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‘NYGARD ORDEAL NEVER LEFT ME’
Accuser’s account of how visit to his home turned into nightmare By TRIBUNE REPORTER REVA Steenbergen is still traumatised by her encounter with Peter Nygard, so much so she chokes up remembering the events that changed her life 29 years ago. The 52-year-old Canadian is one of 46 women who have accused Mr Nygard of rape in a US class action lawsuit. They are seeking punitive and exemplary damages for the distress the fashion mogul allegedly caused them. Ms Steenbergen’s experience mirrors that of other women who say they were lured to Nygard Cay - and
other properties of Mr Nygard around the world - with a promise of a lucrative modelling career, only to find themselves in the grip of a man who made them perform degrading sex acts against their will. Ms Steenbergen’s story of the incident begins when she was a 23-year-old aspiring model settling down in Toronto after stints as an exotic dancer and a “Penthouse Pet”. Ms Steenbergen who went on to become the author of books about abuse - told The Tribune: “A guy that I had
FIVE new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday, making it the largest single day increase in cases since tracking of them began. There are now 70 confirmed cases in the country. The cases included a 28-year-old woman from New Providence isolating at home, a 33-year-old New
SEE PAGE TWO
ELEUTHERA BUSINESS VIRTUALLY ‘WIPED OUT’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
ELEUTHERA’S private sector yesterday called for an 18-24 month construction sector tax break package after the national lockdown caused a “greater than 90 percent” drop-off for most businesses. Thomas Sands, president of the island’s Chamber of Commerce, said the construction industry should be targeted for incentives due to its “tremendous potential for restarting the economy”. With 83 percent of firms canvassed by the Eleuthera Chamber revealing business activity has come to a virtual standstill, Mr Sands urged the Minnis administration to back-up Sunday’s decision to re-open construction and associated building materials suppliers on the Family Islands with a stimulus package.
THOUSANDS SIGNED UP FOR ONLINE EDUCATION
SEE PAGE SEVEN
Providence man isolating at home, a 65-year-old hospitalised male resident of New Providence, a 63-year-old Bimini resident at a government quarantine facility, and a 78-year-old Bimini man isolating at home. None of the people has a history of travel. The two Bimini residents are the second and third confirmed cases on that island since Kim
L SOUR CE
FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
FIVE NEW VIRUS CASES PLACED IN ISOLATION By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net
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By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net
CRISIS ESSENTIALS - MATS, TOWEL AND PADDLING POOL SCORES of shoppers made their way to hardware stores as they reopened yesterday with some people buying essential goods and others getting items which may not have been so vital. Report - Page 3 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
BRAVE RAISES CONCERN OVER POLICE ACTIONS By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis has said he is concerned about the management of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in light of the recent events including promotions of three Chief Superintendents to Assistant Commissioners. According to Mr Davis
PLP leader Philip Davis there was evidence that several senior police officers had been previously
sidestepped by the political directorate without a plausible reason. In a press statement, Mr Davis said he also has issues with recent events surrounding businessman Jonathan Ash who was allowed to run into the Nassau Street Court complex on Monday to face charges for breaching the national curfew and COVID-19 emergency
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
SEE PAGE FIVE
ABOUT 40,000 students have registered for the Ministry of Education’s virtual learning programme, according to Education Minister Jeff Lloyd. Noting nearly 20,000 students have been accessing the online platform daily, Mr Lloyd said officials are hopeful more students will register in the coming days. “We’re now at approximately 40,000 (students who have registered) the majority of whom are public school students, but we SEE PAGE FOUR
FRONT PORCH BY SIMON
SEE PAGE EIGHT
PAGE 2, Thursday, April 23, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
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not be officials could T to press time. reached up By AVA TURNQUES to sources Reporter of According .net Tribune Chief matter, as tribunemedia close to the Wells has since aturnquest@ Mr Progres- Monday his accounts FOUR former Cabinet paid $9,000 on balParty an outstanding ARNOLD sive Liberal more than with $8,600. FORBES ministers owedat Bahamas ance of some also said as $62,023 The source Forbes was one $20,000 each Mr Light, with Power and in arrears of Monday the company former minister as of July, in talks with balance over settle the Mr for some $60,000 a list obtained to three-month period. a according to PLP Mount by The Tribune.and Collec- Forbes, former MP, was appointed The Credit 2015, listing of Moriah January in tions Department and board to Cabinet served as the MPs, senators the period and previouslythe Bahamas of for members 31, revealed chairman l and Industrial ending July State Minister Agricultura . that former of Works Corporation the “do not Others on are: former in the Ministry owed BPL list disconnect� Arnold Forbes Health Dr The Minister of former Tall $62,023.14. by The list obtained delin- Perry Gomez, Leslie Miller, Tribune contains of six Pines MP Youth Minister of former quent accounts Cabinet minis- former Johnson, Dion former PLP PLP MPs, Dr Danny Village MP ters, two former Tourism DR DANIEL entities, and Nassau , two private Cabinet min- Smith, former JOHNSON Obie Wilchcombe one sitting $24,413 Town MP Minister South Beach MP and former ister: Bamboo Hamilton State Renward Wells. who owed Cleola of Mr Wells, $3,703.96 at former Minister Damian Affairs $9,277.07 and locations - for Legal two separatetotal – did not Gomez. SEE PAGE EIGHT $12,981.03 in yesterwant to comment other former day, and the
DION SMITH $9,275
RENWARD WELLS $12,980
BPL WHO RUNS is quite willCRUNCH DAY OVER utilityto operator from it “walk away�
ing By NEIL HARTNELL Editor $25m, five-year maximum t contract et Tribune Business ibunemedia.n BPL managemen nhartnell@tr and Minnis if the board wish it to go. on Power & BAHAMAS board will administrati which will The meeting,PowerSecure Light’s (BPL) by meeting� hold a “crunch e today, be attendedand their attorneys key with PowerSecurlikely crit- executives is viewed as the from the US, with the outcome whether the to determining whethermake and ical in decidingas manager. sides will “kiss latter remainsTribune Busi- two separate. up� or Multiple - SEE BUSINESS yesterday US FULL STORY ness sources the that confirmed
were spent under ers’ dollars administration. the Christie is evidence He said if there�, the new VIRGIL By KHRISNA Reporter of “criminality Deputy Chief government nemedia.net kvirgil@tribu his parAFTER leadinglandslide ty to a stunning dealing a paravictory and to the Progreslysing blow Party last night, sive Liberal Prime Minister incoming Minnis declared Dr Hubert abused have that those who trust “have of positions to fear�. something to thousands of Speaking at the Q ment House today. pledged that jubilant supporterslast night, Dr Minnis on will give E Sports Centre administrati Terrance National Movethe Free also announced his General it ment leader be sworn in as Auditor the resources that he will fourth prime Bastianto probe how taxpayThe Bahamas’ at Govern- needs 5pm minister at
DAMIAN GOMEZ $3,413
OBIE WILCHCOMBE
CLEOLA
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T By AVA TURNQUES Reporter t Tribune Chief ibunemedia.ne aturnquest@tr Sewerage WATER and Chairman Corporation yesterday Adrian Gibson existence the confirmed disconnect� of a “do not by scores list populatedthe governof elites at utility owned to ment he pledged provider as on initiate a crackdown accounts. delinquent told The Mr Gibson l “confidentia Tribune the 221accounts, list� held total of with a combined the period $175,000 for2017. ending June he plans He said that corporathe to direct all persons tion to notify arrears owing excessive or face debts to resolve n. disconnectio a list confi“There is the Long dential list,� Island MP said. would think “In fact, I s corporation that all the year or two, in over the last and more particularly year, there May of thisclose attenhas been that list by tion paid to t with the managemen changing the a view to lists usually way those operate. this con“As it stands, a number has fidential list on it, and of persons it’s being really and trulypersons by used to notify or letters. courtesy call that as the I can say toothe corporachairman of to direct tion I am going owing that all personswho are excessive arrears EIGHT SEE PAGE at the end of
DR PERRY GOMEZ $24,498
LESLIE MILLER $42,219
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Living the dream From Andros to the
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boardroom Interview, pages 4&5
MS
Watch the film - every agonising, wrenching, awful second. Then give up Eugene’s killer
$4,911 HAMILTON they owed $6,118 list and the amount since that date. disconnect� BPL “do not made or further debt incurred named on the NINE individualsdo not include any payments July. The sums
PUT SOUTH ISLANDS T ON MARIA ALER
The eeTrikbenudne A1MAIN
OH, AND THERE’S AN ELITE WATER LIST TOO
es Revealed: Nam list and on the eliteowed what they
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: KARA WAN
from page one
e n u b i r The T INSURANCE: HURRICANE Covered?
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safeas well as of homicides A DORSETT guarding the residents By SANCHESKReporter in Fox Hill. et Tribune Staff walkabout bunemedia.n During a Acting prepared. live national sdorsett@tri er Fox Hill on Tuesday, ROLLE During a Ferguson Commission his office By RASHAD Reporter ACTING Fergu- Commissioner and address from Dr Minnis Tribune Staff Anti-Gang of Police Anthony emedia.net yesterday said the Inveslast night, Maria is rrolle@tribun Tracing and announced dev- son establishment of two Firearms Unit will operate fore- said: “Hurricane the potentially Bahamas tigation WITH Detecwe the Maria another hurricane that separate Royal anti-crime out of the Central the cast for Hurricane Force storm to pass astating monitor.� (CDU) while projecting the Baha- must carefully Though most Police aimed at eliminating tive Unit SEE PAGE 11 units counHe added: near the Southeast Prime was spared gang activity in the morning, of Bahamas mas Friday Hubert Minnis of the the number try, reducing Minister Dr of those SEE PAGE TWO and is urging residents be vigilant islands to
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Woodside.
Photo: Yontalay
Bowe
Johnson-Rolle, the sister of Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson, became the country’s first COVID-19 death. She was Bimini’s first COVID-19 case.  The Bimini cases are the father and step-mother of former consul general to Atlanta, Randy Rolle.  On Tuesday, Mr Rolle told The Tribune that Mrs Johnson-Rolle attended the same church as his father and the pair were
VIDEO OF PM’SAT VISIT ONLINE OM TRIBUN E242.C
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Dr Hubert MinPRIME Minister Kendera Woodside, nis meeting murdered Eugene the mother of
this Yes I feel for y our countries.than I can say.� more ensure has a responsibilit one mother said he will Each citizen information Dr Minnis provided to and whatever that forward. medical attention is is pregnant. the composure. said he felt the fam- has we must bring among us.� who after feel live Dr Minnis Mrs Woodside, the grieving and days makes me Three These criminals who emphasised country’s he “You can see of those pushed the ily’s pain. “What through,� Mrs Minnis, that her appearis that most during murder that violent crime into ROLLE she’s going someI, even worse By RASHAD Reporter not a pain “I assured her that the family the yard, struggle with spotlight yet again, them was doctor, to will have we see in Tribune Staff ance before called on women said. today (Friday) we to look the national as a medical emedia.net acute. rrolle@tribun come my my years political move,one day this week time her pain remained live a life, medical personnel she’s pregand comforting cried. “He ain’t even to wear blackfor murder victims. Dr THE hugs her because that Prime Minister wife God,� Mrs Woodsidegive my upon after make sure are mourning to in calling have I’m his words of I could and infant a baby. I my really nant. “As a mother, Hubert Minnis couldn’t answer “He’s right now just for because I this,� her and her unborn will also make take all mothers can stop Patricia Minnis that consumed breath be right here. They well and we sure the to believe mothers who was tearful both ts to make the questions yesterday as babyheart out my body. who arrangemen medical personnel They said Mrs Minnis, eight- my Kendera Woodside have our sons on a only son. for her son, killed times. “We birth and as they necessary her and see her “This my my daughter too after she grieved of them at from the safety who was still with look almost shoot (the house) with would’ve delivered most knowing we cradle basis to ensure infant.� year-old Eugene, men we are to me with regular they inside four days ago. people ain’t tell- and What they do to my family? so they are closer patients,� Dr becomeWe have to speakshould of her and her unborn PAGE TWO SEE former them. these me. my son women proare us? “Why st by I think all week they do to bringing my me? I they we them. ain’ carry one day this ing me they she cried between What Minnis, a gynaecologi “The message “Why they wear black what’s happening in a baby.� tried to right now?� fession, said. the entire Bahamas 29 years, He’s Dr Minnis and mourn Eugene’s Rose- live screams as must send to this alone. Tonio Woodside, family at theirEugene wife even is the police can’t fight console the consoled his home where on father, struggled to maintain bud Road a stray bullet as he was shot by did his homework. he Monday as
Islands’ Nassau & Bahama
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PLP CASUAL HIRES COST EXTRA $10M
OMY AG WARNS ECON ER’ IN ‘GRAVE DANG
he told Parto In June, cost the ROLLE such liament of By RASHAD Bahamians $10,149,738. by the Carib- Tribune Staff Reporter so alarmed Action Task rrolle@tribunemedia.net increases was comes after bean Financial draft The revision more than By NEIL HARTNELL Editor Rolle, minForce’s (CFATF) BRENSIL et Tribune Business services he included that were not The Bahamas ibunemedia.n report on his staff ister of public nhartnell@tr 1,700 workers Gen- that he instructedaddressing and National Insurance, in his original count. December Progressive THE Attorneyslammed to begin work on June. Amid the said between 2017, the criticism May flaws from early eral yesterday by Liberal Party’sadministrablasted the 2016 and in the nation’s the ballooned Mr Bethel deficiencies adminis- public purse laundering of the of the Minnisof its firings anti-money former Christie to tackle $16,532,738 because on’s tion because “entirely unacfailing administrati regime as SEE PAGE SIX they had tration for with the Christie public service ceptable�, warning “in great known weaknesses hiring of new that period. Bahamas urgency. The during put necessary BUSINESS workers danger�. told Trib- FULL STORY - SEE Carl Bethelhe had been une Business
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observed would be the holiday date of the historic the PLP month that the 50th on the actual January 10. nounced last mark event, Tuesday, in the public holirevealed a march to Rule. Ranard Henfield of back planned The change of Majority been perceived even ganiser several weeksOffice on anniversary development is yet day calendar has by the govas planned� that “after organian attempt This latest the ’s permis- and forth� the Cabinet group’s the same route by many as back for the a blow to government rejected the Rawson another set planned to protest on ernment to strike event by We without the Wednesday in sation that of a second 9 - the original sion. with The Trib- application to protest Squares because Monday, January announced for success Bahamas. In an interview II said “there March date another and Parliaments SEE PAGE SIX Mr Bostwick � and the the “event conflicts with for that observance Day. the une, it compromise Majority Rule by this this month being denied will be no already booked be deterred DESPITE that However, earlier and Parliament group will “not fascist coercion event� in Parliament Party date. Majority use of Rawson Liberal rights and attempt toward a protest on an- was announced Progressive Squares for January, We March and the abuse of our Bradley Roberts Rule Day in John Bost- constitutional freedoms�. lead or- Chairman organiser Facebook, demonon Bahamas yesterday the In a post wick II said go on as planned, on stration “will
A DORSETT By SANCHESK Reporter et Tribune Staff bunemedia.n sdorsett@tri
AS ZIKA ‘STAY VIGILANT’ TO 25 CASE TOTAL RISES
L BASIS FOR ROLLINS: NO LEGA REBEL SEVEN DISCIPLINING THE
HUSBAND KILLED AFTER GUNMEN FORCED COUPLE TO STOP CAR
A DORSETT By SANCHESKReporter et Tribune Staff bunemedia.n sdorsett@tri
and of Bimini toA DORSETT the islands ent By SANCHESK bringing the Eleuthera, cases Tribune Staff Reporteret CHIEF Superintend officerbunemedia.n tal to 25 confirmed Clayton Fernander, sdorsett@tri of the Central nationwide. in-charge Unit, warned a lull, quiet MP “This is like said. Detective FORT Charlotte last to be “exDr McMillan samofficials yesRollins said no get HEALTH residents to period,� drivers yesterday Dr Andre after armed will be continue to tra cautious� couple to stop terday urged against en- “We they send them in for night that “there a action� taken as no furmen forced in the middle remain vigilantfactors that ples Nabut we have good. disciplinary l seven Free their vehicle vironmenta who against the shooting despite testing which is road before and tional Movement MPs Dr ther cases, breed mosquitoes Key, Rich- of the driver. Leader local transmis- We’re still monitoring. Chipman, Edison Neilly, and and killing the Fernander the “lull� in ousted party as leader of Theo from left, Hubert Zika virus. doing our surveillance Chief Supt have been Hubert Minnis be- THE REBEL SEVEN of, Butler-Turner, Neko Grant, sion of the e Staff believe armed Public Health Hanna/Tribun “I think we as it relates the Official Opposition, Director of said police motive basis ard Lightbourn, Loretta yesterPhoto: Shawn well Commit- robbery may be the out cause there is no legal progressing the Dr Pearl McMillan that there to getting the message Andre Rollins. FNM’s Executive a case for the killing. He said a move. have heeding support not such “hapconday confirmed for widespread tee would group’s actions and persons no new that a formal could have came He added been lodged solidify a new leader.� have been since the de- there Zika thing the incidentto anyone�. because the around on it. This July, which is when objection has pened firmed cases came in an “were consistent with took place press release His remarks case against “the bogus charges� down in The murder to quesally protected partment’s on Tuesand the get our first constitution 5, which raised rians to after 9pm Millenagainst him e-mail in response December of cases in New we usually SEE PAGE SIX levelled members of Parliaright of parliamenta lead- shorty area of from The Tribune. the tions Rollins echoed the recall a parliamentary have day in the the number six other off Tonique from 22 to 23.on took part in Dr Providence they no longerability nium Gardens, ment who Highway, of Long Island Dr Mincase each er er when sentiments in his/her There is one Williams Darling action of removing Butler-Turn the country’s post. Dr Rollins MP Loretta Hubert confidence and brought to 109 for the nis from the number of and St Anne’s MP week to lead.� count said a growing who last to The TribSEE PAGE THREE murder admitting “that were Chipman, year, according FNMs are of action for said the if the matter the une’s records. court, the the best course Supt Fernander take under to to be taken to Chief identiis the party to es victim, said the present circumstanc as Kendrick fied by police driving with was of the foreign Simms, when another car mians, most won’t re- his wife, committee of them forcemployees tee next month, Smith said formerall that is due to them. pulled aheadstop. to ceive ROLLE Chairman James said they will, ing them man was drivBy RASHAD Reporter Mr Smith a “high “The yesterday. money was givMillennium Tribune Staff however, receive emedia.net Since the ing through basis by rrolle@tribun SEE PAGE FIVE ort figure�. en on an ex-gratia SEE PAGE FIVE former em- the China Export-Imp FOREIGN will and was inBaha Mar Bank (EXIM) for Bahaployees of the government tended primarily be paid by Commitappointed Claims
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are dead, SIX people ju15-year-old including a another man is venile, and his life in hosfighting for four separate pital after in less shooting incidents in the capital. than 48 hours took the The homicides count to country’s murder 43 days of the 26 for the first to The new year, according Tribune’s records. an isPolice launchedlast night of land-wide search suspected for two men dead in Yelthe shooting a man Gardens in low Elder latest incident.bloody weekDespite the Commisend, Assistant Police Stephen sioner of “hundreds� of Dean said were patrolpolice officers over the past ling the streetseffort to keep an few days in well as visitors the public as safe. officer-inMeanwhile Central Decharge of theChief Superintective Unit, Fernander tendent Clayton after a implored parentsto “keep a killing on Friday on their chilwatchful eye� their young dren, especially boys. Fernander Chief Supt have launched said police for the a massive manhunt the weekend suspects in killings. SEE PAGE THREE
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Bahamas Bar FORMER President ElsAssociation yesterday worth Johnsoncalls for Bajoined activistorganise prohamians to resistance tests and public tabled Interto the recently tions he ception of Communica 2017, which Bill (ICB) spying called “dangerous� legislation. who was Mr Johnson, week as the last ratified Movement’s Free National Yamacraw, for pubcandidate the level of bill, questioned on the imlic consultation g that it underscorin entrenched pacted deeply SEE PAGE SIX
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TURNQUEST: CHANGES TO MONTAGU ARE SHAMELESS
T By AVA TURNQUES Reporter .net Tribune Chief tribunemedia aturnquest@
MoveFREE National Leader Peter ment Deputyyesterday acTurnquest government of rcused the gerrymande “shameless recently tabled ing� over that he boundary changes the “deliberclaims affect of middle ate elimination from the forclass areas� constituency. mer Montagu with The d In an interview characterise Tribune he boundary proposed and the a “desperate changes as emoattempt to the perverted� tionally manipulate electorate.
