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VOLUME:118 No.44, JANUARY 27, 2021
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1
INSIDE: BUMPER PUZZLER PULLOUT FOR ALL THE FAMILY
‘TOURISM JOBS? I’M OPTIMISTIC’
Foulkes surprises with upbeat forecast while sector braces for crisis By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net DESPITE the country’s economic fall-out from COVID-19, Labour Minister Dion Foulkes says he feels very optimistic “about the employment situation,” especially as it relates to the country’s tourism industry. Pointing to several hotel properties’ upcoming reopening dates, the minister told reporters yesterday: “I want to say that I am very optimistic about the employment situation in The Bahamas, especially the touristic sector. “We got notifications from Sandals that their
hotel in Exuma will be opening at the end of February and the hotels here in Nassau would be opening the end of March. That is almost good news for almost a thousand employees at Sandals. We also got notifications that Baha Mar will be opening their other two hotels – the Rosewood and the SLS at the beginning of March. So, Baha Mar will be completely open and that is extremely good news.” This comes as some properties are seeing a drop in bookings following US President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new SEE PAGE THREE
ATTORNEY General Carl Bethel has defended the government’s decision to seek an extension of the COVID-19 emergency orders until May 23, saying the move was done “out of an abundance of caution” in response to new coronavirus variants now spreading worldwide. Mr Bethel said when the government has begun the process of mass vaccination, then it will be “reasonable
ECONOMY SHRANK $2.2BN DUE TO COVID By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday confirmed the Bahamian economy shrank by over $2bn last year to almost match the size of the country’s rapidly-growing national debt. The Washington D.C. based Fund, in a statement on the end to its Article IV consultation with The Bahamas, warned that the Government’s debt will “jump” to a level where it almost equals the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) - or economic output - for 2021 due to the COVID-19 fall-out. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
VACCINATION ROLLOUT TIES TO RELAXING RESTRICTIONS By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
SO IS LIFE PARADISE FOR YOU? SEE PAGE EIGHT
US ACTION TO STALL ABACO’S REBUILD
and justifiable” to reduce or eliminate the emergency orders. Pointing to several COVID-19 variants detected abroad, Senator Bethel said public adherence of the health measures has become even more necessary. “They are said to be highly contagious, at least 70 percent more contagious than the first coronavirus which by itself is very contagious. So, it’s out of an abundance of SEE PAGE FOUR
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
SENATOR DION FOULKES
‘FUNERAL RULES MAKE NO SENSE’ By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Christian Council president Bishop Delton Fernander has questioned the government’s logic in placing a strict limit on the number of people who can attend funerals despite the fact that larger numbers are allowed to congregate in churches for regular Saturday and Sunday services.
BISHOP DELTON FERNANDER He also highlighted issues with people not being able to hold memorial services without a body to remember the dead due to COVID-19 restrictions.
He said: “If you are saying that we can worship 300, 400 in large facilities on Sunday and Saturdays, we can’t do the same worship at the same time, same place to remember our dead and then go to the graveyard. “We have got to have some logic to it. It cannot be just the Cabinet… dictate, stating things without running it by all the stakeholders. SEE PAGE FIVE
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
ABACO’S Chamber of Commerce president yesterday voiced fears that the new US quarantine policy will “slam the door again” on the island’s post-Dorian reconstruction, adding: “We can’t catch a break.” Ken Hutton said the protocolsare already deterring second homeowners from returning. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
BEHIND THOSE DANCING ROBOTS SCIENTISTS HAD TO BUST A MOVE
SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
SMALL RESORTS FEAR DOWNTURN By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
SOME small resort managers are dreading a downturn in bookings sparked by US President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new quarantine requirement for travellers entering America. However, despite what could result in a near virtual halt of US tourists to their Cat Island resorts, they told The Tribune they are hopeful the administration of vaccines throughout the United States encourages
THE FOUNTAIN Bay Resort.
widespread travel. At Greenwood Beach Resort, manager Pauline Barbier told The Tribune the hotel has no guests and hasn’t received any bookings. “We realise that there are no bookings coming at all for right now,” Ms Barbier said, “and I think the quarantine requirement will decrease tourists to come over here, because, for example, you only have two weeks’ vacation and then have to quarantine for seven days, which will probably slow them down to come and book,
unfortunately for us.” But owners there have made the decision to keep the property open. “We want to stay open because we notice there are a lot of last-minute bookings and if we close again people will get mixed up in their minds. So, we just want to let them know that we are still open and whenever they choose to book again, they can book at the last minute. We can’t close again.” Flight inconsistency has also made things challenging, she told this newspaper. “They (the airlines) cancel at the last minute if they don’t have any people, so we are challenged. I think at some point we need to stay reliable and cannot continue like this all the time. It’s a really big problem for us.” Felecia Russell, Fountain Bay Resort’s general manager, said there seemed to be some scepticism from US visitors following the quarantine announcement. “We have had guests who inquired, but since the US quarantine announcement they have not confirmed their bookings,” said Ms Russell. However, the resort has seen an uptick of domestic tourists, she added. “Since the year has started, we have had a lot
of Bahamian residents travelling. We have bookings with Bahamians. Right now, I have more Bahamian bookings than international bookings and I feel as if even though the US made the announcement with the quarantine, I can agree to an extent that with the vaccine coming on stream persons will travel more, but I just think that they are a little shaken that they have to do so much.” She’s had to get creative to boost sales. “To help boost the sales I got into contact with an agency where I can be a third-party tester so we will be able to test international guests on property before they have to return home to give them an incentive that they don’t have to pay for an extra set of testing. “I’ve also been sending out promotional flyers to private pilots to get them to come out and they could probably encourage other persons to come out and let them know you don’t have to go through Nassau to get to Cat Island. “I think everyone just needs a break from all of this and once we learn to coexist with this virus and learn the protocols and we become more aware of what is required of us and become more comfortable, I think people will begin to
GREENWOOD BEACH RESORT, top, and the Hawk’s Nest Marina. move around again.” Both hotel managers agreed though, that it was important to remain hopeful that the situation will improve. Meanwhile, Antone Mackey, operations manager at Hawks Nest Resort and Marina, said he couldn’t tell at this point if President Biden’s announcement was a blow for the resort. “I did get a few
cancellations so far, but based on last year’s results where persons couldn’t travel at all I don’t think those people are going to sit by and let another year go by without having to travel. I think they’ll still come. “It’s not going to be like previous years or what we thought 2021 would be, but I think it’s probably going to be a little better than last year,” he said.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, PAGE 3
‘Tourism jobs? I’m optimistic’ from page one quarantine requirement for travellers entering the United States. On Monday, Atlantis announced plans to furlough more of its employees due to increasing cancellations, making it the second time in a month the major resort has sent staff back home since reopening in December 2020. Speaking to The Tribune on Monday, president of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), Darrin Woods said Atlantis told union representatives it “got a lot of cancellations” after President Biden’s quarantine announcement last week. Atlantis representatives declined to discuss the furlough on Monday, but Mr Foulkes told reporters yesterday the move has affected some 200 staff. Still, he added the employment level at the major resort still remains the same. He also said officials are hopeful they will be able to re-engage those same employees by the end of the next month. “With respect to Atlantis, the employment level at Atlantis remains the same,” Mr Foulkes said. “There’s no change in terms of the employment level. Atlantis has informed me that at the Royal Towers, they have
SOME of the Atlantis staff heading back to work after the initial reopening. furloughed approximately 200 employees, but they have re-engaged approximately 200 employees at The Cove. “So, in terms of the employment level at
Atlantis, there is no change. I am also advised by Atlantis that the spring break which is depending on which university begins around the end of February and goes from
anywhere to three to four weeks, that they’re optimistic that they will be able to reopen the Royal Towers and re-engage those 200 employees by the end of February.”
Photo: Donovan McIntosh/Tribune Staff Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar has already said that officials will seek an exemption for the new quarantine requirement, similar to the one sought for the US’ new testing
policy which came in effect today. However, The Bahamas has not yet been successful in its attempts to persuade US authorities in either matter.
BUSINESSES REACT TO EXTENSION OF EMERGENCY ORDERS By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net
FOR some business owners the extension of emergency orders will continue to cause them difficulty, however some see the behaviour of COVID19 ambassadors and police as more of a threat to the little patronage they now receive. On Monday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told Parliament his government intends to extend the COVID-19 state of emergency and Emergency Powers Order to May 23. He also said Bahamians have appeared to let their guards down, particularly at funerals and related Junkanoo parades. However, he said there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the country should be careful not to slip into a state of rampant COVID infections like the United States is now experiencing. Marcian Sawyer, owner of The Crew Pub Restaurant and Bar in downtown Nassau, said the pandemic has brought his business down tremendously and an extension of the emergency orders will make matters worse. Mr Sawyer said: “To make it very short and sweet, this entire lockdown has pretty much brought my business down to operating at 20 to 30 percent efficiency which is, as one would know in the service industry, detrimental to the livelihood of a business. “The extension is just disheartening at this moment just because of the simple fact that the numbers (COVID) are low and the economy is rebounding. It seems to me that the Prime Minister is giving attention more to the people that he can’t control like the hotels and the Lyford Caygoers. So it seems a little bit unfair.” Mr Sawyer said he has tried getting government assistance for his business, but has been turned down.
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announcing the extenstion of emergency orders. He explained: “With the government extension programme, it’s so difficult, you have to run through hoops. I have even applied for that and have either been told
no by means of applying for the grant, or when it comes to getting the actual small business loan, they are just simply not giving them out. So, our government is
telling us ‘hold on’ and take advantage of the extension programme and then you go and apply for it and you’re told no. “It is very bad, considering
the fact that your rent doesn’t change and your BPL bill doesn’t change. On top of this I have been cited twice now by the COVID police. One time there was just one person sitting at my bar waiting on food to go. They cited both of us. I explained to the officers that I have a restaurant and bar licence and have the right to serve take out and curb side. It made no difference. They are discouraging customers.” Enrico Garzoroli, owner of the historic Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant, says the extension will simply mean more of the same for a business that was already not doing well due to the pandemic. He used the downtime to do maintenance to the property. Mr Garzoroli said: “The extension doesn’t really change much for us. We didn’t have much hotel rooms booked, anyhow. We are giving free tests so our guests can dine inside. We have been very cooperative with the COVID protocols. In regards to the Emergency Powers, I think it’s what every country in the world is doing. “Because of the pandemic we were not doing great anyhow, so the extension doesn’t make much of a difference. So the only good thing is that we have been doing a lot of maintenance and a lot of cleaning and fixing in the downtime. These things we could not have done before the pandemic because of business. So hopefully when COVID is fully put under control we will have everything in tiptop shape.” Mr Garzoroli said one of the things that keeps the property busy at this time is that it is also being used as a campus for schooling the children from nearby Bain Town. Dante Carrer, manager of Poop Deck East, said the pandemic has not been kind to his business at all, but what can be worse is the US travel and quarantine restrictions. He, too, had a problem with the actions of COVID ambassadors. He said: “For the first
time in our almost 50 year history, we had to seek funding to keep us afloat. Some staff only have one shift a week. We are trying to keep as many people employed as possible. It’s definitely very hard. If it continues as it is now, then it’s not so bad, we are more affected by the US COVID issue and the new travel restrictions they are imposing. “The Emergency Orders can be a lot easier to deal with as long as the COVID ambassadors are reeled in. They go around 15 to 18 of them at a time scaring people. You only have a few customers and they are scaring them away. Twenty of them came in to a place I was at screaming, ‘Nobody move!’ Some had machine guns. I understand what they are trying to do, but don’t act like the gestapo. I got a citation for waiting for takeout food. I am taking that to court.” The Tribune also contacted Crystal Rutherford-Ferguson, chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce, who said she looks forward to indoor dining resuming for non-hotel businesses. She said: “I have no comment in respect to the extension at this point and time, however, should a policy decision be made that materially impacts the business community and the manner in which it is able to conduct business, we will provide comment at that time. In addition to that, we do look forward to the resumption of indoor dining for non-hotel attached properties as the majority of restaurant seating is available indoors. “When you look at what is happening now, many businesses are able to operate with very few restrictions. So if that were to change through any policy decision, then I will have more to say.” The current emergency orders expire on January 31 and the extension will be presented and debated in Parliament today.
