Archive for April 3rd, 2009
Library project near end
(CNS): The new George Town library received another welcome boost this morning when Andrew Reid, a partner with Maples and Calder, the partner sponsor of the library extension development handed over another instalment of US$700,000 in the financing of the project. In total the legal firm will be donating some US$2.5 million to complete the new building which is expected to be open in a few weeks.
“It’s a fantastic project and a great thing for Cayman,” said Reid as he handed the cheque to Alden McLaughlin, Minister for Education. Both men said they were excited about the joint partnership and not least, despite some two years in the making the entire library extension and development was coming in on budget at around $5 million. The facility is expected to be officially opened by the Minister in a few weeks when he said he would reveal the full details about the state of the art library facility.
Gay marriage rights upheld
(BBC): Iowa’s Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages in the US state was unconstitutional. The judges rejected an appeal against a lower court’s 2007 ruling that the ban violated the rights of gay men and women in the state. The case stems from a 2005 suit filed by a New York-based gay-rights group on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples. Iowa now becomes the third US state to allow same-sex marriages after Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Cayman shooters off to UK
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Sport Shooting Association will be sending three shooters to the Britannia Grand Prix (BGP) in Dorset, England, where they will compete in skeet and trap. Following the Grand Prix event, the three Cayman shooters – Christopher Jackson, Kevin Schirn and Edison Mclean – will participate in a one day shooting clinic at Bisley Shooting Range with an international coach before returning to Cayman.
Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) President Donald McLean recently presented a cheque to the Shooting Association for US$1625 on behalf of the Olympic Committee to cover the costs for some of the expenses of the competition and the cost of the Training Clinic at Bisley. (Photo above with shooters Kevin Schirn and Edison Mclean)
The BGP originated as an Olympic Skeet competition founded in 2003, designed for existing talented shots and to encourage novice and social shooters to compete in an international standard eventAccording to a release from the CIOC. To continue to build on its success, from 2007, the BGP included Olympic Trap and Double Trap and in 2009 a Sport Trap competition. In the coming years it will provide the highest quality competition opportunities to UK and international competitors training towards the UK hosted 2012 Olympics.
The BGP is an open competition, designed to create an atmosphere which is professional and inspiring for the regular competitive shooter, and friendly, encouraging and progressive to the novice competitor and social shooters. All competitors are assisted at every opportunity to achieve their maximum potential, to enjoy the experience and take away something of value, be it a medal or the satisfaction of personal achievement.
According to the CIOC, the entire experience will help to prepare the team for the Island Games 2009 later this year as well as for the CAC Games in 2010. The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee is proud to assist the Shooting Association with some of the expenses of the trip, and trust that the athletes will gain much from their participation.
Prisoner arrested for murder
(CNS): Police have announced that a 38-year-old man who is currently serving a sentence in HMP Northward has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 21-year old Sabrina Schirn. The suspect was part of the Northward Prison work release programme at the East End farm, but according to Dr William Rattray, Director of Prisons, he was not incarcerated for a violent offence.
In a short briefing, in which the police refused to give any details of the case as they said the investigation was still continuing, Acting Commissioner James Smit, flanked by Rattray and Acting Chief Superintendent Marlon Bodden, confirmed the arrest of the Northward prisoner . Defending the release programmeof which the prisoners was a part, Rattray said that the prison service’s risk assessment instrument that all prisoners were subject to before being allowed on the farm was the most sophisticated available.
“We conducted an international review of risk assessments before settling on the instrument that we use,” he said, adding that any rehabilitation programme such as this was subject to risk and it was not possible to predict human behaviour.
Rattray said that some 8-12 Category C and D prisoners work on the prison farm every day and are working on 200 open acres of farmland supervised by two prison officers who are horticultural instructors.
“Just like a school teacher cannot keep her eye on every child in the class, the same is true for these officers,” he said. Rattray said that the situation was an aberration and that the programme was part of a managed rehabilitation programme.
Despite questions about the time of death, whether Sabrina’s body was moved or whether an accomplice was involved, the police would not be drawn and said that they could not comment on those issues.
Given the significant criticism regarding the investigation, the police were asked it they had any regrets about how it had been conducted. “We are confident in the way we have handled this investigation and we would not have done anything differently,” said Bodden.
