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EXUMA DEATHS: CALL FOR AUTOPSY IN US
CASES UP - BUT NO CHANGE IN RESTRICTIONS
Findings still not released over tourist fatalities at Sandals By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net FAMILY members of the three American tourists who were found dead at Sandals Emerald Bay resort in Exuma earlier this month want US pathologists to perform another autopsy on the victims, Health Minister Dr Michael Darville revealed yesterday. According to Dr Darville, those requests are currently being “entertained” by officials. This comes after Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper told reporters last
By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
week that autopsies of the American victims had already been completed. However, he noted the findings have not been released. “To my understanding, there is still some investigations ongoing at the Sandals resort,” Dr Darville said when asked for an update into investigations. “We also have the pathologist in (the) country who have done their job and samples were sent to a very reliable lab in the United States and a toxicology report was still outstanding.” SEE PAGE THREE
DESPITE a recent increase in COVID-19 cases, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said the government is not at this time considering tightening measures. There has been a slight increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with double digit numbers being recorded most days. Just over the weekend, health officials reported 106 new virus cases, 23 of which were recorded on Sunday, 63 on Saturday and 20 on Friday. Meanwhile, Monday saw 32 cases confirmed. SEE PAGE FOUR
TALKS ON EXAMINATIONS FOR STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
WITH national examinations set to resume on schedule this year, Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin said officials are now discussing how best they can accommodate students in quarantine. “We’re discussing that now,” she said when asked about the issue yesterday.
“Certainly, we would want all of our children to be able to take examinations. If they contract it, it’s not a fault-based situation. So, we’re discussing now how we would deal with situations like that, but, of course, the undergirding rationale would be to do all that we can to ensure that our young people can take their examinations.” SEE PAGE FIVE
ALL ABOARD TO TRY OUT AMBULANCE A STUDENT from Willard Patton Pre-School tries out a stretcher during a visit to the school by an ambulance crew as part of National Emergency Medical Services Week. Emergency crews also visited Temple Christian Academy and Genesis Academy to demonstrate to children the work they carry out to keep people safe. See PAGE TWO. Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff
DAVIS SLAMMED FOR ‘CONCEALING’ GOVT CONTRACTS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
FNM leader Michael Pintard yesterday hit back at the Davis administration for “flat-out concealing” millions of dollars in contracts it has concluded since taking office by failing to comply with the Public Procurement Act. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
‘DON’T GIVE TOO MANY CONCESSIONS’ By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
A DAY after details were disclosed regarding the cancelled Grand Lucayan purchase agreement, Opposition Leader Michael Pintard said he thinks excessive concessions should not be granted to foreign companies seeking investment in the country. In the House of
FNM leader Michael Pintard. Assembly on Monday, Tourism, Investments and Aviation Minister Chester Cooper said Bahamas
Port Investment Limited offered to purchase the Grand Lucayan resort from the former Minnis administration for $50m and also wanted the former government to provide $100m in cash concessions for redevelopment of the property. While he told The Tribune that refusing huge concessions did not mean that there weren’t other
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE THREE
ALICIA WALLACE: BACK TO THE OFFICE - BUT IS THAT BEST?
- SEE PAGE EIGHT
PAGE 2, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
CHILDREN from Willard Patton Pre-School get a close look at equipment inside an ambulance during a visit to the school yesterday.
UTILITIES REGULATION & COMPETITION AUTHORITY
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All aboard to try out ambulance THE Public Hospitals Authority’s Emergency Medical Services professionals made the rounds at three primary schools yesterday providing tours of ambulances and EMS equipment. There was also age-appropriate instruction on calling for EMS assistance during a medical emergency, and what should be
done if an ambulance is approaching while driving on the road. The school tour included visits to Temple Christian Academy, Willard Patton PreSchool, and Genesis Academy as part of National Emergency Medical Services Week 2022 - Education Day.
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THE YOUNGEST EMT in town? A youngster from Willard Patton Pre-School gets to handle some of the emergency equipment.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, PAGE 3
Exuma deaths: call for autopsy in the US from page one “There was requests by family members of the deceased to bring in pathologists from abroad to do another autopsy because you know to move bodies across water, they have to be embalmed and so that request was made. I do not know exactly how far it has gone but we are willing to assist anyone who wants to get to the bottom of their loved ones and so those requests are being entertained but I’m not sure where they are at this point.” Married Maryville, Tennessee, couple Michael and Robbie Phillips and Vincent Paul Chiarella, of Florida, were found dead in two separate villas at Sandals on May 6 after
they were stricken by an unknown illness. Police said the victims – all in their 60s - died sometime between 11pm on May 5 when they, along with Chiarella’s wife, Donnis - the lone survivorvisited the island’s clinic seeking medical attention for nausea and vomiting. Last week, investigators were said to be looking into several points of interest to determine the victims’ cause of deaths, including what they ate as well as whether any “contaminants” were present in the separate rooms where they were found. Relatives of all victims have since reacted to their deaths. “Our hearts are grieving and broken, but full of hope,” Kali Hanson said
of her parents, the Phillips earlier this month. “We know our mom and dad are experiencing fullness of joy in our heavenly father’s presence. We already miss them terribly. Our parents left a legacy of faith in Jesus and generously loved their family and friends. Meanwhile, close relatives have described Mr Chiarella’s death as heart-breaking. “I am just so heartbroken right now… My dad was everything to me,” his son, Austin, told ABC News. He said the Chiarellas were visiting The Bahamas to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The Tribune understands that a memorial service was held on Exuma on Monday in remembrance of the victims.
ROBBIE and Michael Phillips.
‘DON’T GIVE TOO MANY CONCESSIONS’
from page one
means of encouraging airlift, the Marco City MP said special care had to be taken to ensure the country does not go “overboard” in trying to ink an arrangement. He also said that while the co-joining of the hotel and the port may have been advisable in the beginning under the previous administration, it was now “clear” that it did not work. In respect of the concessions, Mr Pintard said he was not intimately involved
in those discussions but the former minister in the previous administration suggested that they were “excessive”. He said: “The Bahamas has a tremendous brand. This is an important destination and whoever negotiates on behalf of the Bahamian people ought to do so seeking to save resources and seeking to enter into relationships where those that are coming that their pockets are deep enough to not only execute the sale but also to pump money into the redevelopment of the property.
“And so philosophically from my standpoint, and I believe that of our colleagues who I am working with today leading the Free National Movement, we do not believe that excessive concessions ought to be granted to companies that are coming into The Bahamas. We believe that the value and the proposition that this destination presents is such that those who are coming in should have the wherewithal. “That does not mean that we do not find a way to encourage airlift into the jurisdiction, but we ought to
be very careful that we do not go overboard in trying to ink an arrangement.” Mr Cooper said the $50m purchase price was arrived at after the property suffered damage following the passage of Hurricane Dorian. According to Mr Cooper, following Hurricane Dorian’s damage of the property the board of Lucayan Renewal Holdings claimed $20m in insurance damage and received a settlement of $13m, which was applied to the mortgage. “At this point,” Mr Cooper told Parliament
on Monday, “the property was under contract for sale to Bahamas Ports International, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and the ITM Group, for $65m, therefore, a discount of $15m was extended to the prospective buyers and the purchase price was adjusted to $50m. “On March 2, 2020, a Cabinet appointed negotiating committee finalised the Sales Purchase Agreement between LRHL and Bahamas Ports International, at a price of $50m. The agreement included condition precedents, among them
the requirement to complete an agreement with BPI and Hutchison on the cruise port.” However, after the pandemic hit - dealing another economic blow to the Bahamian economy, Mr Cooper said officials sought to amend the agreement with BPI even further. Details of the revised deal, he added, included requests for a $33m loan to finance with the property’s purchase and millions of dollars in cash concessions from the government among other incentives.
POTTER’S CAY VENDORS GIVEN ACCESS TO REPAIR SUPPLIES By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
AGRICULTURE, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting yesterday said Potter’s Cay Dock vendors affected by a fire last year were provided with letters to access supplies to rebuild their stalls. Before the weekly Cabinet meeting, the minister told reporters that vendors were given the option of
two plans from which to choose. The letters give them the opportunity to receive building materials from FYP. “We’ve met with the vendors a few times, actually last week, and provided them with their letters to access supplies, which would be in essence $96,000 among the six vendors,” the minister said. “We also provided them with two plans - one from a private architect, one from the Ministry of Works - which they can
select between the two,” he explained. “We’ve also included an optional deck option for them if they wanted to extend, which will be up to the vendors to get the approvals because when you deal with the seabed that goes through (the) Ministry of Environment. “So, we’ve been very accommodating. They have their letters. We’re just waiting on the final building control approval so we’re hoping within a week they can get up and going and be
running for the summer.” He also said: “We’re providing them with the funding. I think the ministry has been very accommodating. I’ve met with them about four times since I’ve been minister and we’ve done what we can. They have the letter to access from FYP and hopefully they can get going in ten days or so.” Minister Sweeting was also asked whether consideration was being given to building a fire station at the dock.
He said: “I think nationally, especially in the Family Islands, we have that issue. So I’m sure that the minister responsible for that is looking at a nationwide way to solve this problem. “In the Family Islands some of these islands don’t even have fire trucks. So, I think it’s a nationwide issue. I think it’s definitely one that we need to look at and look at facilitation. So, hopefully we can have a better response to some of these fires. A fire burned six stalls
to the ground in April 2021 and left two others damaged. Two boats were also destroyed. Back in April, Potter’s Cay Dock Fish, Fruit, and Vegetables Vendors Association President Ormanique Bowe told The Tribune that vendors were still waiting for the government to authorise the repair work to fire damaged stalls. She added that she was told two more signatures are needed to finalise the repair work.
PAGE 4, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
CASES UP - BUT NO CHANGE IN RESTRICTIONS from page one
The latest numbers have pushed the country’s overall count to 33,989 since the start of the pandemic. Health officials have attributed the recent increase in virus cases to mostly “COVID fatigue.” Speaking on the nation’s COVID situation yesterday, Dr Darville said while officials are concerned about the uptick, there is still a sense of relief as virus related hospitalisations remain low. “We have been watching the cases rise,” Dr Darville said before a Cabinet meeting yesterday. “We are concerned and are always
concerned when the cases go up, but one of the good things and the good report is that the cases in hospital are very low. Last week, the cases were about 11. This week, it’s about 12 and that’s across the board at Doctors Hospital, PMH, and the Rand Memorial Hospital and Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre. That is good news for us and our team are concerned about the numbers and while that’s happening, we have no plan to tighten any restrictions at this time.” Only seven people were said to be in hospital with the virus as of May 16. Asked yesterday about the government’s contingency plan should COVID
hospital admissions rise, the minister replied: “Yes, we have to look at our hospital admissions and we need to have a contingency plan, but with that being said there is always limitations in our hospital and so we have to be able to execute the plan and as we speak right now, the hospital is challenged with cases that are not COVID related and we are working very diligently to sort those cases out and deal with some of the backlogs that were in place at our tertiary facility as a result of the impact of COVID-19.” The slight rise in infection rates comes as countries around the world, including The Bahamas, continue
to ease measures, including social distancing guidelines and mask mandates. Currently, people are not required to wear a mask while in a lobby, corridor or casino of a hotel or in an outdoor setting where there is at least three feet of space between people who are not of the same household. But, mask wearing is still largely required indoors. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has said the remaining mask mandates could be totally lifted by the summer. Asked whether the government still intended to lift measures by then, Dr Darville did not give a definite answer. Instead he said officials
remained hopeful that the mask mandates will be removed by then. “Well, we are always hopeful,” he said. “The situation is very fluid. We are in a relatively good position despite the numbers going up and we will keep watching what’s happening internationally and our tourism sector and the amount of cases that are coming in that’s travel related before any final decision would be made.” Yesterday, the health minister also commented about the declining vaccination rates in the country, noting that just over 51 percent of the eligible persons in the country have been fully vaccinated to date.
