November 9, 2016

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Pup holds rally on Ambergris Caye
A strong and encouraging message was delivered at a rally organized by the People United Party (PUP) on Sunday, November 6th on Ambergris Caye. The PUP showcased their intentions of taking over the next municipal and general election with the strong promise of not just better governance, but to rescue the country’s disastrous situation for the benefit of the Belizean people. A panel of special invited guests along with the PUP chairmanship of Belize Rural South spoke to the supporters in attendance about the country’s current situation. Chairman Perez delivered a few words as the rally started. He reminded attendees of the importance and priority to begin the race for municipal and general elections. He pointed out the negligence of the local authorities on the island’s infrastructure, in particular the streets. “The message that we want to spread out, not only in San Pedro Town and Caye Caulker, is that the only party that can fix this country and put it back on track, is the PUP,” said Perez. “No other party is equipped with more capable people, that have great ideas to implement in our country, than the PUP.”

SPTC donates to San Pedro Garifuna Council
As Garifuna Settlement Day quickly approaches, the San Pedro Garifuna Council (SPGC) has planned several activities to commemorate the Garinagu’s rich heritage. In embracing the Garifuna culture and celebrating diversity, Mayor Daniel Guerrero donated $1,000 to the SPGC on Friday, November 4th at the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC). According to Noralez, the council has limited funds, but they are optimistic that the Garifuna culture will be preserved. “After activities are done this year, the funds that are left over will be used to make bigger and grander activities next year. We won’t be able to do many of the activities we have planned this year because of insufficient funds. However, we will commit to making sure there the council is self-sustained, and there is a continuous flow,” said Noralez.

World-class skydivers visit San Pedro
On Wednesday, November 2nd a group of six international female skydivers paid a visit to Mayor Daniel Guerrero. They are Amy Chmelecki, Domitille Kiger, Anna Moxnes, Sara Curtis, Megan Gunn, and Nancy Koreen. Most of them had done thousands of jumps and even participated with skydivers of the ‘Red Bull Team.’ They were accompanied by Richard Grimm. He is no stranger to the island, having brought skydivers to the island as part of the Boogie in Belize contingency. Grimm stated that he plans to bring 200 skydivers in 2018 and revive the Boogie in Belize experience which ceased in 2011. He also announced that skydiving services will be provided on the island starting December 3, 2016 until Easter of 2017 through Caribbean Villas Beach Resort. For more information on this upcoming new attraction on the island, visit their Facebook page.

Belize Tourism Health Program to Enhance Well-Being for Visitors
The Ministries of Health and Tourism in collaboration with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) are pleased to announce the launch of a national initiative to enhance the health and well-being of its visitors and locals while promoting sustainable and profitable tourism. The primary objective of the project is to see fewer, less costly outbreaks and other negative public health events occurring in the tourism industry; promoting a healthier, safer, more reputable Caribbean tourism product on the global stage; and to strengthen regional safety and security for both visitors and locals. The project also aims to strengthen human resource capacity and skills in health, food safety, and environmental management and promote public-private sector intersectoral partnerships at national and regional levels in support of HSE tourism threats.

Ambergris Today

Changes to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blackadore Caye Revealed
Located off the coast of Belize, Blackadore Caye or better known to Belizeans, as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Island is soon to be the world's leading example of green hospitality with an aim to restore and revitalize the surrounding ecosystem. After having received the green light by Belize’s Department of Environment, the Blackadore Group has now revealed the new look of the eco resort. DiCaprio and his team have spent the last six months gathering feedback from local stakeholders and citizens on the original project design. The final design reflects the input of the surrounding community on every aspect of the project, including even the removal of overwater structures that garnered great design acclaim but caused concern for just a few local environmentalists. Jean Michel Gathy best known for his work with Aman and One&Only; is the lead design architect. Jean’s work has remained modern with natural materials such as wood and marble, however he was inspired by Belize's ancient Mayan ruins.

CANCELLATION OF THE REGIONAL OFFSHORE SEISMIC SURVEY
The Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum would like to reconfirm to the general public that the regional offshore seismic survey has been cancelled. The survey was suspended on October 20, 2016 and was subsequently canceled later on the same day. The seismic vessel Seabird Northern Explorer departed Belize on October 21, 2016. This survey will not take place. Public consultations on the seismic survey, as initially proposed, will not be conducted. If, in the future, such an opportunity were to arise, the Ministry will continue to ensure that all legal requirements are followed and that the appropriate levels of consultations are held with stakeholders. The Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum, through the Geology and Petroleum Department, will continue to ensure that the petroleum sector is developed in a responsible and environmentally conscious manner which can contribute to the sustainable development of Belize.

Ready Set Go 2017 BHA Hotel Guide Set for Distribution
The Belize Hotel Association (BHA) is excited to announce the release of their new Hotel Guide for the 2016/2017 membership year. The Guide has been completed, printed and shipped to BHA’s distribution house in Florida, where it will be dispatched accordingly to all the International trades shows. The hotel guides are not distributed in Belize, as their main purpose is to target international travelers who are considering making Belize their next vacation destination. Over 4,000 printed guides are handed out at all the trade-shows and events that the Belize Hotel Association attends and also the shows that the Belize Tourism Board attends internationally.

Misc Belizean Sources

BELTRAIDE AND THE NATURE CONSERVANCY SIGN MOU
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), through its EXPORTBelize Unit, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization based in the USA, which seeks closer collaboration in encouraging a sustainable seaweed aquaculture industry in Belize, among others, that provide products for the local and international market. This business plan will include a curriculum that provides information on best practices that highlight conservation values, facilitates replication, ensures quality assurance and control of seaweed production, as well as provide a long-term system to retain know-how and share lessons across the country and the region. Best practices will also target maximizing benefits to wild conch and lobster populations and coral reefs. This includes spatial mapping of priority sites to capture resilient reefs and incorporation of nursery habitats within replenishment zones.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYMPOSIUM 2016
The University of Belize (UB), Belmopan Campus in collaboration with The Small Business Development Centre, Belize (SBDCBelize), a unit of Beltraide, will hold its third annual Entrepreneurship Symposium on November 14th 2016 at 1:30 pm. The symposium is an annual event observed as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). This year the symposium will be held at the George Price Centre for Peace and Development, Belmopan, under the theme: “Entrepreneurship: The Foundation of a Nation”. It will include various presentations by young Belizean entrepreneurs, who will present a synopsis of their projects as well as success stories and challenges faced by them during the establishment of their business ventures.

Drafting of a Local Economic Plan for San Pedro
Join us on Thursday Nov. 10th at the Lion's Den, 7pm

Cleaning up the Stann Creek House of Culture
It's been incredible to see the community come together to spruce up Stann Creek House of Culture and Gulisi Community Primary School! Thank you to all those who are pitching in... We did a lot today. SCHC, DTC, BDF, Gulisi , and the community. Thanks a million.

National Women’s Show Toronto 2016 & Canadian Road Show Toronto
Belize at the "National Women’s Show Toronto 2016 and Canadian Road Show".

Community Screening happening this Friday at the San Pedro House of Culture at 7pm
The film is titled:The Beginning of Time / El Comienzo del Tiempo (México, 2014) 110 mins, Dir: Bernardo Arellano Rated: G Original, Language: Spanish. Synopsis: Antonio and Bertha are an elderly couple, about 90 years old who find themselves in trouble when social security pensions are suspended due to a financial and social crisis in the country where they live. Given the fact that their children have not visited them in many years they are confronted with the need to survive alone. The couple is forced to sell their belongings and sustain themselves selling food on the street or stealing. The lives of the two elderly people change when their son Jonas and grandson Paco, absent from their lives for over a decade, appear unexpectedly once again.

The Toledo Howler
The autumn 2016 issue of The Toledo Howler looking back on a wonderful chocolate Festival in May and forward to The Battle of the Drums this month

BELTRAIDE and The Nature Conservancy Sign an MOU
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), through its EXPORTBelize Unit, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organisation based in the USA, which seeks closer collaboration in encouraging a sustainable seaweed aquaculture industry in Belize. Under the MOU, BELTRAIDE and The Nature Conservancy will establish a working committee, which in addition to sharing data and information, will work with fishermen, the Coral Caye Ltd. and the Placencia Co-op Society to develop a comprehensive business plan for a sustainable seaweed aquaculture business. This business plan will include a curriculum that provides information on best-practices that highlight conservation values, facilitates replication, ensures quality assurance and control of seaweed production as well as provide a long-term system to share lessons across the country and the region. Best practices will also target maximizing benefits to wild conch and lobster populations and coral reefs. This includes spatial mapping of priority sites to capture resilient reefs and incorporation of nursery habitats within replenishment zones.

RE-SHUFFLE OF PORTFOLIOS OF SAN PEDRO TOWN COUNCIL 2015-2018
San Pedro Town that the portfolios of the Mayor and Councilors of the San Pedro Town Council 2015-2018 have been reshuffled and are as follows: *the changes are effective immediately SAN PEDRO TOWN COUNCIL - PORTFOLIOS 2016 -2018 DANIEL “DANNY” GUERRERO – MAYOR Finance Customer Services Foreign Relation Communications & Consultations Services Ambergris Caye Master Plan

Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize
H.E. Ambassador Benjamin Ho has completed his tour of duty as Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize and will be departing on November 13, 2016. Ambassador Ho arrived in Belize in July 2014. Ambassador Ho wishes to express his profound gratitude to the Government and the people of Belize. For the friendship, hospitality and support accorded to him making his tour of office here in Belize a most pleasant and rewarding one. The New Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Belize, H.E. Charles Keh-yue LIU, is due to arrive on Monday, November 14, 2016. He is a senior career diplomat who serves in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) for nearly 30 years. Before arriving Belize, he was Director General of Taipei Liaison Office in Cape Town (2015-2016) and was posted to Los Angeles as Deputy Director General (2009-2012), Atlanta as Deputy Director General (2006-2009), San Francisco (1996-2002) and Philippines (1987-1991).

500 ft runway extension at the Pelican Beach Airstrip, Dangriga
Looks awesome!

Power interruption 7:00am to 12:00midday, Wednesday, November 9: entire Hopkins Village and Sittee Point area
BEL to install load break switch on the distribution system in Hopkins Village.

Benque Tree Light Up
The Benque Tree Light Up is starting on December 9th. If you want to adopt a tree, and help the Belize Child Friendly Project, call 803-2020. "The benque child friendly project group presents the light up a tree program! On december 9th, Benque will light up all the trees of the George Price Boulevard! Do you want to adopt one and help us light them all? For more information visit us at the Benque Viejo Town Hall or call us at 803-2020! Any group,organization, business, family or individual can adopt one! JOIN THE FRIENDLY MOVEMENTS, ADOPT AND LIGHT UP A TREE!"

It's almost time! Here are 5 things to know about the Belize International Film Festival 2016:
1. There are two great films for Opening Night: Yochi Film and Ixcanul 2. $25 gets you the Opening Night Red Carpet Gala and the two films Bliss Center for Performing Arts 3. After that, individual films are just $10. What a bargain! 4, The symposium on Friday and Saturday is FREE 5. There are screenings in the districts as well!

Embassy Belmopan celebrates USA Election Day 2016 in style!

Channel 7

ACP Chester Put On Leave By Compol, Brought Back By Minister
Tonight Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams is back in the Commander's Chair after suddenly being placed on administrative leave yesterday evening. Reports from junior officers on the southside tell us that Commissioner Allen Whylie ordered Williams to hand over command to his second, Senior Superintendent Alden Dawson and go immediately on Administrative Leave. What did he do to earn such a swift and stern come uppance? Well it's that very same dispute we told you about last night: Williams switched his officers over to an eight hour shift - without first getting approval from the Commissioner. The commissioner demanded that he revert to the 12 hour shift immediately - and when Williams didn't, he was placed on leave, forthwith. Well, today all sides were called to Belmopan to meet with Minister of State with responsibility for police Elodio Aragon and CEO George Lovell. We understand that the administrative issues were thrashed out and a resolution was arrived at. A brief press release issued this evening says, quote, "after a meeting with the administration, including Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie, ACP Chester Williams, CEO Lovell and Minister Aragon, (the internal administrative) issues have since been resolved.

Former Police Minister Supports Eight Hour Shift
So, the new Police Minister Aragon has taken a wait and see approach with the eight hour shift, and the former minister Godwin Hulse felt much the same. Hulse only held the portfolio for a few weeks, but said there is wisdom in eight hours instead of 12:... Hon. Godwin Hulse, Former Minister of Home Affairs: "The more officers you get clearly and I think you are referring to overtime payment and that sort of thing. People get tired you know and people need jobs. So you can't have one or two persons making a continuous amount of overtime when other people need jobs and you have other people that you can place. That not only applies to police, that applies to everything in general."

Make-Up School Days For Strike Finalized
And while city cops have been working extra hours, starting in 2017, school children will be taking in a few extra days of school. After meetings between the Ministry of Education and the managements of Pre-, Primary and High Schools, a decision has been finalized on make-up days for the 11 days lost to the October strike. Fresh off the meeting with secondary school board chairs and secondary school principals, Education Minister Patrick Faber made the announcement: Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education: "It is 40 secondary schools supporting the ministry's proposal to add 6 days. There was one vote against the proposal and one abstention. So, again, that proposal is to have the schools calendar year be amended to include 6 additional days, which would be 4 in January from the 3rd to the 6th. On the initial school calendar, schools would have reopen after the Christmas on Monday 9th January and with this amendment it would now reconvene on the 3rd, which is a Tuesday and we would then get Tuesday 3rd to Friday 6th which is 4 days and then we would add on two additional days at the start of the Easter break which would be the first two days Monday and Tuesday the 10th and 11th of April and for reference, this is the Monday and Tuesday before Good Friday."

Shotguns, Fences, And Face-offs In Frank's Eddy
Last week, 7News broke the story of the second flare up of tensions between Franks Eddy neighbors Michael Modiri and Bradley Paumen who are bitter business rivals, and personal enemies. It's well known that Modiri has reported that Paumen tried to get him killed. Paumen told us last week that all the accusations which Modiri has made against him are false and malicious. But, as we told you, these are two investors who want to carve out a piece of the cruise tourism industry for themselves. They're both interested cave tubing, where Bradley Paumen has already started running a million dollar enterprise, an idea which Modiri claims Paumen stole from him. Mix in the court battles for trespass, which Modiri won, and the rivalry has only deepened. That's because Modiri has made an active stance at the start of this cruise season to block Paumen from entering his land, something Paumen needs to do to get to the Dark Night Cave system. It's causing a major loss in earning, which is hurting workers from Franks Eddy, and so a lot is on the line. So, that confrontation we've been speculating on sort of sparked last week Monday when Bradley Paumen went head to head with Modiri's head of Security, Jerome Crawford.

The Modiri-Paumen Panorama
Crawford was detained only hours after he gave us a short tour of the Modiri property, which sits between Bradley Paumen and his tour site at the Dark Night Caves. These sought-after cave systems are the subject of dispute between both men, who can't decide on whose land the system sits. Today, we got a chance to visit it for ourselves for the first time, and Daniel Ortiz has put together the most comprehensive look at the dispute so far. Here's his story: Daniel Ortiz reporting: This "keep out" sign marks where the public road ends, and where Michael Modiri's land starts. Currently, it's also the only access which makes the trip to the Dark Night Cave System possible from Belize City's Harbour all the way to this Cayo South tourist getaway. So, locked behind the Modiri blockade lies a picturesque nature trail, complete with exploration of the different parts of the Cave system. There's ziplining, and cave tubing, and the great outdoors here in the Belizean jungles. All of these make for a perfect package for those adventure tourists who come from all across the world, and undoubtedly, the earnings potential from the tourist traffic is visible.

Local Operators Diss Both Paumen and Modiri
And two tour operators who have a unique perspective on the Paumen/Modiri property dispute are Yohny Rosado and David Almendarez. As members of FECTAB, they have long led the charge for indigenous ownership of tour operations. They claim that both Paumen and Modiri called them to the table - and they told us why they rejected the partnership:.. David Almendarez, Cave Tubing R Us: "It's ironic that Mr. Paumen, who is the guy that has all the big contracts with the preferred cruise operators, is now the person threatening to break the law. It's a shame that he will use his employees as pawns and put them out there to rally and say they are going to break down this and that. When we all know that Dark Night is the culprit here and they are the ones that get benefits from the government that have the inside jobs and now they are ones that don't want to abide by the law. The law has stated that that is that gentleman's land. But because Mr. Paumen have the nice fat contract, he is trying to bully his way through this man land. So I am saying Mr. Paumen, fix up."

Hulse Versus Francis In Defamation Suit
Public figures, especially those involved in politics are often the targets for harsh or even unjustified criticism. While some think this is par for the course, others like Senator Godwin Hulse, don't take it lightly. Hulse values his good name, and is always ready to go to court to energetically defend it. And that's why he went to court when former PUP party leader Francis Fonseca had some choice words about Hulse's conduct as Minister of Immigration. Hulse filed a defamation of character suit against Fonseca. Today, Hulse along with his attorney Yohanseh Cave and Fonseca's attorney, Kareem Musa, met in court for the pretrial review hearing. We spoke to them both to get the details... Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture: "Well it was, I think they call it pretrial review and it is simply to set a date for trial and to talk about whatever might be necessary for the trial whether there is gonna be requiring any support equipment or whether there are any witnesses that they should be concerned about, so that's basically it." Marisol Amaya, KREM: "This one is in relation to which utterance?" Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture: "This is the case that I have brought against the Hon. Francis Fonseca for character defamation."

Hulse on Cash Compensation
We also pressed Hulse - as former Minister of Natural Resources - to speak about those lavish compensation awards given to UDP friends and family. He says he discovered the huge payouts shortly after he took over in November of last year. That's when a moratorium was put on compensation payouts in January: Hon. Godwin Hulse, Former Minister of Home Affairs: "I was the minister then and I was just in the chair a month and I began to say well what the heck is this? I mean all these compensations, how we get to this. Let's try to stop it first of all, not pay anything else, but get a complete analysis of who we owe and why we owe etc. Even those that were mandated by the courts. A lot of them were mandated by the courts and I didn't see it fair at all from how I sit and how I think. So, very short term I had. We didn't approved any additional compensations and I don't think the present minister is either until that whole matter is settled. But to answer your specific question how we came to that, a lot of the compensations were old compensations that began to be paid. Some people were waiting forever. I want to make this very clear, from where I sit then and now in the future, I don't believe at all even of the court rule and I don't want to step on the courts, so I'll be careful. But I don't believe that you got a piece of land for $4,000, you do nothing to it. It is suggested that you got it in error and then it is valued by at commercial rates and you are paid nearly a million dollars. Just seem odd to me. I would give you back your $4,000 with average interest from the time you paid your $4,000 to now, because I think that's all you deserve and I mean that."

Yohny Says No To NICH
The 2017 cruise ship season started today with the arrival of two ships. That meant the Fort Street Tourism Village was abuzz with activity - but cave tubing specialist Yohny Rosado wasn't celebrating. And that's because he says NICH suspended two of his guides for no good reason. Rosado told us more today in front of the Tourism Village:... Yohny Rosado, cavetubing.com: "Allegations are one of my guys went to cave tubing when the cave was closed. One guy Jimmy Cortez could fight 10 employees of NICH. They have park rangers there. How my Jimmy would beat up 8 park rangers. They have 8 of them living in 2 houses." Jules Vasquez: "You are saying if they were serious, these people should have prevented him from doing the tour." Yohny Rosado, cavetubing.com: "They were supposed to be there. There were no park ranges. They were no sign. Jimmy saw the caves and Jimmy went cave tubing. When they came out back, they say he went when the cave were closed. They were sleeping, they were partying. I don't know what they were doing, but there were no park rangers when Jimmy got there and Jules, be real, where do you go and you get suspended from a job without a hearing? What kind of country we live in. Jimmy will never go to the caves if there are park rangers and caves are closed. He went there, the river was fine, the tourist were okay. When they came out of the caves, they say' oh you will get suspended.' What kind of law NICH have to suspend and fire and let someone stop making money in a critical year like this where we can't make money."

Operators Say BTB is Pushing Them Out
But NICH isn't the only institution Rosado was complaining about. He also complained about the BTB - which he says is pushing all the small operators away from the door of Terminal One at the Fort street Tourism Village - and into the Memorial Park. This is a proposal that has been floated and rejected many times, but this time the BTB seems determined to push through. Rosado claims that it's all because of Carnival Cruise Line which is complaining about the jostling for tours that confronts visitors as they step out of the terminal. Here's how he put it:... The BTB rejects that assessment; they say there's a much larger plan to overhaul the entire Fort George Tourism zone - for which full consultations will be held starting this week.

Seismic Surveys First Suspended Then Cancelled
Last month - under pressure - government suspended the seismic surveys in Belizean waters. The government maintained that surveys were being conducted as part of a regional initiative to gain a better understanding of what lies beneath our waters. However, after public outcry and opposition to the surveys by environmental stakeholders like the Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage, the Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum decided to halt the surveys until proper public consultation could take place. Those consultations have not yet taken place, and don't hold your breath, because according to a press release by the Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum, the regional offshore seismic survey has been cancelled. The Ministry has committed to hold appropriate consultations the next time a matter of such great national interest occurs.

Robbed Schoolgirl, Sent to Jail
Today in the Magsitrate's Court, Bernard Seawell was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbery. On April 4th, a female student was walking on Princess Margaret Drive towards SJC when Seawell, wearing a bandanna over his face, approached her on a bike. Seawell demanded that she hand over her gold chain, or else he would kill her. Fearing for her life, the victim handed over the chain and Seawell rode away. She reported it to the police, and positively identified Seawell in an ID parade. In court both Seawell and his wife testified that at the time of the incident he was at home building his barber shop. Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith did not believe them, and denied Seawell the minimum sentence because he had two previous convictions for dishonest crimes. The father of a two year old started serving his 7 year sentence today.

Karim Pleaded Not Guilty To Choking Micah
Last night we told you about the elections for the PUP's BYM Executive. Things got heated and Karim Adle is accused of choking his PUP comrade Micah Goodin. Adle was charged for common assault and appeared in court yesterday where he was arraigned for a charge of common assault. He was represented by another PUP comarade, Michel Chebat and pleaded not guilty and met bail of six hundred dollars within an hour. The Case was adjourned for January 9, 2017.

Faber Says No to LGBT Spin on Minister's Award
Last week - as part of Youth Month - Education and Youth Minister Patrick Faber handed over the Minister's award to twenty- eight-year-old BDF Lieutenant Derricia Jael Castillo. Thats her mother and son getting the award. It happened at the youth awards and was the highlight of the evening, a moment reserved for an exemplary young person who has spearheaded a positive cause which has impacted his or her community. Dericcia is a well trained Aircraft Maintenance Officer in the BDF who - according to the Youth department - has assisted in creating and implementing a BDF HIV Response, spoken at the 38th Meeting of UNAIDS in Geneva, worked as a Conflict Mediator, is a member of the Caribbean Women's Alliance for Diversity and Equality and Created awareness and sensitize communities on human rights issues. But, shes also a proud member of the LBGT community and an activist. So, Derricia posted on her Facebook that she was honored for her positive impact in the LGBT community, and the people living with HIV community.

Keeping The Corozal shoreline Intact
The Sustainable Tourism Program is an initiative being undertaken by the government, Belizean tourism stakeholders and the IDB to promoted and boost traffic to emerging tourism destinations. Areas like Corozal Bay, which have the potential to become major tourist attractions but are not yet at the level of San Pedro or Placencia, will receive special attention from stakeholders to ensure that they do not fall victim to environmental degradation. A team of experts has set out to identify at least four key areas in the Corozal Bay that could be vulnerable to erosion or natural disasters and develop them so that they are no longer a concern. We spoke to the leader of that team, Adam Hosking, for more details. Adam Hosking - Halcrow CH2M Team Leader/IDB Consultant: "So our project links to a part of the broader tourism program STP II, which is looking at promoting tourism in a number of emerging destination in Belize to diversify the tourism economy from where it is today. One of those is Corozal Bay in the North. Our project specifically relates to developing shoreline stabilization concepts for Corozal Bay. Well that's specifically looking to identify areas where there's an erosion problem or an area where the seawall is in a poor state of repair and select location where we would improve that situation and to act as demonstration projects for how they can be improved in other locations using a more sort of natural approach rather than seeing always how we work with mangroves, beaches and natural habitats to prove that resilience over time. Taking account of climate change and the sea level rising in the future."

