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Volume: 121 No.21, December 19, 2023

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‘JUDGES SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE’ Attorney General supports a disciplinary system for members of the judiciary

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder said he supports introducing a disciplinary system for the judiciary, adding judges should be held accountable for misconduct like everyone else.

His comment in the Senate yesterday came after

Cheers for cake and re-opening

Senator Michela BarnettEllis called for a system where formal complaints can be made against judges.

“There are mistakes in law which can be appealed, and then there is behaviour which is inappropriate and impacts the confidence in the justice system, and that must be addressed,” she said.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

PM: UN DETENTION REPORT RIGHT BUT WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said legacy human rights issues affecting the criminal justice system highlighted in a recent United Nations report concern him.

Mr Davis’ tone responding to the United Nations

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s (WAGD) critical report about the country’s detention systems differed from that of National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, who dismissed the Working Group’s criticism and defended local authorities.

The WAGD found SEE PAGE FOUR

VP of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Xingdi Peng, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investment and Aviation Chester Cooper cut the cake during the opening ceremony of the British Colonial yesterday.

Photo: Dante Carrer

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net DIGNITARIES cut the ribbon to reopen the renovated British Colonial Hotel yesterday after its two-year closure.

“The revival of this iconic

landmark speaks to the resilience of our tourism product and our government’s commitment to revitalise downtown,” said Tourism Minister Chester Cooper. “It also signifies a promising new chapter in our journey towards progress and prosperity. It

heralds the confidence of our stakeholders and our investors in the economy of The Bahamas.”

The hotel comes with 300 new jobs. The renovations cost $50m.

“The opulence and charm

SAMUEL ‘NINETY’ KNOWLES

application was heard in The Bahamas as scheduled.

Supreme Court Justice Andrew Forbes said the court is “fully responsible for the obvious delay”.

However, he noted there was limited follow-up by Knowles’ lawyer or the respondents to get the ruling.

to the United States in 2006 before his habeas corpus

WELL-KNOWN social media personality and Abaco resident Cai Mills was sent to prison accused of breaching his bail conditions, according to a police official.

Mr Mills, known for speaking out on issues involving the island, was granted bail earlier this year after he was charged with criminal libel.

He is accused of publishing a video about Farron Newbold, Sr, on WhatsApp on August 3 to cause shame.

As part of the conditions of his release, he

SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE THREE

SEE PAGE FOUR

‘Unacceptable’ delay on ‘ninety’ rUling, says JUdge

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune News Editor rrolle@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court judge said he regretted the “unacceptable” and “inexcusable” length of time it took him to issue his judgement on Samuel “Ninety” Knowles’ legal action against government officials who surrendered him

CAI MILLS CHARGED WITH A BREACH OF BAIL TERMS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 3

Pinder confident govt committee will deal with growing shanty town in Abaco

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

CENTRAL and South Abaco MP John Pinder said he is confident the committee dealing with unregulated communities will tackle a growing Abaco shanty town in the first quarter of 2024.

“Abaconians are definitely upset,” he told reporters yesterday. “It’s not right for any foreigner to come in here and do what they please without the same permitting and regulations that us Bahamians

have to do but there is no new shantytowns. These are shantytowns that are been just growing exponentially without any restriction.

“Previously, the Mudd and the Pigeon Peas were restricted by the buildings around it and the downtown Marsh Harbour area where these are growing, there is no restriction on the landmass, and Abaco is the second largest island in The Bahamas. And we have to put a stop to it and bring some normalisation and some security to our island, which I’m confident that this administration

will do.”

Attorney General Ryan Pinder said earlier this month the government would terminate agriculture-related Crown land leases if shanty towns have been built on the properties.

Discussing this, Mr Pinder said: “Bahamians that are given Crown Land is for a particular reason, and their reasons are stated on their application and for them to go about and grow a neighbourhood on land that they were supposed to have agricultural businesses on is wrong.”

