitive, and this can trigger more aggressive behavior.

There is also a theory in psychology, the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which posits that a key source of anger is having a goal blocked. (An example: being stuck in traffic when running late for a meeting.) So pursuing a home run ball in the stands — and being blocked by someone else, as appeared to be the case with the Phillies fan — can result in an expression of frustration.

Additionally, audiences have long been fascinated by giveaways at events. T-shirts. Bobblehead dolls. Armbands.

Sentimentality is a powerful emotion. So while a lone home run ball may not have much monetary value, a fan may see it as “a wonderful thing to have, either for reminiscence or for association with the team or event,” Mulvaney said. Because professional sports has become such a lucrative business, there are more opportunities for souvenirs, and more opportunities for conflicts to break out as a

result.

It wasn’t always this way. Dr. Patrick McBride was a bat boy for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1969 to 1976. Back then, he said, he was forbidden from giving foul balls and bats to fans by the team’s stingy ownership. Players were discouraged from doing so as well, he said.

“I always used to think to myself, ‘This is ridiculous,’” said McBride, a professor emeritus in the department of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

McBride, 71, recalled that when he was with the Brewers, the stars would invite fans — almost always children — to line up and then they would sign every autograph. But as the years went on, adults began appearing more and more and the players realized their autographs were being sold.

Generally, leagues don’t have guidelines on how to handle free merchandise or balls. But teams and leagues do have general codes of conduct for fans. For the NBA, one stipulation is that players and fans “respect and appreciate each other.”

There also are no defined rules for how adults should handle game items.

“You have every right to reach your hand up as much as anybody else,” said Lizzie Post, a host of the “Awesome Etiquette” podcast and a great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post, the authority on social behavior. “I think if it’s more clearly headed toward the kid, or if in your excitement you reach over the kid to get it, that’s when I’m going to give it to the kid.”

But that doesn’t mean adults are obligated to do so, Post said.

“We aren’t beholden to just give everything to children just because they’re around

or in the vicinity,” she said.

Michael Carter Jr. was a ball boy from age 15 to 30 for the New Jersey Nets, the New Jersey Devils and the New York Knicks. Carter, 49, recalled trying to get keepsakes, such as towels and autographs, to children attending games as much as possible.

“It makes the night even that much more special for a child,” said Carter, who now works in real estate. “It’s almost like Christmas.”

He recalled that adults, from his perspective, were more polite about pursuing game memorabilia when he was working in the 1990s and 2000s.

“It was different back then,” he said. “Adults weren’t muscling kids. If anything, it was the adults that were speaking up on behalf of the kids.”

It may be tempting to view this as generational crankiness. Indeed, plenty of foul balls, hats and similar items get tossed to children without incident. But it is also true that sports memorabilia has become an extraordinarily profitable industry, worth billions, incentivizing adults to pursue signed and game-used items more aggressively.

A famous dispute arose in 2001, when Patrick Hayashi and Alex Popov both got their hands on Barry Bonds’ single-season record 73rd home run ball. Popov sued Hayashi. A judge ruled that they were co-owners of the ball and that the ball must be sold, with the two splitting the proceeds — $450,000 — evenly.

Now, there are far more opportunities for free keepsakes at games as teams and their corporate sponsors are under more pressure to counter the convenience of watching games at home and boost attendance, said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, an associate professor of sport management at George Washington University.

“It is the scarcity or rarity that creates urgency, be it a fan or a collector,” she said.

Saber, the former Celtics cheerleader, recalled the exuberance with which fans at the TD Garden would receive the shirts she would toss, or the free keepsakes that parachuted from the rafters.

“Most people were very pleasant. They understand that you have a job to do, too,” Saber, 30, said. “But some people would throw a fit if they couldn’t get the little plastic parachute.”

This article originally appeared in <a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/ sports/sports-fans-violence-behavior-psychology.html”>The New York Times</a>.

September 22, 2025 23

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21