The Weekly Journal - Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Wednesday, May 4-10, 2022 - // no. 158

COVID-19’s impact on the labor market P6 Business collaboration between PR and Florida P7 Climate change affects life in PR P8

Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

www.theweeklyjournal.com

Electronic fraud attempts

decreased almost 25% during Q1 of 2022 Still, businesses have not won yet the battle against scammers

Environment and community mark Film Festival P13

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Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal

he global digital fraud rate decreased by 22.6% during the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021.

According to consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion’s quarterly digital fraud analysis, the year-over-year (YoY) suspected fraud rate declined in industries such as financial services, telecommunications and retail, while fraudsters significantly increased their scams in sectors

such as gambling, insurance and logistics.

But these figures contrast significantly with those offered by TransUnion itself in its previously release “Global Digital Fraud Trends” report for 2021, just a day before the quarterly analysis.

“Sophisticated fraudsters pressure test which industries have ramped up fraud prevention measures and, as a result, turn to new industries if efforts are being thwarted. That’s exactly what we have observed recently as fraudsters look for new opportunities or points of vulnerability,” said Shai Cohen, senior vice president of global GO TO PAGE 4

The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, May 4, 2022 > 2

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a week in review Plaza Del Caribe Mural: A Tribute to Ponce Plaza Del Caribe has begun its 30thanniversary celebrations, revealing a mural that celebrates the traditions, culture, and gastronomy of the city of Ponce. Graffiti artist and muralist Bryan Portalatín painted the vibrant mural, which features recognizable Ponce icons. “I used the most striking and celebratory elements that Ponce has to illustrate this tribute to the city. The representation of the earthenware that the mural has, with its geometric forms, is a creation of my authorship that I extracted from the Parque de Bombas as inspiration to highlight culture and nostalgia. The red, in addition to being a main color in the Municipality, reflects the passion that is what defines the ponceño,” said the muralist Portalatín.

The mural is located on the corner of Ave. Rafael Cordero Santiago and Ave. Plaza Del Caribe by the entrance to the Puma gas station, near the cinema and gym areas.

The Best Rooftop Bars in San Juan

TotalEnergies’ Commitment to a Multi-Energy Future In the presence of its retailers and suppliers, essential to its network of 200 stations, TotalEnergies in Puerto Rico cut the ribbon during the inauguration of the redesigned Montehiedra station. This represents the company’s shift in identity, which was announced by the brand in the second half of 2021, and its commitment to an energy transition, transforming itself from an oil company into a large multi-energy company. The celebration was twofold, as the brand also opened the doors of the first Bonjour convenience store, part of its innovative Mobility concept. The Bonjour convenience store, a clean and modern designed space, promises to supply the needs of any driver in a single stop.

Powered BY El Vocero de Puerto Rico, 1064 Ave Ponce de León 2nd floor San Juan, PR Postal Address: PO Box 15074, San Juan, PR 00902

The O:live Hotel Collection’s newest property in Isla Verde, Aire de O:live, dazzles with KUMO, a new restaurant with Japanese-inspired fare.

Chef José Miguel Meléndez, of the Calle Loiza’s restaurant Yoko, crafts dishes like tuna wrapped in crispy sushi rice with eel sauce and finished with foie gras. On a garden terrace above San Juan, hidden within Casita Miramar, Cuarto 16 is an escape within the city.

Chef Feryabriel Landrau’s dishes, along with the bar’s cocktails, consist of about 85% local products. Above Santaella, at La Placita in Santurce, Chef Jose Santaella’s Azotea gives its patrons a respite from the madness below. The bar, serving up small plates - takes on Puerto Rican classics like empanadillas and bacalaítos - is currently open on Sunday evenings with plans to extend hours soon. The gem of this list, the bar at Decanter Hotel in Old San Juan, tantalizes guests with dishes by James Beard Award-nominee Maria Grubb that are as delicious as the panoramic views of San Juan Harbor.

President Salvador Hasbún shasbun@elvocero.com

VP of Accounting Félix A. Rosa frosa@elvocero.com

Human Resources Director Arlene Rolón, PHR arolon@elvocero.com

Vp of Marketing and Business Operations Michelle Pérez Miperez@elvocero.com

VP of Production Eligio Dekony edekony@elvocero.com

VP of Editorial Content Juan Miguel Muñiz Guzmán jmuniz@elvocero.com

Multi-Platform Graphic and Technology Director Héctor L. Vázquez hvazquez@elvocero.com

Phone: 787-622-2300, 787-721-2300

Multi-Plataform Digital Director María Arce marce@elvocero.com

Customer Service: 787-622-7480

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

fake or stolen credit card for a purchase, resulting in a chargeback to the site.

