06202024 NEWS AND SPORT

FAMILY SHOCK OVER FATHER’S DAY DEATH

Man who took early shift to spend time with kids shot dead

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

GEOVANI Rolle worked an early morning shift at Jet Nassau on Sunday because he wanted to spend that evening celebrating Father’s Day with his two children, a 12-yearold boy and a six-year-old girl. He had planned to get them ice cream and take them to the movies, according to his sister, Melanie Rolle-Hilton. Instead, police said when Geovani, a line service supervisor, arrived at work around 6am, he was approached and shot multiple times by the occupant of

OPM: CONFISCATED PLANE WILL BE REPURPOSED FOR GOVT USE

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Office of the Prime Minister clarified that police confiscated a plane that will be repurposed for official government use and refurbished for $2.5m. Before the recent budget exercise ended in the House of Assembly last Monday, members of the opposition asked for details about a line item in the Ministry of Finance’s capital expenditure budget concerning $2.5m for a plane. Leon Lundy, a minister of state in the prime minister’s office, said the funds were for “the procurement of an aircraft to facilitate travel

Pintard says he would participate in a debate ahead of general election

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said he would participate in leadership debates before the next general election. He also confirmed his support for term limits for the prime minister. He said the FNM’s internal caucus must discuss fixed election dates, though he would support this if flexibility to accommodate unforeseen circumstances is allowed.

EVICTED RESIDENTS OF SHANTY HOMES STRUGGLE

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Chief Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MONTHS after the government destroyed her home in the All Saints Way shanty town, Roselyn, a mother of six, is still struggling to find a place of her own to shelter her family.

By LYNAIRE

“I just put some bed on the floor, and all sleep in the bed,” she said, adding that the mattress is too small

The mother and her children, one of whom has special needs, were left homeless in January when their home was razed by demolition crews in the community. They slept on the ground after the exercise because they had nowhere to go. She told The Tribune yesterday that she and her family are now sleeping on a single mattress at a friend’s home in the same community.

FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was released from Doctor’s Hospital yesterday and told reporters he “feels good”. Mr Ingraham was admitted to the hospital on Monday for emergency brain surgery after a CT scan revealed a blood clot contributed to headaches that also affected his dexterity. Doctors said he suffered from Subacute Chronic Subdural Hematoma.

Coalition of Independents protest BPL deal

THE COALITION of Independents party staged a protest in front of the House of Assembly yesterday and raised concerns about the government’s reform plan of Bahamas Power and Light ( BPL) along with other pressing concerns. COI leader Lincoln Bain said the BPL deal with Bahamian company Island Grid wreaks of corruption.

Photos: Chappell Whyms Jr

OPM: Confiscated plane will be repurposed for govt use

of government personnel throughout the Family Islands.”

When East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson asked for clarity “on whether the government is buying an aircraft to travel to the Family Islands,” Mr Lundy said details would “follow in short order” and added:

“That’s what specifically that $2.5m is allocated for.”

Yesterday, OPM said procuring the plane was a cost-saving measure to reduce the government’s monthly expenses.

“In certain cases, technical teams and officials currently face delays of two to three days when discharging government services on remote Family Islands while waiting for commercial flights to return to Nassau,” OPM said.

“These delays result

in increased lodging fees and per diems. By using the repurposed aircraft, the government can avoid these additional costs and improve the efficiency of its operations.”

OPM said air travel remains the most effective means of transportation and that the country must adopt creative solutions to logistical challenges.

“One such solution is repurposing seized assets and making them safely

usable,” OPM added. “The Royal Bahamas Police Force will also maintain, operate, and utilise the aircraft, ensuring its safety and reliability for government travel needs.”

Nonetheless, FNM leader Michael Pintard said it was worrisome the government had no details about the plane on Monday, but could release a statement “saying something fundamentally different.”

“It’s clear that they have to get their story straight,” he said. “It was represented to be funds for the purchase of an airline and they failed to disclose at that time that it was confiscated. The public had the clear impression that it was purchased.”

FNM deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright criticised the Davis administration for what he called “a lack of fiscal prudence,” saying the funds could have

been used for more pressing issues.

“Bahamians are quite disturbed that such an allocation was determined when there are so many other budgetary needs in other ministries such as social services, education, national security and others,” he said. “Why not an aircraft to assist with ambulatory services for emergency patient travel from Family Islands to the capital?”

PINTARD SAYS HE WOULD PARTICIPATE IN A DEBATE AHEAD OF GENERAL ELECTION

“I don’t believe it should be willy nilly that a prime minister determines any time of the year that he’s ready to go to election,” he said. “I think you need some predictability in the election system, so I’m not averse to it.”

He made the comments while a guest on Guardian Radio’s Morning Blend yesterday.

In opposition, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said he was prepared to debate Dr Hubert Minnis before the 2021 election.

Dr Minnis, however, never took up the challenge. Former FNM chairman Carl Culmer said there was no need for a debate.

Likewise, before the 2012 general election, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham declined to participate in national debates after Perry Christie agreed.

Ahead of the last general election, the University of The Bahamas partnered with Verizon Media Group to host a series of pre-election debates. All major parties participated except the Free National Movement.

Mr Culmer said party officials found several “critical defects” in the proposed debate format, including that only one for-profit media house was involved in producing the event.

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

MICHAEL Pintard said House Speaker Patricia Deveaux offered “distasteful and disingenuous” comments when she questioned why he defies her orders in the House of Assembly.

Speaker Deveaux said on Monday: “One of the things you like to do is to defy the order of this chair. I’ve taken it for a very long time, honorable member, and you still try and try. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman or a newbie or you just don’t think nothing of me.”

Mr Ingraham thanked his medical team, nurses and hospital staff after he was released yesterday.

“I feel good, no pain, no side effects,” he said.

During a press conference on Monday, Mr Ingraham’s medical team –– Dr Magnus Ekedede, Dr Adrian Cargill, and Dr Duane Sands –– sought to assure the public that he was in good health amid rumours that he was near death.

“I had the operation on Monday night, and I gave instructions on Tuesday that they should make a statement sometime during the course of the day,” Mr Ingraham said yesterday.

He said the rumours were unsurprising, adding: “I have come to expect that because it would not have been the first time. I have been dead in London before.”

Mr Ingraham is expected to fully recover within two to three weeks.

During an appearance on Guardian Radio’s Morning Blend yesterday,

Mr Pintard said Speaker Deveaux’s recent election to Parliament is not relevant to him, adding: “You have as much right to execute your job as possible.”

He added that the Free National Movement has a “solid track record” of empowering women at high levels.

He said the Speaker has not been impartial.

“The speaker should not seek to camouflage the biased behaviour that she has engaged in and our protest of that biased behaviour as being anything other than a firm disagreement with her willingness to not be fair in the manner in which she presides over the House of Assembly,” he said. FNM parliamentarians are concerned about how quickly the Speaker accepts requests to strike their comments from the record of the House of Assembly “without any valid reason,” Mr Pintard said.

“From their seat,

members like Fort Charlotte and on occasion from Freetown and others, in my view, bully the Speaker, and the Speaker then complies with their request by seeking to muzzle the opposition. We will not be muzzled no matter how much they try to mischaracterise us.”

Man who went to work despite positive COVID test loses dispute

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Industrial Tribunal dismissed the trade dispute of a man fired after showing up to work at Atlantis despite having a positive COVID-19 test result.

The tribunal ruled that Brock Bridgewater, a former croupier employed in the casino department at Atlantis for over 30 years, sealed his fate with his “impulsive and irrational decisions”.

Mr Bridgewater, a nonunionised employee, was employed by Paradise Enterprises Limited from January 4, 1990, until his dismissal on February 9, 2021.

In accordance with the law during the COVID-19

pandemic, he was scheduled to complete his weekly COVID-19 rapid antigen test at Doctors Hospital on January 22, 2021, before his 7pm to 3am shift.

After getting a positive rapid antigen test result, he was scheduled to take an RT-PCR test later that day and get the results via email.

When he completed his daily screener, which asked if he tested positive for the virus within the last 14 days, he answered no and went to work as scheduled.

Security guards granted him access to the hotel based on his daily screener response.

However, his supervisor, George Daley, later asked him why he reported to work despite his positive COVID-19 test earlier

that day. Mr Daley ordered Mr Bridgewater to report home to self-isolate until he received his RT-PCR test results.

The results arrived the next day and confirmed he was positive for COVID19. He was required to quarantine at home for 14 days. When he returned to work on February 5, 2021, he was suspended for four days amid an investigation. He was fired on February 9, 2021. His appeal was unsuccessful.

The tribunal acknowledged that Mr Bridgewater had no adverse reports against him during his employment at Atlantis and received several commendations, including employee of the month and employee of the year nominations.

