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VOLUME:117 No.193, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
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Lockdown spike in family abuse
Jump in domestic attacks as isolation takes toll at home By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE shocking effects of COVID-19 on Bahamians has been laid bare in a report that revealed an 11.3 percent increase in domestic violence - as well as the difficult financial situation many households are in. The report by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) reported the greatest rise in domestic violence was experienced by high income families 13.9 percent compared to low- and middle-income households (10.3 percent and 10.1 percent respectively). Women have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s
fallout. “The pandemic has negatively impacted Bahamians’ quality of life, particularly that of women. The distribution of domestic chores has been significantly disproportionate,” the survey found. The report also said nearly half of households reported eating less healthy meals than usual, and just over five percent went to bed hungry. With less than four in ten Bahamian households having sufficient reserves when COVID-19 hit, the Central Bank’s governor yesterday said “savings bonds” are being eyed to boost financial resiliency.
By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net WHILE the cruise industry is gearing up for a big post-COVID comeback starting as early as this month, activists are calling for serious changes in the industry. Local and international activists have come together under the Global
Cruise Activist Network to demand “no return to business as usual” after the receding of the COVID-19 virus. During a Zoom press conference, local activist Sam Duncombe called on the Bahamian government to “do better” in terms of oversight of the cruise industry. Ms Duncombe referenced incidents of cruise SEE PAGE FIVE
L SOUR CE
SEE PAGE NINE
ISLANDS IN LINE FOR NEW STORM SHELTERS
By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net DISASTER Reconstruction Authority officials have set their sights on October 1 to begin construction of two shelters after Hurricane Dorian one year ago proved that churches and schools are not adequate to withstand storm force winds. The shelters, which will double as community centres, are to be constructed in Abaco and Grand Bahama. Katherine Smith, Disaster Reconstruction Authority managing director, told The Tribune the agency was SEE PAGE FOUR
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
‘TOUGHEN OVERSIGHT ON CRUISE INDUSTRY’
$1
PRAYERS FOR THE LOST
MOURNERS gathered at the Hurricane Dorian remembrance ceremony at the Sir Jack Hayward Bridge where a monument was erected by the Grand Bahama Port Authority in memory of those lost in the storm. The service was one of three held on Wednesday. PHOTO: Lisa Davis/BIS
AUDITOR’S HEALTH REPORT JUST WON’T GO AWAY By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) procurement chief is appealing the dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against an auditor’s findings that alleged he “abused” his employer’s tendering process. Dr Marvin Smith, who heads the PHA’s Supplies Management Agency, and his attorney last night confirmed an appeal had
DR MARVIN SMITH been filed after the action against John Bain and his accounting firm, UHY Bain & Associates, was struck out after being deemed
“frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process”. Both Dr Smith and his attorney declined to comment further because the appeal against the July 14, 2020, Order by Carol Misiewicz, the Supreme Court deputy registrar, is now live before a Supreme Court judge. However, the ruling revives the controversy surrounding Mr Bain’s six year-old forensic investigation and report. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
OFFICERS ON FALSE SICK NOTE CHARGE By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net TWO correctional officers who were accused of using forged sick certificates to get time off from work in 2018 and 2019 will appear before the chief magistrate today for sentencing. The men were accused of defrauding the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services and the government in two separate incidents. SEE PAGE SEVEN
STATESIDE
ANGRY VOICES STILL RAGE BUT SIGNS CHANGE IS COMING
SEE PAGE TEN
PAGE 2, Thursday, September 3, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Protest group demands details of govt finances
PROTESTORS outside the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday. Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
A GROUP of people protested outside the Ministry of Finance yesterday, calling for more clarity and accountability about the government’s finances. “We are asking for an accounting of all the resources given to us as a country,” said Adrian Francies, founder of Operation Sovereign Bahamas. “We are asking where is the money that you have borrowed? Where is the money that our country has gotten? These are the questions. . .Give us an account, a straight up account of all
the money that has been borrowed. “Are we going to take a pay cut in the civil service? We need to know exactly what’s going on with the police, the doctors, the nurses and everything else,” he said. As he spoke, protesters chanted “No more lies” and “Where is the money?” The protest came days after the Ministry of Finance released its budgetary performance report for the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 fiscal year. The report said preliminary data
indicates an estimated threefold hike in the fiscal deficit, to $788.1m from $219.3m in the 2018/19 fiscal year — when the government achieved the lowest fiscal deficit in over a decade. The document revealed that total revenue decreased, “year over year”, by $337.1m. It noted that these results show the combined impact of “slower economic activity” in Abaco and Grand Bahama due to Hurricane Dorian, as well as the reduction of business activity amid the COVID-19 crisis.
WOMAN FOUND INJURED AFTER SHOTSPOTTER ALERT NEW Providence police are investigating a shooting and stabbing incident which occurred on Tuesday. Police said a woman was left in stable condition in hospital after she was shot after 8am. Police received a Milton Street gunshot alert from ShotSpotter. Officers responded and, on their arrival, they were informed that a female was at home when she heard the sound of gunshots. She then realised that she received injuries to her leg. The victim was taken to hospital by a private vehicle and is listed in stable condition. Two male suspects are presently in custody assisting police with their investigation. Police also said a man was stabbed shortly before
11am Tuesday. Officers received reports that two men were having an altercation while on Comfort Street; as a result one of the men stabbed the other in the back with a sharp object. The victim was transported to hospital where he is detained and listed in stable condition. A male suspect was arrested. Police are also investigating an armed robbery. Shortly after 1pm Tuesday, a man walked into a business on Thatch Palm Avenue and requested an item from a female cashier. She turned around to retrieve the item and the suspect then produced a black handgun and demanded cash. The suspect fled the scene in an unknown direction.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 3
Grand Bahama remembers By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net IT was a solemn day in Grand Bahama during the memorial wreath ceremonies held yesterday, remembering the 31 people who died a year ago during Hurricane Dorian. The first of three ceremonies was held at 8am at the Sir Jack Hayward Bridge, where a wreath was laid at the memorial cross monument at Grand Bahama Highway. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, State Minister for Grand Bahama Senator Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction Iram Lewis, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard, local clergymen, including the GB Christian Council President Robert Lockhart, and Grand Bahama Port Authority President Ian Rolle, were in attendance. Families that lost loved ones placed flowers at the monument, where a commemorative plaque bears the names of those officially declared dead, and those declared missing. Indra Forde placed a red carnation in memory of her 24-year-old daughter J’Vonaje Forde - one of the 22 missing persons. “It is something you will never get over,” Ms Forde said after the ceremony. J’Vonaje Forde lived in an area known as ‘over the bridge,’ where storm surge had reached some 20ft and flooded many homes. Accepting what has happened has been hard for Ms Forde and her family. “She lost her life right over the bridge at Windemere Drive; I was not there and I don’t know how it happened, and we are still trying (to find out)…as far as what happened a year later.” J’Vonaje was the mother of a toddler and was employed as an agent at Colina General Insurance. “It is hard; she was 24. The family is still trying to gather the pieces together. I can’t say we will ever really get over this. It is something you will never get over, but we are going through it day by day.” According to Ms Forde, her daughter left behind a son who is now two years old. “He was one when she passed away and turned two in December last year. He does not know what is going on, but I keep her memory going by showing him pictures…” she said. Arlington and Roslyn Farquharson not only lost their loved one, Irene Saunders to Dorian, but they also barely survived the horrific ordeal that fateful day. Mrs Farquharson stated that losing her mother is still very hard a year later. “It is getting better with time, but it is still hard,” she said. Mr Farquharson misses the time spent talking with his mother-in-law. “She was a very loving
A MEMORIAL ceremony was held at the Sir Jack Hayward Bridge yesterday, attended by officials including Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest; Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard; Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson; Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction Iram Lewis and Senator Jasmine Darius, along with a members of the clergy and President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Ian Rolle. Photos: Lisa Davis/BIS this day, and remember Bahama, and Pineridge MP Lockhart prayed for those who lost lives, we Frederick McAlpine. the protection of Grand also celebrate the spirit of Bishop Cardinal McIn- Bahama and the nation community that has sprung tosh delivered a prayer for during his hurricane up following Dorian. That the families who lost loved season. spirit will help us through ones and the survivors. “We pray for protection this and ensure we rebuild In his prayer, he pointed over us as a people and stronger and more resilient out that it is a moment nation. We ask that even as than ever before taking to remember and reflect hurricanes pass through this lessons from this last expe- one year ago how “all of region and many more that rience, picking ourselves up our lives were forever will pass during the season, and moving forward. changed.” your divine protection “We know that there is “We are reminded that as deliverance, and covering lots of work to be done. But we stand at this cross and on us. Help those among us I want you to be confident many are at a crossroads who have lost loved ones, in knowing that your gov- in their lives based on the and we pray for continued ernment has not shirked its crises that they have gone help in the restoration of mother. Every day I get off “We thank the govern- responsibility and we are through. Many have not this island and people,” he from work we would sit in ment for recognising this committed to this island, been able to bring closure said. Wreath ceremonies were the yard or we would sit in sombre day and this impor- and the full restoration of to this moment,” he said. GB,” he said. He prayed that God also held in High Rock at the house and we talk every tant day,” he said. Mr Turnquest brought grants the families peace 11am, and the third cerday, and I miss that, I really “We remember all family miss that very much,” he and friends who are still greetings on behalf of Prime and comfort and that the emony in McLeans Town, recalled. displaced and struggling to Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, survivors heal from the where a wreath was tossed Parker Edge- scars of that tragic day. into the water where many He became very emo- rebuild homes and lives fol- Pakesia Meanwhile, Pastor were swept out to sea. tional as he recalled how lowing storm devastation. combe, MP for West Grand he and his wife were almost We know they grieve too.” swept away by the surge. Mr Rolle also com“This was a tragic ordeal mended many individuals, for my wife and me, but we local and international who survived. I held onto her came to the aid of many and I would not let her go. I families, and the commuhold her with one hand and nity to provide lifesaving hold the tension wire on the support and comfort. next in over 20ft of water,” The deputy prime minhe said. ister said a year ago Grand Mrs Farquharson said Bahamians had endured they held onto a utility pole one of the most violent to survive. storms ever. Meanwhile, Senator “GB is no stranger to Thompson said that it is fit- hurricanes and storms, but ting to commemorate what even with all we experitook place and to remem- enced and hardening over ber the lives that were lost time, this storm brought a year ago. new challenges,” Mr Turn“One year ago, at this queat said. spot where we are stand“Today we saw it fitting to ing was 20ft of water, a year come and mark this solemn ago we all would have been day, to let families know underwater,” he said. and the wider island of “In every circumstance GB, and indeed The Bahaand every situation, we mas, that we have not lost ought to give God thanks. sight of the terrible tragedy I thank Him that GB is an that would have befallen example of resilience, and your loved ones. To let you for all that He has done for know…we all are with you us. Let us remember today and continue to remember with a heart of thanksgiv- that tragic day that would ing,” Mr Thompson said. have changed your life in For his part, Mr Rolle, such a dramatic way.” GBPA president, said that The MP for East Grand families and community Bahama noted that out of members continue to suffer the tragedy came a “spirit for the lives that were taken of community”. too soon. “While we commemorate
PICKING UP THE PIECES AFTER STORM By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
AFTER losing everything she owned to Hurricane Dorian last year, Abaco resident StaceyAnderson Pierre is thankful that her life is returning to some level of normalcy. She and her family are living in one of the government’s temporary housing domes. The mother was left displaced after Hurricane Dorian ripped her home apart in early September, a situation that forced her to relocate to New Providence. Having lived in the capital for a short period, Mrs Anderson-Pierre said she was happy to return home to pick up the pieces of her life. Hers is one of many families that have been approved to live in one of the government’s domes. The resident said while
the situation is far from what she’s accustomed to, she just is grateful to have a place to sleep. “I’m living in Dundas Town in the dome. It’s on my property” she said. “We’ve been living (here since) the ninth of August and it’s okay you know,” she said. “It’s just (getting supplies) for the restroom situation (has been) moving slow. But, they’re saying they’re waiting on the government to send the stuff so we ain’t get it yet. But thank God I have a shelter.” Dorian hit Abaco on September 1, 2019, as a Category Five storm, with Tuesday marking the storm’s first year anniversary. Asked about her thoughts on the storm’s first year anniversary, Mrs Anderson-Pierre said it is hard to reflect on her journey since Dorian. “That gave me a sick stomach, a headache. To reflect back to know where I was
and where I ended up. That’s a serious thing to know I left with what I only went in and to come back with nothing. That’s a serious thing but thank God for life.” During a televised address on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis acknowledged the frustration survivors have felt in trying to repair their lives and apologised that many things have taken too long to complete. “It will take many years before Abaco and Grand Bahama are fully restored,” Dr Minnis said. “I fully acknowledge the frustration at how long many things have taken. “We pledge to communicate to you in a timelier and more effective manner. On behalf of the government, I acknowledge what has not been done and the long and difficult road ahead. “We have made some progress, but not enough. There is still so much, much more to do.”
