Thursday, Sept 4, 2025

GOOD MORNING

3 September 4, 2025

Saturday and Sunday.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Popular Democratic Party (PDP) delegation in the Senate held a press conference Wednesday to address the $300 fee charged by LUMA Energy to customers with solar panel systems.

The delegation has filed a resolution demanding that the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau carry out all the corresponding procedures to order LUMA Energy to cancel and/or stop all charges imposed on the so-called “microgrids.”

Sen. Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz stated that “as everyone knows, in recent weeks, we have been paying close attention to this issue, which has sparked outrage across the country, and rightly so.”

Hernández Ortiz noted that since Aug. 14, the delegation has expressed its rejection of the charge, considering that the net metering program, the mechanism that makes this type of connection possible, was created with the vision of facilitating interconnection to the electrical grid and allowing Puerto Rico residents to have electricity in their homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“This program allows Puerto Rican families and businesses to save on their electricity bills by crediting them for the clean energy they generate with their solar systems and export to the grid through renewable sources, such as solar panels,” said the PDP minority leader in the upper chamber.

Alternate Minority Leader Marially González Huertas noted that the net metering program “is the only mechanism that has significantly stimulated the installation of solar systems in our communities.”

“According to data from the LUMA consortium itself, between the most recent period of April to June 2025, more than 3,500 monthly activations of distributed generation (installation of panels) were recorded,” she said. “This is the best evidence that the system is highly attractive to consumers.”

The legislators added that, thanks to net metering, “today in Puerto Rico there are nearly 170,000 customers connected to solar panels: of which approximately 165,000 are residential, 4,500 are commercial, and 60 are industrial.”

“Our delegation requested, through Information Request 2025-0088, that LUMA Energy justify before this Senate this $300 charge to customers and that they share information related to the supplementary studies they claim they must carry out (which is the reason they use to charge people $300),” the lawmakers continued. “And what did LUMA say? That they charge this fee to customers when they don’t meet the criteria for the expedited interconnection process established in Regulation 8915, which has been in effect since 2017. The company claims that it is necessary to charge this fee because they have to conduct a supplementary study to evaluate the technical impact of the solar panel system on the electrical grid.”

“Who will conduct this supplementary study?” Sen. Josian

Sen. Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, center, said the Popular Democratic Party minority in the upper chamber has since mid-August spoken out against the $300 fee charged by LUMA Energy to customers with solar panel systems.

Santiago Rivera asked. “LUMA itself, through its Department of Planning and Renewable Energy Integration. This so-called study must be conducted for customers whose system is located on a feeder with solar energy penetration above 15%.

The problem is that this 15% threshold is no longer commonly used by utilities or industry, but is still maintained in Regulation 8915, despite the fact that in proceedings and motions before the Energy Bureau, the LUMA Energy consortium itself has argued that studying any feeder that is not above 30% is a waste of time and resources. Even when they propose this, they want to conduct studies for customers who are above 15%.”

The PDP senators went on to note that the regulations LUMA uses as the basis for the $300 fee, which has been in effect since 2017, were issued prior to the Legislative Assembly’s approval of Act 17-2019, as amended and known as the “Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act.” That law stipulated that “photovoltaic generation systems that do not exceed a generation capacity of 25 kilowatts shall be automatically interconnected to the transmission and distribution grid.”

Given this reality, the lawmakers said, there is no justification for LUMA Energy to use as a basis a regulation that, for all intents and purposes, was repealed by a subsequent law. During the press conference, questions were raised about why a new regulation has not been adopted.

“The reason is that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority failed to comply with Law 17-2019. Article 1.13 of that law ordered it to adopt a Microgrid Interconnection Regulation, which to date has not been implemented,” Hernández Ortiz noted. “Given PREPA’s noncompliance, the Energy Bureau initiated a process, but the process is still slow; to date, there is no new regulation.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Bay pilots sue New Fortress Energy over replacement of tugboats

By THE STAR STAFF

San Juan Bay Pilots have filed a lawsuit in federal court to confront what they identify as a critical threat to maritime safety and the well-being of coastal communities: New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) reckless decision to eliminate the specialized tugboats essential for guiding large liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker vessels into the bay.

The plaintiffs, organized as the San Juan Bay Pilots Corporation, are positioning their legal challenge against NFE, its subsidiary NF Energía, and the Puerto Rico Pilotage Commission, claiming that the company’s plan to replace the specialized tugs with smaller-capacity vessels poses significant dangers and violates legal standards.

The legal complaint, filed last Sunday, cites two years of technical simulations conducted in Texas, along with formal agreements with NFE, establishing that the enormous gas tankers -- which are capable of carrying up to 155,000 cubic meters of LNG -- can only be safely maneuvered using four tugs rated for an 80-ton bollard pull. Since March, pilots have successfully conducted 18 maneuvers with this reliable equipment. However, NFE’s announcement to terminate its contract with Edison Chouest Offshore, the owner of the specialized tugboats, and to replace them with local vessels lacking crucial validation studies is both irresponsible and unacceptable. Seven out of eight active pilots have opposed the decision in writing, while only one pilot has agreed to continue the maneuvers under the new and inadequate con-

A legal filing by the San Juan Bay Pilots Corporation contends that New Fortress Energy’s decision to terminate its contract with Edison Chouest Offshore, the owner of the specialized tugboats used to guide LNG tanker ships in San Juan Bay, and to replace them with local vessels lacking crucial validation studies is both irresponsible and unacceptable. (Facebook via U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan)

ditions, the pilots corporation said.

In an attempt to silence dissent, Jessica Ñeco Morales, the acting president of the Pilotage Commission, issued a “cease and desist” order barring the pilots from publicly voicing their legitimate concerns. The pilots group said such blatant censorship is a violation of due process, and the plaintiffs are demanding that the court intervene. They seek an immediate order to prohibit the removal of the specialized tugboats until a validated alternative is provided through technical

simulations. They further insist that the court declare the gag order null and void and uphold the principle of fair revenue distribution among all pilots.

The legal battle is occurring in conjunction with escalating opposition from local communities and environmental organizations against the expansion of methane gas use in Puerto Rico. In April, residents from San Juan, Cataño and Guaynabo protested the entry of the LNG tanker Gaslog Singapore, which, at 155,000 cubic meters, is five times larger than previous vessels managed by NFE. Environmental lawyer Pedro Saadé has issued a stark warning, pointing out that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission based its risk assessments on much smaller vessels.

“This means that there are many more residential and commercial areas exposed to risk, and there are no safety or evacuation plans in place,” Saadé said.

On top of the legal and community challenges, there is a critical economic issue at play. On Aug. 29, the Financial Oversight and Management Board hastily approved the sixth amendment to the temporary LNG supply contract between Genera PR and NF Energía, increasing the spending cap to $48.04 million and extending the contract’s validity until Sept. 5. That amendment marks the sixth revision in just over a month -- a marked increase from an initial cap of $9.79 million to the current figure, the bay pilots group noted. Meanwhile, the 15-year contract worth some $20 billion remains on hold after being halted by the oversight board in July due to its risky, opaque and monopolistic conditions.

Arecibo receives $36.3 million for breakwaters to stanch coastal erosion

By THE STAR STAFF

Arecibo Mayor Carlos R. Ramírez Irizarry chaired an informational meeting earlier this week with residents of the Barrio Obrero and Radioville communities to detail everything related to the coastal erosion management project in that area. The project has been allocated $36.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the construction of two breakwaters in the coastal zone, specifically alongside Avenida Atlántico.

At the Francisco “Paco” Abreu Community Center, the mayor said “the request for federal funds for the development of the projects was formally submitted.”

“We recognize the interest of the coastal communities of both Barrio Obrero and Radioville, who, prior to our administration, unsuccessfully requested government assistance to address this situation,” Ramírez Irizarry said.

The mayor confirmed that last Friday, the announcement of the call for professional services proposals (RFP) for the mitigation project under evaluation was published in the press.

“Barring any extraordinary circumstances, we hope to complete this process by the first week of October of this year,” Municipal Secretary Yisel Belén said. “We must also note that, to date, neither the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) nor the Planning Board (JP)

have supported the Autonomous Municipality of Arecibo in this matter, which is contrary to the provisions of Executive Order 2023-009, signed by former Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia on April 11, 2023, which is still in effect.”

Alejandro Soriano, director of the Planning Office, also participated in the meeting, as did Sen. Marially González Huertas, a member of the Natural Resources Committee in the upper chamber.

During the meeting, the municipality presented a brief background on the events related to the issue. It was explained that coastal erosion is one of the most pressing environmental and infrastructure problems facing Puerto Rico.

“According to studies conducted by the United States Geological Survey and other entities, the Arecibo coast is facing severe coastal erosion, exacerbated by rising sea levels and the presence of rigid structures that impede the natural movement of sand.”

The affected area consists of two sections of some 2,700 linear feet of shoreline (coastal zone) facing the community of Radioville and 1,700 linear feet of shoreline in the Barrio Obrero community, which has around 40 homes. The Radioville development comprises homes, commercial buildings and businesses and is also a high-traffic area due to its location and ocean views. The project includes two concrete structures: one 827 meters long along Avenida Atlántico in the community of

Radioville and another 527 meters long along the community of Barrio Obrero. The goal of the proposed mitigation project is to reduce the impact of storm surges and coastal erosion and, consequently, mitigate damage to the homes of both communities, to the water and sewer infrastructure that runs through the area, as well as to the road that runs between the coast and the communities.

UPR professors demand resumption of collective bargaining

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rican Association of University Professors (APPU by its initials in Spanish) has voiced strong opposition to the suspension of collective bargaining for University of Puerto Rico (UPR) faculty members, which has been ongoing since June. In a show of urgency, the association has called on UPR President Zayira Jordán Conde to address their demands by Sept. 17.

“We have given her space and have been patient. [On Tuesday], we even delivered a letter in person outlining our demands as we had requested after negotiations stalled. However, the president did not meet with us,” APPU President María del Mar Rosa Rodríguez stated. “Our patience has run out. This is why we are calling Chapter Assemblies on all campuses, and if our demands are not addressed by Wednesday, September 17, we will take action.”

During a press conference, the APPU urged the immediate resumption of negotiations on the faculty contract. Emphasizing

the importance of representation, they insisted that the managing committee include faculty members who understand the working conditions of teachers. Moreover, the APPU demanded the reinstatement of a direct communication agreement between the union

and the teaching staff, which was unlawfully halted in April 2025, resulting in restricted communication between the union and its members.

Sheyla Méndez’s removal from the negotiating committee was another demand put forth by the APPU, citing that “her conduct has hindered good-faith dialogue and the signing of agreements.”

Rosa Rodríguez noted that, as a human resources administrator, Méndez does not possess a comprehensive understanding of the teaching profession.

Additionally, the APPU members expressed concerns about the sudden and uncoordinated changes in chancellorships at various campuses, stating that these arbitrary actions undermine university democracy and reflect a centralized management style that excludes vital stakeholders in sustaining the institution’s academic life. APPU Vice President Jorge Lefevre reinforced that stance, emphasizing the importance of transparency and collaboration within the university community.

Hospital de la Concepción acquires San Germán Metropolitan Hospital

By THE STAR STAFF

Hospital de la Concepción in San Germán announced on Wednesday its strategic decision to acquire San Germán Metropolitan Hospital, a key facility within the Metro Pavía Health System hospital network, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition is part of a comprehensive multi-million-dollar initiative aimed at significantly enhancing medical services available in the southern region of Puerto Rico. The project includes plans to add acute care beds, modernize operating rooms, and expand various healthcare services to meet the growing needs of the community.

San Germán Metropolitan Hospital is situated on Javilla Street in the heart of the city, just a short distance from the historic Porta Coeli Church. Currently, the facility is equipped with 82 licensed beds, five operating rooms, and a dedicated six-bed intensive care unit (ICU), making it a vital resource for local residents requiring medical attention.

“This transaction reinforces our commitment to the community and allows us to provide services to the residents of San Germán, bringing healthcare closer to them,” said Gustavo A. Almodóvar, the executive director of the Hospital de la Concepción board of trustees.

The transaction is anticipated to be finalized by Sept. 30, pending the approval and issuance of necessary permits from the Department of Health. The timeline indicates a deliberate and cautious approach to ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

In addition to enhancing services, the acquisition presents an opportunity for the current workforce of the San Germán Metropolitan Hospital, officials noted. A total of 150 staff members will be eligible to interview for new positions that may open up as a result of the integration into Hospital de la Concepción, highlighting the hospital’s focus on retaining talent and ensuring job security for existing employees.

The purchase follows Hospital de la Concepción’s recent acquisition of two diagnostic and treatment centers located in

the municipalities of Sabana Grande and Hormigueros. The continued expansion is a significant step toward building a more comprehensive La Concepción Health System aimed at offering an integrated and accessible healthcare network for the communities involved, Almodóvar said.

PDP leaders: Immigrants’ ‘true allies’ can be found in their party

By THE STAR STAFF

In response to statements made by Puerto Rico Secretary of State Rosachely Rivera Santana regarding her commitment to “serve as a liaison” between immigrants and island banks, Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary General Manuel Calderón Cerame and Sen. Ada Álvarez Conde on Wednesday questioned the credibility of the government of Jenniffer González Colón on the immigration issue and contrasted its promises with what they said have been the concrete actions of Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera.

“The [state] secretary talks about serving as a liaison, but the

problem is much deeper,” Calderón Cerame said. “This same government has already handed over confidential information on immigrants to federal authorities, publicly said that there would be no raids and there were. They have deceived the community over and over again, even punishing the municipality of Aguadilla that decided to serve as a sanctuary for the immigrant community. Now they want the immigrant community to believe them, but no one trusts a government that has put them at risk.”

Álvarez Conde stressed that “Pablo José Hernández has taken firm and verifiable steps: he presented legislation in Washington to ensure that raids are not carried out in sensitive places such as schools and churches; mobilized congressmen to achieve the

release of Aracelys Terrero, illegally detained; and has directly guided the immigrant community about their rights so that they can defend themselves from abuses,” she said.

“The contrast is evident. While the government of Jenniffer González improvises meetings and repeats empty promises, Pablo José acts with seriousness, empathy and results,” the senator atlarge added. “The immigrant community in Puerto Rico needs true allies, not a government that betrays them.”

The PDP leaders pointed out the importance of raising awareness that the issue of the immigrant community is a humanitarian one and that it cannot be subject to the “disorder and deception of this administration.”

LA ruling complicates Trump’s threats to send troops to more cities

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

Afederal judge’s ruling that President Donald Trump has been using troops illegally to perform law enforcement functions in Los Angeles will — if it stands — pose impediments to any plans Trump may have for sending the military into the streets of other cities, including Chicago.