In his witness statement,

Mr Bridgewater said after testing positive for COVID19 with the antigen test, he anticipated getting a call from his employer on the way forward. He said the results left him feeling puzzled and anxious.

“The witness repeated that he was of the belief that the respondent would not have sent him a daily screener knowing that he had tested positive for COVID-19 that day. It was the applicant’s testimony that he filled out the daily screener on that basis,” the tribunal noted.

“He insisted in hindsight that it was a mistake that he typed ‘no’ to the first question on the daily screener. The applicant was again asked by counsel for the respondent whether, on the day that he attended

work, he knew that he had COVID-19.

“The applicant curiously answered that he did not know that he had COVID19 because, in his mind, there was no way that he would receive a screening form if this were the case, as he would be blocked by the respondent’s system. The witness said that his being sent the screening form was confirmation that he did not have COVID-19 and that he could report to work.”

The tribunal found Mr Bridgewater “conveniently and deliberately” distorted details and the sequence of events as they unfolded. It said his misconduct and dishonesty were a blatant disregard of fundamental and essential conditions of the employment contract.

It concluded that he committed a repudiatory breach that went to the root of his employment contract.

“The tribunal finds that the evidence unequivocally showed that the applicant, having knowingly tested positive for COVID-19 on January 22, 2021, did not await the results of his confirmatory RT-PCR test but instead knowingly entered false information into the daily screener in order to conceal his positive COVID-19 status,” the tribunal said.

“The evidence further revealed that the applicant committed the aforesaid act in order to receive a ‘cleared for work’ screen and access the respondent’s property for his previously scheduled work shift.”

Officer testified that Gibson ‘reached for a gun then pointed it in their direction’

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter

THE officer who investi-

gated the 2022 fatal police shooting of Rashando Gibson, 31, testified yesterday that officers believed

the deceased matched the description of an armed robbery suspect. Sgt 3214 Melbert Miller said that after arriving on Shahs Drive and Goggle Eye Road on July 1, 2022, he spoke to Sgt Jamal Johnson and Corporal

Giovanni Davis, the subjects of the inquest.

He said the officers told him they were responding to calls of an attempted armed robbery in the area.

The officers reported that after pulling their vehicle over, they ordered

the deceased to show his hands and get on the ground.

They said while the man appeared to surrender, he reached for a gun from his waist and pointed it in their direction.

Sgt Miller said that out

of fear for their lives, the officers opened fire on the deceased.

Police previously testified that a black and silver Smith & Wesson pistol, reportedly belonging to the deceased, was recovered from the scene and

later found capable of firing.

Acting Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux presided over the inquest.

the evidence

FAMILY ISLAND AFFAIRS PS PRESENTS CHEQUE IN SUPPORT OF GB SCHOOL’S JUNIOR COUNCIL

PARLIAMENTARY

Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs, Leonardo Lightbourne (center, back) presented a cheque of $2,000 to the Junior Council of Sister Mary Patricia Junior High School, during the school’s graduation ceremony on Monday, June 17, 2024 at the Freeport Bible Church.

The funds will go towards the school’s pantry

distribution program, which the Council initiated as a part of its community outreach program.

During the presentation, Mr. Lightbourne paid special tribute to the Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School Council and its Coordinators. He noted that over the past year, Junior Councils participated in projects around their respective schools and communities. At the time,

all councils were asked to meet a list of requirements, including a three-minute video, highlighting their projects.

“By now, you all should know that your council placed third overall,” Mr. Lightbourne told the graduating class of 2024.

“A truly impressive accomplishment. And I congratulate you on your amazing achievement. You all should be proud

of yourselves. To the Junior Council members, I applaud your engagement and initiative in participating in local governance and community activities this past year. Your passion for public service and your willingness to work towards the development of your school

and community are the first steps to becoming future leaders in our nation.

“As you go forth in this graduation ceremony, embracing the possibilities that the future holds with optimism and enthusiasm, on behalf of my minister, Minister Clay Sweeting,

Minister of works and Family Island Affairs, I want to congratulate all of you. You are the future, and the future belongs to you.” The Class of 2024 of Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School held as its theme, “Breaking barriers through perseverance.”

Angelo Whitfield marshalled

K Melvin Munroe represented the officers.

PARLIAMENTARY Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs, Leonardo Lightbourne (centre, back) presented a cheque of $2,000 to the Junior Council of Sister Mary Patricia Junior High School, during the school’s graduation ceremony on Monday Photo:Lisa Davis/BIS

Family shock over Father’s Day death

a white Nissan Note. Police later arrested a 25-year-old man of Fire Trail Road in the departure lounge of the domestic terminal at the Lynden Pindling International Airport in connection with the murder.

Geovani died on the way to the hospital, surrounded by relatives who prayed for him and urged him to fight.

Mrs Rolle-Hilton said her brother, the youngest of her five siblings, was an active and caring father who loved attending his daughter’s swimming meets and playing basketball with his son. She said his children adored him and looked forward to spending Father’s Day with him.

“His son, who is 12, likes basketball and really looks up to his dad,” she said.

“His dad is tall and he always wanted to emulate his dad. His dad was his world.”

The close-knit family Geovani left behind is struggling to cope with the loss of someone they saw maturing and growing into his own.

Mrs Rolle-Hilton said she was asleep when her mother knocked on her door with the news that her brother had been shot. She grabbed her shoes

and ran to her car with her husband.

She later drove in the ambulance with her brother as paramedics fought to stabilise him.

“I just expressed to him how much we love him and how we wanted him to fight to stay with us, to listen to the sound of my voice, to pray in his mind, to think of his kids,” she said. “I just hoped it was enough for him to remain here with us.”

Mrs Rolle-Hilton said her brother was conscious for most of the ride. However, shortly before they arrived at Doctors Hospital, his condition deteriorated, and she realised he was in trouble. She said Geovani’s children are traumatised about losing their father, especially on Father’s Day.

“They know that they will never get another Father’s Day with him,” she added.

Mrs Rolle-Hilton said her five sisters –– “all very strong women” –– were protective of their younger brother. When her brother went out, she would often sit near a window sill waiting for him to return.

“Whenever he would pull up in his car, I would run in my bedroom so he wouldn’t know that I was, what he would call, mothering him,” she said. “I

will miss being able to do that.”

She said she and her brother never argued, and he was never angry.

Two weeks before he died, he began discussing with her a desire to start a business.

“We realised he was maturing so much,” she said, adding that the sisters were discussing financing his venture. “I knew how much he wanted it. In the last two weeks, he would always message me with ideas about what he wanted to do and was so excited about it.”

Geovani’s death was widely discussed on social media. Some claimed he was part of a love triangle.

Mrs Rolle-Hilton said she has avoided the social media chatter but has heard the story.

“I cannot speak to it, but I know my brother, and he doesn’t enter into things lightly, so despite what people might say or believe, it doesn’t give anyone a right to take a life, even if that is the case,” she said.

“As a family, we want the justice system to work for us to help us come to some sort of resolve in this matter because what has happened to our son, our brother, our nephew, is not something we would wish on anyone.”

EVICTED RESIDENTS OF SHANTY HOMES STRUGGLE

to accommodate the large family, so some children are forced to sleep on the floor.

She said they also lack the necessities to live comfortably.

“I have no place to bathe,” she said. “No place to use the bathroom. No nothing. I bathe outside. My stuff packed outside. My clothes packed by somebody.”

The family is uncertain about how long they can remain there.

Roseyln said she is still

looking for a new home. She said someone gave her $1,200 to find a place; another told her houses were near Cowpen Road.

The mother of six said she is not working, relies on others for help and is looking for a job. She said she is concerned about her future.

The government’s Unregulated Communities Task Force has overseen the demolition of more than 400 structures since the exercises began.

League of Haitian Pastors president Dr Jean Paul Charles told The Tribune

that many shanty town residents who sought help from churches have found living accommodations. Others, he said, have left the country. Government officials have repeatedly said that living accommodations will only be provided to Bahamians displaced by demolition activities.

It is unclear how many residents are still getting rental assistance. Social Services officials could not give this newspaper the latest numbers up to press time yesterday.

GEOVANI ROLLE

The Tribune Limited

NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI

“Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH

Procurement of plane deserves official clarity PICTURE

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972

Contributing Editor 1972-1991

RT HON EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B.

Publisher/Editor 1972-

Published daily Monday to Friday Shirley & Deveaux Streets, Nassau, Bahamas N3207

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WHEN is a purchase not a purchase?

When it’s a plane, apparently.

Leon Lundy, MP, who serves as minister of state in the Prime Minister’s office, stood up in the House of Assembly during the Budget debate to declare that $2.5m would be allocated for a plane to take government officials to the Family Islands.

What was the wording? Pay close attention.

He said that the funds were for “the procurement of an aircraft to facilitate travel of government personnel throughout the Family Islands”.

