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VOLUME:117 No.168, JULY 28TH, 2020
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1
WOMAN: WEB’S DARK SIDE LURING GIRLS FROM HOME
‘TELL ME WHY YOU HAD TO KILL JAMAL’ Fiancee despair as she and victim’s family in police shooting wait for answers By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net A FAMILY is looking for answers after a man was shot and killed by police near Windsor Park – but days later they have not been contacted by officers. The man’s fiancée yesterday said she broke down in tears when she went to identify his body at the morgue. On Friday, there were social media reports of an incident near the park, but it was not until last night that police confirmed that officers shot and killed a man. Police said yesterday that shortly after 8pm, officers were on patrol on Windsor
Lane near Windsor Park when they received information about a man in possession of a firearm, suspected to be illegal. The report read: “The officers approached a male fitting the description given. As they were about to confront the suspect, he in turn pulled a firearm from his waist and pointed it in the direction of the police. The officers being cognizant of the imminent threat posed to their lives, discharged their service weapons in the direction of the suspect injuring him. “The suspect’s firearm was recovered and secured. The Emergency Medical Services were
MORE than 100 police officers are in quarantine because of COVID-19 as the number of overall cases in the country jumped by 40 yesterday, including 21 in Grand Bahama, 16 in New Providence, two in Exuma and one in Cat Island. National Security Minister Marvin Dames told The Tribune that as many as ten police officers have been infected with COVID19 and at least one police
SEE PAGE EIGHT
‘TAXES WILL INCREASE TO COVER DEBT’
LEADING banker Gregory Bethel has warned taxes will “increase significantly” to pay for the government’s COVID-19 spending, leaving individuals and businesses with less money “for quite a while”. The Fidelity Bank president urged Bahamians to plan for grim times ahead as he warned “no organisation, family or individual will be exempt from the price to be paid” for deficit spending that is projected to add more than $2.9bn gross to the national debt.
SEE PAGE FIVE
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
ONE IN FOUR NEED FOOD ASSISTANCE
station in New Providence has been closed for deep cleaning as the country battles the surge of cases. He also revealed that in a bid to better enforce quarantine rules, police have taken over control of the hubbcat monitoring system from the Ministry of Health. Six police officers in Grand Bahama are among the recently confirmed COVID-19 cases, he said, and fewer than 70 officers on that island are in quarantine. SEE PAGE FOUR
THE BATTLE TO GET BACK INTO THE COUNTRY
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
100 OFFICERS QUARANTINED AS CASE COUNT RISES BY 40 By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
FACE-TO-FACE
ONE in four people in The Bahamas are receiving food assistance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Food Distribution Task Force. The organisation said yesterday that it is now helping more than 23,500 households in the country, with an estimated equivalent of 96,000 people receiving food assistance. THE GRIEVING family of Jamal Frazer Bodie who was shot by police last Friday
SEE PAGE THREE
ALL ARRIVALS MUST QUARANTINE FOR 14 DAYS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government last night expanded the 14-day mandatory COVID-19 quarantine to visitors arriving by boat and private plane in what was branded a “one size fits all” approach. Attorney General Carl Bethel QC, in messaged replies to The Tribune, confirmed that the latest revision to The Bahamas’
AG: Carl Bethel border protocols means that all citizens, residents, homeowners and visitors
must quarantine regardless of how they travel to this nation. “All who enter by any means must quarantine for 14 days,” Mr Bethel confirmed. “And come in with a negative COVID-19 PCR test and health travel visa. One size fits all.” However, he then added that “exemption can be granted to diplomats or any person or class of persons”.
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE TWO
PETER YOUNG UPSET CAUSED BY FLYAWAY BAHAMIANS
SEE PAGE NINE
THE TRIBUNE PAGE 2, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
TUESDAY, MARCH 24TH, 2020, PAGE 15 THE TRIBUNE
BPL | SKYGuard Long Range Tropical Cyclone Severe Weather Projected Track ( Invest 92L)
144 Hrs Freeport
Abaco
NASSAU Cat Island
Andros Exuma
120 Hrs
San Salvador
Long Island
Mayaguana
Acklins & Crooked Isl
Turks & Caicos Inagua
96 Hrs 72 Hrs
Invest 92L DIRECTION: WNW @ 15 to 20 mph RADIUS OF CIRCULATION: 180 NM Winds: 25 kts Gusts: 35 kts
48 Hrs
All arrivals must now quarantine for 14 days from page one Explaining what this meant, he said: “We may have a delegation visiting from a country or organisation like the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) to complete our on-site visit” in
the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) process. “They would only stay in the hotel, and would meet local regulators and stakeholders in circumstances where all protocols for mask wearing are in place. They, as a ‘class of persons’, could safely be exempted from quarantine,” the Attorney
General continued. “The point is that there are circumstances where a class of persons, such as a business conference, may decide to hold it in The Bahamas. All they will do is come here, hold their conference in the hotel and go home. They could be exempted easily. But the hotel property as a
whole could be considered to be a quarantine site with all distancing and maskwearing protocols.” Mr Bethel also said the government had sought to ease the burden of quarantine by allowing visitors to spend their two-week isolation on their boat, or at a hotel or vacation rental unit. However, visitors will still have to take another COVID-19 PCR test at the end of the 14-day period. “We have to strike the right balance. Absolute shutdown is not a feasible option,” he added. “We have to balance health and commerce in a way that obeys the precepts of health and wellness, but which also allows commerce and economic activity that is necessary to also sustain jobs, lives and prosperity. “The new No 3 order is all about about attempting to strike the right balance in a non-discriminatory but medically safe manner. Bahamians have the same rights and privileges, obligations and liabilities, as visitors. No discrimination. No special treatment for anyone.” Children under ten yearsold will also be exempted
from having to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test as a condition of entry, although they will have to quarantine. The latest reforms, unveiled in the Emergency Powers (COVID-19 Pandemic) (No 3) Order 2020, reflect the position Mr Bethel articulated to The Tribune on Friday, when he sent a What’s App message disclosing that it would be amended to capture visitors arriving by private aviation. They also represent a marked expansion of the quarantine net compared to the first version released last week. That just required passengers arriving by commercial airline to quarantine for 14 days, but this has now been expanded to capture persons arriving by private plane, charter or boat. As a result, it may shrink much of what remains of the tourism sector apart from the marina/boating sector, while also deterring potential high net worth real estate buyers from flying into this nation. The government has made saving lives, and the nation’s health, its top priority in the COVID-19
pandemic. The latest border and travel protocol changes also coincide with the start of the slowest period in the tourism calendar. Odyssey Aviation (Bahamas), the fixed base operator (FBO) at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), in a message to clients yesterday detailed who will not be required to quarantine upon arriving in The Bahamas. This category includes pilots who do not exit the plane on international charter flights that arrive empty to collect passengers, cargo or courier flights. US military and emergency medical flights are also exempt, including those involving Grand Bahama. “Private Pilots arriving, who will be in country for less than 24 hours including overnighting, are requested to complete the Bahamas Travel Health Visa and upload their pilot Identification,” Odyssey added. “If you are in country for less than 24 hours you do not require a RT-PCR Covid19 molecular swab test with negative results from an accredited lab but you will have to quarantine at your hotel facility.”
DRIVER HAS LUCKY ESCAPE
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A GRAND Bahama man is lucky to be alive after surviving a serious car wreck on Sunday while trying to evade police for allegedly being out on the streets
during the lockdown in Grand Bahama. Although the car was extensively damaged, Superintendent Terecita Pinder reported that the victim did not sustain lifethreatening injuries. The accident happened shortly before 11am when
CLINIC OPEN ON SATURDAYS
THE Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed that Flamingo Gardens Clinic remains open on Saturdays. The clinic is open throughout August each Saturday from 9am5pm. The ministry added that the public is asked to use Princess Margaret Hospital for emergencies only.
police officers on patrol spotted a man driving on the street. The driver, on seeing the officers, sped off and lost control, crashing into bushes in the area of Midshipman Road. Ms Pinder said the driver was taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital where he was seen by the doctor. She said the man is expected to be arraigned before the Magistrate’s Court this week. Supt Pinder reported that 20 people were arrested over the weekend for violating the Emergency Order Act.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 3
Quick-fire wedding Couple rush to get married before the weekend lockdown By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A COUPLE who postponed their wedding in May due to COVID-19 restrictions rushed to pull off their wedding ceremony on Friday before the weekend lockdown could spoil their plans a second time. Steffon and Shaquel Evans did not anticipate they would have to arrange a wedding ceremony in mere hours despite planning for the event for weeks. The bride and groom’s worst nightmare was realised on Friday after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis ordered another weekend lockdown and announced new wedding rules just hours before their wedding celebrations were set to begin – causing the couple to have “a jump shift 30-minute wedding on Friday night”. Describing the ordeal as “extremely challenging” and “nearly impossible” to make happen under the circumstances, Mr Evans told The Tribune: “It was a beautiful ceremony, but it was very rushed. We had to cut our vows short, numerous people couldn’t make it. And because it was going to be small and different and we’re going to make it look good, we spent thousands of dollars on décor…I don’t know what’s going to happen but we have even wrapped our mind around all the things that we spent that we can’t get back.” He told The Tribune that after the prime minister’s orders, he decided to go through with a brief ceremony the same night. He said: “We got word that we’re going into lockdown and so the only thing I could think was let’s do it today and it’s incredibly challenging and difficult and not recommended circumstances to be in and we lost a lot of money. “People had already started making final preparations, we had one of our groomsmen travelled – almost couldn’t get in the country because the borders soon closed, but he just made it in and he’s a Bahamian, but he lives in Arkansas.” Mr Evans said he knew when he saw the
announcement of a press conference that “based on what had happened in Freeport that he was going to cancel any funeral or wedding or whatever and so it hit me that it’s only legal for us to do this in the foreseeable future today and so I called my wife”. His wife told The Tribune yesterday she was completely shocked by the unexpected turn of events. “Well, when he called me, the first thing I said was what? I was just in so much disbelief because as women, when we plan hair and makeup that takes hours and to get that notice at 2 o’clock and I was like well my hair wasn’t even installed yet,” Mrs Evans said. “And then with the sudden announcement, everyone went into panic shopping and that was a lot of traffic.” Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple had planned to have their wedding on May 30. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions on weddings at the time, Mr Evans said he and his wife still decided to get officially married in late May, with only ten people in attendance. The duo said they planned to have a more elaborate ceremony in July to celebrate their union with close family and friends. Mr Evans said: “We knew from the get-go that the full wedding was not going to happen in May and so technically speaking, my wife and I got married on May 29th and what happened was we were due to celebrate with family in the full, the regular wedding style (on Saturday).” He added: “We almost didn’t get married in May because we were going to do the ten-person wedding and the registrar was closed. We wrote the PM three times starting from April 14 and to this day, we had never gotten a response. We didn’t get our marriage licence until the week before the ten-person ceremony.” What was most disheartening throughout the whole ordeal, he said, was learning that two couples received permission to have a wedding with more than five people present while he and his wife has yet to receive a response from the Prime
ONE IN FOUR NEED FOOD ASSISTANCE
from page one
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis established the task force after the pandemic hit The Bahamas to ensure people continued to have access to food. The 12-week programme has now distributed more than 65,000 food parcels and 10,000 food vouchers. The scheme involves nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in partnership with the government. Task force chairperson Susan Larson said the NGOs “are doing an incredible job ramping up to assist thousands of people in need”. She added: “They work tirelessly and often thanklessly to source, package and distribute food parcels or vouchers. NGOs are also being helped by ongoing generous donations coming in from people everywhere. These donations are the lifeblood of the NGOS as they are under enormous pressure to carry out food distribution and also find the time to fund raise. To all those who are sending in private donations, thank you! You truly are saving the day.”
In this year’s Budget, the government committed $16m to food assistance. NGOs have contributed another $2.82m. A database has been set up thanks to support from a local IT company, and a thousand households registered for assistance in 24 hours since Sunday. Ms Larson also reported that while most recipients of food assistance are grateful, there is a growing sector of the population trying to game the system. “We debated going public with this information,” Ms Larson said, “because most people are respectful of the situation and understand the need. But a vexing number of people are being deceptive. They have forced us to devote hundreds of manhours to data verification, and they create unnecessary complications at check-in, slowing down processes for everyone. More importantly, they are being selfish and compromising the task force’s ability to help as many people who are truly vulnerable as possible. For more information, see FEEDBAHAMAS on Facebook and Instagram or email bahamas.nfstf@gmail. com.
STEFFON and Shaquel Evans enjoy their rushed wedding day.
Minister since he contacted his office in April. In a statement by the Office of the Prime Minister on Sunday, officials said two pre-planned weddings were given permission by the competent authority to be held with more than five people in attendance during the weekend lockdown. To this, Mr Evans said: “You know somehow, this official statement did not come out 6pm even though the Facebook notice showed up so I’m trying to understand how between 6pm and the office of the prime minister technically closed and on Saturday, they were able to get an exemption. “I don’t understand it and it’s a slap in the face of the Bahamian. “We were asking for guidance, we went on their Facebook page, we emailed and they had a suggestion
thing and any avenue we could find because given this was the beginning so everywhere was still closed either completely and we couldn’t just show up and drop off a letter. So, I’m like who do you need to know?