Other industries experiencing significant fraud solutions at TransUnion in an interview with increments in fraud attempts were online gaming the business news website Yahoo! Finance. “It is (+32.6) and financial services paramount that during this dip, (+33.5%). companies focus on optimizing In Puerto Rico, the top the customer experience for industries targeted by good customers.” suspected digital fraudsters In its annual report, the are travel and leisure, company states that fraudsters telecommunications, Travel and leisure have shadowed consumer e-commerce and financial was consistently preferences for online services. Each of these in the top three transactions and targeted those industries has experienced industries across the industries that experience a YoY (2019-2021) increase regions analyzed, spikes in usage. of 86%, 67%, 36% and 34%, suffering an increase “Travel and leisure was respectively. in the rate of consistently in the top three In Puerto Rico, the suspected online industries across the regions telecommunications industry fraud from 2020 to analyzed, suffering an increase is the only sector where the 2021, primarily via in the rate of suspected online increase in the number of credit card fraud. fraud from 2020 to 2021, fraud attempts for the period primarily via credit card fraud,” is greater than the global reads the report. Suspected increment (67% vs 46%). digital fraud attempts against “Fraud continues to impact this industry increased by 68.4% globally. The attacks to this industry became a variety of business sectors, and fraudsters are always looking for the next opportunity. However, more common as national economies started to there are some industries that continue to have a normalize after the pandemic started to subside target on their backs – such as financial services and tourism resumed. Credit card fraud was the or travel and leisure – that should preemptively predominant form of fraud –a customer uses a

In fact,

Sophisticated fraudsters pressure-test which industries have ramped up fraud prevention measures and, as a result, turn to new industries if efforts are being thwarted.

Shai Cohen Senior VP of Global Fraud Solutions, TransUnion

employ fraud detection solutions and strategies…,” said Rodney Curbelo, TransUnion general manager for Puerto Rico.

Types Of Fraud

While different industries suffer different fraud attempts, some may suffer from different fraud types, and any single fraudster may use different forms of fraud to achieve his/her purpose.

The fraud scheme showing the most increase from 2020 to 2021 is the shipping fraud – when a buyer spoofs a shipping address or when a seller

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receives payment for goods or services, but never having been targeted by digital fraud schemes, ships them to the buyer. “with 32% being targeted with third-party seller According to the TransUnion report, the scams on legitimate retail websites.” increase in this kind of fraud demonstrates “how But despite the threats, consumers continue fraud follows changes in consumer behavior,” to do business on online. Questioned about particularly during the pandemic. Lockdowns to the features they consider most when making avoid contagion, and remote working increased transaction online, consumers on all regions demand for shipping and delivery services due surveyed by TransUnion said, “confidence that my to the growing number of online transactions personal data will not be compromised” and “easy for consumer goods, and that payment process,” except in represented an opportunity for India, where consumers value scammers to develop different more “the ease of new account types of shipping fraud. registration (84%)” over data Among the fastest growing security. fraud schemes globally, from In the Caribbean region, In Puerto Rico, 2020 to 2021, are: shipping Puerto Rico, the Dominican identity theft grew fraud (+780.5%), business Republic and Colombia share 80%, followed by identity theft (+113.8%), identity similar preferences for online credit card fraud mining/phishing (+104.8%), security features. with 78%, and first party fraud (+55.8%) and account takeover or scammer/solicitation (+53.9).

Online Security Is A hijacking with 57%.

In Puerto Rico, specifically, Generation Thing identity theft grew 80% over Regarding data security on that period, followed by credit the users’ end, preferences card fraud with 78%, and vary mainly depending on account takeover or hijacking with 57%. Regarding the age of the user. For the survey’s purpose, account takeover, growth of this fraud scheme in TransUnion identified respondents’ age groups as: Puerto Rico was eight times greater than its global Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers. growth.

Interestingly, while the majority of the Other countries with similar statistics to Puerto respondents identified one-time passcodes as Rico are Colombia (identity theft +75%; credit card their preferred method for ID verification when fraud with +73%; account takeover +58%) and the opening a new online account, only Gen Zers Philippines (identity theft +70%; credit card fraud preferred document verification. +58%; phishing +58%).

In Puerto Rico, every age group expressed a The report states that 80% of Puerto Rican preference for one-time passcodes, except the consumers reported identity theft as their greatest Baby boomers, who preferred knowledge-based concern regarding digital fraud. Also, 37% reported verification – an identity verification method

In fact,

based on knowledge of private information associated with the user’s claimed identity (i.e. mother’s maiden name).

Other methods for identity verification preferred by people conducting business through the internet were: biometrics, multifactor authentication and token-based authentication (a protocol that generates encrypted security tokens).

The TransUnion report states that “innovations, such as facial recognition [biometrics] can add friction [to the customer experience] but when executed correctly, can also speed up processes or help businesses position themselves as customer friendly.”

Nevertheless, the fact is that users’ security preferences may very well depend on the technology they have access to.

Fraud continues to impact a variety of business sectors, and fraudsters are always looking for the next opportunity. However, there are some industries that continue to have a target on their backs.