Plenty of people thought that meant to buy the aircraft – including East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson and, ultimately, Mr Lundy himself.

Mr Thompson asked for clarity on “whether the government is buying an aircraft to travel to the Family Islands”. Mr Lundy said: “That’s what specifically that $2.5m is allocated for.”

For what it’s worth, the definition of procurement in the dictionary is the action of procuring, management, contrivance, acquisition, getting, gaining.

Yesterday, the Office of the Prime Minister was singing a different tune –and quibbling over that definition.

Apparently, the plane we are talking about is one that was confiscated by the police – intriguing, we would love to hear more about the circumstances – and it will be repurposed and refurbished for $2.5m.

So it’s not a purchase cost of $2.5m –we guess a couple of million does not buy you much plane these days.

Although you can get 13 new BMWs such as Mr Davis is being chauffeured in for the same cost.

Certainly, we would love to know the make and model so we could compare with its purchase price. It sounds like we are getting quite a saving!

More savings too are promised because of the plane – meaning government officials are not stuck on islands for extra days of per diems as they await a commercial flight.

The FNM of course have jumped on the issue – Michael Pintard pointing out that frankly there are two very different stories being told.

There is a Parliamentary issue that matters in this.

www.tribune242.com @tribune242 tribune news network

Mr Lundy was, apparently, inaccurate in what he said to the House. When challenged as to whether the government was buying – note the word buying – an aircraft, he said that is what the money is for.

He should, of course, come back to the House to correct his error so that the House is not misled.

We have been here before in this very administration, however, with occasions when incorrect statements have been given to the House, notably with Alfred Sears over government advice on fuel hedging at BPL.

Mr Lundy may have been misinformed. He may have misspoke. But he should come back to the House and clarify the matter. It would equally only be right to accept questions on the subject to clarify any misunderstandings.

We hope such a process is followed. It would be the right thing.

Pleasing to see former PM doing well

We are delighted to hear that Hubert Ingraham is back out of hospital after having a blood clot removed from his brain.

We are further delighted that he was able to get into a car leaving the hospital on his own two feet and that he was able to talk briefly with those present to report he is doing well.

Whatever political divides there are in our country, we would hope there is widespread recognition of the service Mr Ingraham has given our country, and good wishes for his recovery.

Social media ran wild with claims that his condition was far worse than it turned out to be – and that may well be another lesson to be careful over what you believe, and who is the source.

Credit as well to the medical team that cared for Mr Ingraham. There was a time when such surgeries would not have been possible here in The Bahamas – with patients going to the US instead. It is a measure of the progress made by our country over the decades that a leading light of the nation chooses to be treated here instead.

Aesthetics impacting tourism

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I READ with interest Michael Pintard’s view that in spite of record visitor arrivals, our revenue is dropping, and would like to express one opinion for the reason. Forty or fifty years ago, this island was a beautiful gem surrounded by pristine aquamarine waters. The architecture was elegant, the streets were clean and it was attractive to the wealthy as a vacation destination, and wealthy people spend money.

The hotels had class, there were wonderful “over the hill” nightclubs where it was safe to go at night, and downtown Bay Street was rife with night life. The wealthy vacationers spent money in the exclusive Bahamian Club, the Porcupine Club, in the hotels and the boutiques on downtown Bay Street. Today, sadly, this island has

become dirty, crime ridden, and has generally deteriorated. The once beautiful, elegant homes have been destroyed and turned into hideous eye-sores. The once beautiful home opposite the office of the Prime Minister could have been turned into an elegant and gorgeous “boutique” hotel. Instead it is now an over-sized, hideous monstrosity, with another hideous monstrosity being built immediately adjacent to it. This decline in the aesthetics of our beautiful country, along with a complete lack of civic pride among so many, has led to a decline in the type of tourists we are now getting.

Cruise ship passengers generally speaking are not big spenders, mainly looking for a few inexpensive souvenirs. The sell-out of so many of our little cays to the cruise companies has kept

many visitors away from the mainland. And for those visitors who do come ashore and like to take a tour, what do they see? Hideous, ghastly, utterly tasteless, oversized bill boards! I am with Diane Philips all the way on this. They are so ugly and out of place they should be banned everywhere, except in certain commercial areas.

I am sure there are many who will totally disagree with my comments and say I am old fashioned and antiprogress. While progress is inevitable and necessary, if channeled in the right direction it can be beneficial without being destructive.

My two cents worth.

JOANNA ROBERTSON Nassau, June 14, 2024. PS - Don’t get me started on the surrey horses!

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WAS sickened to watch the way a sick, apparently depraved individual who is also a police officer, shot a girl’s innocent dog. This is not the first time I have sent such stories on the news and it sickens and angers me.

The police commissioner is always on TV talking about the criminals, but he also needs to address the actions and mental state of some of his officers. Many of them walk around like they are untouchable and they can do whatever they want to. Many of them treat people and animals like garbage! This should not be acceptable by any civilised Bahamian.

The police did not identify themselves when they knocked on the door according to the news report. Doing this would have allowed the girl to put the dog in a safe place or tie it. In other cases, the police have entered people’s yards and shot their animals when the animals are protecting their own territory. This is sick and depraved and

Killing family dog is sickening Hemp laws influenced by USA

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ACCORDING to reports in the print media, Prime minister Philip Brave Davis is reported to have said that “now is not the appropriate time to facilitate the recreational use of marijuana”. It was also reported that the US Virgin Islands has authorised the use of marijuana for recreational and sacramental use in January of 2023.

It does not take a genius to figure out who is pulling the strings. The (US) Virgin Islands is a (US)

this makes me think that we have some psychopaths walking around in police uniforms.

In the same way some of them are quick to shoot animals, they could possibly be quick to shoot people. There is no excuse for what was done. The police should be trained to respect people and their animals. Give people a chance to secure their animals.

The police commissioner must come out and condemn this. If he does not, he and his officers are apart of the problem we have in our society because they themselves would appear to condone gratuitous violence. I cannot respect people who are supposed to be upholding the law that act in this manner. We have laws on our books that prohibit animal cruelty, but in many cases the police are the ones breaking this law.

I pray that a wealthy person sees that story and

pays for that man to sue the police force all the way to the privy council. Why? Police officers need to understand that they are NOT untouchable, they cannot do whatever they want to, people and animals should be treated with respect. Police should do as much as they can to allow people to secure their animals.

The tourism minister is always on TV talking about heads in beds and investment, but I am sure if tourists in America saw that news story, they would be disgusted. In America they take animal cruelty seriously. They send firefighters to rescue cats in trees and on lamp poles. Animals matter in America and Europe and in many other countries around the world.

The mentality and bad bullying attitude that many of our police have must be addressed. Enough is enough.

Disgusted by the brutality of SOME Bahamian Police.

DISGUSTED Nassau, June 2024.

territory, and they have been given the green light to proceed with their legislation. But while the Bahamas is not a US territory, we all know that virtually no decision having international implications is made here without it being sanctioned first by our big brother to the north. Case in point, When traveling to our Family Islands - not to even mention the US - passengers are screened and searched before boarding. Well who do you think authorised that? We can

beat our chest and brag about being an independent country and sovereignty as much as we want; that’s the reality. Of course no government-past or present -would admit that openly. Someone once remarked that technically, we are just an extension of Dade County. Blame it on our size and our proximity to the US. Our light is still on red!

ZEPHANIAH

BURROWS Nassau, June 17, 2024.

BETTY Bach poses for the photographers wearing an ornate outfit on the second day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting at Ascot, England, yesterday.

Photo: Kin Cheung/AP

Pakistan’s High Commissioner says recognition of Palestine’s statehood a ‘step in the right direction’

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net

PAKISTAN’S ambassador to the US - who is also non-resident High Commissioner to The Bahamas - said Bahamian recognition of Palestine statehood is a “step in the right direction”.

The Bahamas recognised Palestine as a state in May, part of a global movement that has increased since war broke out in Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. Pakistan has supported Palestine statehood.

Masood Khan, who wants to boot bilateral ties through trade and investments, said yesterday:

“Many states have opted to recognise Palestine as a state. The Bahamas is one of them. I think it’s a step in the right direction. In Pakistan, we believe that a two-state solution is the only durable solution. There can’t be a one-state solution, and the Palestinians have to realise their

right to self-determination.

The time is now. We also are saying that a solution or a formula for establishing a state should be time-bound.”

Mr Khan noted that Pakistan and The Bahamas established diplomatic relations in 2005 but said more work could be done to strengthen the relationship.

Mr Khan is visiting The Bahamas for the first time this week. He said Pakistan wants to cooperate with The Bahamas on agriculture, information technology, education, financial services, and tourism.