Whose phone number do you need to have? It’s an absolute disgrace.” Mr Evans said the ordeal has taught him that “not enough is being done to bolster that level of accountability and
governance” from our governments. “I do feel that not enough is being done to bolster that level of accountability and governance. And it’s not an attack. It’s standing up for what should be ours.”
PAGE 4, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
100 officers quarantined as case count rises by 40
NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames from page one “This is not out of control,” Mr Dames said. “We know what’s going on on Grand Bahama. Given the spread there, it’s expected that you would have one or two impacted in some way. We are working to mitigate these issues and ensure that it doesn’t sweep through these agencies because we need these agencies. We have reservists and officers still able to execute as needed. He said Police Commissioner Paul Rolle “made the prudent decision” to temporarily close the Fort Charlotte police station so it could be sanitized after an infected person interacted with two officers that are now in quarantine. “There is a lot of misinformation out there,”
he said. “We’re trying to contain that. As far as we’re aware from the police side, we know that as many as ten persons who are confirmed and as a result through contact tracing maybe just over 100 persons are in quarantine as a result of that. In the Defence Force it’s much less, they may have about two persons that have been confirmed and far less than 100 in quarantine as a result. This is the nature of the business. The prison may have had one person, who was not at work, who may have been confirmed. I don’t think he would’ve interacted with much, or anyone, other than when he went to see the doctor. No inmates are infected at the prison as a result of the efforts and work being. Given correctional facilities throughout the world have
had a tremendous problem this is commendable. We continue to monitor, doing temperature checks and carrying out proper protocol at these agencies so that the numbers have been extremely low.” Bahamas Customs Superintendent Tyrone Sands told The Tribune at least one customs officer has recently tested positive for COVID-19 and about a dozen officers are in quarantine. The customs headquarters building was closed over the weekend for an immediate deep cleaning, he said. Concerns about the enforcement of quarantine and isolation rules were renewed on Friday when Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen revealed that a mother and daughter who travelled abroad recently broke quarantine rules
and infected eight other people. “The hubbcat, the management of it was under control of the Ministry of Health,” Mr Dames said. The command station is at the Cable Beach Police Station and officers are equipped to monitor “every single person throughout this country,” he said. “The police now have taken full control of the management of hubbcats and we will be in very short order providing additional support to the police where we will have not only monitoring but an active duty patrol hubbcat team of COVID ambassadors who will work with the police to ensure public places and beaches, public areas like Arawak Cay and Potters Cay, are properly monitored and controlled and wherever people are on the hubbcat monitoring
then this team under the direction of the police will pay spontaneous visits to homes,” he added. Mr Dames said the number of COVID ambassadors will be in the hundreds and involve police officers working with civilians. “This is all in an effort to complement what we are currently doing and ensure people are adhering to the orders that are being laid out,” he said. “We’re excited about this because it is a pioneering step we’re taking to ensure that citizens are safe and able to move about without having to be concerned about being impacted by those persons who decide to not adhere to the orders. People will be placed at static points and we will have mobile patrols in place to complement the hubbcat monitoring.”
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced in April that the penalty for breaking quarantine will be a $20,000 fine and/or five years imprisonment. No one has been charged with breaking quarantine rules to date, according to police press liaison Assistant Superintendent Audley Peters. Mr Dames said “the last thing” authorities want to do is enforcement. “Our first step is to ensure people understand that this is serious business,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is restrict people’s freedom but what is important is we don’t want people to lose their lives. We want to get the message out and failing to do that if we have to enforce we will enforce because this is a matter of saving lives and every country around the world is seeking to do that.”
MAGISTRATE WORRIED BY LACK OF COVID COMPLIANCE By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A GRAND Bahama Magistrate yesterday expressed serious concern
over residents failing to comply with COVID-19 rules, especially since GB
Funeral Service For
Dr. Andrea Marie Miller-Curling, 63 of Tonique Williams-Darling Highway died on Tuesday, 21st July, 2020. A graveside funeral service will be held on Thursday, 30th July, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at Woodlawn Gardens Cemetery, Soldier Road. Officiating will be Senior Pastor Reverend Dr. Vaughan Cash, Associate Pastors, Reverend Dave Cash, Reverend Braderick Cleare and Reverend Keno Smith of Evangelistic Temple Assembly of God. She is predeceased by her mother, Reverend Sylvia ButlerMiller. She is survived by her husband: Dr. Llewelyn R. V. Curling; Sisters: Dr. Donna Miller, Prophetess Collas Miller, Collas Ministries International (CMI), and Sylvia Knowles; Brother: Reverend Dr. Jackson Miller, JP, and Dr. Unease Miller; Nieces and Nephew: Christy Pinder, Crystal and Devon Marshall and family, Ashley and Shaquille Knowles; Grandnieces: Crystal and Azaria Marshall; Cousins: Dawn and Alpheus Finlayson, Glenalee Strachan, Alexis and Khalid Hanna and family, Misty, Kentrell and Kyle Strachan and family. Other Relatives and In-Laws: Vylma Curling and family, Flossiemae Curling and family, Omar Curling, Desmond and Gillian Curling and family, Pastor Robert and Nathania McKinney and family, Maud Mayers and family, Cynthia Nuygen and family, Thelma Cumberbatch and family, Edwin Spencer and family, Virginia Sawyer and family, Leon Cox and family, the Bartlette family, Francis Ledee and family, the Harris-Smith family, the McPherson family and the Ingraham family. Special Friends: Rev. Dr. Vaughan and Dr. Wendy Cash, the Sanctuary Choir, and the Evangelistic Temple Church family; Gregory and Kathy Butler; Bishop Kirkwood Murphy and First Lady Kelly Murphy, and the Temple Fellowship Ministry International church family, Pastor Camarie and Asternique Curtis and family, the Williams family, the administrative staff and colleagues of the University of The Bahamas, and a host of other dear relatives and friends. Relatives and friends may pay their respects at Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited, 19 Palmdale Avenue, Palmdale, on Wednesday 29th July, 2020, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited
now leads with the highest number of infections in The Bahamas. “I am worried for us,” Magistrate Rengin Johnson said during the arraignments of three men in Freeport Magistrates Court. The men were among the arrests of some 20 people over the weekend for breach of the Emergency Order Act. “It is very sad that we are number one in our country and... it is those us who live here who are citizens that are not complying with the country’s laws, and we are suffering where we are going into curfews…” she said. “The numbers are increasing…we are at jeopardy. We…now passed Nassau which has a population of 250,000 and we have a population of 40,000 and we are the highest.” Three Eight Mile Rock men pleaded guilty to violating the Emergency Order Act during the lockdown on Grand Bahama. Andrew Harvey, of Seagrape pleaded guilty to three counts, violating curfew, not wearing a mask and resisting arrest by police officers. Harvey, an employee of the Grand Bahama Shipyard, admitted that he was on the streets with no purpose and not wearing a mask. He told the judge he had no water and left his home to get some. He said he was not wearing a mask at the time because he was smoking a cigarette. Before passing sentence, Prosecutor Calsey Arthur indicated Harvey was a
good candidate for conditional discharge because he had no antecedents, and took full responsibility by pleading guilty to the offences. Magistrate Johnson granted a conditional discharge on all counts. For violating curfew and being on the street, Harvey was ordered to be of good behaviour for six months and to report to the Eight Mile Rock Police Station every Sunday. If he fails to comply, he must pay a fine of $250 or serve 21 days in custody at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. For failing to wear a mask, the judge granted conditional discharge for three months and ordered that he report to the police station every Sunday. Upon default, he is ordered to pay a $100 fine or 21 days in prison. And for resisting arrest, Harvey was ordered to pay $250 or 21 days in prison. The matters were adjourned for review on January 26, 2021, at the Eight Mile Rock Magistrate’s Court. Jeffrey Saunders, 58, of Martin Town, Eight Mile Rock, was also charged with violating curfew and not wearing a mask. According to the particulars, on Sunday, July 26, at about 2.55am officers on patrol observed the defendant in the Martin Town area during the lockdown and approached him. He could not provide a satisfactory reason to officers and was also not wearing a mask.
Saunders, a mechanic, told the judge that he was at his girlfriend, but left after the two got into an argument. “I had my mask in my pocket but I was upset at the time and forgot to put it on,” he explained. Magistrate Johnson also granted the defendant a conditional discharge, ordering him to be of good behaviour for six months and to report to the EMR Police Station every Wednesday, commencing after the lockdown. If Saunders fails to comply, he will have to pay a fine of $250 and serve 21 days in prison for violating curfew, and $100 for not wearing a mask. The matters were adjourned to January 26, 2021, for review at the EMR Magistrate’s Court. Freeport residents Stephon Rolle, and Francis Barr, 58, were both charged separately with violating curfew. Rolle was arrested around 9.50am on Saturday, July 25, at Sergeant Major Road. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was granted a conditional discharge and ordered to be of good behaviour for six months and to report to Police Station once per month. If found in breach of the order, he must pay a fine of $300 or 21 days in prison. The matter was set for review on January 26, 2021. Barr, who was arrested on Sunday, July 26, in the Freeport area, also pleaded guilty. He was convicted and fined $300 or 21 days in prison.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 5
from page one
Fiancee despair as she and victim’s family in police shooting wait for answers
summoned, on their arrival they rendered medical attention to the suspect and later transported him to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.” One resident told The Tribune they heard up to 15 shots and saw five to six police cars. Over the weekend, relatives feared the victim was 31-year-old Jamal Frazer Bodie, but they said that police had given them no information. The Tribune repeatedly pressed police on the matter over the past two days but only got confirmation yesterday evening after calling National Security Minister Marvin Dames. Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said he thought a statement on the matter had been released earlier. “It was miscommunication in regards to that,” he said. “I apologise for the miscommunication. There was no attempt to hide anything.” The Tribune was present yesterday when Mr Bodie’s fiancée, Deshanna Cleare, 24, went to the morgue to identify the body. She said: “Me and my sister-in-law, we went inside the morgue to identify my fiancé, Jamal Frazer Bodie. “When I saw him, I knew it was him and then I just breakdown crying. I drop to the ground and I couldn’t look no more but when they put him by the window, I know it was him.” The women left the morgue in tears and inconsolable. Immediately, the relatives outside broke down after learning the news. One relative could be heard sobbing “Why they have to kill him?” “They just kill him. They take life like that. How much time I (gonna) wear a shirt on my back with their face. How much time? How much time I (gonna) lose my brothers them. No justice – nothing.” Ms Cleare said she was told Mr Bodie was taken from the scene by ambulance and died in the hospital at 8.59pm on Friday. She said it was hurtful that the police had not informed the family about this. “It’s really hurtful to me to know that he died Friday 8.59 and we get to know
that was him on Monday 1 o’clock or after 12. It’s really hurtful to know that a person died and by police brutality,” she said. “The police don’t have the heart to even post his picture up and say such and such happened if we could get in contact with the family members. It was hurtful.” Mr Bodie’s mother, Monique Bodie, 52, said on Sunday that the family experienced difficulties when trying to get details about her son from police. She said: “No police had never come to me. When I went to the station, one of them tell me ‘(They) ain’t on my run’. I went down to CID – me and my daughter and my niece this morning. “The lady tell me say I must go to the dead house tomorrow and then come back to her. We went to the morgue. They tell the people in the morgue don’t tell me, tell the family nothing. “I’m not gonna let my son death go so, no… they shoot him like a dog.” Mr Bodie’s mother found out when her daughter called on Saturday to tell her that someone said the victim was Mr Bodie. Ms Bodie said he lived with her after he lost his job – he was unemployed as a result of the pandemic. She said he had told her he was going to the park to meet a man for a job. “So when he gone, we heard the shot, but I know he was on the park, but I didn’t pay it no mind,” she said. She said she went to the park and a man there told her that her son was unarmed and had his hands in the air. She said: “My child is not a bad person. He’s a nice person and I need justice.”
VICTIM Jamal Frazer Bodie, left, and fiancee Deshanna Cleare, above. Photo: Donavan McIntosh
Mr Bodie had previously been accused of gun possession, she said, but had won his case and had never served any time. Two of her other children were murdered, but not killed by police. Ms Cleare also criticised the police force, claiming they have been “getting away with” similar events for “too long” and this cannot continue.
She said: “It has been too long that the police force been doing this to people family and just getting away with it and it’s wrong and to sit down and let the police force get away with this is wrong. How much time it happen – over and over. We just sitting there… letting it happen and it could continue to happen until we take forceful action against the police force.”