PAGE 4, Thursday, September 3, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Churches are allowed to resume in-person services By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net WITH the latest emergency order allowing New Providence churches to resume in person services, Bahamas Christian Council president Bishop Delton Fernander said he is thankful that no transmission of COVID-19 can be traced back to church services. Churches across the country closed in March when the Bahamas started recording COVID-19 cases. Online services and Zoom meetings became the order of the day for months. In person worship resumed in early June, only to be suspended again weeks later when the second wave of cases began. “The Bahamas Christian Council is thankful for our ability to work with the government to set parameters in terms of protocols for the COVID,” Bishop Fernander, pictured, said. “We were thankful to God that we had zero transmissions from their data to parishioners and to churchgoers from churches. “This shows that things that were put in place before the shutdown worked. During the second surge, we got the presentation and we made a decision as a church to comply and to do what was necessary to get our people healthy.” Bishop Fernander tied in the reopening of in person church service to the opening of the economy. Churches on a few other islands were allowed to resume worship before New Providence sanctuaries were given the go ahead on Tuesday. “With the decision to reopen the economy, we also realise and understand our position with the spiritual health of the nation,” he said. “We are thankful that the competent authority saw the necessity of the church and gave us the ability to go right back, with our strong protocols and do the best we can. “We are having meetings with all of our leaders, all over the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, to tell them to be vigilant, to keep their guards up and
to be even more stringent on the protocols so none of our parishioners can get sick from COVID in our churches.” The newest order came a day after a letter was issued by 20 religious leaders, calling on the Minnis administration to reopen churches, saying they cannot continue to accept the government “crossing the line” into the work of the church. Churches are allowed in person worship on Saturday and Sunday from 7am-1pm under strict protocols: the church is responsible for providing hand sanitisation at the entrances to the church; people must sit six feet apart, except if they are from the same immediate household; everyone must wear masks covering their nose and mouth; people are to remain in or at their seats and Sunday school is not permitted. The protocols also state that communion may be held using disposable cups and distributors must wear a mask covering their nose and mouth and gloves. They must exercise proper hygiene and sanitization measures. There will be one offering station. Offering baskets should not be passed around. People that are in high-risk categories are asked not to attend service, this includes those aged 65 and over and those with comorbidities. Tuesday’s emergency order also eases previous restrictions on private medical facilities and dental practices. Before this, private medical facilities could only open for emergency medical care and Monday through Friday for immunisation; neonatal and prenatal care; dialysis; chemotherapy and other cancer treatments; and telemedicine from 7am to 7pm. Under Tuesday’s order, private medical facilities can operate daily between 5am to 10pm and for emergency care only between the hours of 10pm to 5am. Dental practices were previously only allowed to operate to provide emergency care between 7am to 7pm. Now they are allowed to operate daily between 5am to 10pm.
ONE MORE DEATH AND 61 NEW CASES THE Ministry of Health confirmed 61 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death yesterday. There are now 2,337 confirmed cases in the country, 1,420 active cases and 47 deaths. According to officials 49 new cases were recorded on New Providence, three on Grand Bahama, one on Exuma and one on Bimini. Additionally there was one new case on Andros and one on Abaco. Five cases were listed as pending for locations. Regarding the additional death,
officials said this case was a 58-yearold woman of New Providence who died on August 26. The number of completed tests has also increased to 11,871 from 11,445. This comes as Health Minister Renward Wells said Tuesday that a global shortage of COVID-19 testing reagents has limited health officials’ capacity to conduct wider testing in the country. This is just one of the many reasons why there has not been wider testing, he said. “We have at PMH (Princess
Margaret Hospital) now with the GeneXpert machine that gets results in about 45 minutes. The machines were donated by PAHO,” he said. “We have one at PMH and one by South Beach (Clinic) and one in Grand Bahama and those are on stream. “Unfortunately, because of the global pandemic, there is a shortage for the cartridges. We only got about 2,000 of those cartridges and as a result of that, we have to use it sparingly or rather we have to use it wisely.”
ISLANDS IN LINE FOR NEW STORM SHELTERS
from page one
about 50 percent of the way toward securing the funding needed to build these facilities. “We have a need to construct community centres/ hurricane shelters because as you know in the country, we’ve always used churches and schools and these churches and schools and any other building weren’t necessarily constructed to handle a Category Five storm or any level of storm for the most part,” said Mrs Smith. “So what we felt as an authority, and this is one
of our main goals, is before or by October 1 is the construction of a community centre.hurricane shelter in Central Pines in Abaco and one in Grand Bahama. We want them in communities where people have full use of the buildings when a hurricane isn’t around but can be used as a community centre. “So we have Rotary International. We have Ernst & Young. We have Bahamas Hope. All of these three entities we’re talking about and collaborating on assisting us with the construction of these centres and hurricane shelters. “We want to start
construction October 1,” she also said. “That’s our plan. If everything falls in line then we’ll be able to do that. But we do not want to start anything until we know that we have 100 percent funding lined up for those two shelters.” Following Hurricane Dorian’s destruction, many in Abaco and Grand Bahama found themselves without homes. As a temporary housing solution, the National Emergency Management Agency budgeted $6.4m for temporary domes, with an estimated $4m committed to cost. The domes had been
perceived negatively but this has turned around. According to Wendell Grant II, project director with the DRA, the domes have been well received well in the community and officials have been unable to meet the demand for the structures. Mrs Smith said: “There were 250 domes purchased by NEMA because NEMA as the agency responsible for the early relief would have engaged in the purchases of these domes initially and the whole idea was to purchase at least 250 domes. “There was an idea also to set up some type of like
a community centre so to speak for the persons who would have been living in these domes and that they were going to put all in one central area. “After the hurricane we had some town meetings and people had heard of the domes, what the plan was initially about these domes being erected in one central area. They didn’t want that.” As a result 32 domes were placed in Spring City, Abaco. “But there was a lot of misconception because people thought that people who were not residents of Spring City were going to
be living in those domes. That was not the case so the 32 domes that are now in Spring City were made available to as many residents of Spring City first. There may be some persons who do not ordinarily live there but that’s because the response from others may not have happened at the time.” One hundred domes have also been erected on private properties and 40 domes will be placed in Grand Bahama for residents of High Rock, McLean’s Town, Pelican Point and a fewer number will be in the cays, Mrs Smith said.
TRIBUTES AS FRIENDS SAY FAREWELL TO THE SHARK WHISPERER By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net WELL-KNOWN shark researcher and diver Dr Erich Ritter died in his sleep last Friday at his Florida home. He was 61. On its Facebook page, SharkSchool, an environmental conservation organisation which he headed, announced his death on Saturday. “We are paralysed and in deep shock. Yesterday night our beloved friend
and shark activist Dr Erich Ritter passed away in his house in Florida,” the post read. “The shark whisperer, a tower of strength for the sharks. From the bottom of our hearts, that’s how we will remember him.” In the early 2000s, Dr Ritter famously survived a bull shark bite on his calf in The Bahamas. The incident was captured by Discovery Channel cameras while he and British TV presenter Nigel Marven were standing in shallow waters. The
two men were surrounded by sharks circling the shore. “These sharks could easily take you out so as long as you don’t move and you know if they realise you’re not a threat to them they couldn’t care less,” said Dr Ritter just before footage showed the attack. According to SharkSchool’s website, he had an interest in shark accidents and their causes and did much of his field research in the Northern Abacos at the Shark Education & Research Centre (SERC).
SharkSchool noted the organisation “teaches divers, snorkelers, rescue swimmers, and others how to interact with sharks, what to look for when entering the water, and most importantly, how to feel safe among sharks.” Tributes were posted to the shark expert on social media. “It is with a heavy heart I inform our diving community that Dr Erich Ritter passed away peacefully in his sleep two days ago at his home in Florida,” an Eleuthera resident wrote
on Facebook. “It is like someone reached into the shark diving community’s treasure chest of the seven seas and took (its) most valuable asset. Life is so fragile and to paraphrase Erich, ‘if we don’t stop the senseless slaughter of sharks in our oceans, the delicate ecological balance of the oceans will forever be destroyed and take the planet Earth with it.’ “A truly great man who dedicated his life to understanding sharks and promoting shark
conservation on a world wide basis; he will never be forgotten and hopefully many others will pick up his torch and carry on as he had always dreamed and spoke of others doing.” Dr Ritter had a Phd in behavioural ecology from the University of Zurich and was hailed as the world’s only professional applied shark-human interaction specialist. His main expertise was the body language of sharks, with a major interest in shark attacks and their causes.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 5
Lloyd says situation ‘fluid’ after concerns from union By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net MINISTER of Education Jeff Lloyd has responded to union assertions that teachers were blindsided by Monday’s announcement of a delay to the start of the school year. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Lloyd said while teachers have been a part of the ministry’s discussions on how to approach education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is a “fluid” one. On Tuesday, Bahamas Union of Teachers President Belinda Wilson told The Tribune she was blindsided by the announcement of an October 5 school start date. She added that her executive team had many questions about the Ministry of Education’s draft plan that were not answered. “What was obtained last week, week before last based again on what the competent authority and
health officials say, we have to make adjustments and as soon as those adjustments are confirmed and our internal assessment (is ready) we share them with our stakeholders for their feedback,” Mr Lloyd said when asked for a response. “We must go through what we must go through and the Ministry of Education in order to ensure we are ready and then we can participate with the wider community to say what is required, this is what we are being advised by the heath authority or this is what is being ordered by the competent authority. This is what we are considering, what do you think and they have an opportunity to come back. This is a dynamic situation - it’s fluid.” Meanwhile, Bahamas Educators Managerial Union President Stephen McPhee said his members are awaiting instructions and directives of how to carry out the relevant
TABLETS DONATED TO HELP CHILDREN THE Nassau chapter of The Links, Inc has donated 40 electronic tablets to help students in the COVID-19 era. The Links, a volunteer service organisation of women, presented the Ministry of Education with the devices along with keyboards, representing a $10,000 investment yesterday. “This is very good and this is what we need,” said Minister of Education Jeff Lloyd. procedures when schools reopen. He is concerned about Grand Bahama being allowed to reopen with face-to-face learning right away. He questioned the data behind allowing the island, which has the second largest number of COVID19 cases, to carry out this learning method next month. “Grand Bahama is
actually competing with New Providence for cases and so to the extent that I’m hearing that Grand Bahama can open up faceto-face and I’m seeing some other places that don’t even have the same concern is going virtual,” Mr McPhee said. “COVID-19 is honestly going to decide what happens at the end of the day and based on what we see
unless there is a major miracle by God we expect that there going to be changes as we all recognise it’s fluid. We don’t see the data that supports any face-to-face for any island, especially Grand Bahama given coming out of Dorian and given the challenges there. “We intend to engage the employer with some sort of dialogue concerning
greater explanation and the data that is supporting that Grand Bahama and one of the two other islands and others can open face-toface,” the union leader said. For his part, Mr Lloyd said an administrators conference was held this week while a teachers conclave is set for next week. He said teachers will be given support on how to instruct in a virtual environment and
‘TOUGHEN OVERSIGHT ON CRUISE INDUSTRY’ from page one
ships dumping in Bahamian waters. “There have been a number of incidents where cruise ships have dumped in our waters and we’ve done absolutely nothing about it in terms of getting them to pay for it,” he said. “In The Bahamas we have seven different private cruise ports and according to the Ministry of Tourism’s statistics, 75 percent of our tourists are cruise ship passengers, but they only account for 11 percent of the tourism revenue. With private cruise ports, the earnings for the host country is even less. So we would also like a ban on any more private cruise ports and absolutely, in terms of their general function moving forward, that they really need to clean up their act and do better.” The activist network introduced a set of global guidelines called the principles of responsible cruise tourism that they want companies to follow before cruise ships resume sailing. Those guidelines, in part, call for the cruise industry to create a safe, just, and equitable environment for workers on board and on shore by aligning with the strictest
labour and environmental standards in the world. The network also wants the industry to “stop contributing to climate change” by publicly committing to achieving zero emissions across the entire global fleet, including implementing slow-steaming protocols, halting LNG investments, and eliminating the use of heavy fuel oil globally and to stop polluting the air and water by leading the development of a universal shore power system, ceasing the use of scrubbers, and stopping the dumping of all waste near shore. They also want ships to reduce speeds near coasts to prevent whale strikes and avoid sonic disturbances to sensitive coastal and marine wildlife, stop development of private cruise destinations, and eliminate dumping of all plastic waste. Cruise ships have also been urged to notify passengers of the potential health risks of breathing ship exhaust, implement measures to control the spread of disease, and when an outbreak occurs, cease all travel immediately and provide real-time reporting of infectious diseases. The activists also wants
ships to institute policies and practices to protect passengers, including from sexual assault, and implement Man Overboard Detection technology. International Cruise Victims (ICV) is an organisation born almost 15 years ago by four families who lost relatives on a cruise vacation. They came together as a collective voice for those who have been victimized by the cruise industry. Jamie Barnett, head of ICV said, “We represent passengers and crew worldwide who have been victims of crime such as sexual assault, approximately 34 percent of those having been committed against minors is something the public really needs to be aware of, but the cruise lines doesn’t want you to be aware of. There have been unsolved disappearances, suspicious deaths, substandard medical care, fires, ships that run aground, murky jurisdictional and legal issues like ships sailing under flags of convenience, create. “We grew and went on to seek legislation for reform of the cruise industry. In 2010 our efforts were rewarded as the Cruise Vessels Security
and Safety Act was passed into law, providing the first steps in regulated passenger and crew protection. We’ve been terribly concerned over the fact the cruise industry, having been complicit in the spread of COVID-19, is going to try to sell the world some type of snake oil of certain safety protocol in order to return to sailing again. “Toward that end, we have written the two CEOs of cruise lines, and sent them registered letters, asking them for a seat at their panel
of experts table, supposedly hired to come up with satisfactory guidelines for re-sailing. So far, we have not heard back from them.” For her part, Mrs Duncombe referenced the unsuccessful fight from local activists to stop a cruise development in Eleuthera. “For the last two years, we have been actually working towards trying to get Disney Cruise Lines to go away from a beautiful spot in Eleuthera, The Bahamas which has been
proposed as a marine protected area,” Ms Duncombe said. “Disney submitted their EIA over eight months ago. . .we continue to remain in the dark over it. We would really like, going forward, that the government of The Bahamas undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment on the entire cruise industry in the country to determine whether or not we should move forward, if at all.” Disney submitted its EIA to the government last December for review.