However, he said officials are working to increase vaccine uptake before some vaccines expire at the end of this month. “There are some vaccines that would approach expiration and we are concerned about that,” Dr Darville added. “It’s a problem across the region where we have a good supply of vaccines and really don’t have the response for vaccination uptick. For us, the situation in The Bahamas is good as it relates to vaccines and we’re encouraging Bahamians everywhere to come out to receive their first and second dose as well as their first and second boosters.”
It’s Mangrove Mania in bid to save forests By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ANN Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, rang the bell to kick-off Mangrove Mania, the first-ever competition aimed at restoring Grand Bahama’s mangrove forests that were severely affected by Hurricane Dorian. At Coral Vita, Mrs Davis met and spoke with youngsters who will be participating in the competition to grow and replant 30,000 mangrove propagules this year. The initiative is spearheaded by Waterkeepers Bahamas and Earthcare Bahamas, along with partners, including Blue Action Lab and Coral Vita. Attending the launch on Saturday were Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey, Rupert Hayward, executive director of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Sam Teicher, co-founder of Coral Vita, Joseph Darville, chairman of Save the Bays and Dr Ian Strachan, President of UB North. Mrs Davis stressed the mangroves are very important because it protects our shoreline. “We had a lot of damage from previous hurricanes, but especially the last one, Hurricane Dorian,” she said. The islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco were
ANN MARIE DAVIS, wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, and Grand Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey at Coral Vita to launch a competition aimed at restoring mangroves. Photos: Vandyke Hepburn severely damaged and lost on deck to work to restore planting 1m mangroves chose GB to build the first more than 70 and 40 per- our mangroves to protect plants. commercial coral farm – cent of its mangroves. Grand Bahama against “This competition does recalled the devastation of Mrs Davis said man- looming existential threats not end this year our goal is their farm and mangroves groves function as buffers posed by climate change,” to continue it,” she said. after the storm. from storm surges, the she said. She said an app has He said that they experiwind, water filters, and preMinister Moxey said been created for mangrove enced a 17ft storm surge at vents erosion. we must all do our part to mania that will assist com- the farm that swept some Ms Moxey said this contribute to the restora- petitors to reach their goal of their coral tanks 35 miles community initiative is tion and protection of our to collect, plant, and grow away east into the settletimely and continues to mangroves. mangroves. ment of High Rock. raise awareness of the Rashema Ingraham, According to Ms IngraMr Teicher said they also dire state of the island’s executive director of ham, groups could win a saw hundreds of yards of mangroves. Waterkeepers Bahamas, minimum cash prize of uprooted mangrove forest “This competition sends a said the initiative will $2,000. in the middle of the highclarion call for the commu- be ongoing over several Sam Teicher - chief reef way while travelling to East nity to unite with all-hands years with a target of officer of Coral Vita who Grand Bahama during that
time. He stressed that coral reefs and mangroves are important because they sustain fisheries and protect the coastline from storms. Marine biologist Gain Woon, of Earthcare Bahamas, stated that citizen scientists were coined in 1989. She said that they have been planting mangroves with students for decades in West End, Queens Cove, and Dover Sound. She urged people in the community to become citizen scientists and assist with the monumental task of the restoration of the decimated mangrove forest on Grand Bahama. Rupert Hayward, founder of Blue Action Lab, said the Bahamas is entering a new chapter of evolution as it starts to build the green and blue economies. “As we wake up to the realisation of climate change, and the opportunities that are becoming available to us as we grow these new sectors of our economy, if we don’t build capacity here in the Bahamas to take advantage of that, if we don’t build the workforce development to train Bahamians to understand the opportunities and have the skill-set required to fill the jobs to create the new businesses that tap into the blue and green economies, we will have failed,” he said. Mr Hayward said the second step is to develop the blue carbon economy.
ANN Marie Davis and Grand Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey joined by youngsters at Coral Vita.
MAN ACCUSED OF ABUSING GIRL, 5 By PAVEL BAILEY
A MAN was charged in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday with abusing a five-year-old girl. Renado Dorsett, 32, represented by attorney Barry Sawyer, stood before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on a charge of cruelty to children. Sometime between March 13 and 18 in New Providence, Dorsett is accused of physically abusing the girl, who is not related to Mr Dorsett. It was reported that after this incident the child was treated and discharged from a medical facility. In court, the accused pleaded not guilty
to the charge. Prosecutor Inspector Pyfrom informed the court Dorsett had antecedents, but none of a similar nature, with one currently unknown conviction from 2019. The prosecutor asked for a bail deferral so that the court would have time to properly research the accused’s criminal record. Mr Sawyer then argued that the matter is not worth his client remaining in custody or being denied bail, as he indicated there were conflicting reports in the matter. Dorsett’s attorney said the child is predominantly in the custody of her biological father. After his lawyer’s appeal,
Dorsett further begged the court to be granted bail. As he stated that he wanted to return home to provide for his girlfriend who is experiencing difficulties in the last trimester of her pregnancy. Dorsett told the court the currently does not reside with him, and that he personally took the girl to the Criminal Investigations Department after the alleged incident. When asked directly by the magistrate about his previous conviction, the accused claimed the only run-in with authorities he can recall is for breaking curfew in 2020. In view of the accused’s pleas for bail, Magistrate Kelly adjourned his bail hearing to today.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, PAGE 5
Ministry holds meetings over school violence issue By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net EDUCATION Minister Glenys Hanna Martin said her ministry plans to meet with several stakeholders this week to discuss concerns related to school violence and how government plans to respond to the issue. This comes after a male LW Young Junior High School student was reportedly injured and had to be taken to hospital following a recent argument with another student from a different school. There was also another incident at the school involving a student who had to be subdued by administration officials after losing her temper for unknown reasons. In an interview with The Tribune last week, Education Director Marcellus Taylor said the situation resulted in LW Young’s principal intervening to help de-escalate the situation. But, according to him, the student in a fit of rage formed a fist and “swung” at LW Young’s principal, “grazing” the administrator’s forehead in the process. Bahamas Educators and Managerial Union Steven McPhee has denied claims that the principal was attacked. However, when asked to clarify what exactly happened at the school, Mrs Hanna-Martin would only say that some of the reports surrounding the incident were exaggerated. Still, she noted that any
act of violence on campus was a major concern. She said her ministry was actively trying to address the issue. “There was an incident at LW Young,” she said before going to a Cabinet meeting yesterday. “The principal has a view there of what happened. Her union representative, Mr McPhee who is the president spoke to it. I’ve heard other people who were not there commenting on it and so we have to be careful because there was so many exaggerated stories that came out of it which included stabbings and all this kind of thing, which did not happen. “So, certainly, the ministry would’ve gotten a report and will respond appropriately, but from what I’m understanding from those who were there, the reports are completely exaggerated. However, we do know that we have issues on the campus, various campuses and so this is a continuing concern. I believe it has a lot to do with young people who have been through isolation and the experience of the pandemic and so we are trying to address these issues. “We know that there are issues, but we have to be careful that we do not feed into national narratives which are not accurate and to feed fear that would take us in a different direction. We want to be a fact-based society that’s rational, that understands what’s happening, being honest about it and moving forward.” Mrs Hanna-Martin also
said officials believe that many students are acting aggressively because of school disruptions caused by COVID-19. “We have not obtained any data,” she added. “We are seeing some things and we are speculating as to what those things mean, but based on what we are seeing internationally is that there is this science based or imperially based data that children are being affected emotionally. “We don’t believe Bahamian people would be any different because they have been denied and isolated for very extended periods in terms of their socialisation. So, we are this week in fact, going to meet with some technical stakeholders to look at the situation to try and understand exactly what might have happened here and what will our responses be and we have to get data because the Ministry of Education now has to bring a major thrust for data so that we are able to make imperially based decisions and policies based on the scientific facts on the ground.“ Police officers were returned to nine different public schools throughout New Providence in March, after concerns were reignited about school safety following a stabbing at AF Adderley. Among them were CH Reeves Junior High, Government High School, R M Bailey Senior High, CC Sweeting Senior High, AF Adderley Junior High, CV Bethel Senior High School and Doris Johnson Senior High.
GLENYS Hanna Martin speaking at the 2022 School Board installation ceremony recently.
TALKS ON EXAMINATIONS FOR STUDENTS IN QUARANTINE from page one
This comes as several schools reverted to online learning after reporting virus cases on campus. During a press conference last week, health officials confirmed more than three dozen COVID19 cases among staff and students at schools in New Providence over the last several weeks. However, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has
said the cases did not reflect a community outbreak and as such, did not warrant campus closures. “COVID still exists in the community so you will have cases and you have seen an increase in the cases,” Mrs Hanna-Martin said of the numbers yesterday. “But from what I’ve been advised, they’re still reduced in terms of what we have seen historically during the course of this pandemic. “So, we will continue to
be advised by the Ministry of Health. “As the Minister of Education, I am motivated by the fact that we have to get our children back into schools. We have to get them in 100 percent, but, of course, we have to do it safely. That is where the Ministry of Health comes in.” Last year, the Ministry of Education permitted public school students under quarantine to sit the 2021 national
examinations, but only those who met the criteria and had been approved by health officials. Eligible students at the time included those who tested negative for the virus and did not display any COVID-19 symptoms or those who were under quarantine but did not live with anyone who was COVID19 positive. Data released by the Ministry of Education last August showed improvements in 2021 national
examinations compared to 2020, with more students achieving A, B and C grades. The improved figures came after a grim performance in 2020, which saw worsened results compared with 2019 with fewer students achieving A, B and C grades and more students receiving D, E, F and G grades. However, there has been continued concern about the pandemic’s impact on education, with data
showing significant learning loss, according to education officials. “The RFP for learning loss is now published,” Mrs Hanna-Martin said yesterday. “It is on our website, but it is internationally published for proposals to assist us with a platform that will allow us to diagnose and create an accelerated learning or catch-up programme for young people so that’s underway and that’s in the public domain.”
