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I’VE NOTHING TO APOLOGISE FOR
Speaker insists she stands by criticism of NEMA’s director By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net HOUSE Speaker Patricia Deveaux yesterday maintained she sees nothing wrong with her criticism levelled at National Emergency Management Agency director Captain Stephen Russell and sees no need to apologise. In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, the Bamboo Town MP explained that her rebuke of Captain Russell was out of concern for residents in her constituency and the Bahamian people and not
for political reasons. She also advised that people must learn to take constructive criticism to “become stronger and do better” when there is a need for improvement. “My thing is this,” she said, “and this was not political, and this was not personal for me. “It was me acting in my capacity as the member for Parliament for Bamboo Town, okay. When I would have gotten into the Bamboo Town area, first and foremost that was a catastrophe.” SEE PAGE THREE
BAHAMIAN gas stations say “no business operates” on the unsustainable seven percent gross margins they are enduring amid warnings the sector may have to cut jobs and operating hours to survive. George Cartwright, owner/operator of the Esso
station at the junction of Wulff Road and Montrose Avenue, told Tribune Business: “I think you might have a reduction in employees due to the low turnover we’re having. That could happen. We might end up going to reduced hours, and we might end up going to reduced shop business hours also.
FULL STORY - SEE BAHAMAS
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TOURISM executives are warning The Bahamas “stands out like a sore thumb” over its continued COVID entry testing measures after the US eliminated such restrictions with effect from midnight yesterday. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business the country “cannot be the last man standing” by still demanding that all visitors produce a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of travel when multiple Caribbean rivals have eradicated all such restrictions. He and other resort executives, speaking after the US move, said The Bahamas’ testing mandate threatens the competitiveness of its major industry and the post-COVID “recovery momentum”. FULL STORY - SEE BAHAMAS
$50M REVENUE FROM TESTING DURING CRISIS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GAS PRICE CRISIS WIPING OUT RETAILERS’ PROFITS By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
US ABANDONS COVID TESTS FOR VISITORS
HANDS-ON HELP FROM NFL STARS FORMER NFL cornerback Akeem Aguste, who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Seattle Seahawks, joined Kansas City Chiefs pair Rashad Fenton, Melvin Ingram III, and Colts wide receiver Mike Strachan and other NFL personalities for a mangrove clean-up and planting at Bonefish Pond National Park alongside the Bahamas National Trust and others. See PAGE SEVEN for more photographs. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff
KILLINGS PROMPT PLEA TO FAMILIES By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
THREE murders occurred within 24 hours in New Providence this weekend, the latest of them a man who was killed after a basketball game at AF Adderley Junior High School yesterday - prompting a call for people who know relatives possess illegal firearms to “do the honourable thing”.
A BODY is taken from the scene after a shooting near the AF Adderley Junior High School gymnasium yesterday. The latest incident happened shortly before 1pm.
Police have not released the man’s identity, however a woman who identified herself as a relative, said he is Randy Williams, 29. Police press liaison Superintendent Audley Peters told reporters that police were called to AF Adderley Junior High School as the result of the shooting incident which happened in the vicinity of the gymnasium. SEE PAGE TWO
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
DOCTORS Hospital yesterday said it will adjust its COVID testing workforce to “match” the demand falloff after generating “north of $50m” in revenues from 1.3m such screenings over the past two years. Dennis Deveaux, the provider’s chief financial officer, said apart from its Winton site, which was removed last week, it intends to maintain all other COVID-related infrastructure despite the US eliminating its testing requirement. FULL STORY - SEE BAHAMAS
INSIGHT
KDK REPORT - FINDING A WAY THROUGH ADVERSITY SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Monday, June 13, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
KILLINGS PROMPT PLEA TO FAMILIES from page one
A BODY is taken from the scene after a shooting near the AF Adderley Junior High School gymnasium yesterday.
Officers responded and were directed to the area just outside the gymnasium where they found a male lying on the ground with wounds consistent with gunshots. As he was unresponsive the medical team was called in, Mr Peters said. Following their assessment, they concluded that there were no signs of life. The victim was killed after a basketball game and was leaving the campus, according to the initial investigation. Mr Peters said: “Our initial investigation indicates that there was a game being played at the school that had concluded and the victim was leaving the campus in a vehicle when he was approached by two gunmen armed with firearms who discharged those weapons in his direction hitting him, fatally wounding him. We are following significant leads at this time.” Supt Peters added that the evidence suggested the assailants went to the compound for “a specific purpose”. Asked if gang activity was involved, he said: “There’s nothing that suggests that at the moment, but we are open to anyone who has information that would point us to that direction and we’re open to any eventualities.” Before this murder, there were two other homicides on Saturday within hours of each other. Supt Peters told The Tribune that before 11pm police were called to Pigeon Plum Street and Ficus Street in Pinewood Gardens as a result of a shooting incident. “There was a couple that had arrived at home. Once they approached home, some persons came out of a bushy area, two individuals that is, and discharged a weapon hitting a male passenger of the vehicle who succumbed to his injuries,” he said. The victim was in his mid-20s, Mr Peters said. Hours earlier shortly after 1pm, police were called to the scene of a
shooting on East Street opposite Coconut Grove Avenue. “On the officers’ arrival they found an unresponsive adult male on the porch of a residence with multiple gunshot wounds,” police said in a press statement. “The victim was later examined by Emergency Medical Technicians who concluded that there were no signs of life. “Initial investigations revealed that the victim was sitting on the porch, when a lone gunman approached him and shot him before fleeing the scene on foot. This matter remains under active investigation.” While on yesterday’s scene, Supt Peters noted the number of shootings that have occurred and made an appeal to the public who know their relatives are in possession of firearms to do “the honourable thing” and report them. “Our officers are on the ground, on the streets. However, we can’t be everywhere, but each citizen is a police officer. We encourage you to do your part so we can make our communities safe.” Chief Superintendent Dr Chaswell Hanna, officer-incharge of the South-Central Grove division, assured members of the public that the police force and the division is focused and “very concerned about the safety of our residents”. He added that they have a “very comprehensive policing plan” in the south central division and there are boots on the ground. “On the front end we have a comprehensive prevention programme. One of them is the programme, Second Chance, where we try to get these young kids who are at that at-risk age and try to positively engage them so they can be steered away or diverted away from involving themselves in anti-criminal behaviour. “And our operations have been successful in many respects. In fact through our operations we have taken a number of weapons off our streets and arrested a number of persons. In fact, this past week, we had two weapons off of the streets.”
TWO INJURED IN SHOOTING AT CHURCH BASKETBALL COURT By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net A SHOOTING incident took place at Grace Community Church in Marathon on Thursday evening resulting in two young men being taken to hospital. Details of the incident were outlined in a private note from Pastor Lyall Bethel to the membership and leaked to social media. The pastor confirmed to The Tribune that the incident occurred. According to the letter, the shooting happened at about 8.32 pm “when a young boy ran up on several of the young men from the neighbourhood who were playing basketball, and discharged his firearm some six times”. Pastor Bethel said in the note that two men were hit and taken to hospital, adding that security cameras were able to capture several angles and the
footage was turned over to the police. “What made the incident so alarming is the many different functions that were going on at the time, the men’s chorale pnd Pastor Carlyle’s small group were meeting in the Herbert Treco Auditorium and the youth Praise team were practising in church,” he continued. “We believe that this incident is probably an isolated incident, but we will be shutting down the basketball court on a temporary basis so that there will be no gathering of young people there until such time as the police and your leadership believe it advisable to do so. “All the pastors, and several of the Elders and Deacons and other leading men of the Church were there before or shortly after to assist the police with their initial investigations.” Pastor Bethel has insisted that the church remains safe despite the incident.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 3
‘I’ve nothing to apologise for’
from page one “This was not a mop and broom situation. What I was faced with and what I mean by that is we could sweep out the water and mop up the floor and clear up the whole situation. When I spoke to Mr Russell, it was after seven. My indication is this – catastrophe and disasters don’t happen between 9 – 5,” she added. “It could happen just in the night. If it was midnight, I would have gotten out of my bed and went down to whatever point in Bamboo Town (the) catastrophe would have happened to be, there with the constituents and call on services that are necessary to help bring relief to the citizens of this country. That is what I was hired to do.” Ms Deveaux continued: “All he had to say to me was ‘Ms Deveaux, I am on the ground but here is the name of somebody else – Jean Doe, John Doe from NEMA. This is their number and maybe they can come down and give you some assistance and if all else fails, here is an emergency response number which you can leave with your constituents where
HOUSE Speaker Patricia Deveaux. they can have some level of as being absent. contact even if something Speaker Deveaux said happens that is untoward when she did speak to Mr throughout the night’.” Russell, he directed her to Speaking from her chair the Ministry of Works. in Parliament last Thursday, However, in a statement Speaker Deveaux deliv- released hours after her ered a scathing rebuke of speech, NEMA defended Captain Russell after she the agency’s response to the claimed the NEMA official event. did not effectively respond The agency outlined to her calls for assis- the efforts they said were tance following tornado ongoing following the tordamage in her constituency nado and also assured the Wednesday. public that the director was While she admitted vari- engaged throughout the ous agencies responded entire process. to her calls for help, the As a result, some - includBamboo Town MP singled ing the Opposition - have out NEMA and its director called for the House
Speaker to issue an apology in view of the episode. During a press conference Friday, Opposition leader Michael Pintard told reporters that what transpired on Thursday in the House of Assembly was most “inappropriate” and unfortunate. He said: “Let me say up front that we believe every member of Parliament, including the Speaker, has a right to speak on behalf of their constituents and we all get emotional when we believe something has happened to our constituents that needs to be remedied. “But what we have to be careful of is that in speaking up for our constituents we don’t do so at the expense of others and unfortunately, we thought that the manner in which NEMA, Captain Russell, was characterised was most inappropriate and unfortunate. He also said parliamentarians must be careful not to “negatively characterise” defenceless citizens and veteran public servants who are not in the House of Assembly to defend themselves. “The Speaker owes Captain Russell an apology,” he added. However, Speaker Deveaux said she stood by
MUNROE: WE ARE ON CUSP OF TRANSFORMATION
BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe says The Bahamas stands on the cusp of transformational change and will be depending on young Bahamians to take the country to the next level. “We are about to monetarise seagrass, we are about to monetarise carbon credits, and we are setting up exchanges for cryptocurrency in this country,” he told the graduates of the Grand Bahama Academy Class of 2022 yesterday. Minister Munroe said the country depends on the Class of 2022 to succeed. “We are depending on you to possess this land,” he said. “The future is yours; our future is yours. We are depending on you because it is you who will pay our pensions. And so we really want you to succeed.” Mr Munroe, who was born on Ragged Island, told of how he grew up without all the necessities of life. “There was no electricity, no running water, no aircraft flying back and forth,
only the mailboat,” he recalled. He encouraged them to continue to pursue their education at the tertiary level. “When I graduated Kingsway Academy, I already knew I was going to the UK to take A-Levels before going to University and then Law School,” he said. “I am no smarter now than I was on September 15, 2022 (election day). So, getting elected to Parliament does not make you brilliant. Graduating from senior high school does not make you all-knowing; you must continue on an orderly path. I can guarantee you that.” Mr Munroe told students that life is short and warned there are consequences for decisions they make in life. “I am urging you anytime you have a decision to make, think about when you have to answer in the judgment because the judgment is coming to all of us. Everyone thinks that you (have to) chase money. I am not saying that money is bad. The Bible does not say money is bad. The love of money is the root of all evil.”
Minister Munroe said every generation that possesses the land must make things better for the next generation. “We have moved it so far. So, you are our future - you are to move us to the next level,” he said. The MP for Freetown said Bahamians are very smart and talented. He noted they are doing well in professional sports, medicine and other areas. He told graduates that they must ethically achieve their goals. “We are rooting for you. We hope we will see amongst you the high flyers in business, law enforcement and science. The one thing I learned going to the UK was that nobody is smarter than Bahamians. No one anywhere in the world is better or smarter than you. It is for you to apply yourself, and when you do, you will reap the reward,” he said. Minister Munroe told the graduates not to allow hardship and challenges to deter them. “When going into the job market and when things appear hard, know that the suffering has a purpose and
an end, and a reward. For those going into tertiary education know that your suffering has a purpose and an end.” “The trajectory of the country will be determined by how well the Class of 2022 does. This government is cheering for you and will do what we can to see you have the tools to succeed. “We ask you to make this country great. We are counting on you, and having a good Christian education will see you through,” he said.
her statements and that she didn’t think that issuing an apology was necessary. “What am I apologising for?” she asked. “Because I’m asking someone to take action. What am I apolosing for? I am asking him to beef up and to fix it. Listen to my whole comments and I told him to fix it because you know in hurricane season, he has been there for many years.” “He has been there for so many years and he has been through so many other tunnels and catastrophes. When one such as an unforeseen tornado would’ve hit, let’s spring into action. I’m calling for action. That’s all I ask and I don’t see nothing wrong in my comments by asking because if a hurricane was to hit and we have something of a larger magnitude? Is NEMA ready?” The Bamboo Town MP
also noted that the backlash she received will not discourage her from being vocal and speaking on issues of concern in the future. “Listen, I took an oath,” Speaker Deveaux told this newspaper. “My oath is to make sure that I bring help and hope to a group of people who have not hoped in the system and lost faith in it and as long as I have a voice and my voice is from my chair, I will utilise that chair for the benefits and benefactors of not just my constituents, but for the citizens of this country. “You as a national, national entity and a national agency that covers not just here, but the family of islands. Let’s fix it now and we have to be able to take constructive criticism. Criticism is here to make us grow stronger and for us to do better,” she added.
PAGE 4, Monday, June 13, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
SUSPECTED MONKEYPOX PATIENT AIRLIFTED OUT OF COUNTRY By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A FOREIGNER who was being monitored for suspected monkeypox was airlifted out of the country last week, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville confirmed yesterday. According to Dr Darville, there is now no one in the country being monitored for the virus. Last week, Dr Darville told reporters a male visitor,
believed to be in his mid 40s, was placed in isolation after showing symptoms associated with the disease. Symptoms of monkeypox include skin rash, fever, headache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion and can last up to two to four weeks. “I have been informed that there is a potential case and I want to make that clear, a potential case of monkeypox in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” Dr Darville said before going to a Cabinet
meeting last Tuesday. “It’s a foreign national who came into the country who presented with signs and symptoms associated with monkeypox.” Asked about the visitor’s nationality, he replied: “They are from abroad. I cannot say the nationality of the individual. But if I’m not mistaken, they came in via British Airways. I think it was the last British Airways flight, but I cannot be sure.” Dr Darville said the case appeared to be an isolated
one, adding officials were keeping a close eye on the situation. Asked for an update on the case yesterday, he replied: “The case we were monitoring was airlifted out of the country last Thursday.” However, local officials have advised that cases of monkeypox are expected to rise worldwide due to “human-to-human transmission” but reportedly does not pose a significant threat. “The safety protocols
which help to limit the spread of COVID-19 are also the preventative measures that can help to reduce the risk of infection from monkeypox,” the ministry said in a statement last week. “The public is advised to follow the protocols which include washing your hands properly and often with soap and water, using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser when soap and water are not available, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces regularly, and maintaining
physical distance from others, particularly if you feel ill.” Anyone with suspected symptoms of monkeypox is asked to call their health care provider or the nearest public health community clinic. “Additional information can be obtained by contacting the National Disease Surveillance Unit, Mondays – Fridays, 9:00am – 5:00p.m. at 604-9090 or 604-9091; or after hours at 376-3809, or 376-3970,” the ministry added.
