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The Tribune
Volume:117 No.161, JULY 17TH, 2020
Established 1903
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Friday, July 17, 2020 art books entertainment film music fashion history puzzles travel
WEEKEND: TRAVIS - MAN ON A MISSION WITH A SAX
Sax appeal
Bahamian forges career out of music get IN
Another two ‘travel infected’ added to week’s rising tally THE Bahamas recorded five new COVID-19 cases yesterday as the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, the face of the government’s COVID19 response, is leaving her post next week. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who has been acting Minister of Health since Dr Duane Sands resigned in May, will announce the new minister of health on Sunday when he gives a national address, The Tribune understands. The OPM said in a statement yesterday: “Dr Dahl-Regis was appointed in March and agreed to
AN INDIVIDUAL attorney and Bahamian law firm have been cited for contempt of court by a Supreme Court judge, who blasted: “The time is ripe to discipline these untruthful lawyers.” Justice Indra Charles, in a scathing July 6 verdict, blasted Donna DorsettMajor and the Martin & Martin law firm for their roles in “fabricating allegations” in a bid to force her recusal from a hearing on damages and costs relating to a property dispute. Suggesting the claims
FARMER MINNIS LOOKING FOR A BARN DOOR
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A MAJOR obstacle to the Grand Lucayan’s sale was this week eliminated by the Supreme Court’s denial of an injunction bidding to block the terminations of around 175 staff. Michael Scott QC, the hotel’s chairman, told Tribune Business it was “business as usual” as he and the Government attempt to close the property’s sale to the ITM Group/ Royal Caribbean joint venture by month’s end. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
SEE PAGE THREE
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
being ALIV has its privileges
UNION FAILS TO PREVENT LUCAYAN’S JOB LOSSES
serve until the end of June. She also agreed to extend her service, which will end shortly. “Dr Dahl-Regis will continue to offer strategic advice to the government and the prime minister but will be stepping aside from day-to-day operations,” the statement noted. “Dr Dahl-Regis has put in place strategies, policies and procedures as it relates to managing COVID-19 and is confident in the team that will be led by Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan. “The prime minister thanks Dr Dahl-Regis for her national service and will have more to say in a national address on Sunday.”
were “nothing more than a delaying tactic to stall” the case, Justice Charles cited Martin & Martin for drawing up the affidavit containing Mrs Dorsett-Major’s “untruths and fabrications” without conducting a proper investigation to determine if they were correct. “The time is ripe for the court to discipline attorneys who swear affidavits, and counsel who draft those affidavits, when they are fully aware that the contents of those affidavits are loaded with untruths against judges, as in the present case,” she wrote.
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JUDGE BLASTS LAWYERS OVER FAKE STATEMENTS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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5 MORE CASES
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PILLOW ART
Pages 14 + 15
‘ONE RULE FOR ALL, PM PLEASE’
POTCAKE SAYS: ‘THANKS’
By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
AFTER years of being homeless, street philosopher Potcake is celebrating having a new home. His previous home was destroyed in a fire. See the full story on page two. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
BAHAMIAN restaurant owners are urging Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to extend privileges evenly, not selectively during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Last week the Office of the Prime Minister gave the Myers Group permission to SEE PAGE THREE
TWO DEAD IN SEPARATE SHOOTINGS EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter Ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
TWO men were killed in separate shooting incidents that occurred just a few hours apart yesterday. One of the victims was injured during a brazen triple shooting in Pinewood Gardens that left two other men in hospital. ASP Audley Peters said police are not certain if the two matters are connected
MELTHORNE Road off Pine Yard Road where a shooting occurred. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff but assured the police were canvassing both communities to get the facts. In the first incident,
he said police received reports shortly after 11am
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE FOUR
TELLIS FACES TOUGHEST JOB OF HIS LIFE
SEE PAGE NINE
PAGE 2, Friday, July 17, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
POTCAKE celebrating his new home after years of being homeless.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
POTCAKE GETS A HOME - THANKS TO GOOD SAMARITANS By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net SEVERAL years after his home was destroyed by a fire, local street philosopher Locksley “Potcake” Thompson now has a place to sleep peacefully at night and live comfortably thanks to good Samaritans. Speaking to The Tribune
yesterday, Potcake said he was grateful for the many people who helped him get his home rebuilt. “This came to (because) a young man saw my (story in The Tribune),” he said. An appeal was launched on GoFundMe to help raise funds to rebuild the fire damaged home, he added. After being left homeless since the incident, Potcake
POTCAKE speaking to The Tribune.
said he was excited to move into his newly built home last Friday. “I’m happy (especially) when you been living in my situation. Like when it rains, you don’t get wet no more and and then you don’t have to worry about the rats crawling over you and the centipede crawling over you when you’re sleeping. I thank God.”
POTCAKE showing his past living conditions.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 3
‘Spend your money at home’ urges Chamber chief Beckles By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net CHAMBER of Commerce CEO Jeffrey Beckles believes the best way for Bahamians to help the economy grow right now is to comply with COVID19 protocols, shop at home and vacation domestically. Mr Beckles, speaking to The Tribune yesterday, said due to the rise in new cases of COVID-19, the fear of another lockdown is widespread in the community and would be devastating for the economy. “I think the entire community is concerned with the recent increases in new COVID-19 cases,” he said. “That gives rise to additional fears of lockdowns, etc. So I think it’s more than just the business
community. In fact any additional shutdowns right now will be harsh on the business community. I think that underscores the need for us to continue employ Bahamians everywhere. “Do your part and comply. As the Chamber has advocated from the onset of the pandemic, the best thing that you can do to protect the economy is to comply and don’t take risks with this pandemic because there is so much that is unknown about it and it is proving to be very, very dangerous.” Mr Beckles is hopeful that the trend in new cases does not continue. Businesses, he said, are taking the necessary COVID-19 preventative protocols very seriously. “Well we have to give credence to the fact that the Chamber in conjunction
with its members and the wider community worked very, very closely with the government, the Ministry of Health, policy makers and other stakeholders to ensure that the various sectors were opened in a very safe way,” he noted. “And, we continue to monitor that and we continue to encourage businesses to take the necessary safety precautions that have been agreed to in order to assure that they have as much mitigation of any potential transfer of the disease. We are now opened and just about every business is up and running. We continue to see businesses take the necessary protocols very seriously.” Grand Bahama has gotten attention, lately, because of circulating videos with young people at parties with no masks on
because you’re not open during hours when patrons would usually patronise the business.” Although his restaurant is attached to the Exuma Palms Hotel, Mr Hart said police officers have been confused when applying Dr Minnis’ rules to his business. “I still don’t know if we are clear, particularly when there seems to be some discrepancy among the police,” he said. “When the initial order came out in March, it specifically said that hotels or restaurants in hotels could operate until 9 if you had guests in house. “We had a visit one time from police officers before 8pm saying we could not be opened even if we had guests, we could only do room service to the guests. “When the island opened back to normal, I took normal to mean that I could operate right up to curfew, which was 9. We then had another visit from police saying we are not supposed to be opened until 9, we had to shut down at 7. “Considering we were a restaurant in the hotel, we still thought that was weird. Sandals on Exuma is operating their restaurant until 9pm. I asked why is Sandals open until 9 and we have to close at 8. “There just hasn’t been clear communication either from the prime minister’s office or the police.” Fifty-five-year-old Romell Knowles, owner of Grove Holiday, a restaurant on Market Street south, said he plans to write to the prime minister on Monday requesting permission to stay open until 9pm. “The law is the law and I think it should be applied evenly,” he said. “Even during the pandemic, you
had businesses selling alcohol in the west with no harassment from police whatsoever. So if Mr Myers gets to stay open until 9pm, everyone should get to stay open until 9pm.” Both Mr Hart and Mr Knowles eagerly await the day Dr Minnis lifts the 10pm to 5am curfew. Mr Hart said he generates 60 percent of his revenue between 9pm and 11pm; Mr Knowles said he generates 70 percent of his revenue between 8pm and 11pm. “Just listening to what’s happening in Grand Bahama after the borders reopened and to hear that some people have been slipping in without the right test, that exposes us as business people to another lockdown and if there is another prolonged lockdown I’ll be out of business,” Mr Knowles said.
‘ONE RULE FOR ALL, PLEASE’ from page one let its restaurants, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts and Anthony’s Caribbean Grill, remain open until 9pm, later than the time businesses are generally mandated to close at 8pm. More than a week later, the Office of the Attorney General has not yet extended that privilege to all restaurants, despite an expectation that such a change will be made soon. But Dwight Hart, owner of YOLO Grill and Hookah Bar, a restaurant in Exuma, said he was surprised to know that businesses could get such privileges simply by asking the prime minister. “Here’s the problem,” he said this week, “once you do that for one, it shouldn’t be a question whether anyone else could write and ask and get it, it should be automatically given because obviously everyone will want the same thing, everyone wants to be open later. “I believe some of these bigger businesses have been told that they can operate until 9 but the rest of us aren’t important enough to be told that information. As a business person trying to stay operational, most restaurants make the majority of their revenue after working hours because that is when patrons come to our business. “We get very little day traffic because people are at work. We depend on evening traffic to survive and the fact that we have to close at 7pm or 8pm means it’s really a losing venture to try and stay open. “You are paying salaries and taking home 60 percent less than normal
and a spike in new cases since last week, after a two month lull. The Chamber CEO said the community should protect the livelihood of thousands of Bahamians and the thousands of businesses in the country by simply adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. “Where we now need to focus our attention as a wider community is now that we have gone and had this lockdown for three months, we’ve had people laid off, we’ve now gotten business and commerce and trade started again we must now do everything in our power to protect the work of the many hundreds of Bahamians and thousands of business owners,” he added. “How do we best protect that? We protect that by complying, by encouraging our neighbours and our colleagues to not
take unnecessary risks with dealing with COVID-19. “I think that is the best response we can possibly have as a country. And, then we can’t discount the fact that every other country is going through the same challenge. There are economic pressures that are mounting in every jurisdiction in the world. So the Bahamas is not unique, but what could make us unique is how we respond as a people to the threat of this pandemic.” Asked what would another lockdown do to the economy, Mr Beckles said the impact would be devastating. “Well I think if you look at what it has done to our economy already you would see we have taken a huge shock and the impact has been felt deeply and widely,” he said. “It is natural to conclude that any further shock to our
economy is going to be devastating. There is no doubt about that. So it just goes without saying if we have to suffer another shock, be it from COVID, or from a hurricane or some other natural disaster, that can have some devastating impact on us. “So it’s fair to say that it will significantly impactful on our economy and our way of life, in general. If you don’t have to travel, then please do not travel. There are other means by which we can find access to supplies and materials and so forth. If you need to vacate then do so domestically. Go to Acklins, Crooked Island, San Salvador, Eleuthera or Long Island. If we need stuff from the United States or Canada or wherever else we buy things from, we can do it online for the time being if we can’t find it at home. Don’t take the risk.”
ANOTHER TWO TRAVEL INFECTED ADDED TO WEEK’S RISING TALLY from page one
DR MERCELINE DAHL-REGIS
Yesterday’s five new COVID-19 cases marks the most number of new cases the country has recorded since May 5. The record for most new cases in a day, six, was recorded on April 1. There have been 20 new cases in eight days. The Tribune understands measures to prevent spread of COVID-19 in Grand Bahama are expected to be announced as early as today. The new cases include an 84-yearold Grand Bahama woman, a 45-year-old man and a 43-year-old Grand Bahama man, all without a history of travel; they also include a 73-year-old New Providence man and a 27-year-old New Providence
woman, both with a history of travel. The country has averaged ten completed RT-PCR tests in the last ten days. On Tuesday a Bahamasair flight attendant tested positive. She worked flights on July 5 and July 6 that went into Fort Lauderdale. Florida has emerged as the new epicentre of the coronavirus, recording more than 10,000 new cases yesterday and a record 15,000plus cases on Sunday. Asked if officials are considering recommending that travel to and from Florida be banned, Dr DahlRegis suggested on Tuesday that this is not being considered. She said officials are instead using a risk stratification system to determine which tourists can enter the country.
PIZZA HUT SANITISED AND REOPENED AFTER EMPLOYEE TESTED POSITIVE By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
PIZZA Hut in Grand Bahama has reopened for business following a complete sanitisation of its premises on the Mall Drive, Freeport after one of its employees last week tested positive for COVID-19. The fast-food restaurant resumed operations on Wednesday, confirmed Fallon Symonette, of Pizza Hut, where several employees are in self-quarantine at home following exposure to the employee. “We have reopened with curbside and takeout services,” she told The Tribune
when contacted yesterday for an update. In a Facebook post on Monday evening, Pizza Hut announced its closure to the public after discovering a team member tested positive for the highly contagious disease. It was also noted that employees exposed to the staff member are in self-isolation. While she did not want to disclose the exact number of employees still in quarantine, she indicated that measures are in place to ensure the safety of customers and staff. Ms Symonette stated they are following all the required necessary health
guidelines and protocols at the location, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and a hand sanitisation station at the door. She said when entering the restaurant, a security officer would ensure that customers sanitize their hands with hand sanitiser as they enter the premises. The company has worked closely with the Ministry of Health and has followed all recommendations leading to a safe reopening on Wednesday, she said. Since last week, COVID19 infections have surged in Grand Bahama, with 13 recorded cases that emerged beginning
Wednesday, July 8, when two people – a 33-yearold woman with no history of travel and a 20-yearold undocumented male migrant tested positive with coronavirus. Then on Thursday, July 9, a 27-year-old Grand Bahama man also tested positive, and on Saturday, July 11, three females - a 16-year-old girl and a 39-year-old woman, both with a history of travel; and a 47-year-old woman with no history of travel had also tested positive. On Monday, July 13, two more Grand Bahama cases were recorded and another two cases recorded the following day. Three new
Grand Bahama cases were reported yesterday; these three latest cases do not have a history of travel and are in isolation at home. Before reopening the country to international travel, the island had gone two months without any recorded cases. It is believed that the lifting of travel restrictions, Bahamians returning home from travel to the US has resulted in the spread of the virus in Grand Bahama. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest and Minister of State for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson have urged Grand Bahamians to keep their guard up and to
strictly follow health protocols to stop the spread of the virus. Mr Thompson is appealing to residents not to travel internationally if they do not have to. He stressed that on returning home, persons who do not present a negative COVID-19 test should self-quarantine at home for 14 days. He was concerned that this was not being adhered to after receiving complaints that some residents returning to Grand Bahama from abroad have not been following self-isolation guidelines prescribed by officials to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
PAGE 4, Friday, July 17, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Hospital policy on seeing newborn babies is ‘cruel’ By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A PRINCESS Margaret Hospital policy preventing parents from seeing their newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit is “unusual and cruel,” says Alicia Wallace, director of the human rights group Equality Bahamas. She said many NICUs around the world have implemented strict COVID-19 policies that protect the health of everyone while allowing babies to experience the long-term benefits that come with spending time with their parents, including “reduced
stress and increased likelihood of babies gaining weight.” One mother who spoke anonymously to The Tribune yesterday said not seeing her children feels “unnatural and agonising”. “It’s rough, there are moments when I’m in tears for an hour or so at time and just crying hysterically,” she said. “Your rational mind can know they’re safe and where they need to be but as their mother, not having access to them, I don’t even know how to describe it.” She said she has seen her children for about 15 minutes since they were born three weeks ago. “The nurses and doctors
are compassionate and as wonderful as they can be but the directive clearly comes from someone above them,” she said. “If they require me to take a test, I would take the test. We’re not the only country in the world that’s dealing with this, after all this time surely there should be some recourse that a person can take where we can get there safely, there has to be some sort of end game that we’re working towards. This is not only detrimental to them but to us as well. What other country is opening up to the United States right now? How can we do that but we can’t
show humanity to let parents see their children?” “The current policy at Princess Margaret Hospital is unusual, cruel, and needs to be revised,” said Ms Wallace. “Mothers have made it clear that they are grateful to hospital staff, especially doctors and nurses, for their care. They know the policy is coming from PHA. They need to meet and care for their babies. They deserve to know what is happening, why and, at the very least, be told when they will be able to see their babies who, at this time, need extra care. “On behalf of NICU parents, we demand communication from the PHA
THE SCENE in Pinewood Gardens on Rosewood Street after the second shooting yesterday.