PAGE 6, Thursday, September 3, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
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C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972-
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Violence in the home and no money in our pockets FOR a long time, there has been talk of the economic effects of COVID-19. For many Bahamians, it’s far more than just talk – it’s the reality today. A new report from the Inter-American Development Bank has highlighted the financial problems facing households, and more horrifyingly the increase in domestic violence. We are not surprised by the increase, though still shocked that people turn to harming the ones they live with. While this latest report confirms an increase of more than 11 percent compared with before the pandemic, the warning signs have been sounding ever since the lockdowns began. Back in March, women’s rights advocate Alicia Wallace warned that the curfew and restrictions on movement increased the risk of domestic violence, saying “Now being in a position where you are trapped in the house with the person who is abusing you, you have less ability to seek refuge.” She called for a domestic violence hotline, among other ways forward. By June, Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell confirmed his ministry was receiving increased reports of domestic and child abuse. His action plan was collaboration, with non-governmental organisations and the police. By July, it was on the radar of the Prime Minister’s wife, Patricia Minnis, who was taking part in a Caribbeanwide plan to tackle domestic violence with men and boys. Mrs Minnis said: “Women get the picture so we now have to look at who may be perpetrators of domestic violence.” She wanted to reach out to young girls to ensure they had necessary items during lockdown, while care packages were also to be delivered. All of these were steps on the way. We knew this rise in domestic violence was coming. Did we do enough about it? For those who are victims, how can they reach out when they need help most? More, for those at risk – and someone who has been a victim once will often be a victim again – what is being done to keep in touch and find ways of reducing the risk for victims? The report goes on to show how close to the financial edge many Bahamian homes were even before the pandemic. The added stress of wondering where your next meal is coming from – with five percent reportedly going to bed hungry – only exacerbates the risk of violence. We must look again at the support network we provide for those in need. This pandemic isn’t letting up any time soon. Whatever we say about dates for opening up the country, tourism will not be back to full strength until a vaccine has been found. The dangers inside our four walls will not go away either – even after that vaccine. At a time when the problem
is more prevalent than ever, now is the time to find a way to help. Women, particularly, find themselves facing the brunt of this violence. So let’s find a way to help our sisters in need. To help everyone in need.
Audit’s questions still unanswered
An audit from years gone by is still posing questions today. The audit has resurfaced after Dr Marvin Smith filed a lawsuit for defamation against the auditor’s findings. Dr Smith is in charge of the Public Hospital Authority’s Supplies Management Agency these days, but the audit by John Bain and his accounting firm goes back years, all the way to 2014. Mr Bain and his firm reported that Dr Smith “circumvented the tendering process” at the PHA by ordering “urgent” pharmaceutical supplies from what appeared to be a “shell company” that received its Pharmacy Council registration just three days before the deal occurred. Mr Bain characterised this as an “abuse of the tendering system”. Dr Smith, then deputy director of the Bahamas National Drug Agency, said this claim had damaged his reputation, and filed a lawsuit. That lawsuit has now been dismissed as “frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process”. So, where does that leave us now? An audit identified a concern, and the court case challenging the findings has now been thrown out. In the meantime, Dr Smith has been promoted to a position managing medical and surgical supplies. The company involved in the case seems to have had no physical address. Fuller details of the case can be found in today’s Tribune Business section, but in our own efforts to discover if any action was taken by officials over the report’s findings, it seems that the report was effectively shelved. The report also detailed fraud, wastage, inefficiency, a lack of accountability, employees accepting gifts from suppliers and more. Time has moved on – and many of the findings might no longer apply to sections of the health network, but might we suggest that the report is taken off the shelf. Dust it down. Find out what still applies, and hire a new auditor for where it no longer applies. We shouldn’t let time diminish findings of alleged fraud and waste that undermine our national institutions. Indeed, we should be eager to root out such problems. If we instead choose to leave it gathering dust on the shelf, can we really believe officials when they say they are determined to tackle such issues?
A job done EDITOR, The Tribune. YOU may recall my letter to The Tribune of 23/11/2018 on the topic of Eastern Cemetery Lane. I am delighted to share the content of an e-mail received this morning, from the Minister of Works, and my humble reply. Good morning Mr Raine: I write to thank you for your prolonged and sustained twelve year campaign to ensure that East Cemetery lane is restored. I wish to advise that with the help and guidance of both Mr Symonette and Minister D’Aguilar, Cabinet has now agreed to fully
restore and pave this historic road. We anticipate that a contractor will be mobilized in due course, and that before the end of 2020 you will be able to see the full restoration take place. My sincere thanks for your determination to take a principled stance, and to persist for so many years. Desmond Bannister” Good morning Minister Bannister. I am certainly delighted to hear this wonderful news, and thank you very much for it. May I also say that over the many years that I have communicated with your Ministry, on
one thing or another, you are the first and only Minister that has ever taken the time, or had the interest, to communicate with me. For that I am most appreciative, sir. It will indeed be a blessing to everyone driving in this section of town, to be able to go from East Bay Street to Shirley Street, without having to fight their way through the shopping centre, or drive all the way around Fort Montagu. I am indeed very much obliged to you. BRUCE G RAINE Nassau, September 2, 2020.
Students sent on a fool’s errand EDITOR, The Tribune. MINISTER of Education Jeff Lloyd’s announcement that schools on Grand Bahama will open “face to face” on October 5, while New Providence, Eleuthera and Abaco will resume classes virtually, is one of the most disappointing decisions that the Free National Movement (FNM) administration has made since the COVID19 outbreak in March. I feel as if Lloyd is sending Grand Bahamian students on a fool’s errand. It simply cannot work. The Ministry of Health’s repeated recommendation of social distancing will be virtually impossible to enforce in the public schools on Grand Bahama, as many, if not all, of them are grossly overcrowded. For example, at the Maurice Moore Primary School, at least two of the classes, I was informed, had upwards of 40 students prior to COVID-19. Furthermore, the issue of toddlers regularly washing their hands thoroughly will be downright difficult for the teachers to supervise, owing to the sheer number of students enrolled in the public schools, which will definitely see an increase of enrolments, due to thousands of Bahamians losing their jobs over the past five months. Lloyd’s decision underscores the fact that the FNM’s handling of the
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net COVID-19 pandemic has been scattershot at best. How is it that Eleuthera, with only six confirmed COVID-19 cases, as August 30, is allowed to take classes virtually, while Grand Bahama, with its 550 cases, is expected to physically attend classes? I am left to wonder who is advising the Minnis administration. if it is their objective to make this FNM administration look bad, they have accomplished their goal. The Minnis administration cannot naively expect all parents to follow proper COVID-19 safety protocols, as many of them view the public-school system as a free babysitting institution. I have heard true stories of students being sent to school running high temperatures. I recall on several occasions my kids coming home with unexplained rashes and ailments that they contracted from their sick classmates, who were sent to school by their irresponsible parents. We would then spend upwards of five or more hours at the Rand Memorial Hospital seeking medical attention. With the Rand in its current condition, it would be an utterly disastrous situation in the event there is a
COVID-19 outbreak in the schools. Who will then be held accountable if a Grand Bahamian student becomes gravely ill with COVID-19? The decision for Grand Bahama has led some to speculate that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is punishing Bahamians for the violent and vociferous push-back he received over his abrupt announcement of a seven-day lockdown for New Providence. It feels as if Grand Bahamians are being unfairly spanked for the unruly behaviour of Nassauvians. All throughout the lockdown process, Grand Bahamians, for the most part, have remained calm and poised, as opposed to their New Providence counterparts, some of whom took to Facebook to revile the Competent Authority immediately following his announcement. I am beseeching the Minnis administration to rethink its decision, as this could backfire in the worst possible way. Until a vaccine is discovered, Grand Bahamians would prefer their children doing classes through Facebook or Zoom. The face to face option is too risky at this juncture. KEVIN EVANS Freeport, Grand Bahama, September 1, 2020.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 7
Officers on false sick note charge from page one
MERCETTE PINDER
In the first case, Mercette Pinder, 26, appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt after he was accused of uttering a fake Princess Margaret Hospital sick certificate on November 24 and December 1 of 2018. Pinder was also accused of uttering another fraudulent sick slip on December 2 and 12 of that same year. The prosecution argued that the defendant received two sums of cash in the amounts of $693.84 and $867.30 from BDCS by means of false pretences on December 7, 2018. During the hearing, Pinder pleaded guilty to all of the charges brought against him. The prosecution said the commissioner of the prison reported the defendant submitted two sick certificates from the Public Hospital Authority on April 1, 2019, which he suspected were fraudulent. The court heard when he made preliminary checks with the PHA, the commissioner was told Pinder did not register at the hospital on the dates listed on the sick certificates. The
medical chief of staff also confirmed the signatures on the slips were not made by any doctors employed by the hospital. Pinder was subsequently arrested. In an interview with police, he denied the allegations and insisted he did visit PMH. Still, he admitted that he never saw a doctor and instead, got two sick slips from a nurse he knew as “Knowles” for $15 and $25. In the second case, Areyette Lightbourne, 25, appeared before Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt after he was accused of uttering a forged PMH sick certificate that was written in his name on May 11, 2019. He was further accused of uttering another fake sick certificate on June 12 that same year. Yesterday, the prosecution also alleged Lightbourne obtained two payments of $180.42 from the government sometime between May 8 and 10 of 2019 and June 9 and 11 of that same year. The court heard the commissioner of the prison also suspected the sick slips he received from Lightbourne were fraudulent. The prosecution said an investigation into the matter led police to PMH, where it was confirmed
Lightbourne did not register for any service on the dates listed on the sick slips. The court was told the signatures on the documents were not from any doctors working at the medical facility either. As a result of the investigation, Lightbourne was arrested. During an interview with police, he said he visited PMH on May 8, 2019 and attempted to seek medical attention for a stomach virus. He claimed while there, he became irritated with the poor service he received while trying to register and spoke to a nurse who noticed his frustration. The defendant claimed the nurse then took his information and returned with a sick certificate in his name. Lightbourne also said when he returned to PMH a second time for the stomach virus, the nurse recognised him from the prior incident and gave him another sick certificate. After listening to the summary of the facts for both Pinder and Lightbourne’s cases, Magistrate FergusonPratt adjourned the matter to today for sentencing. The officers were remanded to the BDCS overnight.