Hulse Wants To Save Citrus
In three months, Godwin Hulse has pinballed between three ministries - but he may have found his best match at agriculture. An engineer by training, Hulse is a farmer by profession - and his first challenge is to turn around the struggling citrus industry, where production continues to fall. He discussed his plan for citrus today:..

Hulse Happy At Agriculture
And Hulse hopes he has time to effect that transition - meaning he's asking the PM to leave him right where he is:... Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture: "I am not upset at all. I mean I serve the people of Belize and prime minister appoints his ministers and wherever he puts me I go. I will preempt that statement by saying I just hope I don't move from agriculture." Reporter: "Because then you really would be minister of everything, kinda, sort of." Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture: "Yeah maybe, but I believe that because agriculture - if you look at immigration and you look at labor and you look at police, those are service ministries in a way and they are reactive. Agriculture is a productive ministry and it's proactive and that's suits my personality better."

Procurement Politics
Public officials involved in procurement of goods and services for government are going through a five-day training course this week at the Biltmore. The European Union funded event is all about getting taxpayers value for money. Director General for Trade, Leroy Almendarez explained how it affects the taxpayer's bottom line:.. The training course is a part of the CARIFORUM-EU Capacity Building Project - which aims to get CARIFORUM Member States' integrated into the world economy.

Channel 5

ACP Chester Williams Sent on Leave Over Shift Decision; Are Longer Shifts Necessary?
For months, the cracks in the top brass of the police department have been showing wider and wider.  Last week, the outspoken ACP Chester Williams was noticeably absent at high [...]

What Happened to Criminal Complaint on Elvin Penner?
Former Minister of State Elvin Penner was thrown out of Cabinet in September 2013 after having been found to facilitate jailed Korean businessman Won Hong Kim with a Belizean passport [...]

Immigration Minister Looks Forward to Senate Committee Hearings
And speaking of the Senate hearings, Senator Godwin Hulse as substantive Minister will be must-watch viewing when he appears before his fellow Senators at some point down the line. He [...]

The Big Land Compensation; ex-Lands Minister Calls $71Million in 8 Years “Excessive”
Nearly seventy-one million dollars in compensation was awarded from the Ministry of Natural Resources over eight years under the administration of Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Information has come to light [...]

Seismic Testing Cancelled, but There Are Limits According to Department
Government confirmed today that regional offshore seismic survey has been cancelled. The survey was initially suspended on October twentieth following public outcry from tourism stakeholders and the N.G.O. community. Immediately [...]

Why Were Yhony Rosado’s Tour Guides Suspended from Caves Branch?
Owner and operator of Butts Up Cave Tubing Adventures, Yhony Rosado, is up in arms again at the Belize Tourism Board and National Institute of Culture and History. Without warning, [...]

No Tears for Paumen and Modiri from FECTAB Execs
Last week, businessmen Bradley Paumen and Michael Modiri renewed open hostilities in their ongoing war over access to the cave tubing system in the area known as “Dark Night.” The [...]

Big Move Coming for Operators in Tourist Village; Will It Solve Problems?
In one final piece of news from the cruise industry, meetings have been held with tour operators on plans to move them from the open area in front of Terminal [...]

Ministry of Education To Go Ahead with Deductions and Projected Make-Up Time for Classes
The Ministry of Education has finalized an agreement with managing authorities for teachers to make up time lost as a result of recent industrial action.  That decision was met without [...]

Faber Not Backing Down, But Will Prime Minister Weigh In?
In his capacity as Acting Prime Minister, Faber was privy to a letter written by B.N.T.U. President Luke Palacio to PM Barrow in which he requested that the notice issued [...]

Godwin Hulse Sues Francis Fonseca for Defamation; Trial Coming in January
The Supreme Court will hear a case brought on behalf of Senator and Government Minister Godwin Hulse in the New Year against former leader of the People’s United Party Francis [...]

The Birth Certificate Issue: Minister Laments Lack of Trust in Institutions
We reported last week that a Belizean woman was denied her birth certificate because the Vital Statistics Unit is reviewing allegations of fraud involving someone taking Belizean birth certificates and [...]

Hamilton Siblings Burned in Fire Getting Better After Surgeries
It’s been just over a month since two minors, severely burnt in an act of arson, were airlifted to Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Texas, U.S.A.  On October seventh, four [...]

Family Agonizes Over Who Destroyed Their Home and Lives
But while the children continue the fight for their lives, it is very much emotional time for their mother, Melisa, and family members in Belize. To add salt to the [...]

Trio Faces Trial for Stann Creek Resident’s Murder
Two brothers and their friend, John and Sheldon Grinage, along with Brandon Baptist accused of the January thirtieth, 2016 murder of Stann Creek resident, Mariano Castillo, will stand trial for [...]

Anti-Drug Unit Busts Cocaine on Boom-Hattieville Road
Police have confirmed a major cocaine bust that occurred over the weekend. The report is that this past Saturday the Anti-Narcotics Unit were conducting an Interdiction Exercise near the Philip [...]

C.G.A. to Hold Special Meeting
A special general meeting has been requested by a group of forty-six farmers, including former Citrus Growers Association Chairman Bryon Bowman, to address the current financial state of affairs of [...]

Financials Will Be Ready for Annual General Meeting, Says C.E.O.
According to Chief Executive Officer Henry Anderson, during the time when there was an issue with Banks Holdings, an agreement was made for new auditors to be assigned to the [...]

U.B. Joins Forces with University of the West Indies
Regional institution UWI and Belize’s national university UB signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen partnerships to improve tertiary level education in Belize.  The MOU seeks to foster the relationship [...]

U.W.I. Open Campus Also Working with Chamber of Commerce
Another MOU was signed today, this time between the UWI Open Campus and the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This MOU is a continuation of another MOU signed in [...]

Ministry of Education Works on Early Childhood Program in North
The European Union and the government kicked off an important program on early childhood education over the weekend. The program covers the Corozal and Orange District where preschool teachers are [...]

CTV3

Hulse Sues Former PUP Leader For Defamation Of Character
Hon. Godwin Hulse is suing Freetown Area Hon. Francis Fonseca for alleged defamation in relation to comments uttered during a press conference two years ago. Both parties appeared in court for a pre-trial review hearing today. In that encounter, they reported to the court that mediation has not worked therefore they are prepared to go to trial. Both sides spoke to the media following their hearing. Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Minister of Immigration, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment and Sustainable Development: “This is the case that I have brought about against the honourable Francis Fonseca for character defamation.” Reporter: “What statement did he make?” Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Minister of Immigration, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment and Sustainable Development: “I don’t want to repeat the statement but it was in relation at the time of the Penner passport issues.”

Free Eye Clinics For Corozal School Children
The San Pedro Lions Club has embarked on a national programme to improve the vision of school children. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Lions representatives are visiting schools across the country with state of the art eye testing equipment. Today, the President of the San Pedro Lions Club Nigel Belisle was visiting Paraiso Government School. He told us ensuring that the children have good vision can improve their education. Nigel Belisle, President, San Pedro Lions Club: “We’ve been going from school to school checking the kid’s eyes and thing, as you know better sight means better vision and better vision means children will do better in school so we embarked on this program to try to help the children of Corozal Town.” Nigel Belisle, President, San Pedro Lions Club: “We sent out Parental form for the parents whether they accept for us to test the children’s eyes and once they accept they return that form back to us, we go and we visit the school and we do it classroom per classroom and we have this device and it’s called the plus optic machine and it detects exactly what is wrong with the children’s eyes.”

GOB Suspends Seismic Testing For Good
On Wednesday October 19th, two vessels, namely the MV Northern Explorer and MV Campeche begun seismic testing in Belizean waters, only a short distance away from the country’s fragile World Heritage site, despite Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s promise back in May of 2015 that all offshore concessions had expired and none would be renewed. Although the testing started one day earlier than had been publicly announced, the government of Belize was forced to cease seismic operations the day after it commenced, following an outcry from concerned citizens, national civil society groups and international conservation organizations and their supporters. Today the Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum announced that the regional offshore seismic survey has been cancelled. According to the release, the seismic vessel Seabird Northern Explorer departed Belize on October 21, 2016 and this kind of survey will not be taking place in Belizean waters as previously proposed.

Former Minister Of Lands Speaks On Compensations
As you heard from Gaspar Vega, there are persons in the UDP that called for his full resignation, even from the House of Representatives. He said these were persons that did not like him. Well, we don’t know if Hon. Godwin Hulse is one of those people, but today when the media caught up with him outside the Court, where he was for a private matter, he expressed gross dismay at the idea of hustling from the public’s coffers through land compensation. Hon. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Minister of Immigration, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, the Environment and Sustainable Development: “When my former CEO said that in January we put a brakes in compensation and try to review I was the minister then and I was just in the month and I began to say what the heck is this I mean with all this compensation who did we get to this and then try to stop it first of all not pay anything else but get a complete analysis of who we owe and why we owe and even those mandated by the court a lot of them were mandated by the courts and I didn’t see it fair at all from my how I see it...”

Amandala

Katehlyn Rubio is Miss Garifuna 2016
This year’s Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations are being held under the theme: “Garifuna: Rísiti, Pántati, Gabafuti. Iúrahowa meme la – Garifuna: Rich, Proud and Powerful. Let us continue to preserve it”. A highlight of the annual celebrations, founded in 1941 by Thomas Vincent Ramos, is the annual Ms. Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant, which showcases Garifuna talent, beauty, culture and history. This year, though, the winner of the pageant used the platform to put the spotlight on a burning national issue. Katehlyn Rubio, 18, of Punta Gorda (‘Peini’ in Garifuna) in the Toledo District, captured the title of Miss Garifuna 2016-2017 on Saturday night, November 5, after a stellar display of garifunadüaü—the rich essence of the Garifuna culture—and delivering a compelling message for her main item on pageant night, calling for peace between Belize and Guatemala, and especially at the Sarstoon River, the country’s southern border where there have been numerous conflicts between Guatemala’s military and Belizeans, both civilians and armed forces. The divisive conflict is a grave concern for the wider Garifuna community, which spans the borders of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.

Fr. John Stochl, S. J., passes in St. Louis
The newspaper has been reliably informed of the death last night of Fr. John Stochl, S. J., in St. Louis, Missouri. Our source says that he suffered a stroke while attending Mass in the Jesuit Infirmary there last week. Fr. Stochl was a priest who was much loved in Belize, where he served for many decades. In turn, Fr. John loved Belize as a man would love his home. He left The Jewel reluctantly to go into retirement in St. Louis last year. May he rest in peace. This was a good man.

Gary Seawell was falsely imprisoned, Court of Appeal finds
Gary Gordon Seawell, a Belizean, who has been fighting a United States extradition request for three years, was released today with a Writ of Habeas Corpus from the Court of Appeal. The court found that Seawell was falsely imprisoned when the Chief Magistrate ruled that he should be extradited and remanded him to the Belize Central Prison on October 22, 2013, without the proper warrant for his legal imprisonment. Seawell, through his attorney Anthony Sylvestre, filed a civil claim at the Court of Appeal against the Superintendent of the Belize Central Prison and the Attorney General of Belize. At today’s hearing, British attorney Ben Cooper, from Doughty Street Chamber, teamed up with Sylvestre for Seawell’s appeal. The Attorney General and the Kolbe Foundation’s Belize Central Prison were represented by Senior Crown Counsel Triennia Young, and Agassi Finnegan.

Return the $400,000, GOB tells Pitts and Vega!
Attorney Sharon Pitts and Andre Vega, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, both walked away with $400,000 each after a shady land transaction occurred when the senior Vega was the Minister of Natural Resources. Pitts and Vega were both granted acres of land despite being told on more than one occasion that those lands were already privately owned. After acquiring the land, the Government of Belize was forced to compensate them so that the land could be returned to its original owner. Both Pitts and Vega each received approximately $400,000 for lands that they had purchased at a price of just a few thousand dollars. When this scandal broke last month it made headlines and stirred so much controversy that Gaspar Vega was forced to resign from Cabinet with immediate effect.

The PM’s appointment with history
The Government of Belize announced late Friday that it would be making the moves necessary for the recovery of a total of $800,000 paid to Sharon Pitts and Andre Vega as compensation for private lands the Ministry of Natural Resources had sold to them in what may be described as land scams. As has been the case with most high profile disputes between the Government of Belize and private individuals and groups in the modern era, this attempt to recover the compensation money looks like yet another case where some attorneys in Belize will make a lot of money. When Belizeans began to fight for self-rule in 1950, you could count the amount of native attorneys on one hand, and almost all court cases were criminal ones. Today, it seems everyone, and his brother and sister, is an attorney, and ours has become a highly litigious society since political independence in 1984. Multimillion dollar civil cases abound on the legal calendar in Belize. “Civil” is where the big money is.

From the Publisher
Two or three months ago I wrote in this column that I felt Donald Trump, the Republican Party nominee for the United States presidency, had put himself in a position where the Democrats could make a caricature of him which would frighten the American people into voting for the Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton. I mentioned that the Democratic campaign of the incumbent President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, had succeeded in doing such a caricature job on Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican presidential candidate in November of 1964, who was beaten badly by Mr. Johnson. The so-called Cold War between the United States and Russia had been perhaps the biggest issue in 1964, because it carried with it the threat of nuclear war and the annihilation of planet earth. The Democrats had made Goldwater look like an extremist hawk who would be quick to use America’s nuclear arsenal.

I recommend BURN, featuring Marlon Brando
Dear Editor, I always look forward to reading your editorials, and as usual the one in the current issue of Amandala is informative, incisive, to the point — and a bit “arch,” which I like! Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the people. Last night I watched a free movie on You Tube, the seldom seen and heretofore unknown to me BURN, featuring one of my favorite actors, Marlon Brando. A story of slave revolution in the Caribbean circa mid-1800’s, when both the Portuguese and the English were jockeying for economic advantage in the very lucrative sugarcane trade. With enough nefarious deeds and duplicitous dealings to go around, it illustrates just how craven colonial machinations in pursuit of wealth could be; sugarcane here, but hell, it could just as well have been mahogany…. At any rate, if you have the time for this, I recommend it highly. (Ed. NOTE: We believe this is a movie which was shown in Belize under the name of QUEIMADA. It was only shown once at the Palace Theater, because this was around 1970, during the time of UBAD. Apparently, the Government of Belize, which also banned Nina Simone’s YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK from being played on the government monopoly radio station, felt the movie Mr. Czarnecki was referring to would have encouraged UBAD impulses. We believe the said movie, BURN or QUEIMADA, was directed by an Italian named Gillo Pontecorvo, who had previously directed the more famous revolutionary film – THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS.)

Breaking Belize News

Ministry of Home Affairs confirms Chester Williams’ suspension
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a release today confirming reports that yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was placed on administrative leave pending the resolution of internal administrative matters. The release states that today, after a meeting with the administration, including Commissioner […]

BTIA Dangriga Tourism Expo to be held on Garifuna Settlement Day
The Dangriga Chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) will be hosting the first ever Dangriga Tourism Expo on Saturday, November 19 at the Alejo Beni Park. BTIA advocates for the sustainable development of the industry and improved quality of the visitor’s experience. BTIA […]

Minor raped in Independence
A woman of Independence village took her daughter, who is a minor, to the Independence village police station and reported that on Saturday at about 1:00 pm while at home alone, Samuel Canelo visited the house and had sexual intercourse with the minor against […]

More weed found in San Ignacio
Yesterday evening at about 5:30 p.m., police conducted a search at the home of Isiah Azueta on Jaguar Street in San Ignacio Town where officers discovered a black plastic bag on a T.V. stand . It contained seven transparent plastic bags and six smaller […]

Hit and Run in Orange Walk claims life of one
Yesterday morning about 6:30 a.m., police visited an area in Trinidad Village in the Orange Walk district where officers observed the body of a man. The victim was identified as Luciano Jose Chi, 71. He was lying on the ground with head injuries and […]

NEMO Minister deliver houses in Belize Rural North
NEMO Minister, Edmund Castro has been delivering houses to victims of Hurricane Earl in all the areas that were severely affected. This week in Belize Rural North he handed over a number of houses to residents in villages throughout that division. The houses delivered […]

Chester Williams suspended
ACP Chester Williams is at odds with the Commissioner of Police, Allen Whylie. After a meeting this morning, Whylie reportedly placed Williams on a five day suspension with immediate effect. Officers reportedly work exhaustive 12 hour shifts causing officers to become overworked so Williams […]

Entrepreneurship Symposium 2016 to be held in Belmopan
The University of Belize (UB), Belmopan Campus in collaboration with the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC-Belize), a unit of Beltraide, will hold its third annual Entrepreneurship Symposium on November 14 at 1:30 p.m. The symposium is an annual event observed as part of […]

Micah Goodin beat up by fellow PUP supporter
A senior People’s United Party (PUP) supporter has been arrested and charged for assaulting a junior supporter of the party. The incident took place at the Belize Youth Movement’s (BYM) election on Saturday in Belize City. Karim Adle Sr., 55, reportedly beat up known […]

Cayo residents join hands in fighting crime
Last night, a joint meeting was held at the Aguada in Santa Elena town with members of the Cayo Neighborhood Watch Association (CNWA), People’s Coalition of Cayo (PCC), Cayo Special Constables committee and the San Ignacio police in attendance. The first of its kind, […]

World watches US election
The world has paused to observe the election of the next President of the United States of America. History will be made today if either the Democratic Nominee, Hillary Clinton, or the Republican Nominee, Donald Trump, is successful. If she wins, Clinton who embodies […]

Blogs

Learn How to Play the Garifuna Drums with the Locals in Belize
One of the signature musical styles of the Garifuna is their special drumming. Using hand-made drums formed from native hardwoods and animal skins, Garifuna drums are much more than just a simple musical instrument. Garifuna drummers believe that their sacred rhythms are an important vehicle for communicating essential truths about the world. A number of towns and villages offer traditional Garifuna drumming classes for visitors. Whether it’s learning how to drum, dance, or how to make a traditional drum, classes are usually found in areas with a significant Garifuna population like the villages of Punta Gorda, Seine Bight, or Hopkins as well as the town of Dangriga.

Youth volunteer programs in Belize empowering leadership
Leadership means different things to different people around the world. It is the capacity to translate vision into reality; to lead the way. Not only to stand up and fight for what you believe in but also to know when it’s time to kneel to serve others in need. Belize has been blessed with a melting pot of cultures; cultures that respect each other and come as one when in need. There are various community youth groups, religious youth groups, political youth groups and even youth clubs in Belize that display great leadership to various communities in the country. For instance, La Inmaculada Catholic Youth Group in Orange Walk Town is an active youth group that is involved in community projects such as gathering “Back to School” supplies, visiting the sick, engaging in church activities, etc. In Southern Belize, the Youth Advocacy Movement of Dangriga focuses on social education programs that addresses peer pressure, self esteem and sex education.

5 Private Belize Islands You Should Know About
The Caribbean sea is generously freckled with islands, many of which constitute entire nations. While Belize isn’t one of the aforementioned Caribbean “islands” we have our own ample supply of sea oases. We’ve already told you about six of the best Belize islands to visit, but, what if you don’t want to spend all that time among the company of droves of people? Surely a region known for turquoise waters and white sandy beaches is all out of private escapes… right? Guess again; check out some of the most private Belize Islands for your enjoyment: 1 The Turneffe Atolls: The atolls that constitute the Turneffe cluster are situated 20 miles east of Belize City. These atolls are large enough to each feel deserted when you’re on one – and in the best way too. 2 Hatchet Caye: Have you heard of Hatchet Caye? We’re going to imagine the order of those answers was “Yes!….Um, No.”. Fear not, if we just described you (even if we didn’t) Hatchet caye is one ideal place for private group travel offering up the “Caribbean before it got crowded” feel. The draw here is that you and your group of (up to) thirty friends can rent the entire island and it’s facilities for yourselves. 3 Silk Cay: The Silk Cayes, sometimes called Queen Cayes are two deserted islands (Those still exist?) perpetually chilling right along the reef. Silk cay makes up part of what is called the Silk Cay and Gladden Split reserve that sits about 22 miles off the coast of Placencia. Silk Cay is a veritable mound of sand peering out of the Caribbean sea from Behind the reef which makes it an uninhabited white sand beach, what could be better? 4 Glovers Atoll: Catch and release fishing, snorkeling with coral wildlife and turtles, hundreds of reef patches, pristine beaches, and complete privacy. Glover’s Atoll has it all for your private week on an island, but what really sets this place apart from the rest is the fact that is had been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. 5 Sapodilla Cayes: Making its second entry in a countdown, the Sapodilla Cayes in southern Belize really are something. The trek to this location takes deliberate intent, it’s not the sort of place you happen upon along a weekend drive. Aren’t those the best kinds of places, though? The Sapodilla Cayes are a collection of 14 small islands chained together off the southern coast of Belize.

International Sources

UE: diferendo Guatemala-Belice debe ir a corte internacional
UK And the EU congratulate Guatemala on ratification of the Special Agreement 2.0 now lets see if Guat will get the money for the referendum from them that they are requesting... La Unión Europea (UE) calificó de "positivo" que el diferendo territorial entre Guatemala y Belice, que se agudizó en abril tras la muerte de un adolescente guatemalteco a manos de tropas beliceñas, se resuelva en la Corte Internacional de Justicia, informó el lunes (07.11.2016) una fuente diplomática. El embajador de la Unión Europea en Guatemala Stefano Gatto dijo durante una visita al Congreso Nacional que la reciente ratificación guatemalteca del Protocolo al Acuerdo Especial entre Guatemala y Belice representa un "aspecto positivo". Este protocolo determina que el Reclamo Territorial, Insular y Marítimo de Guatemala sobre 12.000 kilómetros cuadrados de Belice debe someterse a la Corte Internacional de Justicia, pero sin que la consulta popular que ambos países se comprometieron a realizar –para que el fallo tenga sustento- deba ser necesariamente simultánea. El territorio de Belice, una ex colonia británica que obtuvo la independencia unilateral por parte del Reino Unido en 1981, consta de 23.000 kilómetros cuadrados.

Taiwan helps Belize citrus farmers fight citrus greening
Belizean citrus growers, Justino Chiac of Maya Mopan Village on the Southern Highway, and Gilbert Galvez of Ringtail Village on the Hummingbird Highway, are learning to control the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, known as citrus greening, which is so detrimental to citrus orchards, through the technical support of a project, funded by Taiwan’s International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF). The project to “Strengthen the Control of Huanglongbing (HLB) and the Implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Citrus” is jointly funded by the ICDF and OIRSA, the International Organization for Regional Agricultural Health. The ICDF control HLB pilot project, has collaborated with four Belizean farmers, two in the Stann Creek and two in the Cayo district, to establish four exhibition groves, using best practices for control of HLB, as demonstration models to teach other citrus growers in the area how to control and manage HLB.

Student Reconstructs Lost Maya Pigment
For centuries, scientists from around the globe have probed the secrets of an ancient azure pigment known as Maya blue that vanished thousands of years ago. Maya blue is singularly resilient, adding color to Maya artifacts millennia after other pigments have worn away. Although descendants of the Maya have begun creating ceramic pottery using the traditional methods of their ancestors, they had long ago lost the recipe used to create the durable paint ancient Maya artisans began using on ceramics and stonework around A.D. 300. Until, that is, SUNY Cortland senior Kelly McKenna figured it out. McKenna, an art history major and archeology minor, drew on her chemistry background and began a quest to find the right mix of natural compounds that would yield a contemporary blue paint that closely mimics the lost, nearly permanent, sacred pigment of the Maya. Having earned an undergraduate summer research grant to recreate the rare pigment, McKenna — under the supervision of SUNY Cortland’s Jeremiah Donovan, a professor of ceramics in the Art and Art History Department — rolled up her sleeves and dug clay from the banks of the nearby Groton River. Her work paralleled the process the Maya used to collect clay from the rain forest surrounding them.

Videos

November 8, 2016

FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.

Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

EIA for North AC Water System and Sewage Collection Treatment Project approved
After its final consultation on February 4, 2016, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the North Ambergris Caye Water System and Sewage Collection and Treatment Project has received its preliminary approval. The project is now pending its Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP). The purpose of the project is to enhance the quality of life of the populace of Ambergris Caye while contributing to the protection of the eco-system. In addition, it is intended that it will help support the island’s tourism package by providing quality service to the residents and resorts of Northern Ambergris Caye. Garcia explained how the system will operate. “The proposed expansion project which entails a development of 12 miles north from the Sir Barry Bowen Bridge will centralize the sewage system that will treat the waters to tertiary levels before the effluents are disposed,” he explained. “This would significantly reduce the severity and extent of impacts to the environment.” He added that the area surrounding the project site is considered to be ecologically sensitive given the extensive coral reef, sea grass and mangrove habitats in the area. For this reason, there is a need to raise the standards of the treatment of effluents for the sake of the environment. However, he also indicated that due to the upgrade of the quality of treatment, the budget of the project might also increase and additional funds will need to be acquired.

Ambergris Today

25 Years Ago - Lobster Fishing During Fat and Cold Novembers
My dad was a conch, fish and lobster fisherman. He had two wire fish traps, 200 wood lobster pats (traps), a small dory and a small 18-foot sailing boat. He worked his fishing grounds Mondays through Saturdays from 7 a.m. To 12 noon. Those were working hours of all fishermen. During school days I could not help my dad in his fishing journeys, but on Saturdays I was up bright and early to go check the fish traps. The most exciting part of those Saturday fishing trips was the fun of trolling for barracuda along the reef on our return to the village. Now let us find out why I call November the "fat month". It was this month that the northerly winds began to blow, just like this past Sunday. These northerly winds caused fish and lobster movements. The wire fish traps were loaded with hundreds of prized snappers and lobsters moved along the grassy and shallow seas. Knowing this, my dad (and this is true of most families) got my brother and I up at 5a.m. We boarded our small dory and paddled our way about 500 feet from the beach right in front of the village. In our case it was in front of the Tackle Box Bar. There we spotted lines of lobsters moving in procession southwards.

Belize Includes HPV Vaccine to National Vaccine Program for Cancer Prevention
On November 3, 2016, Belize’s Ministry of Health hosted a press conference to speak on the inclusion of the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine into the National Vaccine Schedule under the National Vaccine Program of Belize. He mentioned that the administering of the vaccine will commenced by the end of this month to girls age 10 in standard 4 school settings. They will be required to have a signed consent form from the parent indicating either a yes or no before getting the vaccine. Two doses of the vaccine will be given, one followed by another six month thereafter.

Belize Government Still Refuses to Legislate Position on Offshore Oil Moratorium
The Government of Belize Declines to Safeguard Belize’s Marine and Coastal Resources from the Threat of Offshore Oil Through Legislation. Is the Government of Belize saying ‘YES’ to Offshore Oil? In the spirit of transparency, the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage has disclosed a letter sent to a member of the Coalition on November 4th 2016. As a reading of this letter will reveal, the Government is refusing to legislate a position on the offshore oil moratorium. Oceana is reiterating the need for legislation on the moratorium because the policy referenced in the letter is not even a written document and given that policies can change with little or no notice.

Misc Belizean Sources

New Name and Face for the Belize City Municipal Airstrip
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, in collaboration with the Belize Airports Authority (BAA), is pleased to announce the inauguration of the Sir Barry Bowen Municipal Airport, formerly the Belize City Municipal Airstrip. The airport was expanded and renovated through a BZ$17 million project implemented by the BAA through a loan from the Social Security Board. The new features of the airport include an expanded runway 2,900 ft. long and 60 ft. wide with a parallel taxiway measuring 2,700 ft. long and 60 ft. wide, including a new lighting system to accommodate the landing of aircrafts at night. With the appropriate marking and signage, the airport is now compliant with local and international civil aviation standards. An apron with safety lines, parking and service road markings and 10 aircraft parking stalls are also among the newly added facilities.

Pool Party Entertainment this Weekend
Banana Beach Resort Brings You Lova Boy

Intermittent Closure of New Burrell Boom Bridge
The Ministry of Works informs the General Public that the Burrell Boom Bridge will be closed for short intervals commencing today, November 7, 2016 from 9.00 AM through to 11.00 AM. This is to enable heavy equipment in the area facilitate the disassembly and removal of the Old Burrell Boom Bridge. The Ministry implores the general public to be alert when approaching the bridge site and adhere to the traffic control measures in place while heavy equipment operations are on-going during the time period specified. The Ministry of Works regrets the inconvenience caused but the intermittent closure is necessary to enable removal of the Old Burrell Boom Bridge.

3rd Annual Flavours of the Garifuna!
Mark the Date! November 19th, Garifuna Settlement Day, at the Corozal House of Culture at 7:30pm. Garifuna cuisine sampling.

FCD’s Executive Director met with Ambassador of Costa Rica to Belize, Mr. Edgar Garcia Miranda to explain our work in the Chiquibul
Ambassador Garcia noted, “We reiterate our wishes to serve and assist in accordance to our possibilities and our best experiences, in search for protecting, developing awareness and promoting benefits to humankind; whilst respecting nature and the goods that the forests, rivers, mountains, water, minerals and all the blessings that God has given us.”

Garifuna welcome visitors to Belize
The Garifuna are a proud people who keep their heritage alive today by continuing their traditions and sharing with visitors. This is how they welcomed Visitors to Belize this past weekend at the Northern Border.

The U.S. Embassy in Belmopan is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for six Gardener (6) positions
The successful candidates will be required to obtain a security clearance and undergo a medical examination. The U.S. Mission in Belize provides equal opportunity and fair and equitable treatment in employment to all people without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, marital status, or sexual orientation. The Department of State also strives to achieve equal employment opportunity in all personnel operations through continuing diversity enhancement programs.

Paint N Splash
Join us this week at Crazy Canucks Beach Bar!

The Ministry of Health Joins the World to Celebrate Malaria Day in the Americas
The Ministry of Health is pleased to announce that as part of the regional initiative to eliminate Malaria by the year 2020, the Ministry has just completed another round of external evaluation by the Global Fund and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and has surpassed its targets for 2015/2016. This year’s success comes on the heels of Malaria Day in the Americas, which is observed yearly by countries in the region on November 6th. This year’s theme is “End Malaria for Good”. Belize is on track to meet its regional commitment as to date the Ministry has achieved a 99% reduction in cases between the period from 2000 to 2015. In 2015 there were nine locally-acquired cases reported from six villages mainly in the Corozal, Orange Walk and Stann Creek districts. Most of the country including the Belize, Cayo and Toledo districts have met requirements to be declared Malaria free. This is a vast difference from the mid-90’s when Malaria peaked at over 10,000 cases.

Prime Minister Departs the Country on Official Business
Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow left the country today on official business to the United States of America. The Prime Minister will be travelling to New York for consultations with Government of Belize’s legal and financial advisers on various pending matters. The Prime Minister is expected to return to Belize on Saturday, 12th November, 2016. During his absence, the Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Patrick Faber will act as Prime Minister.

Antoney Acosta electrocuted in San Pedro
Sadly the doctors weren't able to save the hands of Antoney Acosta, he has only 13 years old,he was carrying food for his dad on a rainyday in sanpedro and he was also barefooted he accidentally got electricuted,but thank god he's still alive the parents still in need of donations, "please guys have a heart remember,libit,libit full basket"it doesn't matter the amount if u wish to donate you can contact the parents at telephone: #651-6592 or 665-7708 also u can send it by bank at Belize bank account#252930 (Maria Acosta) thank you!

Jesuit who dedicated life to Belize passes away
Fr. Jack Stochl S.J. was most recently known to the parishoners or St. Martin DePorres in Belize City. He was also a former Headmaster of St. John's Junior College High School Division. Anyone who remembers him also knew of his parrot. A quiet humble man who spent many years in Belize. He passed away peacefully last night. May he rest in peace. As the SJC boys would say "Hail the white and blue!"

GRANT AVAILABLE!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) works closely with national governments, U.S.agencies, and a range of other partners to ensure a results-based approach to conserving priority species, habitats and ecological processes across landscapes with high biodiversity value in Central America. Protecting wildlife and forests is a critical element in securing food sources,livelihoods and sustainable development for the region. USFWS is providing funding opportunity to reduce threats to key species and ecosystems in Central America and to strengthen the requisite local individual and institutional capacity to sustain conservation processes in the long-term. The approximate amount of funding available under this program is $1,000,000 USD.

Ambassador Carlos Moreno hands over an Emergency Operations Center
Today, Ambassador Carlos Moreno handed over an Emergency Operations Center, valued at approximately USD $547,000, to the Government and people of Belize at a ceremony in Orange Walk Town. This facility is the first of its kind in the Orange Walk District and represents the U.S. Government's and the USSOUTHCOM's continued commitment to Belize in the field of humanitarian assistance. The operations center will enable NEMO to effectively coordinate disaster response, provide relief efforts and deliver timely assistance to the people of Belize, especially in remote areas.

Channel 7

Cocaine Bricks With The Mark Of The Puma
Tonight police are puzzling over the origin of over 20 pounds of cocaine with an intriguing logo on it. The logo which appears to look like a Puma with its jaws wide open appears on 9 cocaine bricks which the Anti-Drugs Unit intercepted on Saturday on the Boom-Hattieville Road. Unofficial reports from rural police say that at around 9:00 on Saturday morning, the ADU saw a tinted SUV turning into the Boom Road from the Northern Highway. The ADU tried to get the driver to stop, but he sped off, and the officers set chase. The driver of the suspect SUV then did an unusual thing; he came to a sudden stop and one dark skinned man jumped out carrying a duffle bag. The SUV zoomed off, and the man dashed into the bushes and the officers abandoned the vehicle chase, to set chase on foot after the suspect with the bag.

Someone Set Their House On Fire And Locked The Door From Outside
The rash of fires continues in the city, and more families are displaced tonight after an early Sunday morning fire destroyed 3 buildings on Castle Street. This time, the blaze claimed 2 family homes and a church - and fire authorities say it's arson. At around 4:35, the fire raged at the house situated between the church and another residence. Fortunately, both families quickly made it out before the fire engulfed their homes. We went to find out what caused this fire and how these families will move on. Courtney Weatherburne reporting: There will be no more service at the Castle Street Salvation Army church. That warm spirit that greeted the congregation every Sunday was cast out by an early morning blaze. The only semblance of hope was shining through an opening in the charred roof. But there was no hope for this home. The fire started here, on the right side of the church. A woman and her 2 kids were sleeping inside when the flames rose. When they tried to get out, the door was jammed but they found another way out.

Who Would Want To Kill Kyla?
And the owner of the house that was set ablaze is also pleading for help. As you heard Kyla Reynolds was inside sleeping with her 2 kids when the fire started. Reynolds came to our studio this afternoon to give her frightening account. She says she is grateful to be alive but she also shudders to think that someone wanted to harm her and her kids. She asked to appear off camera: Voice of: Kyla Reynolds, Fire Victim "I was sleeping and then I heard a little crackling sound and when I look under my room door I saw something red. So I said "fire?" cant. I say it must be wiring for the house, but then I searched for my phone on the bed and when I found it I flash it to open the room door. When I opened the room door and I looked outside I saw the sofa under fire. So I ran back in the room to get my son and my daughter. I woke up my daughter and told her "fire" and then afterwards I ran to the door trying to open it. It didn't want to open..."

Was First Street Fire Also An Arson?
And arson is also rumored for another city fire. This one happened at around 11:30 on Friday night, on First Street in the King's Park area where a 35 by 40 foot bungalow house was destroyed. Two persons were at home at the time of the fire: an older woman who was babysitting a young child. The boy's father, Rene Ayuso was working as a security guard at BTL Park while stepmother Valerie Valerio was just getting home - and when she did she found that everything had been destroyed. Speaking off camera, she gave us her reaction:.. Voice of: Valerie Valerio, Fire Victim: "My stepson and I were in the house. They already came out when I reached there. I just started to cry, because I felt bad." Jules Vasquez, 7News: "Were you all able to save anything?" Voice of: Valerie Valerio, Fire Victim: "No, nothing. Everything got destroyed."

Rash of City Fires Spawns Fire Safety Tips
Now there isn't much you can do if somebody deliberately sets your house on fire - you just have to get out and save yourself from getting burnt alive. But Station Officer at the Fire Departure Orin Smith told us that some fires can be prevented.

Vega Not Resigning, Just Retiring, Eventually
The UDP just completed one year in office for their third term - and, politically, it's been the worst year ever for Gaspar Vega. The man who helped deliver five of eight seats for the UDP in the north first went from Lands Minister to Agriculture Minister, then from Deputy Party Leader to Standard Bearer, then from Deputy Prime Minister to just another minister, and then, finally, last month to no minister at all, after he resigned from Cabinet - under extreme public pressure and outcry. Now, the UDP's former King In The North is no longer in Cabinet, and the question many are asking is will he take that final step and resign as area representative for Orange Walk North, and be replaced in a bye-election? Well on Saturday he held a meeting with his faithful supporters in the constituency he was won three times, and, after, that, he told Dillon Jones from the UDP Friendly Sugar City Morning Show that he's not going anywhere:...

Daniel Arzu Jr On The Rebound After Shot To The Head
We last updated you on 28 year old Coast Guardsman Daniel Arzu 11 days ago when he was being flown out in an Air Ambulance courtesy the Mexican Navy. Well, tonight the news about him is good. A shot to the head usually offers a grim prognosis but his father says his son is now conscious, speaking and going through therapy at the Navy Hospital in Mexico City. We spoke to Daniel Arzu Sr. today when he returned from Mexico and the grateful father gave us an update on his condition, and the reason he was shot. Supt. Daniel Arzu, OC - Benque Viejo Police: "He at this time is recuperating. He is recovering relatively fast and he is able to speak and do things just as normal, but because of the impact of the bullets, he has to undergo therapy and that is exactly what he is pursuing at this point in time."

Man Dies After Crashing Into River
Last night Inair Chan, Luis August and five other passengers were driving through San Antonio village in Orange Walk, when August, the driver, lost control and sent the car straight into the river. Most of the passengers, including a 4-month-old baby made it out with only scratches and bruises, all except Inair Chan of Trial Farm in Orange Walk. When they got to the scene police said they found Chan's body dead in the water. The Assistant Superintendent of the Orange Walk Police, Selvin Tillet, told us more... Supt. Selvin Tillett, OC - Orange Walk Police: "On Sunday 6th November at about 8:15pm, Orange Walk Police received information that a vehicle had ran into the San Antonio River which had several persons on board. As a result police visited the scene where they saw a Hispanic male person, learned to be Inair Chan, a mechanic of Trial Farm motionless in the river. Information received that Mr. Chan was one of the persons in the vehicle." August has been detained pending an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

Elderly Man Killed In Hit And Run
Orange Walk Police received a report of another traffic accident early this morning. The body of an elderly man was found on the side of the road near Trinidad Village, and due to his injuries, police believe he was killed in a hit and run. ASP Selvin Tillet gave us more details. Supt. Selvin Tillett, OC - Orange Walk Police: "On Monday, todays date 7th November, about 6:30am, information was received of the body of a male person on the side of the road about a mile pass Trinidad Village, Orange Walk District towards August Pine Ridge. Police visited the area where they saw the motionless body of a 71 year-old male person, unemployed of Trinidad Village." Due to the time the incident occurred, and the lack of houses in the area there are no witnesses to the fatal collision.

Rivers, Willoughby And Who Threatened Who
Raymond Rivers - when we last spoke to him 11 days ago - he had just finished meeting with Southside Commander Chester Williams about his threatening Facebook posts. He also alleged that UDP City Councilor Phillip Willoughby had put a hit out on him - a claim which Willoughby flatly denies. But we did learn that Willoughby had made a statement against Rivers on October fourth, alleging that the activist had threatened him telling him he would die. Willoughby got his lawyer to send a letter to Rivers and made a police report. Well One month later, Rivers was arrested this weekend and went to court today for threatening words. His attorney, the PUP Representative Kareem Musa says that the government is trying to muzzle him:.. Kareem Musa, River's Attorney: "This purported offence, this allegedly offence took place September 20th, 2016. Almost 2 months ago. Since then we know that Mr. Rivers has been very vocal against this administration on Facebook. He is a grassroots activists. Imagine that, September 20th this offence supposedly took place."

Chester's Changes Rejected By Compol
The 12 hour shift for Belize City Police Officers, it was implemented back in 2012 in the middle of a crime wave. The idea was to maximize human resources in Belize City for the greatest crime suppression. Since then, about 500 new police officers have been added to the force, and some say there's no longer as urgent a need to maximize resources. At least that's what southside commander Chester Williams seemed to think. He reverted to the 8 hours shift this weekend, but that sent off alarm bell in Belmopan. Our reports say that Commissioner Whylie told him to return to the 12 hours shift system, pronto! According to our reports that hasn't happened yet - and one city resident hopes it doesn't; Justice of the Peace Grace Flowers lives on west Canal between multiple gang zones and the police have to keep a permanent presence on her block. She says the 12 hour shift makes them inattentive:..

Police Minister Knows About Shifts
Now one man who should know very well about the drudgery of the shift system is former Deputy Commissioner of Police Elodio Aragon. He was in the senior command when that controversial system was first implemented - and so today we asked him - as Police Minister whether it should continue. He says it will have to be looked into: Hon. Elodio Aragon, Minister of State - Home Affairs: "Well the 12-hours shift system has been in operation for a couple of years. I think roughly maybe 5 years now. That was done in terms of looking at the demands and the needs of policing in this country and I think that it is not that they are working above their working hours. They work more, so we could focus on having more officers on the ground. But they do get their adequate time off. So it's not a problem. The fact is that at this point in time I think the department and the commissioner, he has to look at it directly."

When Will Deplorable Barracks Bldg Be Fixed?
Aragon also commented on the deplorable status of the Caye Caulker Police Barracks. Last year we told you about complaints coming from Caye Caulker police about the state of their barracks. When we spoke to the Minister of National Security, John Saldivar, about the issue and he told us that the 30 million dollar loan from CABEI would be used to repair barracks all over the country. But still, since then nothing has been done. In September the Public Health Bureau inspected the police barracks, and found that they were completely uninhabitable. According to the report, the walls, floors and ceilings are rotten and are all in a state of disrepair, and in most cases the officers living there were exposed to the elements, bats, rodents and other vermin. So what will be done about it? Here's what Aragon told us.

PUP Fisticuffs: Adle Choked Micah?
On Saturday the PUP held an election for a new Belize Youth Movement president. But a man who was no youth at all, 55 year old Karim Adle Sr got into it with PUP activist Micah Goodin. Adle's son Karim Juniour vied for the presidency and lost, while Goodin's candidate, Ivan Valencia won. Goodin was an active campaigner for Valencia and it seems that caused some friction with the elder Adle. Goodin alleges that Adle walked up to him and pushed him in his chest, choked him with his two hands then pinned him against the wall. Police arrested and charged Karim Adle, 55yrs. Belizean Laborer of Cor. Stanton and Benque Viejo Road, San Ignacio for the crime of "Common Assault".

PM to NYC, For "Consultations"
Prime Minister Dean Barrow left the country today for New York where he is on unspecified government business. A press release says that he is going, quote, "for consultations with Government of Belize's legal and financial advisers on various pending matters." It doesn't say what those matters are but the PM returns on Saturday, and Deputy Patrick Faber will act in his absence.

US Sponsors NEMO Bldg in OW
Since 2006 the US Embassy has assisted the government of Belize with over $10 million US DOLLARS for the development of our disaster response infrastructure. Today, the US Ambassador to Belize, Carlos Moreno, handed over a new Regional Emergency Operation Center in Orange Walk Town. The new operations center cost over half a million US to build, and will help to effectively coordinate disaster response and relief efforts. We spoke with the Ambassador about project and how it is important for maintaining the security of Belizeans… The emergency operations center was received by Minister of NEMO Edmund Castro, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Elodio Aragon. Both Ministers told us about the strategic value of these centers, and how they can help in maintaining citizen safety. The US Embassy will hand over more emergency operations centers in other crucial locations around the country.

Castro and The Casas
We also spoke to Minister Castro about his efforts to relieve those effected by the Hurricane Earl. Since the storm, Castro has provided new houses for around 200 Belizeans and he told us today that despite how quickly they were put together, they will be able to hold up...

SEA Saddened By Gladden Development
A southern conservation group is sounding the alarm about dredging on a small island. The Southern Environmental Association known as SEA says it "is deeply disappointed with the construction of a tourism related development on Gladden Caye for the Gladden Caye Resort Ltd." SEA personnel say that the contractors are dredging and dumping sand on a smaller island beside Gladden, while the larger island was filled up three feet above its original height. They say all this is happening without approval from the Mining Unit for dredging, or the Fisheries Department or the Lands and Survey Department for the construction of a seawall. They also say that there are no silk curtains or barriers to mitigate against siltation and no beacon lights or demarcation buoys to aid navigation. Gladden Caye is located two miles from the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve, SEA says its Rangers will continue to be vigilant during all phases of the development.

John Stochl, SJ passes
And tonight we note the passing of an exceptional Jesuit who served Belize since the 1940's. Father John Stochl passed away at the age of 92 last night in St. Louis. He died of a heart attack. Stochl first came to Belzie in the 40's and was known for his exception durability, humility and commitment to service. We'll have more on him tomorrow. Fr. JOHN STOCHL DEAD AT 92.

Channel 5

Castle Street Fire Guts 2 Homes and Salvation Army Church
Thirteen people have been displaced by two separate fires that happened between Friday night and Sunday morning in Belize City. We start with the most recent fire that happened very [...]

Did Someone Set Fire That Destroyed Senior Citizen’s First Street Home?
The other fire happened on Friday night around eleven-thirty on First Street, also in Belize City. Sixty-eight year old Maria Ayuso was at home with her grandson when she was [...]

Education Minister Patrick Faber Goes On Attack: B.N.T.U. ‘Telling Untruths’
Minister of Education Patrick Faber has responded openly to criticisms made by the Belize National Teachers Union last Thursday.  The Deputy Prime Minister was chided for purportedly being dishonest in [...]

No Change in Date for Submission of Pay Sheets, Says Faber
Among the charges made against the ministry is the deliberate bumping up of the submission of pay sheets from the ninth of every month.  According to Faber, the collection date [...]

Ministry Will Proceed With Salary Deductions, Bypass Union on Make-Up Time for Strike
The academic calendar is made up of at least one hundred and eighty contact days, of which teachers and students are required to be in session.  The eleven-day strike in [...]

Raymond Rivers in Court; He Denies Threatening Death of Philip Willoughby
We have been reporting on firebrand activist Raymond Rivers’ various run-ins in recent weeks. He has been consistently crying out against the Government through the realm of Facebook. His language [...]

Before Pursuing Line of Credit, Citrus Growers Ask Association to Open Books
There is word tonight that there is financial trouble in one of the major industries in the south. Reports from within the citrus industry say that the Citrus Growers Association [...]

Are Citrus Growers Better Off After Losing More Than Half of Shares in C.P.B.L.?
According to Chanona, growers have lost fifty-eight percent of ownership in CPBL.  Shareholdings have since plummeted from ninety-nine to forty-one percent over the years and farmers are urging the committee [...]

“Life” Isn’t Life Anymore; Gregory August Wins Reduced Sentence for Murder
The case of convicted murderer Gregory August who is serving a life sentence for the stabbing death of seventy-three-year-old Alvin Robinson was heard in the Court of Appeal on Friday.  [...]

Imprisonment For Life is “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”
The moral argument, according to Courtenay, is whether or not an inmate can be reformed and rehabilitated after serving a lengthy sentence.  He says that an inmate who is not [...]

Accused Attackers of Suspected Arsonist Charged
Two-year-old Kaylee Alvarez perished in a fire on October twenty-seventh at her house on Ebony Street, Belize City where she was watching television.  Police have ruled that the fire was [...]

55 Year Old Man Charged for Common Assault of Micah Goodin
Police have arrested and charged fifty-five year old Karim Adle of San Ignacio Town for common assault on popular youth activist and journalist Micah Goodin. The incident took place around [...]