to explain the rationale of the excessive restrictions and provide a timeline or set of conditions upon which the circumstances will change. We are particularly aggrieved that borders are open to people traveling from high-risk cities and restrictions in public places have been significantly relaxed, but parents are denied the opportunity to see their babies requiring extra medical care. Further, they have not been offered mental health support. “COVID-19 has already complicated pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting, and it is the responsibility of the PHA to ensure that mothers and newborns are
not caused further harm. Women are forced to give birth or endure surgery without the support of a loved one. Having a baby in need of specialised medical attention in NICU is an unexpected development. Denial of the right to see their babies is an act of undeniable cruelty that affects both parents and babies. Skin-to-skin contact can help keep babies warm, regulate babies’ breathing and heartbeat, produce more breast milk, reduce stress, and create a bond between parents and babies.” A PHA representative did not provide comment when contacted yesterday.
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
TWO DEAD IN SEPARATE SHOOTINGS from page one
of a shooting that occurred on Melthorn Road off Pine Yard Road. “Officers responded and on their arrival, information is that a male walked out of (his) home to speak to the occupants of a small white vehicle,” said ASP Peters. “As he approached the vehicle a male exited the rear passenger seat armed with a firearm and discharged the weapon in his direction hitting him about the body.” The victim was taken to hospital via ambulance, where he died from his injuries. The victim was identified as 26-year-old Leslie Darville by his cousin
30-year-old Byron Johnson. Mr Johnson admitted to The Tribune that he was feeling a lot of pain over his cousin’s murder. “We act as brothers… that’s how close we was. It was a totally different feeling to actually hear that your cousin got shot today…,” he said. “His father was actually outside and witnessed everything,” he added. However, the 30-yearold said he was not present when the shooting occurred as he was at home. It was Mr Johnson’s mother that called him and broke the news. He recalled: “My mom called me - she was in Andros. She called me to tell me come here and I came here. The whole place
BYRON JOHNSON, cousin of the deceased, speaking yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
was blocked off.” Overcome with emotion during the interview, Mr Johnson remembered his cousin as a “homebody” who played games and chilled with his son. “If he do go out, probably with his family and his friends then that’s it. He don’t trouble nobody - not at all,” Mr Johnson said. Hours later, two men were injured and another was killed on Rosewood Street in Pinewood Gardens. The deceased was identified by a source as Renaldo Rashad Nairn and is believed to be in his 30s. ASP Peters said on the scene that police received reports shortly after 2pm of the shooting. He said: “Officers responded and the information they received is that a group of men were gathered in the front of a residence when a black vehicle drove from the east and circled around. “On the return of the vehicle an occupant opened the door and discharged a firearm in the direction of the persons gathered. Three males were injured. Two of the males were transported to the hospital via private vehicle and a third male succumbed to his injuries on scene. Her Majesty’s coroner visited the scene and was appraised of the facts.” One witness, whose name The Tribune has withheld, said the incident unfolded in front of his home. He remembered washing a truck when he saw a SUV pass and then circle back.
“The back door open up and when the back door open up they start shooting and the rest of us run inside. One get catch in his chest. The other two catch in their leg and one get in (his) hand,” the witness claimed. “When all them shots going off, I gone running inside to grip my little brother and I grip my little boy. I grip all them and throw them under the bed.” While everyone was running inside, the witness recounted one of the victims saying to the witness’ grandmother “Mum, I get hit.” “One of my boys rushed them to the hospital in a private car and same time when he was going in the car he collapsed.” The group lifted the injured individual in the car and hurried to the hospital, the witness said. As for Mr Nairn, the witness said he was well known in the neighbourhood and “doesn’t bother no one”. Rosewood Street is no stranger to violence. In June 2019, a man died after being stabbed while walking the street. When asked if he feels safe, the witness said no and protested “something needs to be done”. “I don’t know what’s going on nowadays….I know through here all the time they come up and shoot up around in Pinewood. This first time this happen in the front of my house.” Mr Nairn leaves behind three young daughters.
LESLIE DARVILLE
RENALDO RASHAD NAIRN The killings pushed the 37 for the year, according to country’s murder count to this newspaper’s records.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 5
Citizen group calls for oil licences to be cancelled By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A ‘GRASSROOTS coalition of concerned Bahamian citizens’ is opposed to oil exploration drilling in Bahamian waters, and is strongly urging Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to cancel all existing licences and reject proposals for renewals. Members of Our Islands, Our Future, wrote to Dr Minnis last week calling for him to immediately move to “cancel all existing licences, reject all proposed renewals and impose a permanent ban of fossil fuel exploration anywhere within the maritime borders of The Bahamas.” The group is concerned that in a matter of months,
the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) will move forward with plans to begin drilling offshore exploration wells. According to reports in the Miami Herald in March, BPC said in a regulatory filing earlier this year it would drill its first exploration well, Perseverance #1, in deep offshore waters as early as April this year. The report noted the company indicated preliminary seismic testing showed the area has potential oil reserves of more than two billion barrels. The site of drilling is located just 150 miles off the coast of South Florida, the report stated, and that environmentalists say poses a slew of potential threats to marine systems from the Caribbean to Florida.
In May, Tribune Business reported the oil explorer recently said COVID-19 has forced it to further delay plans to drill its first exploratory well in Bahamian waters south-west of Andros until October 2020. In a statement issued yesterday, Our Island, Our Future said The Bahamas has an opportunity to protect its waters and its number one industry - tourism. “This unique island nation has one last chance to protect its vital economic, recreational, and ecological treasures from the devastating ravages associated with oil pollution before it is too late,” the group said. “This critical threat to our world-renowned oceans, reefs, and beaches cannot be exaggerated. All
drilling is dirty drilling, and the threat of a major catastrophe looms always on the horizon. We therefore strongly advise the government to intervene to protect before it is too late.” It was noted this year marks the 10th anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Disaster into the Gulf of Mexico, the most catastrophic environmental disaster in the history of offshore drilling which dumped nearly 200 million gallons of oil, fouled 16,000 miles of coastline, along five US states, utterly destroyed fisheries and caused an unprecedented and as yet untold level of damage to marine life. On July 15, 2010, 87 days after the initial explosion was the day that the well head was finally capped.
The group noted Deepwater Horizon rig was also an exploratory well, just like the one that BPC is currently seeking to drill here in The Bahamas. “Even a partial repeat of that disaster would devastate our tourism, commercial fishing, diving, and marine recreation industries. Tourism alone generates 50 percent of our gross domestic product, while these other industries are vital to the survival of many far-flung communities. Simply put, drilling threatens our very way of life,” the group warned. “It is clear that neither BPC nor the Bahamas government could fund the level of emergency response and cleanup needed to mitigate a large-scale disaster. The
Deepwater Horizon spill cost $65 billion – more than five times the GDP of The Bahamas. Were such a disaster to take place it would pose an existential threat to The Bahamas, directly threatening the livelihoods of the vast majority of Bahamians. “We cannot afford to put our nation’s future at risk, nor risk its reputation being tied to a devastating accident. Again, we urge you to cancel existing licenses immediately, disregard any licence renewal proposals, and place a permanent ban on offshore oil drilling. Let us be known for pristine waterways and our commitment to a sustainable economy, not dirty fossil fuels or another uncontrolled and costly oil disaster.”
RESIDENTS ALARM AFTER CAR CRASH By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net RESIDENTS in the Prince Charles Drive area are voicing their concerns on road safety after a car crashed into someone’s yard and caught on fire last weekend. Melissa Darville, 45, described the ordeal to The Tribune as a “hectic, chaotic, scary night” as transformers were close by. She said she left her home out of caution as the car was still smoking and completely charred. “I didn’t know what else could be going on, so I left…. I left that night with my kids,” she said. Video footage showed a blaze from the front of a white car and a man trying to douse the flames. The vehicle appeared to be resting on a fence between two homes. According to Ms Darville, the incident happened Saturday evening when she was inside her home. She said the keys to vehicle and the car’s Honda logo were left in her yard. “All we heard was the screeching tyres and the wreckage of the fence and everything like lamp poles and then we had like an electrical shutter and then everything went boom and then the power went out,” she said.
“We could feel like the vibrations of impact…the kids ran to me, we got all the kids the together just as they were. Ran them to the door as we could see flames coming out right in our yard.” Ms Darville said she ran to get a nearby hose, but it had no water. So she used a five gallon bottle filled with water inside so people who came to help could extinguish the flames. Ms Darville added: “There were seven or eight guys (who) lifted him (the driver) out the car and put him on the porch and he was still unconscious and he was bleeding out the nose and they were trying to revive (him) and they were trying to find out who he was and they tried to find an ID. “He finally woke up. I think they threw some water on him or something and then he kinda revived and then he was disoriented and I guess he was panicking and trying to flee and everyone was trying to calm him down.” Along with an ambulance coming for the driver, Bahamas Power and Light and fire fighters were on the scene. Living in the community for 20 years, Ms Darville said frequent accidents in the area are a concern.
THE SCENE on Prince Charles Drive where a car accident took place last weekend damaging properties. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff “The last year it hasn’t been that bad but …I would say five, six years ago we would have a lot accidents on this road because how it change into . . .the highway - people just speeding out this corner,” she said. “I hate to say it, when people (are) not paying attention or whatever they’re not expecting the curve and they don’t know
the road well. Sometimes they’re not from the neighbourhood so the curve gets them off, you know off guard and then they end up running into the poles. “ To prevent future damage to area infrastructure, she suggested the wires be placed underground as well as barricades placed around lamp poles due people knocking them down.
MORE THAN 4,000 SEEK REPAIRS HELP LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
OVER 4,000 people have registered for the Disaster Reconstruction Authority’s Small Homes Repair programme in Abaco and Grand Bahama, with more than $4m spent by the authority so far on the initiative. The figures were revealed by DRA’s managing director, Katherine Forbes-Smith, yesterday while she gave an update to The Tribune on the restoration efforts being made on the islands post-Hurricane Dorian. Mrs Forbes-Smith said out of the 4,051 people who have registered for the programme, more than 2,000 applicants have been approved by the authority. “The exact number is 4,051. Out of that number, 2,775 have been approved and basically, the breakdown for Abaco and Grand Bahama would be 802 for Abaco and 1,973 for Grand Bahama,” she told The Tribune. “Now out of the 802 people who have been approved for Abaco, 597 have received assistance. That’s 74 percent and in Grand Bahama, 60 percent have received assistance.” The former senator said she expects the number of applicants to increase in the
coming days as more people return home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it relates to Abaco. “What’s happening in Abaco is a lot of people are still not back home because their homes are not repaired and they don’t have anywhere to live,” she said. “We’re seeing people come back to the island and so I think the numbers in Abaco will increase over the next couple weeks because people are now coming home.” After Hurricane Dorian ravaged Abaco and Grand Bahama in early September, the government launched the Small Home Repair programme among other initiatives to assist with the recovery efforts on the islands. The initiative, which was launched in February, allows for residents whose homes were damaged during the deadly storm to receive vouchers for building materials. To further aid the recovery efforts on the island, Mrs Forbes-Smith said the DRA has also partnered with a number of non-government agencies, such as Global Empowerment and Churchby-the-Sea, to help people get their homes repaired. “In Little Abaco, we had a programme where Church By the Sea, an NGO from Florida, bought all the materials to repair roofs for
260 homes in Abaco. The DRA paid for the labour for that programme so I believe the labour cost for that programme alone was a quarter a million dollars. “ She added: “Also, in Abaco there is an NGO called Global Empowerment. They also bought material to fix roofs in Cooper’s Town that were damaged and what we have going on now is a partnership in the community of Cooper’s Town where we have a contractor in the community who is actually providing the labour to get that material onto people’s homes.” Noting that the DRA is committed to helping as many storm victims as possible, Mrs Forbes-Smith also said the DRA plans to launch two technical assistance vehicles that will allow personnel to enter local communities and provide assistance where needed. This, she added, is also an effort to further the SHR programme’s outreach on the storm impacted islands. Asked how much has been spent on the housing repair programme, she said: “So, the government’s, the DRA small home repair programme, to date, we’ve spent $4.2m, $1.4m in Abaco and $2.8m in Grand Bahama. Now, that’s where we are today as of July 13.” In addition to helping victims purchase much-needed
building supplies, Mrs Forbes-Smith also said officials are working “as quickly as they can” to provide temporary housing to displaced families in both Abaco and Grand Bahama. She maintained work is ongoing to install 60 temporary housing units to assist residents in East Grand Bahama. “That will be Sweeting’s Cay, McClean’s Town and High Rock,” she said. “In Grand Bahama, we got a donation of temporary houses from (a donor) and they have given us twenty, 20 by 20 container type housing and we’re putting them in Sweeting’s Cay. “That’s going on now. They’ve arrived and we logistically got them to High Rock (and) we have to get them to Sweeting’s Cay... (so) in Grand Bahama, we have 20 modular homes and we have 40 domes.” As it relates to Abaco, the DRA managing director said: “You are aware that 32 domes were erected in Spring City. They are all filled and accounted for. Right now in Abaco, we have a programme going on. We have a team in Abaco on the ground where the domes are being erected on the homeowner’s residences so that’s happening. “In Abaco...it will be 130 homeowners that will receive a dome on their
Across the street, part owner of Dynasty Cafe Kimberly Marshall said she has not seen much incidents in the area but signs should be posted to warn motorists. “I think what needs to happen is that they need to put signs up on how many miles per hour they go or just to slow down as they come because I know it is a bend when you coming
around pass Doris (Johnson High Senior High School),” she said. “I think we need to drive a little better than how we drive in the Bahamas…I feel like the motorists need to be very careful or take their time especially when you know you had a few drinks or alcohol in your system. I feel like you need to take your time.”
