Archive for April, 2014
Brac & Mild
Charity needs furniture for half-way house
(CNS): Volunteers attempting to open a new and much needed half-way house to help women dealing with addiction are in desperate need of furniture for the new premises, which the Bridge Foundation charity hopes will be in use by those in need next month. The new women’s residence for recovering addicts in West Bay is scheduled to be formally opened by the governor on 29 May but before that happens the home needs beds, kitchen equipment, office supplies, as well as help towards installing air-conditioning and constructing the bathrooms. The charity already runs a halfway house for six men, which is being expanded and with the help of donations the founders said they can provide places for six women at a time as well.
Charles Jennings, one of the founders and directors along with Lem Hurlston, Terry Delaney and Bud Volinsky, said the foundation has further expansion plans as the men's facility has already become an important part of the process in supporting those in the community trying to change their lives.
"We like to think we are making a difference in turning people’s lives around and in the process having a positive impact on crime in the islands," said Jennings. "Judging by the support we’re getting from the courts and several government agencies, they think so too," Jennings stated.
Securing the women's facility alongside expansions to the existing men's facility from six places to eleven is likely to have an even greater impact on the lives of people trying in difficult circumstances to make a change. However, the facility can't open without furniture.
"Our immediate need is to furnish the new women’s residence," said Jennings, as he asked for anyone who may have unwanted or second-hand furniture that they can spare.
A list is attached below of the things needed. Those marked with a red cross have been acquired already, but the charity is still in need of many more items and help from the community.
Anyone who can help is asked to call 525 5546 or email charles@jennings.ky
CAL backs international youth football tournament
(CNS): The Cayman airways Invitational Youth Cup is the latest tournament in the burgeoning local football action. The contest sponsored by the national flag carrier will see five international clubs for near and far compete next month in Cayman. Teams from Charlton Athletic (England), IMG Academy (United States), Real Club Deportivo España (Honduras), Harbour View F.C (Jamaica) and St Clair's Coaching School (Trinidad and Tobago) will travel to Grand Cayman for a five-day tournament to play against each other and the Cayman Islands national under 14 squad.
"Attracting high level competition to Cayman is a pillar of the Football Association's plan to build our next generation of national players," said CONCACAF and Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) President Jeffrey Webb. "Kudos to the organisers, West Bay Sports Foundation and Academy Sports Club along with the sponsors for their commitment to youth development. CIFA supports this and any initiative that will assist with the development of Cayman's young players."
Director of the National Youth programme Ardin Rivers added, "The line-up of teams is an impressive one and will pose a challenge for the national Under 14 youth team, but with local support, I know our boys will give their best.”
Academy Sports Club, a regular competitor at overseas tournaments initiated the contacts with the regional and international clubs and has worked with the West Bay Sports Foundation to produce a tournament, with a scope never before seen in the Cayman Islands.
Virgil Seymour, Academy Sports Club Technical Director said it was excited for the young local players to have an opportunity at this level. ”This will be a great experience not only for the players but also for the local community to have this exposure,” Seymour said. “We encourage everyone to come out to support the Cayman U14 team during the five days of the tournament. We have to also thank our generous sponsors for making this event possible.”
Fabian Whorms, Chief Executive Officer of Cayman Airways which will be providing the flights for the teams said that supporting youth sports programmes was also important to the development of sports tourism as a growing niche market. “We are particularly honored to be the title sponsor for this exciting new tournament on the sports tourism calendar in The Cayman Islands, and we wish all of the players, local and visiting, the very best of luck in their matches.”