Trump has made those threats in the context of his anti-crime operation in Washington, D.C., which has involved both civilian federal agents and National Guard troops under federal control. But because the District of Columbia is not a state, the federal government has greater latitude to use the Guard there.

The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, makes it illegal to use federal troops for domestic policing under normal circumstances. So to keep from running afoul of that law, Trump would need a legal rationale for deploying troops to cities incuding Chicago.

One potential model for Trump might be the reasoning his administration offered for sending troops to Los Angeles over the summer, ostensibly to protect federal agents and facilities. But on Tuesday, Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco held that the administration has been using those troops too expansively.

The judge barred the federal government from using troops anywhere in California to engage in “arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants.”

Speaking to reporters later on Tuesday, Trump called Breyer a “radical left judge.” The judge’s order is scheduled to take effect Sept. 12, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.

There are reasons for caution at this stage. An appeals court has overturned an earlier decision by Breyer, in which he tried to strike down Trump’s assertion of federal control of California National Guard troops over the objections of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

But if other courts adopt Breyer’s reasoning, it would

limit Trump’s ability to use the operation in Los Angeles as a precedent to justify deploying federal troops into other cities to fight crime.

Democratic governors far from California said Tuesday that the judge’s ruling was a victory for them as well.

“This ruling confirms what the American people already knew — this deployment was never about public safety,” said Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts, who has spoken out against Trump’s domestic use of the military. “It was yet another political stunt from President Trump intended to intimidate and punish anyone who disagrees with him.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul argued that there was no basis in Chicago to set aside the Posse Comitatus Act’s central prohibitions on the use of U.S. military troops for law enforcement. There is no foreign invasion of Chicago, no rebellion, no inability of the city or state governments to enforce federal law, and no threats to the federal courts or federal criminal investigations, he said.

Trump was not backing down. On Tuesday afternoon, speaking from the Oval Office, Trump denounced a spate of Labor Day weekend shootings in Chicago and brought up crime in Baltimore as well, calling each city a “hellhole” and saying he wanted to use his Washington operation as a template.

But he also reiterated his desire to be invited in, something he said last week.

“I would love to receive calls from governors and mayors saying they need help. We’ll help them. We have a lot of people. We have a great force. We have a great military force.”

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, responded defiantly Tuesday afternoon.

“When did we become a country where it’s OK for the U.S. president to insist on national television that a state

should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don’t want?” he asked reporters in Chicago. “Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?”

During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, during his first term, Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that creates an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act and gives presidents the emergency power to use federal troops on domestic soil to restore law and order. But his aides talked him out of invoking the 1807 law.

Trump declared during the 2024 presidential campaign that if he returned to power, he would send troops into the streets of Democratic-run cities without waiting to be asked. So far he has done it twice, in Los Angeles and in Washington, but on both occasions he has relied on narrower legal authority, without invoking the Insurrection Act.

In his ruling Tuesday, Breyer suggested that there may be a reason: If presidents invoke that law to unilaterally send troops into the streets, without any request for assistance from a state governor, courts could review whether federal intervention was necessary.

The Trump administration’s demurral from invoking the Insurrection Act in the Los Angeles matter, the judge wrote, “is, perhaps, a tacit admission that President Trump would be unable to make the showing, required under the Insurrection Act, to rebut the presumption that state and local officials in Los Angeles were unable or unwilling to act.”

After sending troops and federal agents into the streets of Washington last month to crack down on crime, however, Trump suggested he wanted to do the same in Chicago and New York, and was willing to use active-duty troops on city streets.

In response, Pritzker accused Trump of “searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities and end elections.”

Trump’s continued threats have raised the question of whether he could claim that crime in Chicago threatens federal functions there, as he did in Los Angeles, as a basis for sending in troops without risking a legal fight over invoking the Insurrection Act without a request for assistance.

In June, after protests erupted in Los Angeles, and sometimes became violent, over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Trump federalized part of the California National Guard and dispatched Guard troops and active-duty Marines. The stated purpose was to protect federal buildings, officials and functions.

But Breyer found in his ruling that once the troops were deployed, the administration used them far too expansively — including by sending them out to accompany immigration and drug enforcement agents on operations across the region, to set up protective perimeters, blockade traffic and perform crowd control, where there was no anticipated threat to the safety of federal agents.

Appeals court blocks Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans

By ALAN FEUER

Afederal appeals court late Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempts to use an 18th-century wartime law to deport immigrants he has accused of belonging to a violent Venezuelan street gang.

The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, was the first time federal appellate judges had weighed in on the substantive question of whether Trump had properly invoked the law, the Alien Enemies Act, as part of his aggressive deportation agenda. While the ruling by a divided three-judge panel of one of the most conservative courts in the country was a defeat for the administration, the issue was still likely to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Trump had made the Alien Enemies Act, which was passed in 1798, the centerpiece of his earliest efforts to summarily deport a group of Venezuelan immigrants he claimed were members of the street gang Tren de Aragua. In March, he issued a presidential proclamation that drew on the law’s sweeping powers to round up and expel members of a hostile nation in times of declared war or during an invasion or predatory incursion.

But the appellate panel, in a 2-1 decision, rejected his assertions that the U.S. homeland was in fact under invasion by Tren de Aragua, rebuffing the idea that immigration, even at a large scale, was synonymous with a military breach of U.S. borders.

“A country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern-day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt or to otherwise harm the United States,” Judge Leslie H. Southwick wrote for the panel’s majority. “There is no finding that this mass immigration was an armed, organized force or forces.”

That finding could have legal and political implications given that Trump has used claims that immigrants are invading the United States not only to justify his use of extraordinary laws like the Alien Enemies Act but also to devise a broader anti-immigration narrative.

The 5th Circuit’s ruling was the latest example of federal courts questioning the president’s basic version of reality and pushing back on his attempts to effectively manufacture crises as a way to grab more power.

The decision by the 5th Circuit barred the Trump administration from using the act to deport a group of people accused of being

members of Tren de Aragua being held in an immigration detention center in northern Texas until further notice. It would also likely serve as a ban on expelling other Venezuelan immigrants being held in other detention centers across the country.

Moreover, the ruling kept in place a provision that requires officials to provide any immigrants who might be expelled under the law with a week’s advance warning before their removal.

It was hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has represented the Venezuelan immigrants.

“The Trump administration’s unprecedented use of a wartime statute during peacetime was properly rejected by the court,” said Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the ACLU who argued the case in front of the appeals court. “This is an enormous victory for the rule of law, making clear that the president cannot simply declare a military emergency and then invoke whatever powers he wants.”

Southwick, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, was joined in the majority by Judge Irma C. Ramirez, an appointee of President Joe Biden. The third judge on the panel, Andrew S. Oldham, a Trump appointee, assailed his colleagues in a 131-page dissent for questioning the president’s authority.

“Today the majority holds that President Trump is just an ordinary civil litigant,” Oldham wrote. “His declaration of a predatory incursion is not conclusive. Far from it. Rather, President Trump must plead sufficient facts — as if he were some run-of-the-mill plaintiff in a breachof-contract case — to convince a federal judge that he is entitled to relief.”

The panel’s decision was somewhat surprising given that Southwick and Oldham had repeatedly interrupted Gelernt during oral arguments in June.

Oldham in particular had suggested that presidents should be granted great deference when it comes to deciding questions of war or foreign policy. But the panel ultimately rejected the administration’s claims that even federal judges should not be able to question the president’s invocation of laws like the Alien Enemies Act.

The case in front of the 5th Circuit followed a series of rulings from district court judges across the country, most of whom have also rejected Trump’s assertion that the United States was being invaded by members of Tren de Aragua.

Court hands a loss to groups seeking billions in frozen climate funds

By CLAIRE BROWN

An appeals court earlier this week ruled against several nonprofit groups that had $16 billion in climate grants frozen this year by the Trump administration.

In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that it did not have jurisdiction in the case and that the Trump administration acted legally in its attempts to claw back the funds, dashing the environmental groups’ hopes of immediately accessing money they were awarded more than a year ago.

“While some grantees may be forced to shutter their operations during the litigation, their harms do not outweigh the interests of

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produce jobs and lower electricity costs. He called efforts to fight climate change “a cult.” (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

the government and the public in the proper stewardship of billions of taxpayer dollars,” the court wrote in the majority opinion.

As part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Environmental Protection Agency last year awarded eight nonprofit groups a total of $20 billion in climate and clean energy grants for such things as financing solar installations and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency.

But in February the money was frozen at the Trump administration’s request after Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, suggested that the grants were vulnerable to fraud. A lengthy legal battle ensued.

At stake are billions in grant dollars, a total that amounts to roughly double the EPA’s annual budget. Legal experts say the case is testing the limits of the Trump administration’s ability to claw back federal money that has already been committed.

Beth Bafford, CEO of Climate United, an organization that was awarded nearly $7 billion in grants, said the decision was not the end of the road. “While we are disappointed by the panel’s decision,” she said, “we stand firm on the merits of our case. The EPA unlawfully froze and terminated funds that were legally obligated and disbursed.”

The funds were made available through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and the grants were legally committed before the November election. The grant dollars were deposited into recipients’ accounts at Citibank,

Super, a law professor at Georgetown University.

On Tuesday, the court determined that the case should be heard in the Court of Federal Claims, which would decide whether the nonprofit groups are owed any money by the government. The decision vacated a previous District Court ruling that would have temporarily given the grant recipients access to some of their funds.

The two judges who made up the majority vote, Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, both worked in the first Trump administration and were appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump.

“It’s fantastic to see reason prevail in the court system,” Brigit Hirsch, an EPA spokesperson, said. “The gold bar recipients were wrong about jurisdiction all along and wrong to act so entitled to these precious public funds that belong to hardworking American taxpayers.”

which agreed to act as an intermediary between the government and the grant recipients.

Not long after entering office, Zeldin began calling for the return of the money, suggesting, without providing evidence, that the grants were vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse.

Zeldin cited a hidden-camera video made public by the right-wing group Project Veritas in which a Biden-era EPA staff member compared the outgoing administration’s efforts to allocate money in its final months to tossing gold bars off the Titanic. In public comments, Zeldin began referring to the grants as “gold bars.”

Citibank froze the recipients’ bank accounts at the government’s request, and several of the grant recipients sued the EPA and Citibank for access to the funds in March.

The Justice Department and the EPA’s acting inspector general opened investigations into the grants, but so far the agency has not provided evidence to substantiate Zeldin’s claims. The government could legally recoup the money if it found evidence of fraud.

In court, the EPA has offered a different legal argument. It has said it can cancel the grants and reclaim the funding because its priorities have changed.

“It’s money that’s gone all the way through the fiscal process and is being pulled back, and that’s really not something administrations have done in the past,” said David

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Nina Pillard, an Obama appointee, strongly objected to the decision. “The majority allows the government to seize plaintiffs’ money based on spurious and pretextual allegations and to permanently gut implementation of major congressional legislation.”

The grants in question were part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, sometimes known by the shorthand “green bank” funding. The eight selected nonprofit groups were expected to act as financing hubs, sending much of the federal money to smaller community banks and other lenders. The grants were intended to finance low-interest loans and investments for such projects as solar installations and home-efficiency upgrades.

Many of the nonprofit organizations hired new staff members in anticipation of the influx of funding. Some have laid off or furloughed employees in the months since the money has been frozen.

Green banks are typically funded with government resources at first, which can “effectively create the market,” meaning the government funding is used for an initial round of loans, Kenneth Gillingham, economics professor at Yale University, said. The proceeds from those loans are then used to fund more projects, creating a self-replenishing pool of money.

The plaintiffs have said they will fight the decision. That could include asking for the case to be reheard by the full appeals court or appealing to the Supreme Court, Super said.

Mass shootings and the spirit of division

By ROSS DOUTHAT

In recent years, certain supporters of transgender rights have developed a public language of militancy and conflict, in which familiar habits of left-wing activism — attempts to shut down controversial speech, claims that contrary opinions are fascist or genocidal — are supplemented by an armed-and-dangerous iconography that’s usually associated with the American right.

In the wake of the murders of Catholic schoolchildren in Minnesota, the second attack in three years carried out by a transgender shooter against children at a Christian school, it would be relatively easy to write a column holding such militancy responsible for the carnage. All I would have to do is adapt the scripts so often used to blame conservatives for violence, from the JFK assassination (which the scribes of Camelot quickly attributed to the angry rhetoric of Dallas right-wingers) down through the Tea Party and the Trump eras.

If I were making that argument, I would insist that words have consequences: If you tell people that they’re facing “trans genocide,” and that religious conservatives especially are agents of their fascist subjugation, why wouldn’t you expect some troubled souls to opt for vigilante action?

Likewise, if I were laying blame this way, I would in-

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sist that violent images inspire violent action: If you sport a shirt with the slogan “Protect Trans Kids” underneath a hunting knife (as the lieutenant governor of Minnesota did in 2023), or if you put a transgender writer toting an AR-15 on your magazine cover (as an alternative weekly in the Pacific Northwest did just two months ago) with a headline asking “Are You Triggered?” you bear some responsibility when the trigger actually gets pulled. Especially when the Minneapolis killer’s own manifesto reportedly trafficked in the same imagery, featuring a “Defend Equality” sticker overlaid with an image of a machine gun.

But I’m not making that case, because it would betray a consistent theme of this column, going all the way back to the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona in 2011: namely, that all attempts to blame extreme political rhetoric for mass shootings should be treated extremely skeptically, because the phenomenon of lone-wolf violence in America rarely attaches easily to either left-wing or right-wing ideology.

In the latest case, for instance, the Minnesota killer’s video and writings seem to gesture Joker-like at all kinds of political motivations — antisemitic, racist, anti-Trump, with the “Defend Equality” sticker just one item in the pantomime rather than a proof of an ideological crusade.

More broadly, while the tendency to extreme and apocalyptic rhetoric is a consistent feature of American politics (even a democratic birthright), most of the killers shooting up schools and churches or targeting politicians for assassinations are not really participants in this polarization. They aren’t taking wokeness or populism too literally or too far; they’re following other directives and acting on other purposes entirely.

Some of these purposes are simply impenetrable, the dream logic of the mentally ill. Others are a mixture of megalomania and mimesis, where the goal is to achieve the dark celebrity of prior mass shooters.

When the motivations do connect to politics, they aren’t usually radicalized extensions of progressive or populist loyalties, case studies in the terrifying power of extreme wokeness or militant Trumpism. Rather, many shooters seem to find these loyalties too weak to sustain a meaningful conception of the self or the world, too flabby to compete with more bizarre or bespoke identities, too impotent to survive the dissolving force of digital existence. They aren’t being radicalized by an ideological program; they’re passing through into terra incognito.