Rodney Curbelo General Manager, TransUnion Puerto Rico

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PR’s shifting labor market, a legacy of COVID-19

The pandemic changed the negotiation leverage from employers to employees

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Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal

espite the recently reported increase in the number of people currently employed, Puerto Rico’s labor participation rate is still below what could be considered “a minimum” to guarantee economic development for the near future.

“The slight increase in the number of people employed, as reported by the Business Establishments’ Survey is in the service sector, particularly restaurants, hotels and other services where the negotiation leverage from productivity and real economic employers to employees. Now The sectors with growth are difficult to measure,” we have higher salaries that the greatest said economist Heidie Calero do not stem from increased positive growth during the Society for Human productivity,” she argued. “With are: healthcare, Resource Management’s (SHRM) higher inflation rates, and entertainment and Labor Symposium. no unemployment benefits, transportation.

According to Calero, “to or Covid incentives, even the increase labor participation we disabled are joining the labor would need to promote 20% of force,” she added in response the current number of part-time to Pierluisi’s claim about the jobs to full-time, and we still be number of people employed. facing serious difficulties recruiting in the service To curb the inflationary spiral the salary increase sector.” may trigger, said increase must be linked to an The economist’s remarks contrasted with those increase in productivity and employers must put of Governor Pedro Pierluisi, who said that “the in place better and more reliable mechanisms to number of people currently holding jobs in Puerto measure it.

Rico is now greater than 2009” and that it is all But, while the governor admits “we still need due to “the increase in the minimum wage and to improve in terms of our productivity,” he is work incentives benefits provided by the federal convinced that a well-paid labor force with the government.” Pierluisi also pointed to the “sustained proper incentives “will result in greater productivity increase of the island’s economic indicators.” and will help us to bring back our population and But Calero dismissed Pierluisi’s assertions, deter our youth from leaving the island. recalling he never presented a study to show the The economist argued demographic changes impact that the increase in the minimum wage would have on the island’s economy.

“In theory, when salaries go up, productivity should also go up. But these two indicators are divorced from one another… and it is important that both employers and employees be aware of this,” Calero said.

The economist insisted wage growth must follow productivity growth “to avoid an inflationary wage spiral.”

“The biggest shift in Puerto Rico’s labor market Economist Heidie Calero. is a consequence of COVID-19, because it changed

In fact,

In theory, when salaries go up, productivity should also go up.

But these two indicators are divorced from one another.

Heidie Calero Economist

during the last decade have affected Puerto Rico’s working age population (16 years and older) and have left the island with “a decreasing, aging and poorer population.” Also, structural reforms enacted thus far (tax, labor, and others), have contributed little, or nothing at all to the island’s economic growth.

According to industries outlooks presented

by Calero, the sectors with the greatest positive growth outlook up to 2028 are: healthcare, entertainment, and transportation, among others. On the other hand, the segments with the least expected growth for the same period are: education, retail, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing (furniture) and government, among others.

Still, Calero concedes it is possible to significantly improve productivity, but only if the administration turns away from its dependence on federal funding for short term economic growth and adopts a comprehensive vision for the island’s labor market and economic development in general.

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This is just the beginning. We are beginning to see some 200+ Puerto Rican businesses in Central Florida.

Jerry L. Demings Mayor, Orange County

Orange County and Puerto Rico Support Innovation through Collaborating The city of Orlando holds cultural and economic value for the island

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Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal

t’s widely known that Puerto Rico and Florida have a significant cultural overlap.

To start off, “they’re tied together by history and family,” pointed out Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings. Indeed, in 1513 conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon, Puerto Rico’s first governor, “discovered” Florida. Thus began three centuries of Spanish colonial rule, intertwining the fates of Florida and Puerto Rico together.

In the present day, it may appear as if the flow of influence between Florida and Puerto Rico is onedirectional (i.e. Puerto Rico to Florida), observed in migration patterns, pop culture trends, and businesses - reguetoneros sing as much about Miami as they do Condado. The sunshine state, however, has its own value propositions for the island.

Orlando’s Business Environment

There are 1.4 million people in Orange County, Florida, whose county seat is the city of Orlando.

Each week, an additional 1,000 new residents claim the central Florida county as their new home. It’s a rapidly growing region, attracting people from other states and internationally.

The region is undergoing significant improvements in its transit systems to ensure success and manage growth. Finding efficient and equitable ways to move people around such as a commuter rail to connect the Orlando International Airport to Miami - is necessary to remain competitive with other big cities in the U.S. Orlando facilitates business growth with

omnichannel methods to provide entrepreneurial According to Mayor Demings, the food services, support. The National Entrepreneur Center is a technology, financial services, and the life and one-stop small business solution, an in-person health sciences industries are ideal candidates hub for receiving business support and access for expansion into Orlando. “[The] Puerto Rican to computers and other technology. BizLink diaspora, many of them depend upon connection Orange is an online resource to the island to keep traditional that puts entrepreneurs in food. That is an emerging contact with business assistance industry that, I think, is ripe for organizations. Then there’s 311 import and export,” explained - the telephone number you can Demings. call for business guidance.