AREYETTE LIGHTBOURNE
MAN FINED $5,000 FOR ATTACKING GIRLFRIEND IN HER HOME By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 30-YEAR-OLD man who broke into his girlfriend’s house and assaulted her and the father of her children was fined nearly $5,000 yesterday. David Taylor was charged with one count of housebreaking and two counts of assault after he was accused of forcing his way into his girlfriend’s home and punching the woman and her children’s
father on August 30. The prosecution alleged Taylor also assaulted the woman with a handgun during the altercation that day. During the hearing before Magistrate Samuel McKinney yesterday, Taylor pleaded guilty to the first three charges, but denied assaulting the complainant with a firearm. The court heard the woman was at her residence around 7am when Taylor called her to ask if she was home. The prosecution said at the time, she told the
defendant she was not home, but he still came to her residence 15 minutes later. The court was told when Taylor got there, he broke the latch of the woman’s backdoor when he pulled it open. Once he entered the home, Taylor then approached the complainant and punched her in the face. The defendant then got into an altercation with the woman’s boyfriend and punched him as well. Being in fear of their lives, both complainants requested police action. Taylor was
TEENAGER ACCUSED OVER DRUGS AND AMMO By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A TEENAGER was remanded to prison over allegations he was found with a quantity of illegal drugs and ammunition which officials say he had plans to sell. Brad Sands, 18, was charged with marijuana
possession with the intent to supply after officers seized a quantity of Indian hemp from him on August 31. He was also charged with ammunition possession with the intent to supply after officers found 44 rounds of .380 ammunition on him that same day. The prosecution said the youngster also had 12 rounds of .45 ammunition
and eight rounds of .223 ammunition. Sands denied the allegations in a hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt and the matter was adjourned to December 2 for trial. The defendant was denied bail and remanded into custody until that time. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
$15K FINE FOR DRUGS AND FIREARM CHARGES BY DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net WELL-KNOWN Abaco resident Pericles Anthony Maillis was fined a total of $15,500 after pleading guilty to a list of charges for drugs and firearm possession in the Magistrate Court in Abaco on yesterday. Maillis appeared before Magistrate Ancella Evans in connection with the
discovery of a marijuana plot in Abaco. He pleaded guilty to the cultivation of dangerous drugs and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply. He was fined $3000 or 12 months imprisonment on each of the two charges. Maillis also pleaded guilty possession of an unlicenced rifle and was fined $1,000 or 12 months imprisonment. On the charge of possession of an unlicenced .38
revolver, he was fined $2,000 or 12 months imprisonment; on possession of an unlicenced rifle, he was fined $1,000 or 12 months imprisonment; and on possession of an unlicenced shotgun $1,500 or 12 months imprisonment. Maillis pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition with intent to supply, and was fined $3,000 or 12 months jail; and on possession of ammunition, he was fined $1,000 or 12 months imprisonment.
arrested a short time later. He denied the allegations in an interview with police. When given an opportunity to speak during the hearing, Taylor told the magistrate the woman was his girlfriend and she had asked him to come to her house that day. Taylor claimed when he pulled the house door open, he met the woman there with the father of her children and the two of them got into an argument. He said the woman got between them in an attempt to part the
fight. He also insisted he had been dating the complainant for three years and was asked to come to the house to bring her money to feed her kids. Taylor said the incident only transpired because he reacted in the heat of the moment when he saw her “baby daddy” in the home. After listening to the defendant’s explanation, Magistrate McKinney accepted his guilty pleas. Taylor was subsequently fined $3,500 or eight months in prison for house breaking and $1,000 or three months
in custody for assaulting his girlfriend and the father of her children. He was further ordered to compensate the female complaint $272 for damaging her door. Since Taylor denied assaulting the woman with a handgun, that matter was adjourned for trial on November 30. Due to the nature of the charge, Taylor was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
PAGE 8, Thursday, September 3, 2020
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THE TRIBUNE
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 9
The whole world’s changed and we need a brave new playbook to survive
THE late Monsignor Preston Moss sometimes admonished: “Just because you live in a small country, doesn’t mean that you have to have a small or narrow mind. Keep your world big.” payment systems and delivHis admonitions are even ery services? more relevant and urgent Over the next decade as the world and The Baha- or so, there will likely be mas are confronted by the fewer cashiers and checkjumble of uncertainties, out personnel at retail challenges and opportuni- stores. Customers will do ties of a post-COVID-19 self-check-out, mostly using world. Many Bahamians smart cards. Such basic are thinking small and in business transactions are narrow ways during the commonplace overseas and pandemic. have been in place in some Some journalists remain jurisdictions for nearly 20 saddled by gotcha thinking years. and fruitless commentary We might recall how long while some civil servants it took for Bahamas-based remain bogged down in banks to adopt ATMs, with early 20th century bureau- the Bank of The Bahamas cratic sinecures and lagging behind as usual. mindsets, with both groups Those businesses that incapable of the more successfully incorporate fruitful and hard work of delivery services may surthinking vive and and writ- ‘Many warned flourish. ing beyond Those that their intel- that colleges and do not may lectual universities were perish. culs-de-sac. playing a dangerous Many Others warned roulette with the are in that colchronic opening of campuses leges and negativity universiand in-person loops more ties were learning. Within concerned playing a about the weeks, COVID-19 dangerous silly and cases spiked on many roulette ultimately with the campuses, with non-conopening of sequential some being forced campuses Whatand in-perto close as students sApp or sonlearning. were also potentially Facebook Within screeds or acting as spreaders of weeks, arguments COVIDCOVID-19 in university of the day 19 cases towns and cities.’ than the spiked on extraordimany camnary social puses, with some being and economic challenges forced to close as students of the moment and of the were also potentially acting years ahead. as spreaders of COVIDThankfully, there are 19 in university towns and a number of Bahamians, cities. including some on the Because of the economic Government’s Economic model of higher educaRecovery Committee, who tion, including outsized are thinking innovatively tuitions, many institutions and boldly, reportedly reopened because they desoffering specific and work- perately needed massive able plans and ideas for cash inflows. How economic and structural will COVID-19 reform and diversification change their in a number of sectors. SOME businesses have economic and While there are emerging education adjusted better than othtrends presently and on the models? ers to a world of online horizon, few really know orders and curbside Because what the contours of the of the virus, pick-up. Pictured earlier new post-COVID-19 world we this year is Starbucks, are will look or feel like. The beginning to in Palmdale, offering a year 2020, with its ironic ref- see the cryscurbside service. work erence to perfect vision, is a tallisation of PHOTO: Shawn Hanna/ definitive marker even as 21st century plans Tribune Staff we are seeing through vari- technologies, for ous lenses slightly, darkly such as artificial employand often imperceptibly. ees, intelligence, nanoEasy assumptions on technology, electric and including economic, political and self-driving vehicles, robotworking from home, social affairs based on the ics and biotechnology. BP has agreed to sell this past will be anaemic and Some countries are shift- major office site. It will are likely to prove danger- ing quickly to the use of rent the building back ous. But there are whispers, robots to diminish the from the new owner for clues and emerging images spread of viruses, with two years before leaving on the horizon. robots delivering supplies permanently. COVID-19 is violently in hospitals and even more Last month, Singapore shaking the break with robots coming online in Trade and Industry Minthe 20th Century, and the manufacturing. ister Chan Chun Sing 21st Century is now more COVID-19 will likely stated that the country had determinedly in the saddle, have a death toll of millions recently experienced its forcing by example automa- when the true numbers are “worst quarterly perfortion and digitisation. known. Some businesses, mance on record”. This was This includes recalcitrant industries and ways of after the Singapore econholdouts like various gov- doing things will also pass omy contracted by 13.2 ernment services in The away. percent on a year-on-year Bahamas. Places like the The world of work, basis during the April to Ministry of Social Services including working from June quarter. are being forced into the home and remote locaFollowing this unprecnew digital era. Why are tions, has changed so edented and sharp certain NIB services often a dramatically within months downturn, Mr Chang nightmare to navigate? that some city centres are emphatically noted: “We deeply worried about what are not returning to a prethe loss of potentially tens COVID-19 world. … We of thousands of workers must chart a new direction We live in an often con- from some town centers now. … “To put things in conservative culture in the will mean for retail shops, areas of public policy and restaurants and other ser- text, this is our worst business, in which progress vices. How will mass transit quarterly performance on record. The forecast for is stymied by some politi- change? 2020 essentially means the cal leaders, mandarins and growth generated over the business elites afraid of past two to three years will changes they do not appreThere has been a dra- be negated. ciate nor understand. “The numbers reflect Why has it taken so long matic uptick in the demand for certain large food store for housing in the suburbs the impact of COVID-19, chains and retail hardware near major cities. The oil as well as deeper forces stores - owned by an older giant British Petroleum reshaping the global econgeneration of wealthy (BP) employs 6,500 work- omy and our position in the Bahamians - to fathom the ers in its St James Square global value chains.” Mr Chang emphasised: “We need for and the oppor- office place in London. Because of staff reduc- can expect recurring waves tunities offered by easily navigable online platforms, tions and more flexible of infection and disruption.
CONSERVATIVE
DRAMATIC
“New investments will come our way … some existing ones may also diversify away from Singapore. ... It is a fluid landscape and we must do everything we can to defend our capabilities and capacities.” The Minister indicated the nature of jobs is changing: “With remote work, more global job opportunities for our workers will come. But it also means that other workers, in other countries, can do our jobs from their homes.” He noted economic changes “will cause more societal frictions and tensions... We will need to better take care of those affected by job and business losses. “We have and will continue to do these in a sustainable way that is not divisive, affirm the dignity of work and strengthen our social fabric. These tensions, unless well managed, can divide our society.” His comments are a warning to countries everywhere, including The Bahamas. Though much of our economy is slowly reopening, there will be no significant recovery until tourism numbers return to a decent level. No one can predict when this will occur, including those who take self-serving political potshots from the sidelines. Though he too is unsure of specific timelines for the return of tourism, the life-
blood of our economy, a veteran tourism expert predicts an explosion in demand for smaller properties and Airbnb-type rentals. He believes many visitors will want to stay in smaller accommodations absent large crowds.
FORESIGHT
Early in the pandemic, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis presciently put in place an Economic Recovery Committee “to propose bold and specific plans” for the immediate to long-term economic recovery of the country. Those who proposed or shortsightedly argued that he mostly utilise the old National Development Plan did not understand the moment and appear still not to understand the enormity of the challenges ahead. While that Plan may have some elements that can be used today, the pandemic demands new and agile thinking for a novel and unprecedented time. If we are to succeed as a country in this new period, there is the need for massive structural reform on the order of what the first FNM governments achieved after years of stagnation, paralysis and failed leadership by a PLP more engrossed in corrupt practices than in good governance. In a new time, when the contours of change are
unclear, it is often best to pose questions about what might be on the horizon. By example, what might be some of the more progressive revenue and taxation measures needed for the country in order to secure more common goods and services for more Bahamians? In addition to the current gaming houses, is it time for a national lottery in which more of the proceeds benefit Bahamians, especially poorer Bahamians? The current system is an endless windfall that transfers money from the poor to the very wealthy. Gaming’s legalisation under a former PLP Government was one of the greatest betrayals of the poor in Bahamian history, serving the rapacious greed of some cosseted interests. When will The Bahamas begin to put in place the legislation and other measures that will promote an inclusive cannabis industry as well as other new industries? No matter our state of readiness, a new world is emerging requiring bold leadership and a willingness to embark on wide scale and imaginative structural change beyond the narrow confines of a past that COVID-19 is destroying, often with a rapidity and a forcefulness few could have fathomed at the beginning of 2020.