PAGE 6, Friday, July 17, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
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Time for big decisions, Dr Minnis IT’S crunch time for Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis when he gives his national address on Sunday. This is perhaps the moment of his biggest responsibility since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are escalating numbers of cases since the border opened back up. He has been without a Minister of Health since May, having to take on the role himself. And now his special advisor, Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, is stepping back from her day-to-day role as task force co-ordinator, with Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan taking the helm. The word is that Dr Minnis will appoint a new Minister of Health on Sunday. It’s an appointment he has to get right. For weeks, while medics have done their best in presenting the data of the pandemic, press conferences have lacked a political presence that could speak as to what actions would be taken based on that data. Dr Minnis has avoided taking questions – so it has been hard to have full transparency on the reasons behind our actions in dealing with this crisis. The choice as Health Minister will be crucial, with the public in need of someone who can speak authoritatively on the subject, and who they can trust to tell them the full story. Meanwhile, the new COVID-19 cases include three people from Grand Bahama and two from New Providence. The three from Grand Bahama have no history of travel – but the two from New Providence do. Dr Dahl-Regis, in the previous press conference, suggested that the concern at present is over Bahamians catching the virus in hotspots overseas and bringing it back home. As we continue to see more cases involving people who have travelled, that issue needs to be addressed. How it should be addressed is by listening to the experts. Dr Dahl-Regis herself said she wished she could suggest to Bahamians that they shouldn’t travel, but she can’t. The time might have come
to put a temporary halt on travel to and from Florida, which has become the new epicentre of the pandemic. The state has now had more than 315,000 cases – by the time the Prime Minister speaks on Sunday the total number of cases there might be close to the size of the entire population of The Bahamas. So we stand at a crucial moment. A crucial moment for decisions on how to go forward while fighting the virus as best we can. A crucial moment to ensure clear communication to the people of The Bahamas about how and why we are making those decisions. Prime Minister, we await your address with keen interest.
Oil concerns
For a long time, talk of oil drilling has lurked in the background in Bahamian life, with the Bahamas Petroleum Company slowly making its way through the licence process towards making a test drill. There has been significant concern over the prospect – after all, it is only ten years ago that the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, pumping oil into the sea for 87 days before it could be capped, and leading to incredible devastation of the environment and wildlife. A new group of Bahamian citizens has called upon the government to cancel all existing licences for the project before such damage can be done. One thing is for certain, The Bahamas needs to make a firm decision one way or the other whether it is to proceed with oil or not. One thing should certainly give the government pause – and that thing is the pandemic affecting us right now. We have seen what effect a loss of tourism has had on our economy. If our clear seas were to be tainted in an environmental disaster, no one would want to swim in oily waters, or lie on blackened beaches. We must ask ourselves if we are willing to risk what we already have.
The bonds that tie EDITOR, The Tribune. IT IS a pure fact that family bonds can last a lifetime. Members are key in enhancing durable subsisting relationships deep-rooted in intimacy and closeness. In our hectic lives our family foundations can feel shaken. We may feel we’re not getting the time needed to invest in the relationships. Perhaps we feel that sibling rivalry is pulling the family apart rather than together. Having strong family bonds assure patterns of life-long friendships between siblings, and set limits as to what will and will not be tolerated. It ensures that everyone feels secure and has a family rock on which the rest of life rests. If families can create family traditions which weave in and out of the year then family bonds will be enhanced year-round. Family meetings are a good time for everyone to check in with each other, air grievances or discuss future plans. Feeling supported
by your family is one of the most important elements of building strong family bonds. Encouraging everyone to learn what things are important to their family members and to do their best to support each other through the good and the bad times. Everyone in the family should feel empowered to share their good news as well as share their bad news. When families feel supported, getting through hard times becomes much easier. Before you can change the family dynamic of your household, you must first change yourself. It is important to note that mood impacts tremendously on those around you. If you feel positive and upbeat, it will boost the morale in your home, instantly lifting the mood of your family. Sibling rivalry is inevitable in most families but it can have negative longterm consequences if not addressed. If brothers and sisters are always quarrelling
and showing disrespect, and even aggression to one another, the home is no longer the sanctuary it should be. Instead it becomes a house filled with tension and anger. We must embrace individuality and take steps to engender respect, kindness and justice within the family units. A family will rarely accomplish its goals unless they speak in one voice. This is why you need to avoid any rebellion from family members at all costs. Money, jealousy and choice of lover causes family fallouts. When you observe conflict, always be on the side of reconciliation and appoint an arbitrator. Bring the parties together and create a covenant. Listening reduces tension. Family relationships should not be eroded with time or changes in circumstances that can occur with any person with the passage of time. HANDSEN CHIKOWORE London, July 13, 2020.
Bahamas should take advantage EDITOR, The Tribune. THE COVID-19 pandemic has etched itself in the annals of history as it is defining public health, global economies, work environments, family life and everyday social interactions. Some have equated this pandemic with the industrial revolution, while others see similarities with the great depression. Whichever of these or any of a myriad other views is adopted, what we do know is that the world as we knew it has changed. COVID-19 will leave tremendous destruction behind and what will evolve is a new beginning. As the world stands at the brink of a seismic paradigm shift, it is necessary to pause and think about what worked in the past and what can work in the future as we tackle the post COVID-19 reality. To do this, the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) was established in The Bahamas as a proactive initiative with a mandate “to create a bold vision for a modern Bahamian economy that is stronger, resilient, diversified, future driven and fully integrated”. The committee sees “dynamism as anchored in innovation and embracing technology, employing strategies for growth and improved ease of doing business”. Additionally, as one of its sustainable goals for the economy, the Committee’s intent is “to make adequate allowance for investments in human cultural and social capital”. The ERC should include Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in the design of the new Bahamian economy. ADR has been employed worldwide in areas such as international agreements, businesses, public policy
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net matters, the environment, police departments, the school system, the family and the judicial system just to name a few. Particularly in light of the ERC’s focus on “human cultural and social capital,” the committee should include conflict resolution mechanisms to help resolve conflicts in society, especially in the area of employment disputes as cooperative labour relations are needed to carry out the ERC’s recommendations. As the world battles COVID-19, ADR mechanisms are particularly important in handling international disputes because many court systems have slowed down or have come to a standstill. International online ADR portals have grown tremendously as the world experienced a lockdown due to COVID-19 and online ADR will continue to expand in a post-COVID-19 world. Two international “Conventions” promote ADR in international disputes. The first being, The “New York Convention”, formally known as “the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards”, which is the cornerstone for resolving international disputes through arbitration. In arbitration, one or more private arbitrators hear a case and make a decision, which is called an “award.” The New York Convention provides for enforcement of arbitration awards. The New York Convention will be even more essential in a post- COVID-19 world with increased demand for the resolution of cross-border commercial disputes. The second one - The “Singapore Convention”,
formally “the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation”, provides for enforcement of mediated agreements in international disputes. In mediation, a neutral party helps parties reach agreements to resolve their disputes. The Singapore Convention was adopted in December 2018 and it is expected to become effective in September 2020. It was initially signed by 46 countries, including The United States, China and many large Asian countries, as well as Jamaica and Grenada. As the ERC plans for our economic recovery, it should plan to take advantage of the two Conventions for international dispute resolution. The Bahamas is a signatory of the New York Convention and should sign the Singapore Convention. However, before The Bahamas signs on to the Singapore Convention, it is imperative that mediation must be formally established as an alternative for resolving disputes in The Bahamas. It is equally imperative that this should be done by implementing a supporting platform for the Convention. The supporting platform must be based on a proper dispute system design that is unique to The Bahamas and that is fair and suitable to the needs of ALL Bahamians. ADR’s posit on in the world will not decrease. Internationally ADR mechanisms have significantly contributed to conflict reduction, dispute settlement and the preservation and protection of peaceful environments. The Bahamas should employ ADR mechanisms as part of the architecture of the “new normal”. KAY MARSHALL Nassau, July 15, 2020.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 7
Two charged with drug possession By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was caught with over two ounces of marijuana was fined $500 in court yesterday. Alfred McKinney appeared in Magistrates Court before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with possession of Indian hemp with the intent to supply, after officers seized 2 ¾ ounces of the drug from him on July 14.
The court heard officers went to McKinney’s house around 9.50pm on the night in question. Upon arrival, they noticed a strong smell of marijuana and searched the defendant’s home. During their investigation, officers discovered 45 plastic packages in a speaker box. McKinney was subsequently arrested. According to the prosecution, the drugs had an estimated value of $165. During the hearing, McKinney was represented
by attorney Ian Cargill. He told the magistrate McKinney had been smoking for five or six years. Still, he insisted his client was remorseful for his actions and noted he was a self-employed father of five with no previous convictions. As a result, Magistrate Forbes fined the defendant $500. He warned him if he failed to pay the fine he would spend two months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Yesterday, Hartman
Rolle, 36, also appeared before Magistrate Forbes for a drug related charge. He was charged with one count of simple possession after officers seized two grams of Indian hemp from him on July 14. Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said officers saw Rolle standing outside a residence in the Grove around 7.50pm on the night in question. They then approached the defendant and informed him they would be searching him in reference to dangerous
drugs and firearms. During their search, the officers discovered a quantity of suspected marijuana in Rolle’s boxers. He was subsequently arrested and admitted to the offence in an interview with police. According to the prosecution, Rolle had appeared in court before for the same charge. When given an opportunity to speak, Rolle told the magistrate he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He also claimed he had
the drugs to make herbal tea. Still, after noting Rolle had been fined $300 for simple possession in the past, Magistrate Forbes told him he could not expect to repeat the same mistakes and expect a different outcome. “Over time you come to court for drugs you should know there is a possibility you could go to jail,” he warned. As a result, he fined Rolle $500 or four months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
ANGER CLASSES MAN CHARGED OVER THROWN BOTTLE ORDER AFTER SMASHING TV By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A WOMAN was placed on 12 months’ probation and ordered to attend anger management classes after she admitted to damaging her estranged husband’s television during a domestic dispute last week. Odesia McKinney, 46, was accused of damaging Roy McKinney’s 42” flat screen television on July 9. Yesterday, she appeared in court alongside her niece, Shawn Rolle, 27, who was also charged with the same offence. During the hearing, McKinney was further accused of threatening to harm Christopher Rahming on the same day. Rolle was also charged with throwing missiles. As they stood before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes yesterday, both of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges. According to prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie, Mr Rahming told police there was a domestic dispute at his residence around 5pm that night. At the time, Mr Rahming said McKinney came to the residence to see her ex. However, when she was not allowed to, Mr Rahming said McKinney became outraged and told him: “Y’all think I is play out here, I will jick (sic) you up.” Sgt McKenzie said Mr McKinney also told police his estranged wife came over and they got into a domestic dispute. He said during the ordeal, Rolle threw a bottle through his apartment window which ended up damaging
YOUR
his television. As a result of the complaints, both women were arrested and taken to a nearby station. While being interviewed by police a short time later, they denied the allegations brought against them. During the hearing, the defendants were represented by attorney Donna Major. She described the incident as an “unfortunate situation” that came about as a result of tempers flaring. She also explained that McKinney went to the residence to see her estranged husband when her niece, Rolle, came to her defence. During her plea in mitigation, Ms Major also said Rolle was willing to reimburse Mr McKinney for the damage she caused. Subsequently, as it related to the threats of harm charge, Magistrate Forbes placed McKinney on 12 months’ probation on the agreement she would attend anger management classes. McKinney was also told to avoid any further interaction with Mr Rahming and her estranged husband. Rolle was also placed on 12 months’ probation and ordered to attend anger management classes for causing damage. She was further ordered to compensate Mr McKinney $550 for the broken television. Magistrate Forbes opted to give McKinney a warning for causing damage and discharged Rolle on the charge for throwing missiles. Still, he warned both women if they failed to comply with the conditions of their probation, they would each spend one month at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
CHOICE FOR THE FAMILY WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019
A 33-YEAR-OLD man was yesterday fined $500 after he admitted throwing a bottle at his cousin’s head during a family dispute earlier this month. Dion Thompson was accused of causing harm to a relative on July 3. He pleaded guilty at a hearing before Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux yesterday.
The court heard the complainant was at Thompson’s residence when the defendant hit him in the head with a bottle, causing injuries. As a result of his complaint, an investigation was launched. This led to Thompson’s arrest, who was taken to a nearby station a short time later. There, he admitted the offence in an interview with police. During the hearing, Thompson was represented by attorney Bernardo Ferguson. He told the magistrate his client was extremely remorseful
for his actions. He also claimed the incident arose out of a “family dispute” where “tempers flared”. Noting family members have a “tendency to provoke each other”, Mr Ferguson insisted Thompson was only defending himself on the night in question. After listening to Mr Ferguson’s plea in mitigation, Magistrate Turnquest-Deveaux fined Thompson $500. She warned Thompson that if he failed to pay the fine, he would spend six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
THIEF ADMITS STEALING FROM WOMAN ON BEACH By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 28-YEAR-OLD man was yesterday ordered to compensate a woman $153 after he admitted to stealing her items from a local beach last week. Sheroy Mackey appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was accused of stealing a $600 iPhone, a $100 backpack and $53 in cash from a woman on July 9. During the hearing, Mackey pleaded guilty to the single count of
stealing and was placed on six months’ probation. If he fails to be of good behaviour during that time, he will spend three months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said on the day in question, the complainant said people told her a man who was driving a Jeep stole her bag that was on Orange Hill Beach. An investigation into the matter led to Mackey’s arrest. During an interview with police at a nearby station, he admitted to stealing the items. As a result, he was cautioned and charged for the offence. According to the prosecution,
the stolen iPhone was returned to the complainant. During the hearing, Mackey’s attorney, Krystal Smith, said her client was “apologetic” for his actions. She also claimed he only committed the act because the “pressures of COVID19 had overtaken him” and insisted Mackey had accepted his actions were wrong. As a result, after placing Mackey on probation, Magistrate Forbes also ordered him to compensate the complainant $153 to make up for the cash and stolen bag that were never returned.