shootings one of six fatal area on Friday, e Staff in the Englerston in the calendar above. W. Carey/:Tribun as shown at Peardale Park Photos: Terrel from the scene to be a deadly February, boy is taken a 15-year-old 12 so far in what has proven THE BODY of and one of over the weekend,
SEE PAGE 11
EQUIPMENT AT FAULT FOR SERIES OF BPL OUTAGES
T By AVA TURNQUES Reporter .net Tribune Chief tribunemedia aturnquest@
ic� “catastroph THE outages that island-wide Providence plagued Newstemmed from late last year equipment Pier widespread the Clifton to failures at according Power Station, and Light. vehicle. Bahamas Power reported escape in a were taken The companyof its investo reports, The victims are on According where they on the findings islandA DORSETT shortly after midnight re- to hospital but stable tigation into two another By SANCHESKReporter officers in serious and Sunday, the domestic inci- listed wide outages, et Tribune Staff occurred a condition. bunemedia.n that shortly major outage that 29 and sponded to sdorsett@tri in Valentine Police said November dent at a homeoff Johnson an officers arrested officers, a also between 4 last year, in after 4am, TWO police wife, are in Subdivision While at the the shooter, who was December sent to the a gunshot a memo and Terrance. with from internal husband stable condition home, a man armed the of- suffering Police also recov- government and obtained serious but shot multiapproached them wounds. from the by The Tribune. after they were responding shotgun both of a shotgun SEE PAGE 11 ficers and shot to flee ered ple times whileincident�. attempting The suspect. SEE PAGE 12 to a “domestican adult male, before police said. HowPolice have by one of the the scene, returned fire. con- officers suspect was able to who was shot custody in ever the officers, in the shooting. nection with
ERS IN HOSPITAL TWO POLICE OFFIC TED BY SHOTGUN AFTER BEING BLAS
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to “fully undo much more senseless set derstand this and have law By NICO SCAVELLA Reporter of killings,� respond “as et Tribune Staff t ibunemedia.n enforcemen and in nscavella@tr as possible� in Perry quickly meaningful way� ods� PRIME Ministerlikened a “very certain neighbourho fighting efforts. to do so their crime A DORSETT and the suggestion Mr ChrisChristie yesterday no crime situBy SANCHESKReporter and makes These efforts,would likely the Bahamas’“Wild West,� is “emotional et Tribune Staff suggested, a “subbunemedia.n ation to the recent wave tie sense�. came dedicating sdorsett@tri the as he said in the capital include number of officHis comments rethe country after the country streets of of murders a “major� and stantial� DESPITE homicides in hours its 27th homicide for to patrol the and simust solicit � effort by his ers Providence recording 13 er of corded Seven people have New “continuous the year. ly giving them 13 days, Commission ion to “flood Greenslade been killed since Friday. to interdict administrat with officers in multaneous afternoon, Police Ellison is not in “the capacity of people a the streets� On Monday that is necessaid the Bahamas and the movements reported that “crisis� incorporata bid to do “all this madness the police also outside streets,� a state of the can constabbed bring on was police ofsary to on Nassau day man average Bahamian ing more reserve about their the an establishment men were to a halt�. speaking and “if necessary� tinue to “go two without Mr Christie, yesterday, ficers, Street while in the area of g Royal Bahaas normal day� attacked. with reporters occur- incorporatin Force marines shot while victims fear of being mas Defence conference Ross Corner. These stable said the “madness� At a press s on to gang activity in policing efforts. said he to be in ring is due also of were said in hospital. at police headquarter Mr Christie with a weekend and retaliation. past bloody be speaking Monday afterCommissioner condition er He said the a “shocking would Commission so“carnage�, said it is simSEE PAGE THREE said the only weekend ist� that will refor people Greenslade country’s crime Greenslade not enough developmen government to lution to the “keep prolific ply finger at the press to speaking at a Staff quire the to “point the crisis� problem is bars�. He in times of their Ellison Greenslade ER of Police Photo: Terrel W. Carey/Tribune offenders behind Bahamas police “manage to COMMISSION not yet refuse yesterday. said the Royal (RBPF) is Act, Chapter SEE PAGE THREE conference Police Force implementing Suppression considering “locking down boxer was of human trafficking.53, of 106. a curfew or The former with three JOHNSON James Coakley, Andros By LAMECH Reporter also charged filed under on Ross Staff Cargill Creek, et of rape before Chief a double shooting lamented Tribune bunemedia.n was broughtJoyann Fergu- counts 6(a) of the Sexual ljohnson@tri recent inciyesterday, Section 99. It nature of the three mosthave left one Corner in Magistrateto answer to two Offences Act, Chapter in “too bold� in the capappeared the WELLS which engaged person-Pratt in dents, A MAN that he yesterBy RICARDO Reporter three others occurring counts of trafficking Section is alleged man dead andserious condi- crimes as he insisted Magistrate’s Court Tribune Staff SEE PAGE SIX in sexually as- sons contrary to ital recently, nemedia.net of prolific in hospital accused of Trafficking rwells@tribu that a “handful hell-bent day woman during 3(1)(a) of the and saulting a harge of the offenders� remain holidays. and po- tion. Persons Prevention Officer-in-c Unit, the public. AS the country the Christmas a victim in Detective to grapple on terrorising alleged to be lice continue spate of vio- CentralSuperintendent ClaySEE PAGE THREE She is speaking to with the latest law enforce- Chief Fernander, scene of lent crimes, are seeking ton media on the ment officials assistance in the A DORSETT the public’s By SANCHESKReporter et Tribune Staff bunemedia.n sdorsett@tri placed authorof an law as it investigatallow the ity solely in the hands POLICE are es surThe bill will t judiciary, or a T independen ICB met ing the circumstanc of a er of police, commission on his behalf, the the death was that the By AVA TURNQUES Reporter acting a adding standards rounding ld boy who .net person Tribune Chief warrant fromin- internationa l recent three-year-o tribunemedia e in a car to obtain a judge to aturnquest@ also addressed yesfound unresponsiv Supreme Court a per- and of the Listening in front of his daycare Y General tercept and examine from criticisms by the Privy ATTORNE tions ibson terday afternoon. Devices Act communica the toddler Allyson Maynard-G the In- son’s ications opera- Council. The body of shortly afsuggestion - telecommun providers and yesterday defended a She said any was a was discovered of Communica tors, internet Monday by terception ter 2pm on that the legislation an important postal services. yesterday, “spying bill� was false. SEE PAGE SIX tions Bill as statement a tool that would In ibson exanti-crime privacy of lawSEE PAGE FIVE was Mrs Maynard-G enhance the rather than that this move abiding citizensit, as detrac- plained ted in Bahamiunpreceden encroach upon FOR YOU... tors claim. SO GOOD
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energy. solar, to produce of agreeof Works The heads the governMINISTER said challenges, Desmond Bannister ment requires to “address concerns� pressed certain and BPL delayed today marks which he suggestedof docu- he has “serious Power and ment and consistent WHILE with Bahamas to “keep the reliable of electricity on the for both sitsubmission the deadlineformer parlia- the tell- supply Providence, Light’s ability are chal- lights on this summer,� of island of New ting and to file financial ments. the abiliAmong these the lack will include finanmentarians Public Discloing The Tribuneprevent the whichmeet the requirements with obtaining may ty to disclosures, Chair- lenges from spouses, cial records in situations reliability from fulfilling of the project.� sure Commission the instalLaroda told requireoper- government This involves supporting man Myles yesterday that particularly Mar all the necessary they may have all to lation “of The Tribunestill some that wherebank accounts prior ments in the Baha re necessary ated there were He said there heads of agreement.he is al- infrastructu g�. that SEE PAGE FIVE are “outstandin yesterday, to marriage. some unwilling-n He added at new, alIn an interview in his dis- was also ready “looking including and apprehensio said ways,� Mr Laroda some persons ness SEE PAGE THREE ternative cussions with to make who are required they exthe disclosures,
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traditions. just a short ROLLE “Earlier today,present ParBy RASHAD Reporter the while ago, Tribune Staff officially disemedia.net liament was Christie said. rrolle@tribun Mr Perry solved,�seat in the House of “Every PRIME Minister the prover- Assembly is now vacant. the to you, Christie rang morning, “It is now left beloved bial bell yesterday that the 2017 citizenry of our who will announcing be held on nation, to decide in the next election willMay 10. fill those seats In doWednesday, address, givof Assembly. His televisedOffice of the House you will also be dethe ing so, en live at the came mo- ciding who will form Minister, the BahaPrime Police Commis- government of five years. ments after Greenslade, for the next that mosioner Ellison as provost mas “You will make in what ns in his capacity decision proclamatio pray marshal, readHouse of As- mentous hope and fair elecoutside the Governor Gen- I earnestly be free and Pin- will following a spirited sembly from Marguerite Let tions eral Dame campaign. Parliament. peaceful but dissolving dling the forthcoming said he is Mr Christie election will us contestwith all the vigour confident the and will fol- elections fair at our command.� be free and and peaceful SEE PAGE TWO spirited a low is consistent campaign that political with this country’s
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ROLLE By RASHAD Reporter Tribune Staff emedia.net rrolle@tribun Nottage’s DR Bernard forever be will “footprints the Bahamian etched on tal landscape� developmen work as a forthrough his of the Bahamer president of Athletic mas Association s, the Bahamas Association , the Medical Association and as a afMinDoctors’ Union consumer FORMER Prime reminister for health and to accept the ister Perry Christie education, a defeat, was as I did when I fairs, into Opposiyesterday. for it arrears, pictured W. national security, who was in sponsibility response to Photo: Terrel Philip “Brave� airport tenant described recent resigned,� he said in levelled e Staff tion Leader as Carey/Tribun the criticism recent ion from accusations Mr Christie Davis said Wednesday. in questions on 71, died administrat e spending, misfea- moves made by the government pandering at his administration Dr Nottage, the Cleveby a party of irresponsibl WELLS at a “misstep� thought By RICARDO Reporter Wednesday He will receive sance and cronyism. that weeks. never any he was “disap- to its base. maintained Tribune Staff “There was land Clinic. He also said allegations being I was acceptin arrangenemedia.net relating Mr Christie part that by the degree rwells@tribu gova state funeral announced, of documents would on my ty for any Per- pointed�around by the new to be responsibili criminality, irrethat a review two controversies secments ing Prime Minister press tossed matters any the of FORMER as to these his administration of according to Office of the the notion whatsoever yesterday condemned ernment concerning his last term spending andbare’ is just that much absolve ry Christie retary for the and prove as noth- sponsible Minnis administra- transpired during Anthony is is wrongdoing efforts by the his government in Prime Minister, that ‘the cupboard prime minister.at accusations from of the FNM’s rhetoric slogans.� slogans.� tion to portray as he challenged back Newbold. “political political adminisHitting than light, THREE a have I SEE PAGE SIX ing more the Minnis SEE PAGE a negative leader to carry out challenges members of the controvergovern“One of the the nation’s te examination of the who led the $8m to tration concerning of more thanclean up as the person led the government “dispassiona sial pay out and who record�. interview at one vendor for hurricane to an ment off of $1.2m During a lengthy home on Thursand the write his Cable Beach defended his day, Mr Christie
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ROBERTS: PEET A ‘POLITICAL ENEMY’ FOR ANDROS BID
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THURSDAY
SEASO N ARRIV
G concern ADMITTIN Bernard Notin over what Dr have battled last tage may his isolation during Prime Minisdays, former yesterday for ter Perry Christie admiration the expressed forth by the effort put security to former national the build-up minister in election. the May general from his Breaking away since being public silence office in hisof out a voted last month, toric fashion Mr Chrishis visibly troubled portions of his tie detailed with last conversation and longfriend childhood colleague on time political Thursday. Centreville former as The Dr Nottage teMP saw “fought his someone who throughout naciously� he loved and life for thosetrait he said he a supported, up to their saw on display . last conversation PAGE SIX SEE
OPENS AT LAST HEALTH CENTRE MARSH HARBOUR
it must Hurriis so devastated the island as Ragged Island remained on home has Minnis warns with those whohomes last week. “Every The en Rag- discussion battered their has been destroyed. has been health facility on storm-strick Min- cane Irma Prime teachers’ residence no water. destroyed. The and safety conditions to deteriorate, urged the 18 been has been destroyed. The is no light. There is HEALTH he smell the school will only continue destroyed. There about, you can yesterday as The in the afterged Island Minnis said to evacuate “As we walkcarcasses, dead animals. deister Dr Hubert on the island reduced will stench of dead of the individuals remaining residentsIrma, which has them REPORT that we get of rubble and SPECIAL health conditions Russell, math of Hurricane it’s essential there to piles Words: Khrisna W Carey teriorate and Dr Minnis said. only most structures Pictures: Terrel island unlivable. Dr Minnis to leave the for off this island,� rendered the bly reluctant stay here,� saw for the concern cannot understanda “They as home, expressing Many were and a delegation and days ever known through said after he damage left by Irma place they’ve hurricane ripped of their residences, first time the Five monster will have about the safety personal belongings. behind. We by the smell after the Category island. “They are concerned may have lefthere and the Defence they exacerbated southern esall small of materials the a vessel the same physical condition, the destruction still whatever Force dispatch the cleanup and at The island’s carcasses and strongly urge those the Defence Minnis said. THREE of rotting animalled Dr Minnis to small community can Force will try to commence security,� Dr SEE PAGE that there is sential services, to leave until the time ensure Island been has Ragged on Ragged Island and be restored. to the residents; a walk through “I’ve spoken Minnis said following Dr devastated,�
Pages 20&21
WELLS By RICARDO Reporter Tribune Staff nemedia.net rwells@tribu
A TRIBUN medical treatment. SIVE Liberal were obtaineda from a ther’s PROGRES The emails Bradley EMAILS leaked following of China Con- by The Tribune Party Chairmanout at his highdata breach (CCA) Roberts lashed story in December of CCA struction America’s colleague Vinthat from the breach former party night, accusservers show2013, Jerome lighting by a San Francisco cent Peet last North Anto servers China Construction as early as was seeking ing the former Islands MP hacker. Fitzgerald of dollars eventually paid 24 bitcoins dros and Berry enemy� $24,000) secure millions trucking, and (the equivalent of of being a “political an independin brokerage, to their servat Baha who mounted because he to have access it aplimousine contracts showing a resat in Cabinet ers restored; however, ent campaigna nomination forwarded leaked emails Mar while he of Educathat emails ONE of the Education, Sciwas denied party. Minister of as the Minister and Tech- pears relating to personnel quest from or d, Jerome Fitzgerald. from the governing to, Science tion, to PLP supTribune has at CCA were compromise ence and Technology Speaking in The in North nology, The officials at Baha for Limolink encour- porters at a rally Mr Robdespite top they were not his agent are learned. night, contradict the saying with which at Bahamas. You from Andros last is war� as The emails this week de- Mar by the hack “I clientele company was fa- aged to get a reference said “this if writes, vote who erts concerned of Viacom Minister, the crowd toPerry Mr Fitzgerald ma- limousine his office to time. the president feel free he urged Dr nied ever using to himself the an email dated May 18, am aware that interior arrive miliar. with regard the you wish. Please incumbent In a vote “Also Izmirlian terials have began to really we personally for direct contracts adding that for the business from the mul- 2013, sent to Mr contact me with contact Gomez, limousine to meet with to hotel. I would or his family resort. Peet is a vote your agents Mr Mr Fitzgerald, Cur- for the could be have for dollar we or by if ready it ti-billion - the Probro- are people anytime,� he Mr Porter our Managing Free National Movement.SIX Porter, Shelly appreciate Mr Fitzgerald Party MP QuentinAlarice Fill copied, appointed your official your SEE PAGE his Director directly.� tis and 1st 2013.� writes. gressive Liberal we really ker for June - appears also Mr Fitzgerald indicates a request TWO & THREE “As indicated cusSEE PAGES for Marathon $20,000 He then makesfor limouto start brokerage to highend for requesting readiness cater be only to official Baha Mar’s and trucking services and of Mr Izmirlian Baha Mar, tomers and are the project a month from Sarkis services at of Baha Mar of re- sinehe touted the level original developer the ex- the as the brokers citing Izmirlian, were necessary remain the property. for cord that fapenses cost of his to cover the Healthcare hisMarsh Harbour a tortured ROLLE Centre has missed deadBy RASHAD Reporter tory, one of of shoddy Tribune Staff emedia.net lines and claimsall without rrolle@tribun ip, ity. of- workmansh ENT clear accountabil GOVERNM ed the anyThe facility’s original bankrupt. ficials commissionHealththe contractor went of Marsh Harbour n in Abaco yesConstructio care Centre centre began it as a longIngraham terday, touting to the island healthcare under the former awaited boost ion. adminisin and the Christie Health administrat Christie adhealth centre When the e Staff tours the new tration’s National came to power, RASPBERRY plans. Perry Christie W. Carey/Tribun ministration renovating the TEA Insurance AdoPhoto: Terrel ICED and PRIME Minister it spent $1m Like the Child SEE PAGE SIX Abaco yesterday. Robert Smith lescent and that was the (CARS) Complex ed last year, commission
WIPEOUT: Prime
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A DORSETT By SANCHESKReporter et Tribune Staff bunemedia.n sdorsett@tri TERS yesFIREFIGH a large blaze terday battled Providence at the New three weeks Landfill, nearly a massive that after tackling city dump fire at the nearly a month. burned for Charge of Fire Officer in Chief SuperinServices, Evans said tendent Walter is “not confire the the current any way to this nected� in and at blaze previous do not know time officials the fire. Howwhat caused t Minister ever Environmen told rehe Kenred Dorsett the site that porters at “sabotage� in said suspected the fire. He relation to the team he “instructed�to have the of firefighters “before and blaze extinguished day� today nomination Baha Mar’s before certainly Friday. opening on started shortly The blaze and Wednesday after 3am officEvans said Chief Supt battle the fire to but ers expect another day for at least wind is a “huge� he said the factor. SEE PAGE SIX
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last in the same vicinity at a March 27 funeral. He said his father and step-mother obeyed social distancing rules and that she became ill sometime after his father recovered from a high fever and a cough. Health Minister Dr Duane Sands helped persuade her to be airlifted to New Providence on Monday, he said.  Health officials forecast that as the country increases testing, there will be more confirmed cases of COVID19. At the same time, an increasing rate of confirmed cases is among the factors likely to influence when the country reopens.  “What we will do is look at the number of people with complaints, of flu-like illness, fever and other signs of COVID-19,� Dr Sands said about signs
the epidemic curve is flattening at a recent press conference.  “We will look at the number of people in our emergency rooms, and the number of people in our hospitals and then gradually we will start to see a reduction.  “Then we can start to consider whether it is safe to ease up on the restrictive lockdown and curfews. And we are nowhere near there yet.�  According to the Ministry of Health, there are 792 people in quarantine and 12 recovered cases. Nine people have died from the disease.  Those who are experiencing COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms should call the Ministry of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 502-7382.