This also means that even when there seems to be some political purpose to an act of violence, as with Luigi Mangione’s alleged assassination of a health care executive, it increasingly comes stirred together with a bizarre farrago of political signifiers and gestures. Which, conveniently enough,

Flowers and other gifts are placed near Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday’s school shooting, in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, August 28, 2025. In the first Mass since an assailant attacked Annunciation Catholic Church, parishioners gathered to grieve and support one another. (Jenn Ackerman/The New York Times) .

gives everyone watching something to latch onto, some apparent motivation to single out, some ideological enemy to blame.

And accelerating that cycle of blame feels like one of the deeper impulses behind these kinds of atrocities. It’s made explicit by the idea of “accelerationism” that some shooters have been drawn to (whether the Minnesota shooter was one such remains unclear), which envisions spasms of violence as a means to heighten the cultural contradictions, hasten a civilizational collapse, bring down liberalism and Christianity together and usher in some new dispensation of satanic Nazi magic.

But even when there isn’t a self-conscious link to an apocalyptic vision, the spirit of division is still there, the diabolical aspect is palpable.

“Diabolos” in Greek means accuser, and in that sense the dark spirit that inspires these crimes suffers a defeat when we react with unity and solidarity rather than immediate recriminations.

Whereas it gains a victory every time we respond by immediately blaming our political rivals, and trying to prove over the bodies of the dead that, yes, our ideological opponents are even more evil than we thought.

Gobernadora

somete nuevas designaciones a la judicatura y al Departamento de Justicia

POR CYBERNEWS

LA FORTALEZA – La gobernadora Jenniffer Aidyn González Colón anunció este miércoles cuatro nombramientos relacionados al sistema de justicia en Puerto Rico, los cuales fueron radicados ante el Senado para su evaluación y confirmación.

Como parte de las designaciones en la Judicatura, la mandataria nominó a la licenciada Germaine Báez Fernández como

jueza superior del Tribunal de Primera Instancia.

En cuanto al Departamento de Justicia, González Colón sometió la designación de la licenciada Yolanda Pitino Acevedo como fiscal auxiliar III, la de la licenciada Daniela Mejías Burgos como fiscal auxiliar I y la del licenciado Gabriel Joaquín Rosa Carrasquillo como fiscal auxiliar I.

Las nominaciones pasarán ahora al proceso de evaluación legislativa en el Senado.

Municipio de Cataño celebrará cuarta edición de “Mascotas All Star”

CATAÑO

– El Municipio de Cataño anunció que este domingo, 7 de septiembre, se llevará a cabo la cuarta edición de “Mascotas All Star: Caminando y Meneando la Colita”, un evento recreativo y familiar que partirá desde la tarima principal del Malecón Edwin Rivera Sierra a las 2:00 de la tarde.

“En Cataño queremos promover no solo el bienestar animal, sino también la integración de las familias con sus mascotas, fomentando espacios recreativos, educativos y de convivencia. Invitamos a todos a traer a sus mejores amigos de cuatro patas y disfrutar con nosotros”, expresó en declaraciones escritas el alcalde Julio Alicea Vasallo.

La actividad contará con la participación de artesanos locales, organizaciones de bienestar animal y un

espacio del Colegio de Médicos Veterinarios de Puerto Rico. Además, se instalarán estaciones de hidratación con piscinas y platos de agua para las mascotas, en un marco festivo que reafirma el compromiso del municipio con el lema “100% Bienestar Animal”.

La primera dama, Bethzaida Rodríguez Torres, resaltó que “en Cataño creemos en el cuidado hacia todos los miembros del hogar, incluyendo nuestras queridas mascotas. Estos eventos son una oportunidad para unir a la comunidad y fomentar el bienestar animal desde el corazón de nuestras familias”.

El evento forma parte de un esfuerzo más amplio de la administración municipal, que ha impulsado iniciativas como esterilización masiva, ferias de vacunación y campañas educativas sobre tenencia responsable. Desde 2022, se han impactado más de 2,500 gatos y 1,400 perros con programas de control poblacional, además de

coordinar rescates y adopciones responsables en casos de abandono o maltrato.

La actividad, libre de costo, finalizará a las 7:00 de la noche y busca consolidar la política municipal de integrar a las mascotas como parte esencial de la vida comunitaria.

Federales arrestan a hombre de Caguas por explotación

jurado federal de múltiples cargos relacionados con la explotación sexual de menores, anunció el miércoles, el fiscal federal W. Stephen Muldrow.

“No hay mayor prioridad que salvaguardar a nuestros niños de quienes buscan explotarlos o hacerles daño. La Fiscalía Federal continuará priorizando el procesamiento de depredadores sexuales de menores”, expresó Muldrow en declaraciones escritas.

Por su parte, la directora de HSI en San Juan, Rebecca González-Ramos, indicó que “los depredadores infantiles siempre buscan formas de manipular a sus víctimas como parte de su conducta dañina. Es vital entender los mecanismos que utilizan y los riesgos que enfrentan nuestros niños en línea. Padres y adultos responsables deben educarse para protegerlos”.

La acusación federal sostiene que entre diciembre de 2024 y febrero de 2025, Cruz-Santiago utilizó un teléfono

infantil

celular, servicios de mensajería y redes sociales para persuadir y coaccionar a dos niñas de 11 y 12 años a sostener conducta sexual, produciendo imágenes de carácter explícito. También enfrenta cargos por recibir y poseer material de explotación infantil, así como por transferir material obsceno a menores.

De acuerdo con los documentos, entre julio de 2024 y julio de 2025 el acusado poseyó imágenes de pornografía infantil que incluían menores de 12 años. La fiscal auxiliar Emelina M. Agrait-Barreto, de la Unidad de Crímenes contra Menores, Trata Humana e Inmigración, está a cargo del caso.

Si es encontrado culpable, Cruz-Santiago se expone a un mínimo de 5 años y hasta 30 años de cárcel por algunos cargos, mientras que otros contemplan penas que van desde 10 años hasta cadena perpetua, además de un término de libertad supervisada de cinco años hasta cadena perpetua.

The San Juan Daily Star Thursday, September 4, 2025 11

As Trump targets the Smithsonian, museums across the US feel a chill

By ZACHARY SMALL

Artist Amy Sherald canceled her fall blockbuster show at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery over concerns about whether or how the museum would display her painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art abruptly postponed an exhibition of LGBTQ+ artists this spring that was already partly installed, citing fundraising issues.

And the Trump White House called last month for a review of all current and future exhibitions at eight of the Smithsonian’s museums, including several of its major art museums, to assess their “alignment with American ideals.”

“The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE,’” President Donald Trump wrote online late last month before the White House released its own list of museum programming it considered objectionable.

Trump said he had told his lawyers “to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities.” There, his administration sought changes by threatening funding cuts and in some cases threatening their tax-exempt status.

It is not only Smithsonian museums — which have long been operated independently but are heavily reliant on federal funding — that are feeling the pressure during Trump’s second term. The president’s moves are being watched with concern by museums around the nation. Some have already changed their programming significantly — and sometimes abruptly — as they try to steer clear of potential hot-button topics including gender, sexuality and race.

“This is not just a concern for select institutions,” the American Alliance of Museums said in a statement decrying the pressures museums have faced in recent months to change or remove exhibitions. “These pressures can create a chilling effect across the entire museum sector.”

There have already been signs of that chill around the country.

Philip Guston’s “City Limits,” 1969, at the “Philip Guston Now” show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, April 25, 2022. It had been postponed in 2020. (Tony Luong/The New York Times)

In February the Art Museum of the Americas, a small museum just blocks from the White House that is run by the Organization of American States, abruptly canceled two upcoming exhibitions featuring Black and queer artists. The museum offered no public explanation.

Cheryl E. Edwards, the curator of one of the shows, which was to have featured works by prominent Black artists including Alma Thomas, Sam Gilliam and Sherald, said the museum’s director had told her it did not want to antagonize the White House after Trump issued an executive order taking aim at diversity programs.

“This is a chill, and an attempt to silence artists,” Edwards said.

Stephen Reily, who founded a think tank promoting innovation in museums after a career leading them, said museums that spent the president’s first term at odds with his policies on diversity and immigration now seem to be trying to fly under the radar.

“If you avoid the red-hot areas, can you be spared?” Reily asked. “Or is there another red-hot area coming ahead?”

Indicators of a chill

Even before the president began his second term, museum directors were concerned about an increasing intolerance for art that tackles political topics or controversial issues. A survey of art museum directors that was administered last year found that 55% saw censorship as a greater threat now than it was a decade ago, and 65% said they have faced pressure to exclude certain works at some point in their careers.

“I think if we did the survey now it would show an increase in anxiety and concerns,” said Jonathan Friedman, the managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, which conducted the survey with the Artists at Risk Connection and the Association of Art Museum Directors. Friedman added that the chilling effect on museum programming struck at the heart of artistic experimentation and the historic role of art to occasionally pro -

voke strong reactions in viewers.

In previous years, museums were cautious not to upset progressive audiences. An exhibition on artist Philip Guston was postponed in 2020 by four major museums including the National Gallery of Art. Executives had worried that the artist’s satirical depictions of Ku Klux Klan members would offend visitors in the wake of the civil rights protests that followed George Floyd’s murder. Some critics described the postponement as “cowardly,” and the show eventually opened in 2022 with little controversy.

But nowadays, museums are worried about the reaction from conservative audiences. Arts leaders are closely monitoring the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce arts funding, revoke university grants and exert greater control over the Smithsonian Institution.

“There’s never been this much tension,” said Tom Finkelpearl, a curator and former commissioner for New York City’s cultural

A sign shows the postponement of “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,” an upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, May 7, 2025. The decision by the National Museum of African Art to postpone its spring show “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,” which was supposed to coincide with WorldPride celebrations in Washington, raised concerns in the art world. (Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times)

affairs department. “People are playing it safe and we’ll never know.”

Exhibitions being changed

When a traveling exhibition that had originally been called “transfeminisms” opened this year at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, it had a new name: “There are other skies.” Works about gender and sexuality by three artists had been cut.

Gerd Wuestemann, president and CEO of Scottsdale Arts, a nonprofit organization that oversees the museum, said the exhibition was not censored. He said that the title was changed “to be less direct and more inviting” and that while logistical issues prevented some artworks from being included, the Scottsdale show still included works by several trans artists and had been executed “as faithfully to its original intent as we possibly could.”

The show’s original curators believe otherwise. “It was exhibited, but in a compromised form that betrayed its original intent,” the curators, Jennifer McCabe, Christine Eyene, Daria Khan and Maura Reilly, said in a statement to The New York Times. “This is the new censorship: not a loud rejection, but a quiet dilution. And it’s just as effective.”

Concerns of censorship

Julie Trébault, executive director of Artists at Risk Connection, one of the nonprofits behind the survey of museum directors, said her organization had seen an uptick in requests for help navigating censorship issues. In the first four months of the year, there were 22 requests for assistance by artists in the United States; last year, there were zero.

“This sharp increase is alarming and points to a rapidly deteriorating climate for artistic freedom domestically,” said Trébault, “particularly for artists engaged in politically sensitive or socially critical work, or those belonging to marginalized communities like trans, undocumented or other minority groups.”

Others are growing concerned as well. The National Coalition Against Censorship and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics have issued a statement signed by more than 150 organizations and 275 individuals stating that “cultural institutions must maintain autonomy over programming choices, curatorial decisions and artistic content.”

“They need the freedom to showcase visionary work that inspires, is unexpected, challenges dominant narratives and questions those in power,” the statement says.

Stocks

Tech rebounds, jobs worries deepen

Arebound in U.S. tech stocks lifted the Nasdaq and S&P 500 on Wednesday, but soft U.S. employment indicators kept investors on edge and sparked a rally in Treasuries and gold prices.

More on that below. In my column today, I look at the surprising strength of China’s yuan against the dollar in recent weeks, and argue that it may be part of Beijing’s wider strategy in its trade negotiations with Washington.

If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.

Today’s Key Market Moves

Today’s Talking Points:

* U.S. jobs

This is a huge week for the U.S. labor market, and therefore the Fed. Most observers agree conditions are softening - the disagreement is over how rapidly, whether interest rate cuts are warranted, and if so, when does the Fed act.

Figures on Wednesday showed job openings fell to a 10-month low in July and there were more unemployed people than positions available for the first time since the pandemic. Weekly claims and July ADP private sector jobs data are out on Thursday, before the big one on Friday - August non-farm payrolls.

* ECB

Euro zone price pressures may be a little hotter than expected, with figures this week showing producer inflation in July and consumer inflation in August above forecast. European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel told Reuters there’s no need to cut rates.

Schnabel is at the hawkish end of the spectrum, but markets don’t disagree - the ECB is expected to stand pat next week and all of next year. Further rate cut hopes are fading. Could the next move, whenever it comes, actually be a rate hike?

* China flexes muscles

China held its largest-ever military parade on Wednesday to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat in World War Two, with President Xi Jinping telling the world it must choose between “peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum.” U.S. President Donald Trump called it a “beautiful ceremony”.

The event was designed to flex China’s diplomatic, economic and tech muscle too, not just its military might. As many countries agree to lopsided trade deals with the U.S., the leaders of China, Russia and India are forging closer ties between their nations.

China uses yuan as olive branch in U.S. trade talks

A notable trend this year has been the often-counterintuitive market reactions to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to upend many long-held economic norms. One of the biggest surprises has been the appreciation of China’s yuan.

The consensus opinion at the start of the year was that Beijing would counter Washington’s punitive tariffs on Chinese imports by depreciating the yuan against the dollar. This would keep Chinese goods competitive, enabling the country’s exporters to compensate for any loss of U.S. business.

On top of that, a weaker exchange rate would, in theory, help to reflate China’s economy, pulling it out of the deflationary funk it has been in since its property bubble began to burst in 2021.

And, finally, a weaker yuan would be a poke in the eye to

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

Washington. A key pillar of the Trump administration’s economic agenda, articulated most artfully by adviser Stephen Miran and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is a weaker dollar.

But Beijing surprised everyone.

The yuan did slide to an 18-year low around 7.350 per dollar during the chaos of Trump’s April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs. And combined with low domestic inflation and even deflation in recent years, the yuan’s broad ‘real’ effective exchange rate (REER) is the weakest in over a decade.

But since April, it has reversed course rapidly against the dollar, trading last week at a 2025 high of 7.1260 per dollar.

Indeed, measured by the People’s Bank of China’s official

daily fixings or offshore market trading, the yuan just posted its biggest monthly gain against the greenback in almost a year. These big moves can partly be explained by strong capital inflows. The Shanghai Composite equity index is at a 10-year high, boosted by record net inflows from hedge funds in August. And even though China’s trade surplus with the U.S. may be shrinking, its global surplus in the first seven months of the year hit a new record.

That’s a recipe for a stronger exchange rate.

GOOD FAITH

But with a currency as tightly controlled as the yuan, market dynamics are not the whole story.