$400 FINE FOR LEAVING HOME WITHOUT MASK By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 26-YEAR-OLD man was fined $400 for leaving his home without a face mask during the curfew hours. Corderro Young was charged after officers found him near Cyprus Court around 2.45am on July 13. He pleaded guilty during his arraignment before Deputy Chief Magistrate Forbes and was fined $200 for violating the national curfew and another $200 for leaving his house without a mask on. If Young fails to pay the fines, he
will spend one month at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie said that night, officers observed the defendant driving on a blue scooter. When they beckoned him to stop and questioned him, he told them he had just left his girlfriend’s residence and was headed home. During the hearing, Young told the magistrate he was already parked in front of his yard when the police stopped him. He also claimed he had only violated the orders because his girlfriend had told him her “asthma was coming down” and he went to
check on her. Still, Young admitted he did not wear a face mask nor a helmet when he left his house to rush to his girlfriend’s side. After sentencing Young, Magistrate Forbes told him while he respected his attempt to assist his girlfriend, his actions were still “unsafe”. With that in mind, he noted that Young could have hurt him self severely if he had gotten into an accident since he was not wearing a helmet. He also said the defendant could have placed his already ill girlfriend at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, since he was not following the proper protocol.
PAGE 8, Friday, July 17, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Too late to bolt the barn door? OVER the past few days, I have thought on the meaning of that old idiom “closing the barn door after the horse is gone”. To be fair, we don’t have many “barn doors” in this country, so although I got the gist of the expression, it became crystal clear to me this week what the originator of that phrase was trying to say. I’ve even been able to come up with a bedtime story to better explain it to my kids, and, one day theirs.
THE CHRONICLES OF COVID
FARMER... er... Prime Minister Minnis might need to round up some horses.
In the days after our “farm” was reopened to the world on July 1, 2020, our Covid-19 numbers, which were holding steady at 104, suddenly raced to a scary 124. With all the barn doors open and the horses loose, some Thoroughbreds (with plenty money, apparently) bolted for the nearby Miami Farm for a quick shopping trip, and were generous enough to bring back some Covid-19 souvenirs. Other Warmbloods, those party animals, decided to make their way down to a few rented Air Bales and Barns to partake in backyard boogies
A Comic’s View
By INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICAZELAYA with not a harness nor blinder in sight. They danced, and imbibed, and no doubt also shared a virus or two, as Warmbloods are won’t to do.
Some American Quarter Horses, quite stealthy at evading farm protocols, made their way inside. And having saved up their hay for just that day, the Quarter Horses decided that their long-held dream of galloping on the breezy, sunkissed beaches would not be denied, regardless of whether those beaches were open or not. Once caught by a few farm boars, days after their infraction, the Quarter Horses insisted a senior brown boar had given them permission to roam the beach despite that being way above the imaginary boar’s paygrade to authorise. Those Quarter Horses were banished from the farm but not before “a stern talking to”. During all this, there were other happenings on the farm as well. A few hens, under the less than watchful eyes of the owls, decided to throw a party in the Farm Courts, and recorded it for all the other animals to see (and envy). The hens gyrated, they clucked, they “bruck it down,” and they had a good old time. Once the video of their henparty went viral, the old owls, who no doubt would deny being birds of a feather, promised a full investigation. We are still waiting on that report to this day. Now the farmer, busy touring expensive new buildings on the farm,
must have forgotten he was also the farm doctor because he was a no-show at the important weekly ‘Health of the Farm’ meeting. Indeed, Farmer Minnis left it to others to break the news that Covid19 was infecting more animals. Sandy, an ambitious Clydesdale and the previous farm doctor, had warned that more testing was needed on the farm. But, honestly, not many of the other animals paid him any mind since he had been unceremoniously put out to pasture. The Andalusian, a fancy horse who basically controlled the comings and goings on the farm, admitted that entry protocols were... well...slack. Horses, and cattle, and donkeys, and goats from all over somehow figured out how to fake their Covid19 test papers to gain entry to the farm. There was a feeling of deep fear, distrust, and many unanswered questions on the farm. The sheep, who were numerous, mumbled and grumbled and spoke of retribution during elections which (truthfully) were a very long way off. “What will the Farmer do?” the sheep began asking. “He will take away our milk and honey,” the bulls bellowed. “No, I bet he will lock down the barrels of hops and barleys!” the sheep angrily baa’ed. None, not the chickens, nor pigs, nor ducks, nor turkeys, nor cats, nor dogs, nor cows, nor sheep knew the answer. As the perilous Covid-19 spread, they wondered, “What can Farmer Minnis do?” while looking around; the barn door was wide open and the horses were gone. • To be continued
YOUR SAY ON THE NEWS READERS on tribune242.com have posting their reactions to the stories making the news. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise this week, Mandela had this to say: “We closed the beach on the Independence weekend saying we are doing this to stop the spread of the virus only to have already opened the border to all, the cases we are seeing today, this is ludicrous, and a betrayal to our four months of sacrifice, because at this rate we are sure to see the country shut down.” SP said: “This is a joke, we will see the true result of the stupidity with opening the borders to the US at the end of July!” Tribanon posted this comment: “All it takes is one asymptomatic young super spreader among the passengers on board a commercial flight to the Bahamas from the US.” The news that Bahamas Power & Light’s
newly-executed fuel hedging strategy will save consumers and the wider economy some $150m over 18 months prompted this reaction from Bogart: “Kudos to excellent work in lowering the cost of electricity and families windfall. Continued windfall to families will be also appreciated by the massive users of electricity in businesses, stores, etc, by lowering their prices of goods and services to shoppers. Will wait on ‘it’s the peoples time’ to celebrate the benefits of windfall.” Sickened said: “This is great news. A long time coming considering the business of oil futures has been around for many years.”
And there was this from My2Cents: “Great news at a time we desperately need some!” The Central Bank has conceded that Hurricane Dorian’s devastation has prompted a rethink on permitting its financial institution licensees to store confidential client data overseas which led to this comment from Tribanon: “Like so many other government capital expenditure plans, the Central Bank’s plans to build a new costly headquarters for itself needs to be put on indefinite hold. The Central Bank should be well aware of the need to conserve our country’s scarce hard currency reserves by indefinitely postponing such non-critical capital projects.” ThisIsOurs said: “This will ultimately mean loss of jobs in the IT sector.” • Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 9
Welcome back, Tellis - now you have the toughest job of your life By Diane Phillips operation STANDARDS Inspec- US-Bahamas tor of Security Forces. It’s that netted cocaine and an impressive title and to marijuana with a street the best of my knowledge value of more than $100m, had not been bestowed one of the largest seizures on anyone before July 1 in the world. He’s also the man who, when it was handed with all the layers it entails to the in his second stint with the former Commander of the RBDF after resigning and Royal Bahamas Defence taking a five-year break from 1991-1996 to explore Force, Tellis A Bethel. Bethel is now respon- the business world in light sible for ensuring the manufacturing, was gradugovernment’s policies and ated to acting and then mandates are carried out commodore with oversight by every agency charged of RBDF disaster relief with enforcing the laws of operations through Hurthe Commonwealth of The ricanes Joaquin, Matthew, Bahamas. That’s Police, Irma, Maria (in Dominica) Defence Force, Depart- and Dorian. Ask him and he’d probment of Corrections, and in some cases, Bahamas ably say he was most proud Customs and Immigration of accelerating the burgeon– more than 6,000 men and ing Sandy Bottom Project, women, strong, self-pos- vastly expanding the abilsessed and probably not a ity of the Defence Force to protect 2,200 miles of coastshy bone among them. It’s a helluva task and line across 100,000 miles if anyone can do it, Tellis of open ocean by staging vessels and resources in Bethel can, but Ragged Island he will need and Inagua strong support rather than disat every level, patching ships from the minisand responding tries and from to suspicious the agencies. activity from a His years of single base at diplomacy as Coral Harbour. Deputy ComHe might also mander, then confess a bit of Commander pride in overseeof the Defence ing the rescue of Force, along more than 540 with interapeople. gency and ‘In the years All of that multilateral he was information coordination is available in with officers Commodore, public records as from US and he rarely slept truth about regional more than a few isthetheByron Feragencies in hours a night, guson downed operations aircraft investiranging from never off duty, gation, including drug and the senior police human smug- but never once complaining’ officer’s misgling taken report interdiction that the Defence to hurricane disaster relief will be criti- Force called off the search cal tools. If I had to guess, shortly after 11 that night. Tellis is a friend, and I I would say that is part of what the Minister of consider that an honour. In National Security was fact, he and his wife, Teri, referring to when he said are among the handful of Bethel’s skill set would people my family and I hold serve him well in the new closest to our hearts. We see the human side of an post. But it’s a strange mixture, extraordinary man, author, this new post, becoming historian, leader. I wonder part of an executive team what I could tell you about yet, because of constitu- him that would help to tional boundaries, unable to paint the full picture. I could tell you about his make final executive calls. As Inspector of Security ear-to-ear grin as we made Forces he has independ- our way up a rocky, pitted ent authority to assess and road to see the famed Lightrecommend yet his recom- house Point in Eleuthera, mendations go straight to Tellis jumping out of the the Minister which, by its car every few minutes to very nature, is a political pick up heavy rocks with the lightness and surefootpost. In layman’s terms, Bethel edness of an athlete to fill will be CAAO (Chief holes so my husband could administrative assessment continue maneuvering the officer), CCEO (Chief small vehicle. I could tell compliance and efficiency you about his boyhoodofficer), but not CBSHO like fascination with the (Chief buck stops here sight and history of the officer). That job falls to lighthouse when we finally the Minister. Some will see climbed to the top. I could Bethel’s post, correctly or tell you about his love for not, as chief in charge of Teri, his pride in their two defence and law enforce- sons, or the evenings when ment standards and that is plans had to be cancelled because of a Defence Force one tough hat to wear. So it’s about time that activity or the times we people got to know exactly spoke with his wife after he the stuff Tellis Bethel is directed an operation that made of. In a few words, kept him awake from one it’s rock-solid strength, day to the next. Teri says in integrity and an unshak- the years he was Commoable faith. This is the man dore, he rarely slept more who participated in and than a few hours a night, later directed the arrests never off duty, but never of Columbian, US, Carib- once complaining. I could tell you about bean and Bahamian drug smugglers with thousands his modest upbringing and of pounds of narcotics and his remarkable academic the confiscation of weapons achievements. With Long and ammunition during the Island and Eleuthera family peak drug years of the 1980s roots, Bethel grew up in when doing so meant pit- Grant’s Town, graduated ting your life against those from St John’s. His first job who had nothing to lose. was equivalent of bellman The is the man who worked aboard one of the earliest to helped apprehend or cruise ships, the S/S Emerdirect arrests of thousands ald Seas and he was proud of undocumented migrants to wear that bellmen’s cap and numerous poachers, and be on the sea. He also gaining praise from Baha- worked for Navios Marimian fishermen for his time Holdings. He joined the Defence Force in 1981 unprecedented-in-scale and served nearly 25 years actions. This is the same Tellis with that break in between. Bethel who was Opera- At Britannia Royal Naval Devon, Engtions Coordination Officer College, during Operation Blue land, he received the Lightning in 1985, a joint College’s Best International
TELLIS Bethel with his wife, Teri, and, right, with Minister of National Security Marvin Dames at the Military Ball at The Hilton. Midshipman Award. He and a Fellow of the Asiaholds a Master of Arts Pacific Center for Security degree in Leading, Innova- Studies in Hawaii. He has tion and Change (MALIC) participated in numerous from York St John Uni- civil defense management versity in York, England, courses at institutions in the which required residency in United States, United KingSwitzerland. dom, China, Australia and Bethel also graduated with the Caribbean. distinction from the United As a friend, and as a loyal States Naval War Col- friend to The Bahamas, do lege’s Naval Staff College in well, Tellis Bethel. Now, Rhode Island. He is a Fellow we just have to get on with of the Center for Hemi- naming the most beautispheric Defense Studies at ful waters in the world the University of National The Lucayan Sea as you Defense in Washington proposed.
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THE TRIBUNE
WITH KIDS SPENDING MORE WAKING HOURS ON SCREENS THAN EVER, HERE’S WHAT PARENTS NEED TO WORRY ABOUT By JAMES M LANG Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Teaching Excellence, Assumption College
even if they do need to be wary of the impact of excessive screen time on eye health and how much sleep their kids get. The trouble with excessive screen time is that it eclipses healthy behaviours that all children need. When children gaze passively at screens, they aren’t exercising, playing with their friends or siblings, or snuggling with their parents during story time. What I believe parents need to worry about isn’t how much time kids are spending cradling their devices during our current crisis. It’s whether their children are forming habits that will continue after the pandemic’s over. Those habits could stop today’s youngest Americans from resuming healthier and more creative behaviors like reading or imaginative play. If kids can kick their pandemic screen patterns, and return to the relatively healthier levels of screen time they had before, they will probably be just fine. The human brain is remarkably malleable. It has extraordinary potential to rewire itself in the face of accident or illness and adapt to new circumstances.
MILLIONS of working parents have spent months largely trapped in their homes with their children. Many are trying to get their jobs done remotely in the constant presence of their kids, and they are desperate for some peace and quiet. Many mothers and fathers have sought any available remedy that would enable them to do their jobs and fight cabin fever – including some who have given their children a free pass on video games, social media and television. One survey of more than 3,000 parents found that screen time for their kids had increased by 500 percent during the pandemic.
SCREEN TIME RULES In case you missed it, when the World Health Organization released daily screen time guidelines for children in April 2019, it suggested tight limits. Infants should get none at all, and kids between the ages of one and five should spend no more than one hour daily staring at devices. The WHO does not provide specific limits for older children, but some research has suggested that excessive screen time for teenagers could be linked to mental health problems like anxiety and depression. Kids were already spendThe trouble with excessive screen ing far more time is that it eclipses healthy time than recommended with behaviours that all children need. screens before When children gaze passively at the pandemic, and had been screens, they aren’t exercising, for years. playing with their friends or As far back siblings, or snuggling with their as the late 1990s, children parents during story time. naturally, between the what screen ages of three time rules and five-yearsfamilies and a half hours per day old were averaging two with their screens. And, had been enforcing have
MAKING A HABIT OF BINGEING
been on hold since at least mid-March 2020, when most US communities entered an era of social distancing.