SNACK PACKAGES FOR THE NEEDY
ManEmergency actiThe National t after they agement Agency (NEMA) the police managemen cations with from entering the vated its emergency evacuation and an were blocked at the Kenplan yesterday area. were also shelter was established at the Several persons with respira- dal G L Isaacs Gymnasium Centre to the hospital Elizabeth Sports during Gar- rushed on Queen as a shelter S in Jubilee tory complaints. Tribune arrivedwere which was used - for displaced RESIDENT to evacuate their When The residents last hurricane dens were forced after a massive the scene, several as the the believed on their roofs,homes. residents. landfill homes yesterday the dump is smaller Providence pouring water their a The fire at fire at the Newcommunity in thick, blaze grew closer to started by for Tall been the to have Road. Parliament blanketed smoke. Member of Miller was also assist- bush fire off Fire Trail black hazardous the Royal Bahamas Pines Leslie in hosing down their TWO AND THREE entrance Members of SEE PAGES blocked the visibility ing residentsproviding transportaPolice Force as and help. homes needed who residents to the subdivision tion for those zero. Angry dropped to in verbal alterbecame involved fire off Fire a smaller bush to the city after a spread have ed by Movement fre- Trail Road that blanketed Jubilee Gardens yesterday Fire Trail Road. fire the smoke in Jubilee the Free National areas in in bushes off to prevent dump. The flees from the A DORSETT YOUNGSTER done enough the New Providence Gardens and surrounding landfill that started at and threatened A at the New Providence to evacuate their homes. Hanna/Tribune Staff By SANCHESK Reporter quent fires have caused some of thick, black smoke officials fire were asked et Photos: Shawn Tribune Staff prompting issues. Landfill that Many residents bunemedia.n respiratory mas- several homes, sdorsett@tri them to develop SEE PAGE THREE came as a owners in JubiTheir comments at the landfill, raging ANGRY home was startyesterday expressed sive fire was lee Gardens concern that neither which officials believe nor disgust and Liberal Party the Progressive had any redespite not having many purchase WELLS sponse to his Mar’s former By RICARDO offers, as Baha Izmirlian said cases of im- Tribune Staff Reporter enced alleged nemedia.net developer, Mr “stands ready, officials solicitROLLE migration from migrants rwells@tribu By RASHAD Reporter his company to buy Baha bribes able developer of Staff ing and Tribune beatings THE originalMar resort willing complete it emedia.net and alleged prisoners in today and Bahamian rrolle@tribun of the Baha the resort’s Mar with migrants and States has de- immediately Bahamian conyesterday said THE United Bahamas custody. the Ministry continued completiondates workers and chronic delays the Yesterday, the opening highlighted tractors. The “intimida- of Foreign Affairs said � lays, missed ’s CCA for either supposed staggovernment ental created by “inaccurate incomand “now of the en- self interest or patent report had “incomThe tion of non-governm gered opening� s� and efforts and in some cases . must stop now. into late next organisation and autire property that Sarkis petence deserves better.� information plete� government an incident year shows by the Bahamas inhibit “free Referring to SEE PAGE SIX Minoffer “is superithorities to criminal Education Izmirlian’s Fitzgerald or� to the current situation. for in which speech through as problems this, and ister Jerome libel laws� However, despite SEE PAGE 12 in its latest the Bahamas report. human rights also referThe report
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BAHAMAS Liquidation & Auction Centre and its partners recently prepared and donated snack packages for families who have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Calvin Dean, CEO, said: “As a company servicing the Bahamian community, we felt it was our responsibility to step up and bring some relief and hope to persons who are most in need during these uncertain times. We are dedicated to serving the community that has supported us and continues to show support. Going forward, we will continue to seek out opportunities do our part and be our neighbours’ keeper. Most donations being done
are focused on general grocery, but we wanted to target the kids who are at home. We realise it must be very hard on them as life as they knew it has drastically changed, we pray the snack packs brought a smile to their faces�.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 3
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net THE government has failed to clearly articulate its rationale for relaxing restrictions on certain businesses leaving itself open to criticism that could have otherwise been avoided, according to a noted economist yesterday. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank Bahamas’ chief financial officer, said the government needs to close the gap in information exchange with the public to give greater understanding of why certain decisions are being made. On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced several entities would be allowed to reopen in the capital under certain guidelines, while at the same time revealing COVID-19 cases had increased. The businesses allowed to operate this week include auto parts stores, hardware and home stores and plant nurseries. Landscaping and property maintenance are also now regarded as essential services. But judging from the long lines that have been associated with the new openings this week, Mr Bowe said the question of why these businesses needed to be operational
Bowe criticises govt for failing to explain its policies properly moving forward should be answered. He said: “In the absence of having a clearly set out plan of action in terms of the basis in which you do things, the government leaves itself subject to criticisms where it is a lack of understanding versus a difference of opinion and they need to close that gap. “I say that from the perspective that there may be very specific reasons why these particular industries or entities were allowed to open versus the apparent haphazard nature and in this time I think the most important element is we don’t have a crystal ball to be absolutely clear, but what we do know is that the longer the economy is
GOWON BOWE totally shuttered the more difficult it is to sustain because in the Bahamas we don’t have the luxury of printing money like they do in Europe and the United States where the government can effectively pay people to stay home, meaning if you are unemployed you can receive a
cheque that helps you to get through another month. “I think that putting that into context there’s a desire to say well how do we allow persons to earn that subsistence level. But what we have not had is a sufficient articulation of what are the factors that allow you to make various decisions almost like a matrix that if this happens these are the things that we are going to do,” Mr Bowe continued. “If we say that we believe the number of new cases is consistent so it does not appear that we are effectively increasing and we aren’t spiking, we may have plateaued, but we kind of have a much lower number of new cases then there are
three things that we consider: one, what I am going to call gross value industries that will allow the greatest number of employment to get back so that that there is an an opportunity to do things economically. Two that are safe so that you don’t create a resurgence and then three, which I think is the most important which is to create positive sentiment because when you are shuttered and all you hear is the negativity there is a desire to have some positive news.” He also said: “(So) the failing of government is not the businesses they chose, the failing of government is the lack of setting out what is the thought
process in order to enable it to happen. From a health perspective if there is any type of risk of these types of businesses creating spikes, which it appears it might do because these are lines so it’s not like they were any different from the truly essential services, the question is was that based. . .on economics that’s trumped health or was it one that they felt the health risk was actually minimal.” PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis has also questioned the basis for the government’s opening of additional businesses this week. He accused Dr Minnis of causing “anger, chaos and panic” through the changes.
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SCORES of people went to various hardware stores yesterday following their re-opening after lockdown. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
Shoppers flock to buy as hardware stores reopen By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net SCORES of shoppers made their way to Kelly’s Mall at the Marathon location as hardware and home stores reopened yesterday. When The Tribune canvassed the area, a line of about 60 customers trailed along the pavement and stretched to the mall’s entrance nearest Island Luck. Security at the door made sure face masks were being worn and controlled how many people were being let in at a time. People appeared to be shopping for a variety of items, but fans and gardening supplies seemed to be popular. After queuing for half an hour, plant nursery owner
Robert Archer walked out with plant pots and some mulch in his trolley needed that day for his small business. Plant nurseries are allowed to open their doors on Mondays and Thursdays. He said he was extremely busy on Monday with a couple hundred people coming in - a different picture to the gruelling days he experienced prior to reopening. “I had to do a lot myself,” he said. “I still kept one or two staff for two days. The National Insurance hasn’t kicked in yet but really I had to be more hands-on and had to do a lot of work myself… I was able to use funds from the business.” Another shopper, who did not want to be named,
said he works one day on and one day off. He wants to do gardening in his down time, hence his trip to Kelly’s yesterday. He admitted: “I’m home doing nothing, so I’m trying to get some things… Sitting at home doing nothing you know cause you’ll go crazy.” Armed with a shopping list, Cher Strachan came ready to buy a water hose, a nozzle, fertilizer and seeds to dabble in some backyard farming. She also had light bulbs and most importantly a clothes line on her list as her clothes dryer broke down during the lockdown. Ms Strachan said: “I was happy because it’s kind of a necessity for me. So I was happy to hear that they were gonna be open. The line is moving quite
quickly… I don’t mind being in the sun.” Although there were some people standing 3ft to 6ft apart from each other on the line, Ms Strachan, who is a Ministry of Health employee, was dissatisfied with people not practicing social distancing when out in public. She explained: “Everywhere you go there are crowds and some people are still not adhering to the six feet distancing. “A lot of people are not taking it seriously. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I mean it’s something that’s new to all of us and for the past month, four to six weeks now we’ve been dealing with this. So we should’ve been you know something that should already been settled into our psyche”
Near the back of the line, Remond Frazer was queuing patiently for a new fan as one of his was not working properly. “I really need a fan. I can’t burn an air conditioner straight through...” he explained. “I would actually go on the patio
during the daytime until late in the evening and then I would go inside and then thug it out.” Home and hardware stores will be open Wednesdays and Fridays, from 8am to 8pm. Editorial View - Page 6
PAGE 4, Thursday, April 23, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
THOUSANDS SIGNED UP FOR ONLINE EDUCATION from page one
are getting more and more requests by private school students who seek to participate for one reason or another,” he told reporters. “So, 40,000 out of 65,000, I am not necessarily ecstatic about it but it’s progress and we’re happy that more and more students are utilising the virtual platform. “We have about maybe 1,200 that attend the live sessions each day (and) we are approaching 20,000 that access the system every day.” The programme was established after the government announced the closure of schools last month due to the COVID19 pandemic It allows students of all
grade levels to have access to various learning materials while at home. Saying the “school system” had lost enough time as a result of Hurricane Dorian, Mr Lloyd told the House of Assembly last month that his ministry was committed to ensuring that students continue their education during this health crisis. However, it is still not clear when national examinations will be held in the country, with Mr Lloyd telling reporters: “No, I can’t say.” He added: “The end of the terms exams are coming. The BGCSE exams are eventually coming. We don’t know when and in order to be ready for them, you have to continue with your studies, so I
appeal to parents to please ensure that their children are continuing with their education.” As it relates to those students who do not have access to the internet, the minister also advised them to be consistent in watching the live educational broadcasts on cable TV. “As you know, we have now made available channel 295,” he noted. “That is available in the Family Islands as channel 12 so that those students who do not have a device or who do not have the internet still are able to access it but please bear in mind that we have a number of students maybe about 10,000 who do not have devices. “We know about 5,000 that is and we are working very diligently, quickly
40,000 have signed up for online teaching to get devices for them as quickly as possible.” Recognising that many students are also not accessing the online platform due to work obligations, such as packing boys in food stores,
Mr Lloyd said officials have also asked grocery store owners “to resist scheduling students (to work) during the hours when they should be in school.” “You know the
responsibility of education of our children resides in any number of stakeholders — of course the government, the teachers and so on, but it’s the parents,” he stressed. “I understand in these times of economic uncertainty and some deprivation on a financial standpoint, you have to try to make it as best we can but at the same time, those children need to continue with their education because the end of term exams are coming. “There’s the virtual platform. It’s available 24 hours of the day and yes, we have asked those food store owners to resist scheduling students during the hours when they should be in school.” Editorial View - Page 6
RBDF LENDS A HAND
THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force partnered with a local NGO to deliver much-needed food supplies directly to the doors of some 150 of the most vulnerable citizens within New Providence last Saturday. The RBDF partnered with the ‘Wildflowers’ Team and Sally Van Tooren of the Family Help and Support Foundation. The NGO and its network of benefactors contributed the food supplies, and Wildflowers executed logistical and in-kind support. RBDF
personnel involved in the initiative provided not only security assistance, but ensured that the laws and rules of emergency protocols were being carried out. Spearheaded by Kasimu Ellis, a former RBDF marine and a Wildflower lead designer, the corporate group distributed the items to various families in the East Street and Kemp Road areas. “I am proud and privileged to have been aligned with this great organisation that has grown into what it is today,” said Ellis.
