Hundreds of thousands of government dollars missing

Read storyA report of government spending from the 2006/2007 financial year says officials did not account for money as they should have, leaving doubts about how taxpayers' money was used.

The report, made by the auditor general, has listed several areas of concern, including:

• It is unclear how $909,000 in funds intended to fund the opening of the Bahamas Embassy in Cuba were actually spent
  
• Items were released without evidence that duty was paid and nearly 3,000 cargo lists show no dollar values
  
• In Abaco $300,149 – nearly a quarter of the island's total expenditures – was released without the administrator's signature
  
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by the Ministry of Housing is unaccounted for. Kenneth Russell, current Housing Minister, said police are investigating.
  
•  Visa applications are missing signatures, occupation details and a photograph. Auditors also raised concerns that one person was able to sponsor visas for 16 people.
  

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Search for tourists accused of killing protected ducks

Read storyFor the second time this year, police want to question American tourists about an animal attack after they saw photos on the internet.

Police are looking for the crew of the Adamo sailboat, last seen in Exuma. The crew is suspected of trespassing on a private island where owner Peter Graham has been investing around $35,000 annually to increase the population of whistling ducks since the 1960s.

Pictures from the crew's blog (internet journal) showed a plucked duck about to be roasted. Killing and chasing the protected West Indian tree ducks is prohibited by international law.

Members of the Graham family suspect the crew of chasing ducks on the island for two hours before killing a flightless pet duck.
Graham said: "When we saw their pictures on their website we lost our minds. It's sickening."

Read about last month's arrest of two Americans for eating an iguana and catching under-sized conch here.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Grand Bahama Shipyard is the world's busiest

Read storyThe Grand Bahama Shipyard services four times as many ships as its closest competitor, making it the world's most productive shipyard, according to the Carnival Corporation.

Speaking at the 11th annual Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference in Freeport, Giora Israel said the GBS represents $200 million worth of investment for Carnival, which owns 80 per cent of the shipyard. The Grand Bahama Port Authority owns the rest.

Israel said GBS is one of the largest electricity users on the island and helps sustain the economy through the rental of housing by shipyard crews.

Full Story in The Tribune here

College of The Bahamas more Earth-friendly

Read storyThe College of The Bahamas is making efforts to lower its impact on the environment.

The school has ditched cleaning agents that include chloroform, carbon and petroleum and is using more natural products.

CoB has also installed programmable thermostats to lower its annual $1.5 million electricity bill, with aims of getting down to $900,000.

The change has already led to a $5,000 drop in the electricity costs from the first building they installed the thermostats.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Police were wrong to hold suspects beyond 48 hours

Read storyA Supreme Court judge has found the Police Force liable for unlawful detention and malicious prosecution of two people who were accused of stealing.

Omar Rolle and Atisha Tinker were arrested in April, 2004 and charged with stealing a CD player. The pair was held for 4 and half days.

Rolle and Tinker sued the police force and the Attorney General after charges were dropped in 2005.

Justice Anita Allen said the detention of the couple beyond 48 hours was not justified and that the prosecutors should not have moved ahead with so little evidence.

Justice Allen will hear arguments as to what damages will be awarded later this week.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Celebrity impersonators invite Bahamians to free show

Read storyCelebrity impersonators and twins Eddie and Anthony Edwards have invited Bahamians to a free show.

The brothers said the show is their way of saying thanks to the Bahamas for hosting their performances for the last three years.

All Bahamians with identification are welcome to the show at the Rainforest Theatre on Sunday, March 8.

Eddie is famous for his Barbara Streisand and Cher impersonations while Anthony will become Tom Jones (and others) for this Sunday's show.

Click here to see a video of the brothers.

The Tribune

Underwater weddings coming soon

Read storyPreparing to offer underwater weddings, Atlantis held a test run on Valentine's Day.

Linzi and Daniel Belton renewed their vows at the bottom of the Ruins Lagoon at the Resort.

Daniel wore a tux, Linzi wore her original wedding dress and the couple plunged into the chilly tank along with a local marriage officer, a photographer and a videographer.

Future ceremonies will offer custom-made his and her wetsuits as well as underwater communication.

Full Story in The Tribune here

TED: Amazing photo software

Amazing video about new software that could change the way we view and use photos.