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WORA-TV Noticias 22 Enero 2014

Video Transcript

LUIS MONTALVO: Hello. I'm Luis Montalvo and these are the news in Wora TV. The cop who had been injured in an anti-drugs police operation in Residencial Concordia died yesterday. Meanwhile, the alleged fraud with Puerto Rican bonds continues under investigation.

Also, young people aimed to promote music and fine arts in the area.

[Program intro]

LUIS MONTALVO: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this new edition of Wora TV News for today, January 22nd 2014. Let's move right away to the information.

Officer Carlos Rivera Vega, 37 years-old, of the Narcotics Division of Mayagüez, who lived in Moca and had 3 children, unfortunately died yesterday at 11.45 p.m. He had been shot in the stomach during an operation in Residencial Concordia of Mayagüez on January 14th. Roxette Pietri brings us the following report.

ROXETTE PIETRI: It's a mourning day for the Narcotics Division Command of Mayagüez. Their officer Carlos Rivera Vega, 37 y. o., resident of Moca, has lost his life after being hit in the stomach by a bullet, on January 14th this year, during an operation in Residencial Concordia of Mayagüez.

JANICE RODRÍGUEZ [Director - Criminal Investigations Center (CIC) of Mayagüez]: It was January 14th. We were conducting a confidential investigation in the area of Residential Concordia Mayagüez. In the event, we had to perform an operation, and an officer was injured during the procedure. He was immediately taken to San Juan Medical Center where he underwent surgery, and then he was referred to the Industrial Hospital in San Juan. Unfortunately this man, our colleague, has died today. I don't know the cause of his death by now. He died in San Juan, in the hospital where he was under care. He had been shot in the stomach.

ROXETTE PIETRI: Was he going under an operation or surgical intervention at the moment?

JANICE RODRÍGUEZ. No. He was in his room with a partner policeman. Suddenly he felt bad, the doctors started to work on him but, unfortunately, he died.

ROXETTE PIETRI: This awful news surprised everyone, because Carlos Rivera Vega's health was apparently getting better. Reports have it that the officer was even regaining his legs' mobility. On the other hand, Janice Rodríguez, head of the C.I.C of the Mayagüez area, described this officer as a humble man, a good father, and mostly a joyful person. She has also declared that she would remain at the disposal of the deceased's relatives, wishing them a lot of endurance.

JANICE RODRÍGUEZ: We've been by the side of his father, his sons, his family, ever since the first day of this regrettable incident, to provide support and to make all the necessary arrangements. We had been also in the hospital. We've been with the family today. They can rely on the Puerto Rican police, the Narcotics Division and the police of Mayagüez; they will have all our support for anything they need. We deeply regret the loss of our fellow Carlos Rivera, because he was a very humble person, a very good dad, a good colleague and he was always in a good mood. He was a joyful man. We deplore to lose him.

ROXETTE PIETRI: Rafael Alfonso and Roxette Pietri, Wora TV news.

LUIS MONTALVO: Very unfortunate. Meanwhile, in order to keep helping the victims of the deceitful sale of supposed Puerto Rican bonds, a renowned law firm from the State of New York has followed up these cases and filed several lawsuits to put an end to this incident. This time, they visited the community of Mayagüez.

PRISCILLA LORENZO: They keep on with his consulting tour all over the island. It's the law firm Zamansky, from the State of New York, who have contacted tens of Puerto Ricans from Mayagüez and vicinity. They provide legal counseling about the allegedly fraudulent scheme which took many victims, who invested their savings on supposed Puerto Rican and other bonds, as Marie Elsie López Adames, who works with lawyer Jacob Zamansky of the Zamansky law firm, has explained.

MARIE ELSIE L�"PEZ: People who lost all they had are still coming up, and they're are in an almost desperate situation. We are pointing mainly to UBS, but there are many other firms, such as Popular Securities, Santander Securities, Oriental, BBVA that have recently merged with Oriental, which have also sold this kind of product. We're trying to counsel people so that they understand that they do have the right to try and recover their money, because of several factors. Among them, the fact that it was not a safe investment, that there were risks involved in the product.