Westtel first round playoffs
(CNS): Since the inception of the WestTel Five-A-Side Football League the opening round of the playoffs have been more of a formality, however this season the teams took to the pitch with thunderous enthusiasm, a release from King’s Sports Centre said. The week started off with an unfortunate forfeit by Ocean Frontiers, giving the Brickhouse Devils a free pass to the 2nd round; and the opening round started to look like those of seasons past. However the Gold Conference teams came to life and in the 2nd match-up of the night, underdog BDO-Tortuga pulled off the upset of the first round, coming from 10th place to defeat #7 Old Man United 2-1.
BDO-Tortuga goal scorers included Andy Bellfied and Paul Pearman with a goal apiece. Jon Pump scored the lone goal for Old Man United. The 3rd game of the evening proved to be equally exciting as Gold Conference ESSO defeated a strong Maples and Calder squad from the XGen Conference 3-1. Trent Christie, Chris Thorburn and William Fenton each scored a goal for ESSO in the victory, while Desmond Harris scored Maples and Calder’s single goal
Tuesday night saw the WestTel Division 1 teams make their appearance, with both #1 seeds, RCC Strikers and Burger King, exerting their dominance over Dart and UBS respectively. Atlantic Star, from the XGen Conference came up big against the Transformers in a very physical and competitive game. Kris Maguire earned the player of the game with his 2 goals for Atlantic Star with Alan Glasgow scoring the team’s third goal. Dominique Pearson, the Transformers leading scorer, put up the team’s only point of the match. Atlantic Star will go on to face Burger King in the semi-finals. The matchup will feature Rene Carter and Ben Marler going head-to-head yet again. The two players were part of last season’s leading scorers race with Marler coming away with the title. This season may prove to be a bigger challenge for Marler, as his Atlantic Star squad takes the floor against the perfect 13-0 Burger King powerhouse team.
Wednesday night’s feature presentation and the final D1 matchup saw #2 PWC and #3 Coconut Joes give the spectators an amazing show. PWC, from Gold Conference scored early in the match, and lead the match for most of regulation, but in the final minute of the game, Chris Ordolis of Coconut Joes scored to equalize the game and send it into overtime.
With less than a minute left of extra time, and on the brink of going to penalty kicks, Joes again pulled off the clutch goal, with Ian Kenyon scoring to win the match. Coconut Joes will continue to fight the uphill battle, as they move onto the semi-finals against fellow XGen Conference rival #1 RCC Strikers. The two teams met early in the season, with the Strikers proving to be the dominant squad.
The Division 2 teamsalso wrapped up their opening round games on Wednesday night. McAlpine United convincingly defeated the KPMG Blue Rays in the 2nd game of the night.
eanwhile, the third match featured Marriott Int. F.C. taking down C.I. Law School 2-Nil with Lee Parry and Jose Quintero each scoring in the victory. In the final game of the week, the KPMG Cat-5 Hurricanes and Old Boys put on a defensive showdown with the Hurricanes taking the match 2-1. KPMG goal scorers included Given Chanetsa-Mazarura and David Fernandes with a goal apiece. Bryan Hydes scored the lone goal for Old Boys.
All in all, if the teams keep up the intensity of the opening round, next week’s second round games are sure to offer fans some incredible Five-A-Side Action! Paramount All-Stars and HSBC, who earned a bye through the first round of the Division 2 playoffs, will take to the pitch for the first time this playoff season, and both Division 1 match-ups are sure to be very entertaining. On behalf of the WestTel Five-A-Side Football League, good luck to all of our competitors.
Fans are encouraged to come out and support the local athletes throughout the playoff tournament. The full WestTel Five-A-Side playoff breakdown, along withall other King’s Sports Centre sports program info is available at www.csa.ky. For all other inquiries, please contact Ray at ray_singh@candw.ky.
Second Round Playoffs
Monday, April 6th
7:00 pm RCC Strikers v. Coconut Joes
8:00 pm Atlantic Star v. Burger King
9:00 pm Paramount All-Stars v. KPMG Cat-5 Hurricanes
Wednesday, April 8th
7:00 pm HSBC v. ESSO
8:00 pm Brickhouse Devils v. Marriott Int. F.C.
9:00 pm BDO-Tortuga v. McAlpine United
Man charged over attack
(CNS): A 41-year-old man has now been charged with three offences following an attack on a woman in George Town on Monday, 30 March. Garfield Silburn will appear in court this morning (Friday, 3 April) charged with GBH, GBH with intent and aggravated burglary. Police said at the time of the assault that the woman suffered injuries to her face, head and neck which required hospital treatment.