He noted the two countries’ common challenges, such as climate change. In 2022, unprecedented floods rocked Pakistan, affecting 33 million people. The floods, he noted, lasted for two months and submerged one-third of the country, leaving many without a home, farmland, or belongings.

Mr Khan said The Bahamas and Pakistan share concerns about how highly industrialised countries contribute to climate change.

Antigua and Barbuda to host 55th regular session of OAS

THE Organization of American States has been invited to hold its 55th regular session of its general assembly in Antigua and Barbuda.

The invitation was extended by Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the US and the OAS, Sir Ronald Sanders, during a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council in Washington on June 18. The session would be held in June next year.

Sir Ronald highlighted the recent hosting of the UN Conference on Small Developing States less than a month ago, and said:

“The success of hosting the UN conference, and now inviting the OAS to come to Antigua and Barbuda, underlines the pride of our people in promoting global dialogue and contributing to international cooperation.”

He added: “Antigua and Barbuda eagerly anticipates hosting a vibrant assembly that will not only facilitate dialogue but will inspire decisive action and foster stronger bonds among the OAS nations, for the benefit of all, both large and small.” The invitation has been formally accepted.

HIGH Commissioner of Pakistan to the Commonwealth of Bahamas Masood Khan during an interview with Tribune reporter Jade Russell at the British Colonial Hotel yesterday.

Photos: Dante Carrer/Tribune Staff

Judith Thompson’s journey of faith, hope and tenacity

“As principal, my aim was to create an environment conducive to learning, and to instill good moral, social, and spiritual values in the students.” – Judith P Thompson

FOLLOWING the attainment of majority rule and on the cusp of independence, The Bahamas required a revolution in education at every level.

For generations, an unequal society failed to provide educational opportunity for the majority of the population.

In addition to the need for more schools throughout the archipelago, there was a need for scores of teachers and administrators to populate the primary, junior and secondary state schools. A new generation of educators arose, offering their talents and patriotism to help engender equality and social justice.

This generation joined stellar educators like DW Davis, Rodney Bain, Naomi Blatch, Timothy Gibson, Anatol Rodgers, Thelma Gibson, and other mentors who instilled in them a sense of possibility and excellence.

Judith Thompson nee Pratt was among this cadre of upcoming talent and excellence, who would go on to educate and to form tens of thousands of young people in a sovereign Bahamas. Last week, a grateful nation renamed Centreville Primary, where she served as head of school from 1968 to 1998, in her honour.

Judy Thompson, now 85, was born in 1939 to William and Vernell Pratt. She was born into a Bahamas suffering the indignities of colonialism and racial and gender inequality.

Along with many other Bahamians, she realised early the role of education in transforming individual lives and a nation. Along with her intellectual gifts, she possessed other instruments of hope including a loving and supportive family, and a steely religious faith that instilled in her the gifts of hope, love, and – tenacity.

She also possessed an air of innate dignity that she wore with humility and a gentle pride as a child of God, as a black woman, and as a Bahamian. This gracefulness was in evidence at the renaming ceremony where she was resplendent in her bearing as she beamed with gratitude to God and her former colleagues and students.

She teared as her grandson, Joel Sweeting, sang “The Goodness of God”, testifying to her enduring faith over eighth decades. It has been a long and exemplary journey.

Her education began at age four at the Henfield’s home on Mackey Street South. At five, she went to the Government Preparatory School. She completed Eastern Junior School, after which she finished her secondary education at Eastern Senior School under the direction of Donald Davis. She earned her Primary School Certificate in 1952 and her Junior School Certificate in 1953. As was noted at the renaming, she knew that teaching was her vocation from an early age. While many young people today are engrossed in social media, a young Judy, at 15, became a Pupil Teacher on the recommendation of Mr Davis.

As the struggle for majority rule and equality gathered pace, she

entered teacher training at the Bahamas Teacher’s College, where she earned her Teacher’s Certificate in 1956.

She was appointed as a trained teacher in 1957 at Eastern Preparatory School No Two. Her principal was Mrs Vernay Armbrister, who was a mentor, and under whose guidance her devotion to teaching flourished In 1968, a year after majority rule was attained she was appointed acting head teacher at Collins Avenue Infant School, later renamed Centreville Primary School. The appointment was a testament to her gifts and to the need for Bahamian talent to help lead a revolution in education.

A proverbial life-long learner, in 1980 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education, with Honours, from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.

Successful school leadership requires a complex of gifts: the ability to inspire a team, vision, discipline, fundraising skills, innovation, tenacity, political acumen, patience, resourcefulness, and others. Mrs Thompson possessed these in abundance. Moreover, she possessed one of the greatest gifts of an educator and mentor. She recognized cum discerned, and was able to mold the talents and skills of students and staff. She saw within them gifts they may have only perceived faintly. She nurtured their humanity and dignity. She exemplified the Jesuit educational principle of cura personalis or “care for the development of the whole person”. Mrs Thompson mentored a number of prominent Bahamians, national leaders, and a generation of teachers and administrators. The renaming was promoted by the alumni of the school, a number of whom were at the ceremony with their children, reveling in the occasion and taking photographs with Mrs Thompson. Centreville Primary was a

community, a sort of second home for her. Along with her staff, parents, alumni, and benefactors they transformed the school. She reorganised timetables to address shortages. She avidly raised funds for supplies and other material. She collected stamps from food stores to support school operations. She was an inveterate letter writer, who sent countless notes of encouragement. She was insistent on teacher development. Described as meticulous to a fault at times, she had no time for slackness and laziness. Her standards were high and clear. Soft-spoken and demure at times, she has a constitution of steel.

During her 30 years as principal, ten additional classrooms and a new administrative block were constructed. A library and music room were set up, grades four through six were added, a ParentTeacher Association was established, and various equipment was purchased. In full praise of others, she noted in her biography: “Over the years, the exemplary team of dedicated teachers, administrative and janitorial staff, and host of supportive parents, were vital to the school’s success”, whose motto remains, “Build Better –Aim High”.

As an educator, a citizen, a mother, a friend, a Christian, she is a bearer of the light. At the renaming she offered a master metaphor and vignette of hope. She recalled that when she first arrived at Centreville Primary there was a big rocky unsightly and dangerous hole in the ground.

She organised the finances and team to fill in and pave the hole. Fittingly, it was on that very site last week, nearly half a century later, that the renaming ceremony took place. Hope may tend to spring eternal. However, it is not automatic. It demands constant renewal and action. It requires tenacity.

For 44 years, Mrs Thompson served as an educator. It is this depth and quality of constancy of which hope is born and renewed.

The Judith P Thompson Primary School in Centreville maintains the ethos and spirit of the citizen educator whose name adorns the highly regarded and successful primary school, which has an outstanding record of student achievement.

Her immediate and extended family are rightfully proud of her legacy. She was married to the late Shervin Thompson, and had three children, Brent (deceased), Kim, and Scott.

She is Mom-Mom to eight grandchildren and four great-grand-children.

As she walked the campus after the ceremony and a luncheon, Mrs Thompson joyously remarked that she helped plant a number of the flowers now blooming in the schoolyard. Yet another symbol of the need to nurture hope over generations

One of the verses from “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, which was sung at the renaming, reminds us of that the God of mercy and love is faithful in every season:

“Summer and winter and springtime and harvest Sun, moon and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love…”

Great has been Judy Thompson’s faithfulness, in good and difficult and times, ever exemplifying hope and light for her our Bahamas. In gratitude, may a new generation of students, educators, and citizens keep faith with exemplars, like her, a loving patriot and woman of faith and constancy.

The renaming ceremony for the Judith P Thompson Primary School may be found online at YouTube.

FORMER educator Judith Thompson receive a painted portrait of herself from Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin at the Centreville Primary’s school renaming ceremony.

FORMER educator Judith Thompson speaks at a ceremony where Centreville Primary School was renamed in her honour. Photos: Chappell Whyms Jr

Remembering sports greats of the western US on the passing of legends West and Mays

MAYBE the greatest sports stars of the American West have passed in the past ten days. Willie Mays, possibly the most multitalented baseball player in history and talisman of the San Francisco Giants, died on Tuesday. And last week the great NBA “logo”, Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers passed away.

You’ll read and hear about Mays this morning and through the weekend. Much will be written about this man’s speed, slugging prowess, baseball intelligence and his defence. He was without peer.

But for many who recall his brilliance, it was Willie Mays’ exuberance and smile that made him unforgettable. Here’s more about West, and about his astounding achievements in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

And about California’s rise in American professional sports.

Among the greatest American cities, Los Angeles might be the most often discussed. As the center of the American film industry, LA forms the backdrop for hundreds of movies and television shows. It is full of glamour, traffic, the spectacular juxtaposition of snow-capped mountain

STATESIDE

ranges and glistening ocean beaches. This giant, sprawling metropolis might just be the closest urban representation of the American Dream.