Within the life and health “This is just the beginning. We sciences, Demings elaborated, are beginning to see some 200“The opportunity is there to plus Puerto Rican businesses in improve the health of all of our Central Florida. We are beginning residents. Historically, there have to see business opportunities been health inequities among emerge and the broad base of people of color, so I see [the prosperity improve among our expansion of health services] as Puerto Rican friends - that’s a tremendous opportunity,” how you are able to transfer Salud Integral de la Montaña generational wealth, [by] holding (SIM) is one such Puerto Rican something that is transferable. company taking advantage [The] major investments we have of the beneficial relationship is in our home, in real estate - I’d between the island and Orange Orange County Mayor Jerry L. say buy more of it, invest more County. SIM recently purchased Demings. in it, and the returns on those property on West Colonial Drive things can be significant,” Mayor in Orlando to expand its network Demings commented to THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. of health centers.

As a destination, the county’s tourism levels “We plan to expand to different areas - like are returning to pre-pandemic levels, the Orlando Tampa and Jacksonville - so we can open a International Airport is the seventh busiest in both second and third clinic,” Dr. Gloria del C. Amador the U.S. and globally, and they’re in the running to Fernández, President and CEO of SIM, said to THE host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. WEEKLY JOURNAL. As the business grows in Florida, SIM will make the most of the two talent pools where it’s located.

Advantages For Puerto Rico Businesses “[We will] export technologies and services from Orange County, and specifically Orlando, is an Orlando to Puerto Rico. The main administrative ideal place in which Puerto Rico businesses can services and providers are going to be provided expand. With a 32.7% Hispanic population, Puerto Rico’s bilingual capabilities are a huge advantage in from Puerto Rico to Orlando. [Then] we will be importing services from Orlando to Puerto Rico to accessing all the city’s markets. There are already help us expand in other areas,” said Dr. Amador 500,000 Puerto Ricans and 200 Puerto Rican Fernández. companies in central Florida.

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Climate Change: Devastating Effects on Life in PR Government and businesses must adapt using new models

“W Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal

@Landi_Zoe

idespread, rapid, and intensifying” - the absolute last three words that anyone wants to hear describing climate change.

Unfortunately, those are exactly the adjectives that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chose to explain the current situation - which is, by the way, only getting worse.

As the sea level rises, Puerto Rico’s coasts will Fundamentally, climate change is observed flood, exacerbating shoreline erosion that was changes in precipitation and temperature over accelerated

by Hurricane Maria. Storm damage an extended period of time, and while that and increasingly more powerful tropical cyclones phrase itself doesn’t awaken fear within us, the and hurricanes can flood water-treatment plants consequences will. and inundate infrastructure.

“Continued sea-level rise is irreversible over hundreds of thousands of years,” said meteorologist Ada Monzón, at a recent symposium Government Action on climate change. Monzón is also the founder The 2019 Law on the Mitigation, Adaptation, and and president of the Board of Directors of Resilience to Climate Change in Puerto Rico (Law EcoExploratorio, Inc. 33), seeks to reduce climate change’s impact on the By the end of this century, per data in Puerto island by addressing a multitude of its effects.

Rico’s State of the Climate Report, global surface Goals set out in Law 33 include: generating temperatures could rise an energy from 40% renewable additional 1.8 - 7.2° F. If nations sources by 2023, and 100% and corporations continue to renewable by 2050; 100% delay action on climate change, capital investment in resilient recounted Monzón, global projects; increasing rate of temperatures could increase reforestation by planting by another 5° F. Conversely, if 500,000 trees in five years; a By the end of this proper and immediate action is 50% reduction in emissions in century, per data in taken, temps may increase by five years; the implementation Puerto Rico’s State of another 1.8° F instead. of school curriculum on the the Climate Report, themes of climate change global surface Climate Change mitigation, adaptation, and temperatures could resilience.

In Puerto Rico rise an additional 1.8 These efforts, which are not a Between 1824 and - 7.2° F comprehensive list of the law’s 2020, San Juan has gotten targets, follow the principles of increasingly hotter. The building resilience to natural average temperature is a full hazards. Building resilience to 2.3° F higher now than it was natural hazards is a multistep process: a century ago, the consequences of which will 1- Identify vulnerabilities be more extreme weather events, seen more 2- Anticipate planning frequently.

3- Identify options Puerto Rico is expected to warm faster than the 4- Provide help and resources global average rate. Daily temperatures of over 5- Understand and mitigate risks 90° F will occur more often and, surprisingly, the 6- Prepare to face the frequency and intensity of island will experience 20 - 40% less precipitation. tropical cyclones and droughts The effects will include water stress and drought, 7- Share educational info floods from heavy rainfall events, and increased 8- Prioritize the most vulnerable populations demands for energy.