The 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at approximately 12:15 pm on Monday reporting an assault at a residence off South Church Street. Officers responded and found a 30-year-old woman, who said she had been repeatedly assaulted by her boyfriend. The man, who was still at the residence when police arrived, was arrested for various offences including ABH.
“The RCIPS takes assaults of any nature, whether against females or males, very seriously,” said Acting Chief Superintendent Marlon Bodden. “As with all allegations of a crime, once there is evidence of an offense we take swift action to investigate the matter and prosecute the perpetrator.”
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling crime stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Channel Isles white but Cayman in grey area
(CNS): Although the Cayman Islands has avoided the dreaded G20 summit blacklist, it has still found itself on the so-called grey list, while in comparison the UK’s crown dependencies have landed on the white list. Caymans and six other UK overseas territories were put on the OECD’s grey list while the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey appear on the white list, despite the OECD’s praising Cayman in a statement on Wednesday. (Left: Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD)
Reports stated that the crown dependencies have signed a flurry of tax agreements in the last few weeks ahead of the G20 summit. Not surprisingly the Manx government, which has signed over 14 tax information agreements, said it welcomed the OECD report. ‘We are delighted that our work has been recognised at the highest level and a distinction made between those jurisdictions that have made great strides in this arena and those that have not," said Tony Brown.
Cayman, however has also engaged in a flurry of its own and now has some 20 agreements in place with others pending. Reports from G20 suggest that the OECD has placed Cayman on the grey list as it needs to review its most recent agreements.
Yesterday, the Cayman Islands government said that the agreements it had made were not too late and had been timed to draw attention to Cayman’s level of compliance at the right time, which was demonstrated by a recent OECD statement that described the recent deal with the seven Nordic countries as a significant step forward.
“The Cayman Islands was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to the new standard in May 2000,” said Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy Administration. “I welcome the fact that this commitment is now being implemented by the latest TIEAs. Their new legislation is innovative and could speed up the process of implementing the standard.”
The OECD also noted that Cayman was one of 11 jurisdictions that contributed to the development of the Model Agreement on Exchange information Matters.
“I am very pleased to see the pace of implementation now being accelerated and I appreciate the fact that the Cayman Islands has sought to simplify the means by which to broaden its information exchange relationships. The Cayman Islands is setting a good example,” Owens added.
Temporary housing tenants trigger local meeting
(CNS): The pending arrival of new residents on the government’s temporary housing assistance programme into their neighbourhood prompted the people of Flute Lane in West Bay to convene a meeting with the local police recently. Existing residents had the opportunity to meet with the newcomers, who are currently housed in temporary accommodation on Scholars Drive but who will shortly be moving into the old John Silvers hotel, and discuss what were described as issues of “mutual concern".
The meeting was hosted by West Bay police in a private home on Tuesday, 31 March, and chaired by Area Commander Chief Inspector Angelique Howell. “Almost everyone from the neighbourhood attended the meeting and issues were discussed in an amicable and productive manner,”said Howell. “It demonstrates that people will work together in doing all they can to live peacefully with each other.”
Inspector Charles Best and Diana Brodowska, a West Bay resident who formally served as a neighbourhood watch scheme coordinator in England, were also at the meeting. “Ms Brodowska is volunteering with West Bay police on educating communities on the benefits of neighbourhood watch schemes,” CI Howell explained, adding that attendees were given information on the schemes as well as crime prevention brochures.
“The scheme proves beneficial to both the community and police, and all neighbourhoods should come together and work with their local police to tackle crime together,” Howell added.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling crime stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Reprieve planned for vehicle licensing misery
(CNS):
“Current facilities are no longer adequateto meet the demand for the department’s services,” Minister of Communications, Works & Infrastructure Arden McLean said. “Moving to Shamrock Road will also help increase efficiency and alleviate the George Town congestion.”
The main Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing (DVDL) office in Elgin Avenue has is notorious for long queues and frustrating waits. Once the new office opens, the Elgin Avenue and the Walkers Road locations will be closed.
According to plans the larger facility will offer two inspection pits, one for heavy equipment the other for all other vehicles, as well as a 400 sq ft gazebo and an 84-space car park. The building will also be built to category 5 hurricane standards.
Government said construction is scheduled for completion by January 2010 and will be constructed by Edgewater Development Ltd
Beverage consumption a bigger factor in weight
(ScienceDaily): When it comes to weight loss, what you drink may be more important than what you eat, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers examined the relationship between beverage consumption among adults and weight change and found that weight loss was positively associated with a reduction in liquid calorie consumption and liquid calorie intake had a stronger impact on weight than solid calorie intake.