PAGE 10, Thursday, September 3, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Angry voices still rage but there are signs that change is slowly coming TWELVE years ago, America elected its first black President. But while most of the country felt good about this and celebrated what seemed to be an important turning point in the country’s often-tortured relationship between its black and white (and “brown” and “yellow” and “red”) citizens, other issues mostly dominated the news. Even in that seminal, pivotal, magical 2008 moment, it didn’t seem like every single thing was about race. Now, however, goaded by a President who appears determined to represent only nativist intolerance in an increasingly desperate re-election bid, it does actually seem like almost every single political, economic, social or even sports event has a racial aspect and that each such event must somehow be examined through a racial lens. There’s no question that there was a lot of dry racial tinder in the fabric of American society, and that the callous execution by city police officers of George Floyd at the end of May in Minneapolis ignited a conflagration that was long building and, in many minds, overdue. There’s also no question that economic inequality in American society often describes a fault line that separates black and white citizens in particular. Nor is there much lingering doubt that Trump is more an effect in his policy of racial division than a cause. America has some racial issues to resolve. But still. There are other issues the US faces in this critical election year. How about the deteriorating condition of its roads, bridges and commercial waterways? How about its public health posture and policies? How about the state of a public education system that seems to be limiting rather than enhancing the possibilities for primary and secondary students? How about the nation’s legendary scientific innovation that could potentially stimulate so much new growth and lead to employment opportunities for new graduates? Climate change, anyone? There’s a much longer list of America’s ills that is not substantially defined by its racial component. And yet, it appears the media and the public have lost sight of that list. Cities seem to be burning on national TV every night. Police are still shooting black men. Violent protesters are still provoking conflicts that continue to breathe life into
STATESIDE
CHADWICK BOSEMAN, above, and John Thompson II, below, who both died in the past week.
with Charlie Harper
Trump’s flagging hope to scare America into choosing him again. All this will initially make it harder for the next President and Congress to focus on the nation’s other priorities. There is one undeniable positive of this increasing focus on race, however. That is the much broader acceptance of the basic principle that Black Lives do Matter. Thus, when congressional giants Elijah Cummings and John Lewis passed away, their funerals and eulogies were given front-page treatment. This was not always the case. And when actor Chadwick Boseman passed away last week of a wellconcealed cancer at age 43, he received the kind of star treatment previously mostly reserved for white movie celebrities. And especially since he portrayed such diverse and brilliant figures as baseball’s Jackie Robinson and music’s James Brown, Boseman in death reminds all Americans of those transcendent figures who changed their nation’s society. Boseman also played
the Black Panther, the first black superhero fully sanctioned by the Hollywood studio machine that traditionally glorifies white ones. The 2018 movie “Black Panther” absolutely took the US and the world by storm. It grossed over one billion dollars. Most Americans below retirement age who saw it were dazzled. That Boseman handled his business, including his fatal illness, with dignity only magnified his influence, which is likely to grow over the years. Now, yet another black titan has died. This man would almost certainly have been celebrated in the media under any circumstances. This black life mattered. A lot. John Thompson II was 78 when he passed earlier this week. “Big John” Thompson was the first black coach to win a national collegiate basketball title, at a smallish Catholic school that would never have dreamed of such a thing, not in 100 years, without him. He elevated an athletic conference from a little regional league to national power. And all the while, Big John never let anyone forget that he was
black, proud of it and would defiantly and loudly resist any attempt to put him or his team down for it. When Big John took over as the head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown University in Washington DC in 1972, even committed college hoops fans had neither heard of this local high school coach nor associated Georgetown with any particular kind of athletic excellence except in track and field. That futility would soon change. In his third season, 1974–75, Thompson led the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 32 years. They would make 19 more trips under Thompson. When Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing played there in the mid-1980s, Georgetown was arguably the best basketball programme in America. The Hoyas won the national championship in 1984, and could have won two others. They lost one national title game by one point - when North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan made the winning shot. They lost another championship game by two points to a Villanova team
that made a historic, phenomenal 79 percent of its shots. In addition to transforming his college programme, Hall of Fame coach Thompson also made sure his Georgetown players got their degree. Over 90 percent of his players reportedly did so. He also put Georgetown University on the map. Before Thompson’s arrival, the school was just another of many largely Eastern, private parochial colleges with no football programme and inconsistent basketball records. Led by Big John, a bunch of these schools were able
to band together, form the still-formidable Big East Conference, play their post-season tournaments at Madison Square Garden in New York, and enjoy lucrative TV deals. Overall, applications to the school have surged ever since Thompson arrived to lead the way to national prominence. Incidentally, Thompson the player was for many years the back-up centre on pro basketball’s greatest dynasty, the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and 1960s. The man ahead of him on the roster was every expert’s all-time NBA centre, Bill Russell.
BROKEN PROMISES AS WE ENTER ELECTION COUNTDOWN TWO of President Trump’s most-frequently cited accomplishments are his development and stewardship of the “greatest economy the world has ever known” and his faithful allegiance to his campaign promises. How’s that working out? Well, he did preside over an economy that featured low unemployment, low home mortgage interest rates, better than average
job creation, disproportionate tax cuts and spectacular gains in the big stock markets. Whether the COVID-19 pandemic simply hastened an inevitable economic adjustment or torpedoed Trump’s whole glorious economy is hard to determine at this point. But things aren’t very good now in the US, and they aren’t very good in The Bahamas, and those two facts are of
course intimately related. We must all hope the American economy gets back on track and stays on track - and soon. US economic growth under Trump peaked in 2018 at 3 percent. This was followed last year by a fairly pedestrian 2.2 percent. This year? What do you think? Not good so far. As for campaign promises, Trump has tried to build his southern wall
along the Mexican border. He has illegally shifted appropriated funds in an effort to circumvent Congress to do this. But the wall is not complete, and contrary to his campaign promise, the Mexican government still hasn’t paid a dime for his wall. The wall is typical of some other unrealistic or even undesirable promises. But perhaps the most appalling is Trump’s boast
that he would eliminate the US national debt during his two terms in office. Under Trump before the coronavirus, the American national debt actually rose by $3.1 trillion from 2016 through 2019, in part because the 2017 Trump tax cuts slashed revenue coming into the Treasury. So far this year, the US national debt has increased by another $2.5 trillion, due to high unemployment,
further cuts in government revenue and trillions in new stimulus spending. The national debt has expanded more under Trump than under any post-Second World War President. A key question for most voters in any election is “Are you better off now than before this President took office?” As things stand now, Trump has to be concerned about the answer.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 11
LAWSUIT SEEKS TO BAN KANYE WEST FROM ARIZONA BALLOT
By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press
JERRY PEDERSEN, 95, holds a letter he sent to his family from aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept 2, 1945 while watching a livestream ceremony at his son’s home in West Sacramento, Calif. He was among the American soldiers on the ship when US and Japanese officials signed papers that officially ended the Second World War 75 years ago. Pedersen, and his surviving comrades who live on the mainland watched a livestream of the event from their homes instead of seeing it in person on the ship as they had planned. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WWII IS MOSTLY VIRTUAL AMID VIRUS By CALEB JONES Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) — When Japanese military leaders climbed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, the battleship was packed with U.S. sailors eager to see the end of World War II. On Wednesday, the 75th anniversary of the surrender, some of those same men who served the United States weren’t able to return to the Missouri in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor because of the world’s new war against the coronavirus. The commemoration initially was supposed to be a blockbuster event with parades, movie premieres, galas and thousands of people honouring the veterans in their 90s or beyond, some who may be marking the milestone for the last time. Because of the threat of the virus, the ceremony was scaled down to about 50 people, with local veterans and government officials gathering on the USS Missouri in masks. The names were read of surviving WWII veterans, including 14 who were on the ship the day the Japanese surrendered. Jerry Pedersen, 95, was one of them, watching history unfold as a young Marine. He and his comrades who live in the mainland U.S. had to watch a livestream of the ceremony from home instead of on the decks of the battleship as planned. “Well, I was very disappointed, yes. I was hoping to maybe see a friend or two,” he said. “I just want to share with at least my family and a couple of other folks some of the feelings that I was going to express when I got there.” Those feelings are complicated, said Pedersen, who dedicated his life to peace after the war ended. “War must not happen again,” he said, recalling the words uttered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur on the day the Japanese surrendered. But “we’re still oscillating on many of the things that are necessary to bring us peace.” Pedersen wore a blue Marine uniform recently sent to him for the ceremony as he watched the event from a laptop at his son’s house in rural West Sacramento, California. His three adult children, their spouses and some grandchildren gathered around the computer, clapping and hooting when his name was called. Pedersen smiled and gave a fist pump. “For me, it was the end of the killing, the war that had
IN this Sept. 2, 1945, file photo, servicemen, reporters, and photographers perch on the USS Missouri for the onboard ceremony in Tokyo, in which Japan surrendered, ending World War II. (AP Photo, File) taken millions of soldiers and many, many, many millions of civilians in wars in Europe and finally in the Pacific that came to an end that day. And we were celebrating,” he told The Associated Press. “I had the feeling that day. I made a pact with myself that I’m going to be a peacemaker in my life,” said Pedersen, who went to college after the war, got his doctorate and became a minister. He watched remotely as WWII-era “warbirds” flew over Pearl Harbor and video messages played from veterans and others in a tribute to those who couldn’t attend or had passed away. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he was honoured to “commemorate and reflect on the sacrifices and victories of our service members and allies who helped fight for and secure peace.” At the end of his keynote address, he built a case for a strong military for the future. “We honour the legacy of those who came before us and recommit ourselves to defending today’s international rules and norms so that the road is safer and is better for generations yet to come,” Esper said. “The United States’ commitment to the role today is the same one we made to the
freedom-loving people of the world in 1941 — that we will remain ready to fight any foe and defend any friend.” The U.S. entered the war after Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Thousands of service members were killed and wounded, about half of them dying on the USS Arizona, which still sits submerged in Pearl Harbor next to the USS Missouri Memorial, a floating museum. Four years later, after massive losses on both sides that included the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese indicated they would surrender on Aug. 15, then met with Allied forces aboard the Missouri on Sept. 2 to sign the Instrument of Surrender. Hawaii Gov. David Ige said the country can learn from WWII veterans about targeting the problems of our time. “Some compare fighting a pandemic akin to fighting a global war,” Ige said. “What I do know is that we cannot go wrong in following their example in the face of any adversity. “Their courage under fire, strength of character, resilience over time provides a clear roadmap for us to follow in all that we do, whether we are fighting a social injustice or a virus.”
The rapper and music producer announced his intention to run for president on July 4 and faces a deadline late Friday afternoon in PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona resident has Arizona for turning in more than 39,000 valid asked a judge to bar Kanye West from appear- signatures to appear on the ballot. ing on Arizona’s Nov. 3 ballot, accusing the A Maricopa County judge is scheduled hip hop artist of serving as an election spoiler to hear arguments in the legal challenge on and arguing that a law prohibits him from run- Thursday afternoon. ning in the state as an independent presidential Attorney Tim LaSota, who represents West candidate. in the Arizona challenge, described the Lawyers for Rasean Clayton said in lawsuit as a “last-ditch effort on the a lawsuit filed Monday that independeve of the (signature filing deadline) to ent presidential candidates can appear deprive voters of a choice.” on Arizona’s ballot if they aren’t regisLaSota brushed aside criticism that tered with a recognised political party West is trying to be a spoiler aimed and gather enough voter signatures to at hurting Democratic nominee Joe nominate them. But Clayton’s lawyers Biden’s chances in Arizona. “That’s say West, who has dozens of workers just political hyperbole,” LaSota said. gathering petition signatures in Ari“I don’t want to get into the politics of zona, isn’t qualified to be on the ballot KANYE WEST it. But obviously I think there is a lot because he’s a registered Republican. to be achieved by someone else running Even if West were able to gather enough for president.” signatures, the lawsuit said the hip hop artist’s Clayton’s attorneys said the lawsuit must be late-in-the-game candidacy would make no dif- resolved quickly because the deadline for Ariference to his chances of winning the race. zona’s ballots will be printed on Sept. 8 and 9. “West will not be able to qualify for the In a statement, Clayton described himself as ballot in enough states to muster enough elec- a Navy veteran who cares about the November toral votes to prevail,” Clayton’s lawyers wrote. election. “West’s minimal interest in playing a spoiler “I filed this case because I don’t want people candidate on Arizona’s ballot is not enough to get confused voting on ballots that have disto outweigh the factors favouring emergency qualified people listed with everyone else who relief.” followed the law,” Clayton said. West has already qualified to appear on the It’s unclear if Clayton has any connections ballot in several states, including Arkansas, to the Arizona Democratic Party, which didn’t Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee and Utah. return a call Wednesday seeking comment.