And no one personified the American Dream in sports in Los Angeles like the legendary Jerry West, who died last week at the age of 86.

If it were a state today, Los Angeles County would rank eleventh in population among the fifty US states, following only California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. Geographically, it is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware. Economically, Los Angeles County has a larger economic Gross Domestic Product than all but five US states (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois).

Los Angeles has grown in size and influence as its core business expanded. But the entertainment business isn’t just the movies and TV anymore. As those industries exploded in popularity and influence after World War II, the American sports industry raced right along. Sports and entertainment – the first two initials of the phenomenon known around the world as ESPN – found anchor locations in America’s second largest city, starting around 80 years ago.

The first in a stunning series of sports franchise moves to Southern

California occurred in 1946 when the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles. (The Cleveland Browns were founded in that same year.) While the Rams have switched stadiums and even cities numerous times over the decades since then, their move west was the first transcontinental professional sports move.

The next big sports switch to LA was the dramatic move of the Brooklyn Dodgers from New York in 1958. This stunning manoeuvre was paired with the simultaneous move of the New York Giants - and Willie Mays - to San Francisco, and it shook New York City to its core. The largest US city was left with only Manhattan’s haughty Yankees until the Mets began life in Queens in 1962.

The promise of vast and eternal riches drew the owners of these baseball and football teams to the Golden State with its explosive population growth and surging economy.

Similarly, the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association announced their move to Los Angeles in 1960. The Lakers were the first NBA team on America’s West Coast. Over the ensuing decades, the team became, together with the Boston Celtics, the standard-bearer for the NBA as it grew in stature and popularity.

The Lakers rank second in the all-time NBA records for wins and winning

percentage, and hold the all-time record for most appearances in the NBA Finals (32). Until the Celtics beat Dallas in the NBA Finals this week to capture their 18th championship, the Lakers were tied in NBA championships with the Boston Celtics, winning 17 NBA titles, and with many more Finals appearances than the Celtics.

The Lakers team has included so many NBA legends, including George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Phil Jackson, Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

Even among that galaxy of NBA stars, one man stands out above all the rest. That would be Jerry West, the “NBA logo” whose angled dribble stance still serves as the emblem for the league and whose achievements as a player, coach, executive and consultant are rivalled by no one in the history of American professional sports.

West was a superb playmaker and scorer for the Lakers. He was a 14-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA selection. He succeeded as their coach. And later as their general manager, he surrounded Magic Johnson, James Worthy and

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with enough talent to win five NBA titles during the 1980s.

Nearly 20 years later, West then constructed the team that won three straight NBA titles from 2000-2003. That team was anchored by Kobe Bryant (a wise draft choice as a teenager from Philadelphia) and Shaquille O’Neal (lured to LA by West from the Orlando Magic).

The Lakers under West’s direction seemed to succeed as inevitably as did the Celtics under Red Auerbach. Stars from other teams were often willing to join LA in supporting roles to win a championship. Critical draft choices were acquired seemingly by magic. There were frequent unproven allegations that the NBA wanted and needed LA and Boston to succeed and somehow tipped the scales to make that happen. Other star players, coaches and executives came and went. Jerry West’s skill and hard work made him relevant for decades longer than the others. After a falling out with Lakers ownership at the turn of the century, West was still in high demand in his 80s, moving on to executive roles with the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and

LA Clippers. Here’s just one example of his wisdom: West’s refusal to sign off on a proposed trade of Klay Thompson for Kevin Love in 2014 kept the Warriors of Steph Curry and Thompson from breaking up before they went on their fantastic championship run from 2015-17. West selected Draymond Green in the second round of the NBA draft and later lured Kevin Durant to the Warriors.

West, still later in an executive role with the Los Angeles Clippers, managed to recruit the partnership of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. West was three times older than some of his associates.

As a teenager, Jerry West had won state high school basketball titles in West Virginia. He won at West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to the NCAA national championship game in 1959, which the Mountaineers lost by 71-70 to the University of California. He won with the celebrated 1960 US Olympic team, a team as dominant and hardly challenged as was the Dream Team led by Michael Jordan 32 years later. That 1960 American Olympic team won its eight games in Rome at the Summer Games by an average of over 42 points per game. West, Oscar Robertson and several other team members were inducted individually into Basketball Hall of Fame, as was the 1960 team itself as a unit, in 2010.

Basketball is in some ways America’s purest sports creation. Jerry West was its most versatile and accomplished practitioner.

Anticipation building for presidential debate

THE debate upcoming next week between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is likely to dominate American political discourse for the upcoming seven days and perhaps for weeks beyond. The agreement between their respective campaigns to toss out the previous sponsoring organisation and agree on their own rules signaled an eagerness by both men to get it on before a national CNN audience.

While personal animosities have not infrequently characterised the relations between American presidential candidates, the hostility and stylistic differences between Biden and Trump may be the most pronounced in modern US

history. These two really dislike each other. And they’re both supremely self-confident of flaying each other in the kind of individual oneon-one oral combat that epitomises debate. That seems to be why they agreed to this unprecedentedly early TV faceoff, to be held a week from today in Atlanta. Already, pundits are speculating about which rules will most benefit which candidate. Is the lack of a live audience most beneficial to Biden, for instance? The early views are mostly supportive of this theory. But Biden is a lifelong politician who thrives by stirring an audience. It is assumed that

Trump will wilt without an adoring crowd. Suppose it is Biden who fades instead?

There is much discussion also about the ability of moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper to mute the candidates’ microphones if they are exceeding their allotted time or simply misbehaving. Again, this is widely seen as an advantage for Biden, since Trump is so rude and snide on a debate stage. But what if Biden tries to rebut some of his opponent’s outright lies during the debate and cannot because his mike is muted?

There is little doubt this debate will draw huge audiences. They might get surprised more than once.

with Charlie Harper

WILLIE MAYS

JERRY WEST

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A 68-YEAR-OLD man was imprisoned yesterday after he was accused of raping a 45-year-old woman in Eleuthera last week.

Chief Magistrate Roberto Reckley charged Christopher DeRoo with rape and two counts of indecent assault. DeRoo allegedly had

WOMAN

sexual intercourse with a woman in Eleuthera without her consent on May 4. The defendant also allegedly assaulted the woman twice in May. DeRoo was informed that his matter would transferred to the Supreme Court by voluntary bill of indictment. His VBI is slated for service on September 19. Terrell Butler represented the accused.

AMERICAN MAN FINED FOR FAILING TO DECLARE $25K ON DEPARTURE

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

AN American man was fined yesterday after admitting to failing to declare $25,252 while trying to depart the country last week.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Texas resident John Hill, 51, with making a false declaration. Hill, while travelling home through Lynden

Pindling International Airport, made a false declaration to the US Customs and Border Protection officer on June 18.

After pleading guilty to the charge, the defendant was fined $700 for the offence and risks one month in prison if he fails to pay.

The defendant was informed that the money seized by authorities would remain forfeited to the crown.

MAN ACCUSED OF POSSESSION OF A LOADED FIREARM AND AMMO

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was granted bail yesterday after he was accused of having a loaded gun over the weekend in New Providence.

Magistrate Lennox Coleby charged Christopher Dean, 32, with possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition. Dean was allegedly found with a black Taurus G2C pistol and one round of 9mm ammunition on June 15. After pleading not guilty to the charge, Dean was granted bail at $7,500 with one or two sureties. His trial begins on August 23. K Melvin Munroe represented the accused.

Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt, Governor General,

Entry 22 of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in a courtesy call

the Office

the Governor General on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Pictured from left: R/Superintendent of Police J.Lorenzo McKenzie, Force Chief Petty Officer Baron Maitland, Force Chief Petty Officer Marcello Charlow, HE Dame Cynthia Pratt, Force Chief Petty Officer Perry Colebrook, Force Chief Petty Officer Darian Young, and Deputy Port Controller Craig Curtis.

NON-Resident Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to the Commonwealth

Credence to Governor General, HE Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt at the Office of the Governor General, on Monday.

Photos: Letisha Henderson/BIS

HER Excellency

received

at

of

Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

GOVERNOR GENERAL, Her Excellency Dame Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt administered the requisite oaths to Senior Justice Deborah Fraser, as Acting Chief Justice, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Office of the Governor General on Tuesday. Photo: Letisha Henderson/BIS

Govt elimination of excise tax on taxis and tour buses met with mixed reviews

By KEILE CAMPBELL kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

IN a move that would benefit taxi and tour bus drivers, the government is eliminating excise tax on imported vehicles under five years old.

Previously, the taxis, livery and tour buses had to be less than three years old to qualify for the benefit.

Some, including Bahamas Taxi Cab Union president Wesley Ferguson, have hailed the move as a “tremendous benefit” to his members.