Cayo Man Shot Saturday Morning
A Cayo resident is hospitalized tonight at the Western Regional recovering from a shooting. Patrick Gordon was travelling in a small car when he was shot at in Santa Elena [...]

Developer on Gladden Caye Called Out on Dredging
Tonight there is a report of damage to fisheries and the marine environment in southern Belizean waters. The Southern Environmental Association reports that it has come across the construction of [...]

Father John Stochl Dead at 92; Beloved Jesuit Pastor and Educator
The Roman Catholic community, thousands of past students as well as Garifuna communities are tonight mourning the passing of a beloved pastor and educator who dedicated his entire life in [...]

Get a Job With EmployMe Belize
If you are looking for a job, there is a internet service that can make it happen because a new online job search engine is being launched. Employ Me Belize [...]

Toyota Hilux Stolen in Belmopan
Last Friday, we reported that a government vehicle assigned to the Ministry of Health was stolen from an employee’s yard in the Kontiki area of San Ignacio. Well, there was [...]

Region’s Officials Train in Best Practice on Public Procurement
A five-day training course in Public Procurement commenced today at the Biltmore Plaza in Belize City. Officials from across the region are taking part to acquire knowledge on the process [...]

Lots of Sports on Sports Monday
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday. {Feature on Weekend Sporting activities…}

CTV3

Free Eye Check-up Offered In Corozal
A team of eye specialists from the Rayjon Eye Clinic in Canada is in Corozal Town offering clinics at the Methodist Eye Clinic. Today when our newsteam stopped by the clinic was full to capacity as Belizeans arrived to benefit from the special eye care provided by the visiting medical team. The Rotary Club of Corozal is hosting the visiting group. According to Club member and organiser, Loretta Randall, so far the response has been of high volume Loretta Randall, Rotary member: “Today was Monday and we’ll do it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday we are going to try keep up portion of that day available for the students who some of them get out of school a little bit early and do have some that have prescriptions that we hope we could will fill those for them too.”

Belize Youth Movement Executive Conducts Elections For New Leaders
On Saturday November 5th, elections were held for the Belize Youth Movement National Executive members at the Party Headquarters in Belize City. The Belize Youth Movement is the youth arm of the People’s United Party. The elections saw two candidates contest the President and Vice President posts. The successful candidates were Ivan Valencia, who is also the Chairman of the Corozal North constituency, who vied for President; and Marissa Cervantes, a youth activist who is also the daughter of Orange Walk North Standard Bearer Ramon Monchi Cervantes. The convention was high-spirited and very lively. Valencia, who is no new comer to politics, shared with us today that as the new BYM leader, he will focus on ensuring that the youth arm reaches out to as many youth.

Guinea Grass Resident Allegedly Brutalized By Police Officer
A 21 year old resident of Guinea Grass village is tonight recuperating at the Northern Regional Hospital after he sustained severe head and body injuries reportedly at the hands of a police officer attached to the substation in the village. Reports from the family indicate that Hugo Noh was socializing at a local grocery store in the village, when he allegedly got in an altercation with an off duty police officer who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol and was also socializing in the area allegedly in the company of other villagers. Reports are that the altercation between the two led to the officer inflicting several lesions to Noh, principally on his head with his police issued fire arm.

BNTU Meets To Discuss Make Up Time For Strike
The Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers’ Union met on Saturday and has agreed to return to its membership for a mandate on the matter of making up time lost during 11 days of strike in October. As you are aware, after an impasse on the composition of an outstanding meeting, the Minister of Education and other education officials chose to go around the union to settle how the time is made up. In consultation with managements of primary schools they have agreed to extend the calendar by four days in January and 2 in April.

PM Meets With Financial Advisors In New York
A recent report by the International Monetary Fund continued to raise alarm over the state of Belize’s economy and finances. The report confirmed that the debilitated sectors such agriculture and oil exports and increasing debt were weakening the economy significantly. It also confirmed that the Government, in response to the economic difficulties, is considering increasing the GST rate as well as the fuel tax for next year’s budget. The nation’s distressed economic state is becoming a major concern and today, Prime Minister Dean Barrow flew out of Belize for consultation meetings with Government-hired legal and financial advisers in New York. A very vague Government-release only indicated that the meeting will be on various pending matters and gave no further information.

LOVE FM

Woman and Grandchild Escapes from Burning Home
The weekend got off to a hot start on Friday night as fire officials were called to the first of two fire scenes. Ingrid Fernandez has the story. INGRID FERNANDEZ REPORTING “Friday night saw emergency calls going into the 911 hotline when a fire began in the King’s Park area of Belize City. Assistant Superintendent […]

Multiple Structures Caught in Sunday Morning Fire
Early Sunday morning the fire officials were again called out to extinguish a blaze that caused damages to three structures on the north side of Belize City. Ingrid Fernandez followed the story today and shared this report. INGRID FERNANDEZ REPORTING “Just two days after a fire left a family homeless on First Street in the […]

San Ignacio Police Seeks Gunman in Weekend Shooting
San Ignacio Police are looking for one man who they say can help them figure out who shot thirty three year old Patrick Gordon and why. Gordon was shot several times over the weekend while in the company of friends but investigators are having difficulties extracting information from those who may have seen the shooter. […]

Hispanic Man Caught in Hit and Run on the Hummingbird Highway
The body of a man of Hispanic descent was found on the Hummingbird Highway over the weekend. Fem Cruz has the story. FEM CRUZ “Belmopan Police continue to investigate a fatal hit and run traffic accident that occurred on the Hummingbird Highway. Based on information received Belmopan Police visited Armenia Village at the entrance of […]

Police Officers and the 12-hour vs 9-hour Shifts
On several occasions comments have been made on the salaries and working conditions as well as the resources that often times have proven insufficient for police officers to perform their duties. Love News has learnt that while the officers attached to the Eastern Division South have recently been placed on 9-hour shifts, the powers that […]

Youth Awards 2016 Celebrates Achievements of Young Belizeans
The annual Youth Awards was held on Friday night at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts in Belize City where over fifteen awards were issued to young persons for achievements in sectors such as agriculture, education, innovation and media, among others. Minister of Youth, Patrick Faber was a speaker at the event and spoke […]

Land Scandal Goes Beyond Repayment from Vega and Pitts
Last Friday we told you of a letter sent by the Government of Belize to Andre Vega and Attorney Sharon Pitts requesting a reimbursement of eight hundred thousand dollars total from the two individuals. It is the first step at an attempt to have some semblance of confidence restored in the Ministry of Natural Resources […]

Ministers Vega and Penner: The Similarities
With the resignation of Gaspar Vega from the Government’s Cabinet and with an ongoing investigation reportedly being carried out, there is somewhat of a déjà vu as the Penner passport scandal is remembered. Area Representative Kareem Musa spoke on the similarities and the need for an international investigator to be brought in to the Lands […]

City Councillor Charges that Rivers Threatened His Life
Activist Raymond Rivers and Belize City Councilor, Phillip Willoughby are not the best of friends. Tonight we can tell you that not only do they have opposing political views but they are also at opposite ends of a police matter. Willoughby has filed a police complaint against Rivers alleging that Rivers threatened him. This alleged […]

Reformed Gang Leader turned Father of Four Speaks on Turning a New Leaf
On Thursday, November 3, Deshawn Jiwe Morris arrived from the United States to serve as guest speaker for Friday night’s Youth Awards in Belize City. His 16-minute presentation focused a lot on the needs of the young persons as well as his mind-set as a reformed member of a gang. DESHAWN MORRIS “I look at […]

Breaking Belize News

Prime Minister departs country on official business
Today, Prime Minister Dean Barrow left the country on official business to the United States of America. The Prime Minister will be traveling to New York for consultations with Government of Belize’s legal and financial advisers on various pending matters. He is expected to […]

Ministry of Health joins the World to Celebrate Malaria Day in the Americas
The Ministry of Health in a release today announced that as part of the regional initiative to eliminate Malaria by the year 2020, the Ministry has just completed another round of external evaluation by the Global Fund and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and […]

Disaster and Climate Resilience in Corozal District to improve with IDB support
A press release was issued today to inform that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation will host a Shoreline Stabilization Workshop on November 8 at the Belize Airport Authority Conference Room as part of a […]

Orange Walk town receives new Emergency Operations Center
Ambassador Carlos Moreno today handed over an Emergency Operations Center, valued at approximately USD $547,000, to the Government and people of Belize at a ceremony in Orange Walk Town. This facility is the first of its kind in the Orange Walk district and represents […]

Rivers faces court for threatening words
Raymond Rivers, is scheduled to return to court again on Wednesday. He appeared in court this morning to answer to charges of threatening words, which he allegedly made against Belize City Councilor, Philip Willoughby, last September. His attorney Kareem Musa, however, argued that the […]

Group of 10 escapes arson attempt
Ten persons on the north side of Belize City are grateful after having escaped a fire unhurt. According to Orin Smith, National Fire Services station manager, firefighters were called to a house burning on Castle Street at around 4:25 a.m. The fire started at […]

Guinea Grass man beaten bloody, police abuse alleged
Residents in Guinea Grass are reporting a disturbing case of police brutality. According to reports, Hugo Noh, a resident of the village, was brutally beaten by an off-duty officer who was out drinking with friends. The incident reportedly happened at Zhen Zhen store in […]

Belize City municipal airstrip gets New name and face
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, in collaboration with the Belize Airports Authority (BAA), issued a release to announce the inauguration of the Sir Barry Bowen Municipal Airport, formerly the Belize City Municipal Airstrip. The airport was expanded and renovated through a BZ$17 […]

Intermittent Closure of New Burrell Boom Bridge
The Ministry of Works issued a release this morning informing the public that the Burrell Boom Bridge will be closed for short intervals commencing today from 9:00 through to 11:00 a.m. This is to enable heavy equipment in the area facilitate the disassembly and […]

Fair weather conditions to prevail
The 24 hour forecast is for sunny skies and partly cloudy skies tonight. A few showers and periods of rain will continue mainly over Southern offshore areas. The wind will blow from the north to northeast at 5 to 15 knots and the sea […]

Blogs

Elsie Goes For A Spa Day: Dog Grooming at Pampered Paws
I have a dog and her named is Elsie. She’s a hero. After spending 3 or 4 years in Dangriga, neglected (at best) and starved, she now lives with us in San Pedro. She has doubled in weight (literally), had a fully infected leg removed, has been identified, by us, as a teacup Great Dane and has the best temperament of any human or animal I’ve ever met. She now lives in a state of pretty much full blown adoration. There is a whole shop called Pampered Paws. Located on Middle Street San Pedro, the crew does groomings, dog sitting, short or long term boarding, training and tons more. Toys, specialized food, leashes, costumes, collars, cleaning products, litter…all the things you need for your well cared for pets. Now to the back room…where one dog was finishing her blow dry.

Celebrating the Garifuna with Battle of the Drums
Every November 19th, Belize celebrates one of its most vibrant cultural groups, the Garifuna. Garifuna Settlement Day is one of the largest and most celebrated national holidays, heralding the arrival of the Garinagu people to Belize after their exile from St. Vincent in the early 1800’s. Exiled, the Garinagu traveled via dugout canoes and landed on the shores of Southern Belize, in places like Dangriga, Hopkins, Seine Beight, and Barranco (Toledo). Out of an estimated 500,000 Garinagu world-wide, there are about 15,000 Garinagu in Belize (about 7 % of the total population). They are descendants of two ethnic groups, Carib Indians and Black Africans, who lived on the island of St. Vincent. Speaking of drumming – one exciting event leading to the big celebration down south in Punta Gorda Town, Toledo is the Battle of the Drums! Taking place on the last weekend before November 19th, Battle of the Drums is a loud and proud celebration of the Garifuna culture. I can never resist the call of the drums…their sound is unique and primal, stirring the dancing bones in my body like nothing can. This battle sounds like culture heaven on earth!

It’s a Family Affair in Belize: at Phoenix
A family affair, only the parents and the kids in a intimate stunning tropical decour. We were together for a little time, but we made the most of it! Tropical rain did not stopped us and, as we were already wet, well, we went ahead and just get more water blessings! Enjoy some of their photos!

Kids Bring a Little Magic – Belize Weddings
As wedding photographers in Belize, we are beyond lucky to be able to photograph weddings in the most spectacular scenery. We get to work at people’s dream destination weddings. You think that would be enough and most of the time it is, but we have to share a little secret. When couples let us know that they have kids in attendance, we look forward to the wedding even more because kids bring just a little bit of their own special magic to every wedding and they are just so freakin’ cute. Their charm, innocence, curiosity and sense of fun make for truly memorable and magical moments. This wedding is perfect example. Although every bride and groom are unique, there are certain things that are pretty much guaranteed to happen at most weddings. First, the bride gets a little help so that she can feel her most beautiful. Enter – the love of a child. Children understand celebrations better than anyone and they wear their hearts on their sleeve more openly than any adult.

International Sources

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Private Island Resort Takes New Direction
Leonardo DiCaprio’s much-ballyhooed Blackadore Caye Resort off the Atlantic coast of Belize is finally taking shape. Renderings were unveiled Friday for what the living structures will look like once the property is fully completed (projected for late 2018). Lead design architect Jean-Michel Gathy, known for his work with Aman and One&Only;, drew inspiration from Belize's ancient Mayan ruins, with minimalist designs that subtly nod to Central American pyramids while remaining resolutely modern—thatched roofs over plenty of natural materials such as wood and marble. There will be 36 residential estate homes and 36 bookable bungalows spread over the island's 104 acres. Paul Scialla, a partner at Blackadore Development Group, says the “goal is to create a development true to the history of the area.” Sustainability and the environmental integrity will continue to remain top priorities during construction, which will start early next year," he says. “From a materials standpoint, our plan is to source as much local materials as possible that support the local economy and minimize emissions.” To that end, the trendy overwater bungalows have been scrapped—a major selling point in the initial furor when news broke last year of the Oscar winner's intent to turn his private paradise into a hotel. The development team spent six months gathering feedback from local stakeholders and citizens about the project ahead of the building timeline, says Scialla, leading to that significant change, among others. Sustainability is still the word of the day on Blackadore Caye.

Grolier Codex ruled genuine: what the oldest manuscript to survive Spanish conquest reveals
Extensive trade networks connected the Maya to the rest of Mesoamerica, producing the dynamic landscapes and bustling ports reported in early Spanish accounts. Much of what we know of the Maya comes from codices – screenfold books made of paper from the bark of a fig tree. Pages were coated in a white stucco wash and then painted by scribes with text, which was often accompanied by images. The Spanish in the 16th century reported a flourishing manuscript tradition comprising histories, prophecies, songs, genealogies and detailed information on the movements of the heavenly bodies. Of the thousands of books produced throughout the Mayas’ long history, however, only three Maya codices were known to have survived, all written in the “postclassic” period after AD 900 and brought to Europe sometime after the conquest. They are named after the cities where they were archived: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris. Now, after years of debate over its authenticity, we can add a fourth manuscript – the Grolier Codex.

Treasure hunter Tommy Thomspon faking memory problems to hide coins, judge rules
An ex-deep sea treasure hunter is faking memory problems and intentionally deceiving authorities about the location of missing coins minted from gold from an 1857 shipwreck, a federal judge has ruled. Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since mid-December last year, when Judge Algenon Marbley found he violated a plea deal by refusing to respond. Thompson also was ordered to pay $1,000 a day until he cooperates. Thompson also received a two-year prison sentence in December and a $250,000 fine for failing to appear before a judge three years ago to answer similar questions. Thompson previously said, without providing details, that the coins were turned over to a trust in Belize. The government, which believes the coins are worth millions of dollars, has doubts Thompson’s explanation.

Moody's warns of climate change impact on sovereign ratings
Countries' creditworthiness could be increasingly affected by climate change, with African and South Asian sovereigns most susceptible to the economic effects of global warming, ratings agency Moody's said on Monday. By contrast, Western Europe, North America and Australia as well as the huge landmasses of Russia and China were least vulnerable, Moody's found. "Climate change is expected to become an increasingly dominant factor in our analysis of the credit profiles of those sovereigns that are most susceptible to its effects over the coming decades," it said in a new report. Jamaica and Belize, small countries with high debt and Caa2 ratings, are seen as the next two most vulnerable, while India is also seen as highly at risk from climate change, with 48 percent of its workforce in the agricultural sector.

Videos

November 7, 2016

FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.

Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Letter to the Editor: Saga Humane Society says Thank You San Pedro
The directors and staff of Saga Humane Society extend their deepest gratitude to the community of San Pedro of making this year’s Halloween Spooktacular a HUGE success! Through the courtesy of this fine newspaper we would like to publicly thank the following individuals and businesses for their kindness and generosity. Alpha Omega, Ambergris Store, Amparo Fruit Shop, Ana’s Store, Best Price Store, Big Tree Fruits and Vegetables, Caribbean Chicken, Caye Mart, Cindy’s Store & Fruits, Cost Less Store, Danieli Escalante, Fruteria Michelle, Jose’s Vegetable Stall, La Fruteria El Mexicano, La Despensa, Lino’s Meats, Liquor Shop, Local Grocery, Marina’s Store, Mark’s Store, Mermaid Supermarket, Paradise Market, Quality Poultry, Publix, Richie’s Supermarket, Rita’s Shop, Rock’s Shopping Center & Golf Cart Rental, and Super Buy. The Wedding Couple. Annie’s Pastries, Aquarius Salon, A&R; Supply, Ashley’s Boutique, Bella Italia Restaurant, Bowen & Bowen, Candle Garden, Casa Pan Dulce Bakery, Caye Supplies, C & S Golf Cart Rental, Beach Basket at Grand Caribe, Brooklyn Bros. Bagel Shop...

Doctor Love: Old Fashioned
Dear Doctor Love My daughter-in-law and I really have a wonderful relationship. I take care of the children, ages eight and six, two afternoons a week. If she needs time on her own she knows she can always call on me for a few hours at least. I try not to get into the “raising” of the kids but I think there are still some of the old ways that a lot of children are missing out on experiencing. I tell them I would like to see them play outside games, and learn some of the classic children’s stories I know from my childhood. They did not want to stop playing their electronic games. They complained to their mom that I took their tablets from them and made them listen to a stupid story from a book I read them. Should I give up and just let them be? /s/Old Fashioned

Misc Belizean Sources

DYS Youth Awards 2016
The Department of Youth Services had their 2016 Youth Awards last week. Cayo was well represented at the event. Thank you, DYS, for all the planning and effort that went into this event. Congratulations to all the bright and outstanding youths that won!

Belize International Film Festival 2016 Schedule
The 2016 BIFF starts on Thursday, and they have quite a lineup of movies and documentaries.

The Reporter

Ministry of Econ. Dev. to hold procurement workshop
The Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce, is preparing to hold a week-long training on public procurement for government departments. Public procurement is the process by which public authorities, such as government departments or local authorities, purchase work, goods or services from companies. The training, funded by the 10th European Development Fund, forms a part of a regional project between Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries and the European Union (EU). The Ministry expects that through the training, equip the public officials participating with knowledge of the broader context within which national procurement policies operate and with the tools needed to develop professional procurement systems and practices. “The course will also enhance policy makers’ expertise in the field and provide the means with which they can promote the use of international best practice in procurement,” the Ministry said.

Youths awarded for outstanding performance
The Department of Youth Services (DYS) honored several youths and youth organizations at its annual Youth Awards Gala on Friday. The DYS held the black tie, red carpet event at the Bliss Center for Performing Arts where it handed out 12 awards. Awards included: Environmental Award, Innovation Award, Enterprise Award, Arts and Culture Award, Youth Worker of the Year Award, Youth in Agriculture Award, Youth in Sports Award, Pacesetter Award, Academic Excellence Award, and the Youth Minister’s Award. “Each year the Department of Youth Services engages energetic speakers who are able to motivate and inspire youth to lead positive, non violent lives,” explained Sabreena Daly, public relations officer with the DYS.

Breaking Belize News

PUP Youth election leads to fight
A man in his mid 60s is in trouble after he choked a PUP youth during the PUP’s youth arm election held yesterday in Belize City. According to reports, the man is a former driver and body guard of a former PUP leader and […]

Blogs

The Palapa Bar Rises Quickly After Hurricane Earl and A Bit Of Lunch
Yesterday morning was a gorgeous day…then darkening clouds… And then this morning? Rain. It’s November. And Palapa Bar in full palapa mania. So so pretty. Take a look. And then underneath the huge open space, a circular bar…awesome. She’ll soon be back – better than ever.

International Sources

Woodstock businessman helping children in Belize
With the season of giving just around the corner, a local businessman in Woodstock, N.B., is getting ready to help people who live thousands of kilometres away. Guy Stewart has turned a vacant building into a depot to help 17 children in Belize. “Some are orphans, some aren't, but most have been removed from their parents because of abuse," says Stewart. The building is the former Sears location that closed a few years ago. It wasn’t until recently that Stewart realized what he wanted to do with it. Stewart sold his business six years ago and started looking for a way to give back. It took him five years to find his calling. “September of last year I sat down in front of my computer for the 100th time and typed in ‘mission opportunities in Belize,’” says Stewart. “For some reason I was drawn to Belize. Now I know why." Stewart has travelled to Belize and says the money collected from items sold at the centre will go towards a college education for some of the orphans there.

Jewelry designer's grace trumps controversy
Designer: Lynnae Tanner Ruff. Home: Webster Groves. Age: 40. What she makes: Classic statement jewelry with precious metals and semiprecious stones, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, Czech and Venetian glass and seed beads. Hot or not: “I’m originally from Belize, but I met my husband in Portland and we moved her 13 years ago. So basically, every day we have conversations about whether it’s hot or it’s cold. And no matter, we argue different sides. He’s originally from Buffalo, New York,” she said. Traveling heritage: “OK, so my father is American, but his dad took him to Belize when he was a kid. He met my mom, who is Indian, there. She was born and raised in Belize, but her mom is from Jamaica. I was born in Belize and came to America later,” says Ruff with a lilting Caribbean accent.

Airlines' service issues with unaccompanied minors unnerve parents
It's a story that Carrie Calzaretta's 14-year-old son, Tyler, will probably tell his kids someday. This year, the Calzarettas paid American Airlines an extra US$300 (NZ$409) for their son to fly round-trip as an unaccompanied minor in order to join a 10-day educational tour of Belize. When thunderstorms delayed his flight from Miami to Newark, the airline offered to re-book him for the next morning - but not to provide a hotel room for the night. According to Calzaretta, the airline had subcontracted its escort duties to another company and the two parties couldn't agree on what to do about Tyler. "Each blamed the other," says Calzaretta. "Ultimately, they threw him on a last-minute, late-night flight to avoid him having to sleep on the floor of the airport. "We had to pick him up in the wee hours and in a total panic."

Commentary: Our country cannot afford to elect Donald Trump and his Republican Party
By Wellington C. Ramos. It is now ten months since Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died and the Republicans who currently control the US Senate continue to refuse holding hearings on Justice Merrick Garland who was nominated by President Obama to replace him. They are afraid that, if they approve his appointment, he will make the court more moderate or liberal leaning. Currently, it is being reported in the news that some Republican senators met recently and vowed that if Hillary Clinton is elected president, they will not approve any of the judges she nominate for the Federal or Supreme Courts who they dislike. This is causing the court to function with only eight members and end up with a tied vote on many important issues affecting our citizens. It is now clear that an amendment to the constitution is desperately needed to prevent both political parties controlling the senate from stalling presidential appointments in the near future. In the United States if there is a tied vote on any issue before the court, then the ruling that was made from the Circuit Court where the case originated from stands.

Caribbean countries receive US$8 million to reduce health risks from toxic chemicals
Eight Caribbean territories are to receive financial assistance totaling US$8 million to combat exposure to toxic chemicals found in household cleaning products, processed foods and even clothing that can severely damage a person’s health. Dr Ahmad Khan, director, Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean) has stated that some pesticides, cleaning agents and industrial chemicals contain hazardous properties, which can cause cancer, developmental delays, dysfunction of the reproductive organs and reduce immunity.

Videos

November 6, 2016

FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.

Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Tenants feel violated after GSU raid
A raid conducted by the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) officers stationed in San Pedro caused renters in the DFC area to feel violated. Initial reports are that due to the surge in recent shootings, the San Pedro Police Department (SPPD) requested for the GSU to assist them in conducting patrols. A few citizens are now claiming that they were indiscriminately searched without a warrant on Tuesday, November 1st, and they formally made their report to the San Pedro Police Station. According to acting Officer in Charge of the Coastal Executive Unit, Assistant Superintendent, Henry Jemmott, 10 GSU officers allegedly raided a home in the DFC area, claiming that they acted on special intelligence received. Jemmott indicated that police do not necessarily need a warrant in this case, but however, the GSU searched the premise without the directive of the SPPD. In the end, a total of four rooms, and two board houses in the backyard were searched. Three eyewitnesses saw the GSU ransacking a tenant’s room, with one of them describing the experience as ‘inhumane’. “It was painful to see the GSU searching my neighbor’s room because her room looked as if a tornado hit it. She was not home, she was at work when they stormed in the house and started searching. GSU know no boundaries, and I saw the officers blatantly criticizing her room because she hung her underwear inside her room, and a female GSU officer was shaming her because of the scent that circulated from the dirty laundry basket as a result of all the windows closed. After that, the GSU ripped up her poster, threw all of her clothes everywhere, carelessly flung all of her important documents in the air, while dumping everything else she had packed all over the place,” said the eyewitness.

Senate Select Committee moves forward
On Wednesday, October 19th, the Senate Select Committee on Immigration proceeded with its sitting at the nation’s capital, Belmopan City. At the gathering, Senator Aldo Salazar was appointed as the chairman for the committee. Now that the committee has a chairman, the People’s United Party (PUP) has appointed its representative, Senator Eamon Courtenay. The appointment of a chairman is the start of the investigation regarding the immigration hustle revealed in the Auditor General’s special report on August 27th during a sitting at the House of Representatives. The committee’s membership did not change and it continues to include two Government Senators: Senator Salazar and Doctor Carla Barnett, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance. Also making up the committee are Reverend Ashley Rocke – Senator representing the Churches and Elena Smith – Senator representing the trade unions. Senator Mark Lizarraga represents the business community, but was not present at the meeting. Courtenay is the most recent addition to the team.

Henry Jemmott takes over the role of OC
Last week, San Pedro Town bid farewell to former Officer in Charge of the Coastal Executive Unit Superintendent Sandra Bowden, who served both Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker for over a year. With Bowden now stationed at Belmopan City at the Belize Police Department Headquarters, Henry Jemmott has taken on the role as the new Officer in Charge (OC) of the Coastal Executive Unit. According to Jemmott, being an OC requires a lot of dedication, patience, and promptness, which he believes he has. “This is actually my third time acting as the OC, and I am confident that this will remain as my position. I have strategic plans that will help improve the department, as well plans to deter crime,” said Jemmott. Furthermore, in an effort to alleviate crime in the most active criminal zones on the island, Jemmott, along with the assistance of the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC), have installed a police substation in the San Mateo Area. This sub-station will be operational in the coming days and will serve to provide constant police presence in the area.

IMF says Belize’s economic growth is in jeopardy
Belize faces challenges of high public debt, depleting international reserves, and large and external deficits, and now its economy is in jeopardy. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Belize is encountering significant vulnerabilities, and reducing public debt should be the country’s first priority. In September 2016, IMF executive directors discussed the September report of an IMF mission to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country. Within the report, it emphasized that decisive policies are urgently needed in Belize to ensure macroeconomic stability, as well as to improve growth performance. According to the IMF mission, the country’s fiscal position has weakened, which in turn, has pushed the public debt higher. In 2015, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to one per cent, and the overall fiscal deficit expanded to eight percent of GDP. The decline in oil and other commodity prices led to deflation in 2015, and even deflated to a negative 1.5 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. However, the inflation rate increased during the first months of 2016, thanks to increased food prices and a hike in the fuel tax.

Misc Belizean Sources

National Belize Youth Awards
The National Belize Youth Awards were last night and it was a very inspiring celebration of young leaders. Ocean Academy's Next Gen Croc won a Special Mention for Environmentalism. Their project is called Crocodile Nocturnal Eyeshine Surveys with Purpose and combines citizen science with social entrepreneurship. Senior project leaders Annabella, Lily, Daniel and Mathew represented the project at the ceremony. The students work in partnership with their mentor Dr. Marisa Tellez of the Crocodile Research Coalition, Tony Aguilar of the Caye Caulker Forest and Marine Reserves and Ocean Academy's Social Enterprise program.

Sisimito Sessions
The 3rd Annual Sisimito Sessions held in Placencia. A weekend of quality underground electronic music in the secluded country of Belize. Limited release weekend passes for BZ$50/US$25 available from http://www.wantickets.com/sisimito17, Barefoot Beach Bar, Placencia & Luna Loca, San Pedro, call +501 636 5015 or email [email protected]. clock January 28, 2017 – January 29, 2017

BELIZE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
See you at the movies!

San Pablo RC school Cultural Day
Today San Pablo RC school had its cultural day they represented the Maya Mestizo(Yucatec Maya) culture along with others in the village. San Pablo is a village in the Orange walk district which had milpas since 1886 from people of the nearby villages. In 1915 the village had its first permanent settlement consisting of Mayeros(Maya People) who spoke Yucatec Maya. The first inhabitants consisted of Don Pedro Marin,Anacleto Mai,Fulgencio Sabido,Prudencio Sabido,Liberato Sabido among others. Also the village had the famous Maya H-men(Curandero) Don Agustine Cawich. Today even that most of the youths speak the Spanish language you can still find elders who speak Maya. Today you can still find people holding ancient Maya surnames like Bacab,Chuc,Itza,Uh,Yama,Mai,Cawich,Cowo,Pat,Tamay,Tzul,Pott,Chable and others.The San Pablo Village Council was present also for this event. Pictures courtesy of Ak Kuchkabal Maya

High School Battle of the Drums
Congratulations to the 1st place winner of this year's High School Battle of the Drums Competition -Stann Creek Ecumenical High School!

Ambassador Carlos Moreno visited the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE)
To learn about the institute's great new initiatives and programs for the youth in the Toledo District. TIDE currently hosts three student interns from the United States--check out the videos to find out what brings them to Belize!

Miss Universe Poll Voting Batch 1 Winners
• Miss Universe Belize - Rebecca Rath • Miss Universe Honduras - Sirey Moran • Miss USA - Deshauna Barber Congratulations

The Reporter

Climate change agreement takes affect
The Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force on Friday, 30 days after the required 55 minimum states – accounting for 55 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions – ratified the Convention. The central aim of the Agreement is to keep global temperature rise during this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to try to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius (the level pushed by CARICOM during the Paris negotiations). This commitment supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (Climate Action) and 12 others that include targets addressing climate change. Countries will begin to tackle implementation of the Paris Agreement when COP22 (the 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)) convenes in Marrakech, Morocco from November 7 to 18. The CARICOM Secretariat will join several CARICOM Member States at this meeting.

Human Rights Commission holds AGM
The Human Rights Commission of Belize held its annual general meeting today, at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) open campus in Belize City. Among other business, the HRCB met, for the first time in four years to hold elections for a new board of directors. Vice president of the Commission, Kevin Authurs, explained that the meeting was critical in getting the HRCB’s affairs in order so it could better establish itself to work with other NGO’s and serve Belizeans. “There have been new legislations passed with respect to NGO’s in tea of accounts and so on. So this meeting was essential for us to get our ducks in a row so we can engage other organizations about doing the same,” Authurs said. Newly-elected President, Leo Bradley Jr. said that the Commission’s board will continue to hold projects working with various target groups in different communities, for the betterment of those in the target area.

Breaking Belize News

Shooting in Santa Elena Town
Reports reaching our newsroom is that a man was shot this morning near the gas station on Carillo Puerto Avenue in Santa Elena. The victim has been identified as Patrick Gordon of Santa Elena town. He was shot in the left upper chest. He […]

Belize invites Cubs’ David Ross to free vacation
The biggest Cubs fan base outside of Chicago is located in Belize and to celebrate the team’s historic World Series win, Belize has offered David Ross an all expenses paid vacation. The invitation was extended by the Belize Tourism Board through a Belizean version […]

Blogs

“Money on My Mind” in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.
Regular readers will know that I’m one of the world’s great ponderers. But, I have to admit, it wasn’t always that way. When working in the UK (boy does that seem an eternity ago) I used to ponder but back then I described it as thinking. I was paid to think, and think quickly, not ponder, you understand. But now ? Well now I ponder. And I ponder a lot. I ponder about the weather. Will it be sunny? Will it rain? Will our water tank be full soon? Will Arsenal win the next game? You give me a subject and I’m sure I will able to ponder about it. But the subject I’ve spent a lot of time recently pondering about is the sterling v US Dollar exchange rate. It’s fair to say that I’ve had money on my mind. Why? Quite simple really. My pensions and the majority of our easily convertible assets are in sterling and sterling has taken a real pummelling recently and particularly so since Brexit. Before we moved here I did all of our budget calculations on the basis of US$ 1.50 to £1 exchange rate. The rate was better than that but my years of managing budgets for companies that I worked for had taught me (well actually it was the Finance Directors that browbeat it in to me) to always be prudent. I then did the same calculations – for the cost of building our house and living expenses during and after the completion of the build – but this time using outliers . I even went so far as calculating a 1:1 exchange rate. I never, ever, expected the rate to drop so low but I wanted to be sure that if it did we could still ‘cut the mustard’. And we could.

International Sources

U.S. Court Enforced Arbitration Award Bodes Well For Caribbean Investment Holdings Shareholders
Summary: The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has enforced an arbitration award against Government of Belize worth ~$0.364 per share including prejudgement interest on the Final Award. Only 1% of cases petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court are reviewed, giving us confidence that the petition for review by Government of Belize will be dismissed. The stock trades at between 10 to 15x EPS and less than half of book value; a special dividend of the financial award would double an investment. The U.S. Court enforcement stems from an unfulfilled Government of Belize guarantee on a loan made by Belize Bank over 10 years ago. The foreign arbitration enforcement follows the New York Convention, and the London Court of International Arbitration's decision to force Belize to pay the loan plus interest worth $37mm.

Belize includes HPV vaccine to National Vaccine Program
The Belize Ministry of Health hosted a press conference to speak on the inclusion of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into the National Vaccine Schedule under the National Vaccine Program of the country. The presentation panel was headed by the Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero accompanied by Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer, Technical Advisor, Maternal and Child Health Unit. Dr. Manzanero spoke of the consultations that the Ministry has undertaken and the support it has garnered from the partners in this discussion including the Churches, the Ministry of Education, related NGO agencies, parents and the community. He mentioned that the administering of the vaccine will commenced by the end of this month to girls age 10 in standard 4 school settings.

2 named finalists in Siemens contest
Will Duke of Pine Bluff and Nick Nehas of North Little Rock, seniors at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs, were recently named semifinalists and region finalists in the 2016 Siemens Competition in Mathematics, Science and Technology. The Siemens competition is one of the nation's premier competitions in math, science and technology for high school students who vie for college scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000. Duke and Nehas' project focused on the Coral Gardens reef in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Belize. They conducted research on the health of the reef during their school's Global Learning Program trip this summer to the Tropical Marine Research and Education Center in San Pedro, Belize. More than 1,600 projects were submitted to the Siemens competition this year, and 498 students were selected as semifinalists. Ninety-six semifinalists are chosen to advance to one of six regional competitions. Duke and Nehas will compete in Region 2 at the University of Texas at Austin this month. They are guaranteed at least a $1,000 college scholarship for being named a regional finalist.

Commonwealth Tax Administrators to meet in Barbados
The issues of tax compliance, enforcement and exchange of information will top the agenda when the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) hosts the 37th annual Technical Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators next week. Over 140 delegates including representatives from Commonwealth nations, tax advisors from international agencies, and members of the business community are expected to attend the November 7-11 meeting, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel under the theme ‘Enhancing Tax Compliance through Strategic Alliances’. “This forum provides an excellent platform to share experiences on strategies for enhancing tax compliance as well as identifying opportunities for stronger cooperation between respective tax administrations,” the BRA’s communications officer Erica Lazare said.

Videos

November 5, 2016

FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

Click for our Daily Tropical Weather Report.

Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Financial Intelligence Unit signs MOU with Income Tax Department
A most significant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Wednesday, October 26th between the Income Tax Department and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). In this new domestic cooperation, they will fight against money laundering, countering terrorism financing and tax evasion. The new agreement will also facilitate the exchange of information between the two government agencies. Clare believes that there is a real threat of laundering taking place locally in Belize. “Simply put, this is where we are, we are exposed to the unknown,” said Clare. “It is incumbent on us to monitor and not take anything for granted, whether is our borders, the risk from criminal activities, to street crime, to cyber-crime and the protection of our financial systems, and so on.”

Proposed mega development on nearby Cayo Rosario raises many concerns
On the heels of the recently approved Blackadore Caye development, another tourism project has been proposed on the leeward coast of Ambergris Caye. The upscale tourism development is to take place at Cayo Rosario, a 10-acre island densely packed with mangroves and a well-known bird nesting site. Equally troubling is that Cayo Rosario is part of the finalized expansion of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, and therefore is within protected grounds. However, investors are claiming that while they do intend on developing the privately owned island, they plan to do so in an environmentally-sound manner. The Cayo Rosario project is being carried out by a group of investors who acquired the island in 2015 from David Mitchell. Among the investors is previous listing broker for Cayo Rosario, John Turley who spoke to The San Pedro Sun about the project on Thursday, November 3rd.

New flight and boat services offered in San Pedro
San Pedro will be able to take advantage of a new boat ferry service, as well as Tropic Air’s new flight schedule that accommodates visitors arriving via international airlines. In support of the new, early morning American Airlines flight that departs the Philip Golson International (PGIA) Airport airport at 7:30AM, Tropic Air announced on October 26th that they have added a 5:30AM flight from San Pedro to the airport. The new American Airlines flights will land in Miami, Florida, USA on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. In addition, a new San Pedro based water-taxi company, Isla Norte Ferry will be offering two daily runs from San Pedro to Sarteneja or Corozal Town starting on Friday, November 4th. At one point, the Thunderbolt was the only Sarteneja/Corozal based boat water taxi, but Isla Norte Ferry will be introducing a new time schedule that differs from Thunderbolt, to provide more convenience to travelers.

Press Officer Director Dorian Pakeman still under investigation
It’s been over a month that Director of the Government of Belize (GOB) Press Office, Dorian Pakeman, was put on immediate unpaid leave following the revelation that cocaine had been found in his blood specimen following a traffic accident that killed a man. Pakeman is still being investigated by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). In March 2016, Pakeman was involved in a traffic accident in Biscayne Village, which resulted in the death of 45- year-old Dean Dawson. Pakeman was never charged and was only served with a notice of intended prosecution. However, when the DPP stumbled across Pakeman’s laboratory exam, which tested positive for cocaine but was hidden by a police officer, he was placed on leave. Rural Executive Officer for the Eastern Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Edward Broaster, stated that the police have fulfilled certain directives from the DPP, and the investigation is still ongoing. “The status of the Pakeman file as it is, the DPP had given us certain instructions to carry out and we are in the process of completing those instructions and we will return the file to the DPP,” said Broaster in an interview with Channel 5 News.

Glamour Shots to help fundraise for Red Cross and Food Bank
Getting glammed up and pampered is always a treat, especially when it’s supporting a great cause. CG Esthetics Beauty Salon will be hosting their “Glamour Shots Day” fundraiser on Sunday, November 13th from 9AM to 4PM. The proceeds will be donated to two local charities who greatly assist the community, the San Pedro Red Cross and the San Pedro Food Bank. For a price of $150, you can enjoy the perks of a pampered treatment by having your hair and makeup done with one photo taken, while one single picture without hair and makeup is $75. Group pictures with four or more persons is priced at $40 per person, while those who wish to have their hair and makeup done for the group picture are looking at $140 per person. CS Esthetics will also offer a regular nail polish application for $15. According to salon owner Carole Goudreau, people are liking the idea and she has been getting positive feedback. “It’s the first time that I am doing this type of fundraiser, but it is something I always wanted to do in order to help. I think the Red Cross and the Food Bank are very important when it comes to helping out our community,” said Goudreau.

Ambergris Today

Parents Called to be More Vigilant of Children’s Safety
The National Committee for Families and Children (NCFC) issued a press release expressing deep concern over the random devastating residential fires that are apparently becoming the new trend of claiming the innocent lives of children lately. The National Committee for Families and Children (NCFC), launched in 1994, is the lead national agency and major advisory body to the government on families and children issues. To that end, one of its obligations to our children is to ensure the safety and protection of our children at all times. In fact, Article 36 of the CRC states that children have the right to protection and safety. On that very premise, NCFC issued a press release this week expressing how deeply bothered they are by these random devastating residential fires that are apparently becoming the new trend of claiming the innocent lives of children lately. In just about one month, fire has gutted several homes claiming the lives of two children and therefore, NCFC is calling particularly on parents, to be more vigilant about your child’s surroundings and whereabouts at all times.

Misc Belizean Sources

Belize International YOGA Festival
Ring in the new year doing yoga! December 31, 2016. Larbour View Grens, 6am. Workshop and Concert.

Pumpkin pone
Peel, wash and grate the pumpkin and coconut. Add the cornmeal and work the margarine in with a fork. Add the sugar and water to make a soft dropping consistency. Add the essence, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, mixing well. Pour into a greased dripping pan. The mixture should be 1 – 1½ inches thick. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F) until crisp and brown. Cool, and cut into 2 inch squares before serving.

Green Corn Pudding
Mix the corn, sugar, melted butter; add the flour and beaten egg. Mix in gradually the milk. Bake in a moderate oven one hour. Serve with roast beef or lamb.

Remembrance Day Exhibit in Corozal
You are kindly invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Remembrance Day Exhibit one week from today, November 11th. As part of the ceremony; we look forward to honouring Corozal's two ex-servicemen for their service and sacrifice during WW II. Please join us beginning at 9 am.

BELIZE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
We have a compelling lineup of short documentaries, including entries from Wil Maheia, Orson Picart, Carol and Richard Foster and Linda Ainouche (Jamaica). Check out the trailers!

Finados celebration in Banquitas
Banquitas held its annual Finados celebration in honor and memory of our dearly departed. We want to sincerely thank all those that help in one way or another. it means a lot to us that we can count on you all to carry out this tradition. I want to thank Ms. Libertad Cal for being our right hand in this. She is always with us every year ensuring that we carry it out. Most of the items on the altars belong to her and for that we are more than grateful. While setting up Ms. Libertad ensures that we all know the meaning of all the essential elements on the altars. Thanks to Ms. Felicita Cantun for being our guest speaker. Ms. Fel gave the history and explain all the important elements on the altars to give all a clear understanding of this tradition. She was a vital role in this celebration. Thanks to our Rezadora/ prayer lady who is always working in collaboration with the HOC, Ms. Bertha Alonzo. Her role was also very important as she lead the rosary and songs. Thanks to the ladies of our community that recited the decades of our rosary. Special thanks to Ismael Quiroa, Christian Cantun , Dion Cal and Kevin Arnold for being with us in the preparation. Lastly we extend a huge thanks to all those that participated and for being with us on this special day.

Grace Kennedy donates to FCD
Grace Kennedy (Belize) Limited handed over a 6 month supplement and groceries for the Park Ranger team yesterday in Chiquibul. Handing over was done by Marketing Manager, Mr. Marnix Perez. These groceries will help rangers with their ration requirements, as they spend two weeks at a time in the Chiquibul jungle. Thank you Grace Kennedy for the support.

The Placencia Breeze November 2016
Pg 3 Tour Operator of the Year Pg 5 BTIA news Pg 6 Poet Bob Pg 7 Rotary Club Ladies Gala Pg 9 Crocodile Research Coalition celebrates Croctober! Pg 11 Placencia Players Theatre presents “Ebony Scrooge” Pg 13 5th Annual End of the World Marathon/Half Marathon Pg 15 & 18 Placencia BTIA Members Pg 16 & 17 Placencia Peninsula Map Pg 19 Ms Cunchie's 79th October 26 Pg 20/21 Placencia Peninsula Guide Pg 22 Placencia Humane Society News Pg 23 Bird Watching in Placencia / Farm House Deli opening in December Pg 24 Volunteer Support for The End of the World Marathon / Drink Contest Form / Marathon Sponsors Pg 26 Community Corner Pg 27 Licensed Tour Operators in Placencia / Christmas Boat Parade Pg 28/29 The History of Kitty’s Place Pg 30 Placencia Peninsula Happenings Pg 31 Calender of Events

Ocean Academy Visit
Nice to see the little children of LICA visiting their big sister counterparts. LICA students had a great learning experience at OA. Thanks for the invitation.

Lucky Boy, Black Jaguar at the Belize Zoo passes away
The Belize Zoo sadly announces that our beloved black jaguar, Lucky Boy, has passed away. Our staff attended to him for over two weeks, providing care and constant medical attention. Unfortunately, his health steadily declined. Lucky Boy was twenty years old and fought chronic health problems ever since his arrival to the Zoo in 2012. This stellar jaguar brought joy and happiness to the lives of many for well over four years. We are grateful to everyone around the world who were part of his amazing story..The Belize Zoo is committed to keeping his special spirit alive forever. Lucky Boy, such a an incredible guy, is, and always will be, greatly missed.

SPTB gives Donation of $1,000 for Garifuna Settlement celebrations
Mayor Daniel Guerrero and Councilor Hector "Tito" Alamilla presented the Garifuna Council with a donation of $1,000 to be used for the Garifuna Settlement celebrations. Look out for all the activities to take place throughout the month in celebration of the Garifuna's settlement to Belize!

Students from Galen University in the class of Introduction to Sustainable Development
Guided by professor Victor Alegria, visited Mayor Daniel Guerrero and Deputy Mayor Gary Greif as part of their learning trip to San Pedro Town. Their purpose of their trip was to learn about the daily tasks of the town council and how the town council is applying sustainable methods in their day-to day tasks. Thanks for the visit guys!

Battle of the Garifuna Drums, High School Edition!
The competition is on!!!!!!!!!!

Preserving & Promoting Finados to our Schools
Despite the heavy rains, we thank the Schools for making their constant visits to the annual Finados Altar Display & Interaction session in honor of Don Julio Alvarado & Ms. Cristina Bejerano.

Cave Mapping Team
The fourth session of the Chiquibul Cave System Working Group was held today. At this session the recommendation for developing a Cave Mapping team was agreed. Any avid caver who wishes to join this mapping team can write to [email protected]

Christmas Bird Count 2016
My friends, this is YOUR official invite. You need not to be a birder or expert or any sort of bird guru at all. Just join. Mark your calendars and don't say I did not invite you. And the "Christmas" theme actually has nothing to do with Christmas, bring your binos, not gifts.

BTB Customer Service Frontline Personnel Training
The Belize Tourism Board joins with the Ministry of Public Service to launch it's second Customer Service Frontline Personnel Training.

New Roof Covering completed for the Caracol Monuments
After waiting for several weeks for the right time to cut the sticks, the Park Rangers at the Caracol Archaeological Reserve have now completed the new roof cover which protects the monuments from around the site.