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NOTICE Legal Requirement to Engage Bahamian Firms in Real Estate Transactions The Bahamas Real Estate Association wishes to advise the public the Bahamas Real Estate Act 1995 requires that all real estate transactions involving brokers or agents including the sale or purchase of developed or undeveloped property, private islands and cays, commercial leases, resort development or appraisals of same in The Bahamas, must include the participation of a Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) licensed member. This notice is not intended to discourage non-Bahamian agents, brokers or firms, but simply to remind those who represent sellers, introduce prospective buyers or engage in appraisals, that they are required by law to do so in cooperation with a BREA-registered firm, or face a penalty as stipulated in the Regulations. BREA recognizes the value that others bring and acknowledges the role of non-Bahamians who have global contacts. BREA-licensed members are qualified and professional having passed internationally recognized courses and exams required by the US-based National Association of Realtors (NAR). BREA members adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Many hold certifications recognized throughout the world, including Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) and CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) designations. The 700+-member association looks forward to working with each and every professional who shares a love of The Bahamas and a respect for our laws. For further information and a listing of all members, please visit www.bahamasrealestate.com.
SPORTS PAGE 15
US OPEN, PAGE 17
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
Rockets edge Thunder, move on to face Lakers
Jasrado gets first start in the majors By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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HOUSTON Rockets’ James Harden (13) makes a pass during the second half of an NBA first-round playoff basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Lake Buena Vista, Florida last night. He made up for a miserable shooting night with a big blocked shot, Russell Westbrook scored 20 points against his former team and the Rockets edged the Thunder 104-102 in Game 7 of the first-round series. (AP Photo/Mark J Terrill) SEE FULL STORY ON PAGE 18
REBELS RETURN TO PRACTICE By RENALDO DORSETT complaining. These kids Tribune Sports Reporter haven’t complained once rdorsett@tribunemedia.net about anything. They’re just really grateful to have DESPITE the uncer- a place to come and do tainty of NCAA something that they love.” basketball, this winter, There were no player Ole Miss Women’s Bas- lounges or locker rooms ketball head coach Yolett and open spaces were McPhee-McCuin made converted for multi-functhe most of the oppor- tional purposes. tunity to get her team Team meetings took prepared during summer place via Zoom. Playworkouts and to adjust ers and coaches all wore to the “new normal” of masks. sports amid COVID-19. “It’s been tough but The Rebels returned they really want to play to practice this summer and they really want at the Touhey Center in to compete,” McPheeOxford, Mississippi with McCuin said. “There new pandemic protocols haven’t been a lot of in place. complaints, really just “To say that they’re get- reminders. ‘Hey pull your ting a D1 experience as masks up.’ Stuff like that, athletes, as far as ameni- but that’s something we’ve ties are concerned, they’re all had to adjust to.” not,” she told Sports Illustrated. “But we’re not SEE PAGE 17
ne night after his Major League Baseball debut, Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm got the first big league start of his young career for the Miami Marlins. Filling in at shortstop for an injured Miguel Rojas, Chisholm went 0-4 in the Marlins’ 2-1 loss in their second game against the Toronto Blue Jays in as many nights at Marlins Stadium in Miami, Florida. Defensively, Chisholm saw action early in the first inning when he threw out Jonathan Villar attempting to stretch a single into a double to retire the side. He caught a pop fly to retire Cavan Biggio in the eighth and had a busy ninth when he fielded a pair of groundballs, one to throw out Villar at first and the other an error in an attempt to throw out Teoscar Hernandez. At the plate, he struck out on four pitches in his first at bat, the final a curveball on the outside corner to end the inning with runners on second and third. In the fifth, Chisholm lined out to centrefield and in the seventh, he lined out to right field on a 2-2 count in his third plate appearance. In his final at bat, he flied out to centrefield in the bottom of the ninth. The Marlins dropped to 16-16 and face the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow night at 6:40pm. Chisholm made his historic debut Tuesday night in the first game of a back-toback against the Blue Jays at Marlins Stadium. The Marlins won 3-2. The 22-year-old made his major league debut as a defensive substitute in the top of the eighth inning for shortstop Miguel Rojas, who left the game because of a sore abdomen. Rojas is listed as day-today on the team’s official injury report. On the very first pitch he saw defensively, Biggio hit
MIAMI Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm is shown during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, September 1 in Miami. INSET - Chisholm chats with Jon Berti. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) a line drive shot directly to Chisholm who fielded it for his first MLB out. “Not the hardest line drive I’ve ever caught but it did slow the game down a lot more after that first pitch came at me,” he said. Primarily a shortstop throughout his career, Chisholm will reportedly see time at secondbase in the big leagues playing alongside Rojas once he returns from injury. “I got plenty of work done [at the alternate training site] in Jupiter at secondbase and they told me I had a chance to play it. We’ve been working on second and short everyday,
just getting better and I feel we put in enough work to get it done. I feel comfortable at either position. You can put me anywhere on the field, anywhere in the lineup and I’ll be comfortable.” Chisholm said he has taken to the Marlins’ family atmosphere, everyone from part owner and Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter to the players in the clubhouse. “We had a small talk, it was really just him telling me to keep working hard, trusting the process and getting my work done everyday,” Chisholm said of his recent conversations with
Jeter. “Everyone has taken me under their wing as best as they can to help me fit in and feel wanted here and to keep going with everything in our family atmosphere. We are going to win as a family, we are going to lose as a family and I’m very excited to be here for that reason because they treat everything as family.” Chisholm was set to make his 2020 debut in AAA baseball with the Wichita Wind Surge of the Pacific Coast League. He spent spring training and summer camp with the main squad after he
SEE PAGE 18
Rodgers to seek another four-year term in office By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net SAM Rodgers, who stepped up and took over the reigns of the Bahamas Baseball Association in 2016, said he was delighted to step in and steer the sport in the right direction. Rodgers will be seeking another four-year term in office when the BBA holds its virtual annual general meeting and election of officers on Monday, September 28 that will be overseen by Shane Albury an Bertie Murray Jr. All nominations must be submitted to Albury by WhatsApp 552-0653 or email Shanealbury@ gmail.com or Murray Jr at WhatsApp 424-1549 or email Bertram.Murray@ heineken.com by Friday, September 18 at 5pm. On Monday, September 21, a list of the nominated persons will be sent out to all leagues. According to Rodgers, so far there are only three leagues who are eligible to vote in the elections,
BAHAMAS BASEBALL ASSOCIATION TO HOLD VIRTUAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS ON SEPTEMBER 28 inclusive of Grand Bahama Baseball League, Freedom Farm and the Junior Baseball League of Nassau. “We’re not sure about Central Andros. “We are just waiting on some documents from them to see if they fit the criteria in the constitution to be eligible to vote,” Rodgers said. “There is a criteria in the constitution that states whether or not you are eligible to vote.” Grand Bahama and both Freedom Farm and JBLN out of New Providence have met the criteria with the required amount of players, coaches and officials, in order to be eligible to vote under the constitution. “I don’t think it would affect the elections because I’ve spoken to all of the members already and they understand the constitution and they agreed to it from last year,” Rodgers said.
With the new term running through 2024, Rodgers said he will have his name in the hat for the post of president, but he has not yet completed his slate of officers to run with him. In the meantime, he said he doesn’t know if anybody would be challenging him, even though there were a lot of people who were eager to run for office prior to him taking over from the late Jim Wood four years ago. “As far as I know, we don’t have any division within the BBA,” said Rodgers for his decision to continue on as president. “All of the leagues have decided to abide by the rules and regulations of the BBA. “So as far as I know, there is no division within the BBA in the Baahamas. Everybody understands what we are trying to achieve. A lot of people
SAM RODGERS have their thoughts about what could be done, but in order to make change within the organisation, you have to be involved on the inside to make the changes.” Prior to taking over as the president, Rodgers served under Wood, who was criticised by many for heading the top body in the sport in the country, but the BBA at the time didn’t have any members. Both Freedom Farm and JBLN as well as leagues in Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Abaco, Inagua, Bimini and Andros were formed, but not all of them were a part of the BBA. Subsequently, the Bahamas Baseball Federation
was formed by Greg Burrows and included Craig ‘Salty’ Kemp and Theodore Sweeting, which helped to provide an umbrella for most of the leagues to play together with the implementation of the National Baseball Championships that was played annually in Grand Bahama. During that time, the Bahamas also produced a number of players who either left to continue high school and onto college or got to sign contracts through their affiliation with the MaxD and IElite programmes, which involved former players like Geron Sands, Greg Burrows Jr, Albert Cartwright and Antoan Richardson, now the first base coach with the San Francisco Giants in his post career as the sixth Bahamian to play in the Major League. Additionally, Burrows and Cartwright played significant roles in Bahamian players almost completing the entire starting roster for Great Britain as they were joined by Ali Knowles, Jasrado Chisholm, Kyle
Simmons, Todd Isaacs, Reshard Munroe, Byron Murray and Champ Stuart for the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier in Brooklyn, New York. The players had to play for Great Britain as the Bahamas was not eligible to compete in the tournament on its own. While the federation boasted of having the majority of the players, the association still held the international sanctioning rights, forcing a compromise between the two bodies when Rodgers stepped up to take over the reigns from Wood. Now, these elections could be one of the critical held in the history of the sport as it seeks to cement the return of all of the sporting leagues and associations together again. The new administration, when elected, will have a chance to utilise the new national baseball stadium, which is being built by the Government of the Bahamas with a projected target to be completed at the end of the year.
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DUVALL HITS 3 HRS, BRAVES BEAT RED SOX 7-5 TO FINISH SWEEP BOSTON (AP) — Adam Duvall hit three home runs a night after teammate Marcell Ozuna become the first NL player ever to hit three homers in Fenway Park, and the Eastleading Atlanta Braves beat the stumbling Boston Red Sox 7-5 last night to complete a three-game sweep. Duvall hit a pair of tworun shots over the Green Monster and a solo blast to center for his five RBIs. Ozuna added a long, tiebreaking solo drive for the Braves, who entered the three-game set 0-12-3 in their last 15 series against the Red Sox. It was Atlanta’s first sweep in Boston since capturing a three-game set in 2002. Freddie Freeman had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. INDIANS 5, ROYALS 0 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Triston McKenzie tossed six innings of threehit ball to celebrate his 23rd birthday, and Tyler Naquin hit a pair of homers for the only runs of the game to lead Cleveland. McKenzie (2-0) needed just 81 pitches thanks to six strikeouts, no walks and some slick defense behind him. His bullpen went the rest of the way, holding the Royals without a hit over the final three innings. Naquin’s first homer was a two-run shot off Jakob Junis (0-1) in the second inning. Naquin then provided his relievers with some muchneeded breathing room by adding a three-run homer off Scott Barlow in the ninth.
ASTROS 2, RANGERS 1 HOUSTON (AP) — Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer early to back up a strong start from rookie Cristian Javier and Houston held on to beat Texas. Brantley, who had a three-run shot in a loss on Tuesday night, connected off Kolby Allard (0-4) with one out in the first on his homer to the seats in right field to give the Astros an early lead. Allard shut the Astros down after that, but with Javier’s pitching performance it was enough for Houston to hold on for the win. BLUE JAYS 2, MARLINS 1 MIAMI (AP) — Lourdes Gurriel homered and Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six solid innings to lead Toronto. After Miami’s Sixto Sanchez got through the first four innings on 43 pitches, Gurriel snapped the rookie right-hander’s 11-inning scoreless string with a two-run shot for a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Ryu (3-1) allowed one run and six hits, walked two and matched a season high with eight strikeouts. REDS 4, CARDINALS 3 CINCINNATI (AP) — Joey Votto’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Shogo Akiyama with the winning run for Cincinnati. Facing Giovanny Gallegos (1-1), Akiyama and Curt Casali walked with one out and Votto delivered a sharp line drive to right to send Akiyama sliding across the plate and
extend his hitting streak to six games. PHILLIES 3, NATIONALS 0 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler tossed three-hit ball over 6 2/3 innings to outpitch Max Scherzer, Jay Bruce hit a solo homer and Philadelphia beat Washington. Neil Walker was 3 for 3 with two RBIs for the Phillies, who’ve won eight of nine and three in a row to go two games over .500 for the first time since they were 79-77 last Sept. 24. METS 9, ORIOLES 4 BALTIMORE (AP) — Michael Conforto went 4 for 5 with a homer and five RBIs, Pete Alonso hit a lengthy solo shot and New York snapped a five-game losing streak. Conforto matched his career high in hits with a two-run homer in the first inning, RBI doubles in the fifth and seventh, and a runscoring single in the eighth. His first double made it 3-2, and the Mets padded the advantage as part of a 14-hit attack. RAYS 5, YANKEES 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Brosseau got some revenge against the New York Yankees, hitting two home runs as the Tampa Bay Rays topped their AL East rivals again. A night after Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman threw a 101 mph fastball over his head, Brosseau posted his second career multi-homer game and the first-place Rays ended the season series with an 8-2 edge.