$250 CUP OF TEA FOR MAN WHO VIOLATED CURFEW By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A MAN who claimed he violated the national curfew because he was looking for a friend he had sent out to buy “sour” so he could make a cup of tea was fined $250 yesterday. He was among several people who appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis for curfew infractions. Javon Stubbs, 32, was charged with violating the national curfew after police found him near Homestead Street around 10.35pm on April 14. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was given a $250 fine or 10 days at the
Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. According to the prosecution, on the night in question, officers on patrol observed a man walking on Homestead Street heading in the eastern direction. When stopped for questioning, the man, who identified himself as Javon Stubbs, told police he was looking for a “fella” he had sent out with his money to buy some sour, colloquially used to reference limes. During an interview at a nearby station, Stubbs told police he had given his friend Johnny $10 around 8pm that night, so that he could go down the road to a small shop to buy him the limes. Still,
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Stubbs said Johnny was taking too long to come back so he went out to see if he could find him. During the hearing, Stubbs told Magistrate Rolle-Davis that he knew he was wrong but he was desperate because he wanted to make some tea for a “massive headache.” In a separate matter, officers found Dominic Johnson, 32, on Shirley Street around 6pm on April 16. He pleaded guilty to violating the curfew and was fined $250 days or 10 days in prison. According to the prosecution, officers on mobile patrol heard a high powered weapon being discharged in the Shirley Street area. While heading to the area where the shots rang out, they saw a grey Nissan March heading west at a high rate of speed. They beckoned for the
vehicle to stop, searched the driver and discovered a high powered rifle. When questioned, the driver said he was standing by his car when a group of men tried to approach him so he ran them off by shooting shots in the air. The licence for the firearm was up to date. Meanwhile Allison Moss, 32; Rico Mackey, 26; Van Rolle, 29; Elliot Richard, 26, were also charged after officers found them at Summerhaven, South Beach around 9.50pm on April 14. They all pleaded guilty to the charge brought against them. Moss was fined $250 or 10 days at the BDCS while Mackey, Rolle and Richards were each fined $100 or 10 days in prison. The prosecution said on that night, officers received information in reference to a large gathering in the Summerhaven area where people were sitting behind
a silver vehicle drinking and smoking. After failing to give police a satisfactory reason for breaking the curfew, the people in question were taken to the East Street South Police Station. During a record of interview under caution, Moss told officers that she had just left her grandmother’s house when she decided to stop and stand in the yard. Mackey also told police the house he was arrested at belonged to his close friend and was just like his own home. On the other hand, Rolle said he was outside because he was talking to his neighbour who lived in the same yard and Richards told officers he was in his yard catching some fresh air. A group of teens were also charged yesterday. Demetrio Brown, 18; Ken Farquharson, 19; Shon Butler, 19; Maurice Pinder, 19; Anthony Fowler, 18 and Toriano Cummings, 20 were charged after police found them on Yamacraw Road on Tuesday around 12.30pm. All of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charge. Brown, Farquharson, Butler, Pinder and Cummings were each fined $250 or 10 days at the BDCS. Fowler on the other hand was given a $300 fine or 15 days in prison. According to the
prosecution, on the night in question, officers observed a silver four door Honda Accord with six occupants acting in a suspicious manner. Attempts were made to stop the vehicle, but the car took off with a high rate of speed. When the police gave chase, the vehicle swerved into a white wall bringing it to a complete stop. Police then asked the occupants to exit the vehicle and questioned the driver, Anthony Fowler, who told them he did not stop because he did not have a driver’s licence and was scared he would get a ticket. Brown was represented by attorney Devard Francis. He told Magistrate Rolle-Davis that the teens had all pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had no previous convictions. He also said none of the boys were “continually socially deviant” and begged Magistrate Rolle-Davis not to impose a custodial sentence. Noting that none of the defendants came from rich backgrounds, he also asked the magistrate to impose a reasonable fine. During the hearing, Magistrate Rolle-Davis said he hoped the fines would make the defendants aware of the reality of the pandemic and the importance of staying inside.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 5
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
BRAVE RAISES CONCERN OVER POLICE ACTIONS from page one
orders. Ash was not handcuffed nor shackled for his court appearance where he was fined $7,000 for the offence after pleading guilty. “Let me be clear that the PLP supports a politically neutral force - one that acts without fear or favour,” Mr Davis said. “This does not mean that individual officers may not have their personal preferences but these preferences must never interfere with the execution of their duties and in the application of
Force Orders in a non discriminatory manner toward the public. I use discriminatory to mean treating one class or group or individual differently from another class or group or individual because of their parochial, political, familiar or other ties with the force or the government. “I recently sent a ‘no objection’ letter in the consultations that I had with the prime minister on the appointment of the current commissioner of police. It is my basic view that the prime minister is by reason of the provisions of the constitution, entitled to his
choice for commissioner. Were I to become prime minister I would therefore exercise in my own deliberate judgment who should be commissioner of police, should that become necessary within my term. I would have objected to the new appointment of the now commissioner if I believed that it was not possible for the nominee to perform in that high office without fear or favour. I was assured that neutrality would be possible. “However, I stipulated in my ‘no objection’ letter that I was concerned about the management of the
force because in the public domain there was evidence that several senior officers had been shunted aside by the political directorate without any reason which could be accepted as plausible. “By this I refer to the reason given by the national security minister that the force was top heavy in its management and there were too many assistant commissioners of police. “In retrospect my point has been shown to be correct. With the announcement of the four new assistant commissioners of police, there are now
JONATHAN Ash outside court 11 assistant commissioners of police, exactly the same number as when the FNM administration came to office. No public rationale has been given for the apparent contradiction,” Mr Davis said.
“Let me hasten to add that this statement makes no comment on the personal characters of any of the individuals concerned. This is about the policy makers, not about the officers.” Regarding the handling of Ash, Mr Davis said when former Cabinet ministers and a former senator were hauled before the courts, the intent must have been to embarrass the men who he said were not flight risks and could have been allowed to show up for hearing on their own volition.
Thompson backs firms who have kept workers employed By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net WHILE the tourism sector and related businesses on Grand Bahama have been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson is commending industrial companies who have kept their workers employed during this time. He is encouraging other businesses who can also keep their employees working from home to do so. “We reiterate the message put forth by the Prime Minister that we don’t want employers to be unnecessarily laying off workers. And in GB, those businesses that can keep on employees we implore them to keep them employed,” he said. Mr Thompson noted Grand Bahama’s tourism sector has been significantly impacted. “We have seen in the tourism sector, unfortunately, most of the hotels are closed as a result of not having any tourists, and those businesses that are related to tourism don’t have any business, so they have been affected significantly,” he said. Minister Thompson noted the shutdown has also impacted businesses that are not being able to operate at this time in GB and other places in The Bahamas. As a result of this, he stated the government has taken a proactive approach by implementing the new Social Services assistance and the National Insurance programmes to help those Bahamians who are affected. He indicated a special programme has also been put in place at National
MINISTER of State for Grand Bahama Kwasi Thompson Insurance for those who are only document drop off for stamping of Conveyances self-employed. “I am pleased that GB and Mortgages documents, has been able to benefit permits and affidavits from from those programmes. 9am to 12 noon. He said individuBut, one unique thing about GB is that we have large als would be contacted once industrial companies that documents are ready for do business here and they pick up. The Road Traffic is also have a significant amount of employees and, except a open since Monday. Deputy few, most have been able to Comptroller of Road Traffic Welbourne Bootle said keep their employees. “We commend those that they have been able to businesses that have been process some 200 applicants able to do that… as there on the first day. The office is are circumstances in the open from 9am to 12noon, industrial community they and the department is have for the most part been utilizing an appointment able to have employees system for those who are work from home and keep not processed by noon to most their employees on return the following day. With some government work,” he said. In terms of government departments now reopened offices, Mr Thompson noted to the public, Mr Thompsome services are open to son went on to say that the public, including the the Office of the Prime Registrar General’s Office, Minister in Freeport will concerning new births for be supporting local mask persons requiring birth manufacturers to provide for civil servants on the certificates. The Treasury Depart- frontline. It is now mandatory for ment is also open on Monday and Thursday every citizen to wear a mask from 10am to 2pm pro- when out in public, and also cessing of Social Services for civil servants and other cheques, vendor payments, essential workers who have to interact with the public. weekly salaries, etc. Mr Thompson Minister Thompson stated the VAT Department highlighted two local manuon the ground floor of the facturers, Demetria Russell Harold DeGregory Com- and Mary Lewis, who are plex is also open, but on a both small business owners very limited basis accepting in Freeport.
‘WHY NO COVID-19 TESTING?’
THE news that about 100 healthcare workers are in self-isolation after they were exposed to a patient with COVID-19 on Princess Margaret Hospital’s surgical ward prompted readers to post their reactions on tribune242.com. Alfalfa said: “One has to ask: How is any patient admitted to a public ward at the hospital, where multiple patients are confined, not tested for the COVID19 virus, in light of the seriousness of the spread? This has been highlighted in the weekly updates by the minister, and all the talk of procedures, protocols, and best practices seem to not be implemented at the government’s largest health facility. It should have long ago been made mandatory that any patient, at any hospital in the country, be tested prior to placement in a hospital ward. What happens when this is not done is painfully evident.” There was this from Joeblow: “Sands said weeks ago that they had test kits but no swabs!! Who in the world would order tests but
not an essential component that allows you to use the test? This reeks of incompetence all around. What have they done to try and rectify the problem other than talk?” Shonkai said: “Once we get the swabs we will have run out of healthcare professionals who can perform the tests. Sigh.” ThisIsOurs also referred to the shortage of swabs: “But the PM made a grand announcement just three days ago that they would begin widespread testing . . . sigh, who knows the struggle but those who in it . . . anyway, I hope they develop a vaccine soon. It doesn’t look like we’ll have an effective testing programme ever . . . for whatever reason – even if it’s legitimate.” Economist posted this comment: “Last week
Cayman Islands had 45,000 tests available AT COST. They have 65,000 people and 100,000 tests for themselves in addition to ones for sale. How can the PM expect us, the people, to take all his long winded speeches on the seriousness for the lockdown when he doesn’t take COVID 19 seriously himself?” And ConchFretter had this to say: “Most countries, and most hospitals within those countries, are not testing EVERY patient that is admitted to a hospital, regardless of symptoms. With testing being at a premium, testing every person that comes into the ER, regardless of their temp, lack of cough, broken bone, etc. would be ideal but is not reality. So I do not fault PMH . . . in this instance . . . Now, if they were not using PPE on every patient that they encountered, as IF every single patient was COVID19 positive, then that definitely is a delinquency on their part and put many of their healthcare workers at risk.”
“The prime minister has put a ban on the importation of non-medical grade masks to protect, and encourage local masks manufacturers,” he said. “We are pleased to be supporting local mask manufacturers. The OPM in GB will be providing masks for our civil servants who are at work and have to interact with the public and need to wear a mask.” He said there is a demand for masks as there are many civil servants on the frontline, including police officers, immigration and customs officers, and those at the National Insurance Board and Department of Social Services. “There are those even during lockdown who continue to serve in the essential capacity,” Mr
Thompson added. He said Ms Russell is one of the recipients of the government’s small business grant. “She has been able to develop her business, and we will be purchasing some masks from her to provide to civil servants on the frontline,” he said. Ms Russell, the owner of Destiny’s Bonafide Accessories, said that she is happy to be able to create something so essential at this time. “I create anything and everything by hand; I do straw work, I make fascinators, and right now I am manufacturing a lot of masks (with Androsia print) because it is needed at this time,” she said. She thanked the OPM for supporting small
businesses. “I started doing craft five years ago and it feels awesome to create things that are needed and essential.” Mary Lewis, of Mary’s Beauty Centre in the West Mall, has been in business for 25 years and started crafting three years ago. “It is my first attempt at making masks and they are all handmade,” she said. “It is fun doing it because I love using my hands. I also make fascinators, and redesign hats - it is so fulfilling to me,” she said. Mr Thompson is encouraging other local mask manufacturers to contact the OPM as well. “We need to provide masks to the civil service and we wish to also patronise them,” he said.
PAGE 6, Thursday, April 23, 2020
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Should students retake the whole year? EDUCATION Minister Jeff Lloyd had online learning on his mind yesterday – but while the noises may have been encouraging, the numbers were not. Mr Lloyd was touting the fact that 40,000 students had registered for the Ministry of Education’s virtual learning programme. “So, 40,000 out of 65,000,” he said, “I am not necessarily ecstatic about it but it’s progress and we’re happy that more and more students are utilising the virtual platform.” Even at those numbers, that’s an awful lot of students left out – more than a third. Dig deeper into the numbers and they’re even weaker. Just 1,200 are attending the live sessions each day – less than two percent – while even the number using the system each day, 20,000, is less than a third of the total. This doesn’t necessarily mean that students are at fault. Many might not have laptops or internet access at home, those with several brothers and sisters might have to share a device in homes where there is one – and that’s not even taking into account if parents working from home have to use the machines.
We should also bear in mind how well children might be coping – or not – with the stress of being cooped up at home. The move to have educational broadcasts on cable television is good – though again not all homes have cable, and the limited air time means not all age groups and stages can easily be catered for. And good grief, some of these children have become essential workers, drafted in as packing boys and girls in food stores. With so much unemployment right now, the money those children bring home might be the only income at present. Mr Lloyd urged stores to resist scheduling students to work during the hours of school but with restricted hours at present how realistic is that? This was not expected, and the education system is under the strain of dealing with something it wasn’t prepared for. But all ways of dealing with this should be on the table – including the prospect of having children retake the whole year. This will always be the generation that had to deal with coronavirus during their education – and we must come up with the best outcome for them, even if it means rethinking our whole approach.
Lines at stores show we’re not thinking this through SPEAKING of doing things a different way, the sight of people lined up outside hardware and home stores yesterday was surely not what Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis wanted to see after he relaxed regulations this week. Dozens of people outside Kelly’s at the Mall sought out their own essentials. That might mean seeds and fertiliser for one person, a new fan for another, a paddling pool for yet another. Some items were far from essential to see people through to next week or next month, and yet here the queues were.
We can only hope the virus didn’t spread more. But surely there are better ways of doing things right now. The person that needed a fan, could they not order it online and be able to do a drive-by pickup? Could we not be doing more with deliveries? Just as we need to rethink our approach to schooling, can we rethink our approach to shopping? We could be doing this better. And if we don’t, and crowds gather every time we open back up a little bit, then we aren’t going to beat this virus.
Adding our tribute to Kingsley Poitier, a sporting giant EDITOR, The Tribune THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture extends heartfelt condolences on the passing of the late Kingsley Poitier, who passed away on the 19th April, 2020. Son of the soil and bodybuilding champion, Mr. Poitier is remembered as a sporting giant and trailblazer having achieved among his many accomplishments the title of The Bahamas‘ ‘1965 Mr. World Bodybuilding Champion’; and induction into the National Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. In our early era of sports development in the country, Kingsley was already demonstrating the tenets of what it took to become a champion. Dedicated and committed to his unique ability to sculpt his body, Kingsley would go on to establish himself as one of the top, elite bodybuilders of the world, evidenced when he would win the ‘Most Muscular‘ award at
the 1962 Mr. Universe competition in New York. Two years later, in 1964, Kingsley would go on to again win the ‘Most Muscular‘ award at the Mr. World competition in Montreal, Canada. These tremendous performances alone broke new ground for Bahamian bodybuilding and marked the first time that a Bahamian had achieved any kind of international recognition in the sport of bodybuilding. In 1965, before a large audience which filled the Paul Sauve Centre in Montreal, Canada, Kingsley would give the performance of his life. He dominated the stage, and captured the prestigious international title of Mr. World. In 1966, along with eight other sports trailblazers (Thomas Robinson, Durward Knowles, Sloan Farrington, Cecil Cooke, Gomeo Brennen, Timothy Barrett, Fr. Marcian Peters, and Andre Rodgers), Kingsley was recognized for his
outstanding achievements during the official opening of the Sports Centre (currently known as the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre). Later, attaining the title of Hall of Famer, Poitier was recognized as a national builder for his outstanding accomplishments and contribution to the development of our national sports landscape, and in particular the sport of bodybuilding. A sportsman worthy of honour, Mr. Poitier has served as an inspiration to many, and has left an indelible mark on the Bahamian sports brand. On behalf of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture we extend condolences to the bereaved family, the Bodybuilding Federation, and the entire sports community as we mourn his passing. May his soul rest in peace. MINISTRY OF YOUTH, SPORTS AND CULTURE, Nassau, April 21, 2020.