PAGE 6, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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New Providence or New Orleans? EDITOR, The Tribune. I SAW Twitter images of severe flooding throughout parts of New Providence over the weekend. I believe it was a meteorologist who told either The Nassau Guardian or The Tribune that the severe flooding caused by torrential rains was a hurricane drill for New Providence residents. As a resident of Grand Bahama who lived through Hurricanes Francis, Jeanne, Matthew and Dorian, I want Nassau residents to understand that the recent flooding in their communities is nothing compared to the flooding the aforementioned cyclones brought to our island. Areas in the back of Rock Plant Road; Sir Jack Hayward and Casuarina Bridges; Grasmere, MacLean’s Town and the communities along Grand Bahama Highway were completely submerged in water during Dorian’s ferocious onslaught. On the day before Dorian landed in Abaco, I watched American meteorologist Brian Norcross on WPLG TV10 lament the impending devastation to Grand Bahama, which had yet to fully recover from Matthew in 2016, due to king tides that would make landfall on the island. There were instances where Grand Bahamians were unable to distinguish the sea from the land. I commend Minister of Works and Utilities Alfred Sears’ proactive approach in addressing the flooding situation in Pinewood Gardens, although I believe his efforts will ultimately be futile when the rubber meets the road. Even if Sears were to install 600 feet drains in Pinewood Gardens and other flood-prone communities, an engineer who is worth his salt would take into account the water tables beneath New Providence, which will most certainly rise during a cyclone, which will then contribute most to the inevitable flooding that will occur. When the water tables rise, the water from the rain will have nowhere to drain off. I read that Cable Beach, Old Fort Bay, Lyford Cay, East Bay Street, Southwestern New Providence, Charlottesville and Turnberry experienced flooding. Most of the foregoing communities have one thing in common with MacLean’s Town in East Grand Bahama: They’re located near the water, which is a no-no when a category four or five storm is barreling down on you. No technology that I know of could’ve mitigated the disaster that Hurricane Dorian brought to East Grand Bahama. The best strategy would be to evacuate. Making matters worse for New Providence is that
it is only 79.92 square miles. On the other hand, Grand Bahama is 530 square miles. To appreciate the small size of New Providence, Hurricane Dorian was 280 miles across, with hurricane-force winds at about 90 miles in diameter. Dorian, at its peak, covered 65,575 square miles with its storm force wind field, which was bigger than the State of Georgia. Dorian would’ve completely covered New Providence. My point is this: if Hurricane Dorian could devastate an island with all that land mass, what would it do to an island that is less than 80 square miles? Again, I don’t want Nassauvians walking away from last weekend’s flooding thinking that that’s the worst a major category hurricane can do, in terms of flooding, which brings me to another important point. In light of what recently transpired in the capital, I see striking similarities between New Orleans and New Providence. In fact, I consider New Providence to be New Orleans Lite. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in the Fall. At one point, Katrina was the third strongest cyclone to hit the US, with its maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The storm killed 1,833 people, and left millions homeless in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, causing $125 billion in total damages. The Galveston and Okeechobee Hurricanes of 1900 and 1928, respectively; and Hurricane Maria, in 2016, had more casualties. If my memory serves me correctly, Katrina had initially formed near the southern Bahamas, but ended up becoming a category five cyclone in the Gulf of Mexico, with storm surges that rose to a staggering 28 feet in Biloxi and in the Gulfport, similar to what Dorian did to Lady Lake in Lincoln Green. Bahamians old enough would recall seeing TV images of the Lower Ninth Ward submerged in flood waters, after the London Avenue Canal levees were breached. In all, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded. I recall several Freeport residents speculating that 70 percent of Grand Bahama was under water during Dorian. Had Dorian continued its destructive march towards West End, the casualties would’ve been much higher. Fortunately for New Orleans, between 80 and 90 percent of the city’s population had already evacuated. As a First World jurisdiction, the US has the financial means and expertise to pull off such a massive undertaking. The same cannot be said about
The Bahamas. Of the 100 thousand who chose to stay in the city, 25,000 sought shelter in the New Orleans Superdome while another 25,000 bunkered down in the Ernest N Morial Convention Centre. I can envisage the state housing evacuees in a category five storm in the Kendal G L Isaacs National Gymnasium on Bahamas Games Blvd and the A F Adderley Gymnasium on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway. Under such a scenario, would the two structures be able to withstand gale force winds nearing 200 mph and are the locations high enough to prevent flooding? With nearly 300,000 citizens in New Providence, these are the questions the powers-thatbe must ask. The US Army Corps of Engineers was probably just as surprised as everyone else when Katrina overwhelmed the levees in Louisiana, which have since then been rebuilt at a cost of $14 billion. If nothing else, Katrina proved that man-made technology is no match for Mother Nature. Several weeks ago, a former resident of New Providence told me that the capital is a bowl. Well, the same thing was said about New Orleans in 2005. While Sears and the technocrats in the Ministry of Works must go ahead in installing drains throughout New Providence, I believe the state should also look to building shelters in the highest areas of the capital, just in case the AF Adderley Gymnasium and the Kendal G L Isaacs National Gymnasium are overwhelmed. I see pundits claiming that the last major hurricane to slam into New Providence was Matthew in 2016. I don’t believe Nassau suffered a direct hit. Had that been the case, those shantytown communities in Over-the-Hill would’ve been completely flattened. Based on my research, the last hurricane that directly hit the capital was in 1929, which is 93 years ago. That’s nearly a century of not being hit. I thank God for sparing New Providence. I have heard certain Grand Bahamians stating that they prefer their island to take a direct hit rather than Nassau. Their reasoning, whether misguided or not, is that if the capital is flattened, the entire country would come to a complete standstill. It would be a humanitarian crisis of apocalyptic proportions. Like New Orleans, I don’t believe that New Providence, or New Orleans Lite, can withstand a category five cyclone. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, May 17, 2022.
Climate change EDITOR, The Tribune. “...one would think that over multiple geological periods the earth’s climate has never changed. Most don’t even know we are in an interglacial period right now, but let these crusaders continue their efforts to change the climate!” A comment responding to a May 5 Tribune story headlined, “Pinder: We Will Lead On Climate Change.” The above quote is illustrative of responses to and attitudes of climate change deniers and sceptics toward the science-based evidence that the current era of climate change is (1) the result of human activity, and (2) a problem that humanity must address. This is especially true for those of us living in coastal communities; that is, all of The Bahamas. In many cases, these sceptics and deniers are the same ones who believe that COVID19 was a conspiracy concocted by assorted evildoers, from Bill Gates to China to Anthony Fauci to pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer. While I understand the climate change/global warming scepticism, especially as our brains are not wired to effectively deal with threats perceived to be distant in time and space, it is essential for all of us — from individuals to the private sector to the government to NGOs — to understand that climate change is a very real threat to the world and our nation. Disclosure 1: Note: Throughout, though not scientifically synonymous, for convenience sake, I will use the terms “climate change” and “global warming” interchangeably. Disclosure 2: I’m not a scientist or an expert of any kind. However, I can read, I can understand, and am an ultracrepidarian. Also, because I’m what the National Insurance Board considers a “Senior,” I probably will not be around when the full impact of climate change/ global warming occurs — though who knows when the next Dorian will strike. However, given The Bahamas’ demographics, most of our country’s existing population will be. Ergo, we should all be concerned about and willing to take action to mitigate the impact of climate change on our communities and put into place effective adaptive measures. The people who are going to experience dislocations resulting from global warming are our friends, our family, our people. Given this, we all have skin in the game. Deniers and sceptics, doubters of climate science and physical evidence, the following is but a small sampling of individuals and institutions who are aware of and are concerned about the impact of climate change on the world or their communities. Excerpt from the conclusion to a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) August 1974 document entitled “A Study of Climatological Research as it Pertains to Intelligence Problems.” The focus was on the potential impact of global food security on national and international security. Leaders in climatology and economics are in agreement that a climatic change is taking place and that it has already caused major economic problems throughout the world. As it becomes more apparent to the nations around the world that the current trend is indeed a long-term reality, new alignments will be made among nations to ensure a secure supply of food resources. [The Agency must come up with] “methodologies… necessary to forewarn us of the economic and political collapse of nations caused by a worldwide failure in food production.” For decades, the US military has warned the US
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Government about climate change resulting in global catastrophes caused by wars and natural disasters. The military continues to implement mitigation and adaptation measures to reduce the impact of global warming, in part because extreme weather has caused billions of dollars in damage to US military installations and rising sea levels threaten key naval bases, both on the Atlantic Seaboard and in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. As the October 2021 US Department of Defense report, “Department of Defense Climate Risk Analysis,” notes that climate change poses a risk to US national security and defense and that “[i]ncreasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks and creating new security challenges…” As Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — a practising Christian and a Black man — noted in April 2021, “No nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis.” From the corporate perspective; Though a prominent climate change denier today, during the late 1970s and 1980s, Exxon (now Exxon Mobil) — yes, the oil company — was a pioneer in climate change research, and its senior scientists warned that the burning of fossil fuels was a major contributor to human-induced global warming through the buildup of greenhouse gasses, most notably carbon dioxide. Also, in December 2021, the Walt Disney Company made public a document entitled “2030 Environmental Goals.” In it, the company notes: Scientific guidance recommends that a mix of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, innovations in zero-carbon and low-carbon sources of energy and storage and natural climate solutions are all part of the global solution. Business has an integral role to play in the transition to a low-carbon future aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the latest science from the IPCC. In addition, because they are concerned about the impact of global warming, countries ranging from Chile to China to the European Union have appointed cabinet-level climate “czars.” For example, Chile’s new Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, is a physicist and climatologist with a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics from Oxford University. As Rojas noted in a March 2022 interview: In my career as a scientist, I have studied and seen firsthand the evidence of climate change. My appointment as Chile’s environmental minister sends a clear signal that we can… go from examining the evidence to considering steps for decision-making in government. It is my hope that this can be a powerful example, domestically and internationally, of merging scientific knowledge and policymaking, and that it encourages other countries to ramp up their climate ambitions and begin urgently implementing changes within this decade to address the climate crisis. Religious leaders from Pope Francis to US Senator Raphael Warnock, former pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the pastor and where his funeral was held), have called for action to address both climate
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change and environmental justice. As the Pope noted in his May 2015 Encyclical Letter, paragraph 25, “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.” And while this one may engender more cynicism than the other examples, China has expressed concerns about climate change. As noted in a document released by The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China in October 2021. Climate change is a challenge for all of humanity. The sustainable development of the Chinese nation and the future of the planet depend on tackling it successfully. China attaches great importance to its response to climate change. As the largest developing country in the world, China has adopted a number of policies, measures and actions to tackle climate change and takes part in global climate governance, despite the difficulties this creates for its own economic and social development. Note: While China is currently the world’s largest single emitter of greenhouse gasses, in 2021 it generated almost as much solar energy as the next top four solar producing countries combined (the United States, Japan, Germany, and India). Closer to home, and much more relevant to our community, is Dr. Adele Thomas at the University of The Bahamas. She is also a senior Caribbean research associate at Climate Analytics and one of the authors of the comprehensive Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2021 Report, “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” As Dr. Thomas notes on pages 158-159 of her extensively researched 2012 doctoral dissertation for Rutgers University entitled “An Integrated View: Multiple Stressors and Small Tourism Enterprises in The Bahamas.” The projected environmental effects of climate change most significant for tourism include sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns, hotter atmospheric and oceanic temperatures and more intense hurricanes (Scott et al., 2008). These climatic changes add a new dimension of uncertainty to the tourism industry that economically supports the nation and is highly dependent upon its ‘tropical paradise’ image. “...With the majority of land being in close proximity to the coast, sea level rise associated with climate change is an issue of dire concern for the nation. The projected rise of sea levels due to climate change is seen to be the main threat to coastal regions (IPCC 2007; Nicholls and Cazanave, 2010). Figure 7.1 shows that The Bahamas is far more vulnerable to sea level rise than other countries within the Caribbean and Latin American region with greater percentages of land being affected by sea level rise.” Finally, a personal note: For 65 years, my family has owned a marina on Exuma. During this time, the main dock has been raised twice due to rising sea levels for a total of eight inches. It’s time to raise them again, as extreme tides now cover the dock. Also, in October 2015, when Joaquin sat more than 50 miles to the east with Long Island a buffer between us, the dock was submerged under more than a foot of water. Up next: The way forward. CHRIS MINNS George Town, Exuma. May, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, PAGE 7
Police officer testifies in hostel abuse trial By PAVEL BAILEY A POLICE Sergeant gave testimony in Magistrate’s Court yesterday in the ongoing Children’s Hostel trial where child abuse has been alleged. Sergeant 3407 Kevin Deveaux testified of his involvement in the matter before Magistrate Kendra Kelly. The six former female employees at Children’s Emergency Hostel were present for his testimony against them. The accused women are Eloise Canter, Carmetta Woods, Natasha Pratt, Occonelle Gordon, Sabrina Smith and Shawn Seymour. However, Seymour is the only one accused of failing to report the abuse of the children — ranging in age from seven to 11-years-old — to the appropriate officials on the day in question. The remaining former staff members are accused of unlawfully physically abusing nine boys and two girls in a way that caused them unnecessary suffering
THE CHILDREN’s Emergency Hostel. on September 22, 2020. several children being The accused were beaten at the facility. charged last year after In his testimony, Sgt police launched an inves- Deveaux, an eight-year vettigation at the home eran of CID’s Tech Section, following a surveillance said that acting on informavideo that went viral on tion he went to the hostel social media, showing on McKinney Drive. There,
‘HE STOLE $1,800 OF PARTS FROM MY CAR’ By PAVEL BAILEY
A WOMAN testified yesterday in a Magistrate’s Court trial of a man she accused of stealing $1,800 worth of auto parts from her car. Tonika Loretta, of Roswell Street, testified before Magistrate Kendra Kelley in the ongoing theft trial against Phillip Rolle. On September 16, 2021, at around 4.50pm while at her residence, Ms Loretta claimed that she heard dogs barking outside and that she saw two men outside carrying her car bumper before entering a waiting vehicle. When she went outside to investigate, she noticed that the bumper and fog lights of her 2012 green Honda Civic were missing. Ms Loretta then told the court that after the incident she reviewed surveillance
footage to identify the culprits. Mention of this security footage led to Rolle’s attorney Ian Cargill objecting on the basis that the footage was not in court. Mr Cargill further cited documentary hearsay. With the court agreeing to Cargill’s objections, Prosecutor Inspector Pyfrom asked the complainant what she did next after the theft to which Ms Loretta said she got the bumper replaced. Ms Loretta said that the replacement of the stolen part cost $1,800 from True to Form Auto. The invoice for the purchase was presented to the court. After her testimony concluded Magistrate Kelly informed the complainant that she will be recalled to court on June 7 for continuation of her testimony against the accused.