PAGE 4, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Vaccination rollout ties to relaxing restrictions
from page one caution,” Senator Bethel said before a Cabinet meeting. “So, I suppose one can say that it’s necessary that we not let our guard down and we do anticipate that over this period that we will have access to vaccines. We’ll begin the process of vaccinations according to the medical advice.” He added: “We know that the discipline of the emergency orders has brought us this far and has kept our numbers relatively low. We have not had the kind of uncontrolled surges that you see going on in Europe right now and in parts of Africa, particularly South Africa and Zimbabwe, etc. “So, it is a difficult thing for all of us to have these restrictions on movement and the mandates of masks and social distancing but at the end of the day, we have to understand that these disciplines have brought us this far – that and faith have brought us this far.” On Monday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the government’s intention to extend the COVID-19 state of emergency and associated emergency orders until May 23. Speaking in the House of
Assembly, Dr Minnis said while the country is doing well in its fight against COVID-19, Bahamians have appeared to let their guards down - pointing to funerals and Junkanoo parades that have defied protocols. “I want to remind the public that we should all be vigilant because it only takes one individual to become infected and the virus can have catastrophic and devastating affects on our society placing us in a similar position as seen in the north,” Dr Minnis said. The country has been under a state of emergency since March 2020, with the current order set to end on January 31. As of Monday, COVID19 cases in The Bahamas stood at 8,140 after seven new infections were reported by health officials. Yesterday, Mr Bethel urged Bahamians to be patient for a little while longer until The Bahamas secures a COVID-19 vaccine – which is expected to be in the country in the first quarter of this year. He said: “We only have a little more ways to go before we can begin the process of mass vaccination, hopefully. When that is done, then it will be possible, it will be reasonable and justifiable to further
reduce and perhaps even eliminate the emergency orders. “But, let us get to that stage where Bahamians are protected. That is all the government is seeking to do, to maintain discipline to the best of my understanding, until such time we can vaccinate a substantial population of The Bahamas – particularly, the elderly, the infirm, the frontline workers and teachers.” This also comes amid calls for more restrictions to be eased, especially as it relates to COVID-19 curfew hours on certain islands. Pressed on the matter yesterday, Health Minister Reward Wells replied: “Stay tuned.” “Stay tuned to the Prime Minister’s deliverance in the House of Assembly (today). The Prime Minister will speak to those issues as you know we would be debating the resolution in the House so it’s going to be an opportunity to air all of the issues. “The Bahamian people should pay attention to the Prime Minister (as he) moves the resolution as he always does. I will second that resolution and other members in the House of Assembly.” Asked if Bahamians can expect to see additional changes, he replied: “Change is here.”
TOTAL CASES
TOTAL DEATHS
8,140 175
NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES MONDAY 7 CASES NEW PROVIDENCE 5 ANDROS 2
SUNDAY
6 CASES
GRAND BAHAMA BERRY ISLANDS NEW PROVIDENCE
TOTAL TESTS
58,730
3 2 1
HOSPITALISED
12
CASES IN ICU
0
RECOVERED
6,746
WELLS: GOVT WILL DECIDE OVER STRICTER TRAVEL RULES By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
HEALTH Minister Renward Wells
HEALTH Minister Renward Wells said yesterday the government will have to decide whether stricter travel protocols are needed to limit the possibility of imported cases of new strains of COVID-19 from countries that pose the “greatest risk”. However, he said a decision will only be made based on recommendations of health officials. In response to the new strains, newly-sworn-in US President Joe Biden on Monday extended a travel
ban against more than a dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland. South Africa has also been added to the list of those banned entry to the US. The Progressive Liberal Party has repeatedly called on the government to produce a mitigation plan against the new, more contagious strains, saying it needed to act now before it’s too late. Asked whether the government is of the mind to take similar action as seen in the US, particularly against the UK, Mr Wells told reporters the matter will have to be discussed
in Cabinet following talks with health officials. “That’s something that needs to be discussed further,” said Mr Wells. “Obviously the Cabinet of The Bahamas would look at it and make the very best decision based on the recommendations from health. “Health will make the recommendations as to what needs to take place in regards to which countries they believe pose the greatest risk to the Bahamian people and then the government of The Bahamas listens to those recommendations, those put forward by health and then we’re able to move forward with whatever direction we believe is in the best interest of the Bahamian people.” According to health officials, the recruiting process for vaccinators in The Bahamas has already begun. Those most vulnerable in the country, including medical workers and the elderly, are set to be among the first to receive the jab, which is expected to be available in the first quarter of this year. However, it is still not clear which vaccine will be chosen for The Bahamas, with Mr Wells telling reporters discussions remain ongoing with several vaccine producers, including manufacturers in India. He also maintained officials have already orchestrated a distribution plan ahead of the vaccine’s arrival. He said: “As I would’ve said in the past, the government of The Bahamas is very diligently seeking to have a vaccine delivered in (the) country and we do have a plan to deploy that vaccine and we are following all three of the tracts.
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“We’re going through the WHO. We’re speaking directly to manufacturers and we’re also speaking to countries. We’re working through the African union with CARICOM. CARICOM has worked out something with the African union and so we’re following all three of those tracts. “There’s actually, now that I’ve been thinking about it, four tracts. We’ve been offered the Covaxin from India but also we’re looking at that and speaking to the regulatory regime in the Caribbean - the CRS - as to their particular views on the Covaxin vaccine.” The Minnis administration has already made a $250,000 down payment towards the vaccine, with hopes to vaccinate at least 20 percent of the population in the first instance. Asked yesterday for a timeline on when that percentage of the population is expected to be vaccinated once doses are in the country, the minister refrained from giving an answer. “When we get it, we want to deploy it very, very quickly and we want the Bahamian people vaccinated in the shortest space of time. I’m not going to give a particular timeframe but obviously many hands make work light. “That’s an old saying so as many folks that we can have that are a part of the whole vaccination process that’s giving the Bahamian people vaccines will reduce the amount of time it takes to actually deploy that vaccine in country.” As it relates to public misconceptions and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, the health minister said the ministry is going to launch a public education campaign to better inform the Bahamian people. “Folks have to educate themselves,” he said. “The ministry is going to educate them as well, put out the requisite information in the public sphere so the Bahamian people could rest assured that they could trust their government in being able to provide them with the very best, safest... vaccine.”
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, PAGE 5
A RECENT funeral service that attracted criticism for the number of attendees.
‘Funeral rules make no sense’ from page one
“The state has responsibility when they make decisions, it has the openness of expression to help us realise... that while we can have the Saturday and Sunday service at the same time, but we cannot have without a service without a body to remember our dead and that can be expressed in a scientific way. We trained enough, we’re professional enough.”
After a warning from police about funerals on Monday, Bishop Fernander said all pastors are cautioned to not hold any services in contravention of the order. However, while cautioning pastors, he said the council invites “no intrusion” of the state to become “the police of the church”. “We also caution the state that they must make sure that the ‘funeral’ is not a service going on without a body that is happening in
a sanctuary,” he said, referring to memorials. “That we don’t cross the line between church and state. “We hear their rules and we will abide by the law of the land, but we invite no intrusion of the state to become the police of the church and we understand our role and pray that they understand theirs.” In a release on Monday, the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) reminded the public that funeral services may only be held at
the graveside with a maximum of 20 people in New Providence, Abaco, mainland Eleuthera and Exuma. Previously the maximum number of people that could attend a funeral at the graveside was 10. Funeral repasts and wedding receptions also remain prohibited on the islands mentioned. Police said it came to the attention of the Commissioner of Police that pastors were officiating funeral services at churches
in contravention of the COVID-19 orders. Bishop Fernander told The Tribune the council is aware of the statement, released shortly after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis made a presentation in the House of Assembly urging Bahamians not let their guards down –- pointing to recent funerals and Junkanoo parades in violation of protocols. The police force was under fire back in September when a police funeral live streamed on
the RBPF’s Facebook page showed more than 10 people gathered despite the COVID-19 Emergency Powers Order restrictions at the time. The incident drew backlash towards the police for being hypocritical of trying to enforce orders yet not following them. Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle admitted that the event had exceeded the limit number and assured that officials will do their best to ensure a repeat does not happen.