Far-right Israeli minister calls for West Bank to be annexed

By AARON BOXERMAN

The far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called Wednesday for the country to annex most of the occupied West Bank, where around 3 million Palestinians live, a move that would deepen Israel’s mounting international isolation.

Smotrich’s announcement came after a growing numbers of countries, including longstanding Israeli allies like Britain and France, said they would recognize a Palestinian state this month. They have also demanded an immediate end to the war in the Gaza Strip. Far from curbing Israeli hard-liners, however, the declarations have prompted them to double down.

On Wednesday, Smotrich said Israel should annex roughly 82% of the West Bank and said this was the proper response to international moves to recognize a Palestinian state. He called it “a preventative step against the diplomatic assault that’s planned against us.”

“The main goal is to remove, once and for all, this idea of a Palestinian state,” he told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem.

Smotrich provided few details about what his plan would mean for Palestinians living in Israeli-annexed areas.

Israel has long shied away from formally annexing the West Bank, partly because of concerns that it could spur a global backlash. It is unclear whether Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, supports Smotrich’s proposal.

But even the threat of annexing the West Bank appeared to inflame diplomatic tensions. The United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel five years ago, issued a rare warning after Smotrich’s announcement that

Israeli soldiers conduct a military operation at the Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank, March 4, 2025. Extremists are carrying out one of the most violent campaigns against Palestinian villages since the U.N. began keeping records. (Afif Amireh/The New York Times)

annexation would constitute “a red line.”

Lana Nusseibeh, a senior Emirati official, said in a statement that the proposed move would “severely undermine the vision and spirit” of the Abraham Accords, agreements signed in 2020 by four Arab states, including the UAE, to expand ties with Israel.

The Israeli government was publicly weighing West Bank annexation at around the same time. But Netanyahu chose to switch gears instead, moving ahead with the normalization agreements with Arab states, said Nadav Shtrauchler, a former adviser to the prime minister.

“Netanyahu, again and again, didn’t go all the way with this. Either he did something symbolic, or he went in a different direction,” Shtrauchler said.

Netanyahu has since invested considerable effort into normalizing Israel’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, which he hopes will form part of his legacy. Nusseibeh noted that annexing the West Bank would also end further “regional integration.”

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when it seized the land from Jordan. Since then, the Israeli government has built a sprawling network of settlements there, populated by about half a million Jewish settlers, and further entrenched its control.

Palestinians hope the territory will form part of a future independent state, which will also include the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlements two decades ago and where it is currently engaged in a deadly war. Netanyahu, as well as many other members of his government, oppose Palestinian statehood, arguing that it would present a security threat to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers some areas of the West Bank, said in a statement that Smotrich’s remarks were a “direct threat” to efforts to create a Palestinian state.

Smotrich, a longtime settler leader, suggested that Palestinians “would continue to run their own affairs” on a local level but added that “the territory would be ours.”

Within its internationally recognized borders, Israel is a democracy where Palestinian and Arab citizens can vote in elections and sit in parliament, although many say they still face discrimination as second-class citizens.

But in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, which tightly controls their freedom of movement. They have no right to vote in Israel’s elections and are generally tried in Israeli

military courts. The Palestinian Authority provides public services and coordinates closely with Israel on security.

Human rights groups argue that Israel’s two-tiered system of control in the West Bank is comparable to apartheid-era South Africa. Israel rejects that characterization.

Smotrich has long called for Israel to assert full control over the West Bank, without granting its Palestinian residents the right to vote in Israeli elections. Like many on the Israeli right, he avoids using the word annexation — which could imply that the territory was occupied — preferring instead to speak of Israeli sovereignty.

“I have no interest in allowing them to enjoy everything that the State of Israel has to offer. We did not establish this country to make our enemies prosper,” Smotrich told reporters.

Critics in Israel of Netanyahu’s government fear that annexing the West Bank would further isolate the country, as it already faces mounting international condemnation over the war in Gaza.

More than 60,000 people have been killed there in Israel’s campaign against Hamas, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war began after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when some 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages.

Smotrich noted that Israel had recently authorized settlement construction in a sensitive area of the West Bank east of Jerusalem, known as E-1, with few practical consequences. Successive U.S. administrations had opposed building settlements there, fearing it would endanger the contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

At least 15 dead after Lisbon funicular derails and crashes, officials say

By LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA and TIAGO CARRASCO

At least 15 people were killed and 18 others were injured, five of them critically, on Wednesday when a popular funicular in Lisbon derailed and crashed, according to Portugal’s Health Ministry. The funicular, the Elevador da Glória, climbs a steep hill from the city’s historic Baixa district to reach panoramic views in the Bairro Alto neighborhood. The Lis-

bon Firefighters Regiment said the accident was caused by “a cable that came loose” in the structure of the funicular, which lost control and crashed into a building.

In a statement, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal expressed his condolences and solidarity with the families affected by what he described as a tragedy.

Mayor Carlos Moedas of Lisbon said the city was in mourning. “It’s a very difficult day for all of us,” he said.

According to local media reports, the accident took

place just after 6 p.m., during the city’s rush hour. Images and footage posted to social media appeared to show one of the yellow cars flipped beside the rails and surrounded by debris and smoke. Passengers emerged from another car, which still appeared to be sitting on the rails.

The Glória funicular, which opened in 1885, is part of a network of cars that run along Lisbon’s steep hills, carrying more than 3.5 million passengers a year, and have become emblematic of the city.

Thursday, September 4, 2025 14

The San Juan Daily Star

Is Venezuela flooding the US with drugs? Here’s what to know.

By GENEVIEVE GLATSKY

The United States has deployed several Navy ships and thousands of troops near Venezuelan waters. The Trump administration says the military buildup is intended to target Venezuelan drug shipments to the United States.

This week, the moves took a drastic turn. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. forces had killed 11 people in a strike on a boat in the southern Caribbean that he said was transporting drugs from Venezuela. He posted a video that he said depicted the attack. Venezuela’s government claimed, without offering evidence, that the video was made with artificial intelligence.

U.S. officials have said that Venezuelan cocaine shipments are contributing to overdose deaths in the United States and that cocaine is often laced with fentanyl. They accuse the country’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, of overseeing a narcotics cartel.

Maduro, at a news conference Monday in the capital, Caracas, called the naval buildup “the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years.”

What exactly is Venezuela’s role in the drug trade? And does Maduro have links to the illicit business?

Venezuela doesn’t produce much cocaine, but it helps move it around the world.

Venezuela is not a major producer of cocaine but serves as a transit hub for it. The country’s long, porous border with Colombia — the world’s largest producer — and long coastline provide traffickers access to global markets.

Weak state institutions and widespread corruption have entrenched the trade. U.S. indictments and leaked Colombian records describe Venezuelan security forces as overseeing drug shipments worth billions of dollars.

Estimates by the United States in 2020 said that 200 to 250 metric tons of cocai-

Army, or ELN, which has operations inside Venezuela.

Several former senior officials who have broken with the government have accused top leaders of allowing or directly participating in the trade.

Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

“He is one of the largest narcotraffickers in the world and a threat to our national security,” she said last month.

The U.S. naval buildup isn’t likely to prevent much smuggling.

Most cocaine bound for the United States moves through the Pacific, not the Caribbean, according to data from Colombia, the United States and the United Nations.

About 74% of cocaine shipments in 2019 were transported through the Pacific, mostly from Colombia and Ecuador, compared with 24% through the Caribbean, according to DEA data.

ne flowed through Venezuela annually — roughly 10% to 13% of the global supply.

But other countries have a much bigger hand in moving cocaine. In 2018, 1,400 metric tons of cocaine moved through Guatemala, U.S. data shows. And Venezuela’s domestic cocaine cultivation is negligible, experts said.

Unlike Mexican cartels, Venezuelan gangs rely more on local extortion than on drug trafficking to generate money, according to David A. Smilde, a sociologist who studies violence in Venezuela at Tulane University.

Venezuela plays virtually no role in the fentanyl trade.

Fentanyl is almost entirely produced in Mexico with chemicals imported from China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Justice Department and the Congressional Research Service. Mexico is close to the U.S. market, and Mexican cartels already control many fentanyl smuggling routes.

There is no proof that it is manufactured or trafficked from Venezuela or anywhere else in South America.

While U.S. cocaine sometimes shows traces of fentanyl, according to the DEA and academic studies, experts say any mixing would happen in Mexico or inside the United States, not in South America.

Maduro has been charged with drug trafficking.

U.S. prosecutors have accused

Venezuela’s president of leading the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), a term used to describe networks of military and political elites who profit from drug smuggling and other illicit trades.

In 2020, the Justice Department charged Maduro and 14 accomplices with conspiring with Colombian armed groups to ship cocaine to the United States, claiming he personally negotiated shipments and supplied weapons to traffickers.

Maduro has not faced trial, and many of the charges remain unproven. But analysts say illicit revenues — from corrupt contracts, drug trafficking, illegal gold mining and the diversion of funds meant for state programs — help secure their loyalty and sustain his rule. These funds flow to Maduro and his inner circle, experts say, including the armed forces and party elites — an example of how the Cartel de los Soles functions.

“If there’s one thing that Maduro is good at, it’s keeping the upper ranks fat and happy,” said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow for Venezuela at the Atlantic Council, a Washington research institute. “He’s bought off the military leadership and party apparatus through massive patronage schemes and a nationwide web of corruption.”

Venezuelan officials have long had ties, experts say, to Colombian armed groups involved in cocaine, first with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and more recently with the National Liberation

“The Pacific Corridor has established itself as the main cocaine transit route to North America,” the Colombian navy reported this year.

Cocaine routes are diffuse and resilient, and the United States has failed at disrupting them despite decades of effort and billions of dollars.

The strike seems intended to make a point.

Analysts said the deployment was more a show of force than an antidrug strategy. Ramsey said that Trump, who campaigned on ending wars, was unlikely to attack Venezuela.

“This is less of a counternarcotics operation, more of a show of strength,” Ramsey said. “This is ultimately an attempt to saberrattle and see what comes out of it.”

The move also plays to domestic politics, he added. Many Venezuelan and Cuban voters in South Florida who oppose any business ties between Venezuela and the United States were angered by the Trump administration’s decision to allow Chevron to restart oil operations in Venezuela and by direct negotiations that led to the resumption of deportation flights to Caracas. Oil is a major source of revenue for Venezuela.

Both developments were seen as a sign of warming relations that conferred legitimacy on Maduro.

The naval buildup provides a way to demonstrate toughness without jeopardizing U.S. policy, analysts said.

As Rubio visits Mexico, its president walks a political tightrope

By JACK NICAS

When Mexican drug kingpin Ismael Zambada García agreed to a life sentence in a New York courtroom last week, he delivered a message that many Mexican officials found uncomfortable to hear.

Reading his guilty plea aloud, the man known as El Mayo said he had operated freely inside Mexico for years by bribing politicians, the police and the military.

It was not exactly a bombshell — it is well known that Mexican cartels have long thrived by paying off officials. But it underscored a growing problem for President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, who has been under intense pressure from the White House to do more to root out corruption.

For months, Sheinbaum has tried to manage two complex relationships at the same time: Mexico’s with the United States and her own with her powerful party at home. She has repeatedly said, in essence, that she wants to work with President Donald Trump — but not take orders from him.

She would try to walk that tightrope again in Mexico City on Wednesday, when she was to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss how to battle the drug cartels.

Rubio has been one of the U.S. officials highlighting the problem of the criminal groups’ power, telling Fox News in March that “in many cases, cooperation is hindered by the dangerous levels of corruption and influence over the judiciary.”

Trump has made similar remarks, saying in July that Mexican authorities are “petrified to go to work because the cartels have a tremendous grip on Mexico and the politicians and the people that get elected.”

Sheinbaum has cracked down on a powerful cartel, transferred dozens of prisoners to the United States and noted major drug seizures at the border.

The situation, nevertheless, has still squeezed her into a precarious position.

Trump has threatened devastating tariffs and even military operations if she does not take aggressive action to halt the flow of fentanyl across the border.

Yet, Mexico’s web of political alliances and interests require her to tread lightly — particularly in going after fellow politicians — or risk blowback that could threaten her control of her leftist party, Morena, according to Mexican political and security analysts.

“She is stuck between the rock of Trump’s pressures and the hard place of Mexican narco-politics,” said Carlos Bravo Regidor, a Mexican political analyst.

Asked about this article Wednesday during her daily news conference, Sheinbaum disputed the notion that she was in a difficult spot. “The conversations we have with President Trump — sometimes we reach agreements; sometimes we don’t — but they’re always within a framework of respect,” she said. “We do not feel pressured.”

Sheinbaum said she aims to agree on a new security framework between Mexico and the United States in her meeting with Rubio.

At the request of Sheinbaum, any agreement is likely to include language that Mexico’s sovereignty be respected,

according to a person close to the Mexican government who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private plans. “It has to do with collaboration without subordination, within the framework of our sovereignties,” she said Wednesday.

The sovereignty issue has become a particularly sensitive topic in Mexico, as Trump has deployed thousands of troops to the southern border and directed the Pentagon to explore military operations against cartels he has designated terrorist organizations. Further stoking those tensions, Trump said Tuesday that he had ordered a strike against a boat carrying drugs and “Narco terrorists” from Venezuela in international waters.

The issue has become so fraught that it caused a near brawl in Mexico’s Senate last week, when Sen. Alejandro Moreno, an opposition leader known as Alito, became furious that he did not get a chance to speak during a debate about potential U.S. military intervention. He shoved and swung at a powerful senator from Sheinbaum’s political party, and pushed over another man, videos showed.

Any security agreement that might be unveiled Wednesday is not expected to include mention of efforts to go after corrupt Mexican officials, and the White House has not sent a list of Mexican politicians it believes are linked to the cartels, according to the person close to the Mexican government.

But the Trump administration has repeatedly made clear in public that it wants more action on the issue.

Security analysts say the cartels have deep influence over the government in many areas of Mexico. They also say that because of the recent dominance of Sheinbaum’s party — Morena and its allies effectively control all three

federal branches of government — there are likely links between the cartels and some members of Morena and allied politicians.

Going after those politicians could fracture Morena’s delicate alliances and jeopardize Sheinbaum politically. That is especially true, analysts said, because many of the alliances were built by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former president who handpicked her as his successor.

“She has a dilemma that consists of either giving in to U.S. pressure or investigating some members close to her political benefactor’s circle,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a former Mexican security official who now studies cartels and their influence.

Carlos Heredia, a left-leaning former member of Congress, said that so far, Sheinbaum has been unwilling to remove any high-ranking official appointed by López Obrador.

“The biggest challenge for her comes from the inside,” he said, “how she deals with the legacy that she inherited, of a circle of people that were protected from the highest office, and I’m thinking of governors, lawmakers and even people in the Cabinet.”