Channel 7

Extradition Denied! Alleged Narco Gary Sewell Set Free After 7 Years On Remand
Back in February 2010, it made national headlines when Gary Seawell was found holed up in Esperanza. Sewell had been on the run from the US Government who was seeking his extradition to face trial for narcotics trafficking. Gary was the last Sewell standing after his older brothers Mark and Duane had already been arrested. According to US law enforcement, the brothers, allegedly imported cocaine into the US through Mexico, and sold marijuana in Texas from December 1994 to August 1997. They are also allegedly responsible for 1 million dollars in drug proceeds sent to Houston, Texas; Lakeland, Florida, and Belize. He had been on remand fighting his extradition since his arrest more than 6 years ago. And today, after failing in the two lower courts, he struck gold in the Court of Appeal. Our 7News team was there when he was released from police custody, and allowed to exit the court a free man. We got a chance to speak to the one-time icon of the underworld, and we found an individual who was only very happy to go home to his wife and children. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

Life In Prison No Longer An Automatic Sentence For Murder
And, while that was the huge decision coming out of the Court of Appeal in the morning, there was another massive ruling which was handed down in the afternoon session. The court ruled that a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole can no longer be given to convicted person. That means that defendants who have been convicted of murder will now be given a certain number of years in jail, and if they eligible, they will be given parole after serving part of that sentence. This came out of Gregory August's appeal. In November 2012, he was convicted of the 2009 killing of 73 year-old Alvin Robinson. A jury found him guilty of stabbing the elderly disabled man 9 times in the face and neck. He had been sentenced to life in prison - but the landmark judgment now quashes that life sentence. More importantly, it sets a major precedent, scrapping automatic life sentences for murder convictions. After the hearing, we spoke with his attorney, Eamon Courtenay, about the significance of the decision:

GOB Writes To Vega and Pitts Giving Them 30 Days To Refund Compensation
3 weeks ago, we showed you the press conference, which Prime Minister Dean Barrow held to address the scandal of the land compensation racket. He announced that Gaspar Vega had resigned from the Cabinet as a minister after it became public that under his watch, his son, Andre, received 400 thousand dollars in compensation for a piece land that the Ministry of Natural Resources sold to him. The Lands Department knew that the land was private, and that they should not have sold it, but they did so anyway. The new Minister of Natural Resources, Vanessa Retreage, declared that the Government would seek the return of that 400 thousand dollars of taxpayers money which was given to Andre Vega as compensation. Well, a late evening press release notes that the Government has already started the process. They're asking Andre Vega and attorney Sharon Pitts to pay back the compensation they received. You'll remember that she also received 400 thousand dollars as compensation when it was revealed that government sold her a piece of pre-owned private land.

Paumen's First Interview: Did He Plot To Kill Modiri?
For the past 2 nights, we've been showing you our interview with Michael Modiri, the Franks Eddy business man who is locked in a criminal and civil court battle with his neighbour and major American Tour Operator, Bradley Paumen. Modiri says that he will not stand by anymore and allow Paumen to continue trespassing on his land without compensation, especially since he is collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in his tour guide operation. Today, we got an opportunity to hear from Paumen himself on this alleged trespass, and we also spoke with a number of the villagers from Franks Eddy about this road in dispute. We'll get to that bit later on in the news, but first, we'll show you our interview with Paumen, where we asked that burning question everyone wanted answered since January, when this story first hit the news. Did he hire a hitman to kill his neighbour?

Modiri Responds
Paumen mentioned that Modiri was involved in some shady business back in the US. He handed us some documents connecting Modiri to the prostitution industry. So, we called Modiri and he gave us his side of the story, which involved one of Paumen's partners in this very, very tangled web... Michael Modiri - Refutes Paumen's Claims: "One of those properties which was tens of millions of dollars valued was a huge building in Washington DC. I did not buy it. I couldn't afford it as it was like 18 million dollars to buy that building. So, I leased it. Subsequently, subleased it to a business who owned and operated by Haun Park who is now some sort of a partner. They keep saying partner but I haven't seen any business they run together but they are saying that they have a business relationship and they are the ones who conspired to plant a gun in my vehicle."

Family Of Murder Victim Complains About Cop/suspect Release
27 year old Belize City resident Jeon Peebles was found dead on Monday morning. He had been executed on the Boom-Hattieville road. The last time he was seen by friends was reportedly on Sunday night when he was picked up by two police officers on Mahogany Street. One police officer was detained - after he handed himself in with his attorney. He was held for 48 hours, when he answered no questions. Police released him yesterday and he has been put back on active duty. For the family of Jeon Peebles, it's an outrage, and special treatment given to a police officer. Today, Jeon's sister who asked to appear off camera told us why the family is angry at the development and concerted that justice will not be served: Voice of: Shantel Thompson - Jeon's Sister: "The family of Jeon Peebles very concerned because the 2 officers who held Jeon, one of them held him and the next one, we haven't heard anything about him. He is just not in the picture any at all. The one that was held was already released and he is back on duty and working and I don't think that is fair because if it was someone from the street and they did something and the police hold him for that then the person would have not been released."

Police: They Beat Up Richie Rich!
Two days ago we told you about the beatdown at the scene of the fire where Two year old Kaylee Alvarez perished. Relatives of the deceased beat a man suspected of setting the fire. Well, so far, police say there is no evidence of arson, and, now, additionally, the two persons accused of the beating were charged today. Fisherwoman, 23 year old Nickesha Rhaburn and stevedore, 28 year old Brian Welch were arraigned in court for use of deadly means of harm and dangerous harm upon 20 year old Richie-rich Jones (yes, that's the name that went to court!). A mob of men and women allegedly beat and stabbed Jones after knocking him off his bike near the fire scene. He was stabbed three times in the back, and clubbed over the head with a two by four. The police prosecutor objected to bail because a knife was used and Senior Magistrate, Sharon Fraser agreed and remanded both into custody at the Belize Central Prison. They are due back in Court #2 on December 9th.

The 13th Senator - Who Will It Be?
Probably one of the most surprising outcomes from the October's teacher's strike is that they forced the Prime Minister to activate the 13th Senator. This wasn't something like the United Nations Convention Against Corruption which he had said he might do. Activating the 13th Senator was something he said he would never do - because it would cause paralysis in government. But, when the teachers applied pressure, the Prime Minister caved - and he signed the commencement order two weeks ago, after holding off on it for 7 years before that. So now the way is paved for that Civil Society Senator - but who will it be? The first consultation to come up with that name was held today when 22 NGO's, quote,"in good standing" met at the Biltmore. We interviewed their designated spokespersons after the meeting to find out what they had come up with:... Armando Aban - Int'l Commissioner, Scout Assc. Of Belize: "We have all the NGO's that have been invited by the Attorney General to initiate the process election of the 13th senator. At this present time what we have done is that the NGO has decided that they'll be holding a next meeting for next week where we will father discuss the detail information in terms of how the process will imitate."

Franks Eddy On the March Against Modiri
As you saw in our first segment, Frank's Eddy neighbors Bradley Paumen and Michael Modiri have MAJOR issues. But as they battle for land rights and usage in court, other involved parties have taken to protesting. Many of Paumen's employees and fellow Frank's Eddy villagers took the fight to the government in hopes that it will be able to stop Michael Modiri from blocking them off from their main source of income. Alex Courtenay was in Belmopan for their protest... Alex Courtenay reporting: Today about 80 people from Frank's Eddy, many who work for Paumen's Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures, were out in front of the Assembly Building in Belmopan to urge the government to intervene. Rudy Barrera - Dark Night employee/Protester: "Now today we all decided to come out. All of us that you see here behind me because we are working with Dark Night, but since a week ago we have been stop by one man. His name is Michael Modiri." Since Modiri started blocking access to the cave system Dark Night uses to conduct its tours, business has declined. Now the tour operators are asking the government to make the road that passes through Modiri's private land public, because they say, that's what it has always been.

What's Up With The Weather?
Is there another storm out there? With all this rain and flooding since Wednesday, it might seem so and those still - recovering hurricane Earl victims are starting to get worried. Well, the experts say there's no need to be overly concerned because it's just the usual wet November weather. Today Meteorologist Ronald Gordon assured the public that the rainy spell will pass, eventually:... Gordon says the weather should clear up by Tuesday. The Northeastern part of the county is being most affected, and that includes Belize City and San Pedro and the northern districts.

Community Service For Copycat Customs Officer
Earlier this week we told you about the copycat customs officer Miguel Manzanilla who was found wearing his neighbour's Customs uniform - which he had stolen. On Wednesday, Manzanilla appeared before newly appointed Magistrate, Norman Rodriguez where he pleaded guilty to committing a mischievous act. He was not jailed or fined; instead Magistrate Rodriguez sent Manzanilla to community service. He was ordered to perform 60 hours of Community Service in his home town of Corozal. Manzanilla got caught when he was stopped at a checkpoint in Ladyville where he told police he was a customs officer but his uniform was off and police arrested him. And while he stole the uniform, he could not be charged for theft since the neighbour has not made a complaint against him.

Those Were Some Pretty Pricey Panties! Panty Pilferers Fined $1,000
They were the famous panty pilferers who went to prison on remand, but today northerners, 36 year old Donaela Bernaldita Smith from Palmar and 27 year old Johny Netty Lopez, from Ranchito changed their not guilty plea to guilty and begged the court for leniency because they have children. Smith told Senior Magistrate that they were drunk when they stole panties from Siloe's store one year ago. The women were caught red handed on a surveillance camera stealing a whole bunch of panties from the store. In mitigation, Smith broke down as she spoke and said she is ashamed of what she did and that she knows that the act made her family ashamed of her too. Senior Magistrate, Sharon Frazer took into consideration the fact that they saved the court time in and that they have no previous convictions for theft or crimes of dishonesties. So instead of sending them to jail they were fined $1,000 dollars or in default 1 year imprisonment. SO, at one thousand dollars, those were some pretty pricey panties.

Coalition Calls Out GOB
Government has made it official that it won't put legislation in place to confirm the referendum on offshore drilling. The Belize Coalition to save Our Natural Heritage says that won't do - because they say policy can change overnight. It all goes back to 2015, when OCEANA and the Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage submitted a draft bill outlining the requirements that needed to be met in order to lift the moratorium on offshore oil exploration. While the government acknowledges the submission of the draft, in a letter to OCEANA, it notes that it never asked for a bill. So, rather than making all the Coalition's requirements legislation, the Government has decided to maintain the policy-based moratorium which will only be lifted if three of the Coalition's stipulations are met. This isn't exactly the decision OCEANA was hoping for, and here's what they told us about their position moving forward...

Smooth Sailing Through OW South
In last night's news, we told you about the 2 new multimillion dollar roads which have been constructed in Orange Walk South. Here now is that story about the Yo Creek to San Antonio Road, and the August Pine Ridge to Blue Creek Road. They are valued and 20 million dollars, and instead of having to endure a punishing ride to and from Orange Walk Town, residents of villages along these roads will now cruise all the way. Our news team tested out the new roads when we attended the inauguration ceremonies today. Here's what the Minister of Works had to say about it: The roads were upgraded under the program called the EU's Accompanying measures for Sugar.

Black Cat's Luck Ran Out
If you've been to the Belize Zoo, you have surely seen Lucky the Black Jaguar. Visitors marvel at his glistening coat and massive yet graceful structure. He was rescued from a resort in the South in 2012 where he was an exotic display to entertain guests. But he was neglected and Zoo keepers found him starved, and close to death. Since then the Zoo staff has been trying to rehabilitate him. But his chronic digestive problems among a string of health complications took him over and he died yesterday. The Belize Zoo announced his passing today, noting that staff attended to him for over two weeks, providing care and constant medical attention. But nothing could halt his decline and the 20 year old Lucky Boy passed away. Indeed, caring for the rare and exotic cat was an ongoing struggle and in January of 2015, I was there when specialized vets performed a procedure on him - and it gave a rare chance to observe his majestic power at rest. In memory of Lucky, we repeat that story tonight:...

Channel 5

Gary Seawell free, ending long-running extradition case
After languishing in prison for six years, Gary Sewell is finally a free man. He was apprehended back in February, 2010 but had been on the run since 2007 wanted [...]

G.O.B. demands compensation money from Andre Vega, Sharon Pitts
The government is seeking to recover almost a million dollars paid in compensation to Andre Vega, the son of the former DPM and Minister of Natural Resources as well as [...]

Supreme Court awards damages for victim of police beatdown
But government is settling out of court on another matter. In mid-April of last year, Orange Walk resident Andres Rodriguez was brutally assaulted by three police officers, under suspicion that [...]

A woman without identity: Vital Statistics accused of dragging feet on alleged scam
Imagine a born Belizean being told that she could not access her birth certificate because someone else may have her identity. Then, imagine that an investigation has been underway for [...]

NGO’s begin consultations on Thirteenth Senator
A thirteenth Senator will be appointed in January, the choice of Belize’s non-governmental organizations. Following the Prime Minister’s signing of the commencement order for Sections seven and nine of the [...]

NGO leaders promise appointee will be ready for January
The Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations (APAMO), following the passing of the Sixth Amendment, nominated former executive director of Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, Gregory Ch’oc, but he [...]

Another Ministry of Health pick-up stolen, this time in San Ignacio
A government owned vehicle was stolen in the early hours of this morning in San Ignacio Town. The vehicle attached/assigned to the Ministry of Health was parked in an employee’s [...]

Cubs hold big parade, will retired catcher visit Belize?
Today was celebration day for fans of the Chicago Cubs, as the biggest parade in the city’s history flowed from Wrigley Field, the World Series’ champions’ home stadium, to Grant [...]

Government responds to environmentalists on moratorium
The Government of Belize has responded to the Belize Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage, putting aside for now the issue of legislating the currently policy-based moratorium on activities relating [...]

A step forward, but environmentalists still want complete ban
So, is this a step forward or a step backward? And will it move the Coalition even slightly from its position that a complete ban on offshore petroleum-related activity of [...]

Cop accused in Jeon Peebles death released; family wants answers
Twenty-five year old father of one, Jeon Peebles, died in mysterious circumstances nearly a week ago. Peebles was picked up by the cops on Sunday night near a supermarket on [...]

Accused underwear thieves plead guilty; blame it on the alcohol
In December of 2015, a woman from Palmar Orange Walk and another from Ranchito, Corozal District were accused by a Belize City businesswoman of shoplifting underwear from her store. This [...]

Children’s surgeries planned for Dangriga
The World Pediatric Project will be conducting surgery clinic at the Southern Regional Hospital in Dangriga Town. The surgery clinic is only for children from birth to twenty one years [...]

Rain, rain, please go away!
Incessant rains across the country have inundated parts of Belize City and the weekend forecast indicates that there are more showers ahead.  The downpour began in the wee early hours [...]

B.N.T.U.’s Council of Management will plan new strategy
The council of management of the Belize National Teachers Union is meeting on Saturday to discuss the way forward in light of recent developments in the education sector.  Earlier this [...]

B.N.T.U.’s Palacio said Education Minister never put Strike Fund in play
The strike fund and its intended use are also at the center of the ongoing controversy.  According to B.N.T.U. President Luke Palacio, the Minister of Education quotes liberally from a [...]

Taking C.S.E.C. examinations online
C.X.C. going online? Yes, well, at least a part of it and it is happening sooner than you’d think. In January of next year, students who are sitting CSEC exams [...]

Lucky Boy, the Black Jaguar, passes on at 20
There is a bit of sad news coming out of the Belize Zoo tonight. One of its beloved residents, Lucky Boy, has passed away. According to the zoo, the twenty-year-old [...]

The original Halloween monster: Remembering Hattie, 55 years on
Fifty-five years ago, a true monster unleashed havoc, death and destruction on the tiny colony then known as British Honduras. We speak of Hurricane Hattie, which struck on October thirty-first, [...]

LOVE FM

Government Wants Monies Back From Sharon Pitts and Andre Vega
The Government of Belize is demanding four hundred thousand dollars each from Attorney Sharon Pitts and Andre Vega, the son of former Minister, Gaspar Vega. A release from GOB stated, quote, “As a result of the findings, of the investigation into the matter concerning Ms. Sharon Pitts and Mr. Andre Vega, letters were sent to […]

Court of Appeals Frees Gary Sewell
After being in prison for about 7 years awaiting extradition proceedings, Gary Seawell today became a free man when Belize Court of Appeals allowed his appeal and granted him a writ of habeas corpus. Seawell’s attorneys, Ben Cooper and Anthony Sylvestre submitted that a check of the legal files revealed that there was no committal […]

Protesters Upset Over Inaccess to Public Roads
More than one hundred employees and stakeholders of Dark Knight Adventures picketed the Sir Edney Cain Building in Belmopan earlier today. They were protesting against Iranian businessman, Michael Modiri . Correspondent Fem Cruz was there for the protest and he shared the story.

Consulting the NGOs for the 13th Senator
Attorney General Vanessa Retreage called a meeting with twenty two non governmental organizations this afternoon to discuss the selection of the thirteenth Senator which will represent the NGOs. Armando Aban, International Commissioner of the Belize Scouts, spoke on behalf of the NGOs in terms of what was discussed in the meeting. Aban stated that they […]

Coalition Wants Government’s Commitment in Black and White
Is the government of Belize saying yes to offshore oil? That is the question that the Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage is asking after a letter was sent to one of the members from the Department of Petroleum in which they claim that the government is refusing to adopt legislation on the offshore oil […]

Bert Vasquez to Stand Trial for Forcible Abduction of Minor
Back in 2012 residents were outraged at the murder of 13-year-old, Jasmine Lowe. The young girl had gone missing on her way to an event where she was to perform in the Scouts Diamond Jubilee celebration on Monday, June 4 but she never made it. Two days later, authorities in San Ignacio found her body […]

Fire in Seine Bight Consumes Home
Police in Seine Bight Village in the Stann Creek District has launched an investigation into a fire that destroyed a two-storey home this afternoon. Love News spoke with Plcencia’s Commanding Officer, Dennis Miles for an update.

Police Probes Into the Death of a Baby Girl
A 1-year-old baby is dead and police are looking for answers following the autopsy report which shows that the child suffered injuries to the forehead and the neck area. Inspector Dennis Miles spoke to Love News on the investigation. The child lived in Seine Bight Village with her mother but the father who also has […]

Police Minister Speaks of Improving Officers’ Incentives
For some time now there have been talks of the officers of the Belize Police Department not being well compensated or looked after when it comes to benefits like insurance and the likes. It is a complaint that has not gone on deaf ears as the recently appointed Minister for Home Affairs, Elodio Aragon Jr. […]

Internet Exchange Training Addresses Various Areas
The Belize Internet Exchange Point (BIXP) in collaboration with Casa de internet de Latin-American and the Caribbean (LACNIC ) provided an Internet Exchange Training with facilitator Guillermo Cicileo; he spoke to us on the content of today’s training. Information Technology Manager for Alliance IP, Andrew Martinez spoke about how the training will benefit his company. […]

Reformed Gang Leader as Guest Speaker at Youth Awards 2016
Dishawn “Jiwe” Morris is the invited guest for the National Youth Awards. Morris has an interesting life story that relates to many Belize City youth. He is a reformed gang member who went on to publish a best-selling book. He does motivational speaking to help young persons gain a better perspective of life. We met […]

Amandala

Businesses report problems accessing US dollars
Earlier this week, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) launched a poll to canvass its membership on whether they have been experiencing problems sourcing foreign exchange. The poll was triggered by several concerns expressed by members who said that they had been affected by limited or no access to foreign exchange, and in particular, to US currency. The wider membership has since been asked to submit responses by this Friday, November 4, stating whether they have been affected and if so, to specify the currency they have had problems accessing. Amandala understands that companies who are in both the merchandising trade and services sectors are being polled at this time.

Vital Statistics birth certificate scam?
A Belizean woman from the village of Progresso in the Corozal District is distraught after her birth certificate was allegedly listed by the Vital Statistics Unit as one of the documents in a purported identity scam. According to Jazminie Lino, 29, she went to the Vital Statistics Unit today, Thursday, to apply for her birth certificate and those of her children. While she was able to get those documents belonging to her children, she was prevented from getting hers because her identity has been linked to that of a Mexican woman.

Taxpayers forced to pay $13,000 to victim of Orange Walk police brutality
Policemen with no regard for the constitutional rights of citizens continue to cost taxpayers many thousands of dollars in court awards and legal settlements. On Tuesday in the Supreme Court of Madam Justice Sonya Young, attorney Kareem Musa reached an out-of-court settlement with a government attorney in a case of police brutality in Orange Walk that was captured on video and uploaded to social media—displaying the abuse inflicted by police officers on the man at his home. In the claim filed by Andres Rodriguez against the Attorney General of Belize, named the first defendant; the Commissioner of Police, second defendant; PC Marcial Ramirez, third defendant; PC Edward Swift, fourth defendant; and PC Shawn Chin, the fifth defendant, the evidence of police brutality was overwhelmingly convincing.

Faithful Belizean Cubbies celebrate World Series win!
When the ball settled into the glove of first baseman Anthony Rizzo from a throw by third baseman Kris Bryant off a Michael Martinez slow roller into the infield, Chicago Cubs fans went wild with joy, and that included long-suffering Cubs fans in Belize, who had “adopted” the Chicago Cubs since the early 1980s, when all they watched were Cubs games, and when the Cubs star outfielder Gary Matthews, Sr., came to Belize in the winter of 1985. After Matthews’ visit, the Cubs almost instantly gained practically a whole country of Cubs-mad fans. In Cleveland Indians’ Progressive Field, the Chicago Cubs shattered their 108-year championship drought with an 8-7, 10-inning World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 after causing consternation when in the 9th inning, the Indians leveled the playing field by tying the score 6-6.

Cop detained in connection with bullet-riddled body found on Boom Road
On Monday morning, a passerby saw a body on the ground riddled with bullets and called police, who removed the body and several expended shells from the scene at the junction of the Burrell Boom/Hattieville Road. The body was later identified as Jeon Peebles, 25, a Belize City man whose family claims that he was in police custody on Sunday night for marijuana possession. Last night, Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams confirmed that a police officer was detained and is being questioned in connection with the apparent homicide of Peebles. Williams told 7News, “Yes, we have one officer in custody who we believe was one of the officers who picked him up. That information, though, is yet to be confirmed and the allegation that you’re saying, is that two officers did pick up him.”

Animal Planet’s Monsters Inside Me looks at flesh-eating leishmaniasis in Belize
The UK-based Daily Mail is reporting that a new episode of Animal Planet to air this Thursday on The Discovery Channel will feature the story of a retired US firefighter who contracted a flesh-eating parasite while at his vacation home in Belize. Without treatment, the infection—cutaneous leishmaniasis, caused by a protozoa, a single-celled organism—can prove fatal, the report warned. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cutaneous leishmaniasis usually produces ulcers on the exposed parts of the body, such as the face, arms and legs. It adds that there may be a large number of lesions—sometimes up to 200—which can cause serious disability. Notably, when the ulcers heal, they invariably leave permanent scars, which are often the cause of serious social prejudice, WHO explains. Whereas Belize’s Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero, has indicated that he does not know of the case in question, involving Mark Ward of Prescott, Arizona, and his wife Janina, he has indicated that leishmaniasis has been reported in Belize—as in most tropical countries—and soldiers of the Belize Defence Force (BDF) or others out in the forest/jungle are most particularly at risk. In fact, cases have been reported among British soldiers who have been in Belize’s jungles.

Belizean cyclists dominate in Chetumal, Mexico
The third annual “Carrera de la Frontera Sur” was held in Chetumal, Mexico this past Sunday, October 30. Most of the big Belizean teams were present: C-Ray, Benny’s Megabytes, Smart, Digicell, Santino’s, Cabral/Marin Cycling, Marie Sharp. Belizeans placed top-three in the Junior category. Team Marie Sharp took the first and third spots on the podium, with Darien Anderson winning and Patrick Williams in third position. Smart’s Kaydine Pinelo was second. The trio got away from the peloton, and were able to hold them off until the final lap. In the Female race, eleven cyclists lined up – three of which were Belizeans. National Road Champion, Kaya Cattouse of the C-Ray Cycling Club, was in a break-away from the first lap with Mexican Wendy Maldonado Molina. After the 26-mile race, including 10 laps on the circuit, Cattouse finished solo. Molina finished in second place, and Belizean Alicia Thompson of Belize Bank Swoosh rounded out the top three.

Cubs win! And Belizeans celebrate!
There are quite a few Dodgers fans in Belize, and also Giants fans and Yankee fans, and others; but, ever since television arrived in Belize in the early 1980’s with WGN Channel 9 the main station, featuring broadcaster Harry Caray’s Chicago Cubs, large numbers of Belizean baseball fans have been hooked on the ritual cycle of hope and disappointment dished out religiously, year after heartbreaking year, by the never quite good enough, Cubbies. Belizean fans, by and large, were of Harry Caray’s mold, “die hard,” always believing that one day, one fine day, Cubs would be World Champions. Well, that day is here; last night, actually, as the Chicago Cubs finally ended the 108-year drought since the 1908 Cubs won the World Series. They beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, in game 7, after being down 3 games to 1 in the best-of-7 series. And we just had to share the adjacent article with the many jubilant Cubs fans among our readership.