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PRONE TO DISTRACTION Should parents worry if their children are spending more time than ever online to learn, play and while away the hours until they can freely study and socialize again? The short answer is no – as long as they don’t allow pandemic screen time habits to morph into permanent screen time habits. Shortly before the coronavirus led to schools across the country suspending in-person instruction for safety reasons, I wrapped up my upcoming book on the power of digital devices to distract students from their learning. In “Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It,” I argue that trying to eliminate distractions from classroom takes the wrong approach. The human brain is naturally prone to distraction, as scientists and philosophers have been attesting for centuries now. The problem with distraction in school is not the distractions themselves. Children and adults alike can use social media or view screens in perfectly healthy ways. The problem occurs when excessive attention to screens crowds out other learning behaviours. A child watching YouTube on her phone in the classroom or during study time is not developing her writing skills or mastering new vocabulary. Teachers should consider how to cultivate better attention to those behaviours, rather than trying to eliminate all distractions. Likewise, parents should not view screens as the enemy of their children,
This feature of the human brain, known as neuroplasticity, is one of the reasons that doctors and health organisations recommend limits to the screen time of young children. Experts, educators and families alike don’t want their brains developing as organs primarily designed for television binge-watching and video game marathons. In the current moment, parents should be grateful for brain neuroplasticity, and take heart from the fact that whatever changes that might have occurred over the past few months need not be permanent ones. The brain transforms in response to our circumstances and behaviours – and it changes again as those circumstances and behaviours evolve. A few months of excessive screen time won’t override an otherwise healthy childhood of moderate screen time and active play. The ways in which work and school are adapting to social distancing suggest that screens are not the enemy. Rather, they are enabling people around the world to work and learn and communicate with loved ones during this extraordinary time. The real enemies of healthy development in children are the same enemies adults face: a sedentary lifestyle, social isolation and distractions from work and learning. Using screens too much can contribute to all of these problems – but they can also counter them. Researchers point out, after all, that not all screen time is equal. You might not make the same judgment about a child writing a novel using Google Docs, FaceTiming with Grandma or using a smartphone to geocache with their friends. As restrictions on everyone’s movements and activities evolve in the coming months, parents can support the healthy development of their children by encouraging them to return to such healthy and imaginative behaviours – whether they take place in front of screens or not. • Originally published on theconversation.com
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 11
US economy at risk from rising infections WEARING a face shield, server Brandon Fricke, left, takes orders from dine-in customers surrounded by protective dividers at Water Grill seafood restaurant in Los Angeles. Restaurants and stores have been forced to make changes to survive. Photo: Jae C Hong/AP BALTIMORE Associated Press RISING coronavirus infections across dozens of states are threatening the US economic recovery, forcing businesses and consumers to freeze spending and keeping the unemployment rate stubbornly high. The government reported yesterday that retail sales rose a sharp 7.5 percent in June, but the positive trend was undercut by more recent data showing that credit card spending has stalled. A separate report showed that more than a million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week – a sign that companies continue to cut jobs as the virus slashes through the heavily populated Sunbelt. Economists fear that any positive momentum could come to a halt later this summer if infections and deaths rise, forcing more businesses to close. “Conditions in the labor market remain weak and the risk of mounting permanent job losses is high, especially If activity continues to be disrupted by repeated virus-related shutdowns,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. It was the 17th consecutive week that jobless claims surpassed one million. Prior to the pandemic, just 200,000 people sought unemployment assistance in a typical week. The Labor Department data emerged as the nation saw more troubling infections. Florida reported a single-day record of 156 deaths, along with nearly 14,000 new cases, mirroring a broader trend this week that has seen the national death rate spike. The seven-day rolling average for new deaths has risen to 730, a more than 21 percent increase from a week ago. Infections are now climbing in 40 states, and 22 states have either paused or reversed efforts to reopen their economies, according to Bank of America. Businesses and consumers alike are adjusting to the perpetual risk of outbreaks. Restaurants and stores have been forced to make Darwinian leaps to survive. Cash payments are out. Deliveries are in. Skeleton crews are keeping retailers afloat. It’s a moment of both caution and innovation that will likely produce lasting changes in how Americans spend. There might not be a return to business as usual. At the R House food hall in Baltimore, all orders and payments now go through an app, Toast
TakeOut. Customers gather on an outdoor patio instead of venturing inside what had previously been an auto dealership. That reduces the hall’s potential capacity to 100 eaters from 350 before the outbreak and makes the business more dependent on take-out. But the payment app has become a convenience for customers, who no longer need to wait in lines for cash registers and can settle into their seats while ordering from the local eateries on site that range from from authentic tacos to Korean BBQ to Hawaiian poke bowls to fried chicken sandwiches. “Absolutely we’re going to keep using this technology,” said Peter DiPrinzio, director of food and beverage at the food hall. Dedric Richardson, 45, and his wife opened Creole Soul at R House in December, serving po’ boys, gumbo and shrimp and grits. Sales are rebounding after the shutdown, but they are still down by half, and his staff has shrunk from ten to four. Noting that he served in the Navy, Richardson is still optimistic that he can steer through the difficult times. “That’s the nature of the beast we’re living in,” he said. “I feel like I’m the cashier, the chef, the everybody.” Gap, Kohl’s and other stores are withdrawing clothes worn in their changing rooms from sales floors for several days to reduce infection risks. Adding to all this pressure are signs that the recovery in consumer spending began to stall at the end of last month, according to analysis of credit cards by the bank JPMorgan Chase. “This is my biggest nightmare that we would open and reclose small businesses,” said Sandy Sigal, president and CEO of NewMark Merrill Companies, which operates a total of 85 outdoor lifestyle centers in California, Colorado and Illinois. Sixty of the centers are located in California, which has now reclosed gyms and nail salons among other businesses. The total number of people receiving jobless benefits nationwide dropped 400,000, to 17.3 million, last week, the government said, suggesting that hiring in some regions could offset some of the mounting job losses seen last week in Florida, Georgia, California, Arizona and South Carolina. But huge US companies continue to lay off people. American Airlines warned workers Wednesday that it may have to cut up to 25,000 jobs in October because of sharply reduced air travel. Airlines are barred from layoffs until then
GEORGIA GOVERNOR KEMP BLOCKS LOCAL MASK RULES ATLANTA Associated Press
MAYORS in Atlanta and other Georgia cities deepened their defiance of Gov Brian Kemp on Thursday, saying they want their requirements for people to wear masks in public to remain in place, even after the Republican governor explicitly forbade cities and counties from mandating face coverings. Officials in at least 15 Georgia cities and counties, including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, had ordered masks during the coronavirus pandemic, and many are venting outrage at Kemp swatting down their efforts. “The mayor’s order remains in effect, as science and data will continue to drive the city’s decisions,” Bottoms spokesperson Michael Smith wrote in a text. “Masks save lives.” Kemp doesn’t disagree, saying he strongly supports maskwearing to combat the spread of COVID-19 infections. He traveled the state earlier this month to encourage face coverings. But he has maintained for weeks that cities and counties don’t have the power to require masks in public places, saying no local order can be more or less restrictive than his statewide mandates. That didn’t stop local governments from continuing to enact their own mandates, so Wednesday, in an otherwise routine renewal of rules governing business operations and ordering medically vulnerably people as a condition of federal aid they have received. American followed United Airlines, which warned 36,000 of its employees last week that they may lose their jobs. The uncertainty of what comes next is heightened by the pending expiration of many of the government-support programs that have shored up the finances of both businesses and families. The government’s small business loan program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, will stop taking applications Aug. 8. More than $500bn has already been loaned, and more than half of small
FROM the palm-fringed beaches of southern India to the bar-lined streets of a Spanish island and the rolling hills of Ireland, restaurants, pubs and clubs are emerging as front lines in efforts to prevent the re-emergence of the coronavirus. With Europe’s summer vacation season kicking into high gear for millions weary of months of lockdown, scenes of drunken British and German tourists on Spain’s Mallorca island ignoring social distancing rules and reports of American visitors flouting quarantine measures in Ireland raised fears of a resurgence of infections in countries that have battled for months to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Germany’s foreign minister condemned the rowdy tourists
for imperiling hard-won gains in efforts to contain the virus. “We just recently managed to open the borders again in Europe. We cannot risk this by reckless behavior,” Heiko Maas told Funke Media Group. “Otherwise, new measures will be inevitable.” In a move designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus and shake off the region’s reputation as a party hub, regional authorities in the Balearic Islands ordered the closure from Thursday of all establishments along Mallorca’s “Beer St” and “Ham St,” as the popular party areas near the beach of Palma de Mallorca are known, and on another boulevard in nearby Magaluf. Bar owners reacted angrily to the new restrictions on the islands that have seen, like most regions in Spain, recent spikes in infections, none of which were traced to visiting tourists or party hot
spots. Bars and nightclubs employ some 20,000 people in the region. “They are undertaking drastic measures that are typical of other countries, closing entire streets and curtailing the free exercise of private initiative,” Jesús Sánchez, who leads a local business association told The Associated Press. He blamed “clandestine parties” for some of the images of tourists ignoring virus containment measures. Meanwhile, in the United States, Florida reached another ominous record with 156 virus deaths reported yesterday as the state continued to experience a swift rise in cases. The state Department of Health reported 13,965 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to nearly 316,000. Also yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America announced it was postponing next year’s National
A THOUSAND deaths a day. Since late May, three months after Brazil’s first reported case of the coronavirus, it has recorded more than 1,000 daily deaths on average in a gruesome plateau that has yet to tilt downward. The country hit at least 75,000 confirmed deaths on Wednesday and was expected to report two million confirmed cases of COVID-19 by yesterday evening. Even as cases wane somewhat in the biggest and hardest-hit Brazilian cities, the virus is peaking in new locations across the largest country in Latin America. Experts blame denial of the virus’ deadly potential by President Jair Bolsonaro and lack of national coordination combined with scattershot responses by city and state governments, with some reopening earlier than health experts recommended. An interim health minister untrained in the field is presiding over pandemic response. Bolsonaro himself is sick with COVID-19 after repeatedly flouting social distance recommendations and undermining local leaders’ restrictions on activity.
TRUMP’S GOP CONVENTION PLANS SHRINK GEORGIA Gov Brian Kemp adjusts his mask prior to a bill signing yesterday. Photo: Mike Stewart/AP to stay home, Kemp made that prohibition explicit. He went so far as to say local governments couldn’t order masks on their own property, which would include Atlanta’s airport. Although national health officials have called on people to use masks, President Donald Trump’s administration has not issued any nationwide guidance. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now require masks. Kemp’s stance — not only shying away from a statewide order but trying to bar local governments from instituting their own — leaves him standing virtually alone. In the South, Republican governors in Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida have resisted calls for a statewide mask mandate but allow local jurisdictions to implement them. Republican governors in Alabama and Texas and Democrats in Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina have issued statewide mask requirements. companies that got loans say they have spent all the money, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. Nearly a quarter say they have laid off workers or expect to do so once the funds run out. And an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits provided by the federal government on top of regular aid from the states will expire this month, unless replaced or extended. Those funds, along with the $1,200 relief checks sent out in April, enabled millions of Americans to stay current on housing costs and bills.
TOURISTS FACING RESTRICTIONS AMID FEARS OF NEW SPIKES MADRID Associated Press
NEARLY 2M CASES IN BRAZIL - WITH 75,000 DEAD
Jamboree in West Virginia, citing concerns about the pandemic. At a solemn commemoration service in Madrid, relatives of about 100 COVID-19 victims sat socially distanced with representatives of health workers and other vital professions and with Spain’s king and queen to pay tribute to the dead and those fighting the pandemic. In an emotional speech, Hernando Calleja said he was sharing the pain of the loss of his brother José María, a well-known journalist and writer in Madrid, with other victims’ relatives. “Let’s not forget that the coronavirus was and continues to be a cold, cruel and wrecking executioner,” Calleja said. Another European tourism hot spot, Greece, lifted a ban on flights from Britain on July 15 and yesterday welcomed the first arrivals with random testing at Athens airport.
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s plans for a grand convention keep shrinking. The Republican National Committee announced yesterday it is sharply restricting attendance on three of the four nights of its convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month. As the GOP looks for ways to move forward while coronavirus cases are spiking in the state, party leader Ronna McDaniel said in a letter to RNC members that only the roughly 2,500 regular delegates to the convention would be permitted to attend the first three nights. Delegates, their guests and alternate delegates would be allowed for the final night, August 27, when Trump is set to deliver his acceptance speech. The GOP had already moved most of the convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, after local officials ruled out a fullcapacity crowd during the pandemic. “When we made these changes, we had hoped to be able to plan a traditional convention celebration to which we are all accustomed,” McDaniel said. “However, adjustments must be made to comply with state and local health guidelines.”
ALARM OVER TWITTER HACK
A BREACH in Twitter’s security that allowed hackers to break into the accounts of leaders and technology moguls is one of the worst attacks in recent years and may shake trust in a platform politicians and CEOs use to communicate with the public, experts said yesterday. The FBI said it is investigating the hacks, and said the high-profile accounts “appear to have been compromised in order to perpetuate cryptocurrency fraud”. The ruse discovered on Wednesday included bogus tweets from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Celebrities Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, were also hacked. Hackers used social engineering to target some of Twitter’s employees and then gained access to the accounts.
PAGE 12, Friday, July 17, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Real Madrid clinch Spanish league title with a win By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — There was Zinedine Zidane (holding trophy far right) again, being thrown into the air by his Real Madrid players in another title celebration. With the Frenchman back in charge, Madrid is back to collecting major trophies. Madrid clinched its 34th Spanish league title — and first since 2017 — after extending its perfect run following the pandemic break with a 2-1 win over Villarreal yesterday, opening a seven-point gap to second-place Barcelona with one round to go. Barcelona lost to 10-man Osasuna at the Camp Nou Stadium. Karim Benzema scored twice to give Madrid its 10th consecutive league victory. It was the only team with a perfect record after the coronavirus-enforced break, having trailed Barcelona by two points before the league was halted. “This is one of the best days in my life professionally,” said Zidane, who also won the Champions League and World Cup as a player. “It’s another league title, after the confinement and everything else that happened. I wish we could celebrate with the fans, but I’m sure they are very happy at home seeing their team win the league again.” Zidane quit as Madrid coach in 2018 after leading the team to three straight Champions League titles, then returned less than a year later with the team floundering. In his first full season back in charge, Madrid wrested the league title away from Barcelona for the first time in three years. It was also Madrid’s first league title since Cristiano Ronaldo left to join Juventus two seasons ago. The title celebrations were subdued as the triumph came with Madrid playing at its training centre because the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium remains undergoing renovation work. Fans have not been allowed into games since the pandemic, and Madrid had warned supporters not to gather at the team’s
JONES from PAGE 16 up money for my strength and conditioning, but now that money has to go to rent because I have bills,” said Jones, who did two years of bodybuilding, winning the junior national title twice in 2015 and 2016 and placing third in the novice. As a result of the death of her father during the summer of 2017, Jones said the start of her sophomore year was a difficult one for her. But after an even more adventurous junior year, Jones said she was looking for things to turn around in her senior year. “But then comes September and we got hit by Hurricane Dorian in Grand Bahama,” Jones recalled. “My mother, Cestina Nixon, was using BTC and their service went down and I wasn’t able to stay in communication with them for about a week. “But one of the reasons I got the nomination was because of my contribution outside of athletes.” Jones, 23, said once she found out that her family was safe and secure, through her sorority platform as Miss Kappa Alpha Psi, she began a feminine drive to assist women in Grand Bahama who lost everything, and provide some comfort to them on a whole.