20,000 FIRST-TIME VOTERS EXPECTED By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net
NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said officials expect 20,000 first-time voters this election cycle, insisting there is sufficient time to ensure no one will be disenfranchised. He said the Parliamentary Registration Department will soon roll out “extended registration” to ensure as many people as possible can be accommodated. On Monday, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis told Parliament the process was “vexing” for some first-time registrants, adding that centres should have already been opened to allow transfers to other constituencies where needed. Yesterday, Mr Dames suggested the concerns were Mr Davis’ attempt at “playing politics” with the issue of voter registration. He maintained that compared to previous years where registration numbers hovered around 200,000, this year was different due to COVID-19 restrictions and the recently passed Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill. The legislation passed in Parliament last month allows for a permanent voter register to be established for the first time in the country, meaning people
who registered to vote for the 2017 election will not need to register again. “I am not going to begin this process of playing politics with the voters’ registration process,” Mr Dames told reporters outside Cabinet yesterday. “(The) Parliamentary Registration Department is open. It’s open for new registrants (and) anyone wishing to transfer between 9.30am and 4.30pm. That hasn’t changed. The office in Grand Bahama, same thing and every administrative office throughout the Family Islands, same thing. “So, we would have recently passed legislation that would have ushered in a permanent register. So, we don’t have 200,000 people to register this cycle. We only have 20,000 and so we should be rolling out an extended registration process very shortly.” He continued: “We will have more than enough time to register approximately 20,000 people and the process is ongoing. So, as far as those comments no one has ever approached me about it nor the leadership team at the Parliamentary Registration Department, so this is good to go out in public to say these things, but nothing has changed with respect to registration. “If you are seeking to register you can go and do
Viewing Notice For
George Washington McKinney, JP. O.B.E., 101 affectionately called “Chief” of Eastern Estates, will be held at Gambier House, P. L.P. Headquarters, Farrington Road on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 from 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.
it right now.” The minister said officials were working to ensure the plan put in place for registration is “COVID-19 proof”. “Remember now, we don’t have 200,000 persons to register as in the past because we have a permanent register. We figure we have anywhere in the neighbourhood of about 20,000 persons and so we’re coming out (with) a plan that will be a COVID proof plan as well to ensure that persons are able to register in a very safe environment. “Our plan will also put focus on the elderly and those with co-morbidities and so forth and so we are very much on top of what it is that we’re doing. “I am very confident and very shortly we will be announcing who the acting parliamentary registrar is and that person is currently in place now and they are working on their plan. Their team and I have
every confidence that we will be able to do whatever it is that we need to do to ensure that we get those persons who are qualified to register, registered in the quickest possible time.” Philip Turner, the most recent parliamentary commissioner, was reappointed as senior undersecretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture several weeks ago, according to published reports. The creation of a continuous voters’ register was recommended by the former parliamentary commissioner in response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill says: “A person registered as a voter entitled to vote at an election on the current register, shall remain registered as a voter entitled to vote at an election on the continuous register, unless his name is removed from the register by the parliamentary commissioner.”
Graveside Funeral Service For
Theologos Tsavoussis affectionately called “Mr. T.”
a resident of Nassau, The Bahamas and formerly of Patmos, Greece will be held on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 3:30 p.m. at Ebenezer Church Cemetery, East Shirley Street. Officiating will be Reverend Father Irenaeus J.T. Cox.
Due to Government COVID-19 regulations, attendance at the Graveside Service is restricted to Twenty (20) family members. He is survived by his wife of 63 years: Kalliope Tsavoussis; children: Katherine Borovilos, Tina Lyons, Maria, Theodore and Alexia Tsavoussis; sons-in-law: George Borovilos and Dr. Allan Lyons; grandchildren: Gregory Borovilos, Zachary Lyons, Analia Lyons, Callie Borovilos and Christa Lyons; and a host of Other Relatives and Friends. Viewing for Theologos Tsavoussis will be on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at The Greek Orthodox Church, West Hill Street from 1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m. Social Distancing and Face Masks will be enforced.
MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames.
PAGE 6, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
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Are we talking about the same thing, Mr Foulkes? Are we talking about the same thing, Mr Foulkes? A new quarantine rule was announced by the US, the Tourism Minister called it devastating, hotels started announcing furlough plans, the Grand Lucayan reopening date continues to be a rolling target and… Dion Foulkes is optimistic? Wait, did we miss something? The Labour Minister wasn’t even just saying he was optimistic, but “very optimistic about the employment situation in The Bahamas”. Ok, but he couldn’t be talking about the tourism sector, could he, not with all those new hurdles. But yes, he adds “…especially the tourist sector”. Well, blow us down with a feather. His optimism comes from pointing to Sandals saying their Exuma hotel will reopen at the end of next month, and their Nassau operation in March – with the remaining Baha Mar hotels also to reopen in March. At the same time, however, hotels are seeing a drop in bookings following the new quarantine requirement, while a hotel union chief said there were “a lot of cancellations” following that announcement. With respect, we might wonder what planet Mr Foulkes is on – but then we also wondered that back in October when he claimed that the “vast majority” of Bahamians laid off due to the pandemic were back at work. Had that been so, we wonder who the workers were being taken back on as the likes of Atlantis and Baha Mar reopened their doors. It’s easy to make claims about employment rates – but they need to be backed up by numbers, and as was noted back in October, the Department of Statistics suspended its surveys on the unemployment rate. It’s almost as if Mr Foulkes is putting a smile on his face and declaring everything is fine while the house is burning down around him. His comments yesterday were not terribly sensitive either – when he talked about furloughs at Atlantis, he said the employment level remains the same, saying 200 have been sent home at Royal Towers, but 200 are being reengaged at The Cove. That’s not going to be of much comfort to the 200 being sent home.
We would love the optimistic world of Mr Foulkes to come to pass – but we’re not holding our breath.
Abaco hard hit
There’s not so much optimism over in Abaco, where the effects of the change in US policy are already being felt. Abaco has a different position than many other parts of The Bahamas, with a lot of US citizens owning second homes there. Already blasted by Hurricane Dorian, the new quarantine rule is already bringing a chill to the economy. The president of Abaco’s Chamber of Commerce, Ken Hutton, said that it is already deterring second homeowners from returning to rebuild their properties that are still damaged from the hurricane. “We’ve had second homeowners that were here that started the rebuilding process and left before the 26th. They left before that. They cut the amount of time they had short because of that. We’ve already seen a serious deterrent effect here because of that.” That of course means money not being spent on the island on supplies, repairs, hiring workers and so on. “We can’t catch a break,” said Mr Hutton, and it’s hard to disagree. The immediate concern with the travel restriction has been tourism – but the investment of second homeowners and businesspeople operating in The Bahamas is also a massive part of our economy, especially in places such as Abaco. That will dry up as surely as the tourist dollar will dry up. What do we do? That’s hard to say when there are already so many demands on the public purse – but the sooner we can start getting vaccines in arms, and showing we are on top of the virus the better. Our numbers continue to be relatively low thankfully – but our biggest bargaining chip will be to show we are ahead of the curve in tackling this virus. That we can work on – the rest lies in the hands of others on the restrictions placed by other countries. The likes of Abaco have suffered enough in the past couple of years – let’s do our part to give them a lifeline.
Rental expenditure EDITOR, The Tribune. Issue: The Government’s Huge Rental Expenditure Let’s have a look at abandoned and derelict Bay Street properties. Our governments have been tenants for decades. The millions spent on rentals must be a huge part of the various Ministries’ budgets. Many of us were encouraged by the construction of the buildings housing the Ministry of Education and Bahamas Customs. Another such building or two more floors would have reduced the huge rental expense. We have waited for years for the completion of the building next to the Paul Adderley building, which is to house the Ministry of Tourism. The completion and occupation dates are not known. We are renting office space for Ministers, their Ministries and several departments. Some of the present landlords are: The Manx Corporate Centre, Charlotte House, the Out Island Traders Building, Aventura, Plaza, Goodman’s Bay Corporate Centre, Bolam House, Harold deGregory Complex, Shirley House, Norfolk House, Shirlaw
House, Poinciana House, Claughton House, Campbell Maritime Centre, Ansbacher House, Saffrey Square Annex, BAF Financial Centre Annex, Seventeen Shop Annex, Bellagio Plaza, Frederick House, and Mosko Building. Idea: Bay Street, between Victoria Avenue and Deveaux Street has become the dead part of our city. There is hardly any activity in this area except for pedestrians and vehicles passing by. There are a lot of abandoned and derelict buildings. Government should acquire the abandoned/derelict properties from the present owners at a fair price. Demolish most of the buildings and construct a Government Centre to house those Ministries and departments presently in rental accommodation. The Post Office, Bahama Immigration and Courts could be accommodated. Also look at the area between Union Street and Victoria Avenue, e.g. the old Stop ‘N Shop and adjacent buildings. This part of the City of Nassau could live again. In considering
construction, provide for retail sales establishments (restaurants, gift shops, etc) on the ground floors. There is waterfront space, which could be upgraded for boats to dock at a price. A two or three storey car park would be an asset. Financing of the project would have to come from loans, sufficient to complete it. The rental money presently paid will in due course go towards the loan. Retail establishments on the ground floor to be rented to Bahamians, who qualify. The car park must provide revenue from the users. Entertainment could be included in the complex. Most importantly, shares to be sold to Bahamians as was done with the Sidney Poitier Bridge and Arawak Cay Development. Employment in construction would rise. The complex would likely take two years to complete. There has been some information that government intends to demolish derelict buildings in the city. I hope, that this will not be done at the taxpayers’ expense. PAUL THOMPSON, Sr ACP-Ret, Nassau, January 14, 2021.
Need for limited government EDITOR, The Tribune. THE size of the central government in The Bahamas is simply too big and unwieldy. The head, indeed, may not at any given time know what the tail is doing. In short, the tail may be wagging the dog as opposed to the opposite. Successive electoral cycles would have seen political parties, to date only the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Free National Movement (FNM) qualify for this distinction, whereby the size of the cabinet and membership in the House of Assembly, continues to grow almost on their own exponentially. There was a time when former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Hubert A Ingraham, a man given to speaking his mind in a blunt fashion declared that one of the late Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling’s cabinet was of Gussiemae proportions. That was when there were about fourteen (14) substantive ministers and at least six (6) Ministers of State. Since then the numbers have fluctuated but never really dropped dramatically or at all. This has resulted in a number of undesirable and unsustainable situations. Once elections are concluded, it seems as if every elected Member of Parliament besieges the party leader, who inevitably becomes Prime Minister, for a place at the cabinet table. The majority of them would never have held high office before and may be unable to cross the streets while chewing gum. There are currently at least six ministers and ministers of state who in my considered view should not be in the House or the Senate much less sitting in cabinet. This situation is inflamed by the fact that the state bureaucracy or civil services becomes bloated and unmanageable.