PRISCILLA LORENZO: These lawyer have already contacted hundreds of people in the toured towns of San Juan, Ponce, Aguadilla and now Mayagüez, where several lawsuits have been filed, so that the victims of the fraud are able to recover their money of at least part of it.

MARIE ELSIE L�"PEZ: I've conducted many cases where it was possible to recover, if not 100%, a pretty high percentage of the loss for the benefit of the customer. We've filed twelve cases, grouping different numbers of plaintiffs as per what they had in common, but we are looking forward to file many more soon.

PRISCILLA LORENZO: For more information, call toll-free 1 (212) 742 1414 or visit www.zamansky.com. In Mayagüez, Alan Agostini and Priscilla Lorenzo, Wora TV News.

LUIS MONTALVO: After our first pause: Stepfather of a boy found in Rincón is put on trial. All the details, after the commercials.

[Pause]

LUIS MONTALVO: Here we are again. Thank you for watching us. The trial against Javier Álvarez Luciano, the stepfather of the boy found into the drum of a washing machine in a Rincón beach, in last August, started yesterday in Judge Manuel Acevedo Hernández's courtroom of the Aguadilla Courts. The selection of the members of the jury in charge started yesterday. Lic. Víctor García, the defendant's attorney, maintained that the selection of 5 jury panelists started as a very slow process, whereas the prosecution requested a "gag order" to prevent that the Press receives more informations that compromise the witnesses or the Public Prosecutor, but it was overruled. Additionally, as it was decided on last December, the trials will be separately conducted as requested by both parties, yesterday morning there was a hearing of the case against the child's mother, Janelle [Lecuona] López, in the courtroom of Judge [Vidal Cerezo], where the defendant's lawyer asked for some time to prove mental disability to stand trial. Lic. Alba Calderón Cestero confirmed that the psychological assessment has already started and is conducted by Dr. Úrsula Colón, a psychologist who has interviewed the defendant in prison, to evaluate if it's possible to use that disability as a defense. If it's determined that Lecuona López was a victim of spousal abuse, her lawyer said in advance that this argument could be used in favor of the defendant. The last conference, prior to the trial, were settled for January 28th and the trial against Lecuona López is supposed to start at February 11th.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, a robbery in a residence upon Road 115 in Río Grande de Aguada, was reported. The victim is Virgilio Arroyo Crespo, who stated that some individuals trespassed his house by removing the air conditioner of one of the rooms. The man was caught sleeping in his bedroom, where they snatched from him a Cuban chain, valued $2,000, under harassment and intimidation. During the assault, Arroyo Crespo received wounds in his chest area. The robbers went away and the victim was taken by a relative to Aguada América Center Hospital, where he was taken care by the physician on duty, and then discharged in stable condition. The Robberies Division of the C. I. C. investigates the incident.

Now we go to commercials. When we are back: They hold to account on the investigation status of the murder of Lt. Castro Berrocales. All details, after this pause.

LUIS MONTALVO: You're watching Wora TV News. The representative before the 20th District Chamber, Carlos Bianchi [unclear] requested by letter to the police superintendent James Toller and the Secretary of Justice, César Miranda, to publish the status of the investigation of the murder of Lt. Abimael Castro Berrocales, which happened on January 1st, 2012, as he performed an operation on Road 100 in Cabo Rojo.

MALE SPEAKER: The representative before the Cabo Rojo Chamber, maintained that the relatives, friends and fellow police officers have contacted him in worry, asking him to investigate, along with the top brass of the police and the Department of Justice, about the course of the investigation of the vicious murder of the Police Lt. Castro Berrocales. The representative, who's also the alternate spokesman for the majority of the House, was confident that Superintendent Toller as well as the Secretary of Justice Miranda, inform the nation about the progress - if there's any - of the investigation of the murder of Lt. Castro Berrocales. "He served the nation flawlessly from his position in the Puerto Rican police and his murder should not remain unsolved, for everyone's peace of mind", he affirmed.