‘Unacceptable’ delay on ‘Ninety’ ruling, says judge from page one “It should be acknowledged that it has taken far longer than it should have for a decision to be rendered in this matter and that this is wholly the fault of the court and unacceptable,” he wrote, noting recent decisions indicating it should not take more than six months to issue a judgement unless a case is unusually difficult or complex.

“The court also noted that no explanation was offered for the delay. This court without seeking to offer any excuses, will note that the current court was sitting in an acting capacity at the time the matter was transferred from then Acting Chief Justice Isaacs (deceased). That after hearing the matter the decision was reserved, however, in the process the court was reassigned to the Magistrate’s Court and unfortunately the court

forgot the commitment to render a finding. It was only recently brought to the attention of the court that the matter was outstanding.

It is extremely regrettable given the significance of the issues raised by this case.”

In 2017, Knowles argued his constitutional rights were violated when he was extradited from the country before his second extradition application had been heard. He sought a declaration that his removal violated his right to the protection of the law, his right to remain in the country unless lawfully extradited and his right to access the courts for determination of his civil rights.

Government lawyers argued Knowles abused the process by bringing his application 10 years after he was extradited and said a judicial review process would have been the more appropriate legal action.

In response, Knowles’

SAMUEL ‘NINETY’ KNOWLES

CAI MILLS CHARGED WITH A BREACH OF BAIL TERMS from page one was ordered not to make any additional posts about Mr Newbold as the case is pending.

However, police have accused Mills of

breaking this condition and arrested him over the weekend.

This week, videos of Mills under arrest being escorted to the airport was circulated on social media.

lawyers noted that the Court of Appeal had acknowledged the injustice their client experienced when he was extradited before his habeas corpus application was dealt with, but provided no relief.

In ruling against Knowles, Justice Forbes said the man’s lawyers failed to set particular grounds for his pleadings.

He rejected the affidavit of Ntieado Knowles, the son of Samuel Knowles, finding it did not meet Supreme Court requirements.

MINISTER for Central and South Abaco John Pinder II speaks to reporters after the opening ceremony of the British Colonial yesterday.

Photo: Dante Carrer

British Colonial Hilton re-opens PAGE 4, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

BO GAO, VP of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Xingdi Peng, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investment and Aviation Chester Cooper and Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association President Robert “Sandy” Sands cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony of the British Colonial on December 18, 2023.

Photos: Dante Carrer

CHINESE Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli.

VPof China State Construction Engineering Corporation Xingdi Peng. from page one of the property serve as an attractive draw as it stands next to the energetic fun of Margaritaville and The Pointe, which I understand today is running a 100 per

cent occupancy.”

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis discussed the history of the property, saying: “Landmark developments such as this are more than just offerings of investments, more than just

additions to tourism. This is not to diminish either of those. Major investments, such as the upgrading of the British Colonial Hotel, bring jobs and other opportunities for Bahamians.

“With record numbers

of tourists arriving on our shores, we also desperately need more rooms to accommodate them. Let me offer an example: The introduction of new direct flights from Alaska Airlines and from Los Angeles

with Jet Blue is a significant milestone in our tourism journey.”

Dan McDermott, the hotel’s general manager, highlighted the significance of the partnership.

“The belief in the

importance of preserving the cultural heritage and boosting tourism has been instrumental in making this renovation a reality. The collaboration between the SEE PAGE FIVE

PM: UN detention report right but we have limited resources from page one numerous faults in how the criminal justice system treats people deprived of their liberty. The report criticised the Bahamas Department of Corrections and police practices, such as allegedly forcing criminal confessions from accused.

Mr Davis told reporters yesterday his administration

worked towards rectifying some issues before the report.

“Well, I am always concerned about these issues, particularly as it relates to human rights, because we have for quite a long time, this is a legacy issue that has been plaguing our administration of justice, to the criminal side of it, for quite a long time and we need to

address it,” he said at the British Colonial Hotel. “I’m concerned about it and I don’t need a UN report to tell me some issues we have and we are addressing these issues as best as we can.”