23 CUBAN MIGRANTS INTERCEPTED AT CAY SAL TO BE REPATRIATED
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net TWENTY-THREE Cuban migrants were charged this week in Freeport Magistrate’s Court with illegal landing in
The Bahamas. The migrants - 21 males and three females appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson in Court One on Tuesday. It is alleged that on June 3 the migrants illegally landed from a destination outside the
Bahamas. They pleaded guilty to the charge. It is reported that on Friday, June 3, Bahamas Immigration officers went to Freeport Harbour to meet with US Coast Guard officials of the USCG Cutter Paul Clarke to hand over
the 23 Cuban migrants. The migrants were intercepted in Bahamian waters near Cay Sal in two separate interdictions. Both groups had left Cuba in rustic vessels destined for the US. Magistrate Ferguson convicted
the migrants and ordered that they be immediately deported to Cuba. The migrants were flown to New Providence, where they are detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre awaiting repatriation to Cuba.
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THE United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced passengers entering the country no longer need to get tested or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in order to enter the US. The CDC made the announcement on Friday. “Today, CDC is announcing that the order requiring persons to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States, will be rescinded, effective on June 12, 2022 at 12:01AM ET,” the CDC read. “The COVID-19 pandemic has now shifted to a new phase, due to the widespread uptake of highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, the availability of effective therapeutics, and the accrual of high rates of vaccine- and infectioninduced immunity at the population level in the United States. “Each of these measures has contributed to lower risk of severe disease and death across the United States. As a result, this requirement which was needed at an earlier stage in the pandemic may be withdrawn. CDC continues to recommend that those travellers boarding a flight to the US get tested for current infection with a viral test as close to the time of departure as possible (no more than three days) and not travel if they are sick. “CDC continues to evaluate the latest science and state of the pandemic and
will reassess the need for a testing requirement if the situation changes. CDC will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change.” NBC News reported a senior White House official said the CDC “made its determination ‘based on the science and data that this requirement is no longer necessary at this time’.” The American news outlet added: ‘“The CDC will do a reassessment of this decision in 90 days,” the official said, adding that if there is “a need to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement, including due to a new, concerning variant, CDC will not hesitate to act.” Baha Mar president Graeme Davis has said he wants the government to remove its COVID19 testing requirement for people entering The Bahamas. Previously asked if the government would consider this, acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper responded: “We listened to our stakeholders but we make decisions that’s in the best interest of the Bahamian people. We make decisions that balance what’s good for tourism and the economy with the public health and safety of the Bahamian people.” As for potential tightening of COVID measures, the Deputy Prime Minister maintained at the time that the government was satisfied with the country’s current protocols and said no additional changes will be made “until the science warrants us removing them”.
114 NEW COVID CASES THERE were 114 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the country on Friday and Saturday. According to the Saturday, June 11, dashboard, 46 new virus cases were recorded. That is 43 in New Providence, two in Grand Bahama and one in Eleuthera. Officials said there is no one in the Intensive Care Unit with the virus, however, 28 people are considered moderately ill and
there remains 812 deaths. In the June 10 dashboard, officials said 68 cases were recorded. Sixty-one of them were in the capital. As for Grand Bahama there was one new case, Bimini and Cat Cay recorded four, Eleuthera had one case and Crooked Island also recorded one case. To date, The Bahamas has recorded 35,332 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 5
FUEL OPERATORS: WE MIGHT HAVE TO SHUT DOWN By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
FUEL operators yesterday warned gas stations may have to shut down if prices do not stabilise soon, insisting they cannot wait months for this crisis to be resolved. Vasco Bastian, vice president of the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association (BPDA), told The Tribune that retailers are nearing the breaking point and even likened the industry to a volcano that is ready to erupt any day. The situation has become so serious, Mr Bastian said, that as a means to cut back on costs, some operators, including himself, have had to reduce staff hours. And he warned that laying off staff may be unavoidable if the situation does not improve soon. “We have to find a solution as a nation to resolve the gasoline crisis today because we cannot wait for another month or two months or three months to resolve this crisis,” he said. “The petroleum dealers and the gasoline industry is a volcano that is waiting to erupt and the lava is right at the top and any day now that lava can burst through and gas stations in the country won’t be able to purchase fuel and do whatever they need to do.”
Fuel prices have soared globally since Russia, the world’s third largest oil producer, invaded Ukraine in late February. Here in New Providence, the cost of gas has already surpassed the $6 mark. As of Friday, prices at the pumps in the capital were $6.13 at Rubis, $6.35 at Shell and $7.39 at Esso. On the Family Islands, the cost of fuel at some stations has surpassed $7. This comes amid mounting concerns that the number can rise as high as $8 later this summer. Yesterday, Mr Bastian said if prices continue to increase, many petroleum dealers will find it difficult to remain open and service the Bahamian people. “I pray to God that it doesn’t get to $8 and I’m not speaking $8 on the Bahamian people or this industry. We cannot take, right now, another increase in gasoline in this country,” he said. “We cannot take it. If you see gasoline in The Bahamas go to $7.79 or $7.80 or $7.90 or $8, gas stations in the country will shut down. I’ll tell you that. If the gas prices increase more than what it is right now, ain’t nothing happening. I’m telling you because you wouldn’t even be able to afford to buy it. Remember now, if you track this and look back at the price of gas
a year ago in this country, gas was under $6. “We didn’t suffer this bad during the pandemic with the less hours and all the lockdowns. I mean some dealers, and I’ll say this for myself, we rather go back to that time in regard to operational hours compared to these times with these high prices.” He went on to speak of some of the implications that face operators due to the cost of rising prices. “In any industry, if the price of something continues to rise, one of the first things that individuals look at is reducing its operational costs or the staff complement and I’ve always been one not to preach that or promote that,” Mr Bastian continued. “But, as the price of fuel continues to rise, we need to ask ourselves the question, can we keep staff on? Can we be operable? Because at this point, we’re not profitable anymore. We’re just operating.” Asked yesterday if operators were considering introducing self-service gas stations to help reduce operational costs, Mr Bastian said it was an option being discussed by retailers. However, he said, a decision in that regard has not yet been made. “Firstly, we would need to get the collective use of the entire association be
that Shell dealers, Rubis dealers as well as Esso dealers to come together to say whether or not we will go to self-service. Self-service is an option,” he added. “We probably could do one or two pumps at all gas stations self-service, that’s an option and we discuss at our various meetings with certain members. We haven’t had a meeting collectively with all recently to discuss that matter in depth, but I know one or two conversations that I have had
with other dealers even besides other brands beside ESSO, that have been mentioned to me because I cannot say that’s going to happen unless there’s an agreement by all stakeholders, so that is an option.” Government officials had said earlier that they were looking at several initiatives to bring relief to both gas operators and consumers. However, nothing has been announced yet. “I know they have been
busy travelling and other stuff,” Mr Bastian said, “and hopefully they will get back to us soon so we can resolve this or come to some resolution to this crisis. “So, we’re being patient and I believe that the Prime Minister cares about Bahamian businessmen and I even believe that Minister Michael Halkitis cares about businessmen, in particular at this time, gas station operators in this country.”
IN HONOUR of Dame Janet Bostwick’s 40th anniversary as the first woman elected to serve in the House of Assembly, a luncheon was held at Sapodilla Restaurant on Friday. Among those giving tributes were Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper; the first woman to serve as Deputy Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt; first female Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rome Italia Johnson; Minister of Education and Technical & Vocational Training, Glenys Hanna-Martin; and Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis. Photos: Kemuel Stubbs/BIS
POITIER NAMED TO FOREIGN AFFAIRS POST THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced the appointment of Eugene Poitier as its new permanent secretary. Mr Poitier formally begins his duties at the ministry today. Before this
appointment he worked as permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and as deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Foreign Affairs and
Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell commended outgoing acting permanent secretary Donella Bodie for her diligence and devotion to duty, wishing her well as she moves to a new assignment within the public service.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Please be advised that The National Accreditation and Equivalency Council of The Bahamas (NAECOB), has relocated to the Penn’s Building, on the corner of Tonique Williams Darling Highway and Knowles Drive, effective, Monday, July 13th, 2022. Office hours 8 am - 4 pm. Phone : 328-8872
PAGE 6, Monday, June 13, 2022
The Tribune Limited
THE TRIBUNE
PICTURE OF THE DAY
NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”
Publisher/Editor 1903-1914
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SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,
Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991
EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON,
C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-
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Thin margins as high prices drive people to cut back WE do not need to tell you that the price of gas has been going up, and up – and up. While consumers have been at the sharp end of much of that increased cost, the people selling the gas are also finding themselves in a difficult situation. The problem is margins. Gas retailers say they are operating on a margin on the gross revenue of about seven percent. Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis has ruled out an increase in that margin, which has been the same since 2011, as consumers are already struggling with high inflation. Retailers say that seven percent isn’t enough to cope with the costs they have to bear – including taxes, paying staff, and more. Even bank costs are a problem, with credit card fees running up to 18 cents a gallon, according to Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association president Raymond Jones. Motorists paying by credit card will be feeling their own sting from that too with the fees they get charged by banks in interest. Mr Jones said: “The retailers are getting to the point where the cost of purchasing fuel and the overdraft fees are to the point where they can’t afford it, and volumes are down – there may be less operators in the business because they can’t maintain the power bills and everything else to stay open.” That means less fuel. That means job cuts. That means stations on reduced hours or even shutting down completely. Meanwhile, in the Family Islands, gas prices are soaring even higher. The owner of a gas station in Cat Island said the price is $8.65 a gallon now. When prices go up so high, what do people do? They avoid using their vehicles as much. Sales drop. Gas stations see income go down. It’s a vicious circle. So what is to be done? Well, the government has said no to a change in the margins – but one owner suggested a
solution that might help a little, doing something with the business licence as it is charged on turnover. Gas stations have high turnover but low profit, so that disproportionately affects the gas retailers. Perhaps some leeway there might help, because the alternative could see cutback – or even some businesses going to the wall. This is a very specific spike in a sector of the economy because of a global trend – finding some measure of shortterm relief until prices start to come back down might just give the retailers the breathing room they need.
COVID jobs The United States has eliminated the need to take a COVID test before entry – and while this will no doubt be hailed as a boon to our tourism as visitors no longer have to chase around to find a test before the end of their holiday, it is not of benefit to all. What is good news for one may be bad news for another – and indeed, spare a thought for the workers who have been administering those tests all these months, who now find themselves facing the prospect of being out of work. Doctors Hospital has made a reported $50m in revenue from testing during the crisis – and the staff there are to be commended for providing the resources we needed during the pandemic. The end of testing will leave a sizeable dent in their finances though – and those at testing sites may well not see contracts renewed, or at other providers made redundant. In our personal visits to those sites for our own tests, we have found them helpful and professional, and we hope there will be opportunities for them. The government would do well to hold some job fairs for affected workers to help them find placements in similar fields.
Bahamian scientists losing jobs EDITOR, The Tribune. BECAUSE of a knee jerk, silly law passed by the former FNM government, our brightest young scientists are finding themselves out of work and at risk of permanent serious damage to their careers. The unnecessarily strict rules of the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act have ground all scientific research in the country to a halt. This includes vital projects to protect coral reefs from rampant disease, save sea turtles from numerous threats and replant endangered mangrove forests which are the birthplace and nursing ground for so many of our important fish species.
Dozens of intelligent, well trained young Bahamian researchers, the cream of our generational crop, have been seriously negatively affected by this. Without the right to do their work, they are losing work positions, salaries and the international grant money that funds their projects. The global scientific community is turning away from The Bahamas, seeking more hospitable jurisdictions to do research and abandoning our bright professionals to frustration and shame. Soon, these young scientists will leave the country as well, in search of the work, appreciation and support they deserve elsewhere. We always complain about the brain drain in this
country, but then we constantly take actions to drive enterprising young experts away. The PLP government must give these young Bahamian scientists temporary permits to conduct their work NOW, while untangling the mess left by the former administration. Time is of the essence. The money to fund science in The Bahamas is drying up as I write this. Meanwhile, our name is becoming mud in scientific circles. Once our reputation as a welcoming centre for environmental research is gone, it will not be coming back any time soon. RICKY JOHNSON Nassau, June 6, 2022.