In fact,

Many roads were destroyed

by Hurricane Maria in September, 2017 and by the resulting flooding and soil saturation.

Continued sea-level rise is irreversible over hundreds of thousands of years.

Ada Monzón Meteorologist

The Circular Economy Model

A report from the Columbia Climate School published in 2019 explained that if the highertemperature scenario occurs, in which the global surface temperature increases by another estimated 7.2° F, the cost to the U.S. economy could be $520 billion each year. If temperatures stay below this by at least half, it could cost $224 billion less.

The Circular Economy Model is one way to reduce emissions and waste. This economic model seeks to preserve nature, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and generate business without compromising the environment. The term was coined in 1980 by Pearce & Turner as a result of computerized models that showed the circular economy to resemble a metabolism more than a machine.

Businesses that follow this model work with a design that excludes waste and pollution, keep products in use for a long time, and regenerates natural systems. This model promotes collaboration between communities and industries within the water, land, energy, and air management. Veolia Puerto Rico, for example, reuses manufacturing waste to deliver alternative fuels, commercial chemicals, and resume water for energy.

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Accessible Charging Stations Necessary for Widespread Adoption of EVs than four 150kW DC fast chargers with combined charging system (ccs) ports would be included at each EV charging site. They would be capable of simultaneously charging four EVs. The minimum power capability required of the station would be at least 600kW and support at least 150kW per port across four ports, simultaneously.

Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal @Landi_Zoe “We are modernizing America’s national highway system for drivers in cities large and he Bipartisan Infrastructure Law small, towns and rural communities, to take (BIL) passed by President Biden is advantage of the benefits of driving electric,” said a $1.2 trillion commitment to the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. nation’s infrastructure that will “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping states also deliver for Puerto Rico and to make electric vehicle charging more accessible support its transition to vehicles by building the necessary infrastructure for drivers fueled by clean energy. across America to save money As a recent addition to the and go the distance, from coastBIL, President Biden, the U.S. to-coast.”

Department of Transportation, Funding is available for an and the U.S. Department of array of activities related to the Energy announced a $5 billion acquisition and installation of investment in electric vehicle EV charging stations EV charging infrastructure.

(EV) charging stations, to

President Biden pledged $5B to install EV charging stations along U.S. highways

T

In fact,

would be installed take place over the next five every 50 miles Electric Vehicles And years. Funding comes from along the state’s the National Electric Vehicle Unreliable Electricity interstate highway Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Puerto Rico can expect to system within one Program established by receive an estimated $13.6 travel mile of the President Biden’s Bipartisan million over the next five years interstate.

Infrastructure Law. to fund the expansion of its “A century ago, America own EV charging network. ushered in the modern The island is also eligible to automotive era; now America apply for grants for activities must lead the electric vehicle revolution,” said U.S. related to EV charging, of which there is $2.5 billion Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. available.

EV charging stations would be installed every 50 Currently, hybrid and electric vehicles constitute miles along the state’s interstate highway system a slim 1% of all new vehicle sales in Puerto Rico, as within one travel mile of the interstate. No less previously reported by THE WEEKLY JOURNAL in

A century ago, America ushered in the modern automotive era; now America must lead the electric vehicle revolution.

Pete Buttigieg Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation

late 2021.

The island’s electric grid is notoriously unreliable, and customers pay some of the highest energy prices compared to anywhere else in the U.S. Nevertheless, LUMA energy, responsible for power distribution and transmission on the island, reports that it has taken steps toward supporting Puerto Rico’s EV future.

“Whether it is determining how to build necessary EV infrastructure or addressing how to best ensure overall grid reliability, this is an important discussion, and we are excited to work together with our customers, community leaders and our regulators to help define this promising EV future,” said LUMA Chief Executive Officer Wayne Stensby.

LUMA’s November 2019 report to the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) claimed that the company is working to streamline the process of interconnecting renewable and battery storage, repair and modernize the grid for reliable power support, and to advance the development of utility-scale renewable energy and storage.

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opinion Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz

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Retrofitting the suburbs: An opportunity for transformation

onventional suburbs are flawed.

They’re underutilized, they barely support walkable areas, and they contain dying commercial strips and buildings. In order for suburbs to become better places, they need to be retrofitted. Here are 5 ways to retrofit suburbs.

1. INVOLVING COMMUNITIES The first step to retrofit suburbs is to involve the community in the process. When you include people in the process of creating their own spaces, you help establish and foster person-place relationships.

Designers and developers need to respect, relate and respond to the people who will be living in the suburbs. They also need to keep in mind that they will not only be transforming spaces, but they will also be building connections, relationships, lifestyles, opportunities, and memories. They are building communities.