She said she was “hurt” and “devastated” when she found out on Sunday her fiancée was killed. “I couldn’t believe it because he walk out the house and say he was coming right back and he was going by the park. When I gone sleep after eight and I wake up after 11, I ask my mum if she saw him. She say no and then the other lady next door say you hear the person who get shot on the park.” Ms Cleare said the family was contemplating if it was him or not as there were no pictures of him posted. She also went to the Princess Margaret Hospital to look for him. “I check everywhere when he got shot. I check everywhere – no one knows where he was. They check the diary – no one knows,” she said.
The couple had been together for nine years and were planning to get married next year. The couple have two young children. When The Tribune spoke to Ms Cleare on Sunday, she said she had not told her children what had happened to their father. She said when they asked for him, she would walk off and cry. “I can’t tell them because they love their daddy too much,” she said. She said Mr Bodie is a “sweet, loving person”, “a great father”, and would “give his last for anyone”. “His family comes first”, she said. Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact 5029991/2 or Crime Stoppers on 328-8477. Editorial View - Page 6
MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER, THREE ATTEMPTED MURDERS By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 21-YEAR-OLD MAN was charged in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday with murdering a man and attempting to murder three other people. Kervon Stewart was charged with killing
Renaldo Nairn on July 16. He was also charged with trying to murder Antonio Pratt, Lamar Wilchcombe, and Travis Stuart on that day. He was arraigned with William Wong, a 22-yearold, charged with abetment to commit the murder of Mr Nairn and abetment to commit the attempted murders of Mr Pratt, Mr
Wilchcombe and Mr Stuart. Neither man was required to enter a plea and the case was adjourned to November 26 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes remanded them to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
In a separate hearing, Eddington Burrows, 35, was charged with attempting to murder Wendy Smith, Lithera Bethel and Valentino Smith on March 10, 2019. Burrows was also accused of using a black handgun to endanger the lives of Elizabeth Burrows, Eddington Burrows, III, and Antonio Rolle on that day.
When Deputy Chief Magistrate Forbes adjourned the case to November 4 for service of a VBI, Burrows’ attorney, Krystal Smith, asked if her client could receive special attention in custody because he has received death threats in prison. The judge said he would make a note of the concern before denying
Burrows bail and remanding him to prison. Three other men, Daion Butler, 30, Cedric Roker, 29, and Oneko Rigby, 28, were accused of possessing a 9mm pistol on July 24 with the intention of endangering the lives of Marcia Thompson and Johnnian Godin. Their matter was adjourned to November 4 for service of a VBI.
PAGE 6, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
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A man dead, and the police silent THERE are things that should not happen in a modern democracy. On Friday night, members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force opened fire on a man and killed him. Then they told no one about it. Jamal Frazer Bodie lost his job earlier this year as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He told his fiancée he was going to the park to see someone about a job. He never came home. Police last night – days after the shooting – released a statement to say that officers had a report of a man with a suspected illegal firearm. They approached Jamal and, as they were about to confront him, officers say he pulled a firearm from his waist and pointed it at police. The officers opened fire, injuring him, and he later died of his injuries in hospital. The details of the incident itself remain to be investigated. Jamal’s mother says a witness told her that Jamal had his hands in the air when he was shot. She says he is not a bad person. His fiancée says Jamal would “give his last for anyone”. At this time, we don’t know exactly how those final moments of Jamal’s life came to pass. What we do know is that officers shot and killed a citizen, and then the police force did not tell the public. There was no notification to the media about the shooting on Friday, even though the media is routinely alerted to all manner of shootings. As readers, you know the number of times you have seen photographs taken by our staff from the scene of a crime, and articles from our reporters speaking to people in the aftermath. On Saturday, there was no comment from police. Nor on Sunday. The Tribune, by this stage, was investigating ourselves, asking the police for a statement about the incident. One was promised, but it never appeared. It took The Tribune calling the Minister of National Security for answers
to prompt action. After that, the Commissioner of Police spoke up and the statement detailing what police said happened finally appeared. The Commissioner, Paul Rolle, apologised for a “miscommunication”, saying that he thought the statement had been released earlier, and saying that “there was no attempt to hide anything”. That would require more than one miscommunication – firstly the lack of notification of an incident on the night, followed by the subsequent days. At no point did Commissioner Rolle think something was unusual with the absence of follow up questions from the press? Indeed, as The Tribune was asking questions, what was the explanation for the continued miscommunication from that point? Was the short statement that came out in the end all that was ever intended to explain a police shooting to the public? Should such an incident be brushed off so easily? It’s not just a matter of not telling the media – more crucially, the family of the man who was shot also were not informed by police. When they approached the police, they say they had difficulties trying to get information. This cannot be right. There cannot be an officer-involved shooting and it take days for the force to reveal what happened. A family cannot be left in grief with no explanation of what happened to their loved one. More than with any other incident, one that involves police officers should be in public view. To show the integrity of the investigation, the force should be forthcoming with what took place. If the force is not transparent about incidents that involves its officers, it casts a cloud on the investigation itself. The officers may have been completely justified in defending themselves – but the failure to be forthcoming reeks of a secret police, or at least one that doesn’t respect the people it serves. Police killed a man and didn’t tell anyone. This must never be acceptable.
TAXES are on the rise. That’s the warning from the president of Fidelity Bank, Gregory Bethel, who told Bahamians to plan for “grim economic times” and cautioned about the “price to be paid” for deficit spending. It shouldn’t come a surprise. Here in this column we have said it simply before too – the bills that are being run up now between COVID-19 relief and the downturn in revenue will have to be paid in future. Mr Bethel said that “up to 60,000 Bahamians suffered loss of income”.
Meanwhile, tourists aren’t coming back in a hurry. Add on the stories of bills going unpaid at the likes of BPL and it’s plain to see the crisis we’re in. Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest hopes that the country can grow its way out of any post-pandemic woes, having been repeatedly asked by this paper about taxation. Mr Bethel paints a bleaker picture. Who will be right? Only the future will tell – but in the meantime, we should prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.
Tax warning
Asking price too steep EDITOR, The Tribune AS OF July 25, there are a reported 159 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Grand Bahama -- 29 more than in New Providence. Grand Bahama is now a hotspot for the virus. Many people on the island are jittery, for obvious reasons. The very thing Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis attempted to avert with the closure of the borders and implementation of curfews and lockdowns have sadly become a frightening reality. The Ministry of Health has so far conducted 3,935 tests, which has been criticised by certain official opposition members as not being enough. I believe
that the Public Hospitals Authority is overwhelmed. A private clinic in Freeport is apparently aware of the public health system’s snail’s pace in conducting COVID-19 tests, and have decided to do its own testing by appointment. I understand that the fee for a COVID-19 test is between $250 - $300. Freeport’s economy has been tottering since 2000, made worse by the closure of the Royal Oasis and Casino in 2004, after the passage of Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne. The current pandemic has only exacerbated an economic situation that has been for bad for two decades. With many working Grand Bahamians
being laid off, furloughed or working reduced hours, few can afford $250 for a COVID-19 test. Many Grand Bahamians are depending on government handouts from the National Insurance Board and Social Services. With mortgage, rent, utilities and food bills mounting, the COVID19 fee is not a priority for many. I appreciate the private clinic wanting to assist in the battle against this pandemic. But I believe that the asking price is too steep for many Grand Bahamians. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama July 26, 2020.
Leaders have got us into the mess we are in today EDITOR, The Tribune WE are between a rock and a very hard place under this administration. Yes, as a student of Bahamian politics, unique in and of itself, I concur that one should not necessarily blame the Competent Authority and his people them for the abject mess we are in today. It is a given, however, that while they could not have anticipated or stopped Dorian last year or the uninvited arrival of the pandemic, their responses have been dismal at best. Before we go further, please allow me to thank Dr. Dahl-Regis on the splendid job she, et al, did while briefing a grateful Bahamian nation daily. That team deserves an ‘A+’ on a job well done and should be awarded a national honour next year January if the Lord continues to tarry. Now, let me tell you how these leaders got us into the mess we are in today. With Dorian they failed to ensure adequate hurricane shelters. This year will be even less according to the Minister of State for Disasters & Reconstruction. They had stated during the campaign that within short order badly and illegally constructed buildings in the known shanty towns in Abaco and elsewhere would have been demolished by Court Order after being condemned by the Ministry of Works. This did not happen and when Dorian waltzed into The Bahamas the leaders have yet to catch themselves and the shanty towns were decimated. No one knows for sure just how
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net many residents in those locations were killed. Some say thousands while some say hundreds. Abaco is still devastated. Grand Bahama is where you put me. The most Competent and crew also have presided over the continued destruction of traditional family and other values. Crime has yet to be seriously tackled don’t mind brother Rolle and Dames them running right out. Divorces and legal separations are soaring. 65% of every child born within our delivery facilities are out of wedlock and often, the putative fathers are nowhere in sight. You may not be able to absolutely legislate morality, BUT the public policies of any progressive administration must encourage criminal reforms and family traditions along with a good education or trade skill; the work ethic and, of course, rugged self reliance as opposed to governmental doles and dependency. That’s it. Due to its failure to implement a single meaningful public policy, many of which they promised during the campaign; their bad ongoing responses to Dorian and the shutting down of the economy in the absence of consultation with the stake holders and the unwashed masses; mixed with the now routine curfews and lock downs plus no income for tens of thousands, the Competent
Authority and his crew will be out of office in short order. They will be wiped out. If the number of constituencies remain at 39 this crew will be lucky to get 6 seats: Killarney; Southern Shores; South Beach; Bamboo Town; Free Town and, of course, St. Barnabas. The New PLP will get no less than 27 to 28 seats. One or two Independents may slip in BUT as true as night follows day, the New PLP will form the next caring; compassionate; focused and invigorated government that this nation has ever seen. Under a new and visionary Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, QC, MP. Milk and Honey may not flow immediately, but under Brave you will have an opportunity to become economically self dependent where you so wish or there will be massive and mind boggling opportunities for employment. We will see a sensible; affordable and well managed green economy ad the expansion of solar and renewable energy sources. Crown Land will be liberalized and true judicial and legal reforms will be ushered in such as the long awaited and consistently delayed Land Registration Act. The best days for our leaderless and wounded beloved Bahamas will come to pass once we get rid of these political and economic Egyptians. To God then, in all things, be the glory. ORTLAND H. BODIE, Jr. Nassau, July 26, 2020.
Adding insult to injury EDITOR, The Tribune HAVING apparently been at the forefront of the decision to open our country’s borders to visitors from the world’s epicentre of the coronavirus, it must have been difficult for Dionisio D’Aguilar to exceed with insults his injuries to the Bahamian public. Alas, he has not disappointed. Now the minister of tourism seems to have
isolated a characteristic of the COVID-19 virus that even the best epidemiologists on earth have missed: its quasi-racist preference for Bahamian passport holders as its hosts. After all, only a biased virus could explain the Minister’s casual assurance that none of the recent upsurge in cases can be traced to tourists flying in on the same planes from Florida that apparently
transported the many irresponsible Bahamian hosts of the virus. In my opinion, the world owes this man a Novel Peace Prize for his (thankfully) rare insight and intelligence on the matter. Quick, buy him a ticket to Norway – then seal the borders! ANDREW ALLEN Nassau, July 21, 2020.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 7
‘INQUISITIVE AND QUICK-WITTED - AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE WITH A TERRIFIC SENSE OF HUMOUR’
MINNIS LEADS TRIBUTES TO OWEN ARTHUR, FORMER PM OF BARBADOS
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has offered his condolences on the death of former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur. Mr Arthur died yesterday aged 70. He had reportedly been hospitalised earlier this month with heart complications. He was the longest serving Prime Minister of Barbados, having served on three occasions from 1994 to 2008, and serving as Leader of the Opposition from 199394 and 2010-2013. He led his party to victory in the 1994, 1999 and 2003 general elections. Dr Minnis said: “He left an indelible mark on the economic and social development of Barbados. Owen Arthur was appointed to the Barbados Senate in 1983 and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1984, where he served until 2013.” Dr Minnis sent a letter of condolence to the current Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, saying: “This sad occasion causes us to reflect upon his remarkable
life, his outstanding contributions to Barbados, the Caribbean Community and the international community, these memories will be cherished by all. His several visits to The Bahamas is also an important part of those memories.” He said that Mr Arthur “was a tremendous friend and admirer of The Bahamas”, and added: “Barbados has lost a great son of the soil and the Caribbean has lost a champion of the region, which mourn his passing.” Mr Arthur earned a BA degree in Economics and History and an MSc degree in Economics from the University of the West Indies (UWI). Dr Minnis concluded: “On behalf of the government and people of The Bahamas, and on my own behalf and that of Patricia, I extend condolences to his wife, Julie; his two children, Leah and Sabrina; other family members and to the people and Government of Barbados. Our prayers and sympathy are with his family, friends and former
OWEN ARTHUR, the former Prime Minister of Barbados colleagues during this time diplomat, presently serving of bereavement.” as Antigua and Barbuda’s Sir Shridath Ramphal, Ambassador to the United second Commonwealth States and the OAS, and Secretary General, the writer of The Tribune’s better known as “Sonny” Monday column, “World Ramphal, also sent his con- View,” also paid tribute. dolences. “Barbados,” said “Owen Arthur and I Sir Shridath, “has lost a had been talking almost great son. CARICOM has every day over the last lost a great West Indian. few weeks, until he was We are all the poorer for admitted to hospital,” Owen’s going. said Sir Ronald. “He “His last leadership role was deeply troubled by was to chair the Common- events in Guyana and wealth’s Observer Mission about matters concernto the Guyana elections ing LIAT. Most of all, he where he distinguished was worried by dangers himself for his courage in of fragmentation in the speaking the truth to power. Caribbean Community in May his memory be hon- whose cause he worked to oured in the upholding of the very end. He richly his candour..” deserves to be rememAnd Sir Ronald Sand- bered as an outstanding ers, a veteran Caribbean Caribbean Champion”.
FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham paid his own tribute to Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister of Barbados. Mr Ingraham said: “I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Owen Arthur, my friend and former colleague prime minister in the Caribbean Community. “Owen first came to the office of prime minister as Barbados’ fifth prime minister two years following my own election to the post here at home. I had known him previously when as the new Leader of the Opposition I observed general elections in Barbados in 1991. Owen was intellectually inquisitive, quick-witted, and an economic powerhouse with a terrific sense of humour.” Mr Ingraham said that Mr Arthur attended his eldest daughter’s wedding and the Opening of Parliament the following week. He said “We became fast friends while we both served in high office in our respective countries. During those years we met frequently and regularly at Caricom and other regional and hemispheric gatherings of heads of governments. I recall travel to some of those meetings in Barbados where my delegation was always welcomed warmly. “In 2001, we travelled
together to Quebec to attend the 3rd Summit of the Americas Conference. Later, he joined other Caricom leaders at a Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Nassau followed by a visit to Grand Bahama and attendance by a number of them at the Government House reception marking the 28th anniversary of our independence. “And, I remember fondly, his travel with me to my Constituency in North Abaco where we engaged in my favourite pastime – fishing Abaco’s waters and visiting several of its cays. At different times he visited Harbour Island, Long Island and Exuma. Later still, he visited our capital to speak on and promote regional integration and on other occasions, to view hurricane damages.” Mr Ingraham hailed the common history of the two countries “as former British colonies with shared democratic traditions and common economic aspirations”. He said: “His was an important voice and he will be sadly missed. I and Delores and my entire family offer condolences to the government and people of Barbados, to Julie, Owen’s wife and their daughters Sabrina and Leah and to all his extended family.”
Archer killer told to reapply to appeal murder conviction By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE killer of 11-yearold Marco Archer has been told he is out of time to challenge his murder conviction. The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled Kofhe Goodman’s application to challenge his murder conviction was “out of time”, after denying his counsel’s request for a further adjournment. Yesterday, Goodman tuned into a virtual hearing before the appellate tribunal of Justices Jon Isaacs, Roy Jones and Sir Michael Barnett. The hearing transpired eight months after the panel ordered he be given a court-appointed lawyer to contest his conviction and 55-year sentence for the killing of Marco Archer in 2011. At a previous sitting in March, public defender Stanley Rolle asked the panel to adjourn the matter so he could have an opportunity to review transcripts from Goodman’s first trial.
Yesterday, Mr Rolle said he asked the court to assist him in finding the address of Wayne Munroe, QC, the attorney who represented Goodman during his trial. Still, he said while he thought a request for the transcripts “went out sooner”, one was not sent until June 7. As a result, he asked the appellate justices for a “further adjournment” since the transcripts were a “necessary part” of Goodman’s appeal. Mr Rolle also said he spoke with Mr Goodman, who agreed the transcripts were “important and a must”. Still, Crown attorney Garvin Gaskin objected to Mr Rolle’s request for an adjournment, on the grounds the appellant did not file a “notice of application for an extension within which to appeal”. As a result, Sir Barnett told Mr Rolle there was nothing before the court for them to “adjudicate or grant an adjournment upon”. He also noted there was “no application for an
extension of time” and told Mr Rolle the appeal that was before him was “out of time”. “In the circumstances, we’re just going to take the matter out of the list and you have to take whatever steps you consider necessary on behalf of your client,” he said. “And if and when you take those steps, we will address whatever issues are raised by whatever application you may make.” In 2018, Goodman, now 43, was sentenced to 55 years imprisonment during a retrial for the murder of 11-year-old Marco Archer. Police discovered Archer’s body in bushes behind an apartment complex near Goodman’s residence in September 2011. Goodman was initially convicted of Archer’s killing in 2013 and sentenced to death by hanging, however the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and sentence and ordered a retrial. Goodman was again convicted of the murder on May 30, 2017.
AMERICANS DENY TAKING TOO MUCH CASH By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net FOUR American men were charged yesterday after failing to declare more than $30,000 en route to the United States over the weekend. The men who hail from Florida were granted bail ahead of their trial. Kenneth Moore, 64, Aaron Nowak, 32, Stephen Sprauer, 33, and Russell Alsdorf, 48, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes and were each
charged with failing to declare that they were carrying more $10,000 and with making a false declaration to a United States officer on July 25. The prosecution alleged the men tried to evade the law as they carried $36,250 in American currency into the United States. The defendants denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to December 1 for trial. The men are in the country on work permits. They were granted $5,000 cash bail. In an unrelated matter, a
28-year-old was remanded to prison after he allegedly threatened to kill a police officer and his family in a social media post. Zhivargo Rolle was charged with misuse of a telecommunication system after allegedly making threats about Inspector Renaldo Burrows and his family on July 25. Rolle told the magistrate his social media post did not mention any particular person. Magistrate Forbes entered a not guilty pleas for him and adjourned the matter to October 20.
MAN TOLD TO ATTEND ANGER MANAGEMENT By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net DEPUTY Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes ordered a 33-year-old man to attend anger management classes after he admitted to assaulting a man with a cutlass last week. Devon Johnson was charged with one count of assault with a dangerous
instrument. He allegedly wielded a cutlass at Christoph Campbell on June 23. It was alleged that Johnson threatened to harm Mr Campbell while armed with the cutlass and was subsequently arrested when the alleged victim made a complaint. The court was told that when police showed Johnson surveillance footage of the incident on June 24, he identified himself in the
video and admitted to the offence. During yesterday’s arraignment Johnson’s attorney said the incident happened only because the defendant was “concerned for the safety of his mother”. Magistrate Forbes accepted Johnson’s guilty plea and ordered him to attend anger management classes at the Department of Social Services.
KOFHE Goodman at a previous court hearing
PAGE 8, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
LYNDEN Pindling International Airport
THE TRIBUNE
Bahamians’ rushed exodus from Florida and the flights back to quarantine via hot spot in Freeport WHEN Prime Minister Hubert Minnis announced on July 19 that the borders of The Bahamas would be closed to travellers from the United States by Wednesday, July 22, there was a mad scramble for Bahamians who were travelling to return home. They did not want to end up in a situation where they were stuck in America for who knows how long until PM Minnis decided to reopen the border. That decision caused a drastic change in plans for hundreds of Bahamians. On Bahamasair.com, ticket prices leapt from around $150 to $540, and then $940 as seats to get home became a hot commodity. International carriers like Jet Blue also saw a spike in bookings to Nassau. With just three days to figure it out, some Bahamians and residents found other ways to get home, such as private yachts and charter flights. Even though charter flights were still allowed to come in, many did not want to chance another announcement with another change of plans, so even charters were busy bringing people home before the three-day window closed. Among them was a 21-year-old university student, who shared his story of coming home and being quarantined upon arrival. Initially, the Bahamasair flight was late, but Bahamians are generally acclimated to it and waited patiently in the airport, feeling confident they would at least arrive safely. He said that while waiting on the flight, the agent announced that it would not be a direct flight, as they would stop in Freeport before arriving in Nassau. “When we were in the air and we were supposed to land in Freeport, the captain announced that air traffic control had not cleared us for landing as yet,” he shared. “He said we would hang about 24 miles west of Grand Bahama to give them time to clear us. About 20 minutes later, we made our descent into Freeport.” Once in Freeport, a man who appeared to be airport personnel took everyone’s passport and placed them into a bin he was carrying. He told the passengers the passports would be given to immigration officers in the terminal to stamp as admitted into the country. They waited on the plane for about an hour as the man took the passports into the terminal, and then had to return
each passenger their passport, with the help of stewardesses. The student said he fell asleep at some point during the hour and was told that a few Freeport passengers boarded the flight, but he could not confirm it, save to say that it did appear there may have been a few new passengers. Finally, they were up in the air and on their way to New Providence. In the terminal, he said he met a few lines where all of the passengers of the flight were to be processed. Nurses from the Ministry of Health were seated at tables to process travellers. “It took hours for them to process all of us,” he said. “People were not social distancing on the line, because they were tired and wanted to go home. It was already a long day. They couldn’t social distance at the tables with the nurses either, because there weren’t enough tables for them to be spaced out.” The nurses, he said, were accommodating and answered all their questions as best they could. However, some of the people became irate, complaining they did not have food or water for hours, and it was difficult having to stand in line for such a long time. If any of these travellers did contract the COVID19 virus, not having water would only exacerbate their situation. They were also upset because only the first few travellers were allowed to go home. One of the nurses announced that they got a directive from the Minister of Health, who was instructed by the Prime Minister, to put them all in mandatory quarantine. Shortly thereafter, police officers appeared. Some people said they felt like criminals as the officers stood at the perimeters of the area to make sure no one left. “When it was my time to be processed, they put a Push Talk PTT app on my phone, and took information from me, including directions to my home,” he said. “I was just ready to go home. But they let me know that we would not be able to
go home. We had another wait as buses arrived and took us to Breezes Hotel. The nurses couldn’t answer questions to explain how long we would be there. There were people who had issues because not all their bags came. One guy said he had another flight in the morning. No one could give us information. They told us that when we get to Breezes, officials there would be able to inform us of what’s next. But when we got to Breezes on the Immigration bus, only Defence Force officers were there, and they couldn’t give us any information.” He told me that they did not practice social distancing on the bus, and people were so exhausted at that time that they went with the instructions to fill all the seats. When they arrived, the processing to get into the rooms was slow, and some people got caught in the rain as they waited for their time to be processed. Once they arrived in the rooms, only some of the people received food. Others did not receive any food that night. People who were on flights from Freeport were also quarantined at the hotel, and they said they did not receive food that night either. Many said they did not have any water. Their only reprieve is that officers allowed them to call family members who brought them food and water close to midnight. Officers received the items and took them to the rooms. The following morning, he said that some people did not receive breakfast either, and that water was scarce. In the afternoon, nurses came and evaluated them, followed by a doctor. Most people were not cleared to go home until that evening. He is currently in selfquarantine at home and being monitored by the app. He said that if a rush decision was made, the health and safety of the citizens of the Bahamas should have been paramount. Food and water, basic necessities, as well as proper information would have gone a long way in easing the minds of the many who were caught in that situation.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 9
Flyaway Bahamians and the BBC causing all sorts of upset WITH the latest rise in COVID-19 cases in The Bahamas and re-imposition at the weekend of lockdown measures, I hasten to write briefly about this as well as about the BBC as I had planned. The reason for this spike seems to be linked to Bahamians visiting Florida during the last few weeks and is against the background of a second global wave of the virus. At this stage, suffice it to say that until last week our figures of infections were exceptionally low even allowing for a relatively small population. It was, therefore, reasonable to judge that the virus had been contained, at least temporarily. The latest developments, following reopening of the airport at the beginning of the month, surely show the Prime Minister’s original policy of complete lockdown at the start of the crisis was correct. It was effective in reducing the incidence of the virus despite criticism of what were seen as draconian measures. Moreover, his subsequent gradual easing of the restrictions in a cautious manner has been seen generally as the right approach. Now, with a surge of cases, government ministers are faced once more with difficult choices as they wrestle with the complexities of balancing the health impact against the economic cost – and this follows the disturbing actions of some in travelling, on the reopening of the airport, to a Florida that has become an epicentre of virus infections in the US. It has become clear that by so doing they may have contributed to the latest spike in The Bahamas. Reverting to the BBC, it is fair to say that over
The