LUIS MONTALVO: Also, Senator Gilberto Rodríguez Valle demanded the construction of a pedestrian bridge in the dangerous crossroads between Puerto Rico 2 Highway and Nenadich Avenue, where there took place fatal accidents which mourned the resident families in the area.

MALE SPEAKER: Rodríguez Valle filed a joint resolution, in order to impulse an investigation and the construction of the mentioned pedestrian bridge, in the area of the traffic light, by 5 Public Residential, 2 Elementary Schools, and the Vadi, Cristy and Dulces Labios communities, which are housing hundreds of families who daily cross by walking this dangerous intersection. According to Rodríguez Valle, the removal of the adjacent traffic light in the crossroad with Cristy Street causes that the drivers who ride the Mayagüez - Hormigueros Road increase their speed, and that poses a risk for pedestrians who daily cross the Puerto Rico 2 Highway and Nenadich Ave. He also pointed out that the pedestrian bridge, installed some decades ago, close to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ramón Valle Seda Elementary Schools does not meet the needs of the people who cross by the traffic light of the corner of Highway 2 and Nenadich, where there are a lot of acceleration lanes. Senator Rodríguez Valle also asked for the enhancing of the lighting of the sector, because most fatal accidents have happened by night or dawn, when the impaired visibility adds to the danger, along with the speed of the drivers who transit the Western Sultana. He stressed that he intends to perform a visual inspection, to obtain the commitment of the Agencies such as the Traffic Security Commission, the Traffic Division of the police and the Transportation and Public Works Department, among others, and to proceed to the construction of the pedestrian bridge or to the relocation of that which was installed within walking distance of the place.

LUIS MONTALVO: We go for the commercials now. When we are back, it will be time for our colleague Nedgar Cardona and the excitement of sports.

[Pause]

NEDGAR CARDONA: Greetings for all, Puerto Rico! Welcome to the Sports passion. Let's go straight to the information. We'll start with baseball. [Livell anda] a victory away for the Final Series, after the triumph of [Turbios de Middle Oasis] over the Criollos of Caguas, before more than 5,000 fans at Pedro García Stadium. Once again, the poor defense played a main role. In the first game, mistakes helped to the victory of Caguas, and yesterday night they were the Criollos who fell down. The mistakes in the third run where the keys for the Indios triumph. Caguas was leading by 3 - 0, when, because of 2 outs and Eddie Rosario running first base, when, because a mistake of the third baseman, Andy González, the batter Rubén Gotay hit a good ball on the shortstop Luis Mateo for the third out. But the main referee penalized interference by Ramón Castro, allowing Gotay to get to base and keep the run on. Then the next batter, Martín "Machete" Maldonado had no pity for the pitcher Michael Dicks and connected a double on the left field, scoring the two home runs which made the difference at the end. Caguas attacked and had a couple of home runs in 5th and 6th runs put the score 5-4, but it was all they had. Eddie Rosario had a brilliant night for the Indios, as well with the glove as with the bat. In the first run, he made a perfect shot to leave Miguel Abreu without any chance. In that same run, he connected into the square, achieved the 3 of 4 with a homerun and two RBI's, as Maldonado made 2 of 4 with a couple of RBIs. The series moves on to the Valle del Turabo for the third match. Going on with the final game, one of the propellers of the Criollos' attack is the second base, Dave Navarro. Before last night's game, he was the second best batter of the Criollos. In the post-season, batting for 25 in the regular phase, in which he ran for 30. We asked him about the offensive power difference between the regular season and the post-season. Navarro answered:

DAVE NAVARRO: In the regular season we're there to play ball, and to enjoy the game. In the post season it's all about pitching-by-pitching, and the key is to hit the ball well.

INTERVIEWER: And talking, for instance, with Wicho, I say that you are very similar players for your size, your aggressiveness, and you are players of big [unclear]. And you've shown that in the playoffs too.

DAVE NAVARRO: Yeah, all rounds are important, every time I have people at bases [unclear] like in regular season, and the point is to go batting, to give a good pitch, and [unclear]

INTERVIEWER: As in last year, in this series you started leading, kept victories at home. What's to expect in the rest of the year?