THE PACK rides during the fifth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 183 kilometres (114 miles), with start in Gap and finish in Privas, yesterday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
ALAPHILIPPE STRIPPED OF YELLOW JERSEY BY TOUR DE FRANCE JURY PRIVAS, France (AP) — Julian Alaphilippe’s ride in the yellow jersey is over, and his rivals had nothing to do with it. The Tour de France leader was stripped of the coveted shirt yesterday after being handed a time penalty for illegally receiving provisions near the end of Stage 5, which had been largely uneventful until then. British rider Adam Yates was moved up to first place in the revised general standings after Alaphilippe was docked 20 seconds. “I don’t think any rider would want to take the jersey like this,” Yates said. “I just found out. Nobody wants to take a jersey like this.” Only minutes after versatile Belgian rider Wout van Aert won the stage in a sprint finish, TV footage showed Alaphilippe grabbing a bottle from a staff member of his DeceuninckQuick Step squad about 18 kilometres (11 miles) from the finish. Under racing rules, riders are not allowed to receive provisions — either drinks or food — during the final 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) of a stage. Deceuninck-Quick Step did not immediately explain why the staff member was posted inside that zone and why he handed out the bottle to the French rider. Cycling’s governing body, the UCI, said in a statement that two other riders, Sepp Kuss and Carlos Verona, were also penalised 20 seconds for the same offence. “The absence of feeding in the last 20 kilometres is a rule that the teams are familiar with and that prevents that the feeding doesn’t disturb the race at the entrance of the last kilometres,” the UCI said.
Alaphilippe’s teammate Dries Devenyns said the jury’s decision was harsh. “There is no time gain in taking a bottle from the side of the road,” he wrote on Twitter. Yates now tops the standings with a three-second lead over Primoz Roglic. Tadej Pogacar, another Slovenian rider, stands third, four seconds further back. Alaphilippe dropped to 16th overall, 16 seconds behind the new leader. Alaphilippe waived to the crowd as he left the finish area without the race leader’s jersey he had worn for the last three stages. “It was a very long and very boring stage, with a very nervous finale. I had to stay concentrated to defend the jersey,” said the Frenchman, who is not seen as a contender for the overall victory. “But if that’s how it is, then no worries, tomorrow I’ll pick myself up and we won’t talk about it anymore.” The jury’s decision overshadowed Van Aert’s second career stage win at cycling’s marquee event, a day after he produced a tremendous effort in the Alps in support of Roglic, his Jumbo Visma team leader. Van Aert used his power in the slight uphill finish to win by half a wheel ahead of Cees Bol and Sam Bennett. “It was a heavy finish. It was maybe the most easy stage I ever did in a cycling race because there was no breakaway, not a high pace at all, but then the last hour was really hectic with the wind,” Van Aert said. The Belgian abandoned the Tour last year with a serious leg injury that kept him sidelined for several months. But the three-time cyclocross world champion has
been in superb form since the cycling season resumed last month, posting victories at the Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, as well as a stage win at the Criterium du Dauphine. A humble rider regarded as a future great, Van Aert will now return to his “domestique” role, as a support rider for Roglic and other teammates. “With a lot of happiness,” he said. Sandwiched between the race’s first summit finish in the Alps and today’s tough climb up Mont Aigoual, the 183-kilometre stage through the Drome Provencale region gave the peloton a chance to relax a bit. The stage started from Gap at a moderate pace under a bright sunshine, with riders talking to each other inside the peloton as they gently rode toward Privas, the French town famous for its chestnut cream. French hope Thibaut Pinot, who crashed heavily during the opening stage last week, made the most of the pedestrian tempo to have his shoulder checked by the race doctor, then returned inside the pack without problem. The strong headwinds deterred attacks and the race only heated up with 35 kilometres left when the big teams moved forward and jostled for position at the front to make sure they did not get caught in crosswinds. Kuss, an American riding in support of Roglic, crashed in the peloton but was able to resume racing and did not lose time. The Tour, which was postponed from its usual July slot due to the coronavirus, ends in Paris on September 20.
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‘Didn’t play good’: No. 1 Pliskova won’t dissect loss at the US Open By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Under normal circumstances, Karolina Pliskova would not have been seeded No. 1 at the US Open and so, while a second-round loss certainly would have been disappointing to her, and noticed by others, it wouldn’t have been as newsworthy. But what’s normal in 2020? With the women who are 1-2 in the rankings choosing to skip the trip to Flushing Meadows because of the pandemic, No. 3 Pliskova ascended to the top spot in the draw -- and by Day 3, she was gone. Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up at the US Open, made her mood clear during a 6-1, 7-6 (2) loss to 50th-ranked Caroline Garcia yesterday by throwing a racket, then again afterward with a series of clipped responses at her news conference. Pliskova fidgeted with the microphone. Sighed. Shrugged her shoulders. Rolled her eyes. When a reporter offered possible explanations for the defeat -- a new, faster surface on the courts, a lack of atmosphere because there are no spectators, the pressure of her high seeding -- Pliskova replied: “Nothing from what you said.” Her reasoning for the result? “I didn’t play good,” Pliksova said, “so that’s it.” When another member of the media said this backand-forth must be boring to Pliskova, she said, “Yeah, a little bit. Did you see the match or no?” and soon after remarked, “I don’t know if you understand tennis well enough.”
After a first round that went more to form than ever -- 29 of 32 seeded women won their opening matches, a US Open record since the number of seeds was doubled from 16 in 2001 -- the surprises started in the second round. Three Americans turned in upsets of seeded women. Shelby Rogers, ranked 93rd, beat 11th-seeded Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-1; Ann Li, who is ranked 128th, topped 13th-seeded Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3 in a matchup between two players from Pennsylvania; and Madison Brengle, ranked 84th, took out 19th-seeded Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-3. Other winners yesterday included No. 5 Alexander Zverev and No. 7 Davis Goffin, while No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas was scheduled to play at night, heading into Arthur Ashe Stadium after two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka’s 6-1, 6-2 win against Camila Giorgi. The only complication for the fourth-seeded Osaka was the attempted on-court video call with her mother, Tamaki, afterward. “Hi! What are you doing?” Osaka said. The audio connection wasn’t great, and Osaka eventually ended the sweet but slightly awkward exchange. “Bye, Mom,” Osaka said. “I’ll call you later.” What parent and child couldn’t relate? Other seeded women who were eliminated: No. 12 Marketa Vondrousova, No. 30 Kristina Mladenovic, No. 31 Anastasija Sevastova. Mladenovic’s loss was the wildest of them all. She led 6-1, 5-1, then later held four match points, but
NAOMI OSAKA, of Japan, returns a shot to Camila Giorgi, of Italy, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) never was able to finish things off and ended up on the wrong end of a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0 result against 102nd-ranked Varvara Gracheva. Two seeded men exited, too: No. 13 Cristian Garin and No. 24 Hubert Hurkacz. Pliskova had chances to take the second set against Garcia, who had been 0-8 against top-five opponents at Grand Slam tournaments. Garcia trailed 5-4 in that set while serving at 15-40. Two break points that also were set points. On the first, Pliskova got a look at an 89 mph second serve, but she pushed a forehand return wide. On the second, Garcia
smacked a quick-strike forehand to a corner and Pliskova’s running reply found the net. Garcia grabbed the next two points with a service winner followed by a gutsy second-serve ace to take that game and then was superior in the tiebreaker. “I knew she was going to come back and not give me the match. When she came back very well,” Garcia said, “I stayed calm and that was important.” Although much has been expected of her, the 26-year-old Garcia only once reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal and never has been past the US Open’s third round. To do so this time, she’ll need to beat 28th-seeded
American Jennifer Brady. As a teen, Garcia built, albeit lost, a big lead against Maria Sharapova at the 2011 French Open, inspiring Andy Murray to write on Twitter that the Frenchwoman “is going to be No. 1 in the world one day.” Never happened, although she did get as high as No. 4. Pliskova, meanwhile, did get to No. 1 briefly. Couldn’t really come up with how to describe why yesterday’s loss happened, but this statistic was telling: Garcia produced 30 winners, more than twice as many as Pliskova. And another: Pliskova has led the WTA in aces four of the past five years, but she hit only three, the same number as Garcia. “That’s how it is, sometimes,” Pliskova said. “I am not a robot, so I don’t have to play every day amazing.” Unlike Pliskova, the No. 1-seeded man, Novak Djokovic, only had a brief blip on his way to the third round and a 25-0 record in 2020. Going back to late last season, his winning streak is 28 matches overall. “I’m actually glad I did drop a set and got tested the way I did today against Kyle. I expected it to be a tough, tough task,” said Djokovic, who has won five of the past seven Grand Slam tournaments to raise his major trophy total to 17, three behind Roger Federer and two behind Rafael Nadal. “I’m really glad having an early kind of tough match in the tournament,” Djokovic said, because it kind of serves me better, I think, for the rest of the tournament.”
NCAA: MCPHEEMCCUIN AND REBELS RETURN TO PRACTICE FROM PAGE 15 The Rebels are tentatively scheduled to open their season in November as McPhee-McCuin welcomes No.1 recruiting class in the SEC and No.13 class in the nation for the 20202021 campaign. The team will also see the return of Bahamian recruit Valerie Nesbitt to the programme for her senior season. “We’ll play in some type of capacity. When? That I don’t know. I will say I have a lot of confidence in our leadership,” she said. “Obviously we’re an indoor sport, and that changes some things. But really, I’m glad they’re dealing with football now and we’re not the first ones out of the block.” Off the court, McPheeMcCuin continues to use her platform to lobby for social justice in her adopted home state of Mississippi. She was one of several coaches and officials from the Mississippi’s public universities to visit the state legislature and voice their support to making changes to the state flag. She was one of several leaders of Rebels student athletics to lead a Unity Walk on the Oxford, Mississippi campus as protest against police brutality continued across the globe. The Grand Bahama native is the school’s first black female head women’s basketball coach. Her programme joined athletic administrators, coaches and student athletes from various sports.