Peter Young column the years the reputation of the corporation has been second to none as the world’s most trustworthy news network on which millions depend for information and analysis. At its best, it remains a fine public service broadcaster famous for reaching people in many different parts of the world. The images of those in remote parts of the globe holding a portable radio receiver close to their ear to listen to the BBC World Service broadcast in the vernacular as well as in English – have become symbolic of the BBC’s extraordinarily wide reach. All that said, the corporation as a whole is now coming under fire once again for its claimed lack of impartiality. The BBC has always been accused of harbouring a Left-wing bias. Its 1917 Royal Charter as a public broadcaster stipulated that in the public interest it should exercise impartiality and objectivity which were considered the essence of professionalism in broadcasting. It is obliged to identify the main strands of public discourse within the country and to give each an opportunity to be heard so as to provide ‘a level playing field for competing views and opinions to be expressed, heard, answered and debated’. But it has been falling short of this ideal. Recently, criticism that the BBC as the nation’s public
broadcaster is systematically failing to comply with its charter obligations in respect of such impartiality has become more vocal. In particular, the corporation has been accused of ‘bias by omission’ with central issues deliberately ignored or under-reported and discussion panels that are unbalanced – as well as presenting arguments with an over-emphasis on only one approach and even distorting the facts of a case. Needless to say the BBC denies all this and claims it is committed to impartiality in its reporting. This is a big subject and more space is needed to examine it properly. But it is worth mentioning just two examples among many that have been the subject of much debate. First, going back to the Brexit referendum in 2016, followed by the continuing controversy even though the UK has now left the EU, it became clear that the BBC was biased in favour of pro-EU voices. Some maintain it heavily ignored the case for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU or routinely misrepresented it by selective use of the facts and by labelling those who voted in favour of leaving the bloc xenophobic, racist or extreme. Secondly, and most egregiously, BBC TV carried a programme last week about a terrible event in 1943 known as the Bengal famine in which millions
AWAY FROM THE HYSTERIA, COMMON SENSE RULES COMMENTING a month ago on the violent demonstrations in the UK in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, I urged that lawlessness should be handled firmly by the police. Defacing statues and monuments constitutes criminal damage and those concerned should be held accountable. It is also the case, of course, that damaging or removing statues will do nothing to end racism or address social injustice. While violence is continuing in some major US cities, it seems to have abated in Britain. Nonetheless, the issue of statues commemorating the lives of those involved in the slave trade - or involved in the nation’s imperial past in ways that are now deemed to be questionable or, at worst, objectionable - remains subject to fierce debate. So it has been interesting to observe recent reactions to the BLM movement’s activities. The group appears to have been infiltrated by Far-left activists and now – in addition to fighting racism – wants to end capitalism and abolish the police. So, as the realisation grows that it has become politicised and only represents a small part of modern Britain, other voices condemning the group’s activities are being heard more and more. To my eye, one welcome development in the aftermath of the violent demolition of the statue of
Edward Colston in Bristol in the southwest of Britain was a decision by the Mayor of the city about what should happen next. The Colston statue, pictured, had been in place since 1895 but it was attacked and thrown into the nearby harbour by an enraged mob on the grounds of his involvement in the slave trade during the 16th century. After it was retrieved and placed in a museum, a sculpture of a BLM protestor was installed in its place at night without permission of the local Council. Within 24 hours, the Mayor ordered its removal and set up a commission to gauge public opinion about statues and monuments in the city. He said that he himself was in favour of removing the Colston statue and placing it elsewhere, but mob rule was unacceptable and this had to be done legally with the consent of the majority. It is also interesting that, after last month’s demonstrations demanding the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes, famous 19th century diamond magnate and politician in southern Africa, from the entrance to Oriel College, Oxford, there remains some doubt about its future. The leader of the Commission of Inquiry looking into the issue is reported to have said that there was no point in setting up a commission to investigate the future of the statue ‘if it was already a foregone
conclusion’ that the statue should be removed. In each of these cases, it is clear mob violence has been rejected and that there should be proper consideration of such issues in a democratic way. An example of the way to proceed was the decision by Cardiff Council last week to remove – since that was the wish of the majority - a statue of Sir Thomas Picton, former Governor of Trinidad, which has stood in Cardiff City Hall since 1916. Apparently, it has now become clear that, despite his reputation as a philanthropist with a social conscience, he built a fortune on the slave trade and was known for his ‘highly brutal’ regime in Trinidad that caused suffering, misery and death there. Whether it is right for society in the early 21st century to make such judgments about the actions so long ago of people like him, when slavery was not regarded with the moral repugnance of more recent times, is a broader question. But the point in this particular case is that the matter was considered fully by Cardiff Council and voted upon. If, by today’s standards, a majority do not wish to be reminded of such men of the past on a daily basis by a prominent statue in a public place, that is a matter for the appropriate authorities but not for a lawless minority mob to determine. The same should surely apply in the case of the statue of Christopher Columbus outside Government House in Nassau - an issue that is now in the news and which I wrote about last month.
died of starvation. This piece mounted an attack on Winston Churchill’s record on India, accusing him of personal responsibility for these deaths. Of two academics on the programme, one claimed Britain’s wartime leader was the ‘precipitator’ of terrible mass killings while the other said he was guilty of ‘prioritising white lives over Asian lives’ – and there was no counter voice to defend Churchill against such claims. At that time during the Second World War, he was of course heavily engaged in what was happening elsewhere in the world, not least the fighting in Sicily in 1943 and the impending invasion of Italy while also preparing for the D-Day landings in France the following year. It was also the case that Britain was locked in to the Battle of the Atlantic with Allied shipping hounded by German U-boat submarines. It should likewise not be forgotten that Japan’s invasion of Burma had driven thousands of refugees into India and Allied vessels had been sunk by the Japanese in the Bay of Bengal. So shipping was in short supply, but the record shows Churchill had instructed the Viceroy of India that ‘every effort must be made, even by diversion of shipping urgently needed for war purposes, to deal with local shortages’. It looks as though the British authorities on the spot could have handled the situation better, but the evidence shows that no serious historian blames Churchill personally for a famine that took place thousands of miles away at the height of a war that had engulfed the whole world. An internet search reveals that at the time of Churchill’s death in
CHURCHILL’S STATUE 1965 the BBC’s schedules were interrupted to carry fulsome tributes by-then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and by former Prime Minister Clement Attlee, praising him as the ‘greatest Englishman of our time’ – and yet half a century later the corporation chooses to present such a one-sided, biased, misleading account about the same man, and completely without context. Predictably, this programme has been described as an outrageous use of lies and inaccuracies to try to sully the reputation of a revered historical figure. It is seen as an example of the toxic ‘woke’ culture – which, as it happens, I wrote about generally last week. This seems to have permeated the BBC as part of its obsessive emphasis on youth, diversity, support of minority groups and even the rewriting of history. Critics are now saying the BBC, which is under increasing pressure from Sky and Netflix, has to change its ways if it is to maintain its overall reputation; and many hope that - in the midst of other problems like the current row in the UK about the ending of free TV licences for those over 75-years-old – it will return to its former glory days when it was widely admired for its accurate, reliable and even-handed news reporting.
DON’T WORRY FOLKS, BREXIT IS STILL LURKING IN THE BACKGROUND IT IS hard to believe that after so much media coverage over the last few years of the process of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union – from the 2016 referendum to the Conservatives’ election success in December, 2019, followed by the nation’s formal departure from the EU on January 31 this year – the matter has been largely out of the news in recent months. This is partly due to the media’s preoccupation with the coronavirus crisis. However, during the current 11-month transition period, which ends on December 31, negotiations have been continuing about the shape of the EU/UK future postBrexit relationship – and during the transition the UK has remained part of the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union. People have asked about the state of play of the current talks but there is insufficient room today to examine the details of what has been made public. The latest talks in London this month ended without agreement, but both sides stressed that, although there was no breakthrough, there was no breakdown either. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, below, has expressed optimism about achieving a free trade deal together with agreement on a range of other issues before the transition period runs out at the end of the year. He has also emphasised yet again that this period will not be extended. It is clear Britain would prefer a tariff-free and ‘zeroquota’ trade agreement with the EU rather than leaving without a deal and trading in future on World Trade Organisation terms. But differences remain on certain issues so talks during the coming months will be crucial. Britain has chosen its future outside the bloc and the die is cast.
PAGE 10, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
True believers - dinosaurs lived alongside humans and the world is 6,000 years old by William Trollinger, Professor of History and Susan L Trollinger, Professor of English, University of Dayton SUMMER travel in the United States has slowed but not stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic. Among those destinations that have recently reopened is the Creation Museum, a museum dedicated to promoting the Biblical story of Genesis as historic and scientific fact. More than this, the Creation Museum offers a window into the ideas and workings of the American religious right. Adam, Eve and the dinosaurs Evangelical Christians make up approximately 25 percent of the US population. A majority of them think the Bible should be read literally and that evolution is false. The Creation Museum, about which we wrote a book in 2016, promotes a very specific version of this belief, which holds that God made the universe in six 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago. The first four chapters of the book of Genesis tell the story of Adam and Eve, who were created on the sixth day and given two jobs: to obey God and populate the Earth. When they disobeyed God and ate fruit from the tree of knowledge, they were banished from the Garden
THE CREATION museum in Cincinnati of Eden and became mortal. Adam and Eve did better on their second assignment, though. Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain and Abel, and, according to the Creation Museum, to a daughter who later became Cain’s wife. According to Genesis, humans eventually became wicked and violent. In response, God sent a global flood that drowned everyone on the planet; the Creation Museum says the dead numbered in the billions. Only righteous Noah and his family were saved. They, along with some animals – including, according to the Creation Museum, dinosaurs – were safely housed in the ark that God commanded Noah to build. Since opening in 2007, the Creation Museum has told this story – with an abundance of dinosaur displays and life-size dioramas of the idyllic Garden of Eden – to more than four million visitors. Without error Creationism is a central tenet of Protestant fundamentalism, an American evangelical movement that has its roots in the late 19th century just as Darwinian evolution was undermining the story of Genesis. Around that same time, scholars were also asking substantive questions about who actually wrote the 66 books of the Bible, noting some of its apparent inconsistencies and errors and observing that some of its stories – including that of the giant flood – seemed borrowed from other cultures. Some conservative evangelical theologians, appalled by the undermining of biblical authority, responded by creating the notion of biblical inerrancy. In this view, the Bible is without error, clearly written and factually accurate – including when it comes to history and science. The fundamentalist movement emerged in 1919, holding to biblical inerrancy and creationism. They did, however, accept
geologists’ assertions that Earth was millions or billions of years old, based on its many layers of rock. As such, fundamentalists understood God’s six “days” of creation to refer not to 24-hour days, but to eras of indeterminate length. This posed a problem for biblical inerrancy. If the Bible is best understood literally, how can a “day” be an era? Recreating Earth In 1961 Bible scholar John Whitcomb Jr. and engineer Henry Morris came to the rescue with their book, “The Genesis Flood.” Borrowing heavily from the Seventh-day Adventist George McCready Price – who had spent decades defending his own faith’s belief that God created Earth in six days – Morris and Whitcomb argued that it was Noah’s flood that created Earth’s layers. In this theory, the planet’s geological strata only give the impression that the Earth is ancient, when in fact these layers were created 6,000 years ago by a global flood that lasted a year. Young Earth creationism spread through American fundamentalism with astonishing speed in the late 20th century. Among the many Christian organizations established to advance these ideas is Answers in Genesis, or AiG. Founded in 1994 in Petersburg, Kentucky, AiG is a young Earth creationist juggernaut, producing a flood of creationist books, videos, magazines, school curricula and other print and digital materials each year. As we document in our book, AiG is also heavily invested in the white evangelical right-wing politics that in 2016 helped secure the presidency for Donald Trump. The 75,000-square-foot Creation Museum, located next to AiG’s main office and down the road from its giant replica of Noah’s Ark is the jewel of AiG’s close to US$50 million assets.