DAVE NAVARRO: If we start off well with the ball, and then we do the little things that we're asked for, we'll be okay in this final game.

INTERVIEWER: You can't be making the mistakes that you made with [unclear]

DAVE NAVARRO: No, there's no more time for mistakes if we wanna win. They wanna win also but we have to use the mistakes they make and take advantage.

NEDGAR CARDONA: As he just said: to take advantage. And every team has done that with their rival's mistakes. Now, we're going on volleyball. They want to get to be a victory closer of semifinals. That's what Arecibo and Carolina teams will try to do tonight, when they will match in Arecibo for the 5th game of the Semifinals B series of the [unclear] of men's volleyball, which is tied in 2 triumphs. Arecibo, the current champion, want to keep their home, after losing the first game of the series, and Carolina is going for their second surprise victory in the [unclear]. What's going to happen? We will now from tonight at 8. This was the Sports Emotion, remember that we can do it all in Christ, who makes us strong. Please don't go, we will have more Wora TV News after the commercials.

[Pause]

LUIS MONTALVO: We are now in the final segment of this edition of Wora TV News. Two young men have spontaneously assumed the task of promoting arts, by visiting different public sites in the Western towns of the country, aiming to teach, inspire and promote the music and the fine arts. Roxette Pietri comes up with the following report.

ROXETTE PIETRI: "Art is the beginning of all kinds of education". So said Neftalí Cruz and Jaime Vázquez, two young men who struggle to promote music and fine arts, making spontaneous appearances in public places of the region, so that the general public is able to enjoy and appreciate the Puerto Rican art and talent.

NEFTALÍ CRUZ: We call this "Public Sound and Vision Experiment". We want to get into the public squares and the community directly. Instead in making people go to specific places, such as art galleries or [unclear] that are presenting any kind of art, we get directly to them. Spontaneously. So that people gets used to see it, to take it as a normal thing, something that's part of us, of our culture.

JAIME VÁZQUEZ: This started last summer, from a show that I had here in Mayagüez, introducing the bass as a solo instrument. My partner Neftalí joined me by painting as I was playing music, getting inspiration from what I was playing. And now in January we formally started this project, this "Sound and Vision Experiment" that we are bringing to different public squares, from Cabo [Rojo], San Germán, Mayagüez... Our idea is to take this to the audience in a spontaneous manner. The music and the painting.

ROXETTE PIETRI: These two young men do not expect to get limited. As we known, they have made a proposal to tour on several public schools, in order to travel the country to educate and motivate young students as well as University students.

NEFTALÍ CRUZ: There are some foundation workshops that I'm working with the community. I look forward to go to the schools, it's a project which is still in progress, an "experiment" as we've been saying, to get into public schools, educate the children so that they can create artistic expressions with critical thinking. At the University level, I'm very interested on achieving that students and young people can move around and create a good quality product. That they can present it to the public without inhibitions.

ROXETTE PIETRI: Jaime Vázquez, also, said he was very proud of being part of this movement, because it's very pleasant for the public. In occasions, another talents have joined them.

JAIME VÁZQUEZ: Look, they've been pretty shocked. Because this is something that they don't usually see. It's an all-new project, not only locally but at an international level. They get excited, they interact with us, they call and get more people, they let Neftalí to paint them, enjoy music, and it has become something more popular. More familiar. At the same time, we share our art with them. It's something totally spontaneous. The public joins us by themselves. Recently, these days, we've been in Boquerón. And a girl joined us with her guitar, and then her uncle with percussion instruments. They integrated with our concept and there we had, as people use to say, a "bembe".

ROXETTE PIETRI: For more information, you can go to facebook.com/sonorovisual. Or call 787 5194558. In Mayagüez, Rafael Alfonso and Roxette Pietri, Wora TV News.

LUIS MONTALVO: Dear friends, our time is up for today's edition of Wora TV News. Remember our flash news along the day and always at 12.30, half an hour of the regional news. Good afternoon and have a nice day.

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