Fighting climate change the key EDITOR. The Tribune COVID-19 has upended life as we knew it in The Bahamas. However, as we deal with the widespread impacts of the pandemic, it is critical that we do so in a climate resilient fashion. This global crisis underscores many characteristics of our country that make us not only vulnerable to the pandemic, but also to the widespread effects of climate change. Reliance on tourism, weak food security, high levels of economic inequality and vulnerability to climate events have all led to challenges in addressing COVID-19. These are also factors that make us one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. While the pandemic is a relatively unexpected crisis, we are well aware of the existential risks that climate change presents and should make every effort to prepare for them. As we rebuild our country, all of our efforts should be reviewed with a climate resiliency lens to determine if they will support our fight against the climate crisis. The challenges presented by the pandemic are a glimpse of the existential threats that climate change presents for our country. We must learn from this experience and implement responses that address the vulnerabilities that the pandemic has highlighted. Firstly, COVID-19 has resulted in an almost complete halt of global tourism and has underscored that we are economically crippled by our over-reliance on this single industry. While the near complete cessation of air and sea travel for leisure is unprecedented, there is significant evidence that climate change will result in substantial alterations to global tourism flows. The Bahamas’ attractiveness as a destination is expected to decline and international tourism is also expected to decrease, with more and more tourists opting for domestic vacations that are closer to home. Therefore, as we recover from the pandemic, we should not expect that our past experiences with rising tourist numbers will continue in the long term. We
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net must diversify our tourism product, decrease cruise ship tourism that harms our natural defences against climate impacts, and pursue more responsible forms of tourism. We should also further our efforts to encourage domestic tourism and reduce reliance on large numbers of international guests. Secondly, the pandemic has highlighted that we need to drastically increase our domestic food production. Climate change will result in additional stressors to the global supply of food. Changes to precipitation and temperature are expected to result in food shortages on a global scale, meaning that we must improve our own capacities to build food security. Our responses should incorporate the latest evidence-based recommendations on climate resilient agriculture, including specific crops that are tolerant to environmental change, particular methods such as small-scale irrigation and also backyard farming measures. Thirdly, COVID-19 has shown the environmental benefits from global ‘stay at home’ measures. Greenhouse gas emissions have dropped dramatically and there has been a marked decrease in levels of atmospheric pollution. This is the type of transformational change needed to limit global warming to levels that make life on small islands viable and in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement. However, as countries attempt to restart their economies, there is a risk of ‘emission rebounding’ – increasing greenhouse gas emissions rapidly through encouraging economic activity without regard to climate change. This is certainly a risk in The Bahamas, as we address the need to diversify the economy and bring in new revenue streams. However, for the longterm survival of the country and other small islands around the world,
it is critical that we maintain a focus on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Stockpiling oil, encouraging oil drilling and failing to shift to renewable forms of energy increase our vulnerability to climate change and will result in our islands becoming uninhabitable in the long term. While diversification of the economy is critical, we must ensure that we do not support industries or projects that are not climate resilient. Lastly, the pandemic has shown that we must take evidence-based approaches to responding to crises and that national expertise is critical. Our coronavirus response was informed by international best practices that were understood and translated to the Bahamian context by a cadre of local experts. Climate change threatens all aspects of life in The Bahamas, and is much more extensive than increasing intensity of hurricanes. All sectors, communities and ecosystems will be affected by climate change, meaning that we must have holistic and integrated responses. Responding to the climate crisis means taking a similar evidence-based approach and building our national climate change expertise. We must develop our capacity and local professionals in preparing for and responding to all climate risks. The Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency Research Centre at the University of The Bahamas should be developed to serve as a key partner in evidence-based approaches to building climate resiliency and working with government, the private sector and NGOs. Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert A. Minnis has repeatedly articulated that we must be prepared for a very different Bahamas in the aftermath of this crisis. As we rebuild after the pandemic, we must not return to business as usual, but rather learn from our experiences and transform into a more climate resilient society, well-equipped to address the inevitable challenges of climate change. DR ADELLE THOMAS Nassau April 21, 2020
THE TRIBUNE from page one known for several years, his name is Derick, we would get together once in awhile because when I lived in downtown Toronto and settled down and got off the road I used to throw parties for people. So, Derick was one of these people and one day he said to me, he goes, ‘I think you would be perfect for this guy Peter Nygard.’ He started telling me Peter Nygard treats women really well, he gives them clothing, he wants to take them to The Bahamas, they have photographers waiting, there is modelling gigs happening, it’s just absolutely like a beautiful time. I thought this sounds good. I thought I was meeting a guy and that this guy was like (someone) I would be with or something.” Ms Steenbergen said Derick later brought Mr Nygard to her Toronto apartment. “(Derick) was telling me my house needed to be a certain way, that I needed to be a certain way and I thought what is all this pretentious (expletive) about,” she said. “(Nygard) came in my apartment, he met me, he said I’m going to be in the magazine, I’m going to be on the front cover, that he could guarantee me a spot inside, that you’re exactly what I’m looking for, I want you to come to the factory (in Toronto), I want you to pick out three outfits and he told me all about the amazing trip I would have. “In Toronto I go to this factory, I pick up these silk fabrics, I’m getting ready to go with this big famous guy, I’m in awe. I’m thinking this is amazing, what a great opportunity for me now that I’m off the road, and I’m a model I’m going to further my career.” Ms Steenbergen said she and Mr Nygard flew on a commercial jet. The roundtrip was scheduled for ten days. She said it did not take long, however, before she became worried. When she arrived in New Providence, she claimed Mr Nygard took her passport and identification cards “for security reasons”. “Things went horribly wrong,” she said. “He starts to get more cruel as we land and as soon as we get into the car and we’re on our way he’s not nice anymore and I’m thinking (what’s going on)? “I’m a very bubbly, empathetic person and I don’t like people who take advantage of people (so I reacted). When I got (to Nygard Cay) I ended up being intercepted by a girl named Pam and she started telling me ‘you need to calm down, don’t be upset,
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 7
‘I did everything I could to stop it happening and twice I was raped by him, two different nights I succumbed. I had to deal with it, I let myself be violated and eventually I got out of there.’ I need to give you the rundown on what’s going on.’ I said what’s going on here because you could see something wasn’t right. He had another woman there and I didn’t expect another woman to be there. Next thing you know I arrive and I’m behind this gate, I’m outside with this woman and I’m looking at this gate and I’m thinking ‘oh jeez, how in the hell do I get out of here’?” Ms Steenbergen claimed she stayed at Nygard Cay for four days against her will. “He’s got this woman and she tells me ‘well, I’m going to have sex with him tonight so that you don’t have to’ and I say ‘excuse me?’ I said ‘I’m not having sex with anyone.’ I became defiant and when I became defiant I was treated really bad and all I remember is that when he would have an orgasm he would just scream, like just yell and I remember being downstairs and I could feel it right now as I’m telling you, gripped with (expletive) terror because I knew I had to go up there and have sex with that (expletive) monster so
that’s what I did, I ended up going up there having sex with that person, doing my best, fighting my damnedest to get the hell out of there and I got out. “I made such a fuss that I wasn’t going to be violated, so I just pulled out all the stops and I was defensive, I was nasty, I did everything and anything I could to stop it from happening and twice I was raped by him, two different nights I succumbed, I had to deal with it, I let myself be violated and eventually I got out of there.” Ms Steenbergen says she made enough of a ruckus to be allowed to leave the property. “After the fourth day, Pam, she ended up driving me to the airport to go on standby, to go home,” she said. “She ended up smashing into the back of a truck. The truck was down. We were parked by somebody’s house. She was crying because she was afraid to talk to Peter. This guy named Billy who owns a dive shop, stopped on the side of the road and saw us and said ‘what’s going on?’
TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR STEALING FROM TAILOR’S SHOP By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 28-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to two years in prison for breaking into a tailor’s shop and stealing over $2,000 worth of goods while the national curfew was in effect. Cardinal Bowe appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis charged with breaking into the Stitch Masters Shop last week and stealing 452 T-shirts valued at $1,590.31; a cloth cutter valued at $481; a $90 cutting glove; $35 tailoring scissors and a $100 cloth hand cutter. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for each count, which the magistrate ordered to run concurrently. According to the prosecution, around 11.10pm on April 13, Brendalee Johnson, the Stitch Masters Shop’s owner, was alerted by her alarm company about movement inside her store. This prompted her and her daughter to go to the building and on their way they passed some officers who they asked to accompany them. When they arrived at the store, they found the back door open, locks damaged and three large holes in the wall. The prosecution said T-shirts in the showcase were missing and two duffle bags with men and women’s clothing were stolen. As a result Mrs Johnson made an official complaint, prompting officers to launch an investigation. Mrs Johnson told officers that the last time she had been in her store was sometime in March before the COVID-19 lockdown. She also said she had not given anyone permission to enter her store either. On Friday, April 17 Mrs Johnson’s daughter, Diamond Johnson, told police that she had received a call from her
brother in reference to a man on Poinciana Drive selling stolen items from his vehicle, which he believed belonged to their mother. Acting on this information, police arrested Cardinal Bowe, who denied breaking into the store during an interview with police. Instead, he said on the night in question, he had seen Marvin Rolle on the road with a big black suitcase. Still, when officers arrested Rolle, he told them on the night of the breakin, he was at home when Bowe pulled him on the side and told him he knew of something that could make them some quick cash. Rolle said he put on clothes and accompanied Bowe to the tailor shop where he watched Bowe pry open the door with a crowbar. He also said once they got in the store, he told Bowe stealing a bunch of T-shirts did not make any sense because they wouldn’t sell well. Still, he admitted to helping Bowe take the stolen items out of the shop. This resulted in officers conducting a search of Bowe’s premises where they found the stolen items. They were shown to Mrs Johnson on April 20 and she positively identified them as items stolen from her shop. As a result, Bowe was cautioned and charged. Bowe was represented by attorney Anthony Forbes who told Magistrate Rolle-Davis his client was remorseful. He also said Bowe was a self-employed handyman who had run out of work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting Bowe had not wasted the court’s time by pleading guilty at the first opportunity, he asked the magistrate for mercy and not to impose a custodial sentence. While Magistrate Davis-Rolle said he acknowledged Mr Forbes’ mitigation plea, he insisted Bowe’s offence was one that required a custodial sentence since his actions posed a threat to the public.
ACCUSED: Peter Nygard I filled him in about Peter Nygard, he put me in the van and brought me to his house which was right on the water and he had about two other roommates but these guys were disgusting so I only lasted two days there. From there I went to the casino and then I ran into these people from Mission of the Shark…(I stayed with them before I left the island). I just stayed there because I couldn’t get a flight, couldn’t do anything and I had no money because I went down there not thinking any of this would happen.” Ms Steenbergen said the experience changed her life. “When I got out of there that whole situation
MAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO KILL HIS WIFE By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net AN Eleuthera man was remanded to prison yesterday after he was accused of threatening to kill his wife last Friday. Ezra Mackey, 35, appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis charged with one count of making death threats and of causing harm. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and the matter was adjourned to June 16. It is alleged Mackey intentionally threatened Cindy Mackey with death with the intent of putting her in fear on April 17. It is further alleged he harmed his wife that same day. Mackey was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail. Meanwhile a 34-year-old man was charged in Magistrate’s Court yesterday for attempting to murder another man late last year. David Woodside appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis after he was accused of trying to kill Adrian Adderely on October 14, 2019. He was not required to enter a plea to the charge and the matter was adjourned to June 16 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. Woodside has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.
traumatised me,” she said. “It’s never left me. I’m 52-years-old and that incident will remain with me until the day I die, that’s how much it affected my life. At that moment in time, I didn’t trust anymore. All of a sudden everything changed. I was always a very carefree, independent woman and I was never abused by men. That was a violation of me, my humanity, my civil rights. I didn’t go down there thinking i would have sex with Peter Nygard. That never crossed my mind.” American investor and hedge fund manager Louis Bacon has partially funded the US class action lawsuit against Mr Nygard. Ms Steenbergen claims she has never spoken or met him nor had she spoken or met his Bahamian attorney Fred Smith until a week before her interview with The Tribune. She said she learned of the class action lawsuit on Twitter. “I was on Twitter because that’s where I’m always at,” she said. “Next thing you know… I see there are victims who have
come forward in a lawsuit and I’m thinking well, the same thing happened to me. I responded under the tweet of a person who said ‘this isn’t true and is just a part of a scam.’ I said I don’t think so because hell it happened to me and I responded at another place on Twitter. I got in touch with an investigator, then I got a phone call back and all the rest is history.” Mr Steenbergen said she never spoke to Mr Nygard again after she left his property and never thought she would have the chance to get justice for what she says happened to her. “I was enamoured thinking this was some big famous guy and I’m going to get more publicity, more things, modelling and my pictures were going to be in his catalogue as he promised me,” she said. “You have no idea what this feels like for me. As far as he’s concerned, damn straight I never thought I would be able to ever have a voice, to be even having a voice that was then perpetuated by other experiences that followed this.”
TOLD TO PAY $600 FOR OFFICER ASSAULT By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 20-YEAR-OLD man was ordered to pay $600 or face two months in prison after he assaulted a police officer last month. Anderson Domalien appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis charged with assaulting a police officer, using obscene language, causing damage, disorderly behavior and resisting arrest. ºHe pleaded guilty to all of the charges and was fined $350 for count one; $25 for count two; $75 for count three and $150 for count four. According to the prosecution, on Wednesday April 18 around 7.10pm, officers were on mobile patrol near Thompson Lane when PC Cumberbatch observed a group of men on the side of the street. Upon seeing the police vehicle, one man ran south. As a result, officers gave chase, but the man managed to evade arrest. The officers then made checks around the area and saw a man who they believed to fit the description of the man who had evaded arrest. They approached the man and asked him to stop, but he hesitated. When ordered to stop a second time, the man refused to give officers a form of identification. Due to his
suspicious manner, the police told him that they would conduct a search in reference to dangerous drugs and illegal firearms. In response, the male told the officers “I ain’t get nothing on me bro” and pushed away from PC Cumberbatch while he attempted to place him in handcuffs. The man then resisted violently and told PC Cumberbatch and his partner “Y’all ain’t [expletive] locking me up!” attracting attention from the neighbourhood. According to the prosecution, the man continued to resist arrest which caused him to tear PC Cumberbatch’s shirt. During an interview at a nearby station, Domalien said he never threw a blow at the officer, although he admitted to “moving plenty” when he was asked to keep still. During the hearing, Dumalien told Magistrate Rolle-Davis the incident was a result of a “little misunderstanding,” because officers thought he was the man who had originally evaded arrest when he was not. In response, Magistrate Rolle-Davis said since it was a case of mistaken identity he would not impose a custodial sentence. Still, he told Domalien he hoped the fines would remind him of the importance of cooperating with the police.
PAGE 8, Thursday, April 23, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Roar, refrain and echo of history “The history of epidemic diseases is not all doom and despair because people haven’t always chosen to go down the wrong fork.” – Historian Frank Snowden THE uneven global response to COVID-19 means some countries will see less infections and deaths, while others will experience needless pain and suffering because of the recklessness, incompetence and magical thinking of some leaders. In Portugal, New Zealand and other countries, national leaders acted quickly to close borders and impose lockdowns, curfews and other critical measures. With tragic results, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the virus as overblown and dramatically flaunted physical distancing guidelines.
FRONT PORCH
BY SIMON Bolsonaro has performed so recklessly, incompetently and dismissively he makes Donald Trump look like a paragon of competence, humility and empathy.
Most Brazilians polled want stronger action by their federal government. Bolsonaro fired a health minister who publicly clashed with him after the latter pleaded for a more aggressive national response. The president has also clashed with state governors who have called for greater coordination and federal action to fight the pandemic. A core lesson of history in fighting pandemics is the need for quick and strong centralised action within countries and cooperation across national borders. The fractured response within the United States - and even within its states is retarding a more effective response to the outbreak. A professor at the University of The Bahamas and institutional arsonist who advised Bahamians to spoil their ballots at the last
POLICE checking driver identifications during COVID-19 lockdown. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff election has written a piece on COVID-19, replete with a series of her trademark faulty intellectual premises and errors. Her self-proclaimed “meditation” begins with the claim that our structure of government is “fundamentally colonial”, which is a cliché in our context. Prior to the 1964 Constitution, which ushered in ministerial government, the Governor was the colony’s chief executive. The dismantling of the colonial system gathered pace with the achievement of new constitutions, majority rule and independence. Like most countries in the world, The Bahamas enjoys, “fundamentally”, a parliamentary democracy as a sovereign country.
Unfortunate It is unfortunate the writer in question seems incapable of understanding the fundamentals of our democratic system and basic civics and history. The system of parliamentary democracy is enjoyed by many countries ranging from Japan to Canada to Germany. Fortunately, a parliamentary system such as ours, with strong levers by a central government, is proving consequential in responding to COVID-19, especially in contrast to the often disparate responses of federal, state and local governments in the United States. By example, the Mayor of Atlanta is alarmed that the Governor of Georgia is intent on reopening parts of the economy, which she fears will increase community spread of COVID-19. While some U.S. states are in a more vigorous lockdown, other states are less rigorous in their approach to confronting the outbreak. The COVID-19 outbreak has provided rejoinder to the calls for term limits for a prime minister. If in the middle of a crisis, a prime minister is performing well, it would make little sense for that individual to have to step down because of term limits. At a time when stability and continuity would be needed, a capable leader would have to step down at a general election during a crisis. Those who fail to appreciate the historical and practical reasons for our parliamentary democracy risk repeating the mistaken
notions of the UB professor and those ignorant of the rationale of our governmental system. The COVID-19 outbreak demonstrates yet again the need for a broad appreciation of civics and history, including in this instance the history of pandemics, which contains lessons for citizens and leaders. Those born in the year the 1918 Global Flu Pandemic began would now be 102. They would have no personal recollection of the deadly influenza outbreak which may have infected one-third of the global population killing tens of millions. Though rare in the lifetime of most people alive today, severe pandemics are a recurring threat, the lessons of which we most often forget to our peril. Though assigned the moniker “Spanish flu”, this was a misnomer as the 1918 outbreak did not originate in Spain.
Suppressed While many of the European combatants involved in World War I suppressed information about the ravages of the epidemic for morale and military reasons, neutral Spain was more forthcoming, which helped to create the false impression that the disease originated in the Iberian nation. The geographic origins of the outbreak are still debated. A friend and colleague who is a history buff and whose mother was born in Spain during the period of the 1918 outbreak, does not recall her extended family talking about the period, perhaps because of the trauma of warfare in Europe. Like most families, she observed there are historical gaps in her family history because many stories have not been passed down. But a national historical record should be different. The friend, who taught history in the governmentoperated school system and served for years in government, laments her historical knowledge of past epidemics in The Bahamas is scant. She is not alone. A small portion of the gap has been filled by a brief essay in The Journal of The Bahamas Historical Society November 2018, by Mrs. Kelly Delancy Fowler, a Senior Assistant Archaeologist and Research
Officer at the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation. Delancy Fowler writes: “The Bahamas experienced its first epidemic in 1852-1853 after the bacterium, Vibrio cholera, gained passage to Nassau on the Bahamian vessel, Reform, which had sailed from New York. “At the height of the epidemic, New Providence experienced 70 cholera deaths per week. The disease then spread to the far reaches of the colony. The death toll included 696 in Nassau, 178 in Harbour Island, approximately 200 in the remainder of Eleuthera, 108 in Abaco, and 40 in Ragged Island.” Her essay offers some details on the Athol Island Quarantine Station which remained in operation until it was “severely damaged” by the 1929 hurricane after which it was subsequently abandoned. Yale historian Frank Snowden, who has written on the history of medicine and epidemics, has been making the rounds in print and broadcast interviews. Snowden recalls that in the era of the bubonic plague, the Christian residents of Strasbourg, France, brought 200,000 Jews to the Jewish cemetery in the city. The Christian residents believed the Jewish religion was leading to poisoned wells where Christians drank and which were supposedly the source of the bubonic plague. Those rounded up had to either renounce their faith or be killed. Half of them refused to renounce and were burned alive. Around the world, various minorities are already being accused of being the source of COVID-19. Snowden offers: “Although there have been these outbursts of horrors during times of pandemics, it’s the history of pandemic that has left enormous positive [impact]. Modern public health is something that was developed during the centuries of bubonic plague, and we’re still dependent on it today. It’s saving our lives as we speak. “The potential for progress is really there. But it’s a choice that we have before us. We’re at a fork in the road. Where will we go? Coronavirus is a great moral drama that’s taking place right before our eyes. And the script has not yet been written.” And the Indian author Arundhati Roy writing in the UK’s Financial Times pleaded: “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. “We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world.”