WOMAN ACCUSED OF STEALING $15,000 By PAVEL BAILEY A WOMAN was granted bail in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday after facing an allegation of stealing $15,000 from another woman. Sonovia Cartwright, represented by Wendawn Miller-Frazer, appeared before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on a stealing charge. Sometime between midNovember 2021 and early January 2022 Cartwright is accused of stealing $14,360, the property of Courtney David-Thompson. In court, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Additionally, when asked where she wanted to have her matter heard, she elected to continue in a Magistrate’s Court. With there being no objections to bail as Cartwright had no antecedents and had already secured $10,000 for police bail, it was granted to her at the sum of $9,900 with one or two sureties. Under the conditions of the defendant’s bail she is expected to sign in at East Street South Police Station every Wednesday before 6pm. Cartwright is expected to return to court for trial on July 15.
PAIR IN COURT AFTER ‘FIGHT WITH CUTLASSES’ By PAVEL BAILEY
TWO men were granted bail in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday after allegedly attacking each other with cutlasses. Garvin Smith, 41, of #7 Windsor Place, and Ian Stuart, 52, appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain. The men each faced one count of assault with a dangerous instrument and causing harm. On May 5 at Windsor
Place Road both men were accused of assaulting each other with cutlasses resulting in both being injured during the argument. In court, the accused pleaded not guilty to their separate charges. As there was no objection to bail from the prosecution $3,000 bail was granted to each man with one or two sureties. The defendants’ respective trials have been adjourned to July 25.
he spoke to the home manager, a Ms Gibson, and viewed two videos on her laptop of the incident. He then told the court that he downloaded the videos on the flash drive that he had in court.
Ian Cargill, one of the accused’s lawyers, objected to the videos being shown in court on the basis that it was made by a third party (that is Ms Gibson). As such, he argued, that Ms Gibson would have to be in court
for this footage to be shown. With the magistrate agreeing with Mr Cargill’s argument, Prosecutor Inspector Pyfrom went on to ask Sgt Deveaux if he recalled what he did on February 5, 2021. While the police sergeant said that he vaguely remembered the details of that date he managed to recall that he went to EyeWitness News to speak to their then production manager, Clint Watson. There, he received a flash drive containing two videos of EWN news stories covering the incident. Sgt Deveaux then burned the videos to a DVD upon his return to CID. This DVD was then labeled E News and identified with his signature. They were shown in court. When asked what he did with the originals of the information he gathered on the case, Sgt Deveaux said he gave the original copies to Inspector Bowls. Sgt Deveaux and other witnesses are expected to return to court to give further testimony on the matter today.
CENTRAL STATE VISIT TO BAMSI
FROM left, General Manager of BAMSI Alaasis Braynen, CSU’s International Recruiter Kim Hanna, president of BAMSI Senator Erecia Hepburn, a representative from Central State University, executive chairman of BAMSI Senator Tyrel Young, CSU’s vice president, Division of Institutional Advancement and Athletics Jahan Culbreath and executive director of BAMSI Dr Raveenia Roberts-Hanna. STUDENTS from both the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute and Central State University now have the opportunity to study at the partnering school and receive full credits, thanks to an expanded relationship between the institutions. The parameters for such a partnership were put in place when Central State representatives recently paid a courtesy call on BAMSI chairman Tyrel Young and his executive team. While the two academic agencies have previously collaborated, both sides are now seeking to formalise the relationship for the benefit of their student population, faculty and staff. BAMSI president, Senator Erecia Hepburn, said the growing relationship would assist BAMSI in developing “agripreneurs” and
“agri-educators”, who would in turn positively impact the nation’s move to food security. For Bahamian students from the Andros-based Institute, the partnership means that as graduates, they will be able to make a smooth transition into a bachelor’s degree programme, which is offered both online and inperson, Dr Hepburn added. BAMSI students will also be able to participate in a study abroad programme where they spend a semester at Central State campus. For his part, Alaasis Braynen, general manager of BAMSI, called it a “blending of communities”. He said: “We are positioning ourselves to establish scholarships for both campuses. At the end of the day, as our relationship continues to
be forged, students who take advantage of the partnership will have exposure to medium/large scale mechanised agriculture and, on our end, tropical agriculture. “Central State students would have another benefit also, to experience marine science in the Caribbean.” Mr Braynen said whether BAMSI students choose to have a semester abroad or pursue their bachelor’s degree with Central State, their resumé will reflect the international experience, which will go a long way in opening doors for their career. “The move to Central State may take some students out of their comfort zone. But at the end of their assignment they will appreciate the international perspective and the wealth of knowledge gained as a result.”
PAGE 8, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
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Back to the office - but is that best? MOST of us spend more time working than doing anything else. We are trained for this from childhood. The adults go to work, children go to school, and everyone is expected to be productive. Children are encouraged to pay attention in school, to apply themselves to their schoolwork, and to do their best to get high grades in order to secure admission to colleges and universities. After six hours of school, they get home with varying amounts of homework. Some parents complain that it takes hours to complete all of the homework teachers send, that there is too much homework for small children, and that parents are stuck trying to learn the “new math” in order to help the older children. Extra-curricular activities are squeezed in wherever possible, in an effort to demonstrate that the children are well-rounded and good candidates for the next stage of the education. Once they get to college or university, young adults are told, once again, to spend most of their time in classes, studying, completing assignments, doing practice tests, and preparing for exams. Again, they need to find time for extra-curricular activities and secure positions of leadership that will look good on their resumes. While some enjoy
By Alicia Wallace
participating in these activities, others suffer through it, well-aware that it is necessary for the competition. We learn, as children, to do things we do not want to do, to pretend to be interested in activities when we do not care to participate in, and to take work home because it cannot all be done in the day and we need to prove our capabilities. Over the past few days, people have been making interesting observations about work life in The Bahamas. They were not having conversations as much as they were declaring their positions based on their own experiences and vaguely referencing the views of others to which they disagreed. This is the way it most often goes on social media. There were many posts from people suggesting that supervisors and managers should not penalise employees for being late to work. Many of them specified that a grace period of ten to 15 minutes should apply, and there should be exceptions for unusual circumstances. Examples of these
circumstances varied from traffic and car problems to issues with childcare. Some people said they fully expect to work through some of their lunch break or stay later on days they are late to work. Others expressed that they do not work every single minute while at work any way. Views on this varied, but most people seemed to think that the completion of tasks is more important than how every minute is spent at work. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and institutions push to go “back to normal,” work arrangements are changing again. Those who have become accustomed to working from home are now being required to go back to the office. Some employers are calling employees back to work for two or three days per week while others are requiring everyone to be in office every day of the week. This is a difficult adjustment to make for many reasons. People have made significant adjustments in order to work from home.
These include the pur- grandparents in the middle chase of desks and chairs, of the day, just to see how upgrades to internet ser- they are doing. They like vice, and different childcare being able to pick up their arrangements. children from school withThey have also enjoyed out dreading the look they the benefits of working get when they return to the from home which include office. less time in traffic, less People like being able to money spent on gas, ability get their work done without to dress more comfortably, the worst parts of the job — and avoidance of petty dealing with other people arguments and they do not like office politics. ‘We should have at all, being It was diffisurshifted to a more constantly cult to adjust to veilled by bad working from flexible and managers, and home and, for accommodating having to premany, it will tend to be busy work culture be no easier to at all times go back to the a long time because one office. free minute ago. People do Employers would lead need to engage not need to be someone else employees in trapped at desk to believe they conversations do not have or clustered in about their enough work to work environ- cubicles to get do. ments, the their work done.’ We should impact that have shifted to proposed changes will have, a more flexible and accomand the support that will be modating work culture a provided to them as they long time ago. People do make changes. not need to be trapped at It seems, more than desk or clustered in cubicles anything else, people to get their work done. have enjoyed the freeIf a company is good at dom to work in comfort hiring, training, and retainand confidence, free from ing staff, it does not need to the micromanagement monitor them all day every of managers that pop up day. If people are completunannounced, stand over ing the work assigned to shoulders, criticise different them, it should not matter approaches, and insist that where they are when they their way is the only way. do it. People like having the Of course, some employchance to take a break ees need to be on site, to get fresh air, grab a including cashiers and snack, listen to a favour- warehouse workers, but ite song, or call a parent or there are many employees
whose work is not dependent on a particular site. For them, there should be flexibility in work hours and location. It may be possible for some to work from home full time and others to work from home on set days and be in office on the others, or for the work hours to be staggered throughout the day so some people start at nine o’clock in the morning while others start at three o’clock in the afternoon. This can be assessed, and the process should involve staff and managers. Beyond individual workplaces, this can help in broader ways including reduction in traffic and increased ability to conduct business and access services when hours of operation are expanded. Workers deserve to be comfortable. Workers deserve to be happy. Workers deserve to be safe. Employers ought to support their employees, recognising them as people rather than just means of production. Consumers deserve to engage with comfortable, happy, safe people. We are human beings, and our true feelings show more often than not. Why not create good feelings in the workplace, and spread them through good interactions? The old way is not the only way and it has not been particularly productive. We need to do work differently — in a way that works for us.