BBF from PAGE 16
anesthesia and pain medicine specialist. “If one of the players had a torn ACL or meniscus tear that wasn’t serious enough to require surgery, but may need some interventional procedure where we can assist healing and enhance healing over a short period of time, we can help to get them back on the court as soon as possible and that is what interventional pain management and sports medicine is about at this point.” Players will also benefit from Spectrum’s services as the national team travels throughout the world to various tournaments. “We have a group of board certified specialists and we have agreed to travel with the team so that if the team needs specialist care for their injuries abroad, we can provide that. If you’re in a place where English isn’t your first language and you have a player that’s injured it may be very difficult to explain to the physician
REAL Madrid’s players throw in the air their head coach Zinedine Zidane, as they celebrate after winning the Spanish La Liga 2019-2020 following a soccer match against Villareal at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium in Madrid, Spain, yesterday. (AP Photos/Bernat Armangue) traditional celebration spots in the Spanish capital. Most of the early celebrations came from fans honking their car horns across the city’s streets. Captain Sergio Ramos lifted the trophy at the empty Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium as confetti went into the air behind him and his teammates. Players later threw Zidane into the air a few times, then they all posed for photos in front of one of the goals. “It has been a strange season after everything that has happened,” said Ramos, who won his fifth Spanish league title. “After the confinement we knew that we had to win every match to clinch the title. There was no margin for error.” Barcelona had won the last two league titles but stuttered after the break, drawing three times and losing once after the league resumed. Benzema — one of Madrid’s key players this season — opened the scoring with a shot from inside the area in the 29th minute and added to the lead by converting a penalty in the 77th, reaching 21 league goals and moving within two of scoring leader Lionel
“So I put up a campus all around our campus and I collected personal items that women use,” she stated. “I went on the ABC station in our area and the present president of the Bahamian-American Students Association went on TV with me and we had some people perform junkanoo music as people brought in their supplies.” Her entire dorm was furnished with supplies that Jones was able to have shipped to Grand Bahama for distribution to those in need. Jones thanked an elderly lady in Raleigh, who rallied behind her to ensure that the supplies were properly packed and shipped off. “When I came home in December, they did a Christmas Wonder Drive Holiday Festival where they gave out free groceries and toys with live music and rides and games for the kids,” Jones said. “That was my second check point on my list. But it was so delightful for me to do that for the people.” At St Aug, Jones got to graduate, which capped off the requirement for her domination for the award. As a walk-on for the Falcons’ team, where she played second baseman and outfielder, Jones didn’t get to play in her final year because of the pandemic. But based on what they did during the pre-season, she anticipated that what is going on so I think this might be a good thing for them,” Pierre said. “It’s a great thing for us, a great thing for the federation, great thing for the Bahamas and we are so happy to be a part of this organisation to help.” BBF President Mario Bowleg said the latest partnership falls in line with the federation’s mandate to increase the profile of the national team programme. “As we move the federation to the next level we also believe that how we treat our athletes on and off the court is also important for us to have them play at the highest level possible,” he said. The MNT is set to continue their 2021 FIBA AmeriCup qualification this fall, however those plans are uncertain amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In their last appearance, The Bahamas won 76-59 win over Mexico in February at the Atlantis resort to even the series between the two teams at 1-1. The Bahamas is currently second in Group D at 1-1 with the advantage over Mexico on point differential.
Messi, who netted for Barcelona against Osasuna. Benzema’s goal from the penalty spot came after Ramos’ initial attempt was called back after he just rolled the ball sideways to Benzema to score. The French striker had entered the area too soon and the penalty had to be taken again. Luka Modric set up Benzema’s first goal after a breakaway that started near midfield. Fifth-place Villarreal pulled one back with a header by Vicente Iborra in the 83rd. It was denied an equaliser by a great save by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in stoppage time. Madrid’s Marco Asensio had a goal disallowed moments later. BARCELONA FALTERS Barcelona needed to win its match and hope Madrid slipped up. Instead it lost 2-1 at home against midtable Osasuna. Messi scored his league-leading 23rd goal from a free kick in the second half to cancel out José Arnaíz’s opener. Osasuna lost substitute Enric Gallego to a direct red card for bloodying the mouth of Barcelona
defender Clement Lenglet with an elbow to the face in the 77th. But Osasuna’s Roberto Torres scored in stoppage time with Barcelona pushing forward searching for a late goal. It was Barcelona’s first home loss in the league since a 4-3 result against Real Betis in November 2018. Messi said it was “not the way” Barcelona wanted to end the season. “Madrid did its part by winning all its matches, which is impressive, but we also helped them to win this league,” Messi said. “We have to be critical of how we have played, starting with the players, and for the rest of the club.” OTHER RESULTS Mallorca became the second team to be relegated after a 2-1 loss to Granada at home. Espanyol had already been demoted. Leganés keep its chances of survival alive thanks to a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao. Celta Vigo stayed just outside the relegation zone after a 3-2 loss against Levante at home. Third-place Atlético Madrid won 2-0 at seventh-place Getafe, while fourth-place Sevilla drew 0-0 at sixth-place Real Sociedad. Valencia moved into eighth place to keep alive its hopes of grabbing a Europa League spot after a 1-0 win against last-place Espanyol. There was a total of nine red cards handed out during the 10 games.
LEICESTER DEFEAT SHEF UNITED 2-0, STAY IN EPL’S TOP FOUR LEICESTER, England (AP) — Leicester consolidated its spot in the Champions League qualification places by beating Sheffield United 2-0 in the Premier League yesterday thanks to goals by Ayoze Perez and Demarai Gray. The victory kept Leicester in fourth place, a point behind third-place Chelsea and above fifth-place Manchester United on goal difference. A top-five finish — and therefore at least a place in the Europa League — is almost guaranteed, however, after moving six points clear of sixth-place Wolverhampton and having a much superior goal difference with two games remaining. “The result gives us the second-highest finish in Leicester’s history,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said. “We have two games to go to create some more history.” With Manchester City having won its appeal against a two-year ban from European competition, a top-four finish is required to qualify for the Champions League rather a finish in the top five. Leicester finishes the season with a trip to Tottenham before what could prove to be a winner-takes-all home meeting with Man United. Perez drove home the opening goal from just inside the area in the 29th minute after being teed up by Luke Thomas, a left back making his debut for Leicester. Gray came on as a substitute in the 76th minute and doubled the lead within three minutes, scoring from an angled shot after being picked out by Jamie Vardy at the end of a counterattack. Sheffield United stayed in eighth place, two points behind sixth-place Wolverhampton in the battle for Europa League qualification.
they would have done extremely well this year. “It’s been four long years,” said an emotional Jones, who noted that she wore No.9 to commemorate the number her father wore as a basketball player. “My father died in the summer of my freshman year and he was
taking care of me financially, so mentally and financially, I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to school. My first semester as a sophomore, I struggled. Technically it was my worst year because I made a 3.1 or 3.2 and I got my first C, but it was in calculus, so I didn’t feel so bad.” A well-rounded student-athlete, Jones was selected an Arthur Ashe Jr Sports Scholar in 2020. The honour recognises outstanding student-athletes across the country who excel in academics and athletics in addition to campus and community service. She was one of three SAU student-athletes who earned the accolade, a feat she felt she could not have achieved without thinking about what her father instilled in her. “After all of the games I played in my freshman year, me and my father talked about it as we analysed what I did and didn’t do right,” Jones remembered. “We were on a winning streak at one point and he was encouraging me. “But after he died, I didn’t want to play anymore during my sophomore year. Then my junior year, they asked me and I told them I would play. I ended up getting sick and because the team was going through a lot of injuries, I still decided to play. “I had a tooth
extraction that left my gum swollen. I was in pain and I think I lost about 20 pounds in two weeks. My jaw was still swollen. During the season, I barely ate. I only could chew on mash potatoes and things that were soft.” Having to play at least two games a day, Jones said it took its toll on her, but she managed to get through it. “My senior year was supposed to be my comeback year. I was healthy. Physically I was good. Mentally I was ready. Then we got hit by the pandemic.” As she reflects on her entire journey, Jones said she dedicated it all to her deceased father. “I have a saying that says ‘I’m Big O Strong’ because his strength is my strength and I continue to live by that,” she summed up. “That has been my motivation.” Once she completes her tertiary education, Jones said she plans to return home. But in the meantime, she will start her sports nutrition business online and then she will focus on its physical presence when she is done. “Once I get certified, I intend to let people know about my business,” she said. “I love working with athletes because I am an athlete. And I want to encourage athletes to make the best of their opportunity to be the best that they can be in whatever field they are in.”
The USA leads the Group at 2-0 while Puerto Rico is 0-2. The Bahamas will continue play in Group D on November 27 against the United States in game one of the second window. Bowleg said the federation will be notified at the end of the month on the path moving forward for the qualifiers. “Our senior men are scheduled to play in November in Washington against the United States and also against Puerto Rico on the road in Puerto Rico. We will get an update on July 31st whether those games will still be played in November or will be pushed back to February. “Also scheduled in February are the home games against the United States and Puerto Rico,” Bowleg said. “If the away games are pushed back due to the pandemic, then I guess our home games will be pushed back to June, which is more beneficial for us. We will then have our NBA players home and I think that will be something of great interest to the public, to have Buddy [Hield] and [Deandre] Ayton at home
playing against the likes of the US and Puerto Rico.” With basketball across the globe in flux, Bowleg said the FIBA schedule will be ratified as the organisation communicates with the various leagues. “Everything is wait and see. Most of the guys are home now, working out everyday looking at the possibility of going back to their professional leagues and programmes and understanding that in itself is going to have an effect on us. Those dates for when those seasons will start will be hindered by them not completing their seasons this year,” he said. “Just like we are trying to get our local leagues back, the NBA might have the same problem where they are trying to finish their season, but might have to start later in the next season which will affect the decision by FIBA also. FIBA will communicate with all of the leagues that they govern throughout the world and ensure that those dates come somewhere down the line.” At the local level, the BBF has continued its activity through
several initiatives despite the restrictions of the pandemic. “One of the five pillars the federation had when they came into office is that we wanted to ensure that we continue re-certifying our coaches and our officials. During the pandemic, although we didn’t have physical meetings among the peers, we had several virtual clinics held in the CBC that were conducted by our national instructor, Freddie Brown. Also in the FIBA Americas, where the Bahamas would have had various table officials certified. Physical clinics will hopefully commence in September to ensure that those islands, coaches, officials and coaches improve their skills to improve the product of basketball in the country,” Bowleg said. “We are excited to officially implement 3x3 basketball in the country. A committee was made up to represent the implementation of this version of the game in the country. So we are continuing to do the work to develop the game of basketball in the country.”
CELINE JONES
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 13
NCAA LAYS OUT PLAN FOR PLAYING BUT WARNS OF SURGING PANDEMIC By RALPH D RUSSO AP College Football Writer THE NCAA handed down its latest guidelines for playing through a pandemic while also sounding an alarm: The prospect of having a fall semester with football and other sports is looking grim. If the games can go on, the NCAA says college athletes should be tested for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours before they play, players with high-risk exposures to the coronavirus should be quarantined for 14 days and everybody on the sideline should wear a mask. The nation’s largest governing body for college sports released an updated guidance yesterday to help member schools navigate competition, but it comes as the pandemic rages on. Around the country, the number of COVID-19 cases are on the rise and many states have slowed reopenings or reinstated social-distancing restrictions on some businesses. “This document lays out the advice of health care professionals as to how to resume college sports if we can achieve an environment where COVID-19 rates are manageable,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in
a statement. “Today, sadly, the data point in the wrong direction. “If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.” The recommendations were developed by the NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel, Autonomy-5 Medical Advisory Group, representing the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, and other medical groups. The Autonomy-5 or Power Five conferences also intend to provide their own similar guidance to schools. A copy of that document, which has not been finalised, was obtained by The Associated Press and first reported on by Sports Illustrated. Even before the NCAA’s announcement, the American Athletic Conference said it planned to require its schools to meet or exceed NCAA guidance. Among the highlights of the NCAA’s recommendations: — Test results should be obtained within 72 hours of competition for athletes competing in so-called high-contact risk sports, such as football, basketball, hockey and lacrosse. — Face shields should be integrated into sports where feasible.
MEMPHIS quarterback Brady White, centre, celebrates after his team defeated Cincinnati in an NCAA college football game for the American Athletic Conference championship on December 7, 2019. The American Athletic Conference will require all its schools to test football players for COVID-19 at least 72 hours before competition. The announcement yesterday comes ahead of the expected release of recommendations from the NCAA for testing before games. (AP) — Masks should be worn by everyone on a sideline, including when an athlete moves from the playing field to interact with a coach. — CDC guidelines should be used for determining when individuals can resume activities after testing positive for COVID19. Time-based strategy means isolation until 72 hours after recovery and at least 10 days after symptoms first appeared. — All individuals with high-risk exposure must be quarantined for 14 days. The final point could be crucial for managing a team this season. Simply being deemed a close contact of someone who tests positive could sideline players for two weeks. At this point, though, the hopes of being able to conduct a college football season in the fall are dimming. Plans are already being made to modify it. The Big Ten and Pac-12 announced last week that they would play only conference games in football and other sports to help minimise potential disruptions caused by COVID-19.