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PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and his wife Anne-Marie on the red carpet prior to the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas, last Wednesday, in Los Angeles. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Speaker’s comments were wrong EDITOR, The Tribune I WOULD appreciate the publication of this open letter in The Tribune addressed to House Speaker Patricia Deveaux. Dear Madam Speaker, I do trust that this communication finds you in the best of health. While I do not recall having had the pleasure of meeting you in person, notwithstanding, like my fellow Bahamian citizens, I have on many occasions seen you in action in the performance of your duties as Speaker of our Honourable House of Assembly. And in this vein, please accept my hearty congratulations on your appointment as the second Bahamian woman to hold this high office in the Parliament of our Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Quite naturally, you are wondering why I am taking the liberty of writing you this letter. Before I answer that, however, permit me to elucidate you briefly on my professional/ employment background. My full name is Anita Doreen Hilton-Bernard née Wilchcombe, a former career Public Officer. I am now a retiree at 80 years old, having served some 62 of those years in the service of my country, firstly as an educator for 29 years (from 1961); as a MidManagement and Senior Public Officer for 27 years (from 1980) and as a contracted Public Officer for seven years post-retirement in 2007, having held the highest office as Cabinet Secretary (the second Bahamian woman to hold that office) for three of those years, 2009-2012. My last two-year contractual appointment concluded June, 2021. From the foregoing, you will deduce that I would have served under every Government administration pre - and post - 1967. Against that background sketch, you would appreciate that I would have gained many years of knowledge and experience in the Public Service. I had also learnt to “speak truth to power” regardless of the consequences, for you see, I was and continue to be guided always by Godly principles and by the fact that I worked in the service of my country, not to please individuals. Hence, I gave my best advice to whomever was in power, regardless of their political affiliation or whether or not such advice was accepted. Now to the main purpose of this communication. Like many Bahamians, I was appalled and deeply disturbed to see the Speaker
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net use the Honourable House of Parliament to castigate, humiliate and even irresponsibly and unjustly malign the character and professional integrity of long serving, experienced Public Officer, Mr Stephen Russell, Director of The Bahamas National Emergency Agency (NEMA). Not only was the criticism totally uncalled for, but it was delivered in such an undignified and crass manner that I understand that many well-thinking Bahamians who viewed the spectacle hung their heads in shame or vented their anger via social media even to the extent of calling for the removal of Madam Speaker who, after nine months in office, appears not to understand the importance of the impartial/non-partisan and dignified role of the Speaker. To me and to others who would have some knowledge of the role and function of NEMA, Madam Speaker displayed utter ignorance of NEMA’s and its Director’s functions. This became painfully evident when Madam Speaker acknowledged the Ministry of Works’ (MOW’s) presence at the scenes of the tornadic impact but emphasized concurrently that no one from NEMA was present! In reality, Madam Speaker, the fact that the MOW was present at the sites shortly after the tornadic occurrences is confirmation that NEMA’s Director was on the job because only he is vested with the authority to enlist Government Agencies to render emergency services during national disasters. And incidentally, those Agencies know their roles. As Madam Speaker will eventually learn, NEMA’s Director, as the Government’s chief coordinator for dealing with national disasters, is vested with the authority and the respect to be able to call upon and mobilise all relevant Government agencies inclusive of the RBPF and the RBDF as well as non-government agencies, and even external organizations via the Office of the Prime Minister in order to provide necessary assistance in times of national emergencies. Furthermore, Madam Speaker, Captain Russell was selected to hold this position primarily on the strength of his knowledge, training and discipline gained during his service in the Bahamas Royal Defence Force where he had risen to the rank of Captain. I had the privilege of
meeting NEMA’s Director in office in January 2009 when I was appointed Cabinet Secretary. For the years that I served in that position, I had found Mr Russell to be a no-nonsense, efficient, dedicated Officer and a gentleman who knew his work and always took his responsibilities seriously. In this regard, perhaps neither you nor the public would be aware of the fact that during hurricanes, NEMA’s Director and staff take up residence in their workplaces to be available to respond to and render emergency assistance 24/7. Nor would you have been aware that in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Mr.Russell had personally tracked the possibility of a tsunami impacting The Bahamas into the early hours of the morning – a situation of which I became aware when I received a call from him after 1:00 a.m.to alert us to such a possibility. Hence, it was abhorrent to hear you so gratuitously attack, humiliate, and malign the character of an upstanding Public Officer such as Captain Russell by suggesting that he must have been at home watching some televised sporting event during the tornadic incidents. Indeed, I find it rather curious that none of your constituents appeared to have advised you of the tornadic impact until late in the evening, long after NEMA would have responded to the Cowpen and Baillou Hill Road areas which were impacted around the same time as your Bamboo town Constituency. Could it be that your constituents could not reach you, their MP, until then? In closing, Madam Speaker, it is my understanding that a Parliamentary rule exists that prohibits all Parliamentarians, inclusive of the Speaker, from attacking citizens who are unable to defend themselves in the Halls of Parliament. Accordingly, and suffice it to say that at the very least, it is my humble opinion and suggestion that you should swallow your highly inflated ego and take the honourable and non-partisan course of action befitting the Office of Speaker of our Parliament, to apologize publicly for your gratuitous and unjustified attack on the professional and personal character of an upstanding Senior Public Officer, Captain Stephen Russell, Director of the Bahamas National Emergency Agency. Enough is enough! ANITA BERNARD Retired Cabinet Secretary Nassau, June 10, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 7
HANDS-ON HELP FROM NFL STARS
NFL personalities, including Kansas City Chiefs players Rashad Fenton and Melvin Ingram III, and Colts wide receiver Mike Strachan were part of a group taking part in a mangrove clean-up and planting at Bonefish Pond National Park alongside members of the Bahamas National Trust and others at the weekend. Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff
Woman jailed for false rape report By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net A WOMAN was sentenced to two months in prison for making a false rape report and was told that she did a “very wicked thing”. Wendy Ann Lewis pleaded guilty before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on Friday. According to the prosecution, on May 25, 2022, in New Providence, the 57-year-old caused wasteful employment of police resources by knowingly making a false report pretending to show that the offence of rape had been committed against her. The prosecutor noted that Ms Lewis was under
arrest for a separate issue at the Wulff Road police station. She made a complaint to a female police officer that she was raped by another officer at the station in an empty cell. An investigation was opened, but the defendant apparently did not know that there was surveillance footage. The footage allegedly did not show any male officer having a confrontation with her in respect to the date and time in question. At CDU, she was interviewed by the detective in relation to the false claim. Ms Lewis then admitted that her claim was false. Initially, she pleaded not guilty and apologised, which prompted the assistant chief magistrate to ask
what she was apologising for considering her earlier plea. However, she eventually pleaded guilty. When asked why she had lied, Ms Lewis gave a reason along the lines that she felt “bad” in the cell. Magistrate Swain then asked her if she understood that had there not been footage, she could have ruined someone’s life and moreover had the potential to ruin public confidence in the police. The magistrate added that Ms Lewis did a “very wicked thing”. While Ms Lewis profusely apologised in court, the magistrate noted that because it involved a police officer she had no choice but to sentence her to two months in prison.
TEENS ACCUSED OVER 13-YEAR-OLD’S DEATH By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
FOUR teens appeared in a Magistrate’s Court accused of murder. The juveniles - ages 14, 17, 16, and 15 - stood before Magistrate Kara TurnquestDeveaux on Friday. It is alleged that on June 3, while being concerned together at New Providence, by means of unlawful harm
they intentionally and unlawfully cause the death of Quinton McKenzie, 13. The group was not required to enter a plea and will return to court for a Voluntary Bill of Indictment on September 15. Until then, the teens will be kept at the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys. After their arraignment, a few of the youngsters could be seen hugging their guardians who were present.
McKenzie died on Friday morning after he was hit in the head by two bullets. Shortly before 8am, police were alerted by Shot Spotter to multiple gunshots in the area of Williams Lane off Kemp Road. When officers arrived at the scene, they were told that a young boy had been shot multiple times. He was taken to hospital by Emergency Medical Services where he later died of his injuries.
ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
A MAN pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecent assault of two female university students. James Minnis stood before Magistrate Shaka Serville on Friday where he
faced the allegations. It is alleged that on March 30, Minnis, while in New Providence, indecently assaulted a 22-year-old woman. On the same day, it is also claimed the 60-yearold indecently assaulted another woman, aged 23. It was clarified that the assaults took place during
one event at the same time, date and place. The victims are said to be students at the University of The Bahamas, while the accused is believed to be a senior security officer. The magistrate set Minnis’ bail at $5,000. He is due back in court on October 19.
Funeral Service For Assistant Director of Nursing
Nurse Geranette Augustina Kendra Bartlett, RN, 46 of Hollywood Florida and formerly of Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, who died at Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, Florida on Thursday, 2nd June, 2022 will be held on Wednesday, 15th June, 2022, 11:00 a.m. at Centreville Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fifth Terrace, Centerville. Officiating will be Pastor Jeffrey Thompson, PhD of Fort Lauderdale Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida assisted by Dr. Paul A. Scavella of Centreville Seventh-day Adventist Church and former President of South Bahamas Conference of Seventhday Adventists; Pastor Leonardo Rahming, Secretary South Bahamas Conference of SDA and Pastor Larry Green, Bethel and Adelaide Churches Interment will follow in Woodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road. Live Stream https://livestream.com/accounts/26824313/events/10471700 She was pre-deceased by her mother: Nurse Yvonne Cecile Guillaume-McPhee Pratt, Retired; father: Gerald A Bartlett Sr.; step father: William H. Pratt; sister: Nurse Renee Gerene McPhee; grandparents: Madge Antonio Wood-Guillaume and Francois Guillaume; grand aunts: Maisie Albury Wood-Grant and Floy L. Wood-Rollins; uncles: Francois (Frank) C. Guillaume; aunt: Beryl Guillaume; cousins: Dwaine B. Guillaume and Jay R. Thompson. Nurse Bartlett is survived by her son: Kai Morris; step-father: Preston F. McPhee; sisters: Presleith Y. McPhee and Nurse Lavon McPhee-Lopez, RN of Brandon, Florida; brotherin-law: Juan Lopez of Brandon, Florida; nieces: Nurse Lashan Xanthia K. McPhee, RN of McDonough, Ga., Jewel-Alicia Sweeting of Brandon, Florida; Nurse Victoria-Diamond Moncayo, RN of Brandon, Florida and Esmeralda-Pilar Lopez of Brandon, Florida; nephew: Darien Tyshaun Collins of Hollywood, Florida; grand nieces: Nurse Milani Shillingford, LPN. Mylen Shillingford, India-Esperenza Hunt, Isabella Barbosa and Beautiful Heaven Dorsey of Brandon, Florida; grand nephews: Bicari Lane of McDonough, Ga., James Hunt of Brandon, Fl, Noble Sweeting of Brandon, Fl, Kalias Preston Ulyses of Brandon, Fl and Tai Collins of Hollywood, Florida; uncle: Herbert W. Guillaume; aunts: Her mother’s twin: Marie Antoinette Guillaume-Taylor, Hadassah Guillaume-Thompson and Margaret Guillaume, Marie Guillaume De-rilus, Miami, Florida; cousins: Guianna M. Guillaume, Michelle R. Guillaume-Carey, Dewey D. Taylor, (Patrice) Deidre Ann Taylor, Kimberley Guillaume-Prioleau (Kevin), of South Carolina, Francois A. Guillaume (Sinobi) of Atlanta Ga.; god-children: Jewel-Alicia Sweeting and Esmeralda-Pilar Lopez; god sisters: Wendy Foulkes of North Carolina and Dellarese Basden of Connecticut; god brother: Dr. Dave Foulkes of North Carolina; special friends of Nurse Geranette A. Bartlett’s mother: Sheila Leadon and Family, Nurse Rosie Whylly-Rahming and Family, Pricilla Dean and Family, Nurse Helen Johnson and Family, Retired, Barbara Pinder, Nurse Angie Campbell, Retired, and Family and Nurse Buchannan, Retired, Family of the Late Nurse Kirklyn Barr, Family of the Late Nurse Thelma Foulkes and Family of the Late Nurse Jennie Basden; other relatives and friends including: The Rollins, Antonio, Wood and Weir Families; Craig, Matthew and Dominic Morris, Rosie Rollins, Cheryl Henry Fowler of San Francisco, California, Nurse Ruth Rollins-Henry, RN (Retired), San Francisco, California; Danté, Tre, Charisma and Zion Taylor; Keishell, Keva and Kiera Carey; Demetrius and Samuel Kemp, Jonvan Payne, Karrington Prioleau of South Carolina, Gregory Guillaume of Atlanta, Georgia, Jakhan Guillaume of Atlanta, Georgia, Dwainique and Dwainard Guillaume, Alyssia Taylor and Samiyah Kemp, Malik Guillaume, Kaelem Fynes, Dr. Johanne Derilus of Texas, Lester Rollins, Hugh Rollins, Elizabeth Fountain Antonio-Moses, Philip Antonio, Linda Gibson, Nurse Barbara Gibson Wilson, Capt. Sylvester Rollins, (Retired), (Anne), Debbie Rollins-Pinder, Maxine Rollins, Steve Rollins, Joy Rollins-Reckley, Patrick Rollins (Donna), Adrian Rollins, Raymond Rollins, Keith Rollins (Millicent), Jacko Foster, Veronica Seymour, the Wood Families of New Providence; Gregory Town, Eleuthera and the United States of America, Wayde Sweeting and Family, Family of the Late Ms. Estelle Bonimy; Paul Bevans and Family; Dorothy Dixon and Family of Virginia, Darrice Rolle and Family of Canada, Family of the late Nurse Paula Hall, Neighbours of Derby Road, Yellow Elder Gardens, Brenda Maycock, Members of St. John’s College Mid-Day Devotion Group, Reverend Carrington and Reverend Sabrina Pinder, Pastor Dr. Paul Scavella and Members of the Centerville Seventh-day Adventist Church; friends From Florida: Edwin Lafrance, Levon Shillingford, Johnell Postell, Mayte Vera and Family, Opal Bradshaw, Keturah Clarke, Janet Speranza, Pamela Allison, Patrizia Pesce, Ann Marie Williams, VI at Aventura staff, The Family of the late Venice Tennant including Carl Ballantine, Dean Morris, and Fredrick “Val” Morris; Joseph Witherspoon and Family, James of Wiley St Hollywood Fl, Felita Humes, Lashoyna Robinson and Family, Nurse Michele Fils-Aime, Nurse Suzanne Miller, Nurse Debi Hurst (Darlin), the Staff and Residents of VI at Aventura, Dr..Paramjit Narula, Pastor Dr. Jeffery Thompson and Denise Thompson, Members of Ft. Lauderdale SDA Church, and many of her other friends in the Bahamas and the United States who are too numerous to mention. Relatives and friends may pay their respects at Butlers’ Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Ernest and York Streets on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and at the church on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. until service time. Current Emergency COVID-19 regulations are in effect. Social Distancing and Face Masks will be enforced.
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022
THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
SPEAKER of the House Patricia Deveaux.
Out of order, Madam Speaker By MALCOLM STRACHAN THE Speaker of the House took centre stage last week – and not in a good way. She took issue with the director of NEMA, but the manner in which she did so
was questionable to say the least. Patricia Deveaux, who is both Speaker of the House and MP for Bamboo Town, was upset after a tornado touched down in her constituency on Wednesday – and felt her calls to Captain Stephen Russell did
not meet with the right response. The Speaker said various agencies did respond to her calls for help – but that NEMA and its director were absent. She said she did speak to Captain Russell, and he directed her to the Ministry of Works.
She said she warned “So, you tell Mr Russell Captain Russell she would for me if he is listening, let speak on the matter at the me tell you, you need a 9 next sitting of Parliament – to 5 job because I call 7, 8 and when she did, she didn’t o’clock in the night you tellhold back. ing me Ministry of Works? She said: “What I did The Ministry of Works was not see on the ground already on the ground so was NEMA and I am the only persons that were saying this because I not present was NEMA.” reached out to ComIt’s a very unusual thing mander Russell.” for a public servant to be A side note, he’s a Cap- criticised by name in the tain and a House. In director of ‘Does that mean fact, whenNEMA – but it’s open season ever an MP that’s a small calls somematter. She for MPs to criticise one out who continued: “I who they like cannot defend don’t know if without those themselves he was home in the House, busy watch- people having any those MPs ing the game way to respond would gener‘cause I hear in that forum? ally be told they had a they could game last Will the Speaker do no such night, but allow that? After thing. Who I could say all, what’s good by? Well, the that he was Speaker. not there and for the goose…’ So, when that is who the Speaker we have to does it, that’s reach out for emergency a very disturbing developresponse. ment. Does that mean it’s “I am terribly, terribly open season for MPs to disturbed by that and I say criticise who they like withto him, I told him, I did not out those people having lie to him, I told him that I any way to respond in that would speak to it from my forum? Will the Speaker chair. This is where I have allow that? After all, what’s my voice.” good for the goose… She added: “I had senior In casting aspersions citizens at the age of 80 who that Captain Russell was had live wires, electrical perhaps busy watching wire hanging and also no the game, just because she roof and no electricity last “hear they had a game last night. They had to go to be night” is reprehensible. You with such damage to their cannot make a statement house and what I can say like that in the House withis we had the team on the out any evidence to back it ground, but NEMA was not up – you’re impugning the present. reputation of a senior civil “Natural disasters do not servant. happen between nine and Now perhaps there was five. Natural disasters can a communication problem. happen at any time, in the Perhaps NEMA could have dead of night and so I say done better. The organithis to say these people if sation released its own they want a desk job from timeline of events, in which 9 to 5 give them their desk it was stated that at no job cause I had a natural time did the agency receive disaster last night and the reports of residents in the minister and all of these Bamboo Town area being other persons were on the affected by tornadic activground until 9pm last night ity – so there appears to trying to help me bring have been some shortfall in some resolve… communication.