VICTIM BLAMING ISN’T HELPING LAST week, yet again, the Royal Bahamas Police Force decided to tell women how to avoid being raped. The Minister of National Security, Wayne Munroe, pictured, supported this nonsense and argued that it is not victim-blaming. He is wrong. It is, in fact, victim-blaming to put the onus on people targeted to protect themselves. It suggests that becoming a victim is due to the failure of a person to prevent the violent act against them. It is ridiculous to tell women to check their surroundings and search their dwellings upon return. We are taught, as girls, that it is our responsibility to avoid rape. We learn to sit in a certain way, dress a certain way, trust and not trust certain people, fear certain areas, buildings, sounds, appearances, and activities, and to always, always be uncertain about our safety. As we get older, the rules and expectations increase. We must always announce our plans and report our arrival. We need to
have our keys in our hands and ready before we exit any building or vehicle. If we have things to carry, we need to have them ready and take them all in one trip or decide what is worth leaving behind. We have to figure out how to access items that can be used as weapons, just in case. We had better take self-defence classes. We need to use our cellphones to keep us safe, but not let the cellphones distract us. We need to check our rearview mirrors often, and we need to survey the area before we turn into the driveway. We need to call our fathers, brothers, and husbands to meet us at the bus stop. We need to be nice to the men, but not too nice. Be just nice enough so they may help you if you scream, but not so nice that they may be the ones you need to run away from, screaming for help. We need to be polite. We need to exude confidence. Pretend as though a man is waiting for us, just over there.
Then, when we get home, we need to check every single window and door and make sure they are all secure, according the RBPF. We figure this will let us know if we are about to be raped because, surely, by this point, the predator is in the optimal position, having had the time to plan, perhaps taking into consideration the safety routine we have been practising for decades. Why would we need to receive the useless rape prevention tips from the RBPF? Why are we the targets of rapists, and now the targets of the RBPF’s prevent efforts (if we could even call it that)? Rape is prevented by addressing rape culture — this blaming of victims, normalization of sexual violence, and refusal to acknowledge the spectrum of sexual violence which includes sexual harassment and rape. Rape is prevented by uprooting misogyny and patriarchy, creating an environment where women are understood to be
whole human beings with human rights and value beyond their relationship to men. Rape is prevented when we have comprehensive sexuality education so people understand from a young age that their bodies belong only to them, that they can make decisions about their bodies, that they can give and withhold consent and must respect others’ decisions, that rape is not sex, that sex requires consent, that sexual pleasure is good, that sex is not shameful, and that there is no relationship that gives automatic or ongoing permission for sexual activity or serves as an excuse for sexual violence. Rape is prevented when we have safer communities with proper lighting, properly maintained buildings and properties, reliable public transportation that runs day and night with dedicated, properly-marked stops, and community members that care about each other. Shifting responsibility is shifting the blame. Neither should
be placed on women. We live with the perpetual fear of rape, and we protect ourselves as best we can, every minute of every day. Meanwhile, what is RBPF doing? Not enough. This is where the Department of Gender and Family Affairs ought to step in. Gender-based violence training and gender mainstreaming are desperately needed, and without delay.
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, PAGE 9
A DUSTY DEMISE FOR NASA MARS LANDER IN JULY; POWER DWINDLING
TECHTALK
SOUTHERN MISS STUDENT WANTS TO 3-D PRINT HOMES
By LAUREL THRAILKILL, The Hattiesburg American
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft on Mars is headed for a dusty demise. The Insight lander is losing power because of all the dust on its solar panels. NASA said Tuesday it will keep using the spacecraft’s seismometer to register marsquakes until the power peters out, likely in July. Then flight controllers will monitor InSight until the end of this year, before calling everything off. “There really hasn’t been too much doom and gloom on the team. “We’re really still focused on operating the spacecraft,” said Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Bruce Banerdt, the principal scientist. Since landing on Mars in 2018, InSight has detected more than 1,300 marsquakes; the biggest one, a
THE INSIGHT lander pictured in 2018. The scene was assembled from 11 photos taken using its robotic arm. (NASA via AP, File)
THE INSIGHT lander’s dome-covered seismometer, known as SEIS, on the surface of Mars in 2020. The spacecraft is losing power because of all the dust that’s accumulated on its solar panels. NASA said it will keep using the spacecraft’s seismometer to detect marsquakes until its power peters out. Officials expect operations to cease in July, almost four years after InSight’s arrival at Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP, File)
magnitude 5, occurred two weeks ago. It will be NASA’s second Mars lander lost to dust: A global dust storm took out Opportunity in 2018. In InSight’s case, it’s been a gradual gathering of dust, especially over the past year. NASA’s two other functioning spacecraft on the Martian surface — rovers Curiosity and Perseverance — are still going strong thanks to nuclear
electric oven for one hour and 40 minutes; now it’s down to 10 minutes max. The InSight team anticipated this much dust buildup, but hoped a gust wind of wind or dust devil might clean off the solar panels. That has yet to happen, despite several thousand whirlwinds coming close. “None of them have quite hit us dead-on yet enough to blow the dust off the panels,” Banerdt told
power. The space agency may rethink solar power in the future for Mars, said planetary science director Lori Glaze, or at least experiment with new panel-clearing tech or aim for the less-stormy seasons. InSight currently is generating one-tenth of the power from the sun that it did upon arrival. Deputy project manager Kathya Zamora Garcia said the lander initially had enough power to run an
reporters. Another science instrument, dubbed the mole, was supposed to burrow 16 feet (5 metres) underground to measure the internal temperature of Mars. But the German digger never got deeper than a couple of feet (a halfmetre) because of the unexpected composition of the red dirt, and it finally was declared dead at the beginning of last year.
ARGO TOUTS DRIVERLESS OPERATIONS IN MIAMI AND AUSTIN, TEXAS NEW YORK (AP) — An autonomous vehicle technology company that partners with Ford and Volkswagen says it has started driverless operations in two of eight cities where it is developing its technology. Pittsburgh-based Argo AI has pulled drivers from its autonomous cars in Miami and Austin, Texas, though it is still in the testing phase. Its commercial partnerships with Walmart and Lyft still have backup drivers in both cities. The company is partnering with Lyft to use its autonomous test vehicles for their ride-sharing network in Miami Beach and grocery delivery for Walmart in Miami and Austin. Argo says it is the first company to go driverless in two American citi es, but Argo isn’t the first company to go driverless. Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has been running a driverless ride service near Phoenix since 2020. It announced in March that it started carrying employees in electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in San Francisco without human backup drivers. In February, General Motors and its autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise posted a signup page for anyone to reserve a free ride, also in San Francisco. Late last year, a semitruck operated by the San Diego company TuSimple completed an 80-mile route in Arizona, the first successful fully autonomous run by a class 8 vehicle on open public roads with no human intervention.
AN EXPERIMENTAL autonomous vehicle arrives for a drop-off in Miami Beach, Florida in 2020. The autonomous vehicle technology company that partners with Ford and Volkswagen says it has started driverless operations in two of eight cities where it is developing its technology. Pittsburgh-based Argo AI has pulled drivers from its autonomous cars in Miami and Austin, though it is still in the testing phase. Its commercial partnerships with Walmart and Lyft still have backup drivers in both cities. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Alkendria “Desiree” McNair’s passion for technology began with video games and evolved into an interest in 3-D printing houses. “I started off playing video games, then I went to kind of fixing phones. I’ve always just had my hand in technology, but no one in my community really pushed technology careers,” the 27-year-old said. Now a student at Southern Miss studying information technology, the Collins native is interested in how 3-D printing of houses can lead to more sustainability and lower home costs. She was inspired by the lack of affordability of houses and a passion for the environment. “3-D printing is another way that they can create homes and buildings without taking the natural resources. ... I thought that was something amazing that you could literally build a house with a machine,” McNair said. McNair is a mother, and she said her 3-year-old daughter Amora Hathorn inspires her to be successful. “She inspires me a lot to keep pushing when I’m tired,” McNair said. “I kind of do this for her. She has autism, so I want to be able to provide her with the services she needs as well.” McNair balances her responsibilities as a mother and student along with her job as a student worker in the Southern Miss computer science department. She is also a member of the university’s Women in Science and Engineering Organization, a historian for the Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation and a veteran. She was recently selected as a 2022 IBMzSystems Student Ambassador for her accomplishments. McNair will participate in a leadership programme to upskill her technical knowledge, network with industry leaders and collaborate with peers worldwide this summer. “It’s basically an organisation where you learn about the mainframes of IBM,” she said. “So you learn about their systems. They work with different companies from airlines to banks.” Sarah Lee, director of the Southern Miss School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering, said McNair is a leader. “As an IBM zSystems Student Ambassador, she will have a great opportunity to expand her network as she builds relationships with professionals from throughout the country and further develop her leadership skills,” Lee said. McNair hopes she can be an inspiration for others to pursue their passions. “I hope to inspire other people to go for what they love to do and stop being conformed to what they think they should be doing or what other people put in their minds because sometimes people just do things because other people say they should do it, not because they want to,” McNair said.
PAGE 10, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
SUSPECT CHARGED OVER CALIFORNIA CHURCH SHOOTING
SANTA ANA, California Associated Press THE MAN accused of opening fire on a Taiwanese church congregation in California was charged yesterday with first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder for what a prosecutor called an effort to “execute” as many people as possible. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer also announced that David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas faces enhancements for “lying in wait” and use of a firearm, as well as four counts of possessing destructive devices with intent to kill or harm. “We typically think of the person who hides in the bushes,” Spitzer said. “This case is about the person concealing themselves in plain view.”
DAVID CHOU
Authorities have said Chou — a US citizen who authorities say grew up in Taiwan — was motivated by hatred of Taiwanese people. A federal hate crimes investigation is also ongoing. If convicted as charged and the jury finds the enhancements to be true, Chou would face a sentence of either life in prison without possibility of parole or the death penalty, Spitzer said. “While there’s very strong evidence right now that this was motivated by hate, we want to make sure we have put together all the evidence that confirms that theory in the case,” Spitzer said, when asked whether he would be filing charge of a hate crime. Chou is accused of opening fire during a Sunday luncheon for members of Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, which worships at Geneva Presbyterian Church in the community of Laguna Woods. Chou drove to Orange County on Saturday and the next day attended the luncheon. He spent about an hour mingling with about 40 attendees and then executed his plot, authorities said.
