Archive for March 22nd, 2014
Public officials to tackle hazardous waste threats
(CNS): Thirty-six government workers will be taking part in a 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Certification training programme this coming week. The training will culminate in a simulation emergency exercise at the Fire Service’s training ground. The focus is on cooperation between different agencies responding to emergencies involving hazardous materials. A HAZMAT incident is not necessarily a single event. Hazardous materials can be contributing factors in aircraft or port incidents, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist activity or other disastrous conditions.
The course will prepare government workers to protect their own safety and that of the general public in daily operations, as well as providing the capacity to respond to emergency spills of hazardous chemicals despite being uncommon. The training will also address the need to minimise the environmental and health impacts of improper management of hazardous substances.
By increasing the cadre of trained individuals in the respective agencies across Government, the Cayman Islands will be better poised to effectively cope with such situations and to mitigate their effects.
The training which is sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Sports, Youth and Culture (HYS&C) and coordinated by the Department of Environmental Health (DEH), is based on the Incident Command System (ICS) which is used by emergency services around the world and provides a standardised, on-scene, all-hazards approach to incident management. The ICS allows responders to adopt an integrated organisational structure which identifies the steps that lead to improved coordination in response to incidents.
Many Cayman Islands government departments and authorities have taken part in this training before and a number of these individuals will be updating their knowledge by taking part in the refresher course and completing three half-day modules of classroom and field instruction. For those being certified for the first time, the course takes the format of a 40-hour workshop, which includes nine classroom and field instruction modules.
The course, which will take place at the Public Works Training Room from 24 – 28 March, will culminate with all participants taking on roles in an Emergency Simulation Exercise, and completing a written exam. In total, 36 persons are registered for the training. They range from the Department of Environmental Health, the Postal Service, the Fire Service, Water Authority-Cayman, Public Works Department, the Petroleum Inspectorate, and Hazard Management Cayman Islands.
Additionally, two individuals from Cayman Brac are registered; one from DEH and one from the Fire Service. This will increase the number of HAZWOPER trained persons in Cayman Brac to three.
This hands-on training course is provided by David Jensen and Roy Coons, experienced trainers in the areas of Spill Control, Safety and Emergency Response. Now semi-retired Jensen is a former Director of Texas A & M University’s National Spill Control School while Coons is the Director of the Environmental, Health & Safety Department of Texas A & M (Corpus Christi). Both men have conducted similar courses in the Cayman Islands before, as well assisting with the clean-up in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
DEH would like to thank the Public Works Department and the Cayman Islands Fire Service for their assistance in hosting this important training workshop. It also acknowledges the support of the Ministry of HSY&C for its support of this endeavour.
Bodden Town FC plan tostay on attack
(CIFA): Bodden Town FC plans to stick with its attacking inclinations, when it opens Group 1 play in the first round of the 2014 Caribbean Football Union Club Championship on Friday at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. There’s no reason to change now, especially since the club is the current king of Cayman Islands football, claiming every senior crown on offer over the past two years. Those achievements, after all, have been predicated on an offensive style of play. “Bodden Town has an attacking mindset and we will keep that,” head coach Elbert Mclean told CONCACAF.com.
“We don’t know much about our opponents and vice versa, so we will try to usethe element of surprise to our advantage. Our players are motivated to compete at the highest level,” he added.
Key to Mclean’s offensive plan is the speed of marksman Theron Wood, who has scored nine goals in all competitions this season, including the winner in the President’s Cup Final earlier this month.
“Theron is very important to our team,” said Mclean, whose side is unbeaten in all local competitions dating back to 2012. “He can’t do it alone and will need help from Rico Brown, Charlo Mclean and Thomas Bush in the midfield.”
Wood realizes that the President’s Cup triumph, which joins Premier League, FA Cup and Charity Shield titles on Bodden Town’s burgeoning list of recent honors, could point the way to more success in the Caribbean competition. “I strongly believe we will get a good result,” Mclean concluded. “Victory would be a good fillip not just to our club but to the entire Cayman Islands Football family.”
Log on to www.caymanfootball.com for results and updates as well as all the information of all CIFA leagues, latest news and team videos
Fixtures for 2014 Caribbean Football Union Club Championship are as follows:
Group 1 – Bodden Town Sports Club Fixtures
March 21, 2014 8:00 pm – Bodden Town FC vs. Bayamon FC
March 23, 2014 5:30 pm – Unite Saint Rosienne vs. Bodden Town FC
March 25, 2014 4:00 pm – Bodden Town vs. Centro Dominguito
Tax dodging strip club owner keeps Cayman condo
(CNS): The owner of two strip clubs in Wisconsin who tried to hide $240,000 from the IRS to buy a property in the Cayman Islands has evaded jail and got to keep his condo because, a court heard, of his efforts to pay back to the IRS the money he tried to hide here. Dale Trostorff, 60, of Milwaukee pleaded guilty to "structuring", which is breaking up bank deposits to avoid transaction reports to the Internal Revenue Service, and sentenced Friday to two years of probation, with six months on home lock-down and fined$10,000.
According to court records, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said that, "Cheating on taxes is extremely serious. It's stealing from the public," adding that Trostorff could have gone to prison were it not because of his "extraordinary" effort to pay the government in order to prevent them from seizing his Grand Cayman condo. He also agreed to re-file taxes for three years .
Trostorff made 30 deposits from his strip club takings into a half-dozen accounts in 2009, all below the $10,000 threshold that triggers a currency transaction report. He opened an account at a bank in Grand Cayman and used the cash for a condo.
Local artist to show-off big talent in big apple
(CNS): One of Cayman’s best known home grown artists will be exhibiting in New York next month at the Artexpo 2014, showcasing not just his own work but Cayman as well. Gordon Solomon said the exhibition, which will get significant media coverage in the USA and abroad, offers an excellent exhibition space for emerging artist. Individual artists also have a chance to show in their SOLO event, a juried exhibition of emerging and mid-career independent artists. Solomon said he continues to strive to be one of the artistic ambassador’s for the Cayman Islands to expose “home-grown Caymanian talent” to an international audience.
“I feel in an artist’s life we need opportunities like the artexpo not only as a way to make a living but also to enhance my skills, to be challenged, to see and learn new things. Opportunities like this can be life changing and encouraging,” he said.
Taking place 2-6 April at the New York Pier 94 711 12th Ave, a recognizable event space in New York City used for high-end shows and large scale events, the Artexpo 2014 follows the Armory Show, completing the convention centre’s month long, critically acclaimed prominent art fairs in New York City.