But calling out a named individual in Parliament is not the way to deal with that – nor sullying their reputation. It’s an overstep by the Speaker, the kind she ought to clamp down on if it came from anyone else in the House, let alone avoid completely as the person sitting in the chair. Opposition leader Michael Pintard was quick to speak on the matter too, calling it “inappropriate”. He said: “We have to be careful… that in speaking up for our constituents we don’t do so at the expense of others and unfortunately we thought that the manner in which NEMA, Captain Russell, was characterised was most inappropriate and unfortunate. “In fact I rose after the Acting Prime Minister to make the point that NEMA is a coordinating agency. Immediately after a catastrophe that particular director need not be present as long as they are doing their job coordinating other agencies that are necessary to show up and later in the afternoon it appears that the facts confirmed that was exactly what happened. “We have to be careful as parliamentarians, FNMs included, that we do not negatively characterise defenceless citizens and veteran public servants who are not in the House of Assembly and cannot defend themselves unless some amazing facts emerge that prove otherwise. “The Speaker owes Captain Russell an apology.” Mr Pintard is right. Captain Russell is owed an apology. By basic principle, people should not be attacked in a manner in which they are unable to defend themselves. The Speaker is right to speak up for her community, but she is wrong to attack an individual who cannot defend themselves in the process.
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
INSIGHT
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022 PAGE 9
The North Star GROWING up and living on a remote family island offers a wealth of peace and tranquility few outsiders can comprehend. With a small population, everyone on the island is either a family member or neighbour and there’s a genuine sense of community throughout the entire land. Crime, if existent, is minimal with any occurring infringement considered relatively banal in nature. Moms tend to work most of the day in their vegetable gardens and deliver those goods to friends and family throughout the week, exchanging for a crop they themselves don’t grow. Fathers are out fishing that morning and the catch of the day is prepared fresh that evening, never once having been frozen. My patient, hereafter referred to as Vin, was born the eldest of five children and he and his siblings were raised on one of these smaller islands. Vin’s father was a fisherman and when he went out to sea, Vin often felt the responsibility of helping his mother, who worked in a small grocery store, taking care of the home and garden. They were short on material possessions and Vin was often teased about his family’s financial circumstance but he never complained and appreciated any gift his mother could afford on her modest salary. After graduation from high school, Vin approached his father about coming to work for him and they’ve now worked together for 30 years. Today, he loves his job and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. On a typical day out to sea, he sets out with his father and brother and there’s a crisp saltiness to the air. With callused hands that have been roughened extensively over the years, he steers the boat and heads to the first of many fishing stops. There is no land in sight for miles and the
By DR KENNETH D KEMP
water, so clear that you can see down to the sea floor, is full of wondrous sea creatures hidden among the abundant and colourful reefs. With a rhythmic sway that echoes the breeze, the net is cast and underneath the open sun-drenched sky, they wait. Today, seafarers can depend on radar technology and GPS to help them navigate the ocean terrain but hundreds of years ago, world explorers navigated the seas using the stars. As evening approached, the North Star was their guide among a vast and moving constellation and all these years later, should their modern navigation tools fail them, Vin, like the voyagers in our history books, can follow the same North Star that they gazed upon and find his way safely to the shore. Many years ago, following a fishing trip, Vin participated in a basketball event and was abruptly hit with bullish strength and speed by a teammate. His right knee was visibly knocked out of its joint socket and the pain was excruciating. While he was waiting for medical attention at the hospital, his knee popped back into place on its own. He was placed in a knee immobiliser and prescribed an oral anti-inflammatory and a narcotic for pain relief. On several routine follow-up
evaluations in the clinic, his blood sugar was notably elevated. What initially started as treatment for a sports injury evolved into the diagnosis and decades-long treatment of diabetes. Vin began to develop foot issues within less than a year of his diagnosis. The first incident occurred after he developed a blister on his left foot from wearing tight shoes and ambulating for a prolonged period of time. Fortunately, it was minor and healed within a week using an over-the-counter tropical antibiotic cream. A year later, he developed another blister on his contralateral, right, foot walking along the beach. This time, the blister became infected. It was the start of more serious issues. His arch collapsed and his foot appeared more deformed. Within hours, his right foot was red, hot, swollen and he felt cold, nauseous and had a high fever. He was diagnosed with sepsis. The infection had spread throughout his bloodstream and he was quickly going into shock. An air ambulance was arranged and Vin was airlifted to the public hospital in Nassau and rushed into the operating theatre. The wound was incised, flushed with saline and drained and he was given intravenous antibiotics for the following two weeks. In time, he healed but the bones in his right midfoot and ankle had become weakened and caved in so he was now, without
proper attention, much more him up. His parents, now marsusceptible to further diabetic ried for almost 50 years were foot ailments. at the helm of his dream team Despite this, several years and they, along with his siblings, passed without major incident. helped to take care of him and Then early last year, in the his financial responsibilities. He safe space of his own home, also extends his gratitude to his he stepped kids and gives on a shell his Today, seafarers can special thanks grandson had to his girlfriend collected from depend on radar who stood the beach. technology and GPS by his side Without sen- to help them navigate with unfailing sation in his loyalty. She foot, it was the the ocean terrain but prepared all trail of blood hundreds of years of his meals, that followed ago, world explorers called to check his footsteps on him every that alerted navigated the seas using day during her him to the fact the stars. As evening breaks at work that he’d cut approached, the North and gave him himself. hope that eveRecognising Star was their guide rything would the devastat- among a vast and be okay. ing effects from moving constellation After underan untreated going multiple wound, he and all these years and bilateral immediately corrective eye later, should their went to the surgeries, Vin’s modern navigation local clinic and eyesight is now was prescribed tools fail them, Vin, 70 percent oral antibiotics like the voyagers in improved on but his wound the right and deepened and our history books, can 50 percent on his infection follow the same North the left. He progressed also walks with Star that they gazed quickly. a custom DiaIt was weeks upon and find his way betic shoe and before he was safely to the shore. insole. What seen in Nassau he wanted to and by that time the infection specifically emphasise is how had not only spread into his important it is to follow the blood stream, but also through- advice of doctors and to take out the bones in his foot. To your medication as prescribed. save his life, he underwent a He also iterated the importance partial amputation of his foot of seeking medical attention as and spent eight months recov- soon as something occurs, espeering, during which time he cially if you’re diabetic. couldn’t work. On the outer Family Islands, To make matters worse, dia- children go to school and then betes had not only damaged the play outside before washing nerves in his feet and caused his up for dinner. On Saturday weakened bones to collapse, evening, parents drink beer but it also caused his eyesight and dance but get home early to deteriorate. Prolonged high enough to put their children to blood sugar levels had damaged sleep. The entire family goes his retina and the blood vessels to church on Sunday. Men and had partially ruptured causing women work, without issue, significant bleeding within both well into their 80s and 90s of his eyes. and walk almost daily. On the The news was earth shat- Family Island, Vin enjoys a tering and the chance of ever happy, quiet life and he remains going back out onto the open positive that someday, someocean and doing what he loved how, he’ll be back on his boat no longer seemed attainable. with his brother and father, What makes his story so com- providing food for his family pelling is that it lays bare the and showing them that even price extolled when your live- when you’re down, if you can lihood and lifestyle depend on look up, you can get up and the a human body that’s no longer race is never over until it’s over. functional in that capacity. This is the KDK report. Men and women living on a remote Family Island wouldn’t • Nicknamed ‘The Prince of dream of trading their peace Podiatry’, Dr Kenneth D Kemp and tranquility for the city life is the founder and medical for anything in this world but director of Bahamas Foot and the cost of that peace is the Ankle located in Caves Villimited access to healthcare. lage, Western New Providence. But Vin remained positive He served as the deputy chairsolely because he had a strong man for the Health Council for support team in his corner, five years and he currently sits pushing him to never lose on the board of directors for hope. the Princess Margaret HospiWhen his health was down, tal Foundation in his role as family and community lifted co-vice-chairman.
PAGE 10 MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022
BLUE HOLES REVEAL TODAY’S HURRICANE ACTIVITY IS NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE PAST
INSIGHT
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
DEAN’s Blue Hole in Long Island. Blue holes may provide valuable scientific evidence of the longterm history of hurricane activity. BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net HURRICANES and Blue Holes? You may be wondering about the connection. Well, The Bahamas has the greatest concentration of blue holes in the world with “valuable longterm record” of the Atlantic hurricane activity dating back over five centuries. Now research at Hine’s Hole in The Bahamas is providing significant insight to scientists who study historical tropical cyclone activity. The new study is based on sediments deposited at the bottom of the blue hole and shows there is a lull in hurricane activity in the
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21st century. According to research finding - published In a recent article by J Besl -far more annual hurricanes were experienced in The Bahamas during the preindustrial era compared with today. Ms Besl indicated that the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was the third most active in 171 years of record-keeping, and the 2020 season was even worse that meteorologists went through the list of storm names and needed the Greek alphabet to keep track of the overflow. “The study shows that the flurry of activity may be something of a lull in the centuries-long record of Atlantic hurricanes,” she wrote. “The evidence that hurricane activity is at a historical low is hiding on the Caribbean seafloor, tucked away in odd geological features called blue holes. These open pits form in limestone, often above collapsed caverns. Prolonged erosion weathers the edges into an eerily circular shape.” Blue holes though similar to sinkholes are much grander in scale, according to Besl. “They can be 300 meters deep, like the Dragon Hole in the South China Sea, or 300 meters wide, like the aptly named Great Blue Hole in Belize. The Bahamas is home to the world’s greatest concentration of blue holes, making it an appealing destination for paleotempestologists—scientists who study historical tropical cyclone activity,” she noted. Besl pointed out that the seafloor at the base of a blue hole acts like a calendar of past storms. The sediment at the bottom of the blue hole builds up over time like an ice core or tree ring grows season after season, she explained. “Natural currents coax a sugary sprinkle of small sand grains into the hole, while violent hurricanes pitch larger grains into the pit. By comparing layers of (both) coarse and fine grains in this sedimentary lasagna, researchers can count how many hurricanes passed nearby. “What makes a blue hole a valuable long-term record is that once the sediment settles, there’s very little activity in the pit to disturb it.” Hine’s Hole is a 340-meter-wide hole that penetrates the seafloor in the western Bahamas and offers a prime example of a blue hole hurricane record. The blue hole sits halfway between Cuba and the Florida Keys and is far from any landform. As a result, it can chronicle weaker storms that blow in from any direction. Besl indicated that the base of the hole is also low in oxygen, so no animals live there to disrupt the delicate sediment. “A steady surface current shooting over the hole sends two to three centimeters of sand tumbling into Hine’s Hole each year,” she added.
Tyler Winkler, a geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts led the study at Hine’s Hole. He indicated that it has the highest sedimentation rate of any blue hole he and his colleagues have seen. For the new study, they drilled 18 meters into the sediment at the bottom of Hine’s Hole, recovering cores representing the past 540 years of deposition. Besl reported that after comparing the top layers to the modern hurricane record, the researchers have high confidence that Hine’s Hole recorded every Category 2 or higher hurricane within 75 kilometers. “Analyzing the cores even further showed that the number of tropical cyclones roiling this corner of the Bahamas is in a historical lull,” she noted. Wrinker revealed that over the last 170 years, there had been about five hurricanes per century on average, according to the local record from Hine’s Hole. “But the rate has been almost eight times that in the past,” he said. According to the research, the area around Hine’s Hole has experienced major swings in storm frequency since 1480. “The team cross-checked their findings with other Bahamian blue holes, as well as with tree rings and even ship captains’ logs. The study shows that hurricane activity has dipped since the 1860s, shortly after modern record-keeping began. That means every hurricane since Alfred Nobel invented dynamite has occurred during a historically quiet period in the area,” noted Besl. Sediment cores extracted from blue holes are important, said Hali Kilbourne, a climate researcher at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, not involved in the study. She said the blue holes can provide a glimpse of the preindustrial era. “That’s something the instrumental records can’t do,” Kilbourne said. As a bonus, the limestone shelf of the Bahamas is rich with blue holes. “They’re in the perfect spot.” Winkler and his team expect to return to Hine’s Hole to dig even deeper to gain more context for the current lull. It is believed that there is at least 60 meters of accumulation at the bottom of Hine’s Hole, which could illuminate more than 2,000 years of hurricane history. “That’s why this particular site is so important,” noted Winkler. “There’s nowhere else we’ve encountered yet that has the potential longevity and resolution for storm activity.” “Hine’s Hole shows that in the pre0industrial era before record-keeping began, the Bahamas experienced far more annual hurricanes than it does now. If that heightened activity returns, even the Greek alphabet may not be enough to keep track of them all,” wrote Besl.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 11
Prince sparks row as UK begins deporting migrants to Rwanda LONDON Associated Press OPPONENTS of the British government’s plan to deport migrants to Rwanda are preparing for an appeals court hearing Monday amid the political backlash following reports that Prince Charles had privately described the policy as “appalling”. A coalition of groups including immigration rights advocates and public employee unions will ask the Court of Appeal in London to reverse a lower court ruling allowing the first deportation flight to go ahead as scheduled on Tuesday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in April announced plans to send some undocumented migrants to Rwanda, where their claims for asylum in the east African nation would be processed. If successful, those migrants would stay in Rwanda. Britain paid Rwanda $158m upfront and will make additional payments based on the number of people deported. The programme is aimed at discouraging migrants from risking their lives by crossing the English Channel in small boats after a surge in such journeys over
BRITAIN’s Prince Charles arrives at a centre for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine in Bucharest, Romania, on May 25. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP the past two years. But human rights groups say the policy is illegal, inhumane and will only magnify the risks for migrants. The debate filled Britain’s news media over the weekend after the Times of London reported that an unidentified person had heard Prince Charles express opposition to the policy “several times” in private conversations. “He said he thinks the government’s whole
approach is appalling,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying. Charles’ office, Clarence House, refused to comment on “anonymous private conversations”, but stressed that the prince remains “politically neutral”. Charles’s comments are problematic because he is the heir to the throne and the British monarch is supposed to remain above the political fray. The reported
conversations raise concerns about whether Charles can be a neutral monarch after a lifetime of speaking out on issues ranging from ocean plastic to architectural preservation. Charles, 73, has taken on an increasingly central role in recent months as health problems have limited the activities of Queen Elizabeth II, his 96-year-old mother. The comments set off a firestorm in British newspapers, with the Daily Express warning the Prince of Wales: “Stay out of politics Charles!” The Mail on Sunday said: “We will not back down on Rwanda, Charles.’’ Johnson’s government shows no signs of changing course. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, who represented the government on Britain’s Sunday morning TV programmes, offered a robust defense of the plan, saying the British government wants to upend the business model of people smugglers. “The reality is this is a policy that is going to deliver — to ensure that modern slavery and these people smugglers know that their criminal methods will be broken down,’’ he told Sky News. More than 28,500 people
entered Britain on small boats last year, up from 1,843 in 2019, according to government statistics. The risk of such crossings was made clear on Nov. 24, when 27 people died after their inflatable boat sank in the waters between Britain and France. The Home Office, the agency that oversees border enforcement, launched its own defence of the policy on Sunday, posting comments from a Rwandan government spokesperson on social media. “It’s about protecting and ensuring the wellbeing and development of both migrants and Rwandans in Rwanda,” the Rwandan spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, said. A High Court judge in London on Friday rejected a request from opponents of the plan to block Britain’s Rwanda asylum flights until the court had reached a decision on whether the programme is illegal. The decision allows the flights to begin even as the broader legal challenge moves forward. That ruling has been appealed to the Court of Appeal, which will hear the petition on Monday. Government lawyer Mathew Gullick said Friday that 37 people were originally scheduled to be
aboard Tuesday’s flight, but six had their deportation orders canceled. The government still intends to operate the flight, he said. The government has not provided details of those selected for deportation, but refugee groups say they include people fleeing Syria and Afghanistan. Rwanda is already home to tens of thousands of refugees. Competition for land and resources contributed to ethnic and political tensions that culminated in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, in which more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and the moderate Hutu who tried to protect them were killed. President Paul Kagame’s government has achieved significant economic progress since the genocide, but critics say it has come at the cost of strong political repression. The United Nations’ refugee agency has opposed Britain’s plans, saying it’s an effort to export the country’s legal obligations to provide asylum to those seeking a safe haven. “People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and empathy,” said Gillian Triggs, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection. “They should not be traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing.”