A PHOTO of Dr John Cheng, a 52-year-old victim who was killed in Sunday’s shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church, is displayed outside his office in Aliso Viejo, California, yesterday.
Racist killer had been quizzed - but no specific threat found CONKLIN, New York Associated Press IN THE waning days of Payton Gendron’s COVID19-altered senior year at Susquehanna Valley High School, he logged on to a virtual learning program in economics class that asked: “What do you plan to do when you retire?” “Murder-suicide,” Gendron typed. Despite his protests that it was all a joke, the bespectacled 17-year-old who had long been viewed by classmates as a loner with good grades was questioned by state police over the possible threat and then taken into custody and to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation under a state mental health law. But a day and a half later, he was released. And two weeks after that, he was allowed to participate in graduation festivities, including riding in the senior parade, where he was photographed atop a convertible driven by his father and festooned with yellow-and-blue balloons and signs reading, “Congratulations” and “Payton Gendron”. That account of Gendron’s brush with the law last spring, according to authorities and other people familiar with what happened, emphasised the same point school officials made in a message to parents at the time: An investigation found no specific, credible threat against the school or any individual from that sign of trouble. That same young white man bought a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle, traveled three hours to Buffalo and went on what authorities say was a racist, livestreamed shooting rampage Saturday in a crowded supermarket that
PAYTON Gendron appears during his arraignment in Buffalo City Court, on Saturday. Photo: Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News via AP left ten Black people dead. Gendron, now 18, was arraigned on a state murder charge over the weekend and a court-appointed public defender entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. He remained jailed under suicide watch as federal prosecutors contemplate hate-crime charges. Even as the FBI swarmed the home where Gendron lived with his parents and two younger brothers, neighbours and classmates in this community of 5,000 near the New York-Pennsylvania line say they say nothing of the kind of racist rhetoric seen in a 180-page online diatribe, purportedly written by Gendron, in which he describes in minute detail how he researched ZIP codes with the highest concentrations of Black people, surveilled the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, and carried out the assault to terrorise all nonwhite, non-Christian people into leaving the country. Classmates described
Gendron as a quiet, studious boy who got high marks but seemed out of place in recent years, turning to online streaming games, a fascination with guns and ways to grab attention from his peers. When school partially opened again in 2020 after COVID-19-related shutdowns, Gendron showed up covered head to toe in a hazmat suit. Classmate Matthew Casado said he didn’t think the stunt -– he called it “a harmless joke” — went down well with other students. “Most people didn’t associate with him,” he said. “They didn’t want to be known as friends with a kid who was socially awkward and nerdy.” Gendron excelled in sciences, once earning top marks in a state chemistry competition. But he was known for keeping to himself and not talking much. And when he did talk, it was about isolation, rejection and desperation.
“He talked about how he didn’t like school because he didn’t have friends. He would say he was lonely,” said Casado, who graduated with Gendron last year. At one point last winter, Gendron’s mother called Casado’s mother with a request: Please have Matthew call Payton because he had no friends and needed to talk. The two boys ended up going to flea markets together, watching YouTube videos and shooting guns on nearby state land over the next few months. Some neighbours had a similar view, seeing the family as happy and prosperous, with both Paul Gendron and his wife, Pamela, holding stable jobs as civil engineers with the New York state Department of Transportation, earning nearly $200,000 combined, according to online records. Dozens of their Facebook posts over the years show the parents and their
three boys - often dressed in matching outfits - enjoying amusement park vacations, going on boat trips and camping trips, shooting laser tag guns and opening presents on Christmas morning. Carl Lobdell, a family friend who first met Gendron on a camping vacation a dozen years ago, said he was shocked that Payton was identified as the suspect in the mass shooting. “When I heard about the shooting... I just cried,” he said. One of Gendron’s lawyers, Daniel DuBois, said yesterday he had no comment. The family did not respond to a request for comment over the weekend. No one answered the door Monday at the family home, surrounded by a neat, spacious lawn. Near the front door was a tiny right hand pressed in concrete with a heart symbol and the words, “PAYTON 2008.” One parent of a Susquehanna Valley High student said she was furious that the student who was investigated for making the threat last year -- whom she later discovered was Gendron - was still allowed to participate in all graduation activities. The woman asked not to be identified because she feared harassment. According to a recording of a conference call of federal and local law enforcement officials Monday that was obtained by The Associated Press, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Gendron’s comments he made in school in June 2021 were “generalised statements” and not targeted at anyone in particular or at a specific location, which is why no criminal charges were filed.
He said the state police “did everything within the confines of the law”. Gendron enrolled at Broome County Community College and later dropped out. The school wouldn’t say why. And according to online writings attributed to him, he began planning his assault on the Buffalo supermarket beginning at least in November, saying he was inculcated into his racist views online. “I was never diagnosed with a mental disability or disorder, and I believe to be perfectly sane,” according to one passage. A new, 589-page document of online diary postings emerged Monday that authorities have attributed to Gendron. In it, he describes his preparations for the Buffalo supermarket shooting in detail, writing at one point that he considered attacking a predominantly black elementary school instead. He also recounted how he chased down a neighbourhood cat, stabbed and decapitated it with a hatchet, took a picture and then buried it in the backyard. Some of its passages also aligned with the account AP’s sources gave of his high school threat investigation. “Another bad experience was when I had to go to a hospitals ER because I said the word’s ‘murder/ suicide’ to an online paper in economics class,” said one entry. “I got out of it because I stuck with the story that I was getting out of class and I just stupidly wrote that down. That is the reason I believe I am still able to purchase guns.” “It was not a joke, I wrote that down because that’s what I was planning to do.”
KOREAN SALON SHOOTER ‘HAD DELUSIONS ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS’ DALLAS Associated Pres
THE girlfriend of a man arrested in Dallas yesterday in a shooting that wounded three women in a Koreatown hair salon told police he had been admitted to health facilities because he was having delusions about Asian Americans, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Jeremy Theron Smith, 37, faces three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to jail records. “This arrest is a result of the hard work, sacrifice,
JEREMY SMITH community support, to bring a suspect to justice, and to ultimately bring peace to this community, who rightfully so, have been nervous, frustrated and angry since this crime has occurred,” Dallas police
Chief Eddie Garcia said at a news conference yesterday afternoon. Police Sr Cpl Soo Nam also addressed the reporters, delivering a statement on the arrest in Korean. Garcia said the department has ten officers who speak Korean. The FBI said yesterday that it has opened a federal hate crime investigation along with federal prosecutors in Texas and the US Department of Justice’s civil rights division. Smith, who is black, is jailed and no bond has been set. Jail records do not list an attorney for him.
According to the affidavit, Smith’s girlfriend told authorities that whenever Smith is around an Asian American, “he begins having delusions that the Asian mob is after him or attempting to harm him”. She told detectives he had been having delusions about Asian Americans ever since being involved in a car crash about two years ago with a man of Asian descent. She said he was also fired for “verbally attacking” his boss, who was of Asian descent. Garcia has said the shooting last Wednesday at Hair World Salon has been
connected to two previous shootings at businesses run by Asian Americans. Dallas FBI spokeswoman Melinda Urbina said agents are working with city police “to thoroughly investigate this incident” but that she couldn’t provide further information because the probe is ongoing. Authorities in Dallas have said a man dressed all in black opened fire at the salon, then drove off from the shopping centre in a maroon minivan. Garcia said investigators found that a similar vehicle had been reported as involved in two other recent shootings.
Someone opened fire in an April 2 drive-by near the salon and Garcia said the minivan was also linked to a May 10 shooting about 25 miles southeast of there. No one was injured in either of those shootings. The three women who were shot at the salon on Wednesday were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening. Garcia said the suspect fired 13 shots inside the salon. Garcia said one woman was injured in her arm, one in her foot and another in her back. He said four others at the salon weren’t injured.
SPORTS PAGE 11
BAHAMAS Cricket Association president Greg Taylor.
NEW APPOINTMENT FOR BCA PRESIDENT GREG TAYLOR By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
OVER the weekend, Bahamas Cricket Association president Greg Taylor was elected to serve on another regional body. For the next two years, he will serve as the Non Voting Associates Representative for the America’s Region to the International Cricket Club. His appointment will place him in charge of 11 Associates in the region. Taylor, who previously served from 2002-2009 in the same capacity when all of the region were just known as Affiliates before the ICC changed it to NonVoting Associates, said it’s a prestigious post for him to represent the region in this fashion. He’s expected to work directly with Fara Gorsi, the ICC Americas Regional Development Manager out of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Imran Khwaja, who is an associate member director, who was first elected to the ICC board in 2008 and has served as deputy chairman since 2017. “We have a lot of work to do in terms of getting cricket up and running,” said Taylor, who will get the opportunity to travel to various meetings to discuss the way forward for the sport to continue to grow in the region. “I would like to see the Non-Voting Associates set up their game and have more involvement in the game and participation in the ICC, including us. “We need to see the sport developed more from the grassroot area up.” As it pertains to the Bahamas, Taylor said his position will open the door for the Bahamas to become stronger in the region. “The Bahamas now have somebody who can lobby for us. We just have to get our act together and put certain things in place like the Youth Development Program,” said Taylor, of the High School sessions held on the weekends at Haynes Oval, conducted by the BBC Taylor noted that during the week, the BCA has also instituted a women’s program with the first six participants, but he said they anticipate that the numbers will swell this week to over 20 as there has been some keen interest from a lot of persons. Taylor has served as the president of the BCA since 2013 and is expected to contest another three-year term in office whenever the elections are held. He noted that no date or venue has been confirmed for the elections as yet.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
Krystal Evans runs the line as assistant referee
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
KRYSTAL Evans, following in the footsteps of Grand Bahamian Vanette Laing, is the latest Bahamian to serve as an International Federation of Association Football (FIBA) official and she’s loving it. Since 2019, Evans has been the only Bahamian to be included on FIFA’s list of officials, serving as a FIFA Assistant Referee, a position that operates from the sidelines. Laing, who formally served as the first Bahamian official, was a FIFA Referee, which enabled her to control the game from the middle of the field. Although she’s not there yet, Evans said she’s striving to reach that in the near future. “I always wanted to be on the national team and eventually play in the Olympics,” said Evans, one of the country’s talented versatile athletes. “I never really thought about becoming an official of any sport until I actually started doing it. “It wasn’t something that I was inspired to do, but now that I’m in it, I enjoy it and I like it, despite the constant criticism that referees encounter. It offers a lot of opportunities, once you discipline yourself and get the proper training.” Evans, who got started in
KRYSTAL Evans officiates as an assistant referee in The Bahamas’ match against the Turks and Caicos Islands at the weekend. PHOTOS: Racardo Thomas/Tribune staff
officiating through the insistence of her then boyfriend, now husband, Meko Evans, said at present she’s ranked at the tier two level, but she aspires to move up to tier one where she can officiate at the Olympics and the World Cup. “It’s a tedious job because you have to remain healthy and fit,” she said. “One of the main things you have to avoid in being an official is sickness because you never know when they will call you to go and officiate somewhere and you can’t
tell them that you can’t go because you are ill.” Although it’s not a full-time job, Evans, a mother of one to her daughter, Emeka Evans, said she enjoys the peaks that come along with it. She’s been given airfare and accommodations with a per diem in every tournament she has attended so far, including World Cup Qualifiers and Championships for Under-17 and Women’s Divisions. But it’s not a job that she can give up her full time commitment as a physical education teacher at Gerald Cash Primary School because she still has a lifestyle to maintain.