6-1, 5-1 COLLAPSE AT OPEN, DJOKOVIC OPTS FOR HOME OVER HOTEL By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic has earned more than $140 million in prize money over his accomplished career, plus plenty of other millions in endorsement deals, so there wasn’t much of a question in his mind when the possibility was offered to rent a private home during the US Open. The cost? $40,000. The convenience? Priceless. “As soon as there was a chance for us to choose to be in a house, we took it right away -- without thinking. I’m glad we did,” the top-ranked Djokovic said after improving to 25-0 this season and reaching the US Open’s third round with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kyle Edmund yesterday. “Any player had that opportunity. It’s not the privilege of the top guys or girls. Anyone that wanted to spend money and stay in the house, he or she could have done that,” Djokovic said. “I know there’s very few players that have chosen to stay in a house, but it is a personal choice.” Most players competing at Flushing Meadows amid the coronavirus pandemic this year opted for the official tournament hotel options. The US Tennis Association paid for one room for each player, who then would need to pony up if they wanted a second for members of their entourage. Serena Williams and Milos Raonic were among the eight players who, like Djokovic, opted for one of the Long Island homes the USTA made available instead. Why did Djokovic go that route? “Well, I think it’s obvious. Being in a hotel, you’re unable to open the window in the room. You constantly have to be with a mask indoors, outdoors, everywhere. You can’t really go out, spend time in the garden, maybe, outdoors,” he said. “I saw the
hotel. The hotel is not in a best position in terms of having nature around. It’s very close to the highway.” COMEBACK OR COLLAPSE? Well, this was quite a comeback ... or quite a collapse. Depends on the point of view. No. 30 seed Kristina Mladenovic served for the victory while leading 6-1, 5-1 against Varvara Gracheva in the second round of the US Open -and not only couldn’t close the deal there or when she held four match points soon thereafter, but also somehow, some way, she lost the match. Eventually, Gracheva -- a Russian who is ranked 102nd and is a month past her 20th birthday -- came all the way back to win 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0. “Definitely,” Mladenovic said, “the most painful match and loss I’ve had in my career.” Her match points came while ahead 5-2 in the second set as Gracheva served. Three came at love40, and another came at Ad-Out. Mladenovic never got that close again. Gracheva will move on to meet No. 8 seed Petra Martic for a berth in the fourth round. “She was brave and she went for it,” Mladenovic said about her opponent, who is participating in her first Grand Slam tournament. “From 5-2, slowly I started feeling like I was crashing down,” Mladenovic said. “I just collapsed. I had nothing left in the tank.” Mladenovic was one of the players who were allowed to remain in the tournament but were placed under stricter COVID-19 protocols after they came in contact with Benoit Paire, the 17thseeded Frenchman who tested positive for the coronavirus. After her first-round win, Mladenovic said the whole episode was hard to deal with.
After what happened yesterday, she said: “Physically and mentally, I’m completely completely drained. It’s just worse and worse.” ANYBODY’S GAME Shelby Rogers pulled off an upset, even though she doubts there is such a thing these days in women’s tennis. Rogers defeated No. 11-seeded Elena Rybakina in the second round of the US
Open yesterday, 7-5, 6-1. Another unseeded American, 20-year-old Ann Li, pulled off an even bigger shocker by beating No. 13-seeded Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3. Given the depth in the women’s game and the year’s disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, such results are no surprise, Rogers said. “Maybe it’s belief. Maybe it’s opportunity,” Rogers said. “But I think the playing
OPEN
field is even now. It’s anybody’s game any day. I joke around that I don’t believe in upsets anymore. I think anybody can win on any day. It’s pretty amazing.” By advancing to the third round, Rogers matched her best showing at the US Open. She’s ranked 93rd. Li, who is ranked 128th, now has two career victories over players ranked in the top 75, and the wins have come in her two matches this week.
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THE TRIBUNE
ROCKETS EDGE THUNDER, MOVE ON TO LAKERS By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer
BUTLER WINS IT AT BUZZER, HEAT TOP BUCKS LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fl. (AP) — Jimmy Butler made two free throws with no time remaining and the Miami Heat wasted a six-point lead in the final seconds yet found a way to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-114 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Butler rattled in the first, which was the only one that mattered, then made the second for the final margin. He got fouled by Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo with about a tenth of a second left on a jump shot from the left corner. Referees sent Butler to the line, with no one else on the lane, as some Heat teammates knelt at midcourt. And just like that, the Heat became the first No. 5 seed in NBA history to take a 2-0 series lead over a No. 1 seed. Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Tyler Herro added 17 off the bench and Jae Crowder had 16 for Miami. Bam Adebayo scored 15 points, Butler and Duncan
Robinson each had 13 and Kelly Olynyk added 11 for Miami — which is 6-0 in this postseason. Antetokounmpo had 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Bucks, who were down by six with 27 seconds left and tied it. Khris Middleton scored 23 points for Milwaukee, the last three of those coming when Dragic was called for fouling him with 4.3 seconds left. Milwaukee got 16 apiece from Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe and 14 from George Hill. Miami’s lead was 90-86 entering the fourth — and Milwaukee had the lead back on the very first possession of the final quarter. Middleton was fouled on a 3-point try, made the first two free throws and the rebound of the third was controlled by the Bucks. Kyle Korver made a 3-pointer off that rebound to cap a five-point possession for Milwaukee, which had the lead again for the first time since 14-13. The Heat were undeterred. They scored 13 of the next 15 points to
not only reclaim the lead, but push it to 103-93 on a 3-pointer by Crowder with 7:50 left. Milwaukee shot 21 free throws in the first half to Miami’s 11 -- but oddly, it was the Bucks who had players in foul trouble at the break. Middleton got his third foul only 26 seconds into the second quarter and Antetokounmpo was whistled for his third with 4:17 left in the half. Both played for a bit more in the quarter, then were pulled with 1:07 left with the Bucks no longer willing to risk either of them getting a fourth so early. The free throws were a big factor: Miami shot 55% in the half and made nine 3s, but the lead was just 66-60 at intermission. Antetokounmpo was called for his fourth early in the third, when Butler took a charge -- or so it seemed. The call was overturned after review, so the reigning MVP had the fourth foul wiped away. And the physicality only kept rising. Adebayo was knocked to the floor
multiple times in the third quarter alone, one of them reviewed to see if it met flagrant status; it didn’t, but that review showed referees enough to hit Butler with a technical foul. Late in the third, Kyle Korver closed out too aggressively on a 3-point try by Andre Iguodala, who landed on his foot and turned his right ankle. A Flagrant-1 was called, Iguodala limped to the line to make two of three free throws, then limped away for evaluation.
FOULING ON 3’S The Bucks made only four 3-pointers in the first half — but really had 18 points from beyond the arc, not 12. Miami fouled Lopez on 3-point tries twice in a 26-second span of the first quarter (he made two of three free throws on the first, turned the second into a four-point play) and fouled Korver on another 3-point attempt early in the second quarter. Korver made all three free throws.
TIP-INS Heat: Dragic has scored at least 20 points in six consecutive playoff games. It’s the 12th such streak in Heat history; Dwyane Wade had six, LeBron James had the other five. ... Butler, who had 40 points in Game 1, didn’t get to the 10-point mark in Game 2 until 3:32 remained. Bucks: Antetokounmpo, who was 4 for 12 from the foul line in Game 1, started 4 for 5 from the stripe in Game 2. He finished 9 for 12. ... Milwaukee outrebounded Miami 50-38.
5 OVER 1 Since the league went to the 16-team format in 1984, only four No. 1 seeds have dropped the first two games of a first- or secondround series. Phoenix (1993, in a bestof-five) and Boston (2017) both rallied to win firstround matchups; Toronto got swept by Cleveland in the 2018 East semifinals. And a No. 5 seed has never taken a 2-0 lead on a No. 1 seed — until now. UP NEXT Game 3 is Friday.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — James Harden made up for a miserable shooting night with a big blocked shot, Russell Westbrook scored 20 points against his former team and the Houston Rockets edged the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-102 last night in Game 7 of the first-round series. The Rockets pulled out a tense final game of the first round that lasted long past the final basket as replays and fouls were sorted out. In the end, Houston prevailed to set up a second-round matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers that begins Friday despite Harden, the NBA’s leading scorer, going 4 for 15 from the field. The frantic final seconds of a game that was tight throughout had Houston take the lead for good at 103-102 when P.J. Tucker scored with 1:25 remaining. After changes of possession, the Thunder got the ball to Lu Dort, who attempted a 3-pointer that Harden blocked with 4.8 seconds left. Robert Covington made a free throw with 1.4 seconds to go and Harden was whistled for fouling Danilo Gallinari before the ball was inbounded, giving the Thunder one free throw and the ball. But Gallinari missed the free throw and the Thunder turned it over on the last inbounds pass. Covington had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Gordon also scored 21 points for the Rockets. Harden finished with 17 points and nine assists. Dort scored a career-best 30 points for the Thunder, Chris Paul, swapped for Westbrook over the summer, had 19 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.
Jazz Chisholm gets his first start in the majors FROM PAGE 15 was named to the 40-man roster. He missed the opening week of summer camp and was in quarantine after a series of positive and negative COVID-19 tests despite not experiencing any symptoms. After the
Marlins made a series of trades prior to the deadline, Chisholm got the call to become the seventh Bahamian called up to the majors. “It was like a wild ride. The first thing I did was call all my family members. They were just ecstatic
and started getting very emotional. “It was a really touching moment for me knowing how far I came. On my way to the field I just had to say I wanted to clear my mind and help the team win. I was glad I was able to get into the game and to just
get the first step and the onfield jitters out, but I’m just happy to be here,” Chisholm said. “At the point I got the call I wasn’t thinking of it. I was getting dressed for another game in Jupiter and I got called into the office. They just told me I
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MIAMI Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm is shown during the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays September 1 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) was going to the show and of our club. We just move to get my bags ready.” forward until whenever. He A product of the Free- may never ever leave here, dom Farm Baseball right? You don’t know that. League, Chisholm said he These young guys, they remains cognisant of his could go back and forth, role as an inspiration to but some guys come up one future generations. day and just say, ‘You know “Everyone was telling me what? I’m never leaving.’ they were so proud of me And they prove it, ” Matand that I’m an inspiration tingly said to MLB’s Jesse to them and some of them Sanchez. were the guys that I was “He’s working hard and looking up to when I was actually been playing quite younger so it touches me a bit of second base, and that I can touch anyone’s that’s kind of where we see heart in the Bahamas. We his niche or fit with our know how the struggle has club, playing some second, been back home for the past maybe giving him a day at year with COVID-19 and short now and then,” MatI got called up to play on tingly said. September 1st which makes “Jazz is part of the club a year since Hurricane right now, so we’ll try to fit Dorian passed, so all of that him and set him up to have made it a special time for success and put him in good me,” he said. “Having my situations.” debut in Miami the closest The No.3 ranked prosplace to home when I can’t pect in the organisation, be home, I’m always at a Chisholm was listed at loss for words when I think No.74 overall among the of it. Getting called up to a top 100 Prospects by MLB playoff potential team, and Pipeline. He made nine I believe we’re going to spring training appearances make the playoffs, it’s just and hit .308 with three RBI, amazing. I think the whole one home run, scored four Bahamas are Marlins fans runs, with a 1.115 OPS and now.” two stolen bases. Marlins manager Don Last season, Chisholm Mattingly said Chisholm was named the top defenwill have the opportunity to sive shortstop in the AA produce and earn his spot in Southwest League and the rotation with the club. earned an All-Star selection “Who knows where this after he led all the league’s goes? But for now, Jazz is shortstops with 21 home a guy that’s going to be part runs and 173 total bases.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, September 3, 2020, PAGE 19
SAINTS BRACING FOR NEW NFC SOUTH CHALLENGE FROM TOM BRADY’S BUCS By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Tom Brady won’t have to wait long for a first look at the team his Buccaneers will be chasing in the NFC South. The 43-year-old Brady will make his Tampa Bay debut when the Buccaneers open at New Orleans on September 13. Brady won a record six Super Bowl championships with New England, but he’s starting over in a new offence after signing a twoyear deal with Tampa Bay. The Week 1 matchup will feature the NFL’s top two all-time passers. New Orleans’ Drew Brees is No. 1 with 77,416 yards. Brady is No. 2 with 74,571 yards. Brees also holds NFL records for completions and touchdown passes. Brees, 41, has led the Saints to three consecutive NFC South titles. Brady, who has been joined by his longtime Patriots tight end, Rob Gronkowski, in Tampa Bay, brings a new challenge to the Saints’ hold on the division. As the respectful new kid in the division, Brady offered generous praise for Brees and the Saints. “Obviously, when you go against great players like Drew, and a great team like that, you know there’s not a lot of margin of error,” Brady said. “... They have a great quarterback, a great offence, incredible skill players, great continuity in their organisation. ... I have a lot of respect for them, their programme and how they run it.” The Saints, coming off back-to-back 13-3 finishes, have been the division’s
only winning team the last two seasons. The Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons each finished 7-9 in 2019. Atlanta won its final four games, saving coach Dan Quinn’s job. The Carolina Panthers are rebuilding with firstyear coach Matt Rhule. The Buccaneers have commanded most of the offseason headlines in the division — and much of them elsewhere. The spotlight follows Brady. That’s fine with Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. “The attention ain’t going to win you no games,” Jarrett said. The Saints have done a lot of winning the last few years. Actually, left tackle Terron Armstead says the Saints are playing for much more than just finishing ahead of Brady’s Bucs. He said the team’s goal is “Super Bowl or bust.” “If we don’t get to the big dance, it was a failure of a season,” Armstead said.
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