‘ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO INDICT TRUMP’ MOSCOW-BACKED OFFICIALS TRY TO SOLIDIFY RULE IN UKRAINE WASHINGTON Associated Press
MEMBERS of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they have uncovered enough evidence for the Justice Department to consider an unprecedented criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The committee announced that Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, is among the witnesses scheduled to testify at a hearing Monday that focuses on Trump’s effort to spread his lies about a stolen election. Stepien was subpoenaed for his public testimony. As the hearings unfold, Rep Adam Schiff said he would like the department to “investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump.” Schiff, D-Calif, who also leads the House Intelligence Committee, said that “there are certain actions, parts of these different lines of effort to overturn the election that I don’t The committee held its first public hearing last week, with members laying out their case against Trump to show how the defeated president relentlessly pushed his false claims of a rigged election despite multiple advisers telling him otherwise and how he intensified an extraordinary scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Additional evidence is set to be released in hearings this week that will demonstrate how Trump and some of his advisers engaged in a “massive effort” to spread misinformation, pressured the Justice Department to embrace his false claims, and urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject state electors and block the vote certification on January 6, 2021. Stepien, a longtime Trump ally, is now a top campaign adviser to the Trump-endorsed House candidate in
AN IMAGE of a mock gallows on the grounds of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, is shown as committee members look on. Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP Wyoming’s Republican primary, Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Rep Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair and a vociferous critic of the former president. A Trump spokesman, Taylor Budowich, suggested that the committee’s decision to call Stepien was politically motivated. Monday’s witness list includes BJay Pak, the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta who left his position on Jan 4, 2021, a day after an audio recording was made public in which Trump called him a “never-Trumper,” and Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor for Fox News. The committee has said most of those interviewed in the investigation are coming forward voluntarily, although some have wanted subpoenas to appear in public. Filmmaker Nick Quested, who provided documentary footage of the attack, said during last week’s hearing he received
a subpoena to appear. Committee members said they would present clear evidence that “multiple” GOP lawmakers, including Rep Scott Perry, R-Pa, had sought a pardon from Trump, which would protect him from prosecution. Perry on Friday denied he ever did so, calling the assertion an “absolute, shameless, and soulless lie”. “We’re not going to make accusations or say things without proof or evidence backing it,” said Rep Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. Lawmakers indicated that perhaps their most important audience member over the course of the hearings may be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who must decide whether his department can and should prosecute Trump. They left no doubt as to their own view whether the evidence is sufficient to proceed. “Once the evidence is accumulated by the Justice Department, it needs to make a decision about whether it can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the president’s guilt or anyone else’s,” Schiff said. “But they need to be investigated if there’s credible evidence, which I think there is.” Rep Jamie Raskin, D-Md, said he doesn’t intend to “browbeat” Garland but noted the committee has already laid out in legal pleadings criminal statutes they believe Trump violated. “I think that he knows, his staff knows, the US attorneys know, what’s at stake here,” Raskin said. “They know the importance of it, but I think they are rightfully paying close attention to precedent in history as well, as the facts of this case.” Garland has not specified how he might proceed, which would be unprecedented and may be complicated in a political election season in which Trump has openly flirted with the idea of running for president again.
31 WHITE SUPREMACISTS ARRESTED AUTHORITIES arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event Saturday after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur d’Alene police stopped the U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road. “They came to riot downtown,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a news conference. All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, White said. The men were going through the booking process Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, he said.
AUTHORITIES arrest members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho pride event on Saturday after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear. Photo: Georji Brown/AP
KYIV, Ukraine Associated Press KREMLIN-INSTALLED officials in occupied southern Ukraine celebrated Russia Day yesterday and began issuing Russian passports to residents in one city who requested them, as Moscow sought to solidify its rule over captured parts of the country. At one of the central squares in the city of Kherson, Russian bands played a concert to celebrate Russia Day, the holiday that marks Russia’s emergence as a sovereign state after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti. In the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, Moscow-installed officials raised a Russian flag in Melitopol’s city center. Ukrainian media reported that few, if any, local residents attended the Russia Day festivities in the two cities. Russia Day was also celebrated in other occupied parts of Ukraine, including the ravaged southern port of Mariupol, where a new city sign painted in the colors of the Russian flag was unveiled on the outskirts and Russian flags were flown on a highway leading into the city. Also, the Russia-aligned administration in Melitopol started handing out Russian passports to those who applied for Russian citizenship. RIA Novosti posted video of a Moscow-backed official congratulating new Russian citizens and telling them: “Russia will not go anywhere. We are here for good.” President Vladimir Putin earlier this year issued a decree fast-tracking Russian citizenship for residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. In captured cities in the south and east, Moscow has also introduced the ruble as official currency, aired Russian news broadcasts and taken steps to introduce a Russian school curriculum. The Kremlin’s administrators in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have voiced plans to incorporate the areas into Russia, despite protests and signs of
an insurgency among local residents. Russian-installed officials yesterday in Melitopol reported an explosion in a garbage bin near the city’s police headquarters and said two residents were injured. Another blast was reported at an electrical substation in the city of Berdyansk, which is also under Russian control. The Kremlin-backed administration pronounced it a terrorist attack, and officials said electricity was shut down in parts of the city. On the battlefield, Russia said it is used missiles to destroy a large depot in western Ukraine that contained anti-tank and air-defence weapons supplied to Kyiv by the US and European countries. It said the attack took place near the city of Chortkiv in the Ternopil region. Ternopil Gov. Volodymyr Trush said missile strikes on Saturday evening on Chortkiv wounded 22 people, including seven women and a 12-year-old boy. Trush said four Russian missiles damaged a military installation and four residential buildings. Also, heavy fighting continued for control of Sievierodonetsk, an eastern city in Luhansk province with a prewar population of 100,000 that has emerged as central to Russia’s campaign to capture the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland. Luhansk Gov Serhii Haidai said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces were shelling a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant where up to 500 civilians, 40 of them children, were holed up. An official with the proMoscow, self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, Rodion Miroshnik, said 300 to 400 Ukrainian troops also remained inside the plant. He said that efforts were underway to evacuate the civilians but that the troops will be allowed out only if they surrender. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Luhansk People’s Republic, said the Ukrainians making their stand in Sievierodonetsk should save themselves the trouble. “If I were them, I would already make a decision” to surrender, he said.
SPORTS PAGE 14
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022
Men’s national soccer team suffers heartbreaking loss By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
T
he men’s national soccer team suffered another heartbreaking loss, this time 2-0 to Nicaragua on Friday before the home crowd at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. It was the first of the two home and away matches between the two countries in the 2022-2023 CONCACAF Nations League as the two teams left town on Saturday to play again at 8pm tonight in Nicaragua. It was also Team Bahamas’ third match and second
consecutive loss in a two-week span. “It was a tough one. We held our own for quite a bit. One mistake, give up a goal. We had one or two chances, but we didn’t take advantage of our chances,” said Kevin Davies, who assisted Bahamas’ head coach Nesly Jean. “All in all, I’m very proud of the team. I think we gave it our all. “We had a couple of injuries that forced us to make some subs, but overall, we lost. We’re not happy that we lost, but I’m still happy with the way we played for the most part. We made some mistakes, but mistakes are a part of the game. Unfortunately, one cost
us. The goal at the end was a goal at the end. It was a good goal from them. We were down a name at the time, but overall, it was a tough loss.” Jaime Moreno booted in the first goal for Nicaragua in the 40th minute in the first half off Bahamas’ starting goalkeeper Julio Jemison. After Jemison got injured in the second half, Oliver Townsend came in as a replacement, but he couldn’t stop Matias Moldskred Belli from reaching the back of the net in the 90th minute to put the icing on the cake in their shutout. Not only did Team Bahamas lose Jemison, but forward Omari
Bain and defender Derrick Ferguson both had to exit the game with injuries, which resulted in the coaching staff going deeper in the line-up from their young squad to complete the game. “Derrick definitely was a tough loss because it was late in the first half. He was actually having a pretty solid game at the time,” Davies said. “Of course, losing your starting keeper is significant. Omari, a mid field striker, has good speed, so we lost a little there, but it is what it is. We have to rally and see what we come up with on Monday.”
SEE PAGE 17
Chisholm Jr responds to criticism By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JASRADO “Jazz” Chisholm Jr was reportedly the subject of criticism from fellow Miami Marlins teammates in a players only meeting, but the much maligned star second baseman responded on the field with the most productive stretch of his MLB career. Prior to a June 8 matchup against the Washington Nationals, the Marlins hosted the meeting and Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report that Chisholm drew the ire of several teammates to to his style on and off the field. “Jazz Chisholm has turned into a star in Miami. But Chisholm turned out to be the subject for criticism in the team meeting, according to sources, as teammates apparently aren’t always as enamored as fans who love the style and sizzle,” Heyman said. “Mattingly said he didn’t want anyone talking behind anyone’s back, and perhaps a little up-front honesty worked.” Over the course of the next four games, Chisholm
responded by hitting .375 with four homers, nine RBI and seven runs scored. The Marlins went on a five-game winning streak, ended by yesterday’s loss to the Houston Astros. Immediately following the June 8 meeting, Chisholm blasted two home runs, including his first grand slam and a career high six high RBI to power the Marlins’ 12-2 win over the Nationals at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. Chisholm entered the game 2-29 at the plate since his return from a hamstring injury on May 29 and joined Jorge Soler as the only Marlins players with multi home-run games this season. He discussed his approach to criticism with the MLB Tonight crew on MLB Network. “I think have a tool that’s called ‘I dont care’ and I use it to my fullest potential. I just go out there and have fun,” he said. “The game blesses me everyday to come out here and be able to enjoy it and especially a place like Miami where anybody would kill
SEE PAGE 19
BAHAMIAN ATHLETES SHINE AT THE NCAA OUTDOORS By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2022 Outdoor Championships concluded on Saturday at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon with just one Bahamian competing in a final event. Doneisha Anderson, representing the University of Florida Gators, ran the second leg on their women’s 4 x 400 metre team that placed ninth in three minutes and 31.16 seconds. The event was expected to have two Bahamians competing, but sophomore Megan Moss didn’t suit up for the winning University of Kentucky Wildcats team that clocked 3:22.55.
MAKO AQUATIC CLUB WINS OAK TREE MEDICAL INVITATIONAL
MIAMI Marlins’ Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr celebrates after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning on Friday in Houston. (AP Photo/David J Phillip)
By JAKE SEINER AP Sports Writer
SEE PAGE 18
Page 17
SEE PAGE 19
Mo Donegal finishes 1st in Belmont Stakes, another Pletcher win NEW YORK (AP) — Triple Crown veteran Todd Pletcher had simple advice Saturday for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr before the Belmont Stakes. “Be patient,” Pletcher said. “I think you have the best last quarter of any horse in the race.” Sometimes, less is Mo. Mo Donegal pulled away down the home stretch and held off filly Nest to win the Belmont Stakes, giving Pletcher a 1-2 finish and his sixth Triple Crown victory, including four at this track on the outskirts of New York City. “To be honest with you, we were a little confident going into the race today,” Donegal Racing CEO and coowner Jerry Crawford said. “When he turned for home, I was like, forget about it. I know Todd thought he could get a strong last quarter mile, and he surely did.” Rich Strike, a stunning Kentucky Derby winner at 80-to-1 odds, was sixth.
NBA Finals,
JOCKEY Irad Ortiz Jr holds the August Belmont Memorial Cup after Mo Donegal won the Belmont Stakes horse race on Saturday, at Belmont Park. With Ortiz is part-owner Jerry Crawford, right. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
THE Mako Aquatic Club captured the second annual Oak Tree Medical Invitational held on Saturday at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex. Mako, coached by Travano McPhee, collected a total of 1,450 points to easily beat out the Barracudas Swim Club, who got second with 723. The Blue Waves Swim Club came in third with 649. Rounding out the rest of the field in order were the Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club with 408.50 for fourth, Alpha Aquatics with 334 for fifth, Black Marlins Swim Club with 221 for sixth, Lyford Swim Club with 208 for seventh, Lightning Aquatics with 152 for eighth and the Sea Waves Aquatic Team with 52 for ninth. The individual high point winners in the various aged groups are as follows: Girls 8-and-under - Isabella Munroe of Mako Aquatics Club with 61, followed by Cailyn Dean of
SEE PAGE 19
Berrettini beats Andy Murray to win Stuttgart Open on tour return STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Matteo Berrettini showed signs of recapturing the form which took him to the Wimbledon final last year as he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to win the Stuttgart Open yesterday in his first tournament for three months. The Italian hadn’t played since Indian Wells in March because of a hand injury which forced him to miss the entire clay-court swing and, in Murray, faced an opponent whose own injury issues hampered him in the deciding set. “It was the last thing that I imagined when I came here,” Berrettini said of winning the title on his return to the tour. Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray collided with one of the players’ seats at courtside in the first point of the decider and
called for the physio soon after for treatment on his left leg and hip. He took another timeout when he appeared to indicate a problem with his abdominal muscles at 4-2 down. “This is not the way that we wanted to finish the match,” Berrettini said, and he praised Murray’s history of bouncing back from injuries. “He showed us so many times how to come back.” Berrettini moves to 6-3 in career finals with his second career Stuttgart title, while Murray is 46-24 in his 70th career final as he chased a first title since 2019. It was the first time Murray played a singles final on grass since winning Wimbledon in 2016. Tournament organisers said yesterday that an investigation had begun
after Nick Kyrgios said he faced racist abuse from the crowd in his semifinal loss to Murray the day before. “No discriminating actions by the spectators are accepted,” organisers said in e-mailed comments. “We have expressed our regret towards Nick Kyrgios and his team and assured that any kind of discrimination is unacceptable. The incident is currently under investigation.” Kyrgios was given a game penalty Saturday when he appeared to confront someone in the crowd during the match. “One thing I won’t ever tolerate is spectators heckling and blasting abuse to athletes. It’s been happening personally to me for a while, from racist comments to complete disrespect,” the Australian wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 15
Gibson Jr and Rolle capture Unca Lou title By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net ONE of the top amateur golfers teamed up with one of the youngest competitors in the field as Richard Gibson Jr and Kerrington Rolle combined for a 59 net to win the St Augustine’s College Alumni Association’s inaugural Unca Lou Golf Tournament. The two-man scramble event was played on Saturday at the Royal Blue Golf Course at the Baha Mar Resort. Gibson Jr, a member of staff at the Royal Blue Golf Club, said while he hasn’t had that much time to work on his game as he devoted a lot of time assisting tournament director Georgette Rolle-Harris with the junior golf programme, said he was delighted to get the win, especially with Rolle. “I’ve known Kerrington a while. I’ve had him under my wings. He abandoned me after he went to Albany, but he’s a good student,” Gibson Jr said. “Some of the things I taught him, I see he really got better at it. “He definitely putt his butt off today. He made a lot of putts. I gave him some lines and he dropped everything, every single one. He made a lot of putts for us. That was what helped us to win today.” In their first time playing together in a tournament, Rolle concurred with Gibson Jr that he did most of the work. “I could have stroke the ball a little better, but it was all good,” said Rolle, the 13-year-old eighth grader at the Windsor High School. “He (Gibson Jr) hit a lot of lines. Hopefully we will get to play a little more tournaments in the future.” While Gibson Jr and Rolle celebrated as the gross winners with a score of 60, 14 other teams picked up prizes based on their performances in the net category, including Chemari Pratt and Felix Stubbs, who came in second with 62 and Marche and Miller were tied with 64. In order the rest of the way, Fred Wright and Harry Fountain got fourth with 65, the same score as Ashley Michel and Phillip Pinder and the combo of Harry Louis and Steve Wallace, Bill Casale and Brian Coakley as well as Antoine Roberts and Tyesha Tynes both shot 69, with 70 were the duos of Colin Lightbourne and
Lambert Knowles, Horace Miller and Justin Miller, Huey Riley and Norris Miller and Anton McDonald and Bradley Strachan, while the pairs of Peter McIntosh and Tatum Curtis, Dwayne Whylly Sr and Jr and Chase Newbold and Michael Rolle all shot 71. National Hall of Fame basketball player Sterling ‘Robert Lloyd’ Quant won the men’s closest to the pin on hole three, Harry Fountain did it on hole seven, Jim Laroda on 12 and Bill Casale on 16. Chase Newbold took the men’s longest drive and Maranda Tucker got it for the ladies. Tiar Agaro-Gibson won the ladies’ closest to the pin title. Committee chairman Michael Rolle said despite the threat of the rain, the turnout was right around what they had anticipated. “For a first time tournament, the turnout was excellent and the weather was also excellent,” Rolle said. “We are very encouraged by this. We now have a template for it, so next year we will be a lot more organised and ready with an early start before the rainy season.” Appreciative of what she saw, Daria Adderley said the tournament held in honour of her father, Leviticus ‘Uncle Lou’ Adderley was a testament to his dedication to sports and academics, not just at SAC, but throughout the country. “What the SAC Alumni and Mike Rolle and his committee has done in pulling off the tournament is outstanding,” said Adderley, who is now a physical education teacher at SAC. “My mom and I and the family commend them for it. “We also want to thank the persons who came out and participated. It was a great success.” SAC’s new principal Marici Thompson said while the dream for this event was in the making two years ago, but had to be postponed because of COVID-19 and delayed again in May, she’s happy that it finally got off the ground. “We’re also happy that the Alumni Association wants to actually contribute to the Field of Dreams at SAC,” said Thompson, a graduate of SAC. “Deacon Adderley coached and mentored athletes in every sport and this was a dream of his. “So we want to get that completed as soon as we
ANTON McDonald and Bradley Strachan get their awards from Daria Adderley and Cherelle Cartwright.