Having officiated at a number of international events, including the Women’s Elite Referee Course last year, Evans said she just wants to see how far she can go in the sport. “If I can make it to the Olympics, that would be fine for me,” she said. “But it requires a lot of discipline and time. It’s a lot of work, but if you can put in the effort, you can make it to that level.” However, she has withdrawn from participating in any team sport at this time because she has to avoid getting any injuries. She also encourages more Bahamians to get involved in officiating because it’s a rewarding job outside of playing the game.
PLAYERS practicing in AF Adderley Gymnasium over the weekend. Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune staff
JUNIOR NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM PREPARES FOR PUERTO RICO
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas Basketball Federation’s junior national basketball team is preparing to travel to Puerto Rico next month for the Centro Basket Under15 Girls Tournament and according to coach Varel Davis, they will ensure that they have the best players selected. The team began practicing about a month ago at the AF Adderley Gymnasium in preparation for the tournament, scheduled for June 24 to July 1. When they return, Davis said they will take the under-16 team to a similar tournament, but they are waiting on a date and venue to be confirmed.
Her management team, consisting of assistant coaches Taronya Wildgoose from Grand Bahama, Anton Francis and Shakira Farrington, has already made a cut of players from the team and they are now trimming it down to the actual size to get everybody
in tip-top shape to compete. “So far, we’ve had about 30 girls who came out every Saturday, and now we are narrowing it down because we want to get the team ready,” Davis said. During the recent Noble Preparatory Academy Tournament a couple of
weeks ago, Davis said they put in a team to allow the coaches to assess the skills of the players during a game situation and she was quite impressed with what she saw. “We have some good bigs, who could play in the paint and we have
some excellent ball handlers,” Davis said. “We just need to sharpen their skills because most of them haven’t played any basketball since the pandemic. So it’s going to take some time to get them where we want them to be.” Francis said things are looking pretty good and he’s confident that they will perform very well. “The fact that Covid-19 kept the girls inactive, they look pretty good in practice,” he said. “We have some very good girls and there are some girls who need a little more work. But we hope to take the best talent available in the country.” On hand to lend his experitse during Saturday’s SEE PAGE 12
PAGE 12, Wednesday, May 18, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
LEEVAN Sands with the trophy won by the Florida Seminoles.
Sands celebrates Seminoles title win By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
NOT many Bahamian athletes get to enjoy being champions from the other side of the field of play when they make the transition to coaching. But national triple jump record holder Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands is one of those rare individuals. In just his first year as an assistant coach, Sands got a chance to celebrate with the Florida Seminoles as they won the Atlantic Coast Conference ACC Outdoor Track and Field Conference championship title over the weekend in Durham, North Carolina. “It’s been a great eight months so far here. My athletes are doing great. I am proud of them, The team is doing very well,” said Sands after he joined in the celebrations over the weekend by hoisting their trophy. “I am grateful for the opportunity from the head coach Bob Braman, who is an amazing head coach. I am learning a lot. It’s just an amazing feeling to come out on top and be the best in the conference. I feel good. I feel great.” Although he starred for Auburn University Tigers during his collegiate tenure, Sands said he always admired the legacy that the Seminoles achieved with
JUNIOR NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM PREPARES FOR PUERTO RICO FROM PAGE 11 practice was coach James ‘Jimmy’ Clarke, now a consultant with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, headed by Minister Mario Bowleg, who was also in the AF Adderley Gym watching. “I just tried to discuss with them a little bit of ball handling and shooting skills, defensive skills and their footwork,” said Clarke, one of the winningest high school coaches in the prestious Huge Campbell Basketball Classic. “That’s the most important thing for them because in order to be a good ball player, you need footwork. If they can do that, it will add to their defence and enable them to be more porductive offensively.” From what he’s seen, Clarke said the team looks good with some height on it and he encouraged the coaches to continue to get the players ready for the tournament. He said he looks forward to coming back and assist the team before they head off. He said he’s confident that wheverer they go “they will produce some fireworks. They look that good.”
the many Olympians who passed through the programme. He hopes that he can contribute to the continuation of their success. “I’m just hoping my jumpers, who work hard, will continue to do well,” he said. “The hard work is definitely showing off right
now. I think right now, we should be the number one or two jump squad in the country. So I’m excited about that.” Before being an assistant at Florida, he served as an assistant track and field coach st the University of Northern Colorado for the
PLAYERS practicing in AF Adderley Gymnasium over the weekend. PHOTOS: Racardo Thomas/ Tribune staff
past two years as he transitioned from a long and illustrious 13-year career as a professional athlete, highlighted by his bronze medal in the triple jump at the 2008 Olympic Games. Sands, who has also been the CEO of Sands Pro Apparel for four years
and co-owner of Sno Bix and Sand Pit Snacks, is a four-time Olympian and 12-time Bahamas national champion and holder of the Bahamian national outdoor triple jump record of 17.59m and indoor long jump of 8.10m. The former outstanding
basketball player with the Temple Christian Suns also won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games and bronze medals from the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2003 World Championships, and the 2015 North American, Central, American and Caribbean Championships. Sands, who graduated from Auburn University in 2005 with a degree in adult education, was the 2003 NCAA long jump champion and the NCAA triple jump champion in 2004. In 2004, Sands was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. As a 40-year-old husband (wife Danielle) and father (children Leevan III, Lion and Legend), Sands is preparing for his official retirement from the sport so that he can concentrate fully on his new role as a coach. He has certainly gotten off to a great start at the division one collegiate track and field level. Hopefully the success will continue as they head into Bloomington, Indiana for the NCAA East Preliminaries, scheduled for May 25-28 and in Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 8-11th. “I’m excited about being a part of such a great team of athletes and coaches,” Sands quipped. “It’s great to be a Seminole. So go
THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, PAGE 13
MAGIC MOMENT: ORLANDO WINS LOTTERY, LANDS NO. 1 PICK By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Orlando Magic won the NBA draft lottery Tuesday night and landed the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since they got Dwight Howard in 2004. It’s the fourth time lottery luck struck for the Magic, who won in backto-back years in 1992 and 1993, taking Shaquille O’Neal and then trading the rights to Chris Webber for Penny Hardaway. Orlando finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 22-60 and missed the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years. But the Magic got a huge win in the lottery, where they had a 14% chance landing the top pick. “It feels great,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “I’m so happy for our fans. They really stuck with us. And nights like this help, where you can really show the fruits of why you go through these phases and these cycles. And hopefully, they’re really excited by this.” Duke’s Paolo Banchero, Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and Auburn’s Jabari Smith are widely considered the most likely candidates to be taken first. The draft is June 23 in New York. Oklahoma City got the second pick, followed by Houston and Sacramento. The Kings moved up from the No. 7 spot entering the lottery. Detroit picks fifth, with Indiana, Portland, New Orleans, San Antonio and Washington rounding out the top 10. The rest of the lottery results are: New York, Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Cleveland. The lottery, with 14 ping pong balls numbered 1 through 14 placed into a hopper, sets the first four picks. The remainder of the non-playoff teams go in reverse order of their finish. Houston, Orlando and Detroit had the best odds of winning the lottery at 14%. All three had young teams that finished at the bottom of the NBA. The Magic are committed to building through the draft after trading veterans Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon in March 2021 for first-round draft picks in 2023 and 2025. But they were missing two of the young players they are trying to build around last season with Jonathan Issac and Markelle Fultz recovering from knee injuries. New Orleans might be one of the biggest winners as the lone playoff team with a lottery pick. The Pelicans got it in the 2019 trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers. With Los Angeles struggling to a 33-49 record, eighth worst in the NBA, that put the Pelicans in position to cash in. They needed the pick to fall in the top-10 in order to keep it, and there was a 99.6% chance of that. Now, they’re in position to add a lottery pick to go with All-Star Brandon Ingram. Banchero, Holmgren and Smith decided to turn pro after one college season while Ivey spent two years at Purdue. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Banchero was viewed as a likely one-and-done player before he arrived at Duke from Seattle as part of a talented recruited class. He lived up to it, helping the Blue Devils reach now-retired coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record 13th Final Four before losing to archrival North Carolina. With his strength and perimeter skills, Banchero averaged 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds. He scored 20 or more 15 times while failing to reach double figures only twice in 39 games. Holmgren, a 7-footer with the ability to pass and handle the ball like a guard, was one of the most highly touted recruits ever for Gonzaga. He was the West Coast Conference newcomer of the year, defensive player of the year and a first-team all-conference selection. He averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game, and was a thirdteam AP All-American.
NASSAU Rowing Club hosted its first Lake Cunningham Classic with Canadian Olympic champions Rob Gibson and Andrea Proske at the weekend. Photo: Racardo Thomas
Canadian Olympic champions bring expertise to Lake Cunningham Classic By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
CANADIAN Olympic champions Rob Gibson and Andrea Proske have decided to bring their coaching expertise to the Bahamas at the Windsor High School and the Nassau Rowing Club. The duo had their competitiveness on display on Saturday as the Nassau RC hosted its first Lake Cunningham Classic, a dual meet between the Windsor High School and the Nassau RC. When it was all done, Gibson and his Windsor High rowing team emerged victorious over Proske and the Nassau RC. But for both of them, it wasn’t so much about who won or lost, but rather the camaraderie that developed between the two teams. Gibson, a 13-year member of rhe Canadian national team who won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, said in the half of the school year that he’s
been at Windsor High, he’s been impressed with the performances from his competitors. “It was above expectations,” said Gibson, who also participated in both the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I first came here. “Things are looking good. Things are going in the right direction right now. “There was a lot of happy faces on the water after not competing for the past two years because of COVID-19.” Proske, who decided to spend her retirement years in the Bahamas after she won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Toyko, Japan for Canada, said she was pleased with the way the competitors performed on Saturday. “It’s so easy to see how well they can compete when they bring their A-game,” Proske said. “For a lot of them, this was more than just rowing a straight line to
and fro. “It was about developing a friendship and hopefully that will springboard to them competing in some international events in the future.” Based on what she’s seen from the competition, Proske said she’s convinced that the Nassau RC has a bright future ahead of them with the competitors involved, which she said was why they hosted the regatta in the first place. “The Nassau RC competitors sailed as best as they could,” she said. “A lot of the kids came out out and did what they had to do. They stuck to their game plan and we came out with some victories as well.” Calling it competition cooperation, Proske said as a former training partner of Gibson, it’s easy for them to work together and they simply want to see the kids perform. She noted, however, that the Nassau RC will be back next year
bigger and better and hopefully they can take the title from the Windsor High School. Gibson said the course on Lake Cunningham is a hidden gem and he’s looking forward to continuing the partnership with the Nassau RC to make the sport a vibrant one in the Bahamas. “I’m just happy with what I’ve seen today,” he said. “I think we have forged a good working relationship with Windsor School and the Nassau RC, so we will see how we can continue to develop that.” Gibson and Proske will again collaborate this summer when they are expected to take a team from the Nassau RC, including competitors from Windsor High, to the CanAmMex in Canada in July. It will be the first of many events that the Canadian Olympians hope to get local rowers involved in as they seek to eventully get a team to compete at the Olympics in the future.