Others, like Bahamas Unified Bus Drivers Union (BUDU) president Rudolph Taylor, said the tax change would have limited benefits because drivers have to deal with other taxes and fees, some of which can cost them up to $80k.

He said yesterday that the Excise Tax change would have a minimal effect.

“Whether it’s good or bad, I can’t say because the cost of living is so high,” he said. “And then new vehicles, the price raised on them, and then you still gotta pay the VAT.”

Taurian Austin, president of the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union (BLDU), applauded the change but questioned whether imported vehicles are being properly inspected.

He said some vehicles are being inspected and licensed even though they should not be permitted in the livery business.

“There’s some livery plates on some cars that we don’t understand how are they getting there and how are they passing the inspection part of it,” he said.

He said he had seen livery plates on a Honda Fit and a 32-seat bus.

He said there are no standards for bringing cars into the transportation business, a matter officials hope to address with Energry and Transport Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis.

LINE of taxis and buses waiting for customers

Independence Day events announced

WITH the countdown under way to the 51st anniversary of Independence, the list of events to mark the occasion this year has been revealed.

The theme for this year’s events is “One People: United in Love and Service”, and celebrations begin with the National Flag Day on June 28. Bahamians are encourage to show off their national colors in their clothes and by waving flags. On June 29, a National Buy Bahamian Day will be held, before the traditional Beat Retreat on June 30 in Parliament and Rawson Squares from 6pm. A National Day of Prayer and Reflection will be held on July 1, and a National Day of the Family on July 2.

There will be further national days throughout the rest of that weekNational Wellness Day on July 3, National Day of Learning on July 4, National Culture Day on July 5 and National Day of Service on July 6. On July 7, there will be Independence church services, then a National Day of Unity on July 8. The traditional Clifford Park show on the eve of Independence will start at 8pm and count down to midnight, and will be an ecumenical service and cultural show.

On July 10, there will be the annual Independence State Reception at Government House, while Clifford Park will host a Family Fun Day from 4pm.

Tropical Storm Alberto forms in southwest Gulf, first named storm of the 2024 hurricane season

MEXICO CITY Associated Press

TROPICAL Storm

Alberto formed on Wednesday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season.

Alberto, which is bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall and some flooding along the coasts of Texas and Mexico, is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico on Thursday.

“The heavy rainfall and the water, as usual, is the biggest story in tropical storms,” said Michael Brennan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday afternoon that Alberto was located about 180 miles (290 kilometres) east of Tampico, Mexico, and about 295 miles (475 kilometres) south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph).

The center of the storm was expected to reach the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande by early

Thursday morning. Brennan said that winds could get up to 45 mph (72 kph) to 50 mph (80 kph) before the storm makes landfall.

As much as 5 inches (13 centimetres) to 10 inches (25 centimetres) of rain was expected in some areas along the Texas coast, with even higher isolated totals possible, Brennan said. He said some higher locations in Mexico could see as much as 20 inches (50 centimetres) of rain, which could result in mudslides and flash flooding, especially in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, that schools across the state will remain closed between Wednesday and Friday.

The storm was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph).

Tropical storm warnings were in effect from the Texas coast at San Luis Pass southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande and from the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Tecolutla.

“Rapid weakening is expected once the center moves inland, and Alberto

is likely to dissipate over Mexico” on Thursday, the center said.

The US National Weather Service said the main hazard for southern coastal Texas is flooding from excess rain. On Wednesday, the NWS said, there is “a high probability” of flash flooding in southern coastal Texas. Tornadoes or waterspouts are possible.

NOAA predicts the hurricane season that began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30 is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Brennan said that the first named system in the Atlantic on average comes on June 20, so Alberto is “about right on schedule.”

In the Village of Surfside Beach, located on a barrier island on the Texas coast about 65 miles (104 kilometres) south of Houston, Mayor Gregg Bisso said Wednesday that rains had already left about 2 feet of

water on streets on the west end of the island, making them impassable.

“We’re on a barrier island and there’s no place for the rain to go, plus the extremely high tides, everything is just hanging right there and it’s flooding all the streets,” Bisso said, adding that double red flags have been placed on the beach to warn people that no one should be in the water because of the extreme rip tides.

“Those conditions were extremely bad out there yesterday, and today,” he said.

All of the homes on the

island are elevated anywhere from 10 to 14 feet above the ground, so they don’t expect homes to flood and evacuations were not ordered.

“We’re just waiting for the rains to stop and the tide to go down,” he said. Brennan said there will be dangerous rip currents from the storm and drivers should watch out for road closures and turn around if they see water covering roadways.

A no-name storm earlier in June dumped more than 20 inches (50 centimetres) of rain on parts of South Florida, stranding numerous

motorists on flooded streets and pushing water into some homes in low-lying areas.

“People underestimate the power of water and they sometimes don’t always take rainfall and the threats that come with it seriously, especially if you are driving in an area and you see water covering the road, you don’t want to drive into it,” Brennan said. “You don’t know how deep the water is. The road may be washed out. It doesn’t take but just a few inches of water that are moving to move your car.”

Jonquel ‘wants to come back’

With Grand Bahama

native Coach Yolett

“Coach Yo” McPheeMcCuin at the helm for The Bahamas senior women’s national basketball team, it is possible that WNBA star Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones can suit up again for Team Bahamas in the future.

Coach Yo, who serves as head coach of the women’s national basketball team, conducted training camps for the respective team and spearheaded a series of basketball clinics last week at the Kendal GL Isaacs

Gymnasium. While back on home soil, the decorated coach spoke with reporters about the “strong” possibility of the former WNBA MVP joining the national team going forward.

“It is a strong likelihood. JJ definitely wants to come back but we have a lot of things we have to get through in order to do that. She is all in from supporting and even financially, JJ is all in and has never stopped loving The Bahamas. It was just opportunities, but now she has an opportunity to come back with us and we will do our best,” she said. Jones confirmed the news herself last week by telling a local news outlet that if she is able to get clearance

to play for The Bahamas again, she would definitely be open to it.

The Liberty centre has played for the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina since making her debut with them in 2019, after requesting to be released by the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) in 2018.

The Grand Bahamian last suited up for The Bahamas women’s national basketball team in 2014 at the CBC Championship for Women.

Under the tutelage of Coach Yo, she averaged 17.2 points per game, a tournament-high 14 rebounds and two assists. The national team finished fifth in this tournament.

THE Basketball Smiles Summer Camp has equipped more than 12,000 children with top tier basketball and life skills since the free programme was birthed in 1999. Since then, Basketball Smiles has stuck to its motto of bringing a week of smiles and hope through

basketball and that remained true this week at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium for the camp’s 25th anniversary.

Junior and high school boys and girls had the opportunity to brush up on their basketball skills while picking up gems to take with them through life from Monday to Wednesday over at the gymnasium. The camp, which is coordinated by HO Nash head

coach Patricia “Patty” Johnson and spearheaded by retired Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Sam Nichols, wrapped up yesterday after yet another summer of success.

Coach Nichols talked about the appreciation the kids have shown during his 25 years working with the Basketball Smiles camp.

“We are excited about the turnout. This is our 25th anniversary and

BASEBALL FORD CAMP THE annual Mario Ford Summer Baseball Camp is all set for July 1-12 from 9am to 1pm at Windsor Park on East Street and Wulff Road. It’s open to campers between the ages of 7-15 years. Interested persons are urged to contact Mario Ford at 556-0993 for more information and to register their child or children.

SOFTBALL ATLANTIS LEAGUE THE Atlantis Softball League will get started this weekend at the Archdeacon William Thompson Softball Park at the Southern Recreation Grounds. Here’s a look at the schedule:

June, 2024

Fm/HR vs Nobu

PRAYERS FOR SMITH THE track and field fraternity is asking for the public to continue to pray for Keanna Smith, a member of the Road Runners Track Club, who was involved in a car accident last week. Smith, the daughter of Xavier Todd and the sister of Reanno Todd, is currently recuperating in Doctor’s Hospital after undergoing surgery. The family is asking for the public to continue to pray for her recovery.

celebration of basketball in The Bahamas.

“Our mission statement has always been the same ‘bringing a week of smiles and hope through basketball’. We are possibly the largest free basketball camp in the Caribbean and we have had a great turnout with girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon.

“They are very engaged and very enthusiastic. One

of the things I have always found interesting over the last 25 years, the boys and girls are so appreciative of what we do for them. They are always so thankful and it shows in their attitude,” he said.

One of the longest running basketball camps in the country has spanned many generations and impacted youth at the

No Ceilings Foundation Basketball Clinic In other basketball news, the No Ceilings with Coach Yo Foundation hosted a free basketball clinic on Saturday at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

The clinic was facilitated by the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels head coach along with basketball players from the women’s national team training camp.

She voiced how important it was to have members of the national team assisting with the future generation of basketball players in The Bahamas.