Sheinbaum has strongly denied any notion that her government harbors corrupt politicians or has gone easy on them. For instance, she has discussed an investigation into bribery at the state oil company. One operation her government has helped carry out against extortion has netted about 60 local officials accused of ties to cartels.

During her first 11 months in office, Mexican authorities have arrested nearly 31,000 people with suspected connections to organized crime, about 16 times the rate of her predecessor’s tenure, according to government data.

Yet, of the publicly known arrests, no federal officials have been detained.

Google avoids harshest penalties in landmark search monopoly ruling

By DAVID McCABE

Google must hand over its search results and some data to rival companies but does not need to break itself up by selling its Chrome web browser, a federal judge ruled earlier this week.

The decision, by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, falls short of the sweeping changes proposed by the government to rein in the power of Silicon Valley.

Mehta said in the 223-page ruling that Google must share some of its search data with “qualified competitors” to resolve its monopoly. The Justice Department had asked the judge to force the company to share even more of its data, arguing it was key to Google’s dominance.

Mehta also put restrictions on payments that Google uses to ensure its search engine gets prime placement in web browsers and on smartphones. But he stopped short of banning those payments entirely and did not grant the government’s request that Google be forced to sell Chrome, which the government said was necessary to remedy the company’s power as a search monopoly.

A presentation on Google Search at Google I/O in Mountain View, Calif., May 10, 2023. Google must hand over its search results and some of its data to rival companies, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, a decision that falls short of the sweeping changes proposed by the government to rein in the power of Silicon Valley. (Jason Henry/The New York Times)

“Notwithstanding this power, courts must approach the task of crafting remedies with a healthy dose of humility,” Mehta said in Tuesday’s decision. “This court has done so.”

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The decision on how to remedy a monopoly — the first of its kind in the modern internet era — is the most significant attempt to level the tech playing field since an antitrust ruling against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. Google had planned to appeal, and the case is likely to be mired in the courts for years.

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The conservative ruling is a blow to the government’s all-out push in recent years to challenge the dominance of the biggest tech companies. Under both the Biden and Trump administrations, the federal government accused Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta of anti-competitive behavior meant to illegally monopolize parts of the internet.

That ruling comes as generative artificial intelligence is threatening to replace traditional search engines. AI startups including OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity have built humanlike chatbots that can field queries, summarize huge swaths of research and even plan a trip with step-by-step suggestions.

Google has already embedded its own AI answers at the top of its search results, and added a tab to its search results page where users can converse with a chatbot about their query.

Mehta wrote in his ruling that the emergence of generative AI “changed the course of this case.”

Google’s stock price shot up about 8% in afterhours trading on the news to more than $229 per share.

“It’s certainly better than the worst-case scenario that DOJ and the state attorneys general would have had the judge impose,” said Bill Baer, who was an assistant attorney general for antitrust in the Obama administration. “The real question is going

to be: Are these data licensing requirements and related requirements going to be sufficient to create the potential for a more competitive search market?”

Google said it had concerns about how the data-sharing requirements could affect the privacy of its users. But Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, praised Mehta’s finding that AI had altered the landscape.

“This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense, and people can easily choose the services they want,” she said in a statement.

Gail Slater, the top antitrust official at the Department of Justice, said in a statement that the ruling would restore competition and that the agency would ”consider the department’s options and next steps regarding seeking additional relief.”

Mehta’s decision in the case, which is the first government monopoly lawsuit against a modern tech giant to go from filing to remedies, will set the tone as courts consider other antitrust cases accusing large tech companies of abusing their power, most prominently against Google.

In April, a federal judge in Virginia found that Google had a monopoly over some types of advertising technology, the system of software that marketers use to place advertisements on sites around the web. The government wants the court to force Google to spin off part of that system. Google says it should be required to change internal policies that entrenched its dominance. The judge in that case will consider remedies this month.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, faces a ruling from a judge as soon as this fall in a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that the social media giant snuffed out its nascent competitors. An FTC lawsuit against Amazon over allegations that it squeezed small merchants is scheduled to go to trial in 2027. The Justice Department has also sued Apple, saying the company makes it hard for consumers to ditch its devices.

Mehta’s ruling capped a yearslong case, U.S. et al. v. Google, which the Justice Department and a group of states filed in 2020. The department said Google’s search engine, which generates billions in annual profits, conducted nearly 90% of web searches, a number the company disputed.

The company spends billions every year to be the built-in search engine on browsers like Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox. Google paid $26.3 billion for those deals in 2021, according to evidence presented in court.

That created a cycle that benefited Google, the government argued during a 10-week trial in 2023. The prime placement meant more people used Google, which gave it more data to make its search engine better than its competitors’. That advantage allowed it to attract more customers and further elbow out its competitors.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta said in a ruling last year.

The

San Juan Daily Star Thursday, September 4, 2025 17

Trump signals imminent Supreme Court appeal to protect tariffs

By TONY ROMM and ANA SWANSON

President Donald Trump signaled that he would ask the Supreme Court as soon as Wednesday to overturn a ruling that found many of his punishing tariffs to be illegal, claiming that an erosion in his power to wage a global trade war would inflict severe financial damage on the United States.

Trump said the administration would ask the justices to render their decision on an “expedited” timeline, as he argued that the new legal uncertainty surrounding his tariffs had contributed to a recent drop in financial markets and could lead to “devastation for our country.”

“If you took away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country,” Trump said at the White House.

While economists broadly believe the president has overstated the magnitude of the case, the fate of his tariff powers nonetheless remains mired in great legal doubt. A federal appeals court late Friday determined that Trump had vastly overstepped his authority to impose steep duties on nearly every U.S. trading partner, marking the second such defeat for the administration.

For now, the court opted to leave the president’s tariffs in place until Oct. 14, in a move meant to allow the White House time to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. But its decision still threatened to upset the centerpiece of Trump’s strategy. It hinges on his ability to impose tariffs instantly, and seemingly without limit, as a way of raising money, forcing countries to negotiate and attracting domestic industry.

“It’s a liberal court, and it’s going up to the Supreme Court,” Trump said Tuesday, describing the decision as “very shocking.”

Trump added that a loss could put at stake the billions of dollars that the United States had collected in revenue, which it might be forced to pay back, and undermine his campaign to pressure companies into making more of their products domestically. At one point, the president even insisted to reporters that the “stock market needs the tariffs,” despite the fact that investors often have recoiled over his announcement of steep rates.

It is unclear if the Supreme Court intends to hear Trump’s appeal on an expedited basis. But the White House could face an uphill battle, given that legal scholars

across the political spectrum have raised myriad objections to its claims to sweeping tariff powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Congress enacted the law, known as IEEPA, in the 1970s, aiming to empower the president to impose sanctions and embargoes in response to emerging global threats. But Trump has invoked the statute repeatedly in his second term to apply his tariffs, most recently citing it in an executive order that taxed imports from about 90 countries in early August.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 7-4 against Trump’s interpretation, finding it was unlikely that Congress had ever intended to grant the president nearly unlimited authority to impose tariffs as part of that law. The panel of judges sided with small businesses and states, which first prevailed in front of a lower court in May, after judges there similarly ruled that IEEPA did not grant the president “unbounded” powers.

The decision enraged Trump, who savaged the appeals court as partisan in a series of posts on social media through the weekend.

“If a Radical Left Court is allowed to terminate these Tariffs, almost all of this investment, and much more, will be immediately canceled!” he wrote on social media.

“In many ways, we would become a Third World Nation, with no hope of GREATNESS again.”

Angela M. Santos, a partner at the law firm ArentFox Schiff, said that the ruling was “great news for importers,” and might give them some hope that they could be refunded for the tariffs they had already paid to the government. However, she added, “this dispute is far from over, the decision might be limited in scope, and importers may not see relief for some time.”

Trump does have other tariff tools at his disposal, but they are more limited than the emergency powers that he has invoked to impose levies of between 10% and 50% on countries around the world.

Statutes such as Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 typically require consultations and investigations that can take several months to carry out. That would prevent the president from arbitrarily raising and lowering tariffs.

Trump has repeatedly used Section 232 to impose tariffs on specific products on national security grounds, including foreign steel and automobiles. Those duties were unaffected by the court ruling Friday. The president is exploring taxes on imported pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and other products under the Section 232 authority.

Other trade laws allow the president to issue sweeping tariffs, but only for a limited period of time. Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, for example, allows a president to impose duties of up to 15% globally for up to 150 days. Another provision of that law, Section 301, allows the president to issue broad tariffs in response to unfair trading practices, after first carrying out consultations and an investigation.

Yet another long-unused statute, Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% on countries that have discriminated against the commerce of the United States.

Trump did not share Tuesday whether his administration was contemplating any of those authorities. The president did signal he would not try to push his tariffs through Congress, saying at one point that the White House did not have the votes in the Senate.

Some of America’s largest trading partners have indicated that they will not be beholden to what the United States decides.

“Tearing up a deal because of a U.S. court ruling would be rubbing salt in Trump’s wound and risk triggering backlash, and not just on trade,” Mujtaba Rahman, who leads European research for the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said in an email. He said that European leaders would probably look to leverage the deal by saying, “‘Look we’ll stick with the deal but you too implement it, and no monkey business with digital regulations and taxes.’”

Carsten Brzeski at ING in Germany, said that U.S. court decisions had too often “been challenged or overruled.” “The EU will be very cautious in reacting to it; at least in public,” he said.

U.S. officials have said that a loss could also lead to a diplomatic embarrassment. In statements published hours before the ruling, Trump’s advisers raised particular concern about the trade deals the president had brokered with the European Union and other nations. Those agreements are based on tariffs imposed under the emergency powers act.

Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, said that a ruling against the administration could “lead to retaliation and the unwinding of agreed-upon deals by foreigntrading partners, and derail critical ongoing negotiations with foreign-trading partners.”

September 4, 2025 18

The

The unseen dangers of floodwaters

By SIMAR BIJAJ and MAGGIE ASTOR

Climate change is intensifying both hurricanes and everyday storms, making flooding events both more common and more severe.

When heavy rain falls, it can overwhelm streams and streets with little to no warning, both along the coast and inland. All it takes is 6 inches of fast-moving water to knock over an adult, according to the National Weather Service, and most cars can be swept away in as little as a foot of water.

Beyond the risk of drowning, floodwaters are often full of sewage, medical waste, industrial chemicals and more. And even after the storm is over, many hazards can remain.

What’s in the water?

Floodwaters are “a toxic brew of pesticides, toxins, petroleum, anything and everything that you can imagine,” said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Hundreds of types of bacteria and viruses can contaminate the waters, he added, making them dangerous to play in or simply walk through.

This is especially true in the first 24 hours of a storm, when heavy rains wash out waste and trigger the “first rush of pathogens,” said Natalie Exum, an environmental health scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Potential consequences include gastrointestinal illnesses such as E. coli, respiratory illnesses such as Legionnaires’ disease and skin infections including necrotizing fasciitis, known as flesh-eating disease.

Experts strongly advise avoiding floodwaters if you can. Keeping your mouth closed might not be enough to protect you, as you can also get sick if water gets into your eyes or ears. And any open wound, even an insect bite or a nick from shaving, can let bacteria into the bloodstream.

Wading through floodwaters can also lead to injuries, said Dell Saulnier, an assistant professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who studies global disasters and health.

A

man walks in floodwaters where the vast Tulare Lake once existed outside Corcoran, Calif., March 25, 2023.

(Mark Abramson/The New York Times)

Debris can be hidden, and dirty waters can conceal power lines, too, making electrocution another serious concern.

Preparation is key, including heeding evacuation orders and having at least five days of supplies in your home so you can avoid venturing out.

What protection works?

If you have no choice but to go through a flood, wear pants, long sleeves and waterproof boots, Exum said. Goggles and gloves can also help.

Cover any open wounds, even minor ones, with waterproof bandages. If a wound gets wet, quickly disinfect it with soap and clean water. If that’s not possible, use hand sanitizer and wet wipes so that pathogens don’t fester.

Afterward, clean any clothes contaminated with flood-

waters on the hottest water setting and with a disinfectant like bleach, said Dr. Peggy Duggan, the chief medical officer of Tampa General Hospital.

“I wouldn’t say you have to throw them away, although I personally would,” she added.

What happens after the water recedes?

Even after floodwaters drain away, trees, homes and debris will remain drenched, said Dr. Mark Morocco, a professor of emergency medicine who practices at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. “Imagine that somebody had sprayed your entire neighborhood with raw sewage,” he said.

Mold can grow quickly under carpets, in cabinets and on drywall and fabric furniture. The spores can be drawn deep inside the lungs, posing a particular threat to older adults, immunocompromised people and those with respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Dr. Jamie Garfield, a pulmonologist at the Temple Lung Center and a spokesperson for the American Lung Association, advises patients with these conditions to watch out for worsening symptoms, and to hire cleaning professionals if possible — or ask friends for help. “If you spend an hour cleaning off an area of your home and you start to notice some chest tightness or coughing, that’s an indication to lay off,” Garfield said.

Pathogens and chemicals can also seep into drinking water. So, stick to bottled water or boiled tap water when you drink; brush your teeth; or wash your hands, dishes and produce. After local officials give the all-clear, it’s a good idea to let the water run for a while to flush the pipes of any residual gunk, Exum added.

While mosquitoes often get whisked away by the initial flooding, they tend to return after a week or two, said Dr. Stephen Liang, an infectious diseases physician at WashU Medicine in St. Louis. Pockets of standing water can quickly become breeding grounds for them, so try to clear puddles, empty buckets and unclog drains. And when outside, protect yourself with long sleeves and insect repellent.