See groups and schedule below
Group A – Charlton Athletic (UK), St Clair Coaching School (TRI), IMG Academy (USA)
Group B – Cayman Islands, Harbour View FC (JAM), Real Club Deportivo España (HON)
Match schedule:
Tuesday- May 6, 2014 (The Annex)
6 pm – Harbour View v Real Club Deportivo España
7:30 pm – Charlton Athletic v St Clair’s Coaching School
Thursday – May 8, 2014 (The Annex)
6 pm – St Clair’s Coaching School v IMG Academy
7:30 pm – Cayman Islands v Harbour View
Friday – May 9, 2014 (The Annex)
6 pm – IMG Academy v Charlton Athletic
7:30 pm – Cayman Islands v Real Club Deportivo España
Saturday – May 10, 2014 (Cayman Brac) 6pm – 3rd Place Match – 2nd in Group A v 2nd in Group B
Sunday – May 11, 2014 (The Annex) 6 pm – Consolation Game – 3rd Group A v 3rd Group B
PM – FINAL – Winner Group A v Winner Group B
Sea search on for men missing from troubled boat
(CNS): The police helicopter and marine unit are currently involved in a sea search some 30 miles off the south east coast of Grand Cayman for two men believed lost at sea after searching for a distress parcel dropped by a plane late last night. A spokesperson for the RCIPS said Thursday morning that the local Air Traffic Control tower had received a message from a US Coast Guard aircraft which had spotted distress flares from a boat in the area at around 10:40pm last night (Wednesday 16 April). The Marine Unit and the police chopper responded and found the vessel with two foreign nationals aboard, who reported that two other men were missing in the water.
Police did not state where the men were from or if they were fishing, travelling or engaged in the illicit trafficking of drugs, guns or people. The missing men were believed to have got into the sea in order to try and retrieve the life-saving package dropped by the US Coast Guard plane but then disappeared. The two men on the damaged boat were rescued and taken aboard the Niven D and the search is continuing for two the other men.
Merren denies money laundering, drug smuggling
(CNS): A 47-year-old Caymanian held in jail in Puerto Rico has now formally denied the charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, according to US records. Bryce Merren has pleaded not guilty to three counts of conspiracy and attempt to possess and distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine after he was caught out by undercover US agents. The undercover cops say the Caymanian business man wired $200,000 from a Cayman bank account to a Puerto Rican account as a down payment for a cocaine deal in which he had plans to move some three thousand kilos of the narcotic. Merren is currently remanded in custody at the Guaynabo prison on the US owned island. (Photo courtesy Spike)
Cubans on run as centre struggles with security
(CNS): Authorities are on the hunt once again as another group of Cuban refugees being detained by immigration left the insecure detention centre in the Fairbanks area of George Town. Officials said some 13 migrants escaped Wednesday afternoon and while ten were rounded up three are still on the run along with at least one other man who escaped last month when 33 refugees escaped by crawling under a perimeter fence. Last week another three men left the centre. Immigration officers said it is an offence to help the refugees who have escaped.
Brackers protest ‘devil’ art
(CNS): A rotting goat’s head nailed to a cross on top of a heap of garbage and old bones may be art to its creator but to a group of Cayman Brac residents it is simply offensive. Local businessman Elvis McKeever, who organised a peaceful protest at the location of the controversial sculpture on the south side of the island Wednesday lunchtime, said it looked like devil worship or the practice of Obeah, “like something you would see in Haiti”. It was built by the artist known as Foots, who also created the underwater sculpture “The Lost City of Atlantis”, which lies off the north coast. But his latest creation, which includesa fake gravestone with three 6’s engraved on a bloody cross, has stirred deep resentment in the small, largely Christian community.
The goat’s head and cross had been removed before the protest but the 30 or so Brac residents who turned up to demonstrate their objection to Foots’ artwork wanted officials to make sure they were not put back up.
But in any case, they said, the rest of Foots’ handiwork was also offensive and would depreciate the value of surrounding properties, as well as being a health hazard, and they want the whole thing removed.
McKeever said that when he first started talking publicly about his objections to the sculpture, Foots took down the decaying goat’s head and the cross for about two weeks, but on Palm Sunday he put it up again. He said that Foots had removed them again last night. “He thought that that was going to stop us from doing the protest and then in a week’s time he will have it up there again,” he said.
Under Cayman Islands law anything above four feet is supposed to have planning approval, noted McKeever, who owns a construction company. “I want planning to show me the approval,” he said. Claiming Foots had about 15 old toilets on the property behind the sculpture, McKeever, who owns adjacent land, said he wants the politicians and the Department of Environmental Health and the district commissioner to do something about it.
McKeever also noted that the land it is built on, which is 32 feet wide stretching to the Bluff, is part of an LPP (Land for Public Purpose). “You're not allowed it to build on it,” he said.
“And where are the church people and why are they allowing this in the country?” he asked, noting that House Speaker and Brac MLA Juliana O’Connor-Connolly had been invited to join them. “The practice of Obeah, which is a religion, is illegal in the Cayman Islands. I know that for sure because I know people who have got arrested for practising Obeah,” McKeever said, although there is no evidence that Foots is actually a devotee of any religion.