2. DESIGNING FOR MOBILITY & WALKABILITY An important way to retrofit suburbs is to make them mobile and walkable. Incorporating walking paths, bike lanes, and bus stops make suburbs walkable and accessible for everyone. Additionally, having pedestrian areas where people can walk, encourages physical activity, and improves the community’s overall wellness.

3. ADDING CLOSE AMENITIES Adding commercial spaces such as wellness centers, supermarkets, office buildings, restaurants, and stores is another way to retrofit suburbs. Furthermore, schools, recreational spaces, entertainment areas, and hospitals all bring a community to life. This makes it easy for people to be in close-proximity of amenities and promotes economic growth.

4. INCORPORATING SUSTAINABLE METHODS Making suburbs sustainable is another great way to retrofit them. Sustainable suburbs are designed to minimize the negative impact on the environment through energy-saving technology, solar panels, the use of sustainable materials, recycling, or repurposing supporting long-term ecological balance.

Sustainable suburbs not only focus on saving energy and natural resources, but also focus on increasing the well-being of those who use those spaces, adding to their comfort, enhancing their experience, boosting their productivity, and improving the quality of their lives while simultaneously reducing demands on the environment. It’s a win-win.

5. RESILIENT DESIGN Emergency resiliency and disaster preparedness

Suburbs built and designed to withstand natural and manmade disasters follow the latest Building Codes and use resilient design to keep people safe and structures standing. is key when it comes to retrofitting suburbs.

Suburbs built and designed to withstand natural and man-made disasters follow the latest Building Codes and use resilient design in order to keep people safe and structures standing. Here are some applications and considerations that can be used to create resilient suburbs:

• Life-saving natural heating and cooling options in the event of a power outage, including proper insulation and natural ventilation.

• Backup systems on high floors, off-grid heating and cooling, daylighting techniques, and other resources to keep structures operational and comfortable for people when power outages occur.

• Durable building envelopes such as sealing, insulation, and moisture protection as well as longlasting and low-maintenance interiors capable of enduring wear and tear from constant use.

Retrofitting suburbs is a process that involves community input, accessibility, sustainability, and resilience with the objective of creating new opportunities, healthier communities, and a higher quality of life for those who live in them.

It connects communities and creates thriving suburbs. More importantly, retrofitting suburbs allows for a better suburban future for all.

The author is co-founder and CEO of Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón, an architects and interior designing firm.

< The Weekly Journal > Wednesday, May 4, 2022

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One of the most iconic outfits in American movie history is heading for auction, discovered in a box after decades of being thought lost. >AP Photo/ Katie Vasquez

Lost for decades, Dorothy’s dress from ‘Oz’ up for sale There was more than one of the costume made for Garland while filming. Hall said that four are known to exist and that only two, including the one found at Catholic University, are with the blouse she wore underneath. Bonhams sold the other one with a blouse at an auction in 2015 for more than $1.5 million.

Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press (There are also some surviving pairs of the ruby slippers Garland wore, with one pair in the collection EW YORK — It’s one of the most at the Smithsonian.) recognizable outfits in American The rediscovered dress had movie history; the blue-and-white initially been given to Father checked gingham dress a young Gilbert Hartke, who was then Judy Garland wore as Dorothy The Wizard of Oz. head of the university’s drama in the classic 1939 movie “The department, in 1973 by actress Wizard of Oz.” at my past childhood.”

Mercedes McCambridge, LearyIn researching For decades, one of the versions of the dress Warsaw said, although it’s not the dress, it was Garland wore in the movie was assumed lost at Million Dollar Dress clear how McCambridge came to determined that Catholic University of America, where it had been She and others are hopeful have it.

Garland wore it given to someone in the drama department in the that the nostalgia factor will Somehow, in the years that in the movie in early 1970s. But the clearing out of some office clutter come into play when the followed, the department lost the scene where last year led to the finding of the dress in an old costume goes up for sale at track of the costume until it she is confronted shoebox, and now it’s headed for the auction block.

Bonhams “Classic Hollywood: became “something that people in a castle by a When she first saw it, “all I could think about was Film and Television” auction had thought was just a myth,” threatening Wicked watching the movie when I was a child and growing on May 24 in Los Angeles, she said.

Last year, during Witch of the West. up with” it, said Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw, dean of the where it has a presale estimate preparations for a renovation, school of music, drama and art at Catholic University, of $800,000 to $1.2 million. a bag containing the shoebox in Washington, D.C. “In a way it was like I was looking Bonhams has the dress on was opened, and there it was display this week at the auction — though how it got to where it house’s New York location before it is sent to ended up remains a mystery, Leary-Warsaw said.

California for public view and then auction.

The dress was in good condition, aside from a Helen Hall, director of popular culture for piece that had been cut away, while the blouse was Bonhams, said that the market for memorabilia, more fragile. and film costumes in particular, is strong, and that In researching the dress, it was determined that “The Wizard of Oz” is a cultural touchstone.