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Inefficiency and unaccountability soon sets in and nothing ever seems to be accomplished of lasting value. In opposition the current interim Prime Minister lambasted the gussiemae sized cabinet of former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Perry Gladstone Christie and lashed him bitterly with political whips. Today with some 33 MPs, almost 20 of them are in cabinet or close by as so-called Ministers of State (or is it wards of the state?). This creates fiefdoms and cliques which take on and adopt the persona of the particular office holder. With the arrival of the ongoing pandemic the central government led by the PM who purports to be the Competent Authority has gone on a wide and extensive power grab. It has been said that the proper extent of the activity and authority of government is the chief question in political philosophy. What size should a cabinet or government be for The Bahamas? As it is right now it is too big and it will fail. The sheer size of the central government poses a clear and present danger to our way of life and the rebounding of our economy. There is a department; agency or a ministry for literally everything. The ease of doing business for Bahamians in The Bahamas is too cumbersome and far too expensive. There are countless functionaries that one must go through and, some suggest, use devious means to achieve one’s objective. I would venture to opine that the project of confining government to the task of ensuring individuals and enterprises a stable legal and monetary
framework within which they might plan their own activities have been abandoned and thrown through the window. There is now, almost common place, the political attitude by successive administrations of a return to ‘stop-go’ policies viz-a-viz of macroeconomic management with the government de jure conceiving itself as the leader; sponsor or author of enterprise. Professor John Gray of Jesus College, Oxford, UK, penned a small book titled: ‘Limited Government’ some years ago. It is regarded as a ‘classic’ and is recommended to my readers; detractors and, of course the politicians across the board. He opined that the state or central government will have to adopt policies of withdrawal from many areas of social life. The government is not necessarily to be an interventionist, but rather an impartial umpire. This administration is neither of them. The overreaching by the FNM administration is very clear and very draconian. A blind person would have seen the overt preferential treatment given to certain substrata of the economic and political divide at the gross expense of the unwashed masses. I would hope that a Philip ‘Brave’ Davis administration will come into office, in due season, and hit the ground running towards and not away from the people. We do not need or want any more unnecessary red tape; yellow laws and green pie-in-the sky governmental intervention. People just want to be left alone to earn a living based on limited government and strong public fiscal responsibility. No more, no less. To God then, in all things, be the glory. ORTLAND H BODIE Jr Nassau, January 26, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, PAGE 7
Birthday joint costs man $300 in court By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was caught with marijuana joints he claimed he bought to celebrate his birthday was fined $300 in the Magistrate’s Court. Police arrested Terry
McKinney after they found 11 grams of Indian hemp on him on January 23. He pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous drug possession with the intent to supply during his arraignment before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt. The prosecution said
around 10pm that night officers on mobile patrol in the Gambier Village area approached McKinney and informed him he would be searched in reference to dangerous drugs and firearms. During their investigation, officers found six silver foil wraps in the accused’s hands. He was
subsequently arrested. When questioned in police custody, he admitted the offence and told them it was his birthday, so he bought “a couple joints to party”. During the hearing, McKinney was represented by attorney Bjorn Ferguson. He told the magistrate his client pleaded guilty
at his earliest opportunity because he accepted his responsibility for breaking the law. Mr Ferguson also said it was McKinney’s birthday and he made the decision to smoke marijuana as a part of his celebration. He insisted McKinney was remorseful for his actions.
In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt noted that McKinney was caught “redhanded” with six silver foil wraps of marijuana which he had intended to smoke and share with friends. She said for this reason, she would convict the accused and fine him $300 or eight weeks in prison.
A YEAR IN JAIL FOR BREACHING BAIL By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 22-YEAR-OLD man who claimed he violated his bail conditions because he was kicked out of the home he was staying in was yesterday sentenced to one year in prison. Police said Peter Estiamble failed to obey the conditions of his curfew on six occasions spanning from January 1-24, after he was granted bail in the Supreme Court for the offences of burglary and indecent assault. The court was told on January 24, people at the electronic monitoring centre told police had been contacted around 12.11am and informed he was in breach of his 8pm-6am curfew.
The prosecution said the accused was warned and told to go to his residence but declined. Estimable was arrested. The court was told the monitoring centre and Migrafill Security company also provided police two reports highlighting all the times the accused breached his bail conditions. When officers showed Estiamble the reports, he declined to comment. Yesterday, Estiamble told the magistrate he breached his curfew because he and his brother had an argument and he was “kicked outside of the house”. The accused said when he called the monitoring centre to explain his situation, they told him to go to the police station. He claimed when he went there, the officers
told him to go back home and sleep in his yard, but he didn’t want to because the area wasn’t enclosed. Estiamble said he did not go to court yet, because he was trying to “save a couple dollars” to retain a lawyer. Magistrate Vogt-Evans said she could understand his situation inconveniencing him once or twice, but she could not agree with him choosing to violate his bail conditions on six different occasions. She told Estiamble because he had ample opportunity to explain his situation and get the issue sorted out, she was going to convict him of the offences and sentence him to one year in prison on each count. All of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
MAN DISCHARGED AFTER FAMILY ROW By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAGISTRATE yesterday discharged an Andros man who threatened to harm his uncle during an argument over land late last year. Emerson McQueen, 38, was arrested after he told his uncle he would “put one in him” during a verbal altercation on Christmas Day. The court was told that the complainant got into an argument with McQueen at his residence. The prosecution said his uncle became fearful for his life. After he requested police action, McQueen was arrested.
When questioned in custody, the accused denied the allegations. However, when he appeared before Senior Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans yesterday, McQueen admitted the offence. He also told the magistrate he only committed the act because his uncle wanted to take all of the land, but it belonged to his father. After listening to his explanation, Magistrate Vogt-Evans told McQueen she would let him go with a warning. “In a civil society, you can’t go around saying things like that,” she told him before dismissing his
case. Yesterday, another man who was accused of assaulting his girlfriend was also discharged with a warning. Police arrested Topaz Baillou, 21, after he pushed his girlfriend during an argument at her residence on January 18. After the young woman filed a complaint, Bailiou was arrested. In an interview with police at a nearby station, he owned up to his actions and said the incident occurred after he confronted his girlfriend about alleged cheating. After he pleaded guilty to one count of assault, he was warned to be of good behaviour.
MCKALLAN STUBBS
TRIBUTES TO BAMSI WORKER TRIBUTES have been paid to a staff member of the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), who died earlier this month. McKallan Stubbs was a senior official, working as an agricultural specialist and farm administrator. Stephen Turnquest, the chairman of BAMSI, said: “He was a dedicated member of the BAMSI employee family, and his passing represents an enormous loss to the Institute and the Andros
community.” Mr Stubbs died on January 12, after a brief illness. Mr Stubbs joined BAMSI in 2018. Born in Fresh Creek, Andros, he was A graduate of Tuskegee University, with a background in business and agriculture, Mr Turnquest said: “Mr Stubbs was able to bring a wealth of knowledge gained through his academic, training and career experiences to his role at BAMSI.
“During his time with the institute, Mr Stubbs, maintained a strong sense of order, discipline and direction with the Farm Office, efficiently implementing best practices in terms of the planting and harvesting regimens. “A remarkable man, known for his strong leadership skills, Mr Stubbs touched many lives within the North Andros farming community, and even more so amongst his colleagues and staff members.”
A Private Graveside Service for
ZELMA ERNESTINE DEAN, 83
of Camperdown Drive, will be held on Thursday, 28th January 2021 at Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum, JFK Drive. Officiating will be Rev. Godfrey Kerr. Due to current Government regulations in respect of Covid-19, attendance is limited to twenty (20) persons. Left to cherish her memory are a multitude of family and friends: Husband: Audley Dean; Children: Brent Dean, Bianca Dean-Willie and Brigette Dean; Step Daughter: Sheryl Dean-Knowles; Daughter-in-law: Angelica Dean; Grand Children: Ethan and Elijah Willie, Allison, Amber and Alana Dean; Brother & Sister: Earnest Scavella and Earnestine Scavella; Brothers-inLaw: Hamilton and Dale (Sybil) Dean; Sisters-in-Law: Andree Braynen, Theodora (Willworth) Campbell and Melvern Miller; Nieces and Nephews: Donna Pratt, Kaye Wilson, Andre and Rodney Jr. Braynen, Michelle Hudson, Michael Braynen, Nakeisha Deveaux-Strachan, Stephen, Henderson, Doria, Shekia and Earnest Jr. Scavella, Carlton Ingraham, Claudette Russell, Gina Ingraham, Hamilton Jr., Gidget and Hank Dean, Toya Rahming, Wentworth Campbell, Tehranique Darrell and Micheal Dean; Cousins: Philip Franks, Anthony Franks, Wilhelmenea Shearer, Monique Campbell, Ethelyn Franks, Mavis Humes, Dr. Kirtland Culmer, Ethelyn Stuart, Dr. Leslie Culmer, Sandford Culmer, Raymond H. Culmer Jr., Adina Gallagher, Bernie (Ivy) Turnquest, Stuart Culmer, Patricia Franks-Russell, Ingrid Culmer, Rt. Rev. Gilbert A. Thompson, Coral Sawyer, Oswald Sawyer, Deloris Stringfield and their families; The Thompson, Bethel and Strachan Families. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge Mrs. Karen Archer, Mrs. Elva Rolle and Mrs. Dorothy Coakley. Her medical team, Dr. Raleigh Butler and Dr. Delton Farquharson who cared for her so faithfully during the final months of her life and Nurse Kalfani and the Oncology Unit were excellent. May Her Soul Rest in Peace! Friends may pay their last respects at Bethel Brothers Morticians & Crematorium, #44 Nassau Street on Wednesday 27th January 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
PAGE 8, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
‘SOME PEOPLE’S PARADISE IS OTHER PEOPLE’S PLANTATION’
By Alicia Wallace THERE are some arguments that never seem to end. We return to the same questions over and over again. There is never one answer because our perspectives and experiences are vastly different, and some people are convinced that there is nothing outside of what they see. Gender, race, class, nationality, migration status and other identity markers help to shape our realities. While we all know other people with different experiences exist, some people — lacking in empathy — find it difficult to acknowledge that other people’s inability to have or pretend they have more pleasant experiences is not a failure on their parts, but an issue of systemic oppression and inequality. Life in The Bahamas is typically reduced to one of two conditions — paradise or plantation. The one you regard as your reality depends on who you are, what you do, how other people treat you, how you have learned to see the world, changes you have lived through, your belief system, the coping mechanisms you use and other things specific to you. It’s about your experience and the way you contextualise it. If you work multiple jobs just to make ends meet, it probably doesn’t feel like paradise. If you have domestic workers attending to your basic needs, it probably doesn’t feel like you are the enslaved person on a plantation. Both paradise and plantation are going too far for most of us, but we have come to lean into the hyperbolic. Every now and then, however, someone breaks it all down in a way that should help everyone to understand. We either accept the lesson, or we rail against it, convinced
other people’s stations in life are their own fault. Over the past few days, there has been a lot of conversation about one young woman’s rejection of the idea that The Bahamas is paradise for the average Bahamian and one particular response to her comments. Both of their videos were shared on social media platform TikTok. I haven’t seen the first young woman’s video, but I have seen the popular, ignorant response which includes a few seconds of her commentary. The first person says: “And you wan’ call this a paradise? What type of paradise you seein’, ‘cause I ain’ see it. I can’t see, ‘cause my light always—” and the video, much like her electricity, unexpectedly cuts there and continues with a different young woman. Before we get into the second part of the video, let’s consider what the first person said. Even without context, we can see the truth in her statement. We have lived, for years, through the experience she described. For many of us, suffering through the heat during an electricity outage is the norm. We know about throwing away spoiled food, trying and failing to get reimbursed for damaged appliances, being sent home because we cannot work in the dark, being gridlocked at major intersections because the traffic lights are off and not having water piped into our homes because the pumps are electric. For others, there is a generator to the rescue, so maybe daily electricity outages don’t matter as much, especially if they can afford the fuel. You will not understand the plight of people who are truly suffering through outages if you can solve the problem