CHAMPIONS Kerrington Rolle and Richard Gibson Jr receive their awards from Daria Adderley and Cherelle Cartwright.
CHASE Newbold gets his longest to the drive award from SAC’s principal Marici Thompson and alumni president Cherelle Cartwright.
DARIA Adderley and Cherelle Cartwrght present Michael Rolle and Chase Newbold with their awards. can, small portions at that. We want to start with the softball fields, hopefully by the fall so we can play inter-school sports on our campus. We will then go to basketball, track and field and volleyball.” As for the multipurpose gymnasium, Thompson said they will continue to
push for the construction of the building, which has been a major goal of Adderley during his tenure as the first Bahamian principal at SAC. And SAC’s Alumni Association president Cherelle Cartwright said although she’s elated for the initial event, the
support from their corporate sponsors made a huge difference, along with the former students of SAC, who donated, came out and either lent their support or participated in the event. “All in all, I expect better things next year,” she said. “We had great prizes, including a BMW on hole 12 for a hole-in-one shot. We had televisions to stays at Comfort Suites, Baha Mar and Westgate. We were happy that we delivered. “To the golfers who played, they were excited about the prizes and they are already anticipating next year’s event.” In October, Cartwright said the Alumni Association will organise a Fashion Extravaganza instead of hosting their Lighthouse Gala Awards Banquet, which will return next year with at least 30 honourees. Cartwright, now in the first year of her second three-year term in office, expressed her gratitude to Thompson for her support of the Alumni Association and together, she hopes they will only continue to grow and push the efforts of the association forward. “I have two more years in my term and I would like to see us hit the two million mark in terms of funds generated by the time I leave office,” she said.
GRANT BECOMES 1ST FEMALE GOLFER TO WIN ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer A FEMALE player has won an event on the European tour for the first time. Linn Grant made history in amazing style, too. The 22-year-old Swede obliterated a field of both male and female golfers at the Scandinavian Mixed event yesterday, winning by nine strokes after an 8-under 64 in the final round at Halmstad Golf Club. Remarkably, she finished 14 strokes clear of the next best woman, Gabriella Cowley, who placed tied for 15th. “I just hope people recognise women’s golf more now,” Grant said, “that more sponsors go to the LET (Ladies European Tour) than to the men’s tour, and hopefully this pumps up the women’s game a little bit more.” Grant started the day with a two-stroke lead and steadily built up her advantage by making birdie at five of her first six holes, demonstrating the brilliant ball-striking and calm
LINN Grant of Sweden hits from the first tee during the final round of the Scandinavian Mixed at Halmstad Golf Club, Sweden, yesterday. (Pontus Lundahl/TT via AP) It is the second stag- whole week, I just felt it temperament she has displayed all week in southern ing of a tournament that was girls against the guys,” started with 78 men and 78 she said. Sweden. Grant’s grandfather, She first took a nine- women in the field, playing stroke lead after tapping in the same course — albeit James, was a Scottish golf for birdie at the par-5 11th off different tees — for one professional who emigrated from Inverness in hole and regained it with prize fund and one trophy. Grant said her main aim northern Scotland to Helsher eighth and final birdie of the round at another par this week was to beat the ingborg in Sweden. Her father, John, played 5, the 14th. She completed men. “That was the most on the Swedish Golf Tour, a bogey-free weekend for the week of her golfing life. important thing — the too, and has seven wins on
the Swedish Senior Tour. Grant turned professional last year and won events on the Ladies European Tour in March and May, marking her out as a star in the making. In an on-course interview on the front nine, Grant said having those two wins under her belt made her feel calm going into the biggest round of her life. Her boyfriend, Pontus, was her caddie this week and her mother was at the course and among those cheering Grant onto each green on a day of changing weather. Swedish great Henrik Stenson, who hosted the event with compatriot Annika Sorenstam, shot 70 and was tied for second place with Marc Warren (65). Sorenstam, one of the greatest female golfers ever, embraced Grant beside the 18th green after victory was sealed. Grant won 30,000 euros ($31,500) when winning in Belgium last month. She received more than 10 times that on Sunday.
MCILROY DEFENDS CANADIAN OPEN TITLE IN STRONG LIV RESPONSE TORONTO (AP) — Rory McIlroy won the RBC Canadian Open yesterday and gave the PGA Tour a strong response to the start of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational, closing with an 8-under 62 to win a wild race to the finish with Justin Thomas and Tony Finau. McIlroy had his first title defence on the PGA Tour, even if he had to wait for it. He won golf’s fourtholdest national open in 2019 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, only for the the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel the next two editions. Thomas pushed him to the end at St George’s Golf & Country Club, and the tournament effectively ended on the 17th hole. McIlroy and Thomas were tied and in the rough. McIlroy hit a wedge that rolled out to tap-in range, while Thomas missed a 10-foot par putt, a two-shot swing. Thomas closed with a pair of bogeys and still shot 64. McIlroy finished at 19-under 261 for a twostroke victory. Finau holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 64 to finish second alone. Thomas was third at 14 under. Justin Rose matched the tournament- and courserecord with a 60 — with three eagles and three bogeys — to tie for fourth with Sam Burns (65) at 14 under.
RORY McIlroy watches his tee shot on the 17th hole on his way to winning the Canadian Open golf tournament in Toronto yesterday. (Nathan Denette/ The Canadian Press via AP) The Canadian crowd was enormous having been kept away since 2019, and thousands surrounded the 18th green as the threesome of McIlroy, Thomas and Finau finished. McIlroy has been one of the strongest opponents of the LIV Golf series and spoke out against the money being paid to players like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Greg Norman, who runs the LIV Golf, said in a story in the Washington Post that McIlroy had been “brainwashed” by the PGA Tour. The victory was the second for McIlroy this season, adding to his victory in Las Vegas last October in the CJ Cup. He won for the 21st time on the PGA Tour. “This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time,”McIlroy said. “Twenty-one PGA Tour wins, one more than somebody else.” It was a dig at Norman, who had 20 career tour wins. Rose was 11 under with three holes to play. He bogeyed the 16th, hit to 2 feet on 17 for birdie, then went over the green on 18 and missed an 18-foot par putt. Carl Pettersson also shot 60 at St. George’s in his 2010 victory. Corey Conners was the top Canadian, shooting a 62 to finish sixth at 12 under.
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PORTUGAL LOSES TO SWISS IN NATIONS LEAGUE, SPAIN TOPS GROUP By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer
GENEVA (AP) — Portugal left Cristiano Ronaldo at home and lost its unbeaten record in 2022 and the lead of its Nations League group yesterday. A goal after 57 seconds by Switzerland forward Haris Seferovic was enough for a 1-0 win in Geneva despite late pressure by Portugal including two scoring chances for 39-year-old captain Pepe playing as an emergency forward. Portugal’s slip, after letting Ronaldo skip the last game of a long season, let Spain take first place in Group 2 with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in top-tier League A. Goals midway through each half from Carlos Soler and Pablo Sarabia lifted Spain one point clear of Portugal after four rounds. The last two rounds will be played in September. Portugal had gone unbeaten in five games this year starting with two wins in its World Cup qualifying playoffs in March and including a 4-0 rout of the Swiss last weekend. The Swiss had gone in the other direction with a five-match winless run since qualifying for the World Cup ahead of group rival Italy in November. Portugal barely had time to miss Ronaldo, or touch the ball much, when falling behind within one minute. A quick series of passes linked by Xherdan Shaqiri lined up right back Silvan Widmer for a dangerous cross. It found Seferovic, who plays in Portugal for Benfica, to guide a header into the far bottom corner of the net. Shaqiri was preparing to take a penalty kick 10 minutes later, after his cross struck the hand of left-back Nuno Mendes, but a video review found a foul in the center circle in the buildup. Starting on the bench after a tiring season in England and the Champions League, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota were sent on after an hour and within seconds Silva lashed a shot that was punched clear by Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin. Omlin impressed with eight saves though almost gifted Silva a goal in the 67th. His misjudged pass from the goalmouth rebounded off the Portugal forward close enough to the ‘keeper that he could dive on the loose ball.
REAL MADRID TO SIGN FRANCE MIDFIELDER TCHOUAMÉNI FROM MONACO MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid is signing another young, highly rated French midfielder after reaching agreement with Monaco for the transfer of Aurélien Tchouaméni on Saturday. The 22-year-old Tchouaméni will join for six seasons, Madrid said, and will be presented on Tuesday once he passes his medical examination. Madrid did not disclose the fee for the France international, who has played with Monaco since January 2020 after joining from Bordeaux. Sections of the Spanish media reported the fee to be 100 million euros ($105 million) including variables.
CONNECTICUT Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) is fouled by Chicago Sky forward Azurá Stevens, right, as guard Rebekah Gardner (35) helps on defence.
SKY HIT LATE FREE THROWS TO EARN 83-79 WIN OVER JONQUEL JONES AND SUN UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Emma Meesseman scored 20 of her 26 points in the first half, Candace Parker added 18 points and the Chicago Sky beat the Connecticut Sun 83-79 on Friday night in a rematch of the WNBA Finals. Parker made two free throws with 28.4 seconds left for an 80-79 lead. After a timeout, Courtney Williams missed a shot in the lane and Parker was fouled again before making two free throws for a threepoint lead with 12.9 left. Rebekah Gardner, a 31-year-old rookie, stole a pass under the basket and added another free throw to seal it. Gardner finished with 14 points for Chicago (8-4). Courtney Vandersloot had eight points and
CONNECTICUT Sun forward Jonquel Jones, left, battles Chicago Sky forward Emma Meesseman, second from left, as Sun center Brionna Jones (obscured) and forward Candace Parker (3) wait for their chance during a WNBA basketball game Friday, June 10, 2022, in Uncasville, Conn. (Photos: Sean D Elliot/The Day via AP)
eight assists, and Allie Quigley moved into 17th place in WNBA history for made 3-pointers. Meesseman, averaging 10.9 points, scored 20 in the first half on 9-of-10 shooting. Her three-point play capped the first-half scoring to give Chicago a 45-44 lead. Jonquel Jones scored seven points with 14 rebounds, Brionna Jones scored 20 points and DeWanna Bonner added 18 for Connecticut (10-4), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Alyssa Thomas had 11 points and eight assists. Bonner made her first 3-pointer of the game to pull Connecticut within 78-77 and she made a jumper on the next possession for a one-point lead.