Garland wore it in the movie in the scene where she People “very much remember the first time is confronted in a castle by a threatening Wicked they saw the film, the effect it had on their lives,” Witch of the West. she said. The film is renowned for its music, its The school decided to auction it off instead of Dean, School of Music, Drama dialogue and its visuals, particularly when Dorothy keeping it, and plans to use the proceeds from the and Art, Catholic University goes from drab, sepia-colored Kansas to gloriously auction sale to create a full-fledged film program in multicolored Oz. the drama department.

The clearing out of some office clutter led to the finding of the dress

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All I could think about was watching the movie when I was a child and growing up with it.

Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw

In fact,

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Latin American Filmmakers Convene for Documentary Film Event

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An undercurrent of environmental justice and community runs throughout

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Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal

he eighth edition of the documentary film screening event Latinoamérica en Nosotrxs will be in Puerto Rico for three days of film, discussion, and presentations.

The program runs from May 5 - 7 and will take place at the Archivo General of Puerto Rico. After two years of anticipation and delay caused by the pandemic, the show returns in person and is expected to draw an excited audience.

“In its eighth edition, the show continues to be an important platform for local filmmakers to present themselves and share their projects. That’s why coming back in person Latinoamérica was vital. [These] are three en Nosotrxs is set to nights where the public is run from May 5 - 7. invited to [get to know] and enjoy the documentary films that are made in Latin America and Puerto Rico,” said Raúl Abner Samrah, general coordinator of the event.

This year, Latinoamérica en Nosotrxs is dedicated to Eduardo Aguiar, the illustrious Puerto Rican documentarian. For almost 30 years, Aguiar has produced and directed films and videos in diverse genres such as drama, commercials, and music, although he mainly works in documentary film-making.

On Thursday, May 5, the event will open with a showing of “Retrospective: An Homage to Eduardo Aguiar”.

In fact,

The programming of these national and Latin American films tells the story of where our reality surpasses fiction.

Filmmakers In The Latin American Space

The exhibition serves as a space to project and disseminate the work of colleagues from all reaches of Latin America, as well as those from the Puerto Rico Association of Documentarians (AdocPR). Environmental justice and the concept of community feature widely in this eighth edition of the event.

“The 8th Latin American Documentary Film Show en Nosotrxs, becomes the voice of communities marginalized by corruption and social inequality,

Rhett Lee García Figueroa President, AdocPR

giving the opportunity to tell of the conditions we live in today, where the threats of climate change, high-energy costs, the pandemic, corruption, gentrification, femicides, and hate crimes are the order of the day continuously,” expressed Rhett Lee García Figueroa, President of AdocPR. The space, which promotes documentary

cinema in all its forms, has presented 57 Puerto Rican and Latin American documentaries to the public in its years of action. This year’s event will show full-length feature films - including ones from Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina - and short documentary films by Puerto Rican filmmakers selected through the annual call.

“The programming of these national and Latin American films tells the story of where our reality surpasses fiction. We, as Puerto Ricans, Latin Americans, and citizens of the world, must open the discussion and educate present and future generations about what happened in our time in history”, Figueroa emphasized.

The event is free and open to the public, both in-person and online. AdocPR, with the support of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP), the Sundance Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities, and Óptica Fiber provided funding and support for this celebratory event.

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/ Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Greyhound racing nearing its end in the U.S.

By the end of the year, there will only be two tracks left in the country

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Scott Mcfetridge – The Associated Press

UBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Vera Rasnake laughed as she led a trio of barking, jostling dogs into the Iowa Greyhound Park, but her smile faded when she acknowledged that after 41 years of being around the sleek animals, her sport was teetering on extinction.

After the end of a truncated season in Dubuque in May, the track here will close. By the end of the year, there will only be two tracks left in the country.

“It’s very hard for me to see this,” Rasnake said.

It’s been a long slide for greyhound racing, which reached its peak in the 1980s, when there were more than 50 tracks across 19 states. Since then, increased concerns about how the dogs are treated along with an explosion of gambling options have nearly killed a sport that gained widespread appeal about a century ago.

A racing association found that betting on greyhounds plunged from $3.5 billion in 1991 Carey Theil to about $500 million in 2014. Since then, many Executive Director, GREY2K more tracks have closed.

In some states like the dog-racing mecca of Florida in 2021, it was voter initiatives that ended the sport at the state’s dozen tracks. In others director, said he feels a sense of accomplishment like Iowa, state officials allowed casinos to end now that the sport’s end seems within reach. subsidies that had kept greyhound racing alive as “This has become one of the signature animal interest declined. welfare debates of our time,” Theil said.