The Big East joined those leagues yesterday by going conference-only for the fall season, which for the basketball-focused league includes men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross-country, volleyball and field hockey. Other FBS conferences have not decided yet on scheduling formats for the coming football season, instead waiting until late July. The regular season is scheduled to begin around Labour Day weekend, with dozens of game slated for September 3-7. “Right now we’d like to buy as much time as possible,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco told Sports Talk 790 in Houston. Meanwhile, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference yesterday became the third Division I conference to say it will not have a fall sports season. The MEAC, comprising 11 historically black colleges and universities, joined fellow FCS conferences the Ivy League and Patriot League in punting on fall football and other sports, with the hopes of
making them up in the spring semester if possible. At most major college football schools, athletes started coming back to campus in June to participate in voluntary workouts in team facilities. This week football teams were allowed to begin mandatory team activities, including unpadded walkthrough practices. Through the last month and half schools have been testing athletes regularly, and already some flare ups of the virus have caused activities to be shut down at schools such as Ohio State, Kansas State, Houston and North Carolina. At many schools, positive tests among athletes have been minimal. Yesterday, Oklahoma reported it had zero positive tests among 98 football players tested the day before. The problem is colleges and their athletic departments are not operating in a true bubble the way the NBA is doing with its teams in Florida. If states and communities are struggling to contain the virus, it makes it more difficult to keep athletes safe
— especially when the full student body arrives on campus. It also becomes more problematic for athletic departments to potentially contribute to the spread of infection by gathering large groups of people to engage in contact sports, and then sending them back out on campus and into the surrounding communities. “So nothing that occurs to the student athlete is in a silo,” said Dr Chris Kratochvil, executive director of the Global Center for Health Security at University of Nebraska Medical Center. “And certainly we want to protect them, but we want to protect the broader community as well.” Kratochvil, who heads the Big Ten’s Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases, said the availability of tests and how quickly results can be delivered, the availability of personal protective equipment used by healthcare workers and the stress on hospitals will all be considered when determining whether college sports can be played. “Everything is connected,” he said.
As MLB 60-game season draws near, careful optimism prevails By DAVID GINSBURG AP Sports Writer WITH the start of Major League Baseball’s shortened season a week away, games in empty stadiums and strange extra-inning rules are on the verge of becoming reality. Now that the players have gotten used to COVID-19 tests, social distancing and wearing masks in the clubhouse, it’s just about time to see if 30 teams can handle a 60-game schedule amid a pandemic. “Obviously, it’s going to feel a little different the way things are going with no fans and what-not,” Brewers infielder Eric Sogard said, “but we’re all excited to get going and get back out there.” The season begins next Thursday night with the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals hosting the New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Dodgers welcoming the rival San Francisco Giants. The rest of the league joins the fray Friday, the common thread being that all games will be played without fans in the stands, each team will have a designated hitter and that a runner will be placed on second base during extra innings. When summer camp began earlier this month following an extended layoff due to the coronavirus
outbreak, there was plenty of doubt whether the quest to salvage the season would ever get this far. Several stars chose not to participate from the start, and rarely a day goes by without a positive COVID19 test in one camp or another. But here we are, mere days from launching a season that’s unique in almost every way. “I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed every day. So far, we’re doing fairly well,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, whose team opens in Boston next Friday night. “We still have a ways to go before the 24th, and I’m nervous as anybody that we’re going to be healthy.” But Hyde remains hopeful that the season will start on time and go the distance. “People are feeling positive about how it’s worked so far and going forward,” he said. Brewers general manager David Stearns noted that the reduced rate of positive tests recently “is a really encouraging sign.” “That gives all of us confidence in all segments of the industry that if we continue to do the right things, follow the proper protocols, that we’re going to give ourselves a pretty good chance,” Stearns said. While there’s reason for optimism, the stark truth is that COVID-19 is not going away.
KANSAS City Royals’ Adalberto Mondesi sits in the dugout during an intrasquad baseball scrimmage at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Texas Rangers reliever Brett Martin was placed on the injured list yesterday because of his positive test before the start of their summer camp. Martin, already at higher risk because he has Type 1 diabetes, had a positive reading during intake testing two weeks ago. He experienced mild symptoms of COVID-19, including congestion and fatigue. Because Martin is on the injured list because of coronavirus, he doesn’t count toward the team’s 40-man roster list while on the IL.
The 25-year-old lefty was 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA as a rookie last season. In Miami, outfielders Matt Joyce and Lewis Brinson were put on the 10-day injured list by the Marlins. No reasons were given, but both have been sidelined since coronavirus testing began at the start of camp. They still have a chance to play this season, manager Don Mattingly said. The Braves are awaiting the return of four players who tested positive for the coronavirus: four-time AllStar Freddie Freeman,
set-up reliever Will Smith, right-hander Touki Tousssaint and infielder Pete Kozma. The Pirates have been very quiet in general in terms of potential health issues related to COVID-19 or otherwise. “There’s things that happen that we don’t discuss,” first-year manager Derek Shelton said. “We just have to adapt and adjust, and that’s what we’re doing every day.” In Atlanta, left-hander Cole Hamels (triceps tendinitis) threw a side session yesterday and will
be evaluated after an off day today. Right-hander Kyle Wright appears set to open the season as the fifth starter after throwing three innings in an intrasquad game. In New York, two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom still plans to pitch on opening day for the Mets. He left an intrasquad game Tuesday with back tightness, but a precautionary MRI came back clean. The delay to the start of the season has worked to the benefit of the Houston Astros, who were booed unmercifully during spring training in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. “I see more smiles. Actually I see more joy,” manager Dusty Baker said. “Four months ago, that was a tough time. A lot has happened. We’re at a different time and space than we were four months ago.” With no fans in the stands, the Astros won’t hear any jeers. MLB is providing each club with an array of crowd sounds and a touchpad device that can be integrated into their ballpark public address system to help manage the playing of these sounds. Marlins outfielder Corey Dickerson isn’t keen on the crowd noise being played during workouts. “It sounds more like a sound machine to me,” Dickerson said. “I’d rather have some music playing.”
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Referees gearing up for their return to NBA games too By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — NBA referees have not had the same opportunities as players have to knock off the rust from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Players have been back on the court for a few weeks, with the majority of that time spent getting in individual workouts before practices could resume when the 22 teams arrived at the Walt Disney World bubble. The referees didn’t have that chance. Right now, there’s a healthy amount of nervous anxiety for those who operate the whistles at NBA games with exhibition contests — the first opportunity for refs to call anything in roughly 4-1/2 months — set to begin next week. Like the players and coaches, referees are at Disney and quarantining for what could be a stay of at least a few weeks for most and potentially as much as three months for those who will be assigned to work the NBA Finals. “Our referees are pros and they’re going to come here ready to work,” said Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s vice president and head of referee development and training. “From the mental side, we never took any time off, quite frankly.” It will largely be business as usual for referees — though with two notable differences. The first of those is how the NBA Replay Center will still be operating in Secaucus, New Jersey, but the referees assigned with actually assisting in those situations will be on-site at Disney. The reason is because it didn’t make much logistical sense to send referees into the greater New York City area and have them adhere to local guidelines there by quarantining for 14 days before working games.
BPGA from PAGE 16 to have been chosen to lead the resurgence in the sport. “I’m excited to be the new president. We look forward to re-establishing ourselves as the governing body for professional golfers in the Bahamas,” said Lewis, who is the current golf superintendent at the Reef Golf Club. Lewis will head the association over the next two years with an executive team that comprises of Gorospe as vice-president, Turnquest as treasurer and former president Glenn Pratt as secretary. “I think we have an experienced group of guys, who are very knowledgeable of the sport, based on their experience and knowledge over the years. I think collectively, we should be able to do some dynamic things.” The BPGA also amended its constitution to include female pros. Riley, who was present at the meeting, was the first female pro admitted into the association and was honoured to have the recognition. “Golf has been a very important part of my life and I grew up looking up to brothers Greg and Phil Maycock as well as Keno Turnquest in junior golf,” said Riley, the former pro at Bakers Bay Golf Club in Abaco, which is currently under reconstruction due to Hurricane Dorian damage. “The sport has given me the tools to get an education and I am happy to be a part of the history of golf in The Bahamas.” Having just taken office, Lewis said they have not yet completed their agenda - short or long term - but they are looking at some ambitious plans that they will announce in short order.
CRAWFORD’S LATEST NBA CHANCE FINALLY ARRIVES WITH NETS By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
NEW Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, left, talks with referee Eric Lewis in Sacramento on January 4. NBA players have been back on the court for a few weeks, some of that time being individual workouts before practices could resume when the 22 teams arrived at the Walt Disney World bubble. NBA referees haven’t had that chance. There’s a healthy amount of nervous anxiety for those who operate the whistles at NBA games right now, with exhibition games set to begin next week. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) The replay-tasked referees will be working from a trailer in the broadcast compound outside the three arenas that will be used for games — with allowances, of course, made for social distancing. “It’s important that we follow that process because, you know, we want the best working now who have earned that right,” McCutchen said. The other difference will be the noise, or lack thereof. It’s no secret that there is a level of banter between players, coaches and referees during games. When arenas are filled with 20,000 people, the din of crowd noise muffles much of those conversations from the general public. But at Disney, there will be no fans and that means some “I know we want to see that Bahamians get more opportunities to secure jobs at the local golfing resorts so that we can continue the growth of the sport,” Lewis pointed out. “We want to provide more opportunities for the future generation of Bahamian professional golfers.” Lewis just believes that the Bahamas Government needs to take a more proactive approach in introducing more initiatives for Bahamians to access certain properties. “I know most of the properties in Nassau are either high end or private, so we need to now look at ways in which we can have alternative venues to accommodate the golfing community, similar to what they are doing at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex. It’s hard to develop golf if you don’t have no where to play.” Since the passing of hurricanes Francis and Jean, Lewis said Grand Bahama has been in a state of decline with golfing properties and the Reef is the only 18-hole facility available. The other is Fortunes Hill, which is only nine holes. “At one point, Grand Bahama used to be the golf mecca of the Bahamas and pretty much this region,” Lewis reflected. “But that has faded away as the conditions in Grand Bahama has deteriorated over the years. So we would like to see some focus put on invigorating the golf properties here in Grand Bahama.” If it is reality, Lewis said they can provide more opportunities for persons to play the sport and eventually they can see an influx of the professional golfers, who are currently idle because of the inactivity of the association since 2012. Pratt, a pro of 38 years, said the BPGA was formed
off-colour talks might get picked up on broadcasts. McCutchen isn’t worried. “We’ll look for a collaboration with coaches and players and I think coaches and players, they’ll figure out how to communicate,” McCutchen said. “A lot of yelling that goes on does go on because there’s crowd noise and in a passionate moment you want to be heard you want to be listened to. Without the crowd there, I expect our players and coaches to have an occasional burst, but because they can be heard in a different way, they will communicate in a different way.” There’s a rhythm for players, and the same goes for referees. The NBA sent workout materials to referees during the shutdown — things like resistance
bands, jump ropes and yoga balls — to help them keep in shape. But much in the same way that it’s hard for players to get into game shape without really playing, the same holds true for referees. Veteran referee Eric Lewis said he’s looking forward to the exhibition games, just to get in some work. “We really need those,” Lewis said. “We really depend on our eyes and having that consistent practice of movement and moving them where they need to be. You don’t see that level of play every day, so now we have to get to where we catch up with the players. Even running — running those sprints in games and stopping and going are very different than jogging
on a treadmill or on the street.” McCutchen and the league’s referee development advisers, a group of top former officials, have been holding regular Zoom calls during the shutdown with the current referee staff to study situations and technique. There have also been tests and other video study done internally, just to keep minds sharp during the weeks away from the court. “There is not the same rhythm that our teams and referees and coaches have been accustomed to,” McCutchen said. “There’s going to be a ramp-up time for everyone. That doesn’t excuse bad work, though. We’re going to be grading our officials on the standards of the NBA and to our standard of excellence.” Lemon Gorospe – Vice-President, BPGA (2020-2022) Gorospe started his golf career in 1998 as an assistant golf professional under Vernon Lockhart, who was the director of golf at the South Ocean Golf Club. In 2000, Gorospe opened the One and Only Ocean Club Golf Course as the head golf professional. From there, Gorospe landed the director of instruction at the Lyford Cay Golf Club from 20072009. He is currently the director of golf at Albany Bahamas. Gorospe has a certification in country club management and is a Class A golf professional. He has held the position of vice-president before and is taking on another tenure for the 2020-2022 term.
CHRIS Lewis has been elected as president of the Bahamas Professional Golfers Association for the next two years. to protect the employment interests of Bahamian golf professionals and to help with further advancement of junior golf in the country. As for the shoot out on Saturday, Lewis said despite the inclement weather, they had some fierce competition and they are looking forward to that type of rivalry when they continue with their series of tournaments in the coming months. • Here’s a synopsis of the newly elected members: Chris Lewis – President, BPGA (2020-2022) Lewis obtained his BA in Business Administration from Texas Southern University in 1992 on a golf scholarship. In 2002, he obtained a specialised associate degree in golf complex operations and management from the
San Diego Golf Academy where he graduated with a 4.0 average and was a valedictorian. In Grand Bahama in 2003, Lewis worked as an assistant golf professional at the Royal Oasis Resort. From 2003-2011, he was the director of golf at the Cable Beach Golf Club in New Providence then moved to Bakers Bay Golf and Ocean Club in Abaco as a golf pro. Upon returning to Grand Bahama, Lewis joined the Reef Golf Club in 2011 as a director of golf and maintenance and currently holds the position of golf superintendent. He is also a Class A golf professional. Lewis has held many posts with the BPGA, including past-president (2010-2012) and has been elected to serve another two-year term.
Keno Turnquest – Treasurer, BPGA (2020-2022) Turnquest started as an assistant golf professional at the Abaco Club under the tutelage of Tom Mackenzie. He has been playing professional golf since 2004 and in 2010 joined Albany Bahamas as the golf services manager. Turnquest obtained a degree in golf management from the University of Birmingham and has obtained his Class A Certification while working at Albany. He has held many posts in the BPGA and currently serves as treasurer for the 2020-2022 term. Glenn Pratt - Secretary, BPGA (2020-2022) Pratt, a master golf instructor turned pro golfer in 1982, became the youngest Bahamian head golf pro in the history of golf in The Bahamas in 1984 as head golf pro under golf director Freddie Higgs at the Paradise Island Golf Club. He is a past-president of the BPGA (2006-2008) and is the newly elected secretary.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jamal Crawford is coming off a 51-point game. People may have forgotten. After all, it was more than 450 days ago. And for a while, it looked like that game might have been Crawford’s last as a player — because for most of this season, the now 40-year-old guard remained unsigned. “To be honest with you, I went through a range of emotions,” Crawford said. “I was frustrated at the beginning. I didn’t understand. I didn’t know what happened.” Luckily for Crawford, it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s back in the NBA, filling one of the spots that the Brooklyn Nets needed to address after their roster was decimated by injuries and coronavirusrelated issues coming into the season restart at Walt Disney World. With Vince Carter now officially retired, Crawford comes back into the league as its oldest player — about 2 1/2 months older than Miami’s Udonis Haslem. Crawford, a three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a past winner of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, practiced with the Nets for the first time on Wednesday. “He’s a guy that loves playing the game of basketball in the offseason, really keeps himself in shape, whether that’s playing in pro-ams, whether that’s playing pickup games, whether that’s just being around the game with his kids,” Nets interim coach Jacque Vaughn said. “And then some people just have the genetics that go with it, that they’re special human beings and they can still play at the age of 40 — or 20 times two, right?”