HAVE the days of plantations really gone or are they now hiding behind the facade of paradise? for yourself. In her response to the young woman’s commentary on paradise, the second young woman steps outside of her home and does a spin, showing the blue sky and the tops of trees. It is that idyllic image of paradise, painted by people who do not live and work in the places they are selling. Already, it is clear where the video is going. It sets us up for a “The Bahamas is so beautiful” speech. As expected, it does not acknowledge the varied lived realities of Bahamian people. She says: “The term paradise has nothing to do with the governmental structure in The Bahamas.” To say this is debatable is an understatement. The structure of the Bahamian government and its actions directly affects our lives. Our (in) ability to participate in governance is connected to our understanding of the systems and policies in place and the actions taken, the relationships we have
with decision-makers, our assumptions about future prospects, and the demands we make of people in positions of power. Changes in governance can affect our access to paradise. A living wage and universal basic income would take allow people to get out of survival mode. More people would have a chance to look at the sky. She went on to say that “We all understand the problems that are going on,” but it is obvious that we do not. If we did, we would not be having these conversations because no one would pretend that we have equal access to leisure. She said that being able to walk outside, the sun, and being able to drive down the road to the beach for free — with excessive emphasis on “for free” — are all blessings. There are two main issues here. The first is that we are consistently pressured to view very basic conditions as extraordinary and undeserved, and if we do not,
we are seen as ungrateful. Some people have gratitude practices in which they acknowledge the big and small, appreciating various aspects of life, and this fine. It is not, however, something that needs to be forced upon other people, especially as a distraction from very real and pressing issues in their lives. It is not strange to put more attention on mounting bills than the shining sun. It is not choice, but necessity. The second issue is that there are costs associated with what some people consider to be free. You need a car to drive to the beach, and that car needs gas. If you don’t have a car, you need to take a bus and that costs money. Depending on where you live, you may not even be able to take a bus. Walking may be possible, but it would likely take longer and that blessing of a sun can make it quite a chore. On top of that, time spent on the beach is time not spent looking for work, doing household work, or standing in line for financial assistance. Let’s go back to the part about paradise having nothing to do with “governmental structure”. How are decisions made about major developments? How did we get to the point where views of the beach are blocked by resorts and multi-story complexes? Do you remember how much easier it used to be to access Cabbage Beach? The people signing the deals that make this place smaller and smaller and reduce our access to the “blessings” are not guided by the idea that we deserve any part of the “paradise” anyone
imagines. Most of us are the people who make paradise possible for others, not the ones who experience it. Acknowledging it and public criticising this inequality is not the rejection of a blessing, but a mirror for those of us who have the resources to not only see it, but to enjoy it. What makes your enjoyment of living in The Bahamas possible? How might that be different for others? Paradise is like heaven. It is different for different people. For some, paradise is not having to lift a finger, and not having to even think. For some, paradise is power, whether to dominate and control or to make change to benefit all. Paradise, for some, is feigning superiority based an idea they present as character, but that is actually rooted in privilege. For some, paradise is equality, or even participating in the work that will get us there. It is overly simplistic to suggest that whatever is not paradise is plantation. Many of us live between the two and may not even know which extreme is closest to us. Some people experience paradise at the cost of someone else’s. Some people’s paradise is other people’s plantation. We live in the same place, and we are having a multitude of experiences. When people share theirs, when people offer different perspective, listen. Question yourself before you question them. Before you dismiss people’s struggles and tell them to look on the bright side, figure what makes it so easy for you to (pretend to) be in paradise.
Looking for something to do? 1. Grow something. You don’t have to have a lot of space or money. Choose something you cook with often or a plant you like seeing. Visit your nearest plant nursery to get seedlings or seeds and some guidance on getting them started and keeping them alive. 2. Watch UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis’ floor routine. This isn’t the first time Dennis has gone viral with a routine that is a nod to Black culture with her choices in music and dance. This time, it included stepping and music from Missy Elliott and Tupac. Her performance at University of California, Los Angeles earned her a score of 9.95. Last year’s viral routine
— which got more than two million views in a day — received a score of 9.975. 3. Prepare a spaghetti squash lasagna bowl. I watched Chrissy Teigen make bolognese sauce to fill roasted butternut squash halves. She spread a mixture of ricotta, parmesan, and pesto in the bottom of the bowls, filled them with the bolognese sauce, and topped them with mozzarella. They were put in the oven just until the mozzarella melted. No part of the meal was difficult, but the way she put it all together was interesting. I’m a pasta lover, but I’m looking forward to giving this one a try and using the same concept to make the same old dishes new life.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, PAGE 9
BEHIND THOSE DANCING ROBOTS, SCIENTISTS HAD TO BUST A MOVE By RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — The man who designed some of the world’s most advanced dynamic robots was on a daunting mission: programming his creations to dance to the beat with a mix of fluid, explosive and expressive motions that are almost human. The results? Almost a year and half of choreography, simulation, programming and upgrades that were capped by two days of filming to produce a video running at less than three minutes. The clip, showing robots dancing to the 1962 hit “Do You Love Me?” by The Contours, was an instant hit on social media, attracting more than 23 million views during the first week. It shows two of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid Atlas research robots doing the twist, the mashed potato and other classic moves, joined by Spot, a doglike robot, and Handle, a wheeled robot designed for lifting and moving boxes in a warehouse or truck. Boston Dynamics founder and chairperson Marc Raibert says what the robot maker learned was far more valuable. “It turned out that we needed to upgrade the robot in the middle of development in order for it to be strong enough and to have enough energy to do the whole performance without stopping. So that was a real benefit to the design,” Raibert says. The difficult challenge of teaching robots to dance
MARC RAIBERT, founder and chair of Boston Dynamics stands beside one of the company’s Atlas robots during an interview and demonstration earlier this month, at their facilities in Waltham, Mass. The company engineered the robot to be able to dance in a fluid manner that is almost human. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
also pushed Boston Dynamics engineers to develop better motionprogramming tools that let robots reconcile balance, bouncing and doing a performance simultaneously. “So we went from having very crude tools for doing that to having very effective rapid-generation tools so that by the time we were done, we could generate new dance steps very quickly and integrate them into the performance,” Raibert says.
The quality of the robots’ dancing was so good that some viewers online said they couldn’t believe their eyes. Some applauded the robots’ moves and the technology powering them. Others appeared to be freaked out by some of their expressive routines. Others added that what they were seeing was probably computer-generated imagery, or CGI. Not so, Raibert says. What was on display was a results of long, hard work fuelled by a determination to program the robot to dance to the beat, he says. “We didn’t want a robot doing robotlike dancing. We wanted it to do human dancing and, you know, when a human dances, the music has a beat and their whole body moves to it — their hands, their body,
their head,” he says. “And we tried to get all of those things involved and coordinated so that it, you know, it was ... it looked like the robot was having fun and really moved with the music. And I think that had a lot to do with the result of the production.” Teaching robots to dance with fluid and expressive motions was a new challenge for a company that spent years building robots that have functional abilities like walking, navigating in rough terrain, pick things up with their hands and use attached advanced sensors to monitor and sense many things, Raibert says. “You know, our job is to try and stretch the boundaries of what robots can do, both in terms of the outer research boundary, but also in terms of practical applications. And I think when
people see the new things that robots can do, it excites them,” he says. The advanced Atlas robot relies on a wide array of sensors to execute the dance moves, including 28 actuators — devices that serve as muscles by converting electronic or physical signal into movement — as well as a gyroscope that helps it to balance, and three quad-core onboard computers, including one that processes perception signals and two that control movement. Still, the fact that video of the dancing robots has fired up the public imagination and inspired a sense of awe was gratifying, Raibert says. “We hoped ... that people would enjoy it and they seem to. We’ve gotten calls from all around the world,” Raibert says. “We got a call from one of the sound engineers who had recorded the original Contours performance back in the ‘60s. And he said that his whole crew of Motown friends had been passing it around and been excited by it.”
‘BABA YAGA’ INTRODUCED WITH A VIRTUAL REALITY MOVIE PREMIERE
By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
LAST week Daisy Ridley and Jennifer Hudson went to a movie premiere together. They posed for photos and made remarks from a stage while an audience watched quietly. Or, more accurately, their avatars did. The actors were actually on different continents, brought together for a few minutes through virtual reality headsets to walk a red carpet, pose for photos in front of a step and repeat and to speak to a crowd of other avatars on behalf of their short film “Baba Yaga.” It’s being called the first ever VR movie premiere. “I truly feel like I went to a premiere,” Hudson said later. “But I didn’t leave home! I think it’s a cool way to do it, especially right now.” She especially liked seeing her team and how much their avatars looked like themselves. Virtual movie premieres have become standard in Hollywood since the pandemic started. The “events” typically just involve a start time for the film to broadcast on your home screen and, sometimes, a zoom-style Q&A with talent afterward. But
THIS image released by Baobab Studios shows avatars representing Jennifer Hudson, left, and Daisy Ridley at the VR premiere of their short film ‘Baba Yaga’. It’s being called the first ever VR movie premiere. And consumers can experience the premiere space and the film now through Oculus Quest. (Baobab Studios via AP) Baobab Studios, the six-year-old interactive animation studio behind a handful of cinematic VR experiences, decided to push the envelope for “Baba Yaga.” “I really don’t think we would have ever thought of this if it wasn’t for COVID,” said Eric Darnell, the man behind the “Madagascar” films and co-founder of Baobab. “We usually have our films premiere at festivals.” “Baba Yaga” actually got a real
festival premiere too as part of the Venice Film Festival last year. But as it became increasingly clear that there would not be an opportunity stateside, the company started working alongside the XR consultancy firm MESH to produce the ambitious event, which included designing a rainforest room inspired by the one in the film. The virtual reality movie premiere is not entirely dissimilar to an actual
premiere. There are publicists, filmmakers and actors, things to look at and displays to take selfies with (really). At this particular event, there was also a roped off “restricted” area, although organisers said it was simply there to designate the end of space and not an exclusive side party. And not unlike at actual events, sometimes you find yourself without anyone to talk to and just awkwardly wander around eavesdropping. But at a virtual reality premiere you can’t even pretend to send text messages or respond to emails. This reporter also had to take off her headset for a few minutes after getting VR dizzy. Darnell co-wrote and directed the film/experience alongside Mathias Chelebourg. It also features the voices of Kate Winslet and Glen Close. The film and the rainforest room are currently available to experience through Oculus Quest. Events like this may have been born out of necessity, but they could be the way of the future. “Even if we did go back to premiering at festivals, I still think this is an amazing way to bring people together and to say let’s celebrate this medium by actually having a party inside of it,” Darnell said.