Creationist science Though the Trump administration derides science and scientists, AiG chief executive Ken Ham claims to be a fan. In a 2014 debate with Bill Nye, popularly known as “the science guy,” that has been viewed nearly eight million times on YouTube, Ham said the word “science” 105 times – twice as often as Nye. “I love science!” Ham insisted. But contemporary mainstream science is defined by its use of the scientific method, in which scientists formulate a hypothesis, conduct experiments to test that hypothesis and then confirm or deny it. By contrast, creationists begin with a conclusion – that the universe is 6,000 years old – then seek evidence to confirm it. Contravening facts, such as radiometric dating that shows the Earth to be 4.5 billion years old, are rejected. The Creation Museum’s presentation of an impressive skeleton of an Allosaurus, donated by neo-Confederate Michael Peroutka, is a good example of creation “science.” theconversation.com This exhibit explains in great and seemingly accurate scientific detail that the Allosaurus’s skull is 34 inches long, 22 inches high and has 53 teeth that are about 4.5 inches long, if you include the roots. Then it states that this Allosaurus perished in Noah’s flood. Those scouring the placards for empirical evidence that dinosaurs scrambled up a hilltop to escape the rising waters will come up short. Mainstream geologists and biologists will probably find the Creation Museum more frustrating than educational. But for those hoping to better understand the divides of modern American society, the museum is illuminating. It shines a light on the worldview held by a segment of the U.S. population with significant economic resources and political connections at the highest rungs of power. theconversation.com
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 11
JOHN LEWIS HAILED AS ‘CONSCIENCE’ OF CONGRESS
MANTEL AND TYLER AMONG BOOKER PRIZE CONTENDERS LONDON Associated Press
WASHINGTON Associated Press IN A solemn display of bipartisan unity, congressional leaders praised Democratic Rep. John Lewis as a moral force for the nation yesterday in a Capitol Rotunda memorial service rich with symbolism and punctuated by the booming, recorded voice of the late civil rights icon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Lewis the “conscience of the Congress” who was “revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the longtime Georgia congressman as a model of courage and a “peacemaker.” “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” McConnell, a Republican, said, quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “But that is never automatic. History only bent toward what’s right because people like John paid the price.” Dozens of lawmakers looked on Monday as Lewis’ flag-draped casket sat atop the catafalque built for President Abraham Lincoln. Several wiped away tears as the late
THE CONGRESSIONAL Black Caucus at a service for John Lewis as he lies in state at the Capitol in Washington yesterday congressman’s voice echoed off the marble and gilded walls. Lewis was the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Rotunda. “You must find a way to get in the way. You must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble,” Lewis intoned in a recorded commencement address he’d delivered in his hometown of Atlanta. “Use what you have … to help make our country and make our world a better place, where no one will be
left out or left behind. ... It is your time.” Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore masks with the message “Good Trouble,” a nod to Lewis’ signature advice and the COVID-19 pandemic that has made for unusual funeral arrangements. The ceremony was the latest in a series of public remembrances. Pelosi, who counted Lewis as a close friend, met his casket at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, and Lewis’
Experimental vaccine faces biggest test Associated Press THE biggest test yet of an experimental COVID19 vaccine got underway yesterday with the first of some 30,000 Americans rolling up their sleeves to receive shots created by the U.S. government as part of the all-out global race to stop the pandemic. The glimmer of hope came even as Google, in one of the gloomiest assessments of the coronavirus’s staying power from a major employer, decreed that most of its 200,000 employees and contractors should work from home through next June — a decision that could influence other big companies. Final-stage testing of the vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., began with volunteers at numerous sites around the US given either a real dose or a dummy without being told which. Another company, Pfizer Inc., announced late yesterday that it had started its own study of its vaccine candidate in the US and elsewhere. That study also aimed to recruit 30,000 people. It will be months before results trickle in, and there is no guarantee the vaccines will ultimately work against the scourge that has killed over 650,000 people around the world, including almost 150,000 in the US. “We’ve been sitting on the sidelines passively
A VOLUNTEER is injected as the world’s biggest study of a possible COVID-19 vaccine gets underway in New York yesterday attempting to wear our masks and social distance and not go out when it’s not necessary. This is the first step of becoming active against this,” said Dr Frank Eder of Meridian Clinical Research, the company that runs the Binghamton trial site. “There’s really no other way to get past this.” As for relief from the economic damage done by the virus, Republicans on Capitol Hill rolled out a $1 trillion package that includes another round of $1,200 direct payments but reduces the extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits that expire for millions of Americans on Friday. Republicans proposed $200 a week, saying the generous bump discourages people from returning to work. Democrats call the added benefits a lifeline for those who have lost their jobs. In Europe, rising infections in Spain and other countries caused alarm only weeks after nations reopened their borders in
hopes of reviving tourism. Over the weekend, Britain imposed a 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving from Spain, Norway ordered a 10-day quarantine for people returning from the entire Iberian peninsula, and France urged its citizens not to visit Spain’s Catalonia region. Scientists set speed records getting vaccines into massive testing just months after the coronavirus emerged. But they stressed that the public shouldn’t fear that anyone is cutting corners. “This is a significant milestone,” NIH Director Francis Collins said after the first test injection of Moderna’s vaccine was given, at 6:45 a.m. in Savannah, Georgia. “Yes, we’re going fast, but no, we are not going to compromise” on proving whether the vaccine is safe and effective. “We are focusing on speed because every day matters,” added Stephane Bancel, CEO of Massachusetts-based Moderna.
TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER HAS VIRUS WASHINGTON Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus — making him the highest-ranking official to test positive so far. The White House said O’Brien has mild symptoms and “has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.” Officials did not respond to questions about the last time the president and
O’Brien had contact, but the White House insisted that “There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President” and that the “work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.” Trump told reporters as he left the White House yesterday that he wasn’t sure when his national security adviser had tested positive and that he hadn’t “seen him lately,” but would be giving O’Brien a call. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow had
said earlier that O’Brien’s daughter also has the virus and that that is how officials think he was exposed. O’Brien also recently returned from a trip to France, where he met with top European officials and was photographed standing close to others and not wearing a mask. O’Brien is the first White House official known to have contracted the virus since May, when a personal valet to the president and the vice president’s press secretary tested positive.
motorcade stopped at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House as it wound through Washington before arriving at the Capitol. The Democratic speaker noted that Lewis, frail with cancer, had come to the newly painted plaza weeks ago to stand “in solidarity” amid nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality. She called the image of Lewis “an iconic picture of justice” and juxtaposed it with another image that seared
Lewis into the national memory. In that frame, “an iconic picture of injustice,” Pelosi said, Lewis is collapsed and bleeding near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, when state troopers beat him and other Black Americans as they demanded voting rights. Following the Rotunda service, Lewis’ body was moved to the steps on the Capitol’s east side in public view.
BRITISH novelist Hilary Mantel and American author Anne Tyler are among 13 writers on a USdominated list of contenders for the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction. Mantel was named among competitors for the $63,000 literary prize for the “The Mirror and the Light,” the third installment in her trilogy about Tudor power broker Thomas Cromwell. She won the Booker for both its predecessors, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring up the Bodies”’ American contenders include Tyler for “Redhead by the Side of the Road,” Diane Cook for “The New Wilderness,” Avni Doshi for “Burnt Sugar,” Kiley Reid for “Such a Fun Age,” Brandon Taylor for “Real Life,” and C. Pam Zhang for “How Much of These Hills is Gold.” British writers on the list are Gabriel Krauze for “Who They Was,” Douglas Stuart for “Shuggie Bain” and Sophie Ward for “Love and Other Thought Experiments.” Also on the longlist are “Apeirogon” by Ireland’s Colum McCann; “This Mournable Boy” by Zimbabwe’s Tsitsi Dangarembga and “The Shadow King” by Ethiopian-American writer Maaza Mengiste.
SPORTS SECTION E
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
Dynamic duo continue to shine for Defenders Elite By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
T
he Bahamian talented young duo of Deyton Albury and Garreth Edgecombe continue to shine for the Defenders Elite basketball team at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Tournament in South Carolina. Over the weekend, the pair of 18-year-old players wrapped up their third tournament by winning their pool play of the Queen City Showcase at the Rock Hill Convention Centre with a 3-1 win-loss record to advance to the Phenom Challenge this weekend. After losing their opening game 78-69 to the Anthony Morrow Elite, the Defenders Elite went on a roll, winning 82-71 over the Capital City Pacers, 83-55 over the Charlotte News 2021 - Gainey and in the finale on Sunday, they defeated the Cobras 2021 78-76. The games, according to Bahamian assistant coach Jamal Smith, was played in front of hundreds of college coaches who were able to watch the tournament live streamed as they scouted the talent on the floor. “We started off the tournament, losing our first game by 10 points to one of the top-15 ranked teams in the United States,” said Smith, who is reuniting with Albury and Edgecombe, whom he both coached at Temple Christian before he left for the USA about two years ago. “After that, we were able to win our last three games. I think the guys are adjusting to the style of play and are performing very well.” Albury, fresh off completing his high school tenure at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel-Aire, Kansas, where he emerged as two-sport star in football and basketball, averaged 16.5 points per game, 8.2 rebounds and 7.3 assists. In putting his stamp of approval on their last game of the tournament, the 6-foot, 2-inch combo guard produced a triple double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. He was named the most valuable player of the game, earning the award for the second time in the tournament. “He really established himself on the defensive end of the floor,” Smith said. “He was really crisp on the offensive end as well. He didn’t really turn over the ball. He really had a good performance throughout the tournament.” As for Edgecombe, who had moved from Temple Christian to play for Galilee Academy, he ended up with 14.9 points per game with 6.5 rebounds and he shot about 40 per cent from the three-point line. In fact, Edgecombe, playing as a 6-3 small forward, canned about
BAHAMIAN pro basketball player Zane Knowles is on the move again this offseason. The seven-year veteran reached an agreement with Baikesir Buyuksehir Belediyespor of the Turkish Basketball League for the upcoming campaign. In a busy 2019-20 season, Knowles played in three leagues and two countries before the COVID-19 pandemic brought basketball to an end globally. He concluded the campaign with Levski Lukoil of the Bulgarian NBL League. In just two games with the club he averaged 13 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
SHAVAUL BUTTERS RECEIVES HIS FIRST DIVISION 1 OFFER By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN duo Deyton Albury and Garreth Edgecombe in South Carolina. five three-pointers in their third game as he finished with 18 points. “Some of the coaches who were there were about to give him an assessment of his game, which was pretty good for him,” Smith said. On the whole, Smith said the two players are really coming into their own after a week off from participating in their previous two tournaments back-to-back. “They showed some fresh legs and they showed that they are getting back to what they are used to doing as far as their basketball skills is concerned,” he said. “Their basketball competitiveness that I knew they had when they played for me at Temple Christian is coming back.” Prior to this tournament the Defenders Elite reached the semifinals of the Big Shot Tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where they lost in double overtime 68-64 as Albury was named to the All-Tournament Team because of his performance. That came after the Defenders Elite finished third in their pool in the Big Shot Tournament, which was also played in Myrtle Beach,
where Albury and Edgecombe were both selected as Player of the Game in two separate contests. While the tournaments are all a part of a showcase to display the skills of the players, Smith said in the 28 games they played since they got together at the beginning of July, they have been performing exceptionally well as they progress. The Phenom Challenge, which is another showcase tournament featuring the top teams from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia with more than 200 coaches from division 1-3 and junior colleges all viewing, is on for this weekend in Rock Hill, South Carolina as well. In order to participate in the tournaments through the coronavirus pandemic, Smith said they have to be quarantined at their home location and they only come out to workout on the outdoor courts or develop their individual skills. “We also have to sign waiver forms, releasing the tournament organisers from any liabilities, we have to do temperature checks and wear masks before we enter the gym,” Smith revealed.
ZANE IS ON THE MOVE AGAIN By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
NBA, PAGE 15
Prior to Bulgaria, he began the season with PAOK Thessaloniki in the Greek Champions League where through 12 games he averaged 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In Greece he also played 16 games in the Greek A1 League where he averaged 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. In 2018-19, Knowles was in the French ProB League with Etoile Charleville-Mezieres. In 27 games with the club he recorded 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Knowles spent his first pro season with Siarka Tarnobrzeg and King Wilki Morskie Szczecin of the Polish Basketball League or Tauron Basket Liga, the highest level of pro basketball in the country. He has also played professionally in
Japan (Tokyo Cinq Reves and Wakayama Trians) where he averaged 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24 total appearances before making the move to France. He spent his freshman year at Grambling, where he was hampered by several injuries and followed with a brief stint at Pearl River Community College. Knowles completed his final two years of eligibility with the Texas A and M Corpus Christi Islanders. Coming out of Texas A and M Corpus Christi, Knowles was drafted by the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G-League in third round (68th overall). He also participated in the G-League’s Star’s Open Tryouts before being cut in training camp and eventually signing in Poland.
“The tournament directors are pulling out all measures to ensure that all of the players, the referees and the officials are safe. Going forth, I feel these are some of the measures that all basketball leagues could follow once they have the proper protocols in place.” So far, Smith said they have all been COVID-19 free and they have their temperatures checked every day, even if they are not playing. He noted that they even attend a local clinic just to make sure that they are okay. “It’s all about social distancing and quarantining,” he said. “We want to be safe, considering the climate that we are living in right now, not only here in the United States, but in the Bahamas. “We know what’s going on back home and so we want the public to know that we are taking all of the necessary safety precautions and we hope that the Bahamian people are doing the same because it’s all about saving lives, even though we have to go on with our every day lives, like we are doing with basketball.”