“The UN have to appreciate that we are a country of limited resources and we have a lot of competing interest to attract our attention for resources.”

“So, we are doing what we can within the limits of our resources and so we hear them and we understand what they’re saying, but we also have other responsibilities to discharge and that requires resources and we have to be able to share those resources effortlessly across the spectrum where the needs are most crucial and urgent.”

Many detainees the Working Group interviewed were reportedly never presented with a warrant, and the report characterises the powers of police to arrest without a warrant as too broad.

The Working Group interviewed many detainees who did not initially have legal representation because they lacked the

financial means.

The group said in many cases, arrested people lack access to a lawyer, showing the need for greater access to state-funded attorneys.

In prison, detainees often cannot access medical care, and visits from relatives have been prohibited since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the preliminary report.

Straw Business Persons Society president says ‘too costly to only sell authentic Bahamian products’

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS Tribune Staff Reporter lmunnings@tribunemedia.net STRAW Business Persons Society president Rebecca Small defended the work of straw vendors, insisting it is too costly to only sell authentic Bahamian products.

The Tribune recently reported that many vendors are struggling despite the country hitting tourism records. Some critics

blamed their struggles on the fact that they use and sell non-Bahamian products.

“First of all, I think Bahamians are too judgemental when it comes down to the straw market and the straw vendors,” Ms Small said yesterday.

“My position, secondly, I don’t think they have the facts. If you were to go into that straw market, there are many vendors who are still making straw. I am one of

them.”

Ms Small said it is difficult to sell authentic Bahamian products exclusively as many tourists are unwilling to pay what they should.

“When I sell my straw for $20, the tourist wants it for $5. Ya go down to $18, ya may could go to $15. They still want to ask, okay give me $7,” she said.

“What they want is less than what you pay for the actual straw bag, so

people don’t understand the dynamics of the straw market, but they are quick to judge and that’s some of the leaders of this country.

They are quick to judge the vendors because they don’t understand the plight of the vendors.”

Ms Small also lamented the lack of availability and affordability of certain items such as straw to make their products. She said competition is stiff, so vendors use other materials

NOTICE

NOTICE

NOTICE is hereby given that CHRISTOPHER JAMES PEEL of, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of December 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

NOTICE is hereby given that KIMANIE DOWNER of P. O. Box N-8582, Symonette Street, Chippingham, New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of December, 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

A WOMAN selling straw products at the Straw Market on Bay Street. hoping to generate a profit.

“I have a problem with the Bahamians judging us,” she said.

“One day I went in John Bull. They were selling shoes. The next day I went in there, they were selling pots, pans, different items, so what does that mean for the shoe shop?

“John Bull sells different items. John Bull is now selling groceries.

Why when is it when the vendors sell other items, now it’s, oh, they are not

selling all authentic? I have a problem with that.

“We evolve like any and everybody else, and let me say this to you, if the tourist is not wanting or asking for it, we will not get it.

“So, if straw was a big hot item seller, you think the straw vendors would be selling any other items?

No, we would be selling straw.”

Ms Small said selling solely authentic Bahamian products will never be as profitable for vendors.

Hotel brings 300 new jobs THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 5

from page four public and private sectors showcases a shared commitment to the prosperity of The Bahamas,” he said.

“A special acknowledgement is due to the broader hotel community, whose camaraderie and support has been invaluable throughout this journey. In the spirit of unity, we celebrate not just the reopening of one hotel, but a collective effort to enhance the allure of The Bahamas as a premier world destination.”

Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas Dai Qingli highlighted the work Chinese Construction America has achieved with the support of the Bahamas government.

“We are together witnessing an historic moment,” she said. “Not just for this iconic landmark, but also for the renewal of downtown Nassau and tourism development in general for The Bahamas.”

“I have come to understand that British Colonial is much more than just another hotel. It has been through a century of sunshine, but also hurricanes, wind, and rain, surviving and thriving and bearing silent witness to modern Bahamian history. In fact, we are just a few weeks away from this grand opening of an old British Colonial Hotel a hundred years ago.”