TECHTALK GOOGLE SAYS CHROME COOKIE REPLACEMENT PLAN MAKING PROGRESS By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer
LONDON (AP) — Google says it’s making progress on plans to revamp Chrome user tracking technology aimed at improving privacy even as it faces challenges from regulators and officials. The company gave an update Monday on its work to remove from its Chrome browser so-called third-party cookies, which are used by a website’s advertisers or partners and can be used to track a user’s internet browsing habits. Third-party cookies been a longtime source of privacy concerns and Google said a year ago that it would do away with them, in an announcement that shook up the online advertising industry. The changes will affect Chrome, the world’s dominant web browser, as well as other browsers based on Google’s Chromium technology such as Microsoft’s Edge. Rival browsers Safari and Mozilla Firefox have already removed third-party cookies by default but Google is taking a more gradual approach. In a blog post, Google’s group product manager for user trust and privacy, Chetna Bindra, sought to ease fears about the project, saying the proposals will “help publishers and advertisers succeed while also protecting people’s privacy as they move across the web.” Google said it was releasing new data on one proposed technology, which does away with “individual identifiers” and instead groups users into large demographic flocks. The technique hides individual users in the online crowd and keeps a person’s web history private on a device’s browser. Tests results showed it can be an effective replacement for third party cookies, and advertisers can expect to see “at least 95% of the conversions per dollar spent when compared to cookie-based advertising,” Bindra said. Conversions are actions users take when they see an ad, such as clicking to make a purchase or watch a video. Advertisers will be able to test out the system for themselves in the coming months. Marketers for an Open Web, a U.K. industry lobbying group, said Google’s announcement did nothing to ease concerns voiced by the ad industry and regulators and questioned whether the company’s data showed what it claimed. Google’s plan has drawn scrutiny from Britain’s competition watchdog, which this month opened an investigation into whether it could undermine online ad competition and entrench Google’s dominant position in the digital advertising industry. U.S. officials are also challenging Google’s behaviour. A group of states filed a lawsuit against the company last month accusing it of “anticompetitive conduct” in the online ad industry.
PAGE 10, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
DESTINATION SPACE STATION - FOR $55M PER TICKET
THE first private space station crew was introduced yesterday: Three men who are each paying $55m to fly on a SpaceX rocket. They’ll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January. “This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It’s never been done before,” said Axiom’s chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station programme manager for NASA. While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, “the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we’re providing that opportunity,” Suffredini said. The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Axiom’s first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel’s first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. “These guys are all very involved and doing it for kind of for the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldn’t be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest,” Suffredini said. Each of these first paying customers intends to perform science research in orbit, he said, along with educational outreach. Lopez-Alegria, a former space station resident and spacewalking leader, called the group a “collection of pioneers”.
REPUBLICANS OPPOSE TRIAL OF TRUMP SENATE Republicans voted overwhelmingly yesterday against moving forward with Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, making clear a conviction of the former president for “incitement of insurrection” is unlikely. In a 55-45 procedural vote, the Senate set aside an objection from Kentucky Sen Rand Paul that would have declared the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional. That means the trial on Trump’s impeachment will begin as scheduled the week of February 8. The House impeached him two weeks ago for inciting deadly riots in the Capitol on January 6 when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat.
NUCLEAR ARMS TREATY IS EXTENDED RUSSIA and the United States traded documents yesterday to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control treaty days before it is due to expire, the Kremlin said. A Kremlin readout of a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the two leaders voiced satisfaction with the exchange of diplomatic notes about extending the New START treaty. “In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning of this important international legal nuclear arms control tool,” the Kremlin said. The pact’s extension doesn’t require congressional approval in the US.
BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts while leading a virtual press conference on the Covid-19 pandemic, inside 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Photo: Justin Tallis / Pool via AP
UK considers quarantine as death toll passees 100,000 LONDON Associated Press BRITAIN’S official death toll in the coronavirus pandemic passed 100,000 on Tuesday, a dreaded milestone reached as the government considered imposing hotel quarantines on international travellers to stop new virus variants reaching the country. The government said 100,162 people have died in the pandemic after testing positive for the virus, including 1,631 new deaths reported yesterday. “It is hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic,” a somber Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “The years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended and, for so many relatives, the missed chance even to say goodbye.” Britain is the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 virusrelated deaths, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, and by far the smallest. The US has recorded more than 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s highest total, but its population of about 330 million is about five times the size of Britain’s 67 million. As in other countries, the real toll is likely even higher. UK statistics agencies say that the number of deaths registered that mention
COVID-19 on the death certificate is more than 108,000. Opposition politicians and public health officials accuse Johnson’s Conservative government of being slow to act throughout the outbreak when it has come to lockdowns and travel restrictions. A more transmissible new variant identified in southeast England late last year also helped push infections to new highs and plunged the country into its third lockdown. Johnson said at a televised news conference that he took “full responsibility for everything that the government has done”. “What I can tell you is that we truly did everything we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very, very difficult crisis for our country,” he said. British authorities are banking on a successful vaccination programme to help the country suppress the outbreak and ease the lockdown. So far more than 6.8 million people have received the first of two doses of a vaccine, and the government aims to give 15 million people, including everyone over 70, a jab by February 15. Johnson has promised a public inquiry into Britain’s handling of
the outbreak — but not until the crisis is over. “We will make sure we learn the lessons and reflect and prepare,” he said. Johnson was meeting with senior officials yesterday evening to consider tighter border measures. The BBC reported that UK citizens and residents arriving from most of southern Africa and South America, as well as Portugal, will have to self-isolate in a hotel for ten days at their own expense. Quarantine hotels have been used to limit virus transmissions in countries including Australia, New Zealand, China, India and Singapore but the practice has not been widely adopted in Europe. Current lockdown rules bar Britons from taking foreign holidays, although essential travel is allowed. People arriving from overseas are already required to self-isolate in Britain, but enforcement is patchy. Nick Thomas-Symonds, lawand-order spokesman for Britain’s opposition Labour Party, said only a “comprehensive hotel quarantine system” would be strong enough to keep new strains of the virus from spreading in the UK. “It cannot be restricted to only a handful of countries, leaving gaping holes in our defences
against different strains of the virus emerging around the world,” he said. Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative, said the biggest problem was that many people already in the UK do not comply with self-isolation orders. “I think the elephant in the room in this is not the 10,000 or so people who arrive in the UK every day, it is the 30,000 people in the UK. already who are asked to quarantine by Test and Trace and are not doing so,” Hunt told the BBC. He backed calls for a self-isolation payment from the government so people exposed to the virus or infected did not lose income by staying at home. “We may also need to enforce more compliance, but I think you can only do that if you are making people a reasonable offer to support them financially for any losses they may have from having to stay home,” Hunt said. People arriving in the UK from abroad also must show they have tested negative for COVID-19. Britain recently banned direct flights from South Africa, Brazil and Portugal — and barred entry to travellers from there and some nearby countries — in response to new variants of the virus.
US SURGING VACCINE AMID SHORTAGE COMPLAINTS ANSWERING growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the US is surging deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites around the US had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot. “This is unacceptable,” Biden said. “Lives are at stake.” He promised a roughly 16 percent boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. The administration said it plans to buy another 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna to ensure it has enough vaccine for the long term. Even more vaccine could be available if federal scientists approve a singledose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the government plans to make about 10.1 million first and second doses available next week, up from this week’s allotment of 8.6 million. The figures represent doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It was not immediately clear how long the surge of doses could be sustained. Governors and top health officials have been increasingly raising
the alarm about inadequate supplies and the need for earlier and more reliable estimates of how much vaccine is on the way so that they can plan. Biden’s team held its first virusrelated call with the nation’s governors yesterday and pledged to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks ahead of delivery. Biden’s announcement came a day after he grew more bullish about exceeding his vaccine pledge to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that a rate of 1.5 million doses per day could soon be achieved. The administration has also promised more openness and said it will hold news briefings three times a week, beginning today, about the outbreak that has killed over 420,000 Americans. “We appreciate the administration stating that it will provide states with slightly higher allocations for the next few weeks, but we are going to need much more supply,” said Maryland Gov Larry Hogan, a Republican. The setup inherited from the Trump administration has been marked by miscommunication and unexplained bottlenecks, with shortages reported in some places even as vaccine doses remain on the shelf. Officials in West Virginia, which has had one of the best rates of administering vaccine, said they have fewer than 11,000 first doses on hand even after this week’s shipment. “I’m screaming my head off” for more, Republican Gov Jim Justice said. California, which has faced criticism over a slow vaccine rollout, announced Tuesday that it is centralising its hodgepodge of county
systems and streamlining appointment sign-up, notification and eligibility. Residents have been baffled by the varying rules in different counties. And in Colorado, Democratic Gov Jared Polis said that the limited supply of vaccine from the federal government is prompting the state to repurpose second doses as first doses, though he expects that people scheduled for their second shot will still be able to keep their appointments. The weekly allocation cycle for first doses begins on Monday nights, when federal officials review data on vaccine availability from manufacturers to determine how much each state can have. Allocations are based on each jurisdiction’s population of people 18 and older. States are notified on Tuesdays of their allocations through a computer network called Tiberius and other channels, after which they can specify where they want doses shipped. Deliveries start the following Monday. A similar but separate process for ordering second doses, which must be given three to four weeks after the first, begins each week on Sunday night. As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC reported that just over half of the 44 million doses distributed to states have been put in people’s arms. That is well short of the hundreds of millions of doses that experts say will need to be administered to achieve herd immunity and conquer the outbreak. The US ranks fifth in the world in the number of doses administered relative to the country’s population, behind No 1 Israel, United Arab Emirates, Britain and Bahrain, according to the University of Oxford. The reason more of the available
shots in the US haven’t been dispensed isn’t entirely clear. But many vaccination sites are apparently holding large quantities of vaccine in reserve to make sure people who have already gotten their first shot receive the required second one on schedule. Also, some state officials have complained of a lag between when they report their vaccination numbers to the government and when the figures are posted on the CDC website. In the New Orleans area, Ochsner Health said Monday that inadequate supply forced the cancellation last week of 21,400 first-dose appointments but that second-dose appointments aren’t affected. In North Carolina, Greensborobased Cone Health announced it is canceling first-dose appointments for 10,000 people and moving them to a waiting list because of supply problems. Jesse Williams, 81, of Reidsville, North Carolina, said his appointment Thursday with Cone Health was scratched, and he is waiting to hear when it might be rescheduled. The former volunteer firefighter had hoped the vaccine would enable him to resume attending church, playing golf and seeing friends. “It’s just a frustration that we were expecting to be having our shots and being a little more resilient to COVID-19,” he said. The vaccine rollout across the 27-nation European Union has also run into roadblocks and has likewise been criticised as too slow. Pfizer is delaying deliveries while it upgrades its plant in Belgium to increase capacity. And AstraZeneca disclosed that its initial shipment will be smaller than expected.