THE TRIBUNE
E
VEN as the American congress throws hundreds of billions of dollars at the COVID-19 public crisis and debate on restarting the economy continues to rage between Republicans and Democrats and along regional lines between the coasts and the Midwest and South, the pandemic steamrolls on. American reported deaths passed the 45,000 mark the other day, among nearly 850,000 confirmed cases. Those figures give the term American exceptionalism new meaning. Just not in a good way. How do we compare the American figures with those in The Bahamas? Using the current data on The Tribune’s website, the local figures look comparably pretty good. Consider that the number of confirmed cases in the US as a function of overall population is estimated at nearly 15 times the comparable percentage in The Bahamas. The resulting death rate in the US is reportedly nearly seven times higher than it is here. We can argue about different circumstances in the two countries. But really, when you think about it, The Bahamas looks like it might well be coping with this pandemic better than our colossal neighbour to the west. Further perspective on
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 9
Wise words well worth listening to when it comes to opening up STATESIDE with Charlie Harper The Bahamas’ performance during the crisis was provided the other day by Dr. Jon Andrus who leads the University of Colorado’s efforts to advocate for the evidence-based use of lifesaving vaccines in the world’s poorest communities. Andrus is also an adjunct professor of global health at George Washington University in Washington DC, where he teaches a course on global vaccinology. He has more than 30 years of experience working in global health at all levels of the health system. Closer to home, Andrus has served as a Deputy Director at the Pan
American Health Organization. At PAHO, he logged extensive field experience in the Caribbean region, especially in Haiti during the catastrophic cholera epidemic in 2010 which claimed over 9,000 lives. Andrus spoke with reporters the other day and was asked specifically about the US and The Bahamas. Here is some of the Q and A: Q: “If some states like Florida are going to reopen soon, how dangerous is it?” A: “States reopening – again, let the evidence show that and lead the way. The decision to reopen state economies has to be driven by the evidence. If you
reopen too soon and base your decision on some arbitrary date rather than the evidence, that’s imbalanced with more of a concern of the economic situation and less so about people’s lives, then you’re putting the citizens at risk.” Q: “What about the smaller island nations of the Caribbean like The Bahamas, who are, I think, particularly vulnerable because of their dependence on tourism. What’s your sense of how they’re coping so far? And is there a realistic lag time between when the US begins to really seriously reopen and when these nations should do so?” A: “That’s a tough one to answer. I’ll do my best. One thing that the island republics in the Caribbean benefit from is a phenomenon called island epidemiology. And due to the confinement and insular isolation of those nations, i.e. the island geography, a
kind of natural immunity kicks in and will help them with their efforts. “My message to the nations of the Caribbean would be to be sure you’re tracking cases very aggressively; you’re implementing the contact tracing procedures, testing, quarantine on top of what you’re doing with sheltering in place, social distancing, and the individual behaviours of handwashing and so on; that all those in combination will help protect their citizens who are, as you mentioned, highly dependent on tourism. And I imagine they’re suffering greatly because, as you again mentioned, their economy depends so much on tourism. “But we’ll get through this, and the Caribbean countries have led the way over the decades with immunisation efforts in the Americas. If you really look critically at the polio eradication initiative for
example, it was many of the island republics that came forward with the best practices, as happened with measles and rubella. (The last polio case reported in the Caribbean was in 1991.) “There was a great effort emerging from the Caribbean, a history of leadership, that I think will also be applied to the current situation. But I would, again, rely heavily on the scientific evidence and be very aggressive and take advantage of the island epidemiology and be cautious about opening up. There will obviously have to be some relationship with the US and what they do, because many of the tourists come from the United States. “But above all, I would urge The Bahamas and its leaders to be prudent and cautious. The lives of their citizens depend on their wisdom and sensibility. What’s more important than protecting human lives?”
America’s first family of jazz loses its leader
ELLIS MARSALIS, father of Wynton, joined the long, sad, impressive list of COVID-19 victims earlier this month. PERIODICALLY, a discussion breaks out in the US about what is America’s greatest cultural contribution to the world. That depends of course on your definition of culture. But consider a few of the following. Is the best of American culture the collected works of playwrights, poets and authors such as Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Thornton Wilder, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and so many others? Bibliophiles can make a strong case for this. Advocates for achievement in classical art, dance and music may have a tougher case to argue. But the movies - that’s a different story. The cinematic arts may not have started most strongly in the US, but America has been among world pacesetters for the past 100 years or so. And how about television? Enough said about that. Does sports fall under culture? Sure! Let’s start with baseball, American football and basketball, all of which are building worldwide brands. And pop music? From Elvis Presley to Chubby Checker and LL Cool J? Even if you concede the greatest rock n rollers of all time, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, are from the UK, it must be admitted America has more than held its own. And don’t forget country and western music. The list of influential
American cultural achievements is impressively lengthy. And yet, many cultural mavens will concede that America’s most original, most enduring contribution to the culture of the world is none of these. It is jazz music. Springing from roots in heavily Caribbeaninfluenced New Orleans, American jazz music remains for many observers its most significant original cultural achievement. Following social migration from the American South to the big cities of the North, Midwest and California after World War II, jazz became entrenched in urban America where it still flourishes. Speaking of which, it was last August, in the rising heat and humidity of late summer New York. A big crowd had gathered to listen to Wynton Marsalis, the trumpeter who founded the transformative Jazz at Lincoln Centre orchestra and may just be the most famous jazz musician in today’s world. Leading his all-star band through the works of American musical icon Duke Ellington, Marsalis paused between songs to subtly educate his audience about jazz and its central role in American cultural development. Then came the unforgettable moment in the evening. After the band had finished and acquiesced to the audience’s demand for an encore, Wynton Marsalis paused. “I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet,” he said.
The lights dimmed. A solitary spotlight shone on a door at the back of the giant stage. Everyone held their breath. Ellis Marsalis, father of Wynton and patriarch of America’s undisputed first family of jazz, moved slowly across the stage to the piano. The band’s regular pianist, clearly a rising star, moved deferentially aside. Ellis, looking every bit as old as his 84 years, took his seat carefully. There wasn’t a sound in the auditorium. This aged giant then produced the evening’s triumph, a rousing, flawless rendition of Duke Ellington’s ‘Take the A Train.’ A master playing a masterwork. No one present will ever forget that moment. As it turned out, Ellis’ performance that evening was one of his very last. He joined the long, sad, impressive list of COVID-19 victims earlier this month. Talk about dynasties: This man, in addition to renowned Wynton, sired saxophonist Branford, who led the Tonight Show band for years and toured with Sting; trombonist Delfeayo and drummer Jason. They all could, and occasionally did, form a distinguished quintet. As the number of coronavirus deaths rises inexorably, there will be much discussion of its disproportionate toll on African Americans. It seems inevitable that other jazz giants will also fall, just one more vivid reminder of the dangerous, terrible times we are experiencing.
FOCOL is pleased to announce a dividend payment of 2 cents per share to all ordinary shareholders of record as of April 30, 2020 payable May 12, 2020 through THE BAHAMAS CENTRAL SECURITIES DEPOSITORY.
“Fuelling Growth For People”
PAGE 10, Thursday, April 23, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
UK SLAMMED OVER TESTING AND WARNED OVER SOCIAL DISTANCING CHARITIES AND LONDON Associated Press THE British government yesterday came under sustained criticism for responding slowly to the coronavirus pandemic as its chief medical adviser warned that social distancing measures may have to stay in place for the rest of this year and beyond. The government reported that 759 more hospital patients with the virus had died since the last update a day earlier, taking the country’s total to 18,100. In Europe, the U.K. is behind only Italy, Spain and France in virus-related deaths. The actual death toll is potentially thousands more since the British government does not include in its daily updates the people who died
in care homes or other settings outside hospitals. Daily figures for reported deaths suggest the UK is going through the peak of its virus outbreak, a view that Health Secretary Matt Hancock supported. The nation hit its highest reported daily death toll in hospitals of 980 on April 10. Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, said the experience of countries where infections surged earlier suggests there will not be a sudden fall in the number of daily deaths. Whitty also warned that social distancing measures may have to stay in place for at least the rest of 2020 as it’s unlikely a vaccine or anti-viral drug treatment for the new virus will be discovered any time soon. He said the probability
of either being available “in the next calendar year is incredibly small.” It will be up to ministers, he said, to decide upon the mix of measures when the lockdown restrictions are eased. “I think we should be realistic about that,” he said. “We’re going to have to rely on other social measures, which, of course, are very socially disruptive as everyone is finding at the moment.” Earlier, Keir Starmer, the new leader of the main opposition Labour Party, told lawmakers that a “pattern is emerging” in which the government has been too slow in putting the country into a virus lockdown, in testing people for the virus and in getting critical protective gear for medical workers. He spoke in the first
partially-online Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons as lawmakers sought to strike a balance between scrutinizing the government and abiding by social distancing guidelines. Labour lawmaker Barry Sheerman went further, slamming the government’s handling of the pandemic as “shambolic” — a sign that the multi-party political consensus that formed over the pandemic is fraying. The questions are coming as Prime Minister Boris Johnson convalesces at his country retreat following his week-long stay in a hospital receiving treatment for COVID-19. “You can’t have a void of decision-making,” said former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair.
It’s too soon to reopen, Trump tells Georgia ATLANTA Associated Press PRESIDENT Donald Trump yesterday said that he “disagreed strongly” with the decision by Georgia’s Republican governor to reopen salons, gyms and other nonessential businesses later this week, saying, “It’s just too soon.” Trump’s comments at a daily White House briefing marked an abrupt shift in tone. Just last week, the president urged his supporters on Twitter to protest against statewide closures in three Democratic-led states — at the same time that mostly Republican governors like Brian Kemp were taking steps to lift stay-at-home restrictions. Kemp announced earlier this week that as of Friday, elective medical procedures could resume in Georgia, and that barbershops, nail salons and
gyms could reopen with restrictions. Limited in-restaurant dining is scheduled to resume on Monday. The announcement immediately prompted pushback by Atlanta’s Democratic mayor, other political opponents and health experts who warned that the state has not yet taken the steps recommended under federal guidelines to reopen the economy safely. Georgia ranks in the bottom 10 US states in per capita testing for the coronavirus. Officials are struggling to increase testing for new infections and boost tracking of those in contact with infected people. If that isn’t done, health officials said, the state risks a quick rebound of COVID-19. “The virus moves faster than government does,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns
PRESIDENT Donald Trump speaking at the White House yesteday Hopkins Center for Health Security. “So if I had to bet on who would come out of the gate faster, it would be the virus.” Trump has been stressing
the importance of reopening states sooner than later to get the U.S. economy back on track and his administration recently announced a three-phase plan for making that happen. He also had health experts working with his administration present a lengthy briefing last week to show that states would have the testing capacity necessary to track and contain infections and start lifting restrictions. But yesterday he said he told Kemp that he had misgivings over the governor’s plan to reopen quickly. He also said that he would not stand in his way. “I want him to do what he thinks is right,” Trump said. “But I disagree with him on what he’s doing. ... I think (opening) spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barbershops in phase one ... it’s just too soon.” Kemp responded in a tweet that he appreciated Trump’s guidance but would move forward with his plan. “Our next measured step is driven by data and guided by state public health officials,” the governor said. “I am confident
that business owners who decide to reopen will adhere to minimum basic operations, which prioritize the health and well-being of employees and customers.” Trump’s reopening guidelines recommend 14 days of declining new infections before moving to the reopening phase that Kemp has called for. That means testing health care workers and people showing symptoms, as well as screening others not showing symptoms. The number of tests administered in Georgia had plateaued between 3,500 to 4,000 a day. However, on Wednesday, the state reported almost 6,000 tests over 24 hours, with Kemp saying on a conference call with Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler that Georgia was “really ramping up” its capacity. State Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said the state will expand its ability to “aggressively” trace the contacts of infected people. “This is the way we’re going to keep spread from occurring, even as we begin to gradually open up the state,” Toomey said.
NONPROFITS FACE HUGE CHALLENGES NEW YORK Associated Press
WHILE celebrities and billionaires have announced huge gifts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many charities and nonprofits are still struggling. Donations to some churches have plummeted, and many charities have had to cancel crucial fundraising events such as galas, bike races and walkathons. There’s plenty of big-time philanthropy: Nine-figure gifts for coronavirus relief efforts — including food banks and medical research — were recently announced by billionaires Jeff Bezos, George Soros and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Nonetheless, nonprofits are facing hard times amid prolonged lockdowns and a floundering economy. “The arts and culture sectors are in trouble because they can’t earn revenue from performances and exhibitions,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. “Colleges and universities are worried — are people still going to see them as indispensable institutions?” In hard-hit New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is bracing for a $100 million shortfall. The Metropolitan Opera has canceled the rest of its season, stopped paying the orchestra and chorus, and launched an emergency fundraising drive. Those two Mets, and comparably large nonprofits, will almost certainly survive. Palmer isn’t so confident about some smaller organizations that have had to cancel fundraisers. “Some of them are one benefit away from not being able to pay the bills,” she said. Some religious groups are anxious as online worship replaces in-person services. The Catholic Archdiocese of New York has reported a 50% drop in cash donations and warned that some parishes will struggle to stay open. Nashville-based LifeWay Research, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, surveyed 400 Protestant pastors in late March. More than 90% said they had halted in-person services; more than half said donations from their congregations had decreased from earlier this year — often by more than 50%. Catholic Charities, which operates nationwide and employs 55,000 people, does its own fundraising separate from parish collections. CEO Donna Markham says it’s a constant struggle to meet increasing demands for shelter and food programs, and some regular donors give less.
SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020
Buddy Hield hopes to face off with ‘Splash Brothers’ By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
T
he NBA season may be on hiatus but Buddy Hield relishes the opportunity to compete against what some call the best shooting backcourt of all time to prove himself as the top three-point shooter in the league. Hield appeared on the debut episode of “Wire to Wire: Warriors vs Kings” on NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California to discuss the California interstate rivalry, particularly, the February 25 matchup at Chase Center. Hield finished with 19 points, including five made three pointers in the fourth quarter of the Kings 112-94 win. The 2020 three-point champion is known as one of the top marksmen in the sport, but said he hopes to one day defend that title against past champions and fellow elite shooters - Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry previously won the 3-Point Contest in 2015, while Thompson won in 2016. Hield said he looks forward to facing both in future editions of the event. “I think it’d be better going against them and
SACRAMENTO Kings’ Buddy Hield holds the trophy after he won the NBA All-Star 3-Point contest in Chicago on Saturday, February 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y Huh)
winning it, because they’re such great shooters,” Hield said. “Probably two of the best shooters to ever play our game. And hopefully one of these days we can all go in there one time and see what everybody is about and have that big challenge.” “Wire to Wire: Warriors vs Kings” airs on NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday at 10pm and NBC Sports California on Wednesday at 10pm. Earlier this season, Hield shot 9-10 from beyond the arc, and became the fastest player in NBA history to make 800 career threepoint field goals. He accomplished the feat in just 296 games to surpass the mark set by Stephen Curry, who did it in 305 games. In his four-year career, Hield has made more three-point field goals than any other player in his first four NBA seasons with 830. He surpassed the previous record of 828 set by Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. Curry currently holds the record for most three-point field goals made in a single season with 402 set in 2015-16. He also ranks third
SEE PAGE 13
Davis opts to transfer from Texas-Arlington Mavericks By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net RADSHAD Davis has chosen to enter the transfer portal and will conclude his NCAA Division I basketball career with a new programme. Davis has opted to transfer from the Texas-Arlington Mavericks following a two-year stint in the Sun Belt Conference. The 6’4” wing will enter his new programme as a grad transfer and has already reportedly drawn interest from several schools, including BYU, SIU, FIU, Portland State, New Orleans, James Madison, Morehead State, Morgan State, New Mexico State and others. Last season, the Mavericks were eliminated in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament as their season came to
an end in heartbreaking fashion. The10th-seeded Coastal Carolina Chanticleers upset the No.7 Mavericks 63-62 in the opening round. Davis finished with seven points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. Fellow Bahamian Ahmard Harvey did not see playing time for Coastal Carolina. Davis averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on the season. In February, he finished with 15 points and was a perfect 4-4 from three-point range in a 68-54 win over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. It tied his previous mark for the most in his Maverick career. He posted two double doubles on the season highlighted by a season-high 19 points and a career high 14 rebounds to lead UTA to a
RADSHAD DAVIS
SEE PAGE 13
Russian runs around his bed for more than 10 hours By KOSTYA MANENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian man in the far eastern city of Vladivostok ran circles around his bed for more than 10 hours in an effort to replicate completing a 100-kilometre ultramarathon. Experienced ultra-runner Dmitry Yakukhny had planned to run the 250-kilometre (155-mile) Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert this month, but instead found himself stuck at home after
the race was postponed to September because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yakukhny spent 10 hours, 19 minutes running around a double bed in his apartment on Saturday. He said he was inspired by a Frenchman who ran a marathon on his balcony last month, but decided to take it further. Running such a small circuit in a confined space was a challenge. “My head started spinning and my leg was aching on one side, so every 10 kilometres (6.2 miles)
I changed the direction I was running,” Yakukhny told The Associated Press yesterday. “I had the support of my family. Normally on an ultramarathon like that you’d be running with a rucksack between food stations. Here I just waved a hand and my wife cooked something,” he said. “The kids gave me moral support and my wife was the DJ, changing the music all the time.” Yakukhny said he used a tracker which showed he ran just over 100 kilometres (62 miles). After
some viewers following his regular Instagram updates doubted he could have covered that distance, Yakukhny said there could be a “discrepancy” with the device working indoors, but said that didn’t take away from his 10-hour feat. “It’s not the Guinness Book of Records. I was running for myself,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to trick anybody.” Russia has been on extended lockdown in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
PAGE 15
POITIER WAS ‘A SPORTING GIANT, TRAIL BLAZER’ THE Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture extends heartfelt condolences on the passing of the late Kingsley Poitier, who passed away on April 19. Son of the soil and bodybuilding champion, Mr Poitier is remembered as a sporting giant and trailblazer having achieved among his many accomplishments the title of The Bahamas ‘‘1965 Mr World odybuilding Champion’ and induction into the National Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. In our early era of sports development in the country, Kingsley was already demonstrating the tenets of what it took to become a champion. Dedicated and committed to his unique ability to sculpt his body, Kingsley would go on to establish himself as one of the top, elite bodybuilders of the world, evidenced when he would win the ‘Most Muscular’ award at the 1962 Mr Universe competition in New York. Two years later, in 1964, Kingsley would go on to again win the ‘Most Muscular’ award at the Mr World competition in Montreal, Canada. These tremendous performances alone broke new ground for Bahamian bodybuilding and marked the first time that a Bahamian had achieved any kind of international recognition in the sport of bodybuilding. In 1965, before a large audience which filled the Paul Sauve Centre in Montreal, Canada, Kingsley would give the performance of his life. He dominated the stage and captured the prestigious international title of Mr World. In 1966, along with eight other sports trailblazers (Thomas Robinson, Durward Knowles, Sloan Farrington, Cecil Cooke, Gomeo Brennen, Timothy Barrett, Fr Marcian Peters, and Andre Rodgers), Kingsley was recognised for his outstanding achievements during the official opening of the Sports Centre (currently known as the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre). Later, attaining the title of Hall of Famer, Poitier was recognised as a national builder for his outstanding accomplishments and contribution to the development of our national sports landscape, and in particular the sport of bodybuilding. A sportsman worthy of honour, Mr Poitier has served as an inspiration to many, and has left an indelible mark on the Bahamian sports brand. On behalf of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture we extend condolences to the bereaved family, the Bodybuilding Federation, and the entire sports community as we mourn his passing. May his soul rest in peace.