ZANE KNOWLES
SHAVAUL Butters has begun to garner attention from major Division I basketball programmes and received his first offer of what is expected to be an active recruiting process. Butters was officially offered by the Austin Peay State University Governors. The Governors compete in the Ohio Valley Conference and most recently made the NCAA Tournament in 2016. Butters, a 6’8” 210-pound “stretch four” power forward, posted impressive numbers for the Aspire Basketball Academy Wizards in Louisville, Kentucky. The only member of the roster to compete in all 33 contests last season, he led the team in several statistical categories in his first year with the programme. Butters led the team in total points (386 points), field goal percentage (57 per cent, 173-303), three point percentage (40 per cent, 19-48), and total rebounds (323). He finished second on the team at 11.7 points per game and averaged a double double with 10 rebounds per game. He shot 64 per cent from the free throw line and also finished with 32 total blocks, 28 steals and 35 assists. His season was highlighted with 30 points, 21 rebounds and two blocks against Tennessee Prep last December at the Marshall County Hoopfest in Kentucky. In the classroom, Butters has a 3.0 GPA and a score of 20 on his ACT. He became the second former St George’s Jaguar within the last three years to attend the Aspire programme following Ahmard Harvey who recently completed his freshman season with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Aspire Academy is a residential, basketball-centred college preparatory programme and training institute on the campus of Holy Cross High School in Louisville. The Wizards have produced 20 players who have matriculated to NCAA basketball over the past three years, including 14 at the Division I level.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 13
VIKINGS’ INFECTION CONTROL OFFICER TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The day before the scheduled arrival of returning players to training camps around the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings served as a sobering example of the challenge of running a football team during a global pandemic. Vice president of sports medicine Eric Sugarman, who’s in charge of the organisation’s virus prevention strategy, has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. About four hours later yesterday, the Vikings placed four rookies — including first-round draft pick wide receiver Justin Jefferson — on the league’s newly created reserve list for COVID-19. Those players, the Vikings said, were not infected by Sugarman. Sugarman said he and his family members immediately quarantined themselves and began following the NFL’s related protocols after receiving the news of the positive tests over the weekend. Sugarman, who has two teenage sons with his wife, Heather, was appointed infection control officer for the Vikings earlier this year after the virus outbreak necessitated such a role. “At this time we are all doing fine and experiencing only mild symptoms,” Sugarman said. “I have an immense amount of pride in the effort I have personally put forth to protect the NFL family, the Minnesota Vikings organisation
and our community with thoughtfulness and decision-making based on the current science over these last four months. “I am humble to be serving in that capacity as it has been some of the most rewarding work of my career. “But as I sit here in quarantine, it is clear this virus does not discriminate. It should continue to be taken seriously. I encourage people to take the necessary precautions and follow guidelines that have been established nationally and locally.” The Vikings said they’ve tested all individuals who’d recently been in close contact with Sugarman, who has begun his 15th season as the team’s head athletic trainer and his 24th year in the league. Sugarman had not had any recent contact with players, the Vikings said, and no additional cases within the team’s front office had been reported to date. Sugarman will handle his duties as infection control officer remotely as much as possible until his return. “The health and safety of every member of our organization, our fans and of the broader community is paramount,” the Vikings said in their statement. “We encourage everyone to take this virus seriously and to practice the established precautions.” Joining Jefferson on the reserve list were offensive tackle Blake Brandel, safety Brian Cole II and center Tyler Higby. Brandel (sixth round) and Cole (seventh round)
GOODELL SENDS LETTER TO NFL FANS EXPLAINING PLANS FOR SEASON NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has sent a letter to fans outlining the league’s plans to play during the coronavirus pandemic. As veterans begin reporting to training camps this week, Goodell noted yesterday how COVID-19 has “turned the world upside down.” “COVID-19 will continue to present a major challenge to nearly every area of American life. Football is no exception,” Goodell wrote. “Every step of the way, our focus has been on the safety of players, coaches, personnel, fans and our communities. “Our planning has followed the lead of medical experts and public health officials, including the CDC, the White House Task Force, governors and state health officials. As we have developed our 2020 playbook for the return of football, safety continues to be our first priority; that commitment will remain paramount as players return to the field.” The league and the players’ union reached agreement on a plan last Friday, after all preseason games were cancelled. Team facilities were shut down by Goodell in late March and only began reopening on a cautious basis this summer. “The NFL in 2020 will not look like other years,” Goodell added. “Players and coaches will be tested for the virus regularly, including every day for a while. Preseason games have been cancelled. Everyone in the team environment must follow rigorous health and safety protocols to keep themselves and each other safe. When there is a positive test, strict regulations will be enforced to isolate and care for that individual and
to contain the virus before it spreads. “Even the sideline will look different. And, state and local health guidelines will help determine whether fans will attend the games. These adjustments are necessary to reduce the risk for everyone involved.” Goodell stressed the need for adaptability on all levels, citing how a virtual draft was held in April. All 32 teams held remote offseason training sessions, too. The NFL has opted not to create a bubble environment, something the NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS have done. With Major League Baseball experiencing difficulties on its first weekend of play with a plan similar to the NFL’s, there is added anxiety about what Goodell’s league has planned. “This week training camps across the country are starting and before we know it, the NFL season will be here,” he wrote. “This is always the most optimistic time of year for our fans, and for all 32 teams. In a year that has been extraordinarily difficult for our country and the world, we hope the energy of this moment will provide some much-needed optimism.”
49ERS WIDE RECEIVER JAMES ON COVID-19 LIST By The Associated Press THE Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: • San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Richie James Jr has been placed on the team’s reserve/COVID19 list. The list is for a player who tests positive for COVID-19 or has been quarantined after being in close contact with someone infected. NFL teams are not allowed to disclose whether the player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19.
MINNESOTA Vikings trainer Eric Sugarman walks off the field during the first day of the NFL football team’s training camp at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minn. on July, 29, 2016. Vikings vice president of sports medicine Sugarman has tested positive for COVID-19. Sugarman is in charge of the organisation’s virus prevention plan as the infection control officer. The team announced that Sugarman and his family tested positive over the weekend. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King) were draft picks, and Higby was a college free agent. Rookies, quarterbacks and other selected players reported to camp for testing on Thursday, before the balance of the roster is due in today. There were six players around the league placed on the reserve COVID-19 list on Sunday and 18 more added yesterday. The new reserve list category was created for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons. Clubs are not permitted to disclose whether a player is actually positive for COVID-19 or simply in quarantine following close contact with known carriers.
The Vikings made Sugarman available to reporters on a video conference call on July 20 to detail some of the league’s virus protocols for this most unusual training camp. The safeguards range from increased spacing in the locker room and meeting rooms to wrist-worn proximity tracking devices to help maximise social distancing. “We have a different, more impactful
responsibility to make sure we do the right thing and to keep this virus outside of this building to the best of our ability,” Sugarman said during the media session last week. “So personally I have confidence that we can do it. “We have taken every step to make this building as safe as possible, and I’m hopeful we can make this work.’’
• The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed four rookies — cornerback Luq Barcoo, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, cornerback Josiah Scott, and offensive lineman Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms — on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. • Michigan State says 16 of 122 athletes tested positive for the new coronavirus during the week of July 20-24 and four athletic department staff members tested positive from July 18-24. Those figures include two staff members and an athlete whose positive tests were previously announced. Michigan State’s football team is currently awaiting the end of a 14-day quarantine.
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PAGE 14, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
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BUBBLE HOCKEY BEGINS: NHL PLAYOFF TEAMS ADJUST TO QUARANTINE By STEPHEN WHYNO WHEN the Boston Bruins boarded their flight bound for Toronto, they thought of it as just another long road trip. Sure, they were spaced out and masked up on the plane, but they were en route to compete for the Stanley Cup that they fell one win short of earning last season. Patrice Bergeron said he was “excited and looking forward to what’s coming next.” It unfolded a little differently for Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith when he checked into a downtown hotel Sunday minutes from his house for a stay he hopes will last more than two months. “Reality definitely set in,” Smith said. NHL players from the 24 playoff teams woke up to their new reality yesterday in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta. Quarantined bubble life began with the league reporting zero positive coronavirus test results last week, and this existence away from the public is scheduled to last until the Stanley Cup is awarded in the fall. “We asked our group right from the start just to keep open minds because everything’s going to change, everything’s fluctuating constantly, daily, minutely,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. “It’s different. You’ve got
a walkway with fences. People can’t see in. You can’t see out. But if you embrace it and are willing just to go with things, it’s pretty cool.” While Major League Baseball postponed at least two games and grappled with the Miami Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak, the NHL reported none of the 800-plus players tested in the final week of training camps came back positive for the virus. That information and the low amount of confirmed cases in the Canadian provinces where games will take place added a layer of confidence to the first day of practices. Like the NBA and Major League Soccer in Florida, the NHL set up a quarantined environment for players, coaches and staff that allowed those in the bubble to contrast that method of finishing the season to the less stringent way MLB and the NFL are trying to get through theirs. “We are in a bubble. Major League Baseball is not,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Obviously once you get to the bubble, it appears to be a very safe environment.” Feeling safe allowed teams to get down to business in preparing for exhibition games this week and the start of the playoffs this weekend. They started getting the lay of the land at hotels and practice rinks, and some got to see inside the empty arenas they’ll
A SECTION of the street outside Toronto’s Royal York hotel is closed off as NHL teams arrive at the “bubble” ahead of the return of the league’s season following a disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Toronto, on Sunday. (AP)
THE CHICAGO Blackhawks arrive in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday. The NHL will officially resume play on Saturday, August 1, after being on pause since March because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP) be playing in when hockey restarts after the pause that began March 12. The initial reviews are positive. “I was a little sceptical of the whole process before this all started: How was it going to work? How can they prepare this?” Montreal forward and player representative Paul Byron said. “It didn’t seem like they had much time, much notice. ... I’m actually pleasantly surprised coming to the hotel. It seems like they’ve got a pretty good setup for us.”
The setup includes free Tim Hortons coffee, a selection of restaurants and private transportation from the hotel to the rink. Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice went so far as to call it all “pretty darn normal” while preparing for meaningful elimination in an abnormal spot on the calendar. Midsummer hockey will feel plenty natural when the puck drops. “The one place that it actually feels normal is when you lace your skates up,” longtime player turned Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The one place that it
feels like you forget all the outside kind of things that everybody’s dealing with, including the players, is when they’re playing.” There are still questions about who will be playing. Columbus coach John Tortorella won’t name his starting goaltender for Game 1 against Toronto until the day before. Brind’Amour said Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton was still “unfit” to practice, and his status is in doubt. But Day One of hub city practices also brought some good news. Colorado’s
rookie of the year finalist Cale Makar, Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos and Boston’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner David Pastrnak practiced and are on track to play. It’s just the start, and it’ll take almost a week of daily testing to be sure the NHL can pull this off. But getting into the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles represented an important stride toward playing during a pandemic. “Obviously happy that we can get this thing going,” Bergeron said. “So far, so good.”
AND THEN THERE WERE 8: CONCACAF HEXAGONAL BECOMES OCTAGONAL By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — CONCACAF is changing its World Cup qualifying hexagonal to an octagonal in response to the coronavirus pandemic and delaying the start until next June. The United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Honduras receive byes directly to the octagonal, the Confederation of North,
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Central American and Caribbean Association Football announced yesterday. CONCACAF’s other 30 nations will compete for three additional spots in the final round. The octagonal will take place with four games per team in next June’s double FIFA international match window followed by two apiece in September, October and November 2021, and two each in January and March 2022.
By staying with a large total of teams in the final round, CONCACAF ensured two high-profile, lucrative qualifiers between the US and Mexico. The format also provides margin for slip-ups, though there were not enough to prevent the US from missing the 2018 World Cup in Russia when it lost to Mexico and Costa Rica at home and at Trinidad and Tobago on the final night. “It’s good that we have clarity regarding
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the format and scheduling, which allows us to chart the course ahead,” US coach Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. “We are looking forward to the challenge that this new World Cup qualifying format will present.” The hexagonal was to have started this September and be based on the June FIFA rankings, in which El Salvador was just ahead of Canada as the region’s sixth team.
Teams not in the hexagonal would have competed to face the fourth-place team in the hex for the right to represent CONCACAF in an intercontinental playoff. Hugo Carrillo, president of the Salvadoran federation, sent a letter to CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani stating “total and complete disapproval and disagreement” of the decision, and asked for reconsideration to keeping the old format.