Taylor calls for Brittney Griner’s release at Hall of Fame induction By TERESA M WALKER AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Penny Taylor used her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday to call for the release of her former Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner, noting it’s been 114 days since the seventime WNBA All-Star was detained in Russia. “BG is our family,” Taylor said in asking President Joe Biden’s help freeing Griner. “She’s yours, too. The entire global sport community needs to come together to insist that she be a priority.” The two-time Olympic gold medallist has been detained since February 17 after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. Taylor also wished her wife, Diana Taurasi, a happy 40th birthday after playing Friday night in a Mercury win and then travelling to Tennessee to escort her to the induction ceremony. Taylor helped Australia win Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. She won three WNBA titles in
2007, 2009 and 2014 and was a three-time All-Star. “If you continue to work hard, you too may be up here,” Taylor said to Taurasi. DeLisha Milton-Jones wrapped up her acceptance speech with a call to bring Griner home. DePaul coach Doug Bruno noted Griner has been a big part of USA Basketball’s Olympic success. “Brittney is a great human being,” Bruno said. “No one deserves what Brittney’s going through. Enough is absolute enough. It’s time for the powers that be to bring Brittney home.” Other inductees included Becky Hammon, Debbie Antonelli, Wayland Baptist star Alice “Cookie” Barron as a veteran player, Paul Sanderford, who coached Western Kentucky to three Final Fours, and coach Bob Schneider, who ranked third all-time with 634 Division II victories. The hall also honoured Title IX with one of the Trailblazers of the Game award as the U.S. law intended to ensure equity between men and women in education marks its 50th anniversary. Barron, who flew to games between
Phoenix Mercury centre Brittney Griner during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky, on October 13, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
1954-1957 with the Flying Queens, actually flying to away games while the men traveled by bus, made a call to everyone listening. “I want to implore all of us to keep a very close watch on Title IX,” Barron said. “The doors are open. We must never let them close.” Milton-Jones, now head coach at Old Dominion, capped her four-year
career at Florida as the 1997 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and All-American. She led the Gators to four straight NCAA Tournament berths, including the Elite Eight in 1997. The fourth overall pick in the 1999 WNBA draft played 17 seasons in the league. When she retired in 2016, she held the league record for most
games played, with 499 for Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Washington and San Antonio. She helped the Los Angeles Sparks win back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001 and ‘02. Milton-Jones also helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in 2000 and 2008, missing the 2004 Athens Games with an injury. She played in Spain, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, the Czech Republic and Russia. In 2005, she was interim coach of the Los Angeles Stars in the American Basketball Association, becoming only the second female to coach a men’s pro team. Her family made T-shirts and visors to help her commemorate this moment, and Milton-Jones said her success helped put Riceboro, Georgia, on the map. Hammon couldn’t attend the induction, with her WNBA-leading Las Vegas Aces playing the Sparks on Saturday night in Los Angeles, winning 89-72. Bruno has coached 36 seasons at DePaul with 24 NCAA Tournament berths. He also has helped win six gold medals with USA Basketball.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 17
Curry scores 43 to beat Boston, Warriors tie NBA Finals 2-2 By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — He stomped his feet, waved his arms, flexed his muscles and talked back to the crowd. And Stephen Curry also made baskets. Plenty of those, too. In a demonstrative and dominating performance that was one of the best of his postseason career, Curry scored 43 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 107-97 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night, sending the series back to San Francisco knotted at two games apiece. Two nights after shaking off a foot injury in a Game 3 loss, the two-time league MVP stomped and shot his way to his thirdhighest scoring total in the postseason, adding 10 rebounds and making a pair of baskets during a 10-0 fourth-quarter run that turned a four-point Boston edge into a 100-94 Golden State lead. It was the second-most points he’s scored in the NBA Finals. “The heart on that man is incredible,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “The things he does, we kind of take for granted at times, to go out there and put us on his back. We’ve got to help him out on Monday.” Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 16 boards for the Warriors, who have won at least one road game for an NBA-record 27 consecutive playoff series since 2013. They will host Game 5 tonight, with Game 6 in Boston on Thursday; Golden State would hold the home-court advantage in a seventh game, if necessary.
“We had to do it the difficult way,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka, whose team is 7-0 after losses in the 2022 postseason. “We have to do it again. It could have been an easier road, obviously, if you get the win tonight. But we’re 2-2 now. We know we can do it. We’ve done it before,” he said. Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, but he managed just one basket while playing the entire fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Robert Williams III had 12 rebounds. Marcus Smart, who scored 18 points, hit a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 94-90 lead with just over five minutes remaining. But they missed six straight shots and did not score again until the 1:18 mark, after Curry made a floater and a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 100-94 lead. “He wasn’t letting us lose. That’s all it boils down to,” Warriors big man Draymond Green said. “I could tell in his demeanour, last couple of days, even after Game 3 that he was going to come out with that kind of fire.” Curry was more demonstrative than usual, raising his arms after failing to get a foul call, interacting with the sold-out TD Garden crowd and flexing to celebrate a big Warriors basket. Rather than returning home at the brink of elimination, the Warriors moved closer to a fourth NBA title in eight years at home. “I felt like we just had to let everybody know that we were here tonight,” Curry said. “Whether that’s their crowd, their team, our team, whoever wants to see
that energy and that fire, we feed off of that.” Fans arriving at the TD Garden for what could have been the final time this season found a T-shirt draped over their seats with the 17 NBA championship banners lined up on the front. There was a blank rectangle where the 18th would go. Now the Celtics would need to win at least one more time in San Francisco to fill in the blank. The amped-up crowd spent much of the game booing Green, chanting an obscenity at him that is usually reserved for Bucky Dent, and jeering his many misses. He shot 1 of 7 but finished with nine rebounds and eight assists to go with two points. Green also had an offensive rebound and a dish to Curry after returning to the game in the final minute to eliminate any chance of a Boston comeback. “He’s the ultimate competitor. ... Made huge plays down the stretch,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “This is a tough series for him to score because of Boston’s size and athleticism, but he’s still impacting the game at a huge level.” INJURY REPORT Curry’s foot was an issue coming into the night after Boston’s Al Horford landed on it late in Game 3. But didn’t seem to bother him on Friday night: He played 41 minutes — only Wiggins spent more time on the court for the Warriors — and made 14 of 26 shots, including 7 of 14 from 3-point range. “Never even looked like it was a factor,” Kerr said. “The physicality out there is pretty dramatic. Boston’s
GOLDEN State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on Friday night in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) got the best defence in the league — huge and powerful at every position, and for Steph to take that kind of pressure all game long and still be able to defend ... I think this is the strongest physically he’s ever been in his career.” Williams was listed as questionable coming into the game with the knee injury that kept him out at the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs. He started strong,
with 10 rebounds in the first half, but he was limping in the second half and on the bench in the final minutes. He finished with seven points to go with four assists and two blocked shots, playing 31 minutes. THIRD TIME The Warriors won the third quarter for the fourth game in a row, but not as decisively as they had previously. Golden State had a 30-24 edge coming out of the
break, closing with a 14-7 run to erase a six-point Boston lead. Curry scored 14 points in the quarter, making four 3-pointers. The Warriors have outscored the Celtics by a combined score of 136-87 in the third quarter in the finals. This time, it was the fourth quarter that was decisive, with the Warriors scoring 17 of the game’s last 20 points.
TATUM’S TIME: CELTICS’ STAR VOWS TO BOUNCE BACK IN FINALS By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum knows he has taken his game to a new level in his fifth NBA season, pushing his way into the league’s top echelon of playmakers as the Boston Celtics’ go-to scorer. The three-time All-Star also knows at times he hasn’t been good enough against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and must find a way to elevate his play if he hopes to help Boston capture the franchise’s 18th championship. He doesn’t mind the spotlight, or the burden that comes with it. “I just got to be better,” Tatum said after Golden State’s 107-97 win in Game 4 Friday night to tie the series. “I know I can be better, so it’s not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I’m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level that I can play at.” The Celtics had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and drop the Warriors into a hole only one team in 36 tries has ever dug out of — the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who rallied from 3-1 to beat Golden State in seven games. Instead, Boston went collectively cold late in the fourth quarter as the Warriors’ Stephen Curry put the final touches on what may be his signature playoff moment in front of a stunned TD Garden crowd. Tatum tried, but this time couldn’t match Curry’s dominance. He finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. But Tatum had his second-worst shooting performance of the series
— just 8 of 23 from the field — and didn’t take care of the ball; he had six of Boston’s 16 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points. He also was a virtual nonfactor in the final quarter, scoring just three points on 1 of 5 shooting with a turnover. It hurt most after the Celtics took 94-90 lead only to miss their six shots during a 10-0 Warriors run. Boston never led again. As Tatum has gone, so have the Celtics in this series. In the Celtics’ two wins he is averaging 27 points and shooting 45% from the field. In their two losses those numbers drop to 22 points per game and 34% from the field. Boston coach Ime Udoka said part of the issue he sees is that Tatum begins to force things that aren’t there when his shots aren’t going in. “At times he’s looking for fouls. They are a team that loads up in certain games. He’s finding the outlets. Shooting over two, three guys,” Udoka said. “That’s the balance of being aggressive and picking your spots and doing what he’s done in previous games, which is kicked it out and got wideopen looks.” The Warriors did many of the same things schematically that they’ve done against him all series — sending multiple defenders and switching different players onto him in 1-on-1 situations. Tatum believes his problems stemmed from him getting stuck in a ballwatching trap. “We all did it at times. We just got to move,” he said. “I think that’s when we’re most effective, when everybody is moving.” In Game 1, Tatum shot a paltry 3 of 17 from the field
you, we believe in you. This is what you’re made for.’ Jayson has to figure it out. We have to do a good job of helping him.” Tatum is embracing the challenge of finding his best basketball. “It’s kind of on me to do that more often than not just to help my team in the best way that I can,” he said. “It’s not too much pressure at all. It’s kind of like my job.”
but was able to create shots for his teammates by penetrating and passing out of double teams. In Friday’s loss he seemed rushed at times and could never seem to settle into a rhythm in the second half because of his turnovers. That was true whether he was attempting jump shots or in the paint, where he had five missed shot attempts and seemed frustrated by non-foul calls. “When I do have space, I’m open, I got to take the shot,” Tatum said. “Obviously, any time I hold it too long, they load up and things like that. I think just quick decisions, don’t turn down any open looks, any daylight that I have, just continue to try to make the right pass.” Point guard Marcus Smart said the strongest message he and his teammates keep conveying to Tatum is they have every confidence he will snap out of it. “We just constantly let him know keep going,”
Smart said. “‘This isn’t your first time being in a slump.
SOCCER
FROM PAGE 14 Veteran team captain Lesly St Fleur, who normally plays up front leading the offensive charge, was moved to the backline where he tried to help bolster their defensive attack. He said the team had its chances to get on the scoreboard, but didn’t. “We did what we could have done. Everybody put in the work. It’s just that we lost focus in the last two or three minutes of the game,” St Fleur said. “That’s how they scored the first goal in the first half. We went out of sync. Everybody was somewhere else and they scored. “The same thing in the second period. It was a tough loss.”
Won’t be the last time. You got to figure it out. We trust St Fleur said they have to put this game behind them and focus on the task ahead of them when they face Nicaragua tonight. Davies said although Nicaragua has a lot of confidence going at home, they have to dig deep and come out to fight. Nicaragua’s assistant coach Andres Rozo said the objective was for the team to get three points and they did that. “We had more opportunities to score. We should have scored more goals,” he said. “We could have had a better game, but the three points is more important for us to take with us.” Moldskred, the interpreter for Rozo, said they didn’t have the flow in their, but once they settled down, the opportunities came and he managed to boot in a goal, so he was
BOSTON Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) puts up a shot against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second quarter of Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Finals, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) happy with the way he played for the team. He noted that both teams have now played three games in two weeks, but today’s game will be a competitive one, but he admitted that they are looking forward to playing much better at home than they did here. “We have to be aggressive. We know there is no walkover here. Even though we are playing at home, all of the games are tough,” Moldskred said. “So we have to be humble when we work and smart when we play. With their victory over the Bahamas on Friday, Nicaragua now leads Group B with two wins and a draw against St Vincent and the Grenadines for a total of seven points. The Bahamas is now third in the standings with a 1-2 win-loss record.
PAGE 18, Monday, June 13, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
Crowded dais as boxing hall of fame inducts three classes By TIM DAHLBERG AP Boxing Writer THE International Boxing Hall of Fame might have to build a new wing to host all the inductees after this weekend’s ceremonies. Floyd Mayweather Jr alone made yesterday’s event one of the most anticipated in years. Add in fighters like Roy Jones Jr, Andre Ward and Bernard Hopkins — as well as some pioneering women — and the boxing hall in tiny Canastota, New York, filled up quickly. The last two ceremonies were cancelled because of the pandemic. So there’s a three-year class of 27 fighters — and 36 honourees in total — that should appeal to even the most casual boxing fan. That includes a new women’s category headed by Laila Ali and Christy Martin, who shot to fame when she was featured on some of Mike Tyson’s fight cards in the 1990s. Organisers said all the fighters were expected to be there except one. Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is in Ukraine alongside his brother, Vitali, helping run the capital city of Kyiv during the ongoing war
against invading Russia. Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv and also a former heavyweight champ, was inducted in 2018. There are so many fighters that the event was held at a nearby casino instead of in Canastota. Instead of fighting each other, the inductees found themselves fighting for time for their acceptance speeches in the biggest induction ever for the small hall that honours boxing’s greatest. Here’s a look at some of the inductees: FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. — One of the all-time greats, and certainly one of the best defensive fighters ever. His 50-0 record suggests perfection but Mayweather will probably best be known more for how he capitalised on his career better than any fighter before him. He invented the Money May persona, but the money was very real, including the estimated $200 million he made to fight Manny Pacquiao in the richest fight ever. Mayweather also banked similar money to fight UFC’s Conor McGregor, and his record as a payper-view king may stand for a long time. Is he the greatest fighter ever as he
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR, left, punches Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, during their welterweight title fight on Saturday, May 2, 2015, in Las Vegas. Mayweather Jr was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., yesterday. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken) claims? No, but that doesn’t stop him from being in the conversation. BERNARD HOPKINS — The Executioner was certainly one of the greatest middleweights of all time, with a record 20 straight defenses of the middleweight title he won in 1995. Hopkins would later move up to 175 pounds, and set a record as oldest champion when he beat Jean Pascal at the age of 46 to win the light heavyweight title. Two years later, he won the title again at the age of 48. Hopkins made his biggest payday when he stopped Oscar De La Hoya with a body punch in their 2004 showdown, then won again when he joined De La Hoya as a shareholder in Golden Boy Promotions. Not only a great fighter, but a great talker, especially when it comes to his career.
ROY JONES JR. — In his prime he was a masterful blend of speed and power, so shifty that opponents struggled to even hit him. Jones had a gold medal stolen from him in the 1988 Olympics, but went on to win titles in four different weight classes. One of those titles came at heavyweight when he beat John Ruiz in 2003, but the drastic move up from light heavyweight took a toll on Jones, who would go on to lose three of his next four fights at 175 pounds. His legacy was diluted further because he fought another 15 years after that with middling results. WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO — One of two hulking heavyweight brothers who grew up in the Soviet boxing system, Klitschko’s career nearly ended in 2004 when he
was stopped by Lamon Brewster. He would come back from that defeat to dominate the heavyweight division for nearly a decade, fighting most of the time in Germany, where he had a big fan base. More casual fans didn’t like his careful style but Klitschko showed he could brawl, too, when he dropped Anthony Joshua before 90,000 people in London before being stopped in 2017 in what would be his last fight. Klitschko has been in Ukraine with his brother, Vitali, since Russia invaded their country. CHRISTY MARTIN — Her story was as compelling as her fights, and Martin had a big stage on the undercard of some of Tyson’s pay-per-view fights. She was a gritty fighter who moved forward constantly and her bloody
match with Deirdre Gogarty on a Tyson undercard in 1996 made a lot of boxing fans realize that women’s fights were real. Martin would later be shot and stabbed by her husband and trainer, who is currently serving a prison term. Also inducted on the women’s side is Laila Ali, who carried the weight of her famous father’s name as she campaigned her way to a 24-0 record at a time women’s boxing wasn’t taken seriously. OTHERS — Take your pick among a group of deserving candidates including Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Andre Ward, Shane Mosley and James Toney. All are top fighters who could headline any other ceremony that didn’t include some of the greatest ever.
to get back inside — where he made a late charge past 19 horse to win at Churchill Downs. Rich Strike spent much of the race in last place and couldn’t recover. “I think we just made a tactical error,” Reed said. Just like Rich Strike, Mo Donegal was at the back of the pack at the Derby, but the colt didn’t have enough kick at Churchill Downs. He found it Saturday, winning the 154th running of the $1.5 million race. Mo Donegal made a winner out of co-owner Mike Repole, a local entrepreneur known around the track as “Mike from Queens.” Repole also coowns Nest. “This is New York’s biggest race and to win it here, with my family and friends and 70 people here, this will
be a big winner’s circle,” he said. It’s the fourth straight year the Triple Crown contests were won by three different horses, a first for the sport since 1926-29. The race marked a return to form for Belmont itself after the 2020 Stakes were closed to the public due to the pandemic and the 2021 event was limited to 11,238 spectators by virus restrictions. Capacity was capped again, this time at 50,000, because of congestion concerns stemming from the newly built arena next door for the NHL’s New York Islanders. Still, fans crammed into cars on the Long Island Rail Road and breathed life into the 117-year-old track with floral headwear, pastel suits
and the unmistakable musk of booze and cigars. The reported attendance of 46,103 fell far short of the grounds record 120,139 set in 2004. Not much of a surprise, given the shaky weather forecast and the lack of a Triple Crown contender. The field was sparse, too. No horse ran all three Triple Crown legs this year, heightening concern that three races in five weeks may be too tight a schedule to keep the horses healthy. Preakness winner Early Voting was sidelined, likely to prepare for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on August 27. Epicenter, the runner-up at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, also skipped. In the $500,000 Acorn for
3-year-old fillies, Matareya romped to a 6 1/4-length victory. Favourite Echo Zulu scratched at the post on the advice of the track veterinarian. Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, Matareya ($2.60) ran the mile in 1:35.77, winning for the fifth time in eight career starts. Heavily favoured Flightline got off a step slow, overcame an early traffic issue and cruised to a six-length victory in the $1 million Hill ‘N’ Dale Metropolitan Mile. The victory kept the 4-year-old Tapit colt undefeated in four career starts. This was the first one he did not win by double-digit lengths. Flightline ($2.90) was also ridden by Prat and trained by John Sadler.