“Do I think the industry is GREY2K, the Humane Society dying? Yes,” said Gwyneth Anne and other groups have long argued Thayer, who has written a that greyhound racing was cruel, history of greyhound racing. But including its longtime practice of “it’s happening way faster than I killing dogs that weren’t deemed Industry thought it would.” top racers, using drugs to enhance supporters note The Dubuque track closure their performance, confining them there now is a and the end of racing in West for long periods and subjecting huge demand to Memphis, Arkansas, this animals to the risk of injury on the adopt retired racers December will leave racing only racetrack. and deny that the in West Virginia, where tracks in Industry supporters note there other problems are Wheeling and near Charleston now is a huge demand to adopt widespread. operate with subsidies from retired racers and deny that the casino revenue. other problems are widespread.

For some animal welfare They also contend that some don’t groups, the industry’s collapse understand the love greyhounds is the culmination of decades have for running. of work to publicize allegations of greyhound On opening day at the Iowa Greyhound Park in mistreatment. The group GREY2K was formed in Dubuque, spectators packed into a spacious room 2001 and Carey Theil, the organization’s executive that overlooked the track, sipping beers and mixed

This has become one of the signature animal welfare debates of our time.

In fact,

drinks as they pored over racing statistics before placing bets at kiosks or with attendants. They expressed disappointment that the track would close, lamenting the loss of an entertainment option in Dubuque, a city of about 60,000 known for its stately brick buildings and church steeples built on hills overlooking the Mississippi River.

Peggy Janiszewski and her friend Robin Hannan have for years been driving about three hours from the Chicago area to Dubuque to watch the racing. They typically bet only a few dollars on each race, but are more interested in watching the dogs than counting their winnings.

“They’re beautiful. Like works of art,” Janiszewski said.

Opening day this year drew at least 1,000 people, but smaller crowds are typical, especially on weeknights.

The Dubuque track was helped along by city and state funding, and after Iowa and other states began allowing casinos, the Dubuque operation was expanded to include its own casino.

Greyhound racing also is held in other countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico and Vietnam, but it is facing some of the same problems apparent in the U.S. Although greyhound racing in the U.S. will be confined only to West Virginia, that state seems intent on retaining the sport, said Steve Sarras, president of the West Virginia Kennel Owners Association. The state’s two tracks run races fivedays a week year-round.

Sarras said West Virginia legislators made repeated visits to his kennel and others to inspect conditions, and ultimately were confident the dogs are well treated.

“When you see it firsthand, you cannot fake how happy a dog is,” he said.

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/ Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Painkiller

Vodka: A distilled spirit is the latest iteration of the noble “pana”

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Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal

ontrary to popular belief, the breadfruit, our “panapén,” or “pana,” for short, is not native to Puerto Rico, or even the Caribbean. It might come as a surprise, but the breadfruit is indigenous to Indonesia, New Guinea and several other Pacific islands.

Now, for us Puerto Ricans, “panas” are almost an everyday thing and go well with just about anything and everything, be it cod fish (“bacalao”), beef stew, or steak. But, for all the many uses

Island Mule

Mutiny mutini

a surprising new use for breadfruit

Freshly grated nutmeg and presentations we have for All ingredients in a shaker with breadfruit – and they are many ice – never could I ever imagine it Give it an island shake could be used as the basis for a Pour into glass distilled spirit.

Mutiny Island Vodka Grate whole nutmeg on top Imagine my surprise when I is the creation of In Manley’s words: “Say learned of the latest iteration award-winning goodbye to rum.” of the noble “pana”: vodka. And chef Todd Manley, not just about any kind of vodka who became because its makers identify it as Island Mule fascinated with the “premium vodka.”

2.5 oz MUTINY Island Vodka fruit’s richness and Mutiny Island Vodka is the Juice of half of a lime versatility after creation of award-winning chef 5 oz ginger beer arriving to St. Croix, Todd Manley, who became 1/2 oz Falernum (optional) in the US Virgin fascinated with the fruit’s Fill a copper mug with ice Islands. richness and versatility after Squeeze lime half into cup arriving to St. Croix, in the Toss in the spent lime wedge U.S. Virgin Islands. Decided to Add all other ingredients test the limits of his culinary Briefly stir imagination, the chef turned distiller, along with business associate Chris The Mutiny Mutini Richeson, created Island Mutiny Vodka 2.5 oz MUTINY Island Vodka using breadfruit and water for the 1/4 oz white vermouth new distillate.

Add fresh ice and stir well As it could be expected, Strain and pour Manley’s creativity has Garnish with a lemon twist introduced a series of twists to well-known Island Island Cosmo tropical cocktails to Cosmo 2 oz MUTINY Island showcase his creation, Vodka and many a barfly 1/2 oz simple syrup would be amazed at 1/4 oz lime juice their taste.

1 oz strong brewed hibiscus tea Mutiny of Orange twist the Pain Killer Add all ingredients to a 2.5 oz MUTINY Island shaker Vodka Fill with ice and shake 1 oz pineapple juice vigorously 1 oz orange juice Strain into chilled martini glass 1 oz Coco Lopez (or fresh Garnish with the orange twist coconut milk)

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