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021
In Spain, Higgs scores 17 points in loss By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter btubbs@tribunemedia.net
A
fter a two-week break, Lashann Higgs and her Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDW women’s basketball team returned to action in the Spanish Professional Basketball League last night. But in their home game at the Bembibre Arena in Bembibre, Spain, they lost 74-61 to Cadí La Seu to drop to 4-16 for 14th place in the standings, just ahead of Nissan Al-Qazeres Extremadura, who is 3-16 and Quesos El Pastor Zamarat, who bring up the rear at 3-18. “It wasn’t quite what we expected since we’ve been working so hard in practice for the past two weeks,” Higgs said. “Sometimes it doesn’t end the way you like, so you just have to keep on pushing.”
The 25-year-old 5-foot, 9-inch shooting guard had a side high 17 points and still leads Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDW with an average of 15.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. “I feel I had a pretty solid performance,” said Higgs, a native of Harbour Island, Eleuthera. “Every game, no matter how bad or how well I shoot, I always feel like there’s something I can work on. “I will watch the film to see where I can get better passes or shots so that I can continue to help this team in whatever way I can.” One thing is for certain. Higgs said she needs to be more aggressive. So should Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDW, who watched as Cadí La Seu built on a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter to extend it to 46-32 at the half.
LASHANN HIGGS Although they outscored their opponents 18-10, they still trailed 56-50 going into the fourth and final quarter. “It started off pretty good, but the game started to slip away early from us mid-way in the second quarter when they made
their runs,” Higgs pointed out. “We were just having a hard time breaking through the points deficit.” This is Higgs’ initial pro season after she graduated from the University of Texas in 2020. She said the season so far has been an adjustment for her as she gets used to the physicality of the pro players. “So it’s just a matter of progressing through that physicality and becoming more efficient,” she stated. “Through the season, it can be mentally and physically taxing. But you just have to take good care of your body and just continue to work hard, bring what you learn in practice into the games.” Higgs, however, said with Spain on an 8pm curfew because of the spike in the coronavirus pandemic, she remains home when she’s not at practice or at a game. She devotes a lot of time to staying in touch
with her family and friends in the Bahamas and the USA, particularly in Texas where her adopted parents reside. If there’s anything that she admits that she misses being away from home, it’s eating conch salad or any dish that contains conch. She noted that she’s in Spain to take care of business and that right now is her first priority, even though she would prefer to see her team win more games. Higgs and Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDW are scheduled to be back in action on Friday when they head on the road to face the third ranked SPAR Citylift Girona, who are currently 18-2. “Just as you embrace the blessings, you have to embrace the struggles,” Higgs summed up. “So we will continue to work at it. Hopefully, we will get better as we go along.”
KOBE GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
PEOPLE walk beside a giant mural of former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna at a basketball court in Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines, on January 28, 2020. Artists in this tenement building gathered and painted this image after learning of Bryant’s death. Bryant, his daughter and 7 others died in a helicopter crash exactly one year ago on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) SEE THE FULL STORY ON PAGE 16
US OLYMPIC TRIALS
SEE PAGE 15
STARTING AT PG, NESBITT CANS 18 FOR REBELS IN 78-68 LOSS TO GATORS By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net VALERIE Nesbitt, now in the starting line-up at point guard, came through with a big individual game, but it came on the losing end as the University of Mississippi Lady Rebels women’s basketball team fell to the University of Florida Gators 78-68. Nesbitt, in her senior year, had a side high 18 points and a game high seven assists, along with a rebound to pace the Lady Rebels, NESBITT coached by Grand Bahamian Yolett ‘Coach Yo’ McPhee-McCuin. Sunday’s loss at The Pavilion at Ole Miss dropped the Lady Rebels to a 7-5 win-loss record and 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as Nesbitt shot 8-for-12 from the field in 29 minutes. McPhee, named the Rebels’ ninth head coach on April 4, 2018 and the first black female head coach in Ole Miss women’s basketball history, said she’s hoping to get the Lady Rebels back on track after losing their fourth straight game. “Right now the season is going as expected,” said McPhee-McCuin, who is now in her 16th year as a coach. “We’re the tenth youngest team in the country and we just completed 12 games. “If we were not in a COVID-19 season, we would be playing pre-season still because pre-season would be 13 games before we get into conference play.”
SEE PAGE 14
Valicia Demeritte and Cobras working on ‘rotation’ By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedi.net ALTHOUGH she has been switched from the back court to the front court at Coker University, Bahamian Valicia Demeritte is still trying to manoeuvre her way in the line-up for the Cobras women’s basketball team. As a transfer from Florida State College at Jacksonville last year, Demeritte has played eight games so far this season, averaging 3.0 points per game, shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 75 percent from the three-point line and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. And with an average of 1.5 rebounds per game to her ledger, the 5-foot, 9-inch Demeritte said she’s working on getting into the rotation of their new coach Melissa DeVore. “So far, it’s been pretty good. We have a new coach, so we’re working on our rotation and stuff like that,” Demeritte said. “We are bonding well with her. It’s been going pretty good.” DeVore, who was named the new head women’s basketball coach at Coker University on October 6, 2020 after she came from her alma mater, fellow
South Atlantic Conference institution Limestone University an assistant coach since 2006, said Demeritte embodies all of the qualities she expects from her players. “Valicia has been out for a little bit dealing with personal stuff, but since her being back she’s been an active part of the rotation and brings great energy off the bench,” she stressed. “Her versatility allows her to play multiple positions for me in our dribble drive offence. She continues to show up everyday and work hard. I’m excited to watch her continue to grow and be more of a threat offensively.” DeVore noted that Demeritte is a great asset to the team. “She’s got great instincts on defence and really has done a good job in our three defence,” she concluded. COVID-19 has put a snag into their season as a couple of their games were either cancelled or postponed, including their last game at home in Hartsville, South Carolina, on Saturday against Lenoir-Rhyne. But the Cobras got some great news on Monday when they were informed that they will get a chance to play in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Tournament, regardless of
BAHAMIAN Valicia Demeritte in her Coker University uniform. their record in the COVID19 environment. Under normal circumstances, a team would have to win at least 10 games in the regular season to advance to the tournament in March. Coker, according to Demeritte, is looking forward to the rest of the season and she’s just as eager to be a part of it. “It’s been a pretty good experience,” said Demeritte of playing in the new system
implemented by DeVore. “I can’t complain.” As for her individual play, Demeritte said she has to get adjusted to playing from the small forward to centre, whichever position coach DeVore calls on her to perform. “She expects me to know all three positions, which is kind of tough on me,” Demeritte said. “So it’s been a little difficult, but I’m trying to adjust to it.
Hopefully moving forward, I can get it together.” As a junior, Demeritte said she’s working closely with DeVore so that she can understand the system completely and eventually play a more significant role in her senior year next year. “I don’t have a big role on this team, but I’m trying to play the role that she has given to me,” she said. “When I’m on the bench, I’m the loudest and when I’m in the game, I try to figure things out. “So it’s been a lot of fun. I’m not complaining. I like this team we have. Whatever coach needs me to do, I’m open to it. I want to do what’s best for the team.” With the assurance of getting a chance to play in the postseason, Demeritte said they’re even more motivated because they are now one step closer to winning it all. “I think what motivates our team is that we are so close to where she wants us to be, so we are even more motivated and dedicated to doing the things we need to do in practice,” she stated. “Of course, having an automatic bid to the tournament is motivation, but we were motivated before, so this only adds fuel to the fire.” As they go through the remainder of the season,
Demeritte said they are looking forward to doing the little things like talking and playing defence and paying attention to details. “I think if we follow those instructions from our coach, we will do pretty good,” Demeritte said. “I really like our team and when we put our minds together and everybody plays together, we do amazing things.” Demeritte missed about two games back-to-back because of COVID-19 protocols after travelling. But she got the negative test and was allowed to rejoin the team without having to quarantine for any significant time. Now all she wants to do is try and help Coker go to the SAC Tournament and hopefully win the title. Demeritte, a member of the Bahamas junior national basketball team under coach Varel Davis and Deven Johnson as well as being tutored by Randy Cunningham and the late Sherman Smith, is the daughter of Valerie Watson and Andretti Demeritte. The 20-year-old former player for the Kingsway Academy Saints left the Bahamas in grade nine in 2015 to enrol at the Potters House Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida, before she went to FSC and now Coker.
SPORTS
PAGE 14, Wednesday, January 27, 2021
THE TRIBUNE
WATCH AND ADMIRE: MAN CITY GOES TOP OF EPL AFTER 5-0 WIN FIFA SETS By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer FUELLED by a sparkling attacking display, Manchester City’s players powered to the top of the Premier League for the first time this season — and even the opposition are stopping to admire their work. In a comical exhibit for VAR’s ever-lengthening highlights reel, West Bromwich Albion’s
defenders virtually stopped in their tracks and looked on as Joao Cancelo curled a shot into the top corner for the second of City’s goals in a 5-0 rout yesterday. After all, the assistant referee had raised the flag for offside moments earlier but City, unlike West Brom, played on as Bernardo Silva collected the ball and fed Cancelo, who — unchallenged — picked his spot from the edge of the area.
A video review showed Silva was actually onside and the goal was allowed to stand. City was on course to match its biggest league win of the season and, on the evidence of this game and the last couple of months, Pep Guardiola’s team is going to be hard to stop. Make it seven straight wins in the league — and 11 in all competitions — for City in an ominous run of results. City became the ninth side to finish a day in first place this
season. Even if Manchester United reclaims the lead today by beating Sheffield United, City looks to be the team to beat. West Ham climbed to fourth place by winning 3-2 at Crystal Palace, while struggling Newcastle slumped to a 2-1 home loss to Leeds. Arsenal avenged a defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup at the weekend by beating the Saints 3-1 in the league.