PAGE 12, Thursday, April 23, 2020
THE TRIBUNE
Mental stress for athletes: From ‘let’s play’ to ‘stay home’ By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The flu-like illness Michael Jordan fought through to lead the Chicago Bulls to a crucial victory in the 1997 NBA Finals created instant fodder for the virtue of perseverance. Pushing past boundaries, overcoming obstacles and adversity — that is part of the ethos of major competitive sports. That is how elite athletes become wired to win. It is also in direct conflict with the medical wisdom currently steering society in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Think about Jordan’s “Flu Game” through the lens of the pandemic and social distancing. It’s jarring. Seasons have been on pause for weeks with no end in sight. So, too, has the competitive drive of tens of thousands of the world’s best athletes, the bottle corked by simple, sobering orders: Back off. Stay home. “This flew in the face of what they had been taught and socialised to do, which is, ‘Let’s play,’” said John Tauer, the men’s basketball coach and psychology professor at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. The safety of the living room replaced the comfort of the arena. “You really don’t know what the next day holds,” Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel said. “Every morning you wake up, you don’t have to go to the rink, you don’t have to perform. ... You’re just trying to stay busy and keep your mind in a good, healthy place.” Eichel has spent some of his quarantine time reading
“The Mindful Athlete,” a book by sports psychologist George Mumford, who worked with the Bulls and taught Jordan the art of meditation. More than two decades later, the brain plays a much bigger role in the way teams teach and guide their performers. Maintaining mental fitness during the pause could be as critical to success as remaining in peak physical condition simply because athletes are facing anxiety in unprecedented ways. “This may not be a crisis for many of us yet, but it’s still a big enough shift from our daily lives where it causes us to reflect and begin to say, ‘OK, when you pull something away from me that I identify with, how is this working for me? Is this going the way I want it to?’” said Justin Anderson, team psychologist for the Minnesota Timberwolves. In an occupation built on physical performance, athletes have a short career window, and opportunities to excel are few. For all the financial cushion many have, the identity loss during the shutdown has been severe. Their most elemental function as an employee has disappeared. In the NFL, a letter from the league and the players’ union sent to players this month included advice on how to deal with the angst, addressing loneliness, stress and other subjects. The global union for soccer players surveyed members and found increased levels of anxiety and depression. “It’s a really strange environment, especially for athletes when they are used to being on the field, used to being in the gym, used to working out every day,”
CHICAGO Bulls Scottie Pippen, right, embraces an exhausted Michael Jordan following their win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, in Salt Lake City, on June 11, 1997. (AP Photo/Jack Smith) said Carlos Bocanegra, Atlanta United’s technical director. College and high school athletes were hit hard, their careers framed by eligibility limits. Last month, when the NCAA shut down all activity, coaches scrambled to keep tabs on their players and keep spirits up. Tauer’s team, ranked fourth in Division III, was supposed to play rival St John’s in the national tournament until it was cancelled. In his season-ending speech, he encouraged his players to apply their unique experience of being on a team toward the new reality. “Let’s do what a
great teammate does, and that means think about the greater good as opposed to what my immediate wants might be right now,” Tauer said. The Timberwolves made player wellness one of their top priorities when Gersson Rosas took over a year ago as president of basketball operations. He envisioned an innovative, holistic approach to player development to support the pursuit of a championship. When the pandemic prompted the NBA to suspend the season, the Timberwolves were mired at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Off the court, however,
they were prepared to help keep the team as intact as possible while forced to sequester. “Long before this happened, we valued certain things that in a crisis become even more apparent and important,” said Robby Sikka, the team’s vice president for basketball performance and technology. Sikka cited valuing the players’ health and nutrition, being playercentric and family oriented from the beginning. The job created for Sikka — to integrate medical, technological and analytical knowledge and resources for improving wellness off the court and performance on it — has been vital. The week before the league shut down, he warned players, “This will be your 9/11.” Since then, he has helped coordinate player efforts to not only stay in shape with the practice facility closed but make sure mental health needs are being met. He sees it as setting up lifelong coping skills. Anderson has paid particular attention to anxiety management. “It’s not something you either have or you don’t have. It’s something you develop, much like their shooting percentage or any other skill that they’re working on,” Anderson said. Just because they’re some of the greatest athletes in the world doesn’t mean they don’t have flaws. “At the end of the day, they have families, they have needs, they have challenges, that, if we choose to ignore them, we’re choosing to ignore them as individuals,” Rosas said. “That’s an area where we don’t want to fail.”
AUSTRALIAN RUGBY PUSHES AHEAD WITH MAY 28 NRL RESTART SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Rugby League commissioner Wayne Pearce says players in the top-flight national competition will be back in training early next month and organisers are pushing ahead with the planned season re-start on May 28. After two days of commission meetings and a telephone conference with the chief executives of NRL clubs, Pearce yesterday said the finer details of the competition structure were still being finalised but, “everyone is supportive of what we’re doing. Everyone is unified into getting back on the field.” “We reaffirmed that May 28 is the starting date for the competition. We also confirmed that teams will be able to train from May 4,” he said. The NRL competition was suspended last month after two rounds played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic. Strict international and domestic travel restrictions and social distancing policies meant group practice sessions at all clubs were cancelled and teams from New Zealand and Queensland state basically went into lockdown. Sports leagues and events around the world have been cancelled or postponed during the pandemic, although baseball leagues in Taiwan and South Korea have either just resumed or are about to start. Pearce said government authorities he’d been dealing with supported the resumption of the league.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 13
ANALYSIS: EXPECT COLLEGE FOOTBALL TO TAKE SLOW ROAD BACK By RALPH D RUSSO AP College Football Writer WHILE professional sports leagues can ponder plans to isolate their athletes from the coronavirus and have them play in unusual, even secluded places, college sports have no such option. Pro sports leagues can get creative with solutions to save their multibilliondollar businesses. College sports will take a slower road back. “The most at risk sport of starting up again, in my opinion, is collegiate athletics,” said A.J. Maestas, the CEO of Navigate Research, which consults with professional sports leagues and college conferences. “There is less of an incentive and less alignment with the ultimate mission of the entity they work at, live at. That fund them.” The commissioners of the 10 Bowl Subdivision
conferences made it clear to Vice President Mike Pence last week: There cannot be college sports played if campuses are not open. If university leaders do not deem it safe for students to return to classrooms and dorms, locker rooms and practice fields will also remain closed. As big as the business of college sports is it is dwarfed by the business of higher education. For example: The University of Alabama’s budget in fiscal 2018 was $1.03 billion. Its athletic budget in 2018-19 was $164 million. “You think of all the stakeholders and constituents in the collegiate space and all the missions they’re meant to serve in. This sports thing is like 3 per cent of their budget,” Maestas said. Colleges and universities, for the most part, have been quicker than governments in enacting measures to slow the spread of the virus.
FANS cheer for an NCAA college football game. (AP) They sent students home, extended spring breaks and shifted to online classes weeks before widespread bans of large gatherings and stay-at-home orders by governors and mayors. Even before the NCAA cancelled its basketball tournaments and spring sports March 12, schools were shuttering campuses. Fast forward to the fall, when the hope is many businesses and routine parts of daily life will be operating again, even if not back
to business as usual. That doesn’t mean colleges will be rushing to get students on campus. If they were first to shut down, they could also be among the last to reopen and it will be university presidents, not the NCAA, making those decisions. Schools would take a significant financial hit by continuing to operate online only, but balance that against the legal and ethical liability they could face by being the catalyst for reigniting an outbreak. “I think they do have to be conservative in how they approach this,” said attorney Tim Nevius, a former college baseball player and NCAA investigator who now represents and advocates for college athletes. If, come September, the students are physically going back to school, even then there will be hurdles to clear for football to start. “Large gatherings of people are going to be the
last thing we check off the box,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said last week when asked about Ohio State football games. So play without fans? “It isn’t appropriate for us to play college football without fans. If that were the case, it would mean there would be major reservations about group gatherings,” Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips said on the Paul Finebaum Show, echoing a sentiment that is also becoming popular among administrators. In professional sports, players are well-paid and unionised. Essentially, they are business partners with the leagues. Players have to sign off on any return-toplay plan, and they might be motivated to take some risk to get paid. In college sports, the relationship between the players and the schools, administrators and coaches is almost paternal.
“In framing it that way it restricts athletes’ rights,” Nevius said. “So it prevents them from being considered employees. It reduces their economic rights. It frames things so that the athletes also think that they are in this caretaker environment so they have to rely upon the coaches and the schools to advance their rights.” “But that is not always the case with the big business of college sports,” Nevius added. Later this week, the NCAA is scheduled to reveal some details of a plan to begin allowing college athletes to be compensated for use of their names, images and likenesses. The earliest it would go into effect is 2021-22. Yes, college football players with professional aspirations have much to gain by playing. But not paychecks. And their scholarships are good whether they play or not.
SEC POISED TO BREAK OWN NFL RECORD FOR 1ST-ROUND DRAFT PICKS By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer GAINESVILLE, Florida (AP) — The Southeastern Conference is expected to shatter two of its own NFL draft records. The football powerhouse could have as many as 16 players selected in the opening round tonight, a number that would top the previous mark of 12 the league set in 2013 and matched four years later. The SEC also could break its record of total guys drafted (64) set a year ago. The SEC’s most promising crop to date is flush with players from Alabama and LSU, and includes the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and next-level starters — maybe even stars — at nearly every position. “I think we’re all aware of that and aware that’s not going
to stop anytime soon in terms of how strong the conference is,” said Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who spent two years (2011-12) as an assistant at Florida. “Everybody talks about the whole Power Five in general. The fun part in scouting, they may get a lot in terms of the first-day stuff, but there are guys from all over. ... “The SEC may lead the way early, but there will be good players selected in a bunch of rounds.” No doubt. But could the heavyweight league really have as many players drafted in the first round as the rest of college football combined? Oddsmakers list the over/under at 15½, with the under (minus165) being the favourite. A $100 bet on the under would yield a $160 payout. • Here’s a look at the conference’s potential first-round picks,
including the ones who could help gamblers cash in on the over (plus-125): LOCKS (in order of expected selection) — QB Joe Burrow, LSU: Heisman winner and national championship game offensive MVP as much of slam dunk at No. 1 as Andrew Luck in 2012. — QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama: Injury-prone lefty was top NFL prospect until dislocated hip ended his 2019 season. “Because he’s had so much success, he doesn’t give up on a play,” ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. “In the SEC, he got banged up. In the NFL, he’ll get destroyed. He knows that, and that’s going to be an area he’s going to have to really work on to fine-tune. “But I’m telling you, man, this kid’s accuracy, his touch, his
intangibles, there’s a lot there to fall in love with.” — DT Derrick Brown, Auburn: Big man with tremendous first step and loads of upside. “You could very easily make an argument he’s the third-best player in this draft,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. — OT Jedrick Wills, Alabama: Widely considered best offensive lineman in draft. — CB CJ Henderson, Florida: Has athleticism and ball skills to be as good as Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah. — WR Henry Ruggs, Alabama: Speedy wideout (think Tyreek Hill) should instantly make an offense more dynamic.” “Everybody knows about the speed, but I think what people lose sight of is this kid has got natural hands,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “He has outstanding hands.”
— WR Jerry Jeudy, Alabama: Precision route-runner could go before Ruggs. — DT Javon Kinlaw, South Carolina: In relatively shallow pool of interior D-linemen, top two guys are from SEC. — OT Andrew Thomas, Georgia: Three-year starter for Bulldogs will be plug-and-play guy at next level. — LB/DE K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU: Could go higher considering there are so few edge rushers projected in first round. — WR Justin Jefferson, LSU: Burrow’s favourite target finished with 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. — CB Kristian Fulton, LSU: Had team-high 14 pass breakups for national champions. — LB Patrick Queen, LSU: Expected to be one of four Tigers defenders drafted in first round.
BUDDY
from PAGE 11
SACRAMENTO Kings’ Buddy Hield looks to the basket during basketball’s NBA All-Star 3-Point contest in Chicago on Saturday, February 15.
Davis opts to transfer from the Mavericks FROM PAGE 11 78-58 win over the Warhawks in the second meeting of the season. He also reached a personal milestone in the game when he highlighted his stellar performance by reaching 1,000 career points. Davis entered the game needing 17 points to reach 1,000 for his career - 36 games at the junior college level at Missouri StateWest Plains. Davis reached the 1,000 points on a 3-pointer from the baseline opposite the UTA bench with 6:44 remaining in the game and added another bucket for his final point total. As a junior last season, he averaged 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He finished second on the team in field-goal percentage at 51 per cent and shot 78 per cent from the free-throw line. He tied for the team lead in total rebounds (181) and concluded the year 2nd in per-game average. Davis hit the gamewinning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining at Coastal Carolina on January 12 and followed with three straight double-figure point games for the only time from January 24 to February 2. He posted a season-high 17 points and five assists versus Louisiana
on February 21 and finished with 12 double-figure point games. Davis was one of just three players to appear in all 33 games and made 10 starts. Prior to UTA, he played at the JuCo level with the Missouri State UniversityWest Plains Grizzlies. As a sophomore, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game against all opponents. He finished second in the region in both scoring and rebounding. He also received All-Region 16 first team.
BUDDY Hield points after winning basketball’s NBA All-Star 3-Point contest. (AP Photos/Nam Y Huh)
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(354 in 2018-19), fourth (324 in 2016-17), sixth (286 in 2014-15) and ninth (272 in 2012-13) on the top 10 list. Hield’s 2018-19 season comes in at No.7 all time with 278 threes while Thompson is ranked No.9 with 276 made in 2015-16. In his championship winning 3-Point Contest, Hield executed a nearly perfect final round to become the champion last February in Chicago.
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The Grand Bahama native posted a final round of 27 points, and clinched the title on his final shot to defeat the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker in the final round of the Mtn Dew Three Point Shootout at State Farm All-Star Saturday Night. At the 2018 All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hield fell short in his bid to win the title in his debut. He reached the championship round but finished third behind second place finisher, Curry, and eventual champion, Joe Harris.
