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Read storyA new system that can tell where gunfire is coming from and what type of gun was used may soon be part of the police toolkit.
Officers were set to review the Shotspotter system at a demonstration by the local distributor - Bahamas Fleet Management Solutions.
The system can tell the difference between guns and fireworks and detects how many shots were fired. It creates a map for dispatchers and could help officer response time.
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyBail requirements should be uniform to ensure suspects that are granted bail have a fair chance of meeting them.
Ellsworth Johnson, lawyer and tutor at the Eugene Dupuch Law School’s Legal Aid Clinic, told The Nassau Guardian that requiring people to own property is an unfair condition, since there are many Bahamians who do not.
"You shouldn’t give someone bail and by the very things you require make it impossible for a person to avail himself of that bail," Johnson said.
Two lawyers, who did not want to give their names, echoed his statement, saying that bail requirements change from court to court and seem arbitrary. One said the requirements keeps people “running up and down for weeks.”
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyMark Daniels was shot and killed while he was playing dominoes with his friends Sunday.
The mechanic and father of five was shot in the head around 1pm on Augusta street. He was declared dead at the scene.
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyIn a letter published in The Tribune, Andrew Allen said The Bahamas should consider ways to farm sea turtles rather than ban their consumption.
Allen said the Cayman Islands have successful turtle farming and have found a way to sustain the turtle population.
He said too often Bahamians try to condemn customs and cultures that they don't agree with or don't enjoy themselves rather than looking for ways to make them sustainable.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Cayman Turtle Farm website here
Humane Society criticizes Cayman farm here
Read storyA young man was killed in a traffic accident on East Street Saturday.
The crash injured the 18-year-old male driver and his 22-year-old female passenger but was fatal for 16-year-old Godfrey Murphy.
Police believe the car was overtaking when it collided with a utility pole and a building.
ELEUTHERA: Police are also investigating a traffic accident in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. The crash killed 56-year-old Edmund 'Beef' Symonette, a local handyman.
Sometime before 7pm Saturday, he was driving on Queen's
Highway when his truck ran off the road.
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyThe Department of Immigration played no part in the dismissal of Chinese workers from a Bahamian construction company last week.
E R Hanna Construction said last week that it would be forced to send about half of its 26 Chinese workers home because they were not able to renew their work permits.
But Immigration director Jack Thompson said that was not the case as all the worker permits were valid until June.
Last week Tuesday, the workers protested after getting the news of their dismissal. Several said they had not been paid in months and were being treated unfairly.
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyA convicted murderer originally sentenced to death was released after the court of appeal decided it was unfair to release one man and not another.
The Court released Jeronimo Bowleg, ruling that the man he was accused of committing the murder with - Brian
Schroeter – had been released.
Bowleg and Schroeter were convicted of the 1994 murder of Dieuseul Almanor and sentenced to death, the mandatory sentence for murder at the time.
After mandatory death sentencing was ruled unconstitutional, the pair appealed. Schroeter was release and Bowleg's sentence was modified to include ten years in addition to the 11 he had served.
Bowleg appealed the decision and won. In its ruling, the court said it felt the sentence was inadequate but wanted to avoid any appearance of unfairness between people involved in the same offense."
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyCuba is a threat but not yet Tourism Minister says
Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said The Bahamas should be ready to compete with Cuba but that it's not an immediate threat.
Wallace said the American decision to relax restrictions on Cubans returning home for visits was more of a humanitarian effort than something that would generate tourism.
Still, the Minister said The Bahamas needs to develop its tourist product and think of the entire country when planning.
"We have a variety of islands that we have never really developed to the stage that we need to develop them and to differentiate one from the other so that we have a lot more varied products on the shelf to deal with the Cubas when they open," he said.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyA union leader for the country's public workers says the private sector needs to implement a minimum wage system that matches the government's.
John Pinder, president of the Bahamas Public Services Union, said the minimum wage of non-government workers should be the same as the $5.20 provided for public servants, $10,600 per year.
Pinder said he was concerned that contractors on major projects are able to bring in foreign workers to avoid paying minimum wage.
All companies should have to comply with a standard minimum wage, he said.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyThe Bahamas has repatriated 1,340 people since the year's start, according to the Immigration Department.
That number includes 1,204 Haitian, 75 Jamaican, 28 Cuban and 13 Dominican Republic citizens.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyTyler Perry, the star/writer/director of the Madea series, is thinking of buying an island in The Bahamas.