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis speaks during the opening ceremony of the British Colonial yesterday.

GM of The British Colonial Dan McDermott speaks during the opening ceremony of the British Colonial

Photos: Dante Carrer

CHARGE d’Affaires Usha Pitts, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis during the opening ceremony of the British Colonial.

Some retailerS reporting a ChriStmaS ‘boom’ with SaleS better than laSt year

By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net SOME retailers report a boom in sales as people continue their last-minute shopping before Christmas.

The Tribune canvassed the southwest plaza yesterday, where dozens of residents dashed into stores to catch holiday sales. Some stood in long lines to buy items while others waited for their presents to be wrapped.

Stacy Meadows, Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) supervisor at the plaza, said business was booming and sales were up.

She said many people had come to purchase the popular brands of cell phones or services.

For some, a high-end cell phone is too expensive, considering inflation, the high cost of living, and the unemployment rate in the country. However, Ms Meadows said the price of BTC devices has declined compared to last year.

“When it comes to selling of the devices, it’s a steady process year around and especially starting from Black Friday on with the Christmas,” she said. “Each year is an improvement when it comes to the selling of devices and services.”

Brent Burrows, Jr, CBS Bahamas’ vice president of retail and sales, said they saw an uptick in online shopping. He noted some shoppers wanted to avoid the stress of physically going to the store to purchase items.

“This year, in addition to our normal Christmas sales event, we’ve launched our ‘12 Days of Savings’ sale.

Every day we release a new item with massive savings both online and in-store,” he said.

Kendrick Williams, ALIV’s manager at the southwest plaza, said business was going great, with a bigger buzz among customers than last year.

“The new iPhone 15 is a hot seller right now and then you also have the Samsung Z flip,” he said. “So, we’ve been seeing sales pick up in them a lot. Also, the Nokia getting back into the swing of things, a lot of persons have been coming in getting those as well.”

He also said the prices of ALIV’s items have

decreased compared to last year.

Keva Ingraham, representative of 700 Wines & Spirits Shirley Street, said customers were stocking up on drinks for Christmas parties, dinners, and New Year’s events.

She said she believed the store had more sales this Christmas than last year, which was slower. She noted some people were still unemployed after the COVID-19 pandemic and couldn’t afford to purchase items.

Some items in the store had increased by 15 per cent in price earlier this year. But Ms Ingraham said many customers still bought alcohol, though some argued they could find rum cheaper at Chinese businesses.

Branon Chandler, supervisor of Sherwin-Williams Paints, said sales were moving steadily. He was

confident more sales would come in closer to Christmas, noting Bahamians are last-minute shoppers.

NOTICE NOTICE is hereby given that MARIE-DAFNAY CLARKE of, Mount Plesant, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 12th day of December 2023 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.

PAGE 6, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

PICTURE OF THE DAY

NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI “Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master”

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

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 TELEPHONES News & General Information Advertising Manager Circulation Department Nassau fax Freeport, Grand Bahama Freeport fax

(242) 322-2350 (242) 502-2394 (242) 502-2386 (242) 328-2398 (242)-352-6608 (242) 352-9348

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Munroe at odds with PM on UN report WHEN the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention reported on issues affecting the criminal justice system in this country, and with the facilities where people are locked up, we wrote that it was reiterating problems we already knew about.

And today, we see Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis saying the same thing, noting “I don’t need a UN report to tell me some issues we have and we are addressing these issues as best we can”.

Good for him. Well done for acknowledging the work of the group and, frankly, for acknowledging the evidence of his own eyes and ears.

There were worries over people being beaten for confessions, there were issues with the bail system, problems with the facilities at the detention centre, arrests without warrants, detainees being held longer than 48 hours without a court extension and so on. Valid concerns, all.

Which begs the question what was National Security Minister Wayne Munroe talking about when he dismissed the report, if his own leader recognises the concerns himself.

After the report, Mr Munroe said the experts did not provide proof of many of their accusations about the justice system.

