Archive for October 19th, 2009
Girls football going well
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Girls Football Organization (CIGFO) is halfway through its Fall 2009 season at the George Hicks Field in George Town. The program runs every Saturday morning from 9am – 10:30am for girls aged 4 1/2 to 12 and promotes football skills, teamwork, and active living to a large group of eager participants.
CIGFO is grateful for the sponsorship of Generali through its Be Active program. Through Generali’s sponsorship, girls pay only $15 for the entire 12-week season, and receive a jersey to keep.The Fall 2009 session began on September 19 and will conclude on December 5. The Spring 2010 session will begin in January 2010.
Each Saturday morning begins with a group warm-up and stretching session, after which the girls are divided into their age-groups and receive training in a specific football skill, such as passing, shooting, or trapping. The day concludes with a game and plenty of positive reinforcement.
CIGFO’s coaches have already noticed a large skill-level improvement in the girls who attend consistently, and are pleased that the girls are practicing their newly-acquired skills at home. Involvement in sport is an excellent way to keep young girls active and develop self-esteem and confidence as they grow.
CIGFO always welcomes new footballers; interested girls are invited to visit the George Hicks Field at 9am on Saturday morning. Please come with a waterbottle, running shoes, shin guards, and a football with the player’s name on it (if possible).
Top cop says latest murder was gang related
(CNS): Although the commissioner of police has not held a press briefing or made any wider public statements regarding the murder of 24 year old Fabian Reid in Newlands on Tuesday night (13 October), he has told News 27 that he believes the shooting was a retribution attack, possibly connected with the last three or four murders that have taken place in George Town and West Bay. David Baines said it was gang related, and although police have been working to keep the rival gangs apart it was not enough to prevent this latest killing.
He told the television news that he was looking at providing anonymity for witnesses and the commissioner also spoke about removing the right to a trial by jury for those charged of gang related murders. “We are looking at witness protection on the Islands,” he said, and noted the reluctance of juries to convict because of potential repercussions.
Reid, who was the seventh person murdered in the Cayman Islands this year, was shot dead whilst driving his car in North Sound Estates around 10:00pm in the evening on Tuesday. He was killed in a hail of bullets fired into the car he was driving by what were described as three masked gunmen, who witnesses say walked away from the scene of the crime. One woman who was also in the car with Reid escaped with her life, according to a witness, who said that when the shooting stopped, the woman ran into a nearby house. When the ambulance came to the scene, they found Reid under a dock and took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
No arrests have yet been announced in connection to this shooting, which is understood to be linked to the death of Carlo Webster, who was shot dead in the Next Level Night Club last month, and of 28 year old Omar Samuels, who was shot in McField Lane George Town in July. Three men have since been charged in connection with his murder.
There is still speculation over the death of Marcus Ebanks who was shot and killed in Bonaventure Road by masked gunmen, who opened fire on him, his friends and his brother, who was also seriously injured, and its connection to the recent spate of escalating gang violence. No charges have been made in connection with this incident, although a number of people were arrested and subsequently released.
Scientists alarmed by Little Cayman coral bleaching
(CNS): Following the recent announcement by the Department of the Environment (DoE) that reefs around Grand Cayman are suffering the adverse affects of coral bleaching, scientists at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) said this week that their visits to reefs around Little Cayman have also confirmed the same problem. Working with the DoE, CCMI visited five sites, including Sailfin Reef, Rock Bottom Wall, Snapshot Reef, Nancy’s Cup of Tea, and Grundy’s Gardens.Bleaching was observed at every site and was found to be affecting corals as shallow as 20 feet and as deep as at least 120 ft on Bloody Bay Wall.
“Using transects to quantify the amount of bleaching, it was found that up to 96% of coral cover on Little Cayman reefs was either totally bleached or extremely pale compared to normal coloration," a spokesperson stated. “Expedited permission was granted by the DoE to extract small samples, in order to identify the remaining types of algae that the corals are hosting in their tissues. Since some algae types have been found to be more resistant to thermal stress, identifying whether corals are hosting these more resistant types could help scientists better understand the distribution of bleaching that we are seeing throughout the Cayman Islands.”
Governor admits special police operations went too far
(CNS): Following his length statement defending Operations Tempura and Cealt, the governor has said that the investigations may have gone too far and that mistakes were made. Speaking to News 27, Stuart Jack still tries to justify the discredited and costly investigations by saying that the allegations that were made about various things against various people need to be cleared up. The UK’s top official also continues to deny his responsibility for the spending and points the finger at senior civil servants. He said overall responsibility for the police lies with the governor, but he said the financial aspects lay elsewhere.
In an interview with Tammi Sulliman, the governor refuses to comment on the remaining allegations and says he would have preferred if so much money had not been spent and the investigations had gone another way.