DAVIS CUP: BAHAMAS COMES UP SHORT 0-3 AGAINST PARAGUAY

FOLLOWING a tough loss against Costa Rica in their Davis Cup opener on Tuesday, The Bahamas Davis Cup team was unable to rebound yesterday against host country Paraguay.

The teams went headto-head in the Americas Group III matchup for Pool A at the Club International de Tenis in Asuncion, Paraguay, and the latter benefitted from a home court advantage, prevailing 3-0.

The loss kept The Bahamas in the final spot for Pool A with a 0-2 (win/loss record) after two matches played.

The left-handed Donte Armbrister was up first against Paraguay’s Martin Vergara Del Puerto. He fought hard to stay in the matchup but Paraguay’s representative would get the winning nod 6-3 in both sets.

The singles victory by Vergara Del Puerto put Paraguay ahead 1-0 on the scoreboard. Armbrister, 22, relayed his thoughts about

MARLINS EARN 4-3 WIN OVER CARDS WITHOUT CHISHOLM JR

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press

Tanner Scott (6-5) got the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. The NL-worst Marlins (25-49) took two of three from the Cardinals, who fell back below .500 at 36-37. All three games were decided in the final at-bat, with St. SEE PAGE 18

MIAMI Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. steps on home plate to score, behind St. Louis Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera during the sixth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday in Miami. (AP Photo/ Michael Laughlin)

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg dropped by on the final day of the Basketball Smiles camp to encourage programme directors to continue making their impact on the youth and he encouraged the players to remain focused on their vision.

Photo: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff

WNBA star Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones, of the New York Liberty.

Sprint great Michael Johnson launching ‘Grand Slam Track’ league with $100K first prizes

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer

SPRINTING great

Michael Johnson is launching a track league that looks to assemble nearly 100 of the sport’s top performers four times a year to compete for $12.6 million in prize money over its first season.

The league, Grand Slam Track, announced Tuesday that it will launch next April with plans for one event in Los Angeles, the home of the 2028 Olympics, one in another American city and two more overseas.

The league also announced it had signed world-record hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, lending star power to the new operation almost a year before it opens.

Johnson, who wore his famous golden spikes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while setting the

world record at 200 metres to complete the 200-400 sweep, has long echoed critics in the sport who complain they don’t see enough marquee head-to-head matchups. That’s in part because there’s not enough financial incentive to bring the best to the same meets.

“It’s providing the fans and the athletes what they’ve been asking for,” Johnson said.

“I think there’s a real opportunity here. They’re frustrated at an all-time level with the sport, at the elite level, the way it’s been over the last couple of years where they’re not compensated and recognised for their tremendous talent.”

Track’s yearly schedule is a moving target, highlighted by world championships in odd years and the Olympics every four seasons. In between, the sport is a series of individual meets highlighted by the Diamond

League, which conducts around 15 competitions each season and allows athletes to earn points and win a season-long title.

As a sign of the sport’s struggles to grab a consistent audience in the U.S., NBC, which televises the Olympics, did not renew its contract with the Diamond League; which will be carried by the subscription website FloTrack in the U.S. beginning in 2025.

Johnson said television is a priority for his new league, which has been in contact with “all the major broadcasters, with a heavy emphasis for us on the U.S.”

“I’ve been very pleased with the level of interest and excitement about what we’re building., which sort of validates the idea to some degree,” Johnson said.

Grand Slam Track plans to sign 48 athletes, known as

was listed as a “scratch” in the 200 and 400.

“GST Racers,” to contracts, then to use appearance fees to bring another 48 athletes — “GST Challengers” — to each meet.

The athletes will be divided into categories — for instance a short-sprint group will run 100 and 200 metres over the course of a weekend — and they will compete for a $100,000 top prize, with cash being awarded down to eighth place.

“Michael has done a great job putting this together, and just knowing that the future of track and field can grow exponentially and that athletes will have the opportunity to grow the sport and it’s in a place that’s ready to do that,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.

“I’m excited to be a part of that in whatever capacity I can be.”

Johnson said organisers chose the “Grand Slam”

title to give the league the same feel as, say, tennis or golf, which each have four majors that stand out among a yearlong schedule.

Instead of focusing on times, organisers hope the spotlight will shine on the matchups between top athletes.

“I think this will kind of normalise seeing people through training cycles and in different parts of their training, but still seeing the best of the best compete to the point where they’re just enjoying the fact that get to race one another and seeing a good race,” McLaughlinLevrone said.

The league has secured more than $30 million in financial commitment.

A group called Winners Alliance, described by the league as Johnson’s operating partner, was the lead investor.

Though Johnson has long been critical of the

Davis Cup: Bahamas comes

FROM PAGE 14

the singles tie. “I felt that I played good today. I didn’t get the result that I wanted but I’m happy with the level I played. I had chances, I would say, to come up with the win today but it just didn’t go my way at some point.

“I’m just happy for the opportunity to go out there and fight for Team Bahamas alongside my teammates. I thank them for supporting me and I thank coach Ricardo too for giving me the opportunity,” he said.

Next up was veteran tennis ace Justin Roberts against Paraguayan Daniel Vallejo in singles action. He brought the fight in the first set but was overwhelmed 6-4.

In the final set of the matchup, Vallejo put the nail in the coffin and downed Roberts 6-1.

The doubles matchup was one of the most competitive bouts of the day.

Former national champion Denali Nottage and Davis Cup newcomer Michael Major Jr tried to pull off a comeback win against Paraguay’s duo Thiago Drozdowski and Hernando Escurra Isnardi. The home duo outplayed The Bahamas in set one to win 6-2. However, the visiting national team turned in a valiant effort in the last set after being down 3-1 to start. Major and

way track is run on a global level, he said he does not see the league as a disruptor but rather as a vehicle to add to a sport he feels is undervalued.

World Athletics, the governing body for track, recently made news with a first-of-its-kind plan to award $50,000 to all of this year’s Olympic gold medallists.

The federation also will start an Ultimate Championship beginning in 2026 that will bring the year’s top performers together and award $150,000 first prizes. Johnson, who has stayed in the sport on a number of levels, including as an analyst for BBC, wants to see track in the spotlight more than once or twice a year.

“I’m motivated by the fact that this is the opportune time to do it,” he said. “The world is looking for something like this that we can step into that void.”

Coach

Yo: Jones ‘wants to come back’

FROM PAGE 14

“It was important because you cannot be what you cannot see and these young people have been out here working nonstop. For me, it is very important to have them in this space with these young people. It is community service and that is what I want the national team to be about, giving back and making sure people know who we are. It is also good to have people around to provide encouragement for the youth,” McPhee-McCuin said.

The free camp catered to first through eighth graders, teaching them the fundamentals of basketball.

As a former ball player herself, coach Yo explained what it means to have “No Ceilings” not only as a basketball player but as a human being. “I know what this ball did for me. This ball has taken me all across the world, not just the United States. It has gotten me a free education and it has given me a healthy lifestyle. I know what this ball can do. My desire is for Bahamas basketball to start being a thing again like it was when I was coming up because I understand the opportunities it presents for young people to achieve whatever it is they want to do in life,” she said. The women’s national team head coach is hoping to make her impact in the Family Islands next time around with these initiatives. She will serve as head coach of the national team for the next three years.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, of the United States, celebrates after he won the men’s 200-metre final in a world record time of 19.32 at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, August 1, 1996. (AP Photo/ Doug Mills)

SYDNEY McLaughlin-Levrone waves to the crowd after winning the women’s 400 metres during the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 8, 2023. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone plans on defending her title in the 400-metre hurdles at the Olympics, and has scratched from the 200 and 400-metre flat races that she had originally signed up for. The world-record holder had been entered in all three races for this month’s U.S. Olympic trials, but as of Tuesday, June 18, 2024, she

(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

FORMER U.S. athlete Michael Johnson, left, and wife Armine Shamiryan arrive at the Laureus Sports Awards ceremony in Madrid, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

TRACK: Bahamians benefitted from competing on home soil at the NACAC New Life Invitational hosted at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium. Athletes excelled on both the track and field picking up first place finishes and setting new personal bests.

FAST

Photos by Chappell Whyms Jr

CRUISE CONTROL: Top athletes compete on home soil on Sunday, June 16, during the NACAC New Life Invitational at the original Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

Photos by Chappell Whyms Jr

MARLINS FROM PAGE 14

Louis taking Monday’s game 7-6 in 12 innings, with the Marlins winning Tuesday 9-8 in 10. Lopez had been 0-for-11 in the series before his game-winning hit and 8-for-46 in June.