According to People magazine Perry is thinking of giving it to himself for his 40th birthday.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyConstruction has started on a covered seating facility for persons waiting outside the American Embassy.
The site will serve as a waiting area to customers of the embassy.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyOne of the men accused of killing Keith Carey said he was driving but did not know the plan.
In a video of accused murderer Dwight Knowles, Knowles said Jamal Glinton asked him to follow Carey from his gas station to the bank. Glinton, like Knowles, is accused of killing Carey in February of 2006.
Knowles said Glinton got out of the car, Carey fell on the steps and then he heard two gunshots. Then, he said Glinton got back in the car and told him to drive off.
See other CBN stories about this subject here
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here Page 4
Read storyA man drove himself to the hospital after he was shot several times in the back.
The 31-year-old man said he was on Farrington Road around 2pm Wednesday when he was approached by a man he knows who then shot him in the upper back.
The man then drove his car to the hospital where he was listed in serious condition although his injuries were not life-threatening.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyA descendent of slaves from the Whylly plantation wants to do more than clean toilets at the Clifton Heritage site.
Vivian Whylly, 47, who was knighted by the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem because of his ancestry, his historical knowledge and his dedication to protect the former plantation, said the Clifton Heritage Authority will only hire him to weed the gardens or clean toilets.
“In any other country a descendent of something like this would be looked at as something other than a problem,” Whylly said.
Whylly said William Whylly, the plantation's owner, was a loyalist who fought for slaves rights when he came to The Bahamas. He was the first chief justice and also served as attorney general, Whylly said, who uncovered a lot of information about the site through his research at the National Archives.
Full Story in The Tribune here
Read storyPolice may soon seek international support in their search for a teacher accused of molesting two male students.
Officials are ready to charge the teacher with multiple "unnatural sexual intercourse" offenses but are not sure if he is still in The Bahamas.
Police say they know he left the island at some point but are not sure whether the suspect returned.
Police could not confirm the teacher's nationality but said he has permanent resident status. Authorities say they plan to issue a global all-points bulletin for him.
See other CBN stories about this subject here
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyNearly 8,000 people asked for government assistance in the last four months of 2008 compared to 960 during the same period in 2007.
During his contribution to a senate debate, Minister of Labour and Social Development, Dion Foulkes, said the government spent $857,000 in aid to citizens, including:
$500,000 to help 900 people with their Bahamas Electricity Corporation bills
$260,000 to help 430 people with rent
$50,000 in medical assistance
$47,000 on assistance with bills from the Water and Sewerage Corporation
These figures don't include assistance given in Grand Bahama or the family islands, which Foulkes said also increased
Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyThe Immigration Department has released some information from a recent visit to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
Recently, psychologist David Allen, Social Services director Melanie Zonical, Archdeacon James Palacious, Royal Bahamas Defence Force senior lieutenant Frederick Brown and director of Immigration Jack Thompson toured the facility, although their reports on the tour were not released.
The Tribune asked to tour the facility but Immigration officials refused the request.
Detainees were interviewed in the presence of their supervisors, although immigration officials say they spoke candidly.
Thompson said they are already working to implement recommendations from Dr Allen and Father Palacious including indoor games, televisions and more books.
See other CBN stories about this subject here
Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)
Read storyNational Security Minister Tommy Turnquest said former Prime Minister Perry Christie should "hang his head in shame" over what he says is a clear conflict of interest.
Turnquest was speaking about Calsey Johnson, who, as former chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas, received a commission when he recommended that the corporation invest $750,000 in pension funds in CLICO Bahamas.
It is unclear how much, if any, of the funds will be recovered.
"(Johnson) has acknowledged that he has collected a commission, and he has acknowledged that he was a part of the decision making body. Having acknowledged both of those, there is clearly a conflict," Turnquest said.
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Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here
Read storyAlthough many sectors of the country are suffering in the recent economic challenges, airlines operating in the country seem to be doing well.
Southern Air Charters, Sky Bahamas and Pineapple Air all told The Guardian that business is good. All three have regular flights from New Providence to various family islands.
Southern Air said they have seen no falloff in customers, Sky Bahamas said sales have gone up and Pineapple Air said they did feel some impact but that business is "fairly good".
The Nassau Guardian