Scattered around the mound of dirt and bones, with what looks like a small skull, are rocks with engraved messages of peace and snippets of John Lennon lyrics. “Love is the answer” it says next to the “The Apocalypse Now Revelation” gravestone. However, McKeever remained adamant that the structure was morally wrong and that was why so many had turned out for the protest.
“I don't know who I'm more annoyed at – Foots for building it or the government for not doing anything about it,” said Dalkeith Ebanks, one of Wednesday’s protestors.
Bridgette Manville, who lives nearby, said, “Mr Foots has been displaying unacceptable so-called art in my neighbourhood.” It started, she said, with a display of plants inside the toilet bowls but after she complained about it to District Commissioner Ernie Scott, this was removed.
“Next it was the car with the head through in the windscreen with blood and everything else. Before I could get to complain, that was moved. Then he came back with the coffin and the head again on top of it. I looked at it and thought, ‘Leave him be.’ But then the most disturbing and upsetting display he had was the cross with a dead goat’s head on top of it like it was crucified on the cross with a 666. And that I found that very offensive and I felt like he was trying to insult the people of Cayman Brac.”
The protesters had police permission for the demonstration, and Chief Inspector FrankOwens and another officer were there keeping the peace and stopping anyone from going onto Foots’ land – at least until his estranged wife and co-owner of the land, Elsie Keynes, arrived to join the protest and said it was okay.
Owens confirmed that the police had received several complaints about the sculpture. These had been passed onto the legal department to see if any laws had been broken, he said.
Wahoos sink Sharks in six try thriller
(CTA): After Rounds 3 and 4 of the Cayman Touch Association (CTA) Women’s League it is WAHOOS who remain undefeated with a draw and a win to add to their two victories already this season. The other significant improvement came from LIONFISH who got their first points on the board going through the day undefeated. In the WAHOOS first game they came up against a feisty LIONFISH team looking to avenge two opening round defeats. In this match WAHOOS struggled for field position in the early exchanges, often dropping the ball through the early touches and LIONFISH rightly took advantage and were 2-0 up at half time thanks to tries from speedster Nicky Keogh and Emma Santiago.
Sadly for ‘FISH they couldn’t hold on to their lead as WAHOOS eventually got rhythm into their “arrows” (attacking the same point in defence over and over again). Alison Strobridge for WAHOOS was a stand-out performer. She always seems to be in the right place at the right time – an uncanny skill that allows plays to continue through several phases. Sharlee Henshaw pulled one back and then clinched the tie with another to end the game 2-2.
STINGRAYS took on SHARKS and in spite of a fine try by debutante Ruth Kelleher and an extremely fired-up Jo Remillard it was Alice Aherne and Michelle Bailey (2) that sealed the win for SHARKS. Tanya Potiyenko may sound like a new Russian starlet on the WTA tennis circuit but it is her touch skills that have everyone salivating as she put in another fine performance, the highlight of which was a scintillating run virtually the length of the pitch only to be run down by the blazing Jo Remillard. She is definitely an up and coming star of women’s touch.
If they had been stung by the LIONFISH in Round 3, WAHOOS went into overdrive against SHARKS running in four tries with only two in reply. AlisonStrobridge capped off a fine day with a score, as did Mischa Kluyver, Sharlee Henshaw and Dana Lowe. Coach Brad Stephenson asked his WAHOOS to verbalise their “arrows” which helped them focus on the task at hand – it worked, as they executed them superbly at times. Scores by Michelle Bailey and Wiki Hitchman kept SHARKS in the game through some superb passing by Emma McNamee but the stand-out performance was the improvement by Laura McGeever. Understandably nervous in her first ever game of touch in the opening match she really got it together in the second completing a number of three-ups and defending well.
LIONFISH capped off a great day with victory over STINGRAYS by 3-2. This was a reversal of the score in Round 1 and shows the improvement the team has made through their training sessions. It was that double act of Keogh (2) and Santiago that took the scoring plaudits but STINGRAYS were never out of the game. Jo Remillard added a fine double to her tally and good performances from a resurgent Anne Dolan, Jo Verbiesen in defence and attack, Laura-Jane Airey and Leena Banenji who is rapidly making a reputation as one to watch for the future.