NCAA, Power Five play defence with Dems controlling Congress By BEN NUCKOLS AP Sports Writer THE NCAA, the Power Five conferences and their $2 million platoon of lobbyists had a pretty good year on Capitol Hill in 2020. With Republicans controlling the Senate, the power brokers in college sports were on track to secure a way for athletes nationwide to earn money from endorsements while otherwise maintaining the status quo of amateurism. Now that Democrats control Congress and the White House, 2021 is shaping up to be a much bigger challenge for those who don’t want major changes in college sports. The bills now best positioned to advance would guarantee health care for college athletes and some form of revenue sharing, which critics describe as “pay for play.” Democrats pushing such legislation aren’t just motivated by giving athletes access to the free market through name, image and likeness (NIL) rights — a modest reform that has the full support of the NCAA and the Power Five. Instead, some Democrats see college sports reform as a racial and economic justice issue and are seeking to correct a system
they consider exploitative of minorities. “I think the Power Five and NCAA proposals are dead in the water. They went to Congress and they lost,” said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association. “At this point, all they can do is play defense, which is what we were doing at first. Now we’re playing offense.” That defensive posture for the Power Five comes after the conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 — collectively spent $1,730,000 to lobby Congress in 2020 — by far the most they have spent in a year, according to lobbying disclosures reviewed by The Associated Press. The NCAA, despite calling off its lucrative basketball tournaments last March, spent $480,000 on lobbying, roughly in line with its budget in past years, for a total of $2,210,000 paid to lobbyists with similar aims. Each Power Five conference hired its own lobbying firm and they collectively hired the same two firms — one Republican and one Democratic — as part of their push for a narrow bill giving athletes NIL rights, with numerous restrictions. The Southeastern
NESBITT from PAGE 12 Due to COVID-19, which has hampered the progress of sports around the world since March 2020, McPheeMcCuin said they were forced to jump right into the regular season. “Usually this time, you would have seen enough and gathered enough data so you would decide who you are and where you are going to be moving forward,” she said. “But Val has worked extremely hard to earn the starting spot. She’s my starting point guard. She’s steadily learning and growing everyday, so as long as she continues to have great energy, she’s going to be one of the reasons why we will start seeing our success in the win column.” The 5-foot, 9-inch Nesbitt has played in 11 games so far this season, averaging 18.6 minutes per game with a 7.6 scoring average from a total of 84 points as she has shot 31-for-67 from the field for an average of .436 and 22-for-30 from the free throw line for .73 average. Nesbitt, who transferred from Chipola College to Ole Miss for the start of her junior year, has also pulled down a total of 23 rebounds for an average of 2/1; dished out 43 assists and 17 steals, while committing 24 fouls with 23 turnovers. This is the second game that Nesbitt, the 22-year-old daughter of Marina Nesbitt, has been in the starting line-up and McPhee-McCuin expects that the general business major will close out the season in that spot. McPhee-McCuin, the daughter of legendary coach Gladstone ‘Moon’ McPhee and now married to Kelly McCuin and the mother of two daughters, Yasmine and Yuri, said she likes the position that her Running Rebels are in. “If people had followed this process last year, once we got into conference, we were getting our head beat in by 50-60 points,” said McPhee-McCuin of their 7-23 overall record and 0-7 mark in the SEC. “We figured it out and started turning things around and now we’re in a situation where instead of getting blown out, we’re losing close games. We had three games we had a chance to win at the end and we just didn’t make the shots.” Had they succeeded, McPhee-McCuin feels as if their record could have been 10-2 right now. But she’s pleased at where they are, considering the fact that they started out the year on a six-game winning streak before they suffered their first loss. “We only had two losses where I thought we really got beat against Missouri (86-77 on January 14) and Georgia (73-57 on January 17). But all these other teams, we were neck-and-neck and we fell short,” she stressed.
THE NCAA headquarters is shown in Indianapolis April 25, 2018. The NCAA and the Power Five conferences will have to work harder to prevent major changes to college sports now that Democrats control Congress and the White House. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Conference had the big- represents Division I ath- granted collective-bargaingest lobbying budget of any letic directors as executive ing rights. league and even outspent director of the LEAD1 “I think Democrats the NCAA, paying its lob- Association. have coalesced around the byists $570,000. Sens. Cory Booker, idea that if you’re going to The lobbyists got most D-N.J., and Richard Blu- spend time debating the of their wish list into a menthal, D-Conn., plan to issue of college athletics, bill introduced last month reintroduce their bill from you shouldn’t be limited to by Sen. Roger Wicker, the previous Congress that talking only about endorseR-Miss., but with Wicker would require schools to ment rights,” Murphy told no longer the chairman share 50 percent of their AP. “My sense is that if the of the Senate Commerce profits from revenue- NCAA wants Congress Committee, it’s unlikely generating sports such as to solve this issue of NIL, his bill would advance if it football and basketball they’re going to have to were reintroduced in the with the athletes who play come to the table on a lot new Congress. them. Connecticut’s junior of other things as well.” “The body politic has senator, Democrat Chris In a statement, the shifted left, there’s no ques- Murphy, is drafting his own NCAA said it would work tion about it, and that’s bill that would also include with Congress “to help toward more student-ath- revenue sharing. That advance our shared interlete empowerment,” said approach has the support est to assure the American Tom McMillen, a former of Huma’s organisation, tradition of college athDemocratic congressman which is seeking to rep- letics thrives in the 21st from Maryland who now resent athletes if they are century.”
“Why? It’s the maturation of a young team. At some point we have to grow because we are in the SEC, the toughest conference in the USA.” The Running Rebels will be back in action on Thursday on the road when they take on the 25th ranked University of Tennessee Volunteers, who are 10-3 and 4-1 in the SEC and then on Sunday, they will face Louisiana State University Tigers in a rematch. LSU, who are 6-7, and 4-3 in the SEC, handed Ole Miss their first loss of the season on January 4 with a 77-69 decision in overtime at home at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. McPhee-McCuin, who spent the previous five seasons with the Jacksonville Dolphins prior to coming to Ole Miss, said the expectations for the remainder of the season is for her Running Rebels to grow. “The expectations for us is to compete and get better defensively,” she summed up. “We’re scoring enough points to win games, but we’re not getting enough stops. “So we have to do a better job of getting stops during important times. There are times when we are not getting stops in important times whether we take a bad shot or a quick shot or we just have a defensive mishap.” Once they can clean up their play, McPhee-McCuin said she’s not going to rush the process as this is a new team. She’s confident that they’re close to turning the corner in conference play. For McPhee-McCuin, it’s only a matter of time before they get there with Nesbitt leading the charge on the court as her starting point guard. McPhee-McCuin is hoping the Bahamian duo combo will prevail when they head to the SEC Tournament, scheduled for March 3-7 in Greenville, South Carolina. This is not the first time that McPheeMcCuin and Nesbitt have been together. They both represented the Bahamas on the women’s national basketball team as coach and player respectively when the Bahamas won the first Caribbean Basketball Confederation title in 2016 with a perfect 5-0 record. McPhee-McCuin, a former player in Grand Bahama and a point guard on the national team, was the first Bahamian female to sign a division one basketball scholarship to play with the Jacksonville Dolphins. In 2016, she was inducted into the Bahamas National Hall of Fame, along with fellow Grand Bahamians Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield of the Sacramento Kings in the NBA and Jonquel Jones of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. She was also inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 as one of the 10 recipients of the Pathfinder Award for their distinguished achievement outside of New England.
LATE-2021 TARGET TO PICK 2026 WORLD CUP CITIES
ZURICH (AP) — FIFA set a new target yesterday of finalising North American host cities for the 2026 World Cup — if the coronavirus pandemic allows. The 23 candidate cities likely need to be cut to 16. FIFA said it could confirm them at the end of the the year. The pre-pandemic schedule called for cities hosting the first 48-team World Cup — likely 10 in the United States and three each in Canada and Mexico — to be picked early this year. The new deadline will depend on FIFA officials being able to take inspection trips to 17 cities in the United States and three each in Canada and Mexico. “The visits will only take place if the health and safety situation in the host countries allows FIFA to do so,” the governing body said in a statement. Most of the venues in the United States will be NFL stadiums, with the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets expected to host the final on July 12, 2026. “Realising the commercial potential of each venue, as well as in terms of sustainability, human rights and event legacy, is of the utmost importance,” FIFA said. The first World Cup with 48 teams will have 80 games instead of the current 64. The proposal was to play 60 games in the United States and 10 each in Canada and Mexico when the bid contest was won in 2018.
SOUTH AFRICA COMEBACK REDUCES PAKISTAN TO 33-4 IN REPLY TO 220 By RIZWAN ALI AP Sports Writer KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — South Africa came back roaring after being skittled out for 220 on a bowler-dominated first day yesterday of its first test in Pakistan in more than 13 years. Pakistan was reduced to 33-4 at stumps on a pitch devoid of grass as 14 wickets fell on an eventful opening day of the two-test series. South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, playing his first test in a year, removed openers Abid Ali (4) and debutant Imran Butt (9) off deliveries with uneven bounce. Rabada had impressive figures of 6-3-8-2. Left-arm spinner Keshav
Maharaj also had captain Babar Azam trapped leg before wicket for 7 off his third delivery, and Andrich Nortje knocked back the stumps of nightwatchman Shaheen Afridi for a duck. At stumps, Azhar Ali and Fawad Alam were both unbeaten on 5. Earlier, legspinner Yasir Shah grabbed 3-54 and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali 2-38 on debut to peg back South Africa after it won the toss and started confidently. Opening batsman Dean Elgar top-scored with 58 off 106 balls with nine fours, and No. 9 batsman Rabada was unbeaten on 21 as South Africa, 94-2 at lunch, lost its last eight wickets for 112 runs. “Definitely, I do think that South Africa had a
better day, even though we had a low score,” Elgar said. “We didn’t bat well, not to our potential despite having some good preparations,” he said. “Knowing that this pitch will get tougher and knowing that we have good spinners, I am confident that we can go further ahead.” Faf du Plessis and Elgar were using their feet well against the spinners by lunch. But Shah brought Pakistan back when he had du Plessis caught behind on 23 in his second over after the break. Du Plessis should have been out on 14 immediately after lunch but Abid couldn’t hold on to a sharp catch at forward short leg.
MLS TO OPEN SEASON ON APRIL 3, TITLE GAME SET FOR DECEMBER 11 By ANNE M PETERSON AP Sports Writer MAJOR League Soccer will open next season on April 3, a month later than normal, and conclude with the MLS Cup title game on December 11. Teams will be allowed to start preseason camps on February 22. But the announcement Monday came amid ongoing uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic and whether fans will be able to attend games, especially at the start of the season. The league has said it incurred an estimated $1 billion in losses last year, due in part to lost revenue as a result of the virus. As a result, the league has invoked the agreement’s “force majeure” clause to reopen negotiations with players on a collective bargaining agreement, setting a January 29 deadline.
The league and the players’ union had two difficult negotiations a year ago — one in February before the start of the season, and a second in June when players took a pay cut in order to resume the 2020 season. Earlier this month, MLS proposed paying the players their full salaries this season in exchange for a two-year extension of the current CBA — effectively freezing wages for two additional years. The Major League Soccer Players Union countered that it would not be rushed into negotiations. The league said the two sides met Monday. MLS said it remains committed to reaching an agreement before the deadline. “This is not a unique situation, as MLS and the players have negotiated more complicated issues in prior CBAs and managed to meet the deadline,” the league said in a statement.
The MLSPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There’s also uncertainty about the league’s three Canadian teams. Because of travel restrictions, the Canadian teams had to relocate to the United States to finish last season. Toronto played home games in Connecticut, Montreal was moved to Red Bull Stadium in New Jersey, and Vancouver shared Providence Park with the Portland Timbers. Major League Soccer will grow to 27 teams this season with the addition of expansion Austin. There will be 13 teams in the Western Conference and 14 in the East. The regular season will conclude November 7 and the playoffs will open November 19. The date of the league’s All-Star game has not been set. The league will announce a broadcast schedule in coming weeks.