BLTA CONGRATULATES TENNIS PLAYERS ON THEIR GRADUATION THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) is congratulating Joshua Turnquest, Hannah-Joy Simms, Sierra Donaldson and Afrika Smith on graduating from university this month. Turnquest graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University(IWU). He obtained a Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies. He also holds a Bachelor of Art in Accounting from Asbury University. He played exceptionally for the IWU Wildcats and Asbury Eagles, who recognised him on Senior’s Day when he went four for four in his tennis matches winning two singles and two doubles. The coach stated, “We were able to honour our seniors today, we are going to miss Karl and Josh. Their leadership and talent have been so valuable for our team. The last four years, the men’s record is 121-18 for a .870 winning percentage. Their highest ranking is the current ranking of No. 2 in the nation. This year our record is 39-4. They have literally set every school record.” Simms obtained a double major with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and
Psychology. She started playing tennis at the age of 10 and represented the Brescia Bearcats tennis team well. She was awarded All-Conference 1st Team for the River State Conference recently. Hannah-Joy closed out her senior year at the Conference Quarterfinals. Donaldson obtained her Bachelor of Science in sports management from Lee University. She graduated with honours. She was also recognised on Senior’s Day by her tennis team, Lee Flames, as they closed out the season at the Conference Quarterfinals. Her college tennis career included conference quarterfinal appearances and being named conference player of the week. Smith graduated from Bethune-Cookman University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Smith represented Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on their Women’s Tennis team playing in the #1 position for both singles and doubles. She represented her team well. “We know you all will continue to soar,” the BLTA said.
UKRAINE’S SOCCER TEAM BEATS ITALIAN CLUB EMPOLI IN FRIENDLY EMPOLI, Italy (AP) — Wearing a message of “United for Ukraine” on their shirts, Ukraine’s national soccer team won its second straight friendly match by beating Italian Serie A club Empoli 3-1 on Tuesday. Having also beaten German club Borussia Mönchengladbach last week in its first game since the Russian invasion, Ukraine is regaining its form ahead of a World Cup qualifying playoff against Scotland next month. Roman Yaremchuk, Oleksandr Karavaiev and Oleksandr Pikhalonok scored for Ukraine, while Andrea La Mantia briefly made it 1-1 for Empoli. The numbers on the back of Ukraine players’ shirts were composed of the names of the country’s cities that have been under attack since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24.
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THE TRIBUNE
ACUÑA RETURNS, OZUNA HOMERS AS BRAVES DEFEAT BREWERS 3-0 By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. returned to action, Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves ended their scoring drought in a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. Adam Duvall scored an unearned run in the fifth to end a string of 20 straight scoreless innings for the Braves’ lineup. Ozuna extended the lead to 3-0 in the eighth with his sixth homer of the season, a 421foot shot to left off Brad Boxberger. Acuña was back atop the Atlanta lineup as the designated hitter after missing five games with a sore groin. The Braves have been cautious in his usage as he comes back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that caused him to miss the second half of the 2021 season. “He’ll play tonight, and then we’ll check him out in the morning and see where we’re at,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said before the game. “It’s just going to pretty much have to be how he comes in every day, what he’s feeling.” Acuña beat out an infield hit to start the game and went 1 for 3 with two walks and a run scored. He stole a base for the sixth time in 11 games. Tucker Davidson (1-0) threw five shutout innings for Atlanta after getting called up from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day. In his only other major league appearance this season, Davidson allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings of relief as the Braves fell 11-2 to the Washington Nationals on April 11. The Brewers loaded the bases in the eighth on three walks before Lorenzo Cain hit a two-out grounder to the left side of the infield. Braves third baseman Austin Riley made a nice play going to his left to field the ball before throwing to first baseman Matt Olson, who caught it on a bounce. Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth for his ninth save in as many opportunities. Acuña played a role in the fifth-inning rally that put the Braves ahead for good. After Duvall and Dansby Swanson started the rally with consecutive one-out singles, Acuña hit a ball that went off the glove of Brewers third baseman Mike Brosseau and headed into left field. That allowed Duvall to score the Braves’ first run since the fourth inning of a 7-3, 11-inning loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday. The Brewers hadn’t allowed a run since the third inning of a 7-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday. Brewers starter Adrian Houser (3-4) struck out six and allowed four hits and two walks in six innings. MILWAUKEE PITCHER SUSPENDED Brewers RHP J.C. Mejía was suspended for 80 games following a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol, a synthetic steroid derived from testosterone. The Brewers replaced him by calling up RHP Trevor Kelley from Triple-A Nashville. TRAINER’S ROOM Braves: LHP Tyler Matzek went on the injured list, retroactive to May 14, with left shoulder inflammation. “He’ll be shut down for a couple of weeks, and then we’ll re-evaluate him and see where he’s at,” Snitker said. Brewers: SS Willy Adames felt better Tuesday than he did Monday, raising hope that he could avoid a trip to the injured list as he recovers from a sprained left ankle. Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said Adames isn’t expected to play Wednesday or in Friday’s series opener against Washington. “I just want to feel stronger and get to a position where I know I can give my best out there and not just play to be playing,” Adames said. ... OF Andrew McCutchen rejoined the team after a bout with COVID-19 that caused him to spend a week in an Atlanta hotel room. He remained out of the lineup. UP NEXT The three-game series concludes Wednesday afternoon with LHP Max Fried (4-2, 3.14 ERA) starting for the Braves against RHP Corbin Burnes (1-2, 1.77).
MIAMI Marlins’ Erik Gonzalez, right, and Miguel Rojas (11) celebrate scoring runs during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals as teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2) looks on, Tuesday, in Miami. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
Rojas homers, gets three hits as Marlins beat Nationals 5-1
MIAMI (AP) — Miguel Rojas homered, doubled and singled to lead the Miami Marlins over the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Tuesday night. Jesús Sánchez also went deep and Jesús Aguilar had two hits for the Marlins, who will attempt to complete their second three-game sweep of the season against Washington on Wednesday. Rojas’ shot in the fifth inning put Miami ahead 1-0 when he drove starter Joan Adon’s fastball over the wall in left field for his second homer of the season. Sánchez made it 2-0
with his drive off reliever Steve Cishek in the sixth. The homer was Sánchez’s fourth, ending a drought going back to April 21. Miami starter Cody Poteet retired the first 10 Nationals until Juan Soto’s one-out single in the fourth. In his first start of the season after eight relief appearances, Poteet pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out four. Poteet extended his scoreless streak to 19 2/3 innings from his six previous relief outings. Anthony Bender (1-3) relieved Poteet and threw
one scoreless inning. Four additional Miami relievers combined to get the final 13 outs. Washington reliever Erasmo Ramírez’s two errors and a throwing error by first baseman Josh Bell helped Miami score twice in the seventh. Ramírez misplayed Erik Gonzalez’s sacrifice bunt attempt and then made an errant pickoff throw that got past Bell and scored Rojas from third. Gonzalez sprinted toward third and Bell’s throw eluded third baseman Maikel Franco, allowing Gonzalez to score. The Nationals trimmed
the deficit on Bell’s sacrifice fly in the eighth before Jacob Stallings’ RBI single in the bottom half gave the Marlins another four-run advantage. Adon (1-7) was lifted after 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander allowed one run, five hits, struck out two and hit a batter with a pitch. FALSE ALARM As Bender took his warmup tosses in relief of Poteet, the alarm system at loan Depot Park went off repeatedly and caused a five-minute delay. Spectators immediately were informed that the system
malfunctioned, resulting in the false alarm. TRAINER’S ROOM Marlins: OF Bryan De La Cruz sustained a bruised right forearm and left after getting hit by a 96 mph fastball from Adon in the fourth. ... LHP Richard Bleier (undisclosed injury) could soon throw a bullpen and progress to a rehab outing. UP NEXT RHP Josiah Gray (4-3, 4.34 ERA) will pitch the series finale for the Nationals on Wednesday against RHP Pablo López (4-1, 1.05).
LIVERPOOL BEAT SOUTHAMPTON 2-1, TITLE RACE GOES TO THE WIRE SOUTHAMPTON, England (AP) — The Premier League title race is going to the wire. Remarkably, an unprecedented quadruple is still on for Liverpool. Tired and hit by injuries after winning the FA Cup final on Saturday, Liverpool fielded a second-choice lineup against Southampton and demonstrated a great mentality to come from behind to win 2-1 on Tuesday. It leaves Jurgen Klopp’s team a point behind Manchester City heading into the final round of a thrilling league campaign. That’s on Sunday, when Liverpool are at home to Wolverhampton at the same time as City host Aston Villa — managed by Liverpool great Steven Gerrard. “Whatever happens this season, we have done ourselves proud,” Liverpool midfielder James Milner said. “All we could do is take it to the last game and we’ve done that.” City remain the favourite in their bid for a sixth league title in 11 seasons, but Liverpool have done their part by taking the defending champions all the way. In fact, the Reds are taking every competition to the final game this season, with a Champions League final against Real Madrid still to come on May 28. They’ve already won both domestic cups in a season for the ages. Joel Matip completed Liverpool’s latest comeback by unwittingly heading home the winning goal in the 67th minute at St. Mary’s Stadium. Klopp’s team had also come from behind in its previous two league games, a 2-1 win against Villa and a 1-1 draw with Tottenham. They just don’t know when they are beaten. “We keep going,” Klopp said. “We never give up. That’s how it is.” The game came only three days after Liverpool’s energy-sapping FA Cup triumph over Chelsea, which went 120 minutes before the Reds won a penalty shootout. Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were injured at Wembley Stadium and didn’t travel
LIVERPOOL players celebrate after Liverpool’s Joel Matip scored his side’s second goal during the English Premier League soccer match against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, England, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
to Southampton. Fabinho was already injured. Andrew Robertson and Luis Diaz were unused substitutes. Despite the slew of changes, Liverpool dominated a passive Southampton team with nothing left to play for this season but still fell behind in the 13th minute when Nathan Redmond cut inside from the left and sent in a shot that deflected off Milner and into the far corner. Liverpool’s players kept their composure and replied 14 minutes later when Diogo Jota laid the ball off to Takumi Minamino, who displayed quick feet before firing a rising shot inside Alex
McCarthy’s near post. The Japan forward was on loan at Southampton last season and hadn’t started a league game since then. The rest of the match saw Liverpool camped inside Southampton’s half but only managing to create half-chances. The atmosphere was starting to get tense when Liverpool were gifted what proved to be the winning goal, after a corner by Kostas Tsimikas was glanced on at the near post by Southampton forward Mohamed Elyounoussi. The ball flew across the area, skimmed off the head of Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters, hit the forehead of Matip and
rebounded into the far corner beyond McCarthy’s despairing dive. Liverpool were 14 points behind City at one point in January, albeit with two games in hand. Somehow, the title is still within reach with 90 minutes left to play. And Gerrard, who never won the league with Liverpool as a player, could yet have a decisive role in helping his former team win it this time. “If we said in January it would go to the last game, we would have taken that,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said. “Hopefully Stevie and Villa do us a favour.”