So WAHOOS maintain their place at the top of the Women’s Touch food chain but LIONFISH pack a real sting and will have to be handled carefully if their rise up the table is to be halted.
Lionfish 2 v. Wahoos 2
Try scorers:
Nicky Keogh – Lionfish (1)
Emma Santiago – Lionfish (1)
Sharlee Henshaw – Wahoos (2)
Stingrays 2 v. Sharks 3
Try scorers:
Jo Remillard – Stingrays (1)
Ruth Kelleher – Stingrays (1)
Alice Aherne – Sharks (1)
Michelle Bailey – Sharks (2)
Sharks 2 v. Wahoos 4
Try scorers:
Michelle Bailey – Sharks (1)
Wiki Hitchman – Sharks (1)
Alison Strobridge – Wahoos (1)
Mischa Kluyver – Wahoos (1)
Sharlee Henshaw – Wahoos (1)
Dana Lowe – Wahoos (1)
Stingrays 2 v. Lionfish 3
Try scorers:
Jo Remillard – Stingrays (2)
Nicky Keogh – Lionfish (2)
Emma Santiago – Lionfish (1)
Court of appeal upholds two rape convictions
(CNS): Two men serving twelve year sentences for rape had their convictions upheld by the Court of Appeal during this latest session. The panel of three appeal court judges dismissed the appeals of both Dwight Wright, who was convicted in December 2012 of raping his former girlfriend, and Tyrone Ebanks, who was convicted in September of 2012 of raping a 14-year-old girl, whom he dragged from a bicycle. The third rape conviction heard by the appeal court this session was over turned on Friday and retrial ordered. Meanwhile, the fourth case of rape that the higher court was scheduled to hear was postponed until the summer session.
Philip Rose was convicted, among other offences, of raping his former girlfriend and was given a 14 year sentence.
The court also allowed Marcus Manderson’s appeal to be put over until the winter session in November as a result of his change of attorney. Manderson, who escaped from prison along with his father and another inmate at HMP Northward last year, is appealing his conviction for possession of an unlicensed firearm. Manderson was given a ten year mandatory minimum sentence when a jury found that the modified flare-gun he had attempted to throw away when being chased by police was a lethal barrel weapon.
A 21-year-old man serving eight years for wounding with intent to do GBH will also have to wait to hear his fate. Justin Ramoon had appealed his conviction for stabbing Andrew Lopez, but with a busy docket over the last two and a half weeks, the appeal court stated that its decision would be delivered in August.
Work underway to repair key GT highway
(CNS): Motorists heading into town could face delays in the coming weeks as the National Roads Authority undertakes repair work to the Linford Pierson Highway — a major artery into the capital. Officials said that damaged sections of the road are being removed and replaced through asphalt rotor milling which was described as a cost effective and environmentally friendly method of repairing a road surface that has begun to crack or sink due to heavy traffic loading, adverse weather conditions, or extensive structural damage to the underlying road surface layers.
The goal, the road experts said was to intervene early enough to address defects in the pavement layer and prevent any significant structural damage to the base and sub-base layers of the roadway which would be inherently more expensive and time consuming to repair.
“When this road was constructed in 2002 it was only given a 2” thick layer of hot mix asphalt,” said NRA Acting Managing Director Paul Parchment. “Within say 4-5 years, it should have had another 2” added to it to bring it to a total of 4”. That has never been done and the initial 2” layer, which is now 12 years old, is starting to show serious distress and this can only be expected to continue.
Chairman of the NRA Donnie Ebanks said the need to remove parts of the road was a legacy of not have followed the technical
“I’m sure that to many motorists there are roads that they see as being in a ‘worse condition’ than the LP Highway,” Ebanks said. “However, the only way to avoid the failure of more of the original hot mix asphalt layer, and in turn to have to remove it, is to address it now. It’s akin to leaving the ice ’n’ water shield on your roof too long, before you install the shingles of standing seam.”
The overall objective is to provide the public with a new road surface on the Linford Pierson Highway between the Silver Oaks Roundabout and Bobby Thompson Way within the next two budget cycles. The total thickness will be 4” and that should, the technicians say, serve motorists for many years to come.
The NRA plans to undertake similar activities on a smaller scale in Bodden Town, North Side, and East End in the coming months. As a result drivers are asked to be patience and drive with extra caution as he repairs are carried out.