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en Dinamarca

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24” x 80”

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LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. ARTURO PÉREZ DE JESÚS, CARMEN

HERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ

T/C/C CARMEN GLORIA HERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ

T/C/C CARMEN G. HERNÁNDEZ GONZALEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; VÍCTOR ANDINO FIGUEROA, BRENDA

OTERO ROBLES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: BY2025CV00339. (505). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia dictada el 16 de mayo de 2025, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 7 de julio de 2025 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 8 de julio de 2025 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 17 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Cuarto Piso, Oficina del Alguacil de Subastas, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Sala Superior, ubicado en la Carretera Número Dos (#2), Kilómetro 10.4, Esquina Esteban Padilla, Bayamón, Puerto Rico,al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: RÚSTICA: Lote número 6 radicado en el Barrio Candelaria del Barrio Candelaria Municipio de Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, conforme al plano de segregación e inscripción ante la Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos Oficina Regional de Bayamón, caso (85-13-B-214-BPL) con cabida superficial de 1.48 cuerdas, equivalentes a 5820.64 metros cuadrados de otra, en lindes por el NORTE: con uso público (acceso) conforme al plano de

segregación e inscripción antes descrito; por el SUR: con lote remanente conforme al plano de segregación e inscripción antes descrito; por el ESTE: con uso público conforme al plano de segregación e inscripción antes descrito; por el OESTE: con camino que nace a la entrada de la carretera número 2 kilómetro 18, hectómetro 4. Inscrita al folio 105 del tomo 411 de Toa Baja, Finca 23623, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección II. La escritura de hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 133 del tomo 624 de Toa Baja, Finca 23623, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección II. Inscripción cuarta. La escritura de modificación de hipoteca consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, Finca 23623, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección II. Inscripción octava. DIRECCIÓN FÍSICA: VILLAS DE LAS COLINAS 40F CALLE 6 (SOLAR 6), TOA BAJA, PR 00949. Catastro número: (13) 060-085001-92-000. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $323,400.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 24 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $215,600.00. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 1RO DE OCTUBRE DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $161,700.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $316,962.55 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 6.95% anual desde el 1 de julio de 2024 hasta su completo pago, más $493.70 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $30,000.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que sobre esta propiedad pesa el (los) siguiente(s) gravamen (gravámenes)

posterior(es) a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar: A. AVISO DE DEMANDA: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico vs. Arturo Pérez De Jesús, Carmen Hernández González también conocida como Carmen Gloria Hernández González, como Carmen G. Hernández González y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales, Víctor Andino Figueroa, Brenda Otero Robles y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales, ante el Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Bayamón, en el caso civil número BY2025CV00339, sobre cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca, con un balance de $316,962.55 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 23 de enero de 2025. Anotada al Tomo Karibe de Toa Baja. Anotación B. Se notifica al acreedor posterior o a su sucesor o cesionario en derecho para que comparezca a proteger su derecho si así lo desea. Se les advierte a los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de Subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en el expediente del caso que obra en los archivos de la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana; y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate y que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal como lo expresa la Ley Núm. 210-2015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy 24 de julio de 2025. EDGARDO ELÍAS

VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante v. RONALD FERNANDO CERRATO ZEBALLO por sí y como parte de la SUCESIÓN DE LARA MILAGROS APONTE PÉREZ, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO

Demandados CIVIL NÚM: BY2019CV05724 (504). SOBRE: INTERPELACION, EJECUCION DE GARANTIAS IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. A: PUBLICO EN GENERAL

El Alguacil del Tribunal que suscribe anuncia y hace constar: A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Bayamón, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor de contado y en moneda de curso legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América y cuyo pago se efectuará en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, todo derecho, título o interés que tenga la Parte Demandada en el bien inmueble que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 14 del Bloque “AB”, del plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Estancias de Rio Hondo, Segunda Unidad de Planificación, radicada en el Barrio Hato Tejas de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 310.00 metros cuadrados con 500 milímetros de otro, en lindes por el NORTE: con la calle número 18, distancia de 13 metros 50 centímetros; por el SUR: con el solar número ocho, distancia de 13 metros 50 centímetros; por el ESTE: con el solar número 15, distancia de 23 metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar número 13, distancia de 23 metros. Sobre este solar enclava una casa de concreto reforzado dedicado a una vivienda para una familia. Inscrita al folio 290 del tomo 21 de Bayamón Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Tercera de Bayamón, finca número 639. Dirección física: 14 AB Rio Fajardo, Río

Hondo II, Bayamón, PR. 00961. B. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables bajo el epígrafe de este caso. C. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. D. Que la propiedad se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes posteriores: 1. Sentencia dictada el día 15 de septiembre del 2008, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia sala de Bayamón, en el Caso Civil número DCD-20073627, a favor de Scotiabank de Puerto Rico, por una suma de $37,361.04 y $4,491.97, más intereses y otras sumas adicionales o en su defecto la venta en Pública Subasta, anotada al folio 143 del tomo 225 de Bayamón Norte, finca número 639, inscripción 11ra. Como asiento Abreviado, extendidas las líneas el día 6 de mayo de 2013, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010. 2. Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $7,275.40, sin intereses, vencedero el día 1 de octubre de 2032, constituida mediante la escritura número 115, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 29 de abril de 2011, ante el notario José Humberto Martínez Camacho, e inscrita al folio 143 del tomo 225 de Bayamón Norte, finca número 639, inscripción 12da. E. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a la suma principal de $66,349.89, más intereses según pactados, cargos por demora y otros cargos, que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago, más la suma del 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado hipotecariamente asegurados. La primera subasta se celebrará el día 18 de septiembre de 2025 a las 9:30 AM en la Oficina del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Bayamón, por el tipo mínimo de $105,661.00. De declararse desierta dicha subasta se celebrará una segunda subasta el día 25 de

septiembre de 2025 a las 9:30 AM, en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la segunda subasta lo será 2/3 partes del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $70,440.67. De declararse desierta dicha segunda subasta, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 2 de octubre de 2025 a las 9:30 AM en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la tercera subasta lo será 1/2 del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $52,830.50. Y PARA QUE ASÍ CONSTE, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general y por un término de catorce (14) días en los sitios públicos conforme a la ley, expido la presente bajo mi firma y sello de este tribunal, hoy 26 de agosto de 2025 en Bayamón, Puerto Rico. EDGARDO ELIAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA 193.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. DAVID VELEZ

GONZALEZ, ELSIE

ESTHER ACEVEDO RIVERA, TAMBIÉN

CONOCIDA COMO ELSIE

E. ACEVEDO RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados Civil Núm.: KCD2010-1371. (604). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA) “IN REM”. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL. A: DAVID VELEZ GONZALEZ, ELSIE

ESTHER ACEVEDO RIVERA, TAMBIÉN

CONOCIDA COMO ELSIE E. ACEVEDO RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; MUNICIPIO DE SAN JUAN, POR TENER HIPOTECA EN GARANTÍA DE UN PAGARÉ A SU FAVOR POR LA SUMA DE $13,750.00.

Yo, PEDRO HIEYE GONZALEZ, ALGUACIL, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día

16 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de San Juan durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 23 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el 30 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2025, A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Apartamento Residencial número TRESCIENTOS TRES (303) de forma rectangular, localizado en el piso número TRES (3) edificio A, del proyecto VBC-CIENTO CINCUENTA Y OCHO (VBC-158) Condominio Valle de Berwind, hoy conocido como Torres de Cervantes, que ubica en la calle Elder esquina Calle TREINTA Y SEIS (36) del Barrio Sábana Llana del término municipal de Río Piedras del Municipio de San Juan, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de NOVECIENTOS DIEZ PUNTO CINCO SEIS SEIS DOS (910.5662) PIES CUADRADOS, siendo sus medidas lineales TREINTA Y NUEVE (39) PIES DOS Y UN CUARTO (2 ¼) PULGADAS, de largo por VEINTICUATRO (24) PIES DIEZ Y MEDIA (10 ½) PULGADAS de ancho, en lindes por el NORTE, en DIECIOCHO (18) PIES DOS Y UN CUARTO (2 ¼) PULGADAS con el apartamento número TRESCIENTOS UNO (301); por el SUR, en VEINTICUATRO (24) PIES DIEZ Y MEDIA (10 ½) PULGADAS, con el apartamento número TRESCIENTOS CINCO (305); por el ESTE, en TREINTA Y NUEVE (39) PIES DOS Y UN CUARTO (2 ¼) PULGADAS, con la pared exterior del edificio; por el OESTE, en TREINTA (30) PIES CUATRO Y UN CUARTO (4 ¼) PULGADAS, con el pasillo. La

puerta principal del apartamento tiene acceso al pasillo central del edificio. Esta unidad residencial consta de lo siguiente: sala-comedor, balcón, cocina, baño, pasillo con closet, calentador de agua de treinta (30) galones, nevera, estufa y tres (3) cuartos de dormitorios con su closet cada uno. El valor del apartamento es de Cincuenta y Dos Mil Quinientos dólares ($52,500.00) y tiene un porciento de participación en los elementos comunes de punto cero cero dos tres ocho cinco siete (.0023857) porciento. Le corresponde un (1) espacio de estacionamiento identificado con el mismo número del apartamento. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 1 del tomo 933 de Sábana Llana, finca número 24,387, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Quinta (V) de San Juan, inscripción sexta (6ta.). La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: 303 A Cond. Torres de Cervantes, San Juan, Puerto Rico. La Subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $25,008.28 de principal, más los intereses acumulados a razón de 7.500% anual computados desde el día 1ro de mayo de 2016, hasta su total saldo, recargos por demora y $4,040.00 por costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta será la cantidad de de $40,400.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $26,933.33 y de necesitarse una tercera subasta la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir la suma de $20,200.00. De declararse desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente. Se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor. Las propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad hipotecada a ser vendida en pública Subasta se encuentra afecta al

GARCÍA ARAUJO

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: SJ2024CV10900. (Salón: 504 CIVIL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. GABRIEL ANTONIO GARCÍA DELGADO - GGARCIA@ FERRAIUOLI.COM.

LUIS G. PARRILLA HERNANDEZLPARRILLA@FERRAIUOLI.COM.

A: OSVALDO JOSÉ GARCÍA ARAUJO.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de agosto 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 28 de agosto de 2025. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 28 de agosto de 2025. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. MARIELA O. VIZCARRONDO ROSADO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE LARES

RAYMOND RASSI

MALDONADO, SU ESPOSA NYDIA

SANTIAGO ROBLES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandantes Vs. SUCESIÓN DE LUIS

GONZÁLEZ POL Y

SUCESIÓN DE MARÍA ELIDA ALICEA TELLADO

Demandados

Civil Núm.: LR2025CV00239. Salón: 1. Sobre: CUMPLIMIENTO ESPECÍFICO DE CONTRATO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: JOSÉ RAMÓN GONZÁLEZ ALICEA - 74 ST. PETER DR.,

BRENTWOOD, NEW YORK 11717; LUIS GONZÁLEZ ALICEA - RESIDENTE DEL ESTADO DE FLORIDA; JORGE GONZÁLEZ

ALICEA - RESIDENTE DEL ESTADO DE FLORIDA; JOSÉ MIGUEL

GONZÁLEZ ALICEARESIDENTE DEL ESTADO DE NEW YORK; JOSÉ ANTONIO GONZÁLEZ ALICEA - RESIDENTE DE VENEZUELA; ANEUDY GONZÁLEZ ALICEA - RESIDENTE DEL ESTADO DE NEW YORK.

Por la presente se le notifica que ha sido presentada en este Tribunal una Demanda contra Usted. El abogado de la Parte Demandante es el Lcdo. Luis Sevillano Sánchez, cuya dirección postal es: PO Box 141118, Arecibo, PR 00614-1118. Tel. (787) 878-5132 / Email: ofic. lcdo.luissevillano@gmail.com. Se le advierte que este Edicto se publicará en un (1) periódico de circulación general una (1) sola vez. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del término de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la publicación del Edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Si Usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la petición. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Lares, Puerto Rico, hoy 21 de agosto de 2025. DIANE ÁLVAREZ VILLANUEVA, SECRETARIA. ESTHERVINA CRUZ VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante VS. MARILYN LEÓN ACOSTA

Demandada

CIVIL NÚM: CA2025CV01746. 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: MARILYN LEÓN ACOSTA

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 Carolina, 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 20 de AGOSTO de 2025. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA GENERAL. F/ KEILA GARCIA SOLIS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON. CENTRO MĖDICO DEL TURABO, INC., h/n/c HOSPITAL HIMA•SAN PABLO CAGUAS y RED MEDICA HIMA•SAN PABLO

DEMANDANTE Vs. LYLE A. CAMBELL, su esposo FULANO DE TAL y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos DEMANDADOS CIVIL NÚM.: GB2025CV00105. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO PROCEDIMIENTO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. A: La SLG compuesta por LYLE A. CAMBELL, y su esposo Fulano de Tal Urb. Victor Vargas, B17 Calle B, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, 00965. Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., h/n/c Hospital HIMA San Pablo Caguas y h/n/c Red Medica ha presentado ante este Tribunal, demanda contra usted,

solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: COBRO DE DINERO. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: Lcdo. José A. Miranda Daleccio Apartado 4980

Caguas, Puerto Rico 00726-4980 Tel. (787) 900-1245

Fax: (787) 703-0707

E-Mail: jamiranda@himapr.com

Se le apercibe que si no compareciere usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDA

BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, HOY 8 de mayo de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, Secretario(a) Regional. MIRCIENID GONZALEZ TORRES, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAGUAS. CENTRO MĖDICO DEL TURABO, INC., h/n/c

HOSPITAL HIMA•SAN PABLO BAYAMON y RED MEDICA HIMA•SAN PABLO

DEMANDANTE Vs. HECTOR MEDINA

CIPRIAN, su esposa FULANA DE TAL y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: BY2024CV03011. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO REGLA 60. EMPLAZAMIENTO

POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R.

A: Héctor Medina Ciprian, por si y en rep. De la SLG compuesta por Fulana de Tal

Urb. Notre Dame F-18, Calle Sant Andres, Caguas, Puerto Rico, 00725.

Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., h/n/c Hospital HIMA San Pablo Bayamón y h/n/c Red Medica ha presentado ante este Tribunal, demanda contra usted, solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: COBRO DE DINERO. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: Lcdo. José A. Miranda Daleccio Apartado 4980 Caguas, Puerto Rico 00726-4980

Tel. (787) 900-1245

Fax: (787) 703-0707

E-Mail: jamiranda@himapr.com

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

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDA BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, HOY 15 de mayo de 2025. Irasemis Díaz Sánchez, Secretario(a) Regional. Glorimar Rivera Rivera, Secretario(a) Auxiliar. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAGUAS. CENTRO MĖDICO DEL TURABO, INC., h/n/c HOSPITAL HIMA•SAN PABLO CAGUAS y RED MEDICA HIMA•SAN PABLO

DEMANDANTE Vs. NAYOMI RODRIGUEZ PEREZ, su esposo FULANO DE TAL y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: CG2025CV00472. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

REGLA 60. EMPLAZAMIENTO

POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R.

A: NAYOMI RODRIGUEZ

PEREZ, por si y en rep. De la SLG compuesta por Fulano de Tal Urb. Jardines de Bairoa, 546 Calle Armería, Caguas, Puerto Rico, 00725.

Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., h/n/c Hospital HIMA San Pablo Caguas y h/n/c Red Medica ha presentado ante este Tribunal, demanda contra usted, solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: COBRO DE DINERO. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: Lcdo. José A. Miranda Daleccio Apartado 4980 Caguas, Puerto Rico 00726-4980

Tel. (787) 900-1245

Fax: (787) 703-0707

E-Mail: jamiranda@himapr.com

Se le apercibe que si no compareciere usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDA BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, HOY 19 de mayo de 2025. Irasemis Díaz Sánchez, Secretario(a) Regional. Glorimar Rivera Rivera, Secretario(a) Auxiliar. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

SALA SUPERIOR DE COMERTO. MARiA IVELISSE

COLON TORRES

Parte Demandante vs RICARDO PERCY

MANGUINURI ROSADO

Parte Demandada CIVIL NUM: CR2025RF00031.