As for matters such as forced confessions, he cast doubt on the group by saying “My question would be, who is giving them this alert? If it is the person who is arrested, that’s not an actual responsible way to go about critiquing persons.”

He asked for proof of people being arrested on outdated warrants, he said the report had inconsistencies, he talked of the evidential threshold to prove whether someone was beaten… it is fair to say he was not openly accepting of the findings.

He went so far as to tell Bahamians to trust law enforcement and not the “adverse” report findings, saying “if you have to choose who you believe, you do yourself a disservice if you choose to believe an adverse report against the very persons who you will

call when somebody is at your door, who you will call when you hear gunshots in the night, who you will call when you feel threatened. So, when you decide whose account to believe, I just want you to take into account that the prisoner, the criminal, would always like you to silence your watchdog.”

Should we, then, choose not to believe the Prime Minister who has acknowledged that there are indeed concerns.

Mr Davis, for his part, said “we need to address it” but added that “we are a country of limited resources”.

He said that we “are doing what we can within the limits of our resources”.

Some of those criticisms may not necessarily be an issue of resources, however.

Forced confessions are not down to resources. Arrests without warrant should not be a resource issue – you have a warrant or you do not. Visits to detainees from relatives were possible before COVID, so if we are past the pandemic as we are seemingly told, such visits ought to be possible again.

Some of the issues absolutely do require more resources – for more courts and judges to speed up cases, for improvements to detention facilities, perhaps for more thorough camera installations in police stations to capture any potential abuse and record it for evidence.

But first thing first, the criticisms themselves have to be taken seriously.

Mr Davis is correct to recognise the issues, and to say that we need to address them.

Mr Munroe is wrong to dismiss the issues, and signal blanket support when we know that some police officers do the wrong thing – and those officers who do the right thing do not need to have their good name tarnished by those who do not.

So, Mr Munroe, your leader has spoken. What do you plan to do to address these concerns? After all, your leader has said we “need” to do something. What are you going to do?

We look forward to your response.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394 AFTER a $98m road paving programme was announced by Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting, readers of tribune242.com had their say on the matter.

hits all roads and yet, the Bahamar strip has yet to have a pothole. Meanwhile, every other road on the island is inundated with the “cultural , indigenous pothole”.”

Stillwaters said: “That’s almost $2 million per mile?”

TalRussell added: “Comrades’, do keep in mind.

--- You can file a claim for vehicle damages, --Against the government, minister and road contractors’, ----For Potholes are created by negligence on their part. --- Yes?”

ExposedU2C replied: “For one mile of a two lane road, the average cost to rip up the existing road, properly lay an aggregate foundation, and then tar and pave with asphalt, is about the equivalent of US$1 million at most anywhere else in the Caribbean, and slightly less than that amount in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

Why has our government signed a contract for only a portion of this work at a cost of almost $1.8 million per mile??!!”

Concernedcitizen said: “This is just another way for them to get large sums of money out of the treasury to their cronies.”

ExposedU2C replied: “Our roads have not been

paved properly for decades which is why they don’t last and are in need of re-paving all over again in a few years time. It’s the gift that keeps on giving to the right mucka-mucks who keep getting these inflated government contracts in exchange for their generous kickback contributions to the right political party and its candidates come election time.”

Bahamianson said: “Listen, let’s save money and do not fix the roads.

Bahamian companies should not get the contract to fix the roads, it is a waste of money. When they fix the roads , two rain storms and pot holes again. You need to get the same people whom built BahaMar roads to fix the roads. The rain

After it was announced that 50 percent of cars in accidents are uninsured, Ondrap4 said: “Yet, they want to add tire aligment to the inspection process, punishing those who are insured. What they should do is to end temporary insurance cover. And force those who want to switch before the year us up to visit road traffic, and pay a fee.”

IslandWarrior replied: “Many seemingly “good” cars are Frankenstein creations stitched together from multiple wrecks. It is a common misconception

LICENCE plate CM3 not parking like everyone else.