“It’s not been a good series for me, but I told myself to be positive, as positive as I can,” the second baseman said. Lopez’s previous game-ending single came against the New York Mets last month.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said he was proud of how his team took the last two games after a crushing loss on Monday and a 1-5 road trip. “We could have easily folded in Games 2 and 3 after a tough loss the first night against a good Cardinal team, especially after that road trip,” Schumaker said. “Credit to those guys. They still come in positive, thinking they are going to win every single day.”

Kyle Gibson had been scheduled to start for the Cardinals after being on the bereavement list this week following a death in his family, but was scratched just before game time with back tightness. Manager Oliver Marmol said Gibson locked up as he was stretching. “He couldn’t bend down. He couldn’t do a whole lot of anything,” Marmol said.

Emergency starter Matthew Liberatore gave up homers to the Marlins first two hitters, Bryan De La Cruz, his 13th of the season, and Jesús Sánchez, his sixth. Josh Bell followed with a double and Jake Burger walked, but a double play and a fly out got Liberatore out of the first inning. He then retired eight more batters in a row before being lifted with two outs in the fourth.

Liberatore said he was walking onto the field for the national anthem when he got called back to the dugout and told he was starting. “I came back in here (the clubhouse), grabbed my glove, went out and started playing catch. It was about a three-minute process,” Liberatore said.

Basketball Smiles marking its 25th anniversary

FROM PAGE 14

grassroot level and beyond.

In fact, coach Nichols shared that some of the youth show their appreciation of the programme by returning to express their gratitude and it is always a rewarding feeling.

“One of the things that has really encouraged me is the fact that we have so many young adults now that were once Basketball Smiles campers. In fact, we had Selena Brown speaking to the camp and Serena and Selena started with me when they were about six or sevenyears-old. They have grown up through our camp and have gone on to be successful and professional women and that means the world to me. When we first came we wanted this to be generational, we didn’t want it to be just a camp and then go home. We are now coaching the children of some of our campers and that warms my heart,” he said.

With the 25 years milestone now in the history books, Basketball Smiles is hoping to continue the formula that has granted the programme its success.

“Our eyes are looking forward. We will celebrate the past but we are looking forward to the future. We want to do more and are always looking to do more for the boys and girls to help them to become productive citizens and bring some joy to their lives. We found a formula that works pretty well so we are excited about the future,” he said.

On the final day of the camp, players engaged in scrimmages versus the coaches, a three-point shootout and completed a few offensive drills.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg dropped by to encourage the youth to continue to strive for their best and to always have a vision.

Minister Bowleg also extended his gratitude to coach Nichols for all that the summer programme has done for generations of children.

Multi-faceted athlete Terrell McCoy has been a stalwart camper at the Basketball Smiles camp. She attended every camp for the last 10 years and gave insight on her experience.

“Over the last decade I think that Basketball Smiles has been a really great camp for me. In the summer, you really just wanna stay home and lay down but they make sure you come out and we get in a lot of work and skills training. It keeps me on my toes in the summer for when I have different tournaments. The coaches are always so hopeful no matter which coach it is. I am really grateful for them and I

hope they keep coming because it really helps to develop all the girls around The Bahamas,” she said. As a former member of the under-15 girls’ national team, the CARIFTA medallist added that the camp has helped her to improve her ball-handling skills and shooting. “As a national team player, when I come here I know I can do different drills that help me to work on my handles because we not only do post work but we also do guard work. I am able to stay sharp so when I go to national team practice I am not just a one-sided player. I can do both things whereas I am shooting the ball and handling the ball,” she said.

McCoy ended by saying others should join the Basketball Smiles camp in the near future because coaches care for you, look out for you and want the best for you. Raynia Russell, who will be a senior at CR Walker next season,

NBA MOCK DRAFT TOP 3: FRENCHMAN SARR TO GO NO. 1, MORE BIG MEN TO FOLLOW

By J MARSHALL AND BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writers

FRENCH 7-footer

Alexandre Sarr has widely been projected to follow the footsteps of fellow countryman Victor Wembanyama as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. But Sarr isn’t the only big man expected to have his name called.

Though the June 26 draft isn’t loaded with bigs, it does have the two-time national college player of the year and a two-time national champion available.

UConn’s Donovan Clingan won two national championships and could go in the lottery with his strong pick-and-roll skills and shot-blocking ability.

Purdue’s Zach Edey is expected to go much later in the first round due to his lack of mobility and perimeter shooting, but he is the first two-time national player of the year since Ralph Sampson, so there’s likely a place for him in the NBA.

This year’s draft also includes Kyle Filipowski from Duke, Indiana’s Kel’el Ware and Baylor’s

Yves Missi, so there will be chances for teams looking to add size. Then again, some team may even take a chance on using a first-round pick on Southern California’s Bronny James, son of NBA career scoring leader LeBron James.

1. ATLANTA HAWKS: Alexandre Sarr, centre, FranceSarr doesn’t have the all-around skills of Wembanyama, but then no one really does. He’s still extremely talented, an athletic 7-footer who can wreck rims and the hopes of opposing shooters. Sarr’s shot still needs some work, but he could end up becoming a franchise player in the next few years. Atlanta fans should love watching him throw down lobs from Trae Young.

ALEXANDRE Sarr has widely been projected to follow the footsteps of fellow countryman Victor Wembanyama as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

2. WASHINGTON WIZARDS: Zaccharie Risacher, forward, FranceMany NBA mock drafts have Risacher going No. 1 — and for good reason. The 6-foot-9 forward has the skills of a guard and should be a perfect fit for today’s NBA. Risacher is a superb catch-and-shoot wing who can beat defenders off the dribble and has a huge defensive upside with his length and athleticism. He may end up being the franchise player the Wizards need in their rebuild.

3. HOUSTON ROCKETS: Reed Sheppard, guard, Kentucky The Rockets need shooters and Sheppard is certainly that. The 6-3 guard may be the best shooter in the draft — his 52% mark would have led Division I last season if he had enough attempts to qualify. He has a high basketball IQ — both parents played at Kentucky — and averaged 12.5 points as a freshman.

MEMORIAL FOR SUNSHINE

echoed the sentiments of McCoy. Russell has been with the camp the last 4-5 years and highlighted some of her experiences.

“I have been coming to Basketball Smiles for the last four to five years. These skills have helped me to develop throughout my junior year at HO Nash and have helped in my senior years at CR Walker.

“When we worked on shooting form here at the camp and low dribbling, it helped me to handle the ball well and my shot got off quicker. I would definitely recommend coming out here because you learn new techniques and they also teach you life lessons,” she said.

Basketball Smiles was sponsored in part in Nassau by Atlantis, Green Parrot, Kelly’s, Bahamas Wholesale, Lickety Split, D’Albenas Company, Wizard Signs, Original Patties, Kooler Ice, Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise and Rotary Club of East Nassau.

the Members of Parliament. The game is scheduled for 8pm Sunday, July 21 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

A MEMORIAL service for the late softball player and sports executive Renee “Sunshine” Davis will take place at 7pm today in the foyer of the Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium. Davis, who passed away on June 12 at the age of 56, will be funeralised at 10am on Saturday, June 29 at the Bible Truth Ministries on Martin’s Close, off Cowpen Road.

BASKETBALL

PEACE ON DA

STREETS THE annual Peace On Da Streets Basketball Classic, dubbed “Shooting Hoops instead of Guns,” is scheduled for July 15-21 at the Michael ‘Scooter Reid” Basketball Center at the Hope Center. All games will start at 6pm each day.

Categories include 12-and-under, 16-andunder, 20-and-under, government ministry, church and open divisions. The event is being promoted by Guardian Radio and Radio House Outreach.

CLERGY VS POLITICIANS

AS a part of the annual Peace ON Da Streets Basketball Classic, organisers will once again stage the showdown between members of the Clergy against

JOHNSON’S BASKETBALL CAMP GET ready for the annual Coach Kevin Johnson’s Basketball Camp 2024. Coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson has announced that his camp will run from June 24 to July 12 at the CI Gibson Secondary High School and will run daily from 9am to 1pm.

Campers will get a chance to play and learn the fundamentals of the game of basketball from professional instructors. Interested persons can sign up by contacting coach Johnson at 636-9350 or email: coachkjjohnson@ gmail.com

BASKETBALL

NEX-GEN THE third annual

Nex-Gen Elite Training Basketball Camp, hosted by JR Basketball Academy, is all set for June 24 to July 13 from 9am to noon at the Telios Indoor Gymnasium on Carmichael Road. The camp, powered by Frazier’s Roofing, will provide training for game situations, shooting, passibng, ball handling, defense and footwork for boys and girls between the ages of 8-19 years. Registration is now open. Interested persons can contact Cadot at 535-9354, email jrcbasketballacademy.com or go online to www.jrcbasketballacademy.com

MAKING AN IMPACT: The Basketball Smiles camp made its return to The Bahamas for the 25th year and the basketball players were all smiles on the final day at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium. Photos: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff