Sister describes her brother's shooting death

Read storyThe sister of murder-victim Eric McGreggor told the court the details of her brother's shooting, Tuesday.

Shecoya McGreggor said on May 18, 2006, Edward Taylor pulled up to a laundromat on Carmichael Road, walked up to her brother and said "You have a message for me? You have a message for me?" before he pulled out a gun and fired.

She said Taylor fired again as Eric ran inside. Shecoya testified that she then put the killer's license plate number in her cell phone.

Shecoya said about a month before that Taylor had circled her family's home on Bacardi road threatening to kill people if they did not stop "sending the police around my [expletive] place".

Taylor's lawyer argued that she got the license number when the vehicle was impounded and that she was mistaken about the shooter being Taylor.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Social workers, clergy tour detention centre amid hunger strike

Read storyA senior officer from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre said social service worker and local clergy toured the facility Monday.

Senior Deputy Director at the centre, Roderick Bowe said the purpose of the tour was to inspect conditions at the facility.

Bowe was not a part of the tour, which included Immigration Director Jack Thompson and Defence Force Commodore Clifford Scavella. He did not give the names of the social workers or clergy or give details of their findings.

Reports received by The Tribune are that three detainees at the centre are still on a hunger strike that started last week Wednesday.

See other CBN stories about this subject here

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Former ministers say missing funds exaggerated

Read storyFormer Housing Minister Shane Gibson accused the government and the auditor general of politicizing a recent report to make him look bad.

He said the report - which said hundreds of thousands of dollars were unaccounted for – included figures that had been recorded in a previous report.

Gibson also said that whenever these kinds of reports are prepared there are documents that are missing.

“My point is, if they are losing documents, why should I be held responsible? No permanent secretary would release any cheques unless there is proper documentation. The PS is the official accounts officer. It’s all political.”

He said that it would be easy for someone to hide a document if they wanted to "make a minister look bad".

On Tuesday, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell, held a press conference to protest a Tribune headline based on the same report.

The headline read "$1 million missing from embassy funds".

Mitchell said the headline suggested that the funds were missing because of misconduct but the story (and the report) refer to procedure irregularities and missing documents.

See other CBN stories about this subject here

Mitchell story

Gibson story

Abaco crime on the rise

Read storyAbaco residents are concerned that crime is rising and police have allegedly stopped crime reports to the local newspaper.

David and Kathy Ralph, publishers of the island's newspaper, The Abaconian, say residents are angry after they reported that they would no longer be getting crime reports. See story here.

But residents say crime in Abaco is getting worse and needs to be addressed. Several recent incidents have raised concern:

Lily Sands, a woman in her seventies, was forced into her home and gunpoint and locked in her closet while men robbed her home.

A man who was was locked in his trunk by a would-be kidnapper was told by a policeman that he could not help because he was there to patrol the Junkanoo parade. Meanwhile the kidnapper ran into the crowd.

Several boats have gone missing, in more than one case on the day after they dock in Abaco.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Bahamians must invest in climate or expect the worst

Read storyThe Bahamas must act now to protect its climate or it could be face permanent damage according to Neil Pierre, a director for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Pierre was speaking during a meeting with Philip Weech, director of the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology (BEST) commission and Arthur Rolle, director of the department of meteorology.

The meeting was to discuss the Review of the Economics of Climate Change in the Caribbean which will be presented at a United Nations Climate Conference in December.

Weech said The Bahamas needs to take long term steps, including introduce energy efficient technology, develop sustainable tourism, encourage cruise ships to use desalination plants and enforce land use and building codes.

If not, The Bahamas could change forever: “Climate change is a death sentence for small island states," he said.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Miss Universe pageant comes to The Bahamas

Read storyOn August 30 this year, The Bahamas will host the Miss Universe Pageant, which attracts millions of viewers.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the event would expose the country to "a larger global audience that at any time in the history of The Bahamas”.

Atlantis will be the primary venue for the show but the Prime Minister said the entire nation would receive exposure as contestants will tour the family islands before the final show.

Full Story in The Tribune here

PM says CLICO customers should keep making payments

Read storyDespite the liquidation of the CLICO (Bahamas) insurance company, policy holders should keep paying their premiums, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told the House of Assembly yesterday.

He said if the company is bought, the buyer will only take policies that are up to date. Those that are not up to date will be dealt with "somewhere down the line in the liquidation process".

Four Bahamian insurance companies have expressed interest in buying CLICO - Atlantic Medical, British American, Colina Imperial and Family Guardian.

In his speech, Ingraham outlined some of the mistakes that led to the government's decision to liquidate CLICO, including CLICO's decision to lend $73.6 million to a Florida real estate company that ultimately compromised its financial integrity.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Abaco TV station

Read storyABACO: The Bahamas' second television station was launched over the weekend.

The Bahamas Christian Network was opened in Abaco by Pastor Silbert Mills and his wife Dolly.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Threats against sea turtle activist

Read storyLocal animal activist Jane Mather has been threatened over her campaign to stop the catching of sea turtles.

She has received several calls during the last week including one that said "We know where you live".

Mather said while unnerving, it is not the first time she has been threatened.

She and her husband are tightening their home security and police are investigating.

Full Story in The Tribune here

NIB files 100+ cases against delinquent employers

Read storyThe National Insurance Board filed more than 100 cases against businesses and persons who owe payments to the board.

Businesses of "just about every type" were delinquent with payments, according to NIB director Algernon Cargill.

He said the board is taking a proactive approach to ensure that everyone who owes, pays.

The board is obligated to pay employee benefits even when one of the country's 16,000 employers is not making payments.

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Police refuse to give crime reports that make them look bad

Read storyABACO: The editor at an Abaco newspaper was told he will no longer receive crime reports because it makes the police look bad.

Dave Ralph, editor and publisher of the bi-weekly Abaconian, said Superintendent Sean Smith, the officer in charge of the Abacos, told him the paper would not be getting any more crime reports because they don't "reflect well on police efforts".

Ralph said he did not include the crime report from January in the most recent edition of the Abaconian after Smith asked him not to.

Ralph said he expects a lot of angry letters from his readers concerning the police decision.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Staff now need employer's signature for NIB benefits

Read storyWorkers will now have to get employers to fill out a form when they apply for certain National Insurance benefits.

In the past only the applicant and doctors were required to provide information on claims for sickness, maternity leave and injury benefits.

But according to a statement from the National Insurance Board, this often led to workers collecting supplementary income even though they were still going to work and collecting income.

Full Story in The Tribune here

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.