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Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
McCartney returns to school
Returning to his old school, this time as teacher not as student, attorney and civic leader Branville Bran McCartney, Chairman of the Crime Prevention Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, along with three officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force delivered a strong Safety First message Thursday to Kingsway Academy's students.Their message was clear: the choices students make today will help keep them safe tomorrow.
And it was delivered at a time when it would hit home the hardest, one day before school ended and summer vacation began, the time police brace for an increase in accidents, the number one killer of children under the age of 14.
"Your future depends on you," McCartney told an assembly of students from grades 3-6. "It's all about choices.
Reel Gator 2 wins Dwyer
PORT CANAVERAL - One school of prized yellowfin tuna 115 miles off the coast spelled the difference for the winners in last weekend's Ed Dwyer Other Side Invitational tournament.Winston Tomlinson of Port Orange and his Reel Gator 2 team pulled three heavyweight yellowfins from the special school of fish to claim $12,600 in prizes, including the tournament's top boat award.
It was the best catch out of the tournament-record 33 teams that fished in the bluewater depths east of the Gulf Stream known to anglers as the "other side." Some parties fished as many as a dozen different schools of yellowfins.
"Actually we don't go east of the Stream that much," said Tomlinson, owner of the Ponce Inlet-based Reel Gator 2, a 55-foot Gwaltney sportfishing yacht.
Hurricanes cost BTC $50m
The Bahamas Telecommu-nications Company Limited's (BTC) Chief Executive, Leon Williams, revealed yesterday in an exclusive interview with The Nassau Guardian that hurricanes cost the company $50 million last year.And despite predictions of an active season this summer, BTC is hoping to escape another massive financial hit.
Last year's storm season caused setbacks and delays, but BTC is setting up new technology that should en-sure minimal damage. "Hurr-icanes cost us $50 million last years," said Mr Williams. I'm hoping we don't end up with any setbacks this time.
"[Over the years], Hurricane Floyd cost us $34 million and Hurricane Michelle cost us another $16 million," he added. "The last thing we need this year is another hurricane," he added.
Hurricane season cruising
Year-round Caribbean cruising's on an upswing as lines ranging from Princess to Carnival are keeping some of their biggest and splashiest ships sailing in the region throughout summer and fall. And yet, aside from experiencing slightly steamier tropical weather than in winter months, cruising the Caribbean during the summer and fall otherwise comes with one pretty big caveat: Hurricane season can wreak havoc on your vacation. In 1998, Windjammer's Fantome, which deposited passengers safely on land before it sailed out to sea to avoid an off-the-charts violent hurricane, tragically lost its ship and crew. One year later, Carnival's Tropicale lost power as it was sailing out of the way of another storm (though no lives were lost). Disaster stories like these are the exception rather than the rule, but if you're planning a Caribbean cruise from June through November, it pays to be aware of the possibilities.
Elaborate sting disconnects phone scammers
It was an unprecedented meeting, and not the kind you'd expect to find in a conference room in the middle of the FBI's Red Bank office. At one table sat a former U.S. attorney from West Virginia; a California braggart; a Freehold con artist. All were criminals who made millions from nationwide telemarketing scams. They had been caught and, in return for reduced jail time, agreed to betray each other and wear wires for the FBI.They had not expected to see each other again. Now, as they sat face to face, tempers flared. Fists almost flew. And the agents in the room let it happen.
"It was like the Jerry Springer show," recalls Susan Pigliacelli, the FBI agent from the Red Bank office who headed what turned out to be the largest and most complex telemarketing prosecution in the United States.
No immediate steps to close
Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell affirmed yesterday that no immediate steps are being taken to close the U.S. pre-clearance facilities in Grand Bahama.Mitchell, who was in Grand Bahama for several meetings, spoke on the matter during a press briefing in the Office of the Prime Minister.
He was addressing concerns of Bahamians who frequently travel to the United States regarding the closure of the U. S. pre-clearance facilities at the local airport and harbour.
Mitchell explained that the United States government conducts a review every year which is channeled through its Embassy in The Bahamas, as it does with all its embassies around the world.
The review also applies to the pre-clearance in Nassau and Freeport, he added.
NIA to be renamed after Sir Lynden Pindling Thursday
The Nassau International Airport will be renamed the Lynden Pindling International Airport during a special ceremony next week. Governor General Arthur Hanna and Prime Minister Perry Christie will head a list of dignitaries at the event scheduled for Thursday, July 6.Marguerite Lady Pindling, widow of the late Sir Lynden Pindling, former prime minister, will unveil a plaque in honour of her husband.
The ceremony will feature cultural performances by the South Andros High School, the National Youth Choir, the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence Force combined band, and an all-star Junkanoo rush-out.
Between the hours of 9:30am and 2pm the Royal Bahamas Police Force will restrict traffic access to the airport. If members of the public are travelling by air or attending the ceremony they should follow police directions for parking, according to a government release.
Chef McBride turns heads in New York
The Bahamas' leading chef earned the country business opportunities and assurances of visits to The Bahamas by New Yorkers after a single Bahamian cooking demonstration for Caribbean Week. Jason McBride, the 2005 Cacique Award's Chef of the Year, on Monday presented one of his signature dishes to the patrons of upscale Bloomingdale's Department store at Fifth Avenue, New York City. The demonstration was the first of four Bahamian chef appearances scheduled for Caribbean Week, which will be a vehicle for Caribbean Tourism Organization and Bahamas Ministry of Tourism to showcase the best of their tourism product. Chef McBride of Radisson Cable Beach Resort will make three of the Bahamian chef appearances, and Ezra Russell of Old Bahama Bay will make one appearance during Caribbean Week in New York, June 11 - 16.