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FIFA removed the September 2020 window for international matches because of the pandemic. If the October and November 2020 windows take place, the US could have exhibitions in Europe. Under the new format, nations currently ranked 6-35 will be drawn into six groups of five in a seeded draw next month, with El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago seeded. Each group will compete in a single round robin of four matches per nation this October and November. Group winners will advance to a home-andhome, total-goals second round next March, and the second-round winners will advance to the octagonal. The top three teams in the octagonal qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the fourth-place nation advances to an intercontinental playoff in June 2022. The first CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals and final will be rescheduled for a US site next March. The US plays Honduras, and Mexico meets Costa Rica in the semis, which originally were to have been played on June 4 in Houston. The final was to have been June 7 in Arlington, Texas. The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup will take place from July 10 to August 1 next year. The Gold Cup likely will be missing many top players, who will be taking time off and then reporting to clubs ahead of the 2021-22 European club seasons. The tournament originally was scheduled for next July 2-25. CONCACAF will work to create a Gold Cup preliminary round in the US ahead of the tournament involving Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Montserrat, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, PAGE 15
It’s in the bag: Even whistles now are safer at NBA restart By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — The NBA believes it has considered every possible way it can make the restarted season as safe as possible for everyone involved. That even included a plan to contain referee spittle. Referees at the NBA and WNBA restarts are using the same whistles as they always have — albeit with one subtle but important addition. A small black bag is being slipped onto each whistle, designed to collect any spittle that might emanate from a referee’s mouth and through the device itself when being used during play. “Obviously, with health and wellness being in the forefront of everything that we’re doing here in the bubble at Disney, we wanted to make sure that we had something in place for the whistles,” said Monty McCutchen, the former NBA referee who is now a league vice president overseeing the referee program. “In what used to be a normal world, we didn’t worry about what came out of a whistle ... spittle or moisture or a mist or any combination of those was not a concern for us. It is now, and it needs to be.” Whistles aren’t just whistles, not at this level. They’re high-tech, made by Fox 40 — the company that provides whistles to NHL, NFL and college referees, among others — and calibrated to work with Precision Time by using radio technology to communicate between the referee and the scorer’s table to instantly stop the clock when blown. The NBA ran plenty of testing to ensure that the
IRVING COMMITS $1.5 MILLION FOR WNBA PLAYERS SKIPPING SEASON By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer
REFEREE Tony Brown blows his whistle, which is covered by a small cloth bag, during an NBA basketball game between the Toronto Raptors and the Portland Trail Blazers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Sunday. NBA referees have added a baggie to their standard whistles for games at the NBA restart, in the interest of safety to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The bags work to catch any spittle that may emanate from a referee’s mouth or whistle when being used. (AP Photos/Tim Reynolds) baggies — which are wash- referee to complain about sick and if we don’t have re-opening night doubleable and reusable -- would being back to work and the the proper attitude toward header Thursday with Utah not thwart that system guidelines and health and health and safety. Our ref- facing New Orleans and then Lakers-Clippers in the in any way. The baggie safety go along with that,” erees are embracing this.” nightcap. attaches with Velcro and Zarba said. “We’re all for CONGRATS, CHAMPS works whether a referee it. And if this keeps people The Houston Dash won RESTING wants to wear the whis- safer, it’s a no-brainer. ... LAKERS tle on a lanyard or keep it The innovation and atten- the National Women’s tion to detail out here, soup Soccer League Challenge The scrimmage season hand-held. Cup title over the weekend, for LeBron James ended “We had several ideas at to nuts, is impressive.” McCutchen once lost a earning high praise from after only two games. one time and this is what we The Los Angeles Lakers came up with,” McCutchen whistle during a game when one member of the team’s said. “There’s other cover- it sailed from his mouth and ownership group — Rock- held James out of their scrimmage finale on ings that are of a harder directly into the drink of a ets guard James Harden. Rockets coach Mike Monday. plastic that we have some courtside fan. He had a backup that D’Antoni took notice James played in their first here in case we need them. We felt that this was the night. And just in case any- as well, saying he hopes two scrimmages at Disney, gets another but the team saw no reason most reasonable and the thing goes wrong at Disney, Houston quickest and it because it referees — even though the championship to celebrate to play him again in the was pliable, a little easier to games won’t have fans pre- soon. “They’ve shown us last of the three warm-up sent — will have backup the way that we need to go,” contests. hold.” D’Antoni said. “Really, a Anthony Davis (poked in Longtime referee Zach whistles with them as well. “Our referees are really lot of kudos to them.” eye Saturday), Kyle Kuzma Zarba said it took some (ankle, rest) and Dwight getting used to, but by the clear about the goals here: SCRIMMAGES END Howard (rest) also got the midway point of his first keep people safe, keep The last scrimmages are finale off for the Lakers, scrimmage at Walt Disney people healthy, and then who open seeding-game World he didn’t even notice the game,” McCutchen today at Disney. There are no games play Thursday night against the baggie was there. said. “But we can’t have a “You’re not going to get any game if everyone is ill or Wednesday before the the Los Angeles Clippers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kyrie Irving is making sure WNBA players can sit out the season and not stress about a paycheque. The Brooklyn Nets star is committing $1.5 million to supplement the income of players who choose not to play this season, whether it be because of coronavirus concerns or social justice reasons. The funds will come from the KAI Empowerment Initiative that Irving launched yesterday. It will also provide players with a financial literacy programme created by UBS. Irving said that with the help of WNBA players Natasha Cloud — who chose to sit out — and Jewell Loyd, he connected with several WNBA players who discussed with him the challenges they faced in deciding whether to play. The season began Saturday and will be played entirely at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He decided to help with the financial burden in a league where the top annual salary is a little more than $200,000. “Whether a person decided to fight for social justice, play basketball, focus on physical or mental health, or simply connect with their families, this initiative can hopefully support their priorities and decisions,” Irving said in a statement.
PAGE 16, Tuesday, July 28, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
At least 3 MLB games postponed amid Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak By STEVEN WINE AP Sports Writer MIAMI (AP) — The Marlins scrambled for roster replacements as they coped with a coronavirus outbreak. The New York Yankees had an unscheduled day off in Philadelphia while the home team underwent COVID-19 tests. The Baltimore Orioles were flying home from Miami without playing a game. And Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez summed up the situation in a season barely underway. “I’m going to be honest with you: I’m scared,” Martinez said. More than a dozen Marlins players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak that stranded the team in Philadelphia, disrupting Major League Baseball’s schedule on the fifth day of the pandemic-delayed season. Miami’s home opener against Baltimore was postponed as was today’s finale of the two-game series at Marlins Park. Also postponed was the Yankees’ series opener Monday at Philadelphia, where New York would have been in the same clubhouse the Marlins used last weekend. “Obviously, we don’t want any player to get exposed. It’s not a positive thing,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said on the MLB Network. “But I don’t see it as a nightmare. We built the protocols to allow us to continue to play. That’s why we have
the expanded rosters, that’s why we have the pool of additional players. And we think we can keep people safe and continue to play.” Nine Marlins players on the 30-man roster, two taxi squad players and two staff members tested positive, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the results hadn’t been publicly disclosed. The Yankees are staying in Philadelphia and have their own clubhouse staff with the team there, a person familiar with their plans said, also speaking on condition of anonymity because details were not disclosed. The Marlins postponed their flight home Sunday night after their series finale against the Phillies. The Orioles planned to fly to Baltimore from Miami last night. They are scheduled to host the Marlins in a two-game series starting Wednesday. “If the testing results are acceptable, the Marlins will resume play in Baltimore on Wednesday against the Orioles,” Manfred said. Meanwhile, Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria will be kept away from his team after experiencing a “slight cough and nasal congestion,” general manager Rick Hahn said. Tests were planned. The Marlins’ outbreak was the talk of baseball, and Martinez choked on his words as he discussed the situation. Martinez missed time last season because of
HEALTHCARE worker Dante Hills, left, passes paperwork to a woman in a vehicle at a COVID-19 testing site outside of Marlins Park yesterday in Miami. The Marlins home opener against the Baltimore Orioles last night was postponed as the Marlins deal with a coronavirus outbreak that stranded them in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) a heart condition, and the Nationals are scheduled to play in Miami this weekend. “My level of concern went from about an eight to a 12. I mean this thing really hits home now,” Martinez said. “I got guys in our clubhouse that are really concerned, as well.” MLB announced the postponement of the two Monday games about eight hours before the scheduled first pitch and said additional COVID-19 testing was being conducted. That included Phillies players being tested yesterday. “The members of the Marlins’ travelling party are self-quarantining in place while awaiting the outcome of those results,” MLB said in a statement. Coming just days into the 60-game season, the Marlins’ outbreak raised anew
questions about Manfred’s plan for navigating the pandemic. “Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players health first,” tweeted Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price, who opted out of playing this season. “Remember when Manfred said players health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first. I can see that hasn’t changed.” Manfred said test results should be available late Monday and there likely will be a public update Tuesday. He said there are factors that would force MLB to alter plans. “A team losing a number of players that rendered it completely non-competitive would be an issue that
we would have to address and have to think about making a change,” he said. “Whether that was shutting down a part of the season, the whole season, that depends on the circumstances. Same thing with respect to league-wide. You get to a certain point league wide where it does become a health threat, and we certainly would shut down at that point.” Dr Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, said the Marlins’ outbreak isn’t a surprise because MLB’s plan was seriously flawed. “Baseball is in huge trouble,” Morris said. “It makes me wonder if they are listening to the advice of experts or whether their experts are giving them good advice. This was not
a plan anyone who knows what they are talking about would have conceived. It’s playing out like it was supposed to play out.” The Marlins placed infielder Garrett Cooper, outfielder Harold Ramírez and right-hander José Ureña on the injured list. They claimed righthander Justin Shafer and left-hander Josh Smith off waivers from Cincinnati, and will likely rely heavily on reinforcements from their training camp in Jupiter, Florida. Because there are no minor league games this season, teams are allowed to retain 60 players each. They have 30-man rosters during the first two weeks of the season plus a taxi squad of up to three players for every road trip, giving them immediate options to replace ailing players. The Marlins could bus from Philadelphia to Baltimore. Marlins CEO Derek Jeter released a statement saying the health of players and staff was his organization’s primary focus. “Postponing tonight’s home opener was the correct decision to ensure we take a collective pause and try to properly grasp the totality of this situation,” Jeter said. Ureña was scratched from his scheduled start in Sunday’s game, and catcher Jorge Alfaro went on the injured list Friday. No reasons were given for the moves, and it was unclear when the Marlins received the latest positive test results.
Column: Virus extends its winning streak in baseball By TIM DAHLBERG AP Sports Columnist FOR a day or two, it seemed like it might actually work. Baseball was back and, even if some of the familiar sights of summer were missing, there were actual players with bats and balls along with the cute cardboard cutouts of babies and dogs in the stands. But there’s nothing cute about the coronavirus. And nothing good about baseball’s botched response to the first crisis of its strangest season ever. The Marlins are done, or at least they should be. There’s no way a team ravaged by the virus can even try to carry on, even if you accept the idea that 29 other teams should continue to chase a World Series title that means less with every positive test. Baseball should be done, too. If there’s anything the outbreak showed, it’s that MLB’s plan to play during the COVID-19 pandemic was not only seriously flawed but lacking in execution. The fact the Marlins still played in Philadelphia on Sunday with positive tests already coming back is
an indictment of both the system baseball put in place and the way it has been executed. Yes, the league was able to begin play with the pandemic raging and no bubble in place. That was probably the easy part because there was never any way it was going to finish. But baseball is in too deep now to quit. Giving up on the season is apparently not an option for Commissioner Rob Manfred and owners, at least until the optics of a coach or player on a ventilator make it impossible to continue to plow blindly forward. A third of the Marlins testing positive for the virus isn’t just concerning. It’s absolutely frightening. “I’m going to be honest with you, I’m scared,” said Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who has a heart condition and whose team is scheduled to travel to Miami and play the Marlins on Friday. A lot of other people in baseball are scared, too. With good reason, because it looks like even a 113-page manual on containing the virus isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
“Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players’ health wasn’t being put first,” tweeted Dodgers pitcher David Price, who opted out of the season. “I can see that hasn’t changed.” It’s not just baseball, though the sport is an easy one to criticise. The sample is limited so far, but you have to wonder whether any team sport can be played in the middle of a raging pandemic. There are a lot of nervous people in Florida, where the NBA bubble could pop at any moment. The NHL is a little more confident about opening play after a week of negative tests, but it’s worth noting the league is playing in Canada, not the US. And then there’s the NFL, where the executive in charge of controlling infections for the Minnesota Vikings tested positive just as players were arriving to camp. Bringing back team sports in the middle of a pandemic was always going to be problematic. Increasingly, though, it’s looking like it will be impossible. Baseball players, at least those with guaranteed roster spots, must
be wondering if playing is worth the risk to their health. Those risks are very real, as anyone knows who listened to Atlanta star Freddie Freeman talk about praying that he wouldn’t be taken when his fever spiked to 104.5 degrees with the virus earlier this month. Or when Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez returned to play after a bout with the virus only to be sidelined with lingering heart issues stemming from it. Or when they hear the experts who saw this coming all along. “Baseball is in huge trouble, huge trouble,” said Dr Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto. “It makes me wonder if they are listening to the advice of experts or whether their experts are giving them good advice. This was not a plan anyone who knows what they are talking about would have conceived. It’s playing out like it was supposed to play out.” It’s not just baseball. The virus doesn’t play favourites, and even the bubbles in the NBA and NHL may not be enough to keep it out.
With no bubble, though, baseball is exposed. The NFL is, too, just as the league is opening its camps this week at just the wrong time. Like baseball, the NFL has plans. Like baseball, those plans could implode at any minute. The coronavirus has so far sickened everyone from kitchen workers to heads of state. There’s little chance a football team in close quarters can escape an outbreak, much less contain it. Still, the NFL will move ahead, just like baseball. They’ll try to hold a season until there comes a point where holding a season proves impossible, whether that happens because of positive tests or player revolts. We all want to see sports back but this was always going to be too soon, at least for team sports. What ended up happening was predictable enough, with the rush to return running headlong into a virus that refuses to retreat. As long as the virus continues to spread unchecked, even the most meticulous plans seem doomed to failure.