Belize Bank Bulldogs 3-peat as Charles Solis Memorial Softball Champions
There were only 3 teams participating in this year’s 8th Annual Charles Solis Memorial Invitational Softball Tournament, which took place on Sunday, October 23, at Rogers Stadium. The competition was nevertheless intense and when it was over, the Belize Bank Bulldogs, who won 3 of their 4 games in the double round-robin, out-scored 2nd place winners, Unitedville Rebels, 6-3, were crowned champions for the third straight time. At the end of the round-robin phase, both the Bulldogs and the Rebels had similar records of 3 wins and 1 loss, while Independence PALS was winless with a 0 and 4 record. By the ground rule agreed upon by the teams, “in the case of a tie, the runs for and against for the two teams tied would be used to determine the winner. As such Belize Bank Bulldogs outscored Unitedville Rebels, 6-3, and were thus declared champion.

Editorial: When the PM overstepped
If Belize were to change to the system of proportional representation, and were Kremandala then, for argument’s sake, to present candidates as a political party, the electoral performances of Evan X Hyde in Collet in 1974 and Rufus X in Belize Rural North in 1989 suggest that Kremandala would gain at least 4 percent of the votes cast. In a system of proportional representation, were the teachers of Belize to present candidates as a political party, the chances are the teachers would gain as much as that 4 percent, and probably more. The way our present first-past-the-post political system has worked, it has produced two major political parties – the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP). These two organizations, which have controlled, monopolized political power and public funds in Belize since 1961 to the present, are “big tent” in philosophy in the sense that they include individuals and groups with major differences in political and economic philosophy under the one party tent, under the one party banner.

From the Publisher
When Amandala and the UBAD Party came to Partridge Street from 46 Euphrates Avenue in the latter part of 1972, conditions were really primitive. Ismail Omar Shabazz, the secretary/treasurer of UBAD, had leased adjoining swamp lots on Partridge from the Government of Belize back in 1969, shortly after UBAD was founded. One lot was for UBAD, and the lot on our left was for Shabazz. Our old Chandler & Price letter press, along with the lead type and the trays which held them, were squeezed inside Shabazz’s mechanic shop on his lot. UBAD was trying its best to complete a 20’ x 30’, one flat ferro-concrete building on its land. I remember mosquitoes used to kill our lady typesetters on Thursday nights, paper nights. I can see Gilda Samuels Leslie even now. Everything west of Collet Canal and north of Pound Yard/Cemetery Road was considered Lake Independence back then. The man Lester Smith, known by various nicknames, such as “Bailar”, “Experience,” “Kid,” “Sundance”, and whatever, was a muscular butcher in the old Central Market who was one of the first residents of Mayflower Street. To the best of my knowledge, it was he who organized the young men of this new Lake area into a senior football team which was called, of course, Lakers.

“But this I’ll say openly, that Hattie was the worst in our history”
Editor, Monday, October 31, marked 55 years since an event that changed the course of history in many ways of the then colony of British Honduras. The year was 1961; that event was a category five hurricane by the name of Hattie. Belize had been hit in 1931 by a strong hurricane and the number of lives lost was over 2,500. The loss was great because there was very little warning. The hurricane struck on September 10, a day when the “natives” were out commemorating the Battle of St. George’s Caye. The then governor of the colony refused to warn the citizens, since in his mind the common folks were relieving the stress of a very hard life in the colony. Six years before Hattie, Hurricane Janet did great damage to Corozal and Chetumal (Payo-Bispo). There was much more warning for Hattie, although many did not heed the warnings.

Suffering in silence doesn’t get you closer to heaven!
Dear Editor, It must have been around 1971 or so, that I found myself waiting around the Cement Masons Union Hall in Santa Cruz,California, waiting for my number to be called so I could put food on the table. Having recently received a Bachelor’s university degree, and with the voter registration wars in the deep south still fresh memories, I needed to make a living — plain and simple. Burned-out with academia and tired of sitting behind a desk, I enjoyed the immediate gratification at the end of the work day that comes from doing a measurable task (“product” not “process”) with a handful of other like-minded men, and surveying our accomplishment while having an ice-cold beer. Pouring concrete is hard work, but I always thought of it as “invigorating toil.” Sitting next to me at the Union Hall on another of the many folding chairs strewn around the place, was a grizzled older black man who, judging from his accent, was from somewhere in the South, Louisiana maybe, or Mississippi. We made small talk, and I happened to be riffing on how Santa Cruz sure was changing with the rapid growth of the university and influx of new people, whereas until quite recently it had been home to many generations of Italian fishermen.

Chriss Roggema writes Prime Minister Barrow
Dear Editor, Please publish this open letter to Prime Minister Dean Barrow for me. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I saw a video interview with you which made me feel very uncomfortable as a Caye Caulker resident, and that feeling won’t blow over as a lil’ breeze. Even if I am not a young man anymore, I feel I am obliged to participate in the democratic political process (even if I am not a lawyer) because of my four young sons who were born here on Caye Caulker, who love the sea and the reef and love to fish. Most fishermen might not dare to address you or maybe can’t find the words allowed for publication when they express their feelings concerning the fact that GOB still might consider oil exploration in the waters outside our coast, even close to the Blue Hole. Did our voices not reach your ears or your heart after the people’s “referendum” about oil exploration? Just because it was not arranged by the GOB? Since you say there is so little money to spend on the democratic process, maybe we should use that money on a referendum for more than only this question, at the same time.

2016 murder count already exceeds 2015’s
The Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, George Lovell, has confirmed to Amandala the tragic news that the 2016 murder count has already exceeded the count for the year 2015. Last Tuesday, Lovell reported that 115 homicides had been reported for the year to date. During last week, there was one murder on San Pedro, pushing the number up to 116. Then over the weekend, four more murders were reported, pushing the number to 120. The year 2015 recorded 119 homicides, which represented a 2% decline from the 2014 figure. Lovell said that the state of crime is a matter of concern for the new minister of state with responsibility for police, Elodio Aragon, Jr. “Some time next week, we have intention to do some media rounds, to lay down what our new minister of state’s plans are to address some of the concerns that he has and the entire nation has as it relates to not just major crimes but in particular corruption,” Lovell told us.

The Reporter

RIP, Lucky Boy
The staff of the Belize Zoo is mourning the loss of their beloved black jaguar, Lucky Boy. One of the zoo’s most iconic animals, the staff had to euthanize him early this morning, because his deteriorated health made it inhumane to keep him alive. He […]

First-ever renewable energy fair being planned
Several regional and international organizations are coming together to hold Belize’s first renewable energy fair. The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) in partnership with the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), are collaborating for the fair, which […]

Belize dodges $90 million bullet
The Supreme Court of Belize spared the country’s economy a US $90 million loss when it ruled in favor of the Government of Belize for nationalizing the International Merchant Marine Registry (IMMARBE) and the International Business Companies Registry (ICB). Justice Michele Arana ruled that the […]

Belizean students excel in 2016 CXC
Students from St. Johns College and SJ Junior College topped this year’s Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) for Belize. Rhiki Alegria,16, of SJC ranked as the country’s top scorer in CSEC, earning 16 grade one, one grade two and […]

House Speaker vs Auditor General court battle begins
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Michael Peyrefitte went to court this week, for case management in his civil suit against the Auditor General, Dorothy Bradley. Attorney Marilyn Williams is representing Peyrefitte, while the office of the Attorney General, in accordance with the laws of […]

To pre-empt Cancer epidemic GOB plans vaccine for pre-teen girls
Female cervical cancer resulting from Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection is on the rise, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend that countries with limited resources vaccinate all girls of 9-13 years of age against the virus. Acting on this advice, the Ministries of Health and Education and Youth […]

Man accused of raping woman
Dangriga police have arrested and charged Aldrick Alvarez, a 36-year-old resident of Silk Grass village, Stann Creek with ‘rape’ and ‘sexual assault’ following a report by a young woman that he forcibly had sexual intercourse with her. The 24 year-old woman, a resident of Hopkins […]

Minister’s daughter involved in highway accident
Stacey Martinez, the daughter of Minister of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, was involved in a traffic accident on the George Price Highway on Wednesday evening. Martinez was not seriously injured, but the vehicles were so extensively damaged that it […]

What about the Prevention of Corruption Act?
By Alexis R. Milan Editor Next Wednesday Belize will officially sign on to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the world’s first legally binding international anti-corruption instrument. It is even being heralded by many as a great triumph for Belize’s democracy and the fight against corruption. Legal experts from […]

Political rivals mend fences following heated verbal dispute
Two political rivals, Douglas Grant, Jr., and Paul Ferguson, this week shook hands and settled their differences publicly after they were involved in a heated verbal dispute in front of the Sit and Sip nightclub sometime after 3:00 on Sunday morning. The incident could have […]

CARICOM holds regional consultation on Human Resource Development
Representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) visited Belize this week to meet with various stakeholders to help draft a regional Human Resource Development action plan. CARICOM held the consultations at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza, and met with entities such as the Ministry of Human Development, […]

Taiwan helps Belize citrus farmers fight Huanglongbing
Belizean citrus growers, Justino Chiac of Maya Mopan Village on the Southern Highway and Gilbert Galvez of Ringtail Village on the Hummingbird Highway, are learning to control the Huanglongbing (HLB) disease, known as citrus greening, which is so detrimental to citrus orchards, through the technical support of project funded by […]

PUP’s Dr. Mendez walks free of sexual assault charges
Some 21 months after he was charged with six counts of ‘aggravated assault of an indecent nature’ and ‘unlawful carnal knowledge’ upon two female minors, the People’s United Party’s (PUP) former Orange Walk East Area Representative, Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez, has been acquitted of the […]

Mentally ill man ran over by bus in Corozal
A 22 year-old mentally ill man was knocked down and killed by a Morales bus on Monday night in Corozal Town. According to reports, Javier Luis Chan was in the process of stealing a license plate off a parked vehicle when the alarm went off and […]

Editorial
The November rains have arrived and with them, the seasonal high tide. When this happens water from the sea pushes up in the river and into our canals, shutting down the drainage system. When the tide goes down the drainage system kicks in once more and surface water from the […]

Cops investigate cop for murder
Police are investigating one of their own in connection with the murder of Belize City resident, 25-year-old Jeon Peebles. Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told the media on Wednesday that the Department has one officer detained for questioning in relation to Peebles’ death. Williams […]

Cubs win! Belize celebrates
The Chicago Cubs baseball team, which has since the early 1980’s had some deeply rooted fans in Belize, closed a 108-year world series losing drought on Wednesday when it edged out the Cleveland Indians by a score of 8-7. The seventh and final game was […]

Shorter Christmas and Easter for students, MOE says
Students will have shorter Christmas and Easter vacations, to make up for the days lost due to recent strike action from the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) The Ministry of Education announced this week that it arrived at a formula for making up the lost […]

Breaking Belize News

One year later- Greater days still ahead
Exactly one year ago, on November 4, 2015, the UDP was re-elected to office and Dean Barrow became Belize’s first Prime Minister to secure a third consecutive term. That in itself was a major accomplishment, for such a clear re-endorsement (19 out of 31 […]

Vega and Pitts given thirty days to repay
The government issued a press release this evening informing the public that as a result of the findings of the investigation into the matter concerning Sharon Pitts and Andre Vega, letters were sent to both persons on 31st October, 2016 demanding the repayment to […]

Belize- Mexico Identity theft scheme?
There seems to be another major scandal brewing in another government agency. There are allegations that a woman from Corozal applied for her birth certificate at the registry department in Belize City but was denied the document. According to the infuriated woman, her birth […]

Belama police station dilapidated
Residents in the Belama phase two area of Belize City have raised concerns to BBN over the lack of security they now feel in their community because of the condition of the police station in the area. According to them Precinct 4 of the […]

Flash flooding across highway in Central Farm
This evening heavy rains in Cayo district caused localized flooding in some areas. At the Baking Pot junction in Central Farm there was 6 to 8 inches of water across the George Price Highway about 4:30 pm slowing down traffic a bit. Drivers are […]

“ Yochi” focuses on endangered parrots in Belize
Robert Dugan, cinematographer, left, and Ilana Lapid, director, work on a scene from “Yochi,” in western Belize. (Courtesy Of Ilana Lapid) Albuquerque Journal “Yochi” a fascinating story filmed by a New Mexico State University professor, Ilana Lapid, will be featured on opening night film […]

Gary Sewell freed after fighting extradition to the U.S.
Gary Sewell is today a free man. Sewell had been fighting extradition since 2010. In October of 2014, Sewell, accused of drug trafficking lost his fight to avoid extradition to the U.S. state of Ohio. There he faces conspiracy and drug-related charges. Sewell is […]

Belize in the film festival spotlight
The Belize International Film Festival’s 11th edition will showcase a number of selections that address important societal themes. There are many countries being represented at the festival; however, there will be a feature of events and selections that put Belize in the spotlight. These […]

Lucky Boy, Famous Black Jaguar at the Belize Zoo passes away
The Belize Zoo has issued a statement announcing that Lucky Boy, the famous black jaguar has passed away. “The Belize Zoo sadly announces that our beloved black jaguar, Lucky Boy, has passed away. We struggled for over two weeks to provide care and medical […]

Belize to hold 1st B2B Waste to Energy and Renewable Energy Fair
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) in partnership with the GIZ, the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is hosting Belize’s First B2B Waste to Energy and Renewable Energy Fair at the Belize Biltmore Plaza, in […]

Bert Vasquez trial starts December 9
Bert Vasquez became one of the most disliked personalities in recent Belizean history after he was charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Jasmine Lowe in 2012. However, he is facing more heat for another instance in which he allegedly abducted and […]

Moist weather is expected to prevail
The 24 hour forecast is for cloudy skies with a few showers and isolated thunderstorms. Showers or thunderstorms are expected across the country and will increase over the coast and the south tonight. The wind will blow from the northeast at 5 to 15 […]

Blogs

What are we Preserving?
If you have been following the news this has been a hot topic in many respects – environmentally, politically and personally. The Barrier Reef is extremely fragile and so many people agree seismic testing is risky business and would put the reef in danger. The process involves airguns to blast shock-waves to penetrate the sea bottom. This is not healthy for the marine ecosystem and can disrupt animal migration, communication and even cause deafness. More than half of Belize’s population 366,942 people, are supported through tourism and fishing related income. It is not worth jeopardizing our most precious natural resource which provides the country with long range economic development and a thriving tourist based industry. Last year (2015) Belize received 1.3 million travelers and overnight arrivals were up 6.2%. Southwest and COPA Airlines’ flights to Belize brought a 7% increase in airport arrivals. If we want to keep increasing our numbers, oil exploration and ultimately oil drilling in our jewel should not be done. The following article was a submission I wrote for for BTIA Destination Belize Magazine. It is geared towards first time travelers and a great reminder of all the wonderful things we stand to lose by allowing oil drilling. We need to give people who have not seen our precious jewel yet the opportunity to do so and for those that have the chance to keep on loving it.

8 Posts that Will Make You Want to Visit Ambergris Caye SOON
I started blogging in June of 2011! And during the last five PLUS years, I have just over 1500 posts – some that have been read tens of thousands of times (like those on how I moved here) and about my (very calculated) run-in with the TV Show “The Bachelor” and others that well…are best left to the deep black hole that is the internet. Here are eight posts that I hope inspire newbies to visit Ambergris Caye (and Belize) as well as perk up those living here as the high season is just on the horizon and cooler breezes start to blow in.

Belize Cruise: 7 Things You Wont Experience On One
Cruise tourism has been a trend for the last few decades, and certainly a growing one in Belize. We can see why; weeks on a big ship at sea with all the large hotel amenities floating along with you, it’s difficult not to be at the very least curious. There’s always something going on in the many lounges and theaters of these sea vessels which serves to say that the main attraction is the ship itself and not the many destinations at which it makes port. That said; you’re stopping in Belize, and for the time being Belize city‘s “Tourist Village” is the first thing you’ll get to see of land when you dock. Sure, they make inland tours available to you, as well as sea tours, however, there is still much you’re going to miss when stepping out of a crowded bus or packed up skiff. Here are just A Few of the things you’d miss if you’re on a Belize Cruise: 1. An Authentic Belizean “Hello.“ 2. The most adventurous moments. 3. Souvenirs with personality. 4. Pristine Belizean landscapes. 5. Cuisine prepared with love. 6. Charming Belizean communities. 7. A sense of belonging.

Game day TV blackout got real on Ambergris Caye during Game 7 of the World Series
The national baseball team of the country of Belize is the Chicago Cubs. This is no bandwagon country. Belize has been Cubs Country since the 1980’s when cable television was first introduced here. The story, which is solidly embraced by everyone, is that the first channel to be re-broadcast here was WGN, home of the Cubs and I believe, the Chicago Bulls, also a local fan favorite. For years, these were the only professional sports teams available to the country, which gained its independence from England in 1983 and still carries the image of the queen on its paper money. The Cubs gained a real foothold in the imagination of Belizeans. It was underdogs rooting for underdogs. Pirating a broadcast signal in those days apparently wasn’t as easy to do as it is today. That’s right. This is still pirate country. One of the unshakable beliefs of Belize is that the country’s one cable content distributor steals his channels from the US. This would explain why our PBS channel comes from Detroit while our network channels rotate periodically between Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. (Currently they are from New York and we love the ads for Broadway shows.)

Little Kitchen Dogs
These are the two fuzzy dogs who live behind Little Kitchen restaurant. Normally they intimidate me a bit but this evening they were very mellow and even sleeping until I went all paparazzi on them. The darkness and flash make them look a bit spooky.

Island Beach Wedding at Las Terrazas, Belize
Ambr & Jason decided to tie the knot in beautiful Belize and they choose as their destination one of the best resorts from entire country, Las Terrazas Beach Resort, North Ambergris Caye, Belize. Their day was filled with laughter, family love and emotions. I consider myself blessed and I am grateful for being able to capture this special day. Ambergris Caye is fantastic and Las Terrazas, simply amazing!

The Soundtrack of Life
Perhaps the most beautiful demonstration of this statement can be found in the music of his people, the Garinagu, one of the many cultures that make up the melting pot that is Belize. Product of the indigenous Arawaks of South America and shipwreck prisoners destined for slavery, the Garinagu claim St. Vincent as their homeland. Forceful exodus from the Caribbean lead to Central American settlements in Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.. Throughout migratory pathways, the Garinagu have continued to use music in daily life and work to retell their story from elder to younger generation, to diminish the boredom of everyday chores, to accompany sacred rituals that maintain intergenerational bonds and to recreate a sense of shared identity despite borders. The main instrument used in Garifuna music that requires musical accompaniment is the drum. Traditionally these drums were made from a hollowed out trunk of hardwood, covered with animal skin usually a deer, peccary or sheep which was stretched over the trunk and tightened with rope and wooden pegs and they were always played solely with the hands. Today the design is very much the same, although the hollowing out is normally done with a machine rather than by hand. In the majority of everyday secular music, two drums are involved. The main and largest drum provides the bass and is known as the Segundo. Its namesake drummer provides the regular beat. The Primero drum is usually smaller and its player uses a more complicated pattern of beats and is considered the more skilled musician. In Garifuna rituals a third larger drum is used with the central instrument, the Lanigi Garawoun (the heart drum) providing the lead for the other two drummers.

El Lechero
It’s called the “Lechero” (español for Milk Run) but could just as easily be known as “The Supply Run” or “The Grocery Run.” If you’re looking out the window of one of our Cessna Caravans, you might call it the “Victoria Peak” or “Barrier Reef Run” or if you are visiting Belize, maybe just “part of my vacation”. In aviation, the term milk run refers to a scheduled flight with many stops. In shipping or logistics, a milk run refers to a round trip that facilitates both distribution and collection, similar to the way a milkman used to deliver and pick up around the neighborhoods of old. It also refers to the dairy industry practice of picking up from different suppliers – when one truck collects milk from several farmers for delivery to a central location. For our flights, all these definitions seem to fit, and so the nickname has stuck.

International Sources

Ancient Maya king had a luxury pleasure palace outside the city he ruled
“Lying in a hammock in your courtyard on a mountaintop, being fanned by servants, perhaps is more pleasant at certain times of year than life in your (city) palace,” says Susan Toby Evans of Pennsylvania State University, who wasn’t involved in the discovery. But the site, known as Bejucal, was not always about relaxation. Long before it was a place to get away from it all, it was a sacred center dotted with temples, the researchers report in the Journal of Field Archaeology. At one temple, a sacrificed baby was buried, a Maya ritual for consecrating a holy space, says Thomas Garrison of the University of Southern California, who led the Bejucal excavations. Over centuries, a grand palace complex took shape atop the temples. In the end, Bejucal included two courtyards, each bordered by a pyramid and residential rooms. The ruins of one palace held bits of ceramic painted with colorful designs associated with royalty, objects fit for a king’s household.

Country of Belize invites Cubs' David Ross on free vacation
To celebrate the historic World Series win, the nation of Belize—the biggest Cubs fanbase outside the Windy City—just offered David Ross an all-expenses-paid vacation. The country extended the invite through a Belizean version video of “Go Cubs Go.” After 15 seasons, and admitting “he’s totally exhausted” after Game 7, Ross deserves a little relaxtion and the Belize Tourism Board wants to help. Belize has a long history of cheering for the Cubs. Since 1981, it’s been known to be the most Cubs-friendly place outside Chicago due to WGN being one of the only channels available in the country. You can read more about Belize’s history of Cubs fandom here. While Chicagoans dyed their river blue to celebrate, Belizeans are sharing the excitement by the pristine blue ocean.

Grolier Codex ruled genuine: what the oldest manuscript to survive Spanish conquest reveals
The Maya were, at their height, one of the world’s great civilisations. In the “classic” period, from AD 250–900, Maya cities with monumental architecture and huge populations spread across a large area through what is now Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and western Honduras. Extensive trade networks connected the Maya to the rest of Mesoamerica, producing the dynamic landscapes and bustling ports reported in early Spanish accounts. Much of what we know of the Maya comes from codices – screenfold books made of paper from the bark of a fig tree. Pages were coated in a white stucco wash and then painted by scribes with text, which was often accompanied by images. The Spanish in the 16th century reported a flourishing manuscript tradition comprising histories, prophecies, songs, genealogies and detailed information on the movements of the heavenly bodies. Of the thousands of books produced throughout the Mayas’ long history, however, only three Maya codices were known to have survived, all written in the “postclassic” period after AD 900 and brought to Europe sometime after the conquest. They are named after the cities where they were archived: Dresden, Madrid, and Paris. Now, after years of debate over its authenticity, we can add a fourth manuscript – the Grolier Codex.

Some regional central bank banks turn to SWIFT to combat de-risking threat
Eight regional central banks have signed up to adopt the sanctions screening service and Know Your Customer (KYC) Registry provided by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) in an effort to combat the threat posed to the region by de-risking measures imposed in correspondent banking relationships. The trend of de-risking – the decision taken by international banks partially or fully to exit certain jurisdictions, product domains and currencies by exiting their foreign correspondent banking relationships – has been pervasive in the Caribbean and Latin America. By taking up SWIFT's financial crime compliance services, the central banks of Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti and Paraguay, hope to enhance transparency and build greater trust with the international financial community, mitigating the threat of being disconnected by their foreign counterparts. In addition to adopting the KYC Registry themselves, some of the central banks have also endorsed the uptake of the services across their entire jurisdictions, doubling the number of regional institutions adopting SWIFT’s financial crime compliance tools over the past 12 months.