TAA BOARD from PAGE 16 membership package will be announced ahead of the full roll-out in January 2021. The association will also engage World Athletics and the Diamond League stakeholders in talks about changes to the Diamond League schedule that were announced for 2020. Those changes included removing the 200m, triple jump and discus from the Diamond League circuit, relegating those events to a newly formed Continental Series. “We will offer suggestions and alternatives that would include all stadium disciplines, and would benefit athletes and fans, as well as the long term interests of this diverse and wonderful sport,” the statement said. The association will also seek to secure a seat on the World Athletics board so that they can voice their opinion on the decisionmaking in the sport on behalf of global members and providing a plan with innovative ideas for the growth of the sports, as well as produce a welfare charter that will contain a membership package beginning in January 2021 for courses on issues such as financial literacy, life after athletics and discounts on products.
THE TRIBUNE
Friday, July 17, 2020, PAGE 15
FINAU LEADS MEMORIAL AT 65 AS TIGER WOODS HAS QUIET RETURN TO GOLF By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Tiger Woods was back on the PGA Tour for the first time in five months yesterday and saw Muirfield Village like never before. It was practically empty. Woods opened with a 10-foot birdie and there was silence. He finished with a 15-foot birdie for a 1-under 71, leaving him five shots behind Tony Finau in the Memorial, and he walked to the side of the green and stood with Rory McIlroy, chatting briefly before they nudged their elbows toward one another without touching. It’s a different world, Woods keeps saying. It was a reasonable return. “Got off to almost an ideal start and got a feel for the round early,” Woods said. “I just didn’t make anything today. I had looks at birdies, but I really didn’t make much.” He left that to Finau, who seemed to make everything. Finau finished with seven birdies over his last 10 holes on a Muirfield Village course that was faster and
tougher than last week in the Workday Charity Open. That gave him a one-shot lead over Ryan Palmer. The greens are being replaced after the Memorial, so there’s no concern about them dying out. They were 2 feet faster on the Stimpmeter, the wind was strong and often changed direction without notice. That showed in the scoring. Only seven players broke 70, compared with 35 rounds in the 60s for the first round last week. This is the first itme in 63 years the PGA Tour has played consecutive weeks on the same course. Muirfield Village only looked like the same course. “It’s night and day,” Palmer said. “The greens, they’re 2, 3 feet faster for sure. So I knew it wasn’t a course you had to just go out and light up.” It wasn’t a course to overpower, either. Bryson DeChambeau hit one drive 423 yards with the wind at his back, leaving him 46 yards to the pin on No. 1, a hole where he recalls hitting 5-iron in the past. That was a rare birdie. With wedges in his hand, he still managed only a 73.
TONY Finau hits from a bunker toward the 14th green during the first round of the Memorial golf tournament yesterday. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Collin Morikawa won at Muirfield Village last week at 19-under 269, beating Justin Thomas in a playoff. Morikawa opened with a 76. Thomas, who didn’t make a bogey until his 55th hole last week, had two bogeys after two holes. He shot 74. Dustin Johnson shot 80, his highest score on the PGA Tour in more than four years. Rickie Fowler shot 81. By now, players are used to seeing open spaces with minimal distraction. That wasn’t the case for Woods, who last played February 16 when he finished last in the Genesis Invitational during a cold week at Riviera that caused his back to feel stiff. The absence of spectators was something new, and it was even more pronounced with Woods playing alongside McIlroy (70) and Brooks Koepka (72). They still had the biggest group, with 36 people around them on the 16th green. That
mostly was TV and radio crews, photographers and a few volunteers. No one to cheer when Woods opened with a birdie and quickly reached 2 under with a wedge that spun back to a foot on the third hole. And there was no one to groan when he wasted a clean card on the back nine with a bunker shot that sailed over the green into the rough. “I definitely didn’t have any issue with energy and not having the fans’ reactions out there,” Woods said. “I still felt the same eagerness, edginess, nerviness starting out, and it was good. It was a good feel. I haven’t felt this in a while.” US Open champion Gary Woodland and Brendan Steele each shot 68, with Jon Rahm among those at 69. McIlroy had two splendid short-game shots on the back nine that led to par and birdie, and he was in a
group at 70 that included Jordan Spieth and defending champion Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay hit a pitch-andrun across the fifth green that last week would have settled next to the hole. On Thursday, it kept rolling until it was just off the green. Finau didn’t play last week, so he wouldn’t know the difference. “I don’t know about an advantage, but I definitely felt like I played this golf course this way before,” Finau said. “I don’t know what the numbers might be as far as the guys that played last week compared to this week. I’ve played this golf course in these type of conditions, and it definitely helped me.” DeChambeau brought the pop with five more tee shots at 350 yards or longer, two of them over 400 yards. Some of his tee shots wound up in places where players
normally hit into the trees or rough and can’t reach the green. But he failed to capitalise with short clubs in his hands. He hit a wedge into a bunker on the 14th and his chip went over the green, which would not have happened last week. He had to make a 6-footer to save bogey. He also was a victim to the swirling wind at the worse time — a 7-iron from 230 yards over the water to the par-5 fifth. The wind died and he never had a chance, leading to bogey. “When I was standing over it, it was 20 miles an hour downwind. And when I hit it, it dead stopped. Can’t do anything about it,” DeChambeau said. “That’s golf, man. You’re not going to shoot the lowest number every single day. I felt like I played really bad. My wedging wasn’t great. If I can tidy that up, make some putts, keep driving it the way I’m doing, I’ll have a chance.”
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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020
Miller-Uibo named to newly created TAA Board By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
B
ahamian Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was among a list of 24 athletes named to the newly created board called The Athletics Association (TAA) that was formed to safeguard the global interest of track and field athletes. In a press release, the AA said the board was formed to provide track and field athletes with a meaningful voice, to fight for stronger athletes’ rights and to seek an athletes-first approach to our sport. While the association seeks to stage dialogue with World Athletics, they will also hold the governing body of the sport accountable when necessary and challenge them if they are
not acting in the American Chrisbest interest of the tian Taylor, a athletes. four-time World “We will offer triple jump chamsuggestions and alterpion, will serve as natives that would the association’s include all stadium inaugural president disciplines, and would and American steebenefit athletes and plechaser Emma fans, as well as the Coburn is the vice long term interests of president. this diverse and wonThe board is made derful sport,” the AA up of representasaid in a statement. tives from every Miller-Uibo, the continent and com2016 Rio de Janeiro prises 24 athletes, Olympic 400m chamincluding AmeriMILLER-UIBO pion and 2019 Doha, can sprinter Allyson Qatar World ChamFelix, decathlete pionships silver medallist, will Ashton Eaton and sprinter/long represent the Caribbean on jumper Tianna Bartoletta; Engthe board along with Jamaica’s land’s heptathlete Katarina Mary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who Johnson-Thompson; African javelast year won an unprecedented lin thrower Julius Yego and New fourth World 100m title in Doha, Zealand’s shot putter Tom Walsh. Qatar, and hurdler Mikel Thomas “I am very proud of the profrom Trinidad and Tobago. gress made by the members of
the Athletics Association Board. Since its initial inception, a lot of work has been put in to establish the right governance and longterm viability that is essential to do justice to the athletes we represent,” Taylor said in the release. “It’s this that has attracted the commitment and support of the athletes on the Board. We have athletes from every continent, and a wide variety of disciplines; we are made up of Olympic and World champions, as well as world record holders and continental champions.“ Taylor, a close friend of Bahamian national triple jump record holder Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, said in addition to the board members, there are so many other athletes who have helped get us to this stage. World Athletics recently published a strategic plan, and athletes have been identified as key stakeholders. “The
Athletics Association provides a representative voice and a simple way for the sport’s governing body to follow through on their commitment. We are ready to contribute to the growth of the sport that we love, ensuring that athletes are part of the decisionmaking process,” Taylor said. “This association is for the athletes, by the athletes, and we are determined to make a real difference. We firmly believe that we can affect positive change in our sport. We are ready for the challenge.” Further in their release, the AA revealed they have been busy developing a number of support services and member benefits for athletes, including a hardship grant fund, training courses, and discounts on products. However, the statement notes that details of the full annual
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Jones nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year Award By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahamian versatile athlete/beauty queen Celine Jones may have lost her number one supporter, her father Oral ‘Big O’ Jones, after her freshman season at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina. But having endured a tumultuous career on the softball field for the Falcons over the next two years, Jones was recognised for her contribution off the field in her final year by being nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Jones, a 2015 graduate of Bishop Michael Eldon, is among a list of 605 nominees for the award, which highlights a graduating female student-athlete who made a mark in athletics, service and leadership during her time in college. The nominees were announced on Tuesday and a committee will choose the top 30 honourees, and from that group, nine finalists will be announced before the NCAA Woman of the Year is named in the fall. “Compared to everything that is going on and how my tenure at St Aug turned out, I feel it’s something positive out of all of the negatives that I went
through,” Jones said. “It’s just good to be recognised even if I am not the winner.” Jones, a former field competitor in athletics at Bishop Michael Eldon and a budding bodybuilder in the Bahamas Bodybuilding Federation, completed her tenure at St Aug on May 9 with an exercise science degree and a 3.73 cumulative grade point average, but will have to wait until the fall for the actual graduation because of the coronavirus pandemic. With this being her senior year in softball, Jones said she was finally healthy and ready to compete for the Falcons, she had intended to do her internship at Duke in her major of exercise science as she pursues her goal of becoming a sports nutritionist and then travel to Italy for a two-week graduation gift to herself, but all of that was quashed when the virus started to spread in March. “The week when everything started to shut down, we were scheduled to leave that Wednesday to start our tournament on Thursday,” she recalled. “As the co-captain of our team, we were making plans for the team and around 8pm we were told it was postponed. By 10pm, they told us it was cancelled.”
CELINE JONES, of Grand Bahama, was recognised for her contribution off the field by being nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
After helping the Lady Falcons’ softball team win two CIAA Team Highest GPA Awards in the sport, including one this season, Jones said it was quite disappointing that their season was called off due to the coronavirus. With no spring break, Jones was advised that it was okay to stay on campus, only to find out that the borders were closed and the school instructed the students that they had to leave. “I had to find an apartment to stay in because I couldn’t go home,” Jones said. “From what I was reading, I thought they had a hold on the pandemic, but they didn’t. “We had a two-week shutdown and after the two weeks, it went to three months and all of the opportunities that I wanted to do outside of school were also cancelled.” As a personal trainer, who worked at Olympic Heights in the Circle Mall after she took a year off following her graduation from Bishop Eldon before she left for St Aug in 2016, she said her ultimate goal is to start her own physical fitness business, which she intends to label ‘Get Lean with Celine’ when she returns to Grand Bahama. “I was working on saving
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Naughty: ‘Let there be sports, of any kind’ ADMITTEDLY I’m in coaching withdrawal, I miss coaching 10-U baseball. In every effort to stay up on the sport of youth baseball, and possibly learn a few new tricks, I watched a recent travel tournament for 14-year-olds on ESPN. Not only was it well organised, with social distancing protocols in place, it offered a very good blue print for our local leagues to study, as they prepare to return to the field. The tournament took place at the Texas Rangers spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona. The tournament included 17 California-teams — social distancing protocols were still in effect, most parents still clustered together in tiny pockets of shade, many players still slapped hands between at-bats, and only a handful of attendees
donned masks during a sweltering summer afternoon. The only real tell tale sign of a pandemic was when they zoomed in on the concession stand, plastic shield in front, was the only vivid reminder of a pandemic. According to Brad Clement, CEO of Perfect Game USA, the organisation that staged the event in Arizona: “We try to make sure that people will follow the rules to the extent we can, but because it is uncharted, it’s impossible to know for sure.” Although it’s a challenge for all sports, social distancing compliance has become particularly pertinent in the largely self-governed world of youth sports — where widespread testing requirements are
THE
PRESS BOX ZELAYA
BY INIGO ‘NAUGHTY’ ZENICA
impractical; oversight varies widely from tournament to tournament; and coaches, players and parents are typically trusted to follow guidelines on their own. Said Jon Solomon, director of the sports and society programme at Aspen Institute: “There’s no governing authority in youth sports, there are a lot of well-intentioned sports organisations that have put out really thoughtful
guidelines and rules for their specific sport and sports in general. But it’s still up to each organisation to apply it as they see fit on the ground.” There is still resistance locally, leagues have been called into question whether youth sports are truly safe to return. Even more so now as national COVID-19 cases continue to rise. The fear is the leagues are returning too fast, that financial factors and
parental pressure are taking precedence over best possible decisions. At some point we have to get the ball rolling, (no pun intended) and these kids back out there having fun and playing sports, not only for their health but for their parents’ piece of mind, my sons have almost completely remodeled our house by hand, and the inventor of ‘Fortnite’, I’d love to meet in a dark alley, anyway that’s another story for another column. Until next week, let there be sports, of any kind! • Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1.
CHRIS LEWIS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF BPGA By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@!tribunemedia.net AS the Bahamas Professional Golfers Association (BPGA) emerged from its hiatus over the Independence holiday weekend, Grand Bahama Chris Lewis was elected as president to usher in a new era over the next two years. Despite the inclement weather on Saturday, the association also staged a golf shootout at the Ocean Club Golf Course to recognise its golfing pioneer, the late Leroy ‘Roy’ Bowe, OBE, who founded the BPGA in 1968. Keno Turnquest clinched the title with a score of 72 and collected the top prize of $600. He was followed by Lemon Gorospe with a 76 for second and $400. Raquel Riley, making her debut as a female pro golfer, finished third with 78 for $300. There are currently nine active pro golfers in the association and Lewis said he’s elated
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BBF ON SENIOR MEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Basketball Federation’s senior men’s national basketball team programme continues its development despite uncertainty of the FIBA AmeriCup qualification due to COVID-19. The BBF has partnered with Spectrum Pain Management and Sports Medicine Clinic to treat team members moving forward. Spectrum will offer its services to national team members free of charge. “We had been looking to partner with an organisation for about two years and in our discussions, we decided to provide care free of charge for the athletes,” said Dr Sy Pierre,
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