Celebrate life, love and the divine EDITOR, The Tribune.

LETTERS

religion or belief, for those who give often will receive abundantly ten fold. (That is what they say).

This holiday season celebrate Life, Love and the great power of creation.

Stretch out your arms and help Family, Friend or Neighbour as well, receive even foe as a sibling to be, a family we are permanently.

The Season of the Divine calls upon each of us to be respectful, loving and honest, bold in our efforts to help those with less abundance.

Search your hearts, and reach out and give someone a hug perhaps, and you’ll be surprised at the hug you’ll certainly get back.

Have a wonderful holiday season with open hearts and minds. Love one another as to The Divine.

Search your hearts for all that is good, and be empathetic too.

ONE of my favourite images is seeing Jesus in His Mother’s arms.

You may think it has meaning to me because Jesus is believed to be divine, and it is a sacred moment to be whole heartedly revered.

Not necessarily so, you see I see so much in that action and relationship between Mother and Child.

Every and any child with their Mother’s protective arms around them, cradling and soothing them.

For if God became human, we are all products of divine intervention.

A child so innocent and dependent upon its caregiver each day, challenging the parents’ patience, determination and abilities, while enjoying the love and affection of both Mother and Father alike.

That special bond is in itself precious and powerful.

Many children are alone today, torn from their

parents or facing unfriendly circumstances.

A family lives as one, parents with a child perhaps at hand, facing challenges often too burdensome and stressful to handle.

The Holiday Season is a time of joy, abundance, and cheer, except when it is not.

Friends, may I ask you to think of both Child and Parent alike, trying to survive and develop a unity in love.

For reasons unknown, some fall into depression, stress and bad situations, and while we celebrate the birth of Jesus these people need our help.

Be to these people as the inn keeper was to the Divine Family, offer shelter, food, clothing and your attention some day.

Offer the love you’d give your deity no matter your

that vehicle inspections are designed to punish car owners, but this is far from the truth. Inspections are essential to ensure that vehicles are safe and roadworthy. The inspection report allows car owners to take corrective measures and bring their vehicles in line with safety regulations, thereby improving their efficiency. This ensures that the vehicle is fuel-efficient and safe to operate.

a vehicle starts and drives does not necessarily mean it is safe to operate. Many seemingly “good” cars are, in fact, Frankenstein creations stitched together from multiple wrecks in a salvage operation that is completed to look visually appealing but is unsafe. A technical inspection can expose this to owners and could be a valuable service before purchasing a potentially dangerous vehicle.

“If a vehicle is found to be mechanically unsafe, and the owner is not aware of it, the vehicle will be deemed ‘unroadworthy’ and advised to be unfit from a technical mechanical point of view.

Many vehicles, including salvage and junk vehicles, are imported into the Bahamas without being checked for mechanical and structural integrity. The United Nations has labelled Africa, The Bahamas, and other “third world” countries as “dumping grounds” for the world’s used and unwanted cars.

“Most used and old vehicles in the Bahamas will fit an inspection category of Pass and Advise; however, some will undoubtedly fail an inspection.”

Themessenger said: “The new and latest trend is to rent cheap rental cars, they’re already insured, aren’t they, and the occupants couldn’t care less whether or not they mash your car from the way they drive them. These are also used for criminal activities as they offer a certain degree of anonymity to the users.”

Hrysippus said: “The Bahamas has one of the highest rates of police persons per capita of population; with this truly shocking admittance of the failure of the Police Road Traffic Persons ability to enforce the most basic tenets of traffic enforcement perhaps the country needs 6 or 9 more Assistant Police Commissioners, and at least 19 more Superintendents, and 38 more Assistant Superindendents, to get the job done. Whatever we have now just ain’t working, it would seem.”

“It is important to remember that just because

IslandWarrior added: “An old story: the country’s

UÊ Ê ÊÌ iÊV ÛiÀÃ>Ì Ê at www.tribune242.com.

letters@tribunemedia.net

STEVEN KASZAB Ontario, Canada