SOBRE: DIVORCIO (RUPTURA IRREPARABLE). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS IJNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS. EDICTO. A: RICARDO PERCY MANGU1NURI ROSADO CARRETERA 771 KM. 3.0, INT., BARRIO BARRRANCAS, BARRANQUITAS, PUERTO RICO 00794

En este Tribunal se ha presentado una demanda de Divorcio por Ruptura Irreparable en contra suya. Usted debe contestar la demanda y plantear las defensas que estime pertinentes, presentando su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema

Unificado de Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretarla del tribunal, en un término de treinta (30) días, a partir de la fecha de publicación del ultimo edicto, excluyendo el dIa de su publicación. El nombre del abogado de la parte demandante lo es: LCDO. HECTOR M. MARRERO MARRERO

RUA NO. 7747 95 CALLE GEORGETTI, SUITE I APARTADO POSTAL 283 NARANJITO, PUERTO RICO 00719 TELEFONO: 787-869-0806 Emil: marreroh@gmail.com Se expide este edicto bajo la firma y sello de este Tribunal, en Comerio, Puerto Rico hoy 20 de agosto de 2025. MAYRA L. CABRERA GARCIA, SECRETARIO FEGIONAL. CARMEN L. APONTE FLORES, SUBSECRETARIO.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN. CENTRO MĖDICO DEL TURABO, INC., h/n/c HOSPITAL HIMA•SAN PABLO CAGUAS y h/n/c RED MÉDICA

DEMANDANTE Vs. NARCISO A. CABRERA SANTOS, su esposa FULANA DE TAL y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: CG2024CV01411

(500-A). SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Procedimiento Ordi-

nario. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. A: NARCISO A. CABRERA SANTOS, por sí y en rep. de la SLG compuesta con Fulana de Tal Urb. Forest View D-100 calle Victoria, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, 00959. Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., h/n/c Hospital HIMA San Pablo Caguas y h/n/c Red Medica ha presentado ante este Tribunal, demanda contra usted, solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: COBRO DE DINERO. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: Lcdo. Rafael E. Díaz-Gonzalez Apartado 4980 Caguas, Puerto Rico 00726-4980 Tel. (787) 900-1245

Fax: (787) 653-1792

E-Mail: raediaz@himapr.com

Se le apercibe que si no compareciere usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDA BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, HOY 2 de junio de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, Secretario(a) Regional. Nélida Ocasio Ortega, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON. CENTRO MĖDICO DEL TURABO, INC., h/n/c HOSPITAL HIMA•SAN PABLO CAGUAS y RED MEDICA

DEMANDANTE Vs. ROSEMARY ESTRADA, su esposo FULANO DE TAL y la Sociedad Legal de Bienes Gananciales compuesta por ambos, ambos en rep. del menor E.J.V.E.

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NÚM.: CG2025CV00235. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

PROCEDIMIENTO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. A: ROSEMARY ESTRADA, por si y en rep. De la SLG compuesta por Fulano de Tal; Urb. Palmas Royal, 15 Calle Aureca, Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, 00771. Por la presente se le notifica que la parte demandante Centro Médico del Turabo, Inc., h/n/c Hospital HIMA San Pablo Caguas y h/n/c Red Medica

ha presentado ante este Tribunal, demanda contra usted, solicitando la concesión del siguiente remedio: COBRO DE DINERO. Representa a la parte demandante el abogado cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato: Lcdo. José A. Miranda Daleccio Apartado 4980 Caguas, Puerto Rico 00726-4980 Tel. (787) 900-1245 Fax: (787) 703-0707

E-Mail: jamiranda@himapr.com

Se le apercibe que si no compareciere usted a contestar dicha demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDA BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL, HOY 18 de junio de 2025. EVELYN FELIX VAZQUEZ, Secretario(a) Regional. LISA M. FIGUEROA RUIZ, Secretario(a) Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO FIRSTBANK PUERTO RICO Demandante Vs. ÁNGEL MATOS MAYSONET, TEODOSIA RIVERA PEREZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA ENTRE AMBOS; SUCESION DE NARCISO MATOS REYES T/C/C NARCISO REYES MATOS COMPUESTA POR ÁNGEL MATOS MAYSONET, FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; CRIM Demandados Civil Núm.: FA2025CV00602. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO; EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE NARCISO MATOS REYES T/C/C NARCISO REYES MATOS. POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el

original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcdo. Roberto C. Latimer Valentín, al PO BOX 9022512, San Juan, P.R. 00902-2512; Teléfono: (787) 724-0230. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de enero de 2025, hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma principal de $40,286.47, la cual se desglosa a continuación: la suma principal de $38,779.35 más intereses acumulados, que al presente se encuentran a razón del 6.125% anual, desde el 1 de diciembre de 2024 hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, la suma principal de $1,507.12 como balance diferido y el cual no genera intereses, más adelantos para el pago de seguros y contribuciones, entre otros más los cargos por demora que corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo una suma equivalente al 10% de la suma principal ($7,000.00), por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado todo según pactado. La parte Demandante presentará para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar radicado frente a una calle sin nombre del municipio de Río Grande, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial aproximada de doscientos dieciséis punto cero seis metros cuadrados, y en lindes por el NORTE, en catorce punto cuarenta metros con la Urbanización Villas de Río Grande; por el SUR, en doce punto noventa metros con una calle sin nombre; por el ESTE, en dieciséis metros con un solar ocupado por la señora Francisca Osorio; y por el OESTE, en quince punto cincuenta metros con otro solar ocupado

por la señora viuda de Navarro. Edificación: Casa de cemento y bloques de una planta, con un valor de $12,000.00, mediante la escritura número 56, otorgada en Río Grande, Puerto Rico, el día 28 de septiembre de 1978, ante el notario Abraham Morales Jiménez, e inscrita al folio 230 del tomo 213 de Río Grande, finca número 10,238, inscripción 1ra. Consta inscrita al folio 230 del tomo 213 de Río Grande, finca número #10,238, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Carolina. SE LE ORDENA a ustedes a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días, contados a partir de la fecha de notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia de la Sucesión de NARCISO MATOS REYES t/c/c NARCISO REYES MATOS. De no hacerlo dentro de dicho término, se dará la herencia por aceptada. SE LES APERCIBE que de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en Fajardo, Puerto Rico. A 20 de agosto de 2025. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. NERYSA ALEXANDRINO ROSARIO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. JORDY ROBLES RODRIGUEZ Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: TB2024CV00371. (Salón: 500-A). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM.

JORDY ROBLES RODRIGUEZ - HC 33 BOX 5202, DORADO, PUERTO RICO, 00646. A: JORDY ROBLES RODRIGUEZ.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 22 de agosto 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 26 de agosto de 2025. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 26 de agosto de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. NÉLIDA OCASIO ORTEGA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN RAFAEL UFRET PEREZ Y OTROS

Demandante V. BANCO POPULAR PUERTO RICO Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: VB2025CV00580. (Salón: 701). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

JOSÉ GARCÍA RONDÓNJAFGRONDON@OUTLOOK.COM.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE (PERSONAS DESCONOCIDAS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS).

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 26 de agosto 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 27 de agosto de 2025. En Bayamón,

Puerto Rico, el 27 de agosto de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MARÍA COLLAZO FEBUS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

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

Demandante V. BLANCA M ROMAN MUNOZ

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm.: DO2024CV00260. (Salón: 500-A). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM.

A: BLANCA M.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 25 de agosto 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 27 de agosto de 2025. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 27 de agosto de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. VIVÍAN J. SANABRIA ORTIZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

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

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante V. ANGEL R

VILLANUEVA COSME

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: TB2024CV00549. (Salón: 500-A). Sobre: NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM.

A: ANGEL R. VILLANUEVA COSME. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 25 de agosto 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 27 de agosto de 2025. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 27 de agosto de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. VIVÍAN J. SANABRIA ORTIZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. EDDIE J MORALES RODRIGUEZ

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: CR2024CV00198. (Salón: 500-A). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM. A: EDDIE J. MORALES RODRÍGUEZ.

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 25 de agosto 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 27 de agosto de 2025. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 27 de agosto de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MARÍA COLLAZO FEBUS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL. LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. AAA CONCORDIA MORTGAGE

CORPORATION Y OTROS

Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: CA2025CV01906. (Civil: 409). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. RICARDO J. CACHO RODRÍGUEZCACHOR@MICROJURIS.COM. A: AAA CONCORDIA MORTGAGE

CORPORATION, JOHN DOE, RICHARD ROE. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de agosto 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 edic-

to. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 28 de agosto de 2025. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 28 de agosto de 2025. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. IDA L. FERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE. WILMINGTON SA VINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE OF RMF BUYOUT ACQUISITION TRUST 2020-2

DEMANDANTE vs. Sucesión de José Murillo González, t/c/c

José Murillo JR., t/c/c

José Murillo t/c/c Jose Serafin Murillo Tristani compuesta por Jose Rafael Murillo Tristani, Arturo Murillo Tristani t/c/c Luis Arturo Murillo Tristani, Juan Murillo Tristani, Alex Murillo Tristani t/c/c Alejandro Murillo Tristani, Margarita Murillo Tristani t/c/c Lydia Margarita Murillo Tristani, Linda Suzan Murillo Schnelbaker t/c/c Linda Suzan Hendricks, Walter Fabián Gobel Murillo, y Sutano de Tal como miembros de nombres desconocidos; Sucesión de Lydia María Tristani Cintrón, t/c/c Lydia T. Murillo, t/c/c Lydia Tristani compuesta por Jose Rafael Morillo Tristani, Arturo Morillo Tristani t/c/c Luis Arturo Morillo Tristani, Juan Murillo Tristani, Alex Murillo Tristani t/c/c Alejandro Murillo Tristani, Margarita Murillo Tristani t/c/c Lydia Margarita Murillo Tristani, Fulano de Tal y Sutano de Tal como miembros de nombres desconocidos; Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos municipales; y los Estados Unidos de América

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NUM.: PO2021CV02970. SALA: 406. SOBRE: Ejecución de Hipoteca In Rem. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACION. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO) SS. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: Walter Fabián Gobel Morillo como heredero de la sucesión de José

Morillo González, t/c/c José Murillo JR., t/c/c José Murillo t/c/c Jose Serafin Murillo Tristani POR LA PRESENTE, se les emplaza y se les notifica que se ha presentado en la Secretaria de este Tribunal la Demanda del caso del epígrafe solicitando la ejecución de hipoteca y el cobro de dinero relacionado al pagaré suscrito a favor de Urban Financial Group, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $187,500.00, con intereses computados sobre la misma desde su fecha hasta su total y completo pago a razón de la tasa de interés de 5.060% anual, la cual será ajustada mensualmente, obligándose además al pago de costas, gastos y desembolsos del litigio, más honorarios de abogados en una suma de $18,750.00, equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original. Este pagaré fue suscrito bajo el affidávit número 1,145 ante el notario Fernando E. Doval Santiago. Lo anterior surge de la hipoteca constituida mediante la escritura número 194 otorgada el 7 de agosto de 2010, ante la misma notario público, inscrita al folio 63 del tomo 2,101 de Ponce sección I de Ponce, finca número 25,700, inscripción 4ta. La hipoteca grava la propiedad que describe que describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Glenview Gardes, Sección Tercera del Barrio Machuelo Arriba de Ponce, marcado en el número P guion once (P-11 ), con una cabida de cuatrocientos noventa y dos punto cuatrocientos setenta y tres ( 492.4 73) metros cuadrados; en lindes por el NORTE, en diecinueve punto trescientos ochenta y seis ( 19.386) metros con un arco de cuatro punto trescientos setenta y uno (4 .371) metros, con la calle E guion doce (E-12); por el SUR, en dieciséis punto cuatrocientos ochenta y uno (16.481) metros, con paseo publico; por el ESTE, en vemte punto doscientos ochenta y nueve (20.289) metros, con la carretera estatal numero quinientos cinco (505); por el OESTE, en veinticuatro punto cero cero (24.00) metros, con el solar número doce ( 12). Enclava una casa. Finca Número 25,700 inscrita al folio 57 del tomo 955 de Ponce, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Ponce. Se apercibe y advierte a ustedes como personas desconocidas, que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede accesar utilizando la siguiente dirección: https://unired.rarnajuducial.pr , salvo que se represente por Derechos Propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del Tribunal De no contestar la demanda radican-

do el original de la contestación ante la secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, y notificar copia de la contestación de esta a la parte demandante por conducto de su abogada, GLS LEGAL SERVICES, LLC, Atención: Leda. Ilia Cristina Ramírez Martínez Dirección: P.O. Box 367308, San Juan, P.R. 00936-7308, Teléfono: 787-758-6550, dentro de los próximos 60 días a partir de la publicación de este emplazamiento por edicto, que será publicado una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general en la isla de Puerto Rico, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitando en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. INTERPELACION: Se les ORDENA a ustedes a que dentro del término legal de TREINTA (30) días, contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia de José Murillo González, t/c/c José Murillo JR., t/c/c José Murillo t/c/c Jose Serafin Murillo Tristani a saber: Walter Fabián Gobel Murillo. Se les APERCIBE que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de TREINTA (30) días en tomo a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. También se les APERCIBE que luego del transcurso del término de TREINTA (30) días antes señalado contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia de la causante Margarita Torres Rivera t/c/c Margarita Ton-es y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico de 2020, según enmendado. Se ORDENA a la parte demandante a que, en vista de que la sucesión de José Murillo González, t/c/c José Murillo JR., tic/e José Murillo tic/e Jase Serafin Murillo Tristani a saber: Walter Fabián Gobel Morillo; proceda a notificar la presente Orden mediante publicación de un edicto a esos efectos una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la Isla de Puerto Rico. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal hoy 19 de agosto de 2025. CARMEN G TIRU QUIÑONES, Secretaria Regional. MARIEL FELIX RIVERA, Sub - Secretario (a).

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGIÓN JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS ORIENTAL BANK

Parte Demandante V. SONIA IRIS RIVERA GOMEZ, CARLOS GONZALEZ CAMILO, Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL

DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CG2025CV02184. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. A: SONIA IRIS RIVERA GOMEZ, CARLOS GONZALEZ CAMILO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS - URB. NAVARRO, 240 CALLE 1, GURABO PR 00778; PO BOX 1025, GURABO PR 00778-1025.

Por la presente se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días de haber sido notificado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la dirección electrónica https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante el Lcda. Raquel Deseda Belaval, Delgado Fernández, LLC, dirección: T Mobile Center at San Patricio B7 Tabonuco St. Suite 1000 Guaynabo, PR 00968. Tel. [787] 274-1414. DADA en CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, a 4 de agosto de 2025. Irasemis Díaz Sánchez, Secretaria Regional. Mariel Cruz Rodríguez, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. NOELIA DELIZ HERNANDEZ

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: BY2025CV02573. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. Sala: 402. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTA-

DOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: NOELIA DELIZ HERNANDEZ - URB VILLA VERDE D19 CALLE 2, BAYAMON PR 00959.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://www.poderjudicial.pr/ index.php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@ orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 10 de julio de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MIRCIENID GONZÁLEZ TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. LUIS R. BELTRAN MURIEL

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CA2025CV01553. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: LUIS R BELTRAN

MURIEL - BO SABANA

ABAJO CARR 190 KM 4.2, CAROLINA PR 009837432; RR 1 BOX 40-J, CAROLINA PR 00983.

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

a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// www.poderjudicial.pr/index. php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Osvaldo L. Rodríguez Fernández cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law. com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, hoy día 11 de julio de 2025. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. DIANA N MALPICA PAGAN

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: BY2025CV02432. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. Sala: 402. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: DIANA N MALPICA PAGAN - URB SANTA ROSA 15-12 CALLE 17, BAYAMON PR 009596502; BO DAJAOS RR-8 BOX 9200, BAYAMON PR 00956; URB LEVITOWN LAKES FD10 CALLE RAMON MARIN, TOA BAJA PR 00949-2723. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://

www.poderjudical.pr/index.php/ tribunaI-eIectronico, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, hoy día 10 de julio de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MIRCIENID GONZÁLEZ TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. OSVALDO BENITEZ RODRIGUEZ

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: CT2025CV00100. Sala: 402. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: OSVALDO BENITEZ RODRIGUEZ - URB EL COQUI 2 D27 CALLE 4, CATAÑO PR 00962-4232; 11270 LAKE CIRCLE DR, CLERMONT FL 347159219.

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

cia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie.bonaparte@ orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 10 de julio de 2025. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. MIRCIENID GONZÁLEZ TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR. LEGAL NOTICE

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

Parte Demandante Vs. REBECA QUIRINDONGO ROMERO

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: RG2025CV00239. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: REBECA QUIRINDONGO ROMERO - URB VILLAS RIO GRANDE NL276 CALLE 14, RIO GRANDE PR 00745-4509; URB ALTURAS DE RIO GRANDE M-276E CALLE 14, RIO GRANDE PR 00745.

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

copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Gabriel Ramos Colón cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección gabriel.ramos@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, hoy día 15 de julio de 2025. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria. Aida X. Montes Morales, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. ANTONIO MANUEL ZABALETA BÁEZ T/C/C

ANTONIO ZABALETA BÁEZ, YARIMELL CASTRO ACEVEDO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA REPRESENTADO POR EL SECRETARIO DE LA VIVIENDA Y DESARROLLO URBANO (HUD)

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: BY2025CV03903. (503). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A La Parte Demandada: ANTONIO MANUEL ZABALETA BÁEZ T/C/C ANTONIO ZABALETA BÁEZ, YARIMELL CASTRO ACEVEDO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS A SUS ÚLTIMAS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: URB. MARÍA DEL CARMEN, C5 CALLE 1, COROZAL, PR 00783-2402, 77 PLAZA AVE., WATERBURY, CT 06710-1504. Queda usted notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado demanda sobre ejecución de hipoteca por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que se adeuda las siguientes cantidades $56,739.32 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 3.75% anual desde el 1 de enero de 2025 hasta su completo pago, más $99.28 de recargos acumulados, los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total

de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $7,734.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo, incluyendo pero sin limitarse a gastos de mantenimiento, inspecciones y otros adelantos “corporate advances”. La propiedad que garantiza hipotecariamente el préstamo es la siguiente: RÚSTICA: Solar número 5 del Bloque “C” radicado en la Urbanización Residencial María del Carmen, situada en los Barrios Abras y Palmarejo de Corozal, Puerto Rico, con un área de 180.00 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE: con solar número 6, en distancia de 18.00 metros; por el SUR: con solar número 4, en distancia de 18.00 metros; por el ESTE: con solares número 10 y 11, en distancia de 10.00 metros; y por el OESTE: con la calle número 11, en distancia de 10.00 metros. Contiene una casa de concreto para una familia. Inscrita al folio 146 del tomo 134 de Corozal, Finca 7329. Registro de la Propiedad de Barranquitas. La hipoteca consta inscrita al folio 112 del tomo móvil 280 de Corozal, Finca 7329. Registro de la Propiedad de Barranquitas. Inscripción décima (10ª). Las modificaciones constan inscritas al tomo Karibe de Corozal, Finca 7329. Registro de la Propiedad de Barranquitas. Inscripción undécima (11ª), 12.1 y 12.2. La demandante es la tenedora por endoso, por valor recibido y de buena fe del referido pagaré objeto de la presente acción. La parte demandada deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. Se le advierte que si no contesta la demanda, radicando el original de la contestación en este Tribunal y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García, cuya dirección es: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo Puerto Rico 009703922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, (787) 708-0566 correo electrónico: oficinabelmaalonso@gmail.com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le dictará Sentencia en su contra, concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy 11 de agosto de 2025, en Bayamón Puerto Rico. ALICIA AYALA SANJURJO, SECRETARIA. IVETTE M. MARRERO BRACERO, SUB-SECRETARIA.

She avenged Caitlin Clark on the court. Now sponsors (and the right) love her.

By TANIA GANGULI

On June 17, the Indiana Fever played the Connecticut Sun in a WNBA game filled with hard fouls and bad feelings. One Sun player shoved Fever star Caitlin Clark. Another, Jacy Sheldon, had poked her in the eye. The antics infuriated one of Clark’s teammates — the quick-tempered Sophie Cunningham, who said in later interviews that she felt that Clark, whose talent and fame were transforming the WNBA, wasn’t being properly protected by the referees.

She wanted to send a message.

So with less than a minute left in the game, when Sheldon stole the ball and went sprinting down the court, Cunningham wrapped her arms around Sheldon and pulled her to the hardwood, fouling her. She then fought back as Sheldon and another Sun player, Lindsay Allen, rushed toward her, enraged. All three were ejected from the game.

Cunningham became a sensation.

Within days, she had more than 1 million followers on Instagram and on TikTok, up from a few hundred thousand. People who saw her as Clark’s enforcer cheered her at games. Opposing fans booed her enthusiastically.

“I didn’t do that for clickbait,” Cunningham said in an interview. “I stand up for my teammates.” She said she had heard that parents were using the incident to teach their children “to stand up and do that for their friends and for themselves.”

Her motivations may not have been selfserving, but that one day created tremendous financial opportunity for Cunningham. She has also experienced increased attention from a conservative ecosystem that has lately shown interest in women’s basketball.

Clark’s treatment by other players has become a cause célèbre for right-leaning pundits, who see it as a racial issue. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece saying Clark’s civil rights were being violated, arguing without evidence that she was being targeted because she is white.

And while Cunningham said she was “right down the middle” politically, it didn’t escape the notice of the conservative outlets cheering her on that women’s basketball fans had called her “MAGA Barbie,” a derisive reference to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and to her appearance.

Some of the language used to describe

fouls against Clark and the physicality of the WNBA are “often racially coded,” said Sarah Spain, a prominent sports journalist who hosts “Good Game,” a podcast about women’s sports. She counts herself among Clark’s fans but said she didn’t think her treatment was much different from that of other players.

Injuries have since sidelined both teammates — Clark has had an injury-riddled season, and Cunningham had surgery on her right knee — but their cultural influence has persisted.

‘On a rocket ship’

Cunningham, a 29-year-old guard, was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2019. Last offseason, as the WNBA’s popularity swelled, she switched representatives in order to take better advantage of sponsorship opportunities.

Then in February, Cunningham was traded to the Fever, the most popular team in the league.

“She was on a rocket ship from there,” said Rishi Daulat, president of PRP, the agency that represents her.

The day after the incident with the Sun, an executive at PRP called the CEO of Ring, the home security company best known for its camera-equipped doorbells.

“He said, ‘Hey, Sophie’s known as kind of this protector,’” Daulat said. Less than two weeks later, Cunningham posted a paid advertisement for Ring on her TikTok. It was one of seven new deals that she got in the weeks after the incident, including with Arby’s.

She also started a podcast in July with West Wilson, a friend from high school and a star of the Bravo reality show “Summer House.”

“I think this is going to open up maybe what I want to do when the ball stops bouncing,” said Cunningham, who has done some broadcast work for NBA games.

Though Cunningham declined to offer specific numbers, the money she makes from these deals will dwarf her WNBA salary of $100,000 this year.

Today, many women’s basketball players enter the WNBA as established brands, cultivated through intentional social media strategies and brand deals in college.

Female athletes are “having to lean in” on social media “because they’re not getting as much promotion,” Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka, an associate professor at Washington State University who studies women’s sports communication and influencer culture. As she spoke, she pulled up ESPN’s homepage and noted

that the articles were mostly about major league baseball and football, except for one about Cunningham.

“That’s the one headline for women that’s on ESPN’s homepage right now,” she said.

Cunningham’s TikTok is a mix of dance trends and outfit shots. She has also embraced the physicality of the game and shown off her chipped front tooth and a misshapen finger, casualties of in-game contact.

A few weeks ago, she posted a video of herself lip-syncing a Sabrina Carpenter song with the caption “@ some refs.” (Lyrics: “Stupid, or is it slow? Maybe it’s useless.”) The WNBA fined her $500. The league also fined her after each of the first three episodes of her podcast because of comments about referees.

Cunningham is active with the WNBA players’ union and its fight for better pay in the next collective bargaining agreement, and not shy about expressing her views on the subject. Asked at a media session about expanding the season schedule, Cunningham made a pointed reference to the league’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert: “You can just tell Cathy to pay us, and then we can have discussions.”

‘MAGA Barbie’

Cunningham grew up in Columbia, Missouri; her mother, aunt and grandmother all played sports. Her grandmother Sissy was so vocal at her games that opposing fans some-

times carried signs that said, “Shut up Sissy.”

“Both my mom and my grandma have mastered the art of knowing when to yell,” said Cunningham’s sister, Lindsey Cunningham Hudson. “And they wait till it’s silent and they can actually be heard.”

Both sisters played basketball at the University of Missouri, where Cunningham’s style of play — heavy on pushing and grabbing — upset some opponents. There, she got a lesson in fame and public critique. The University of South Carolina was a particular rival, and a headline in The State, the newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, asked: “Is Sophie Cunningham a dirty player? It’s not just South Carolina asking anymore.” ESPN also debated the question.

It was around that time that fans started calling her MAGA Barbie.

“I’m clearly white and from Missouri, and so I think there was a lot of assumption there,” Cunningham said.

She doesn’t talk much about her politics, but does follow some conservative accounts on social media, including Candace Owens and The Daily Wire, and has engaged with politically conservative posts.

“All I have to say is I really am right in the middle, and I think a lot America is like that,” she said. “In our culture today you have to choose and you have to be an extremist, and that’s just not me. So I agree with things on both sides; I disagree with things on both sides.”

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

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Don’t go overboard, Aries. You may get so carried away in the early part of the day that by evening you notice you’ve gone beyond your own boundaries. Regret may sink in, and you may feel guilty about things you said or did. Prevent this by thinking things through before speaking or acting. You have the power to impact people on a deep emotional level. Use this power wisely.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

People may be trying to subtly communicate to you, but you may not be aware of this because you’re so caught up in your own difficulties, Taurus. You may feel like you’re driving with the emergency brake on. You’re so preoccupied with running smoothly that you’re unaware of other cars on the road. Stop, release the brake, and drive.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

You may feel like you aren’t getting the attention you need or deserve, Gemini. Because of this, you may resent the people you feel you should be getting it from. This attitude is likely to make people less likely to come to your rescue. Who wants to be around someone so needy and unhappy? Focus on yourself and your own healing before you take your issues to others.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Try not to push away the very people who are there to help you, Cancer. Dumping your problems on others may be the thing that does just that. Recognize your uncomfortable feelings, but don’t burden others with them. Your happiness is your responsibility. You’ll feel much better about yourself if you take care of your own discomfort. Then you’ll attract the people you love.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Your adaptive powers are useful in that they give you a high tolerance for uncomfortable situations, Leo. At times, however, this trait may not serve you very effectively. You may end up staying in a difficult relationship or unsatisfying job because you fear something new. Life is short. If you want to improve your situation, take responsibility for it. Be proactive.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

You may feel lonely and isolated, like there’s no one you can talk to, Virgo. Your interactions may seem like giving a speech instead of having a discussion. Perhaps you feel like you’re talking to yourself most of the time and no one is really listening. There’s nothing wrong with you or the person you’re talking to. It’s just a phase. Don’t get hung up on it.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

Don’t fall into the self-pity trap, Libra. You may have a tendency to mope around until someone notices and asks what’s wrong. If no one does, you might get angry and pretty soon feel like you have no friends. Your mood could worsen, and you might snap when someone asks you a reasonable question. Be careful of sliding down this slippery slope.

Scorpio

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

You’re at an emotionally climactic time, Scorpio. You may feel like someone is putting a damper on your feelings. Perhaps you’re scared or shy. Perhaps you don’t feel you can express yourself the way you want to. If so, consider why. Do other people make you feel this way or are you uncomfortable with your own feelings? The issue may have more to do with your inner turmoil than with others.

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

Be careful of letting a sour mood ruin your day, Sagittarius. You may not feel particularly cheerful. This is liable to have a dramatic effect on everyone else. Be aware of the fact that your mood may not be an accurate reflection of reality, even though for the most part your world is centered on your moods and the dramatic swings they go through within one day.

Capricorn

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

Relationships may be a bit difficult, Capricorn, so don’t force pleasantry if it doesn’t come naturally. Your motto today should be, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Perhaps this leaves you tongue-tied, but that’s fine. If you need to spend the day alone, so be it. Don’t be social if you don’t feel like it.

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

You may put other people’s needs before yours, Aquarius. There’s an important balance between being selfish and being selfless. Don’t sacrifice yourself to be a servant to others. It’s important that you not think only of yourself without considering how your actions will affect others. You may swing toward the former today. This will only lead to resentment and deplete your emotional and physical resources.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

Be disciplined. Maintain your boundaries in order to keep from getting swept into other people’s soap operas, Pisces. It may be fun to escape your problems by jumping into someone else’s life, but soon you’ll find the extra weight is not only taxing but also won’t solve your problems. You may need to say no to others, but that’s fine. It’s vital that you consider your needs.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29