MO Donegal (6), with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr up, crosses the finish line to win the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, on Saturday, June 11, 2022, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
BELMONT FROM PAGE 14
Mo Donegal rounded the 1 1/2-mile distance in 2 minutes, 28.28 seconds, three lengths ahead of Nest — ridden by Ortiz’s brother, José. Pletcher, who lives on Long Island, adds another Belmont title following wins with Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017. Mo Donegal beat an eight-horse field without a clear favourite. We the People, a monster in the mud, opened at 2 to 1 amid a rainy forecast but reached 7 to 2 by race time as showers held off. Mo Donegal entered the gate the betting favourite at 5 to 2. We the People led for much of the race, but
Mo Donegal and Ortiz took charge coming out of the final turn. The 3-year-old colt paid $7.20, $3.80 and $3. Nest — who nearly became Pletcher’s second filly to win Belmont after Rags to Riches — paid $5.30 and $4.10. Skippylongstocking was third and returned $5.60 to show. We the People finished fourth. Rich Striker owner Rick Dawson and trainer Eric Reed held the Kentucky Derby winner out of the Preakness with an eye on Belmont, the first healthy horse to skip Pimlico after winning the Triple Crown’s first even since 1985. Reed said the team encouraged jockey Sonny Leon to try pushing Rich Strike from the outside, but the horse kept trying
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, June 13, 2022, PAGE 19
DONEISHA Anderson gets the baton to run the second leg on Florida women’s 4 x 400m relay team.
NCAA
FROM PAGE 14 Kentucky’s nearest rivals was Texas in 3:23.35. Moss, however, did run on UK’s 4x4 team in the preliminaries on Thursday where they posted the second fastest time of the semi-finals (3:25.67) for an automatic qualifier into the final. On Thursday, Moss also ran in the preliminaries of the women’s 400m, but while she came through in a lifetime best of 51.73, it was only good enough for fifth in her heat and 15th overall as she missed out on a trip to the final on Saturday. Kentucky, coached by Bahamian Lonnie Greene and assisted by “Golden Girl” Debbie FergusonMcKenzie, finished third in the ladies’ team standings with 50 points. But for the first time in programme history, Florida captured the women’s title, defeating Texas 74-64 in the team titled race. The Gators, coached by Mike Holloway, also won the men’s title. Also on Saturday, Charisma Taylor, a junior at the
JAZZ
FROM PAGE 14 to live so to play a professional sport here is even more amazing so I just go out there with that attitude because I don’t care what anyone else has to say, I’m just out here living my life and enjoying the game. The game doesn’t owe anyone anything and it’s given me alot so I just have fun with it.” On Friday, he and teammate Jesus Aguilar became just the fourth pair of Marlins teammates to each hit two home runs in a game, according to Baseball Reference. He’s had 2 two-homer games in the last week alone and through just 46 games, he’s nearly eclipsed
MAKO
FROM PAGE 14 the Blue Waves Swim Club with 43 for second and Kirsten Rolle, also of the Blue Waves Swim Club with 37 for third. Boys 8-and-under – Asher Bastian of the Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club-won with 52, while Fraser Menzies, of Alpha Aquatics got second with 50 and Lyall Menzies of Alpha Aquatics was third with 43. Girls 9-10 – Tiah Seymour of the Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club-emerged the winner with 62. Taylen Nicolls of Mako Aquatics Club came in second with 41 and Paityn Burrows of Mantas Swim & Water Polo Club was third with 32 50. Boys 9-10 – Christon Joseph of the Blue Waves Swim Club won with 63; Keiron Lloyd of Mako Aquatics Club was second with 47 and Zander Lightbourne, also of Mako Aquatics Club, got third with 40. Girls 11-12 – Trinity George of the Blue Waves Swim Club won with 39; Saleste Gibson of the Barracuda Swim Club came in second with 36 and Alexia Zatarain of the Lyford Swim Club was third with 31. Boys 11-12 – Dijon Simmons of the Blue Waves Swim Club captured the title with 54; Maxwell Daniels of Mako Aquatics Club was second with 49 and Trace Russell of Mako Aquatics Club came in third with 44. Girls 13-14 – Elle Theberge of Mako Aquatics Club clinched the title with 55; Tia- Isabella Adderley,
University of Tennessee, was scheduled to compete in the women’s triple jump. But a nagging injury she sustained a couple weeks ago denied her the opportunity to compete. In the men’s final, which was contested on Friday, two Bahamians suited up in the high jump with Shaun Miller Jr, a sophomore at Ohio State, emerging with the best showing as he took ninth place with a leap of 7-feet, ½-inch or 2.15 metres. Kyle Alcine, a senior at Kansas State, ended up 15th with 6-10 ¾ ( 2.10m). The winning height was 7-5 ¼ (2.27m) by Tejaswin Shankar, a senior at Kansas State. During the men’s preliminaries on Wednesday, Grand Bahamian Terrence Jones Jr got 12th place overall for Texas Tech in the 100m in 10.23 and Wanya McCoy, a freshman at Clemson, was 15th in the 200m in 20.54. The athletes will now prepare to return home for the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations National Championships, scheduled for June 24-25 and the Relay Carnival on his offensive production in 124 games as a rookie in 2021. He followed with a game tying run in extra innings as the Marlins won the second game of the series, 2-1, and went 2-4 with two runs scored in a 7-4 in the series finale. In the series opener on the road against the Houston Astros on January 10, Chisholm had his second multi home run game of the season in the Marlins’ 7-4 win. He finished 2-5 with three RBI and scored two runs. “I think my personality is my number one tool,” he said. “The baseball tool, it would have to be the swag. Everything else to me is even, I can hit, run, play defence, whatever you need me to do I’ll be out there doing it.” her team, got second with 45 and Giada Bertoldo completed a Mako Aquatics Club sweep in third with 37. Boys 13-14 - Zion Gibson was crowned the champion for Mako Aquatics Club with 58, while his Mako Aquatics Club teammate, Mikhail Bartlett, was second with 33. Malcolm Menzies, Malcolm of the Black Marlins Swim Club was third with 30. Girls 15-and-over – Devin Cuffy-Bethel of the Mako Aquatics Club picked up the title with 48, followed by Jamilah Hepburn, also from Mako Aquatics Club with 38 for second. There was a two-way tie for third between Delaney Mizell of the Lyford Swim Club and Rachel Lundy of Mako Aquatics Club with 36 apiece. Boys 15-and-over – It was a clean sweep for Mako Aquatics Club as Erald Thompson III won with 48; Tristin Ferguson was second with 45 and both Cherkadin Wells and Andre Walcott were tied for third with 26 each. A number of swimmers competing in the meet qualified for the Bahamas Aquatics’ National Swimming Championships, scheduled for July 7-10 at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex.
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UNIVERSITY of Kentucky, coached by Lonnie Greene and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie and featuring Megan Moss, celebrate their third place finish at the NCAA Championships. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2022 Outdoor Championships concluded on Saturday at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon with just one Bahamian competing in a final event. Doneisha Anderson, top left, representing the University of Florida Gators, ran the second leg on their women’s 4 x 400 metre team that placed ninth in three minutes and 31.16 seconds. June 26. The event will also serve as the final selection for athletes to qualify for the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. The World Championships is set for July 15-24 in the Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon and the Commonwealth Games will follow from July 27 to August 7 in Birmingham, England. Junior athletes will also get a chance to qualify for the World Athletics’ Under-20 Championships in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, August 1-6. Chisholm is currently hitting .251 with a .314 OBP and slugging .543 with 12 home runs, 40 RBI, an .849 OPS, a 142 OPS+, 31 runs scored and a league-leading four triples this season. He is also a leading candidate to earn a spot on the National League roster for the 2022 All-Star Game. Voting for the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is now underway. Ballots can be cast on MLB. com and cast your ballot, up to five times a day every 24 hours. The first phase of the voting runs through June 30 at 2pm. Then, there will be two finalists announced at each position (six outfielders) and the vote totals reset for the final days of voting July 5-8.
PAGE 20, Monday, June 13, 2022
THE TRIBUNE
Bahamas All-Pro Celebrity Weekend takes spotlight By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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THE Bahamian connection at The Bahamas All-Pro Celebrity Weekend highlighted a weekend of community service, football and fellowship in its inaugural edition. Powered by Rev, in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, the visiting guest list of NFL personalities was highlighted by the latest Bahamian drafted into the league - Michael Strachan of the Indianapolis Colts and Bahamian descendant - Rashad Fenton of the Kansas City Chiefs. Other guests included All-Pro wide receiver Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins edge rusher Melvin Ingraham, and free agent safety DJ Swearinger. The weekend was centred around the instructional camp for aspiring student athletes, hosted by the players on June 11 at the Thomas A Robinson stadium. “I love having an impact on the youth. If I can come out and show them how
much I love the sport, if I can pour that into them I feel like I can get them to look up to me. I want to be the person that’s motivating for them,” Strachan said. “I feel like the more people that are hands on to help bring the sport to the Bahamas at the youth level, the more people we can get involved will help the growth of the game, the better. I’m a big football fan, I’ve loved football all my life so I will do whatever I can to see the game develop here. Friday June 10 began with a community service event in conjunction with the Bahamas National Trust for a cleanup effort among the mangroves at Bonefish Pond National Park. Later in the evening, the venue shifted to Sapodilla for a cocktail hour followed by a charity dinner, proceeds of which will go toward the Bahamas Association of American Football. “All of the events were great, but what really stuck out to me the whole time was the amount of youth that was there at the camp. I was proud to see that and excited to see how much attention we can draw for this sport. It’s exciting to see those kids looking up, taking coaching and just eager to learn...It takes volunteers, people who know the game we need to come together and give a platform to these kids,” Strachan said. “I saw so much of them that reminded me of myself at that age. I remember when I was in their position. When I look at them and talk to them and they ask me questions I just thought to myself I wish I had someone I can go talk to, get advice and hear about their experiences, so it’s a special thing.” Other guests included All-Pro wide receiver Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins edge rusher Melvin Ingraham, and free agent safety DJ Swearinger. Fenton was born in Miami, Florida but his mother Laurie Fenton (nee Bethel) was born and raised in The Bahamas. The Super Bowl winning defensive back said his mother always made certain he was aware of his connection to his Bahamian roots. “She always made sure that we were here every summer and we spent time in Nassau,” he said. “She made sure we knew who family was and we stayed connected. “We were here for camps, we saw the family, spending time with grammy, aunties, uncles and cousins so Bahamian culture is always a part of me.” Fenton said his first opportunity to interact with young Bahamian student
athletes was an experience that he will continue to carry with him moving forward. “It was great, shout out to the organisers for including me in this event. They could have brought in anyone so I salute them for including me. It was big to comeback and touch the roots. I know football isn’t the first sport here and it really isn’t a familiar sport so being able to really teach it from my perspective and be involved was an honour,” he said. “I just tried to bring my type of swag, bring that energy here. I was surprised to see how many kids knew football. They were in position, they knew some of the drills, they knew so much already so just to come here and implement some things, it felt good to be involved with it. It hits different for me because this isn’t a state or local thing, it’s a whole nation that I can try to impact their future using football.” He said he looks forward to the growth of the game locally. “It just takes exposure, we need more of these kids to be attracted to the game,” Fenton said. “We just have to attract them to the game when they’re young. Once they have that foundation who knows where it can take them, the love for the game and the information can get passed down.” The event provided an opportunity for young players to interact with and learn from the players with the instructional camp as the most highly anticipated part of the agenda for both the players and organisers. “It’s really an all around experience where the players will have an opportunity to engage with the community, give back to the community and have a little bit of fun,” event organiser Jonathan Lord said. “That’s what the weekend is all about, to give a full overview of what The Bahamas has to offer both on and off the field.” Lord said he anticipates the event becoming a staple on the country’s sports tourism calendar. “Two years ago the idea came about and we had some entry level conversations, then COVID happened. Back in October I helped put a meet-and greet together with Mike Strachan and I revisited the issue and at the time I didn’t realise how big football is in The Bahamas,” he said. “The Bahamas is an easier sell, no doubt about it. It’s a beautiful country, it has that exotic name to it but having something to back that after you say “hey I’m doing a camp in The Bahamas” - you’ve got the interest - but that’s where it was critical for us to have a structure.”
SANDS EARNS FIRST WIN IN 2 YEARS By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net PRO heavyweight boxer Amron Sands was back in the ring for the second time this year and was back in the win column for the first time in over two years. Sands scored a unanimous decision over Joe Jones Friday night at Di Bella Entertainment’s ShoBox New Generation card, June 10 in Verona, New York. The 6’6” 28-year-old Sands improved to 12-2 while Jones (6’2” 210 pounds) lost his third fight in his last five bouts and fell to 13-4. Sands’ last win came on February 20, 2020 when he won by an eight-round unanimous decision over Christian Galvez. He followed with consecutive losses, including the first of his professional career. He suffered a third-round TKO against Alexis Garcia of the Dominican Republic March 12, 2021 at the Hotel Catalonia Malecon Center in Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic. On March 25 at the comain event of the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida, Sands suffered a
first round stoppage at the hands of Christian Thun of Schwelm, Germany. Sands trains out of Kissimmee Boxing Academy under the tutelage of coaches Rashad Mays and Jose Ramos. He fights under the Dibella Entertainment banner and is managed by Kevin Dever. After earning silver at the 2014 Independent Cup in the Dominican Republic, Sands moved to Florida in search of better training facilities. He also won first place at the 2015 Florida State PAL Boxing Championships and 2016 Sugar Bert Promotions Title Belt National Qualifier. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sands rose to as high as No.15 among contenders for the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight title. He enjoyed a productive stretch where he scored several knockouts - in February against Hector Hodge in the opening frame, a second-round stoppage of Thomas Hawkins in August and a win over Daniel Najera of Mexico via first-round stoppage in November on the undercard of “Rumble In The Bay” at the JCC Center in Tampa, Florida.