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MINOR LEAGUERS, COLLEGE PLAYERS GET CREATIVE TO STAY READY By JANIE MCCAULEY AP Baseball Writer ALAMEDA, California (AP) — Andre Nnebe hollers over the breeze coming off the bay behind home plate and announces to the group, “First pitch, 2:10!” The Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer thanks college catcher Eamonn Lance for showing up because now there can be live batting practice, something Nnebe hasn’t done since the coronavirus put a sudden halt on sports. “You saved the day,” Nnebe tells Lance. For this informal simulated game last week at a noted high school field, the catcher isn’t the only player wearing a mask. Nnebe stands in wearing a protective face covering, and same with the guy waiting in the on-deck circle. Nnebe and thousands more players like him are trying any way they can to stay ready amidst the uncertainty of whether there will even be a big league baseball season, let alone anything for the
game’s lower levels. They are trying to prepare while social distancing from 6 feet apart and without drawing a crowd as California is under a shelter-in-place order. For now, for 90 minutes anyway, Nnebe and seven others are in their element again, albeit far different than just six weeks ago. They relish talking everything baseball — the draft, how the ball is carrying, the future. Hearing that familiar crack of the bat is both refreshing and energising, briefly taking the players’ minds off the pressures and all that is going on in the world. They got a tip that the gates of Encinal High School’s famous Willie Stargell Field were open, and decided to give it a try. “This is the closest thing to a game,” says University of California senior pitcher Jack Delmore, from Alameda. “I haven’t been excited in a while.” Three Canadian geese stand in as infielders, playing the shift, no less. Dozens more continuously
JOEY Wagman pitches during an informal workout at Willie Stargell Field in Alameda, Calif. on Friday, April 17. Thousands of players are trying any way they can to stay ready amidst the uncertainty of whether there will even be a baseball season, let alone anything for the game’s lower levels. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) honk from beyond left field, No high-fives. No next to a dirt track that handshakes. has been closed because of The new norm. COVID-19, providing an Wagman previously impromptu rooting section. pitched in Oakland’s farm Multiple resistance bands system, then spent the past hang from the chain link two years in independent fence, cell phones perched ball. on tripods outside the batThe right-hander had ter’s box to capture video. been set to play for Israel in After Nnebe’s first round the Olympics this summer. of swings, Joey Wagman “Need a little break?” walks out to offer a squirt Nnebe asks Lance at one of hand sanitiser to Lance. point. “Let’s keep rolling,”
the Santa Clara catcher replies. It’s back to work. Wagman shoots video as Delmore pitches. Soon, it’s Wagman’s turn on the mound. He has a little fun with the hitters: “Just so you know, I don’t throw a cutter. That’s a four-seam.” “I feel bad to be a pitcher today. If it gets in the air it’s going 50 feet further than it should,” declares Nick Adgar, a free agent outfielder who had his senior season at Menlo College interrupted. Adgar plans to play in the Mexican League, where big league veterans Rajai Davis and Bartolo Colón were set to be this year. A day after this workout last Friday, Adgar and Wagman hopped a fence at Lincoln Middle School across town for more hitting work. They always have an eye out for available fields. The virus outbreak has forced athletes to get creative. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in
two to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems can experience severe illness, including pneumonia and death. “It’s just crazy,” Adgar says. “It’s the same thing every day so it’s stay ready for a date we don’t really know when. We should be playing games right now. With the uncertainty, we have to stay as ready as we can.” At 6-feet-6 1/2 and 240 pounds, Nnebe hears people compare his frame to that of New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, a star from California’s Central Valley. Nnebe, out of Santa Clara University, began his pro career last year and hit four home runs over 34 games in rookie ball for the Brewers. Nnebe and University of Washington right-hander Leo Nierenberg, both from Oakland, played catch at Lincoln Middle School last week, too. To get his swings in, Nnebe built a batting cage in the backyard at his house and ordered some basic gym equipment.
A LOST SEASON? MINOR LEAGUE TEAMS, PLAYERS FACE BLEAK FUTURE By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Mike Nutter is surrounded by questions everywhere he goes these days. So the longtime president of the Fort Wayne TinCaps is planning for each scenario he can imagine, one at a time. What does minor league baseball look like in the COVID-19 age? What happens if his Class A team plays only half a season? And the big one: What if there are no games at all? While Major League Baseball tries to figure out a way to play this summer, the prospects for anything resembling a normal minor league season are increasingly bleak. For minor league communities across the country from
Albuquerque to Akron, looking forward to cheap hot dogs, fuzzy mascot hugs and Elvis theme nights, it’s a small slice of a depressing picture. Attendance at minor league games last year was more than 41.5 million, a 2.6 per cent increase over 2018 and the 15th straight year with more than 40 million fans. Among the most popular teams in the minors is the Durham Bulls. But no club is immune from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Bulls recently placed more than half of their front-office staff on furlough. “I’m still holding out hope, but we’re also being realistic that the challenges we face over the next few months are pretty severe just because we are so spread out
around the country,” Bulls vice president Mike Birling said. “And we kind of need a perfect storm in terms all of the cities of where Triple-A teams are located would need to be OK, which that seems pretty unrealistic right now.” Nutter tackles each day with a focus on what’s most important to his San Diego Padres affiliate in the Midwest League, knowing full well how many people are dealing with more dire issues in Indiana and beyond. But it’s tough sometimes for a minor league lifer used to the grind of a pocket schedule. “There’s been times, early on, I was really struggling with it,” Nutter said, “and shared that with some co-workers. I would say stress and anxiety for sure, started to probably broach on the depression. I don’t use any of that lightly,
but the point is, like, so much, overwhelming is the right thing.” The uncertainty also weighs on players. The loss of a minor league season would be a tough blow for prospects, especially those just starting out in professional baseball. While major league organisations have more training possibilities than ever before, there is no substitute for live game situations. MLB and its players’ union are aiming to hold as many games as possible, offering a glimmer of possibility to some prospects who could be in the mix to help with a packed schedule. “Hopefully they’ll expand rosters or something like that for somebody like myself or whoever,” said Zach Short, an infielder in the Cubs’ organisation who reached
Triple-A Iowa last summer. “And then just go with it.” Short, from Kingston, New York, stayed in Arizona after training camp was cut short, sharing a house with fellow pros Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and Dakota Mekkes from the Cubs. They work out and play tennis together to help stay ready. Andre Nnebe, a minor leaguer in the Brewers’ organisation who expected to Class A ball this year, built a batting cage at his house in Oakland and ordered some basic gym equipment. He said he might try tying resistance bands to a tree to get in a strength workout. “It’s kind of fun being creative with it and finding ways to get work,” he said. “It’s probably the best way for me to pass time. There’s not much else to do right now.”
Davis, American boxers choosing delayed Olympics over pro riches By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Keyshawn Davis took several weeks to choose his path to boxing stardom after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the top professional prospect on the US Olympic qualification team was suddenly facing nearly a year without an amateur fight that mattered. He could wait 16 months for his shot at gold in Tokyo, or he could accept one of several lucrative offers to begin his professional career immediately. When Davis began his deliberation, the 21-yearold lightweight was leaning toward the pros. After speaking to family, coaches and his fellow fighters, he decided to keep his Olympic flame burning. “It’s just hard to say no to the Olympics,” Davis said from his home in Virginia. “That’s like passing up a deal right in front of your face that makes a lot of sense.” Every member of the US team agrees so far. Even with an extra year to wait, Davis and his 12 teammates are all still focused on Tokyo and the rewards of the Olympic experience. The Olympic postponement could have caused upheaval for many Western nations’ teams in an amateur sport that frequently loses its brightest talents to the pros, even in normal Olympic cycles. But US head coach Billy Walsh has managed to keep his whole team together for 2021 by selling his boxers on the promise of brighter pro futures if they show a little patience. “We’ve always had that challenge,” said Walsh,
the Irish coach who has restored the fractious US programme to respectability in his five years in charge. “Since I came here, we’ve turned that around a piece. We’ve given the guys the vision of first becoming an Olympic champion, as all the greats did back in the day, and using that for a platform to launch your professional career.” After decades of the pro game’s predation and innumerable scandals, amateur boxing is no longer the marquee Olympic event that catapulted Cassius Clay, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya to international athletic superstardom. Yet Olympic experience still turns heads within the sport — and it remains an enormously valuable commodity to boxing promoters, who pay higher prices for fighters they can promote with “Olympian” perpetually affixed to them like a new first name. And if a boxer manages to come home with gold, the game changes even more. Just ask twotime gold medallists Vasyl Lomachenko or Claressa Shields, who established thriving pro careers and claimed world title belts within months of their Olympic triumphs. “You can go now, and you’re going to have to take 20-odd fights to fight for a world title,” Walsh told his fighters recently. “You go get an Olympic gold, or if you have those Olympic rings on your shoulder, that will fasttrack you to world title fights. You’re a name. You’re known. You’re an Olympian.” Davis also relied on advice from Shakur Stevenson, the 2016 Olympic silver medallist who
trained with Davis on the way to Rio de Janeiro. With his Olympic fame, Stevenson got a title shot in his 10th pro fight and won a world championship in his 13th bout last fall. “He’s always the first person I call, because he was the one who helped me get on this road to the Olympics,” Davis said. “He was the one that was telling me, ‘Just wait it out.’ And after a while, just going back and thinking about it, he was right.” Stevenson emphasized the jump in competition when Davis moves from fighting fellow amateurs to seasoned professionals. Davis has the skill to win plenty of fights, but needs experience that the Olympic cycle can provide. Still, nobody knows when that cycle will spin again. Walsh and the US fighters realise no major competitions are likely to happen until next year, so they’re staying sharp for now with virtual workouts distributed on an app by their strength and conditioning department. When it’s safe for the team to gather in Colorado Springs, Walsh will do it. “Boxers are used to being in training camp and having a goal at the end of it,” Walsh said. “When that goal is taken away, it leaves them open to all sorts of things and ideas, so we try to give them that bit of structure. When you get to a certain age, six months isn’t long. For a 20-year-old, it seems like forever.” With his decision made, Davis already has a broad perspective on the months ahead. He is staying sharp in the gym, but he also has plans that will benefit his ultimate goal of becoming a significant, well-known pro fighter.
MIXED Martial Arts fighters Demetrious Johnson, left, of the United States and Japan’s Yuya Wakamatsu fight during their flyweight One Championship bout in Tokyo on March 31, 2019. The cage door is locked for the season on the Professional Fighters League, the latest combat sports promotion flattened because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
CAGE DOOR LOCKED ON 2020 PRO FIGHTERS LEAGUE SEASON By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer THE cage door is locked for the season on the Professional Fighters League, the latest combat sports promotion flattened because of the coronavirus pandemic. One Championship, Bellator and other regional promotions such as Cage Fury Fighting Championships all face uncertain start dates and have postponed or cancelled dozens of fight nights combined. UFC, however, has pressed on and President Dana White has insisted cards will run starting in early May, even from vague locations, such as its proposed “Fight Island” (a private arena somewhere offshore). The PFL has a unique MMA competition format that includes a regular season, a postseason and a championship event, meaning fighters could compete up to five times a year.
The tightened schedule forced the PFL’s hand to move on; the league decided on Monday to resume competition in spring 2021. Two-time Olympic judo gold medallist Kayla Harrison is its current lightweight champion. The PFL late last year signed former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. CEO Peter Murray said the decision helped give the roster a more definitive idea of the state of the promotion. Last year, the promotion staged six regular-season events, three playoff events and a championship event on New Year’s Eve. “We are in a position to maintain the majority of our roster, and for those that are going to continue with the PFL, we have put in place a programme for a monthly cash stipend to support our fighters,” Murray said by phone.
“We think it’s the right thing to do.” The 2021 season will be distributed on ESPN platforms in the US and to 160 countries by the league’s international media partners. The PFL said it will produce new programming across ESPN and PFL platforms for the rest of this year. Murray said there was no danger of the league folding and that it might even pop up in the fall for one-off special events. “We’re very nimble and we put together and very decisive and specific plan that gives us time to continue and evaluate what’s going on with the crisis,” he said. “Our focus has always been made-for-TV, will continue to be and we’ll further emphasise that.” The PFL said it would continue to use former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in some fashion after a successful partnership last season.
THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, April 23, 2020, PAGE 15
Agents, players pleased NFL draft wasn’t delayed By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer THE NFL draft won’t stop for anything. While some teams expressed concern about not being able to host players for in-person visits and having to conduct the three-day draft virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, agents and their clients are pleased it’s going on as scheduled. “From an agent’s perspective, by the time the draft hits we have already invested tens of thousands of dollars into the guys and their training, their housing, anything else they needed so for us to delay it, it’s scary because how much more then do we need to pay for?” said Molly McManimie, who represents UCLA running back Joshua Kelley and Oregon State tight end Noah Togiai. “Then we’d have to pay for training basically all over again because the training is set up specifically for a certain amount of time.” Leigh Steinberg and his agency represent 12 drafteligible players, including a pair of first-round prospects: Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Jerry Jeudy. He understands the hardships facing agents who have fewer clients. “The fee cap at 3 per cent in football combined with the necessity for an agent to pay for the training, housing, per diem from January through the end of April makes it financially very difficult to run a profitable business for most people that represent football players,” Steinberg said. “For those who represent players picked in the lower rounds or free agents, it’s very difficult and I appreciate that struggle.”
Agents say training could cost them up to $30,000 per player plus another $10,000 for housing and per diem. “Take 3 per cent of a $75,000 signing bonus or an $8,000 bonus for an undrafted free agent and the economics are very discouraging,” Steinberg said. McManimie lives in Las Vegas and was looking forward to having the draft in her hometown. “Health and safety way supersedes all that but we can keep things moving virtually and in a healthy and safe way,” she said. “It protects tons of jobs. The optics look bad, but it’s not just fun for some of us, it’s our livelihood, too. A lot of people are unemployed because the draft is happening and if we can keep things on track, we should. And on the other side of that, it’s something that people are going to be able to watch. It’s sports and it will lift spirits and give people something to look forward to.” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told NBC Sports last week: “It’s important to have normalcy.” Goodell ordered all team facilities closed in March, and later informed club personnel to conduct the draft from their homes. A practice draft was held Monday to test technology and communications. Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace was among those who initially hoped for a delay. “Once the decision was made that the draft is staying where it is, you just quickly flip your mindset,” Pace said. “OK, here’s the rules, we’re all under the same conditions, let’s make sure we’re one of the best teams at it. For me, the focus
RAPTORS’ VANVLEET SCEPTICAL ABOUT NBA SEASON RESUMING By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet is bracing for the suspended NBA season not to resume and if it does, he isn’t convinced health concerns can be adequately addressed as long as the coronavirus pandemic remains a threat. “I think everybody is just preparing for the worst case scenario, the season being cancelled,” Van Vleet said in a conference call yesterday. “We have to do what we have to do to try to shoulder the hit as best we can for us as players and owners and the league, while also working to try to resume as best we can.” Speaking from his home in Rockford, Illinois, VanVleet — a self-described sceptic — questioned whether a return to action could be carried out safely, and said he doesn’t relish the idea of playing in front of empty arenas. “I could play anywhere,” he said. “Do I want to play in front of no people? No, but does it really matter? At this point, I don’t think anybody is going to have a quarrel with what happens, as long as people’s health is first and foremost, which we know it probably won’t be. “If our league is going to be a leader in terms of public health and public safety and player safety, you’ve got to follow the guidelines of what the virus is speaking to you, so the odds are probably against us in terms of that,” VanVleet added. “But money, right? So, I think they’ll find a way somehow, some way and try to make it happen. I could definitely see it going either way. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t come back and I wouldn’t be surprised if we do come back.” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said player safety will be a top priority in whatever decision is made about this season while stressing that
everything is on the table. After last week’s Board of Governors meeting, Silver said “when you’re dealing with human life, that trumps anything else we could possibly talk about.” Chris Paul, the Oklahoma City guard and president of the National Basketball Players Association, has spoken with Silver often since the shutdown. Paul said yesterday that the union and the league are seeking answers, but they just don’t exist yet. “This is a situation where no one knows,” Paul said. “The virus is actually in complete control.” The coronavirus pandemic also will also have an impact on free agency. VanVleet was set for free agency this summer and acknowledged that he’s thought about it, but said he tries to keep it in perspective during the pandemic. He was averaging career-highs of 17.6 points and 6.6 assists in 48 games before play was suspended in March. “I think the league and the union will try to do a good job to make sure that the free agents this summer get a fair shake and there’s fair negotiating,” said VanVleet, who signed a two-year, $18-million deal to stay with Toronto before the 2018-19 season, when the Raptors won their first NBA title. “Obviously, we’ll probably all take a hit at some point, and hopefully the hit is just kind of minimised to this year.” Still, VanVleet was philosophical about the impact of lost wages for star athletes in an environment where millions of people worldwide are suddenly facing far more serious financial hardships. “I think people’s health and well being, and frame of mind, is a lot more important than a couple of million here or there, because we’re filthy rich compared to what we came from in the first place,” he said. “So I don’t think anybody’s crying over it.”
AGENT Leigh Steinberg poses for a picture at his office in Newport Beach, California, February 13. Steinberg and his agency represent 12 NFL draft-eligible players, including a pair of first-round prospects: Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Jerry Jeudy. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) has just been, hey, this is the draft and let’s go. We feel very prepared. We’re excited to get this weekend going.” The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the clubs who lobbied the league to postpone the draft and general manager Kevin Colbert asked for three more rounds. But Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin have found some positives.
“I feel better knowing more about drafting the lower picks and free agent types than I did before,” Colbert said. Tomlin said “being quarantined” has allowed him to watch more video of players. “With that video at our fingertips, isolation has provided opportunities to take a deeper dive on players and there’s a level of comfort from that perspective,” he said.
Players are tired of waiting and eager to find out where they’re going to play. “I’m really excited,” Ole Miss defensive back Myles Hartsfield said. “I kind of get nervous because the future is not guaranteed but I’m staying relaxed, level-minded and focusing on what I can control.” Andre Odom has been on both sides first as a member of Chicago’s front office and
now as an agent with Athletes First. “I’m personally happy that the draft will go on because it’s a chance for these young men to experience what they’ve dedicated their lives to accomplishing,” said Odom, who represents LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson and Florida State’s Cam Akers. “It’s a surreal moment for them and their families.” San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch admitted having “conflicted feelings” about the draft going on. “You understand that people are out there hurting,” Lynch said. “They’ve closed their small business down. The real-life stuff that matters. They have people in their family who have been directly affected by this and at times I went through it. I’m sure a lot of people did. Like ‘What the heck are we doing having free agency? What are we doing having a draft?’ I will tell you after free agency, I can’t tell you how many people who called or touched base and said ‘Thank God you did that because it’s the only thing we’ve got to keep us entertained.’”