Videos

November 4, 2016

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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials

The San Pedro Sun

Garifuna Council announces activities for Garifuna Settlement Day
Garifuna Settlement Day falls on Saturday, November 19th this year, and the National Garifuna Council (NGC) San Pedro Branch has launched several events that will be held to commemorate their culture and heritage. With the assistance of Foreva Fancy Boutique and the San Pedro Roman Catholic Church, the events will serve to promote and raise awareness on the rich Garifuna culture. This year’s celebrations are being held countrywide under the theme “Rísiti, Pántati, Gabafuti, Iúnrahowa meme la Rich, Proud, and Powerful, let us continue to preserve it.” Have you ever wanted to indulge in cultural cuisine like boil up or hudut, or even delicious sweet potato pound? Your opportunity is here, as the NGC San Pedro Branch will be hosting a food expo on Saturday, November 12th at the Central Park. All are invited to come out and support the council by purchasing these staple Garifuna meals and desserts. On Sunday, November 13th, the council will partake in their spiritual devotion by hosting a Garifuna Mass at the San Pedro Roman Catholic Church (SPRCC). The Garifuna Choir will be present to help praise and worship at this event.

Police officer Zani Savala charged for two counts of theft
Following two separate reports made by a local taxi operator and a local dive instructor in San Pedro, Police Constable (PC) Zani Savala has been arraigned for two counts of theft. Details from the San Pedro Police Department indicate that PC Savala abused his authority, and stole $100US from the dive instructor, and $175BZ from the taxi operator. Police investigated the reports, and after conducting an identification parade, Savala was arrested. On Wednesday, October 26th, PC Salava appeared before the Magistrate Court, where he was charged and then granted a $3000 bail with two sureties. According to acting Officer in Charge of the Coastal Executive Unit Henry Jemmott, during a transparent investigation on the two claims, it was confirmed that PC Savala stole monies from both the taxi man and the diver. “On two different occasions, PC Savala extorted the victims and stole their money without their knowledge. PC Savala conducted a search on a diver at the police station, where the diver accused him of swindling. On a different occasion, PC Savala went to assist the taxi driver, whose taxi broke down, and upon doing that, he took the driver’s money,” said Jemmott.

All-Saints Day celebrated at San Pedro RC School
As a yearly tradition of the San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School (SPRCPS), All-Saints day was celebrated on Tuesday, November 1st. Many children came dressed up as their favorite saints, and participated in indoor activities, such as a mini parade and a costume contest. A few lower and middle division classes walked over to the Roman Catholic Church to attend a mass at 9AM. Due to the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) strike and inclement weather, Principal at SPRCPS, Roxannie Kay, explained that the school chose not to host a fair this year. “Since we are a Catholic School, the meaning of All-Saints Day is integrated into our curriculum. I believe it is important for students to learn the significance of this day. Many unexpected events arose, and we hope to have a fair next year,” said Kay. All-Saints Day is a formal holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1st. The day is dedicated to the saints of the church, and those who have attained heaven.

Our World project brings dance show and treats to the island
For many years, Debbie and Larry Heimgartner have been visiting Ambergris Caye, and with each visit they continue bringing their love and positive vibes to the youth of the island through the ‘Our World’ project. On Monday, October 31st they visited the San Pedro High School (SPHS) and the San Pedro Roman Catholic School (SPRCS) where they engaged in different activities with the students. Students were happy to see them again, as they brought ballet dance and some icy cold snacks. This year the Heimgartners brought with them two ballet dancers from the United Kingdom (UK) who have performed in different countries around the world. The dancers, Rosy Nevard and Jenny Morrison, are part of the international dance academy known as Nova Grace Productions. Both of them began learning ballet from the age of three, and for around 25 minutes they delighted the students of the SPHS. The dance presentation called ‘A Glimpse into our World of Dance,’ featured the two ballerinas graceful on stage flawlessly executing every number of their dance performance.

Hearing Solutions in San Pedro
As part of the Belize Mission Project and Christian Dentistry Association, a medical team from Colorado and Florida, USA, offered “Hearing Solutions” to the general public on Monday, October 31st. Many community members headed to the Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Polyclinic II to take advantage of free hearing services, including hearing tests, wax removal, hearing aid fittings and a variety of hearing aids. The team leaders of this service were Dr. Phil Bangle, Medical Director; Buddy Jewell, Hearing Instrument Specialist; Christine Jewell, Audiologist; Dr. Linda Cox, Audiologist; and volunteers Ron Cox and Jean Bedell. After receiving a slip, patients were called into a room for a general checkup. Doing the examinations was Audiologist Cox, who inserted two different ear utensils into the patient’s ears to determine whether or not the ear canal and drum are normal. A set of headphones was then placed on the ears to detect hearing frequencies in both ears. Afterwards, Buddy Jewell cleaned the ears of any wax, which he said could improve the hearing quality of a person.

Ambergris Today

Belize Electricity Limited Apologizes to Angry Sanpedranos
There might not be enough apologies Belize Electricity Limited can offer the people of Ambergris Caye after a power interruption left the entire island without electricity for the entire night. The evening was a very important one for baseball fans who were excited to witness the final game of the World Series. The Chicago Cubs’ victory was suppose to be the highlight of the evening, but rain, poor satellite cable signal and the outage plagued the island town. Nevertheless, fans were resourceful enough to find live feeds on their cellular phones and a few managed to watch the game and parade in the rain and darkness of the night. No amount of consolation can replace the precious moments lost as fans were eager to watch the Cubs win. And today, many would not want to hear the reasons as for the power outage, but bellow is the press release from Belize Electricity Limited with their explanation and apology:

Letters to the Editor - Dear Prime Minister...For Our Children
I saw a video interview with you which made me feel very uncomfortable as a Caye Caulker resident and that feeling won’t blow over as a lil’ breeze. Even if I am not a young man anymore, I feel I am obliged to participate in the democratic political process even if I am not a lawyer because of my four young sons who are born here on Caye Caulker who love the sea and the reef and love to fish. Most fishermen might not dare to address you or maybe can’t find the words allowed for publication when they express their feelings concerning that GOB still might consider oil exploration in the waters outside our coast even close to the Blue Hole. Did our voices not reach your ears or your heart after the people arranged referendum about oil exploration? Because it was not arranged by the GOB? Since you say there is so little money to spend on the democratic process maybe we should use that money on a referendum for more than only this question at the same time.

Department of Environment Advises on Overwater Structures
The Department of the Environment (DOE) of Belize has released information advising the general public that environmental clearance is required for the construction and renovation of Overwater Structures. Overwater Structures, depending on their size and location, could have significant impacts on the environment, and as such, the Department, in consultation with key stakeholders, prepared the National Environmental Guidelines on Overwater Structures.

Misc Belizean Sources

Help Miss Universe Belize get to the Phillipines
Every dollar and cent counts! Bex has already had many adventures as Miss Belize! You can be part of the BIG one on the Road To Miss Universe: www.gofundme.com/missbelizeuniverse

Belize Investment Portfolio Campaign Public Sector Sensitization Session
The Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce, through the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) in collaboration with Connect Americas and the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA), is launching the Belize Investment Portfolio Campaign. The campaign is expected to foster the development of a national portfolio to fast-track investment generation efforts, both local and foreign, through targeted matchmaking of pre-packaged investment concepts and projects. Through the advancement of this campaign, BelizeINVEST, a unit of BELTRAIDE, mandated to serve as Belize’s National Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), expects to further substantiate investment concepts submitted by key public sector Government Ministries and stakeholders into actionable business cases aligned with national development priorities.

OVERWATER STRUCTURES
The National Environmental Guidelines on Overwater Structures was finalized back in 2010 and is available for download on the DOE’s website at www.doe.gov.bz. For the purpose of these Guidelines, the following definition for “overwater structure” is used: Any structure suitable for use as a restaurant, bar, dive shop or dwelling especially for commercial purposes and the enjoyment by tourists, which extends in any part beyond the shoreline of any public water or publicly-owned water body and includes pontoons and floatels. These structures have been proposed primarily for tourism purposes in the coastal areas such as the offshore cayes, riverbanks and lagoons. The DOE recognizes that developments of this nature should be conducted in a prudent and regulated manner, and hence developed such environmental guidelines for the benefit of all.

SARTENEJA TO BENEFIT FROM NEW HEATHCARE CENTER
According to the Social Investment Fund (SIF) more than 2,000 residents of Sarteneja Village, Corozal will benefit from services administered at a new healthcare facility. SIF held a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Sarteneja Health Center. The health center project is being financed by the Government of Belize at an estimated cost of $789,300.00 through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank under the Ministry of Health Portfolio and is expected to be completed within a period of five to six months. The health center which is expected to provide better access to healthcare to over two thousand Belizeans will significantly contribute to the reduction of the prevalence of Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers among others since it is expected to be equipped with rooms for consultation, examination, treatment, pharmacy, dispensary, laundry, an asthma bay area, sterilizing room, waiting area for patients, and male and female bathrooms measuring.

Vacancy at BEL
A vacancy exists at Belize Electricity Limited for the post of Call Center Representative in the Customer Care Department.

Artisans at work in the Toledo District
The Chiac Family creates a variety of crafts, part of the Unique Belize collection!

Belize's Wonder Women! Mrs. Nicole Haylock-Rodriguez
Ms. Nicole Haylock-Rodriguez serves as the Deputy Coordinator for the National Security Council Secretariat, Belize Ministry of National Security (MNS). In this position, she is CEO George Lovell, MNS right hand. Most recently Ms. Haylock has been charged with heading up the Technical Support Team currently revising Belize’s 2008 National Security Strategy. She has done a fantastic job coordinating with all ministries within the Government of Belize, as well as with other non-governmental stakeholders to ensure that the 2016 National Security Strategy is all-encompassing, as well as enforceable. This most recent task is in addition to her everyday tasks that include overseeing the development and implementation strategy of the Joint Intelligence Operation Center (JIOC).

B2B Waste to Energy and Renewable Energy Fair
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) in Partnership with the GIZ, The Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is hosting Belize’s First B2B Waste to Energy and Renewable Energy Fair at the Belize Biltmore Plaza, in Belize City on the 9th November, 2016. Event Highlight: Presentation of the “Potential Study on Producible biogas and renewable energy from biomass and organic waste in Belize” by TNO Consultants for GIZ / J-CCCP. The business to business (B2B) fair will serve as: A forum for waste to energy and renewable energy networking An opportunity for stakeholders in the sector to learn about renewable energy, renewable energy & energy efficiency financing programs and waste management solutions

Tropical Splash in Corozal
For all you "Tropical Splashers" - It's Official - Our 1st Thirsty Thursday at our New Location. Tropical Splash is back at their new location at the Corner of 7th Avenue and College Road (where Panorama was). Come by and bring the entire family and enjoy our rich smoothies.

BEL Locates Fault Responsible for San Pedro Power Interruption
A few hours prior to daybreak today, Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) crews completed their search for the cause of a power interruption that affected entire San Pedro Town for over 7 hours, starting 8:59 p.m. last night. San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye is connected to the national electricity grid via a submarine power cable which enters the sea from the Belize District coastline, originating at the Maskall Substation. This section of the power system traverses remote, swampy terrain that is inaccessible by road. Efforts by BEL crews to identify the fault responsible for the power interruption required overcoming the challenging terrain, unstable weather condition and intermittent availability of communication in the area. Shortly before 4:00 a.m. the fault was found on a terminal structure located along the Belize District coastline where the power line transitions from overhead to submarine. Thereafter, the fault was rectified and power supply was restored to San Pedro.

Green Sun Belize
There's a new green business in Cayo. They are specializing in solar hot water heaters at this point. Using the sun for free energy. Great idea! "GreenSun ltd. was established by a couple who fell in love with the nature and culture of Belize and settled down in Cayo. The vision? Increase awarness to sustainable use of energy. How? Something new under the sun.. Solar water heating, Solar power, Biogas, grey water treatment, Aquaponics - the sun is the limit."

Fisheries Department Fundraiser
Asking for your kind support to assist our friend in conservation. November 11, 11am - 2pm, at the Fisheries Department, Margaret Frive, Belize City

Belmopan branch of the Belize Cancer Society opens multicultural center
The Belmopan branch inaugurated its new multipurpose center named in honor of longtime Belmopan cancer advocate, Ms. Beverly Swasey, for her lifetime achievements. The center will house the branch, conduct outreach, and host cancer awareness, prevention, and counseling programs. The multipurpose center is the first part of three development phases ultimately culminating in Belmopan's first hospice care facility. The building is a grass roots project funded by private citizens, businesses, the CEO caucus, the Government of Belize, and many community members. Deputy Chief of Mission Adrienne Galanek attended the opening celebrations. The Pannerfix Steel pan band from Our Lady of Guadalupe primary and high school, Belmopan's Senior Steppers, and Mr. Ben McKoy provided first rate entertainment.

"Dia de los Finados" exhibition in San Pedro
The opening of "Dia de los Finados" exhibition has been re-scheduled for Friday, November 4th at 7 pm. Kindly join us as we honor our dearly departed.

Paradise Theater playing this weekend
You Know His Name, Finding Dory, Hands of Stone. This Friday and Saturday night the theater will be hosting Ponco Laduarte comedy show at 9pm. Performed in Spanish $25

Channel 7

Teachers Union Says It Won't Let Minister Have His Way
Earlier in the week we told you about the Minister of Education's plan to bypass the teachers union - and go straight to the school managements to discuss making up teaching days for time lost due to the 11 day strike. The Minister's position is that teachers will be paid for those extra days - and the suggestion seems to be that they can stand to lose a few days' pay right now, since they'll make it up during those extra days. And then yesterday Faber told LOVE News that the deadline for submissions for November's paysheets had passed, and he hadn't heard anything from the Teachers Union President on how to proceed - so the paycut for 11 strike days would go into effect. The Minister said, quote, "we will proceed with the deductions in the month of November." Well that dismissive comment stirred the BNTU beast, and today President Luke Palacio called a press conference to say Faber's mistaken on that deadline for the submission of paysheets:

BNTU Asks For Clarity
But it looks like the most important thing right now is clarity. That's because there's some ambiguity. The Minister says that teachers will be paid for extra make up days - but he has not established clearly if that would offset the loss in earning from the strike. He has also not established how lost time in the classroom will be made up. The BNTU explained why these issues have to be clarified. Luke Palacio, President - BNTU: "We are not clear whether they are saying that they are going to pay the teachers for those 11 days. What the minister had said resoundingly and it's in the news that they are going to deduct the 11 days at the end of November. This is not yet clear to us. So are they saying we are not going to deduct? And then when you make up the time in the January and Easter break that they are talking about, are they going to give additional compensation? That is not clear and that is why I think Mr. Frazer has made the point that the ministry seems to be playing a game and hoping that people will continue to become confused and try to go against the teachers. The position remains absolutely clear, we were prepared, we are still prepared to make up the time. That, we continue to insist is the purview of the management and the teachers to meet and settle this thing once and for all."

Hon. Montero Explains Bradley Estate Confusion
3 weeks ago, we told you about the land dispute over the landholdings in the Bradley's Bank Estate in Santa Elena town. This is disputed land in the Cayo District acquired from businessman Santiago Mendoza. He was allegedly threatening to bulldoze the houses on the 20 acre property, because Government acquired his land and didn't pay him a dime of compensation. That immediately put the residents in distress because they say that they got the land from Government, and they've been paying their leases. So, when we caught up to Area Representative Rene Montero today at another event in Orange Walk, we asked him about it. He said that Government has been trying to compensate Mendoza, but his asking price is too high.: Hon. Rene Montero: "As far as I am concerned there is no dispute. The government in 2005 acquired that land. Acquired it through publishing it in the gazette and inform the owner who is Mr. Santiago Mendoza. After that we issued it out to the residents of the area which have constructed their homes and we have already put in infrastructure there; roads, electricity and water. So as far as I am concerned there is no dispute. That land belongs to the government of Belize. Government of Belize acquired it, so it is Mr. Mendoza's duty to go to the ministry of works and to try get compensation for it, because it was legally acquired. Governments all over the world universally have the right to acquire land for public purpose and that's what we did."

Hon. Montero And The Harmouche's - A Special Relationship?
And Montero was in the hot seat today. We used the opportunity to ask about the Auditor General's Report on the Immigration and Nationality Department. In it Dorothy Bradley questions the recommendations he made for Lebanese Nationals Saad Mohamad Harmouch and Wael Harmouche. She flagged those in her Nationality Audit, pointing out that several shortcuts were taken to get these persons their Belizean Nationality. She also notes a particular letter which he wrote to Former Director of Immigration Ruth Meighan in January 2012, which says, "Ms. Meighan, please facilitate me with the following nationality for the ceremonies to be held on the 13th January 2012: 26536, 26537, 26543, 27020, 23414, 22999 and 30743." Now, you'll remember the stance that all the ministers who've written this type of recommendation take: They make the distinct point that these letters are requests, and are always qualified with words like "If all is in order" or something to that effect. They say that it is a request, and not a demand to approve these persons for their immigration documents. We brought it up today with Montero, and like the other elected politicians, he stuck to that same position. We challenged him on that, and here's how that conversation went:

Did Hon. Montero's Family Get Special Compensation Payouts?
One final topic we grilled the Minister on was reports we had been receiving that his brother and sister have also gotten some of those sweet land compensation deals which we've been showing you. You'll remember them as the ones where land titles are sold for cheap, and then the Government buys them back exponential profits, all at the expense of the taxpayers. Our reports suggest that Montero's brother and sister each got a 250 thousand dollar pay out, and so we asked him about IT today. Here's how that back-and-forth went: Daniel Ortiz, 7News: "We've also heard tell that persons within your family and yourself supposedly got compensation for properties and at very huge profit margins. Jaime Montero, your brother, supposedly $250,000 for land on Northern Ambergris Caye. Was there any such deal in which your brother benefitted?"

Bert Vasquez Will Stand Trial For Forcible Abduction Of Teenager
Alleged girl killer Bert Vasquez has been on remand since 2012 - and he could go to trial next month not for murder, but for forcible abduction and harm upon a 16 year old girl - which is alleged to have happened over 5 years ago in May of 2011. The minor, who was 16 at the time, says that Vasquez forced her into his vehicle at the Pound Yard Bridge in Belize City, and took her to an area in the Vista Del Mar area where he pistol whipped him with what appeared to be a gun causing an injury to her nose. Today the case went before Justice Adolph Lucas for case management where Lucas heard from prosecutor, Janelle Tillett and Vasquez's attorney in the case management, Christelle Wilson. At the end of that session, Vasquez's trial was tentatively set for December 9, 2016 - which is five weeks away.

Charged For Standees? Seriously?
Our next story is about charging a bus driver because he was carrying standees. Now, if you're a regular commuter you're probably checking your calendar to make sure this isn't some kind of April Fool's day prank - because…standees? That's such an everyday occurrence that it's like cracking down on mosquitoes after a hard rain. But, as out of place as it may seem, a Benque bus driver was slapped with a fine dollars for having 15 persons in excess on board his bus. It happened on October 13, 2016 between Miles 14 and 15 on the Western Highway. 23 year old Wajib Guerra from Benque Viejo town was arraigned before Magistrate Carlon Mendoza in the Belize City Magistrate's Court for a single charge of carrying passengers in excess. He wasted no time and pleaded guilty. He was fined $500 dollars, which he was ordered to pay before January 3, 2017, or, in default, serve 5 months in prison.

HPV Vaccine For All Std. IV Girls
HPV is a virus that many contract and they don't even know it. While most people only carry the virus for one to two years, it is easily transmitted and can lead to much more serious conditions, like cervical cancer. The Ministry of Health, National Cancer Society, and other stakeholders have joined together in an effort to prevent HPV. Today, they announced that HPV will be included in the Belize National Vaccination Schedule for children. Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services - MOH "There is ample data, two reasons: there is lots of data suggesting that we have higher rates of cervical cancer. Unfortunately, cervical cancer we are identifying in very late stages of the disease. It is not that people are coming in in the early stage. Data from last year, for example, that we have managed to capture in the BHIS, suggest that there were twenty one cases and thirteen patients died as cancer last year.

Modiri's Principled Stand Against Paumen Could Spell Trouble
Last night, we showed you part 1 of our interview with Iranian American Businessman Michael Modiri. He's the man who has become sort of famous for reporting that his neighbour, American Tour Operator Bradley Paumen masterminded a plot to kill him. They have unresolved business in the criminal courts because Paumen is out on bail right now for charges of abetment to commit murder. As we showed you, Modiri claims that Paumen continues to trespass on his Franks Eddy Property to run his million-dollar Dark Night tour, even though the Supreme Court has sanctioned him for it. Modiri is making a stand to stop this trespass by blocking the road which Paumen needs to use to ferry his guests to his tour compound. Modiri says that he has had enough, and he will not be pushed around by Paumen anymore, but why would he risk conflict with a man he's accused of plotting to kill him? Well, he says that he had plans to set up his own tour company to make use of the Dark Night cave system, and after years of planning, he will not give up on it. Yesterday, he shared a few details on how he came to buy the land, which now puts him in direct confrontation with Paumen:

Global Recognition For Belizean Do-Gooder
Manuela Lue is no stranger to being recognized for her accomplishments. She co-founded the Belize Rosary Mission, and is the Director of the BNE's Energy for Life Program who has been featured in The Catholic Times multiple times for her work with the youths in both Belize and the US. Most recently, Lue was awarded the 2016 Commonwealth Youth Worker Award for the Caribbean and Americas region. She was chosen for her work in with the Energy for Life Program where she acts as a mentor to help young people become community leaders and entrepreneurs. Lue and the four other regional winners will travel to London next week to share their experiences, and present their work at an international symposium.

Cubs Victory Brings Joy To Belize
Tonight, Chicago Cubs fans all over the world are basking in the afterglow of victory because those loveable losers are losers no more. The "Cubbies" broke the longest championship drought in any major US sport last night when they won the deciding game 7 of the World Series - in what's being called one of the greatest games ever. And why not? The Cubs did it in extra innings, on the road, after coming back from a 3 - 1 series deficit. It gets no more dramatic than that - and throughout the game, where the score against the Cleveland Indians was up and down, true fans got a mixture of butterflies and blood pressure - wondering if the legendary curse of the goat could be overcome at all. We sat in with some of those familiar fans at the NICH café, and witnessed the rollercoaster emotions of a Game 7 date with destiny:... The Cubs cave at NICH was silent for long spells last night, the muted tensions, the Cubs fans swallowing hard - their dejection palpable late in the evening. These fans wear their passion on their chests. Every strikeout a celebration, every missed swing a reason for anxious concern and every pivotal play is breathless anticipation often followed by dejection and the agony of lost opportunities, complete with gesticulations.

Area Representatives Gets Cozy In Cubs Jacket
And while that particular championship after party went on well into the morning, one well-known cubs fan, went to bed early just so that he could get up early and show off his Cubs World Series jacket. No, we're not talking about a 12 year old, this is a grown man, and a well-known national figure, who was eager to get work at his political clinic so that his constituents could see how fancy jacket. If you don't know by now who we're talking about, allow us to introduce you to Michael Finnegan, Chicago Cubs uberfan:... The governor of the state of Illinois has declared Friday as "World Champion Chicago Cubs Day".

When Caring Becomes Really Caring
Caring for someone isn't the same thing as "caring" for them. In other words, you might genuinely want to help a sick or disabled person but you simply don't know how to. Those skills come with training. The Belize Assembly for Persons with Diverse Abilities hosted a 4 day training for care givers on how to handle and cater to the elderly and special needs kids and how to respond to emergency cases. We stopped by the ITVET for the closing ceremony to find out what valuable techniques these caregivers learnt. There were 3 persons trained to be care giving trainers and 20 who participated in the training sessions. This initiative was undertaken in partnership with Healing Hands in Canada.

Cheers For K-9 Cop
Last night you saw the intelligent canine officers in their element, scouting for drugs and guns and missing persons. Well just as these dogs are awarded for their stellar work with a rubber toy, the K-9 handlers are recognized too, And No!! Inspector Hamilton doesn't scratch them behind the ears and say "That's a Good boy!!" He honors them with a certificate and a day off. Yesterday a short impromtu ceremony was held to recognize September's officer of the month. Insp. Brent Hamilton, Head, K-9 Unit: "In the police department we have where every month have gone beyond the means, have gone beyond the extra mile, have just been outstanding in the month. It is by the police department, every month, we try to recognize a good police officer." "The officer for September for this year , 2016 is no other than from the K-9 Unit, the only female officer, we refer to her as our sister, as our mother , as our cook, as our everything she is the one who keeps us together."

New Roads In OW South
Residents living in those villages that make up the Orange Walk South will now have a smooth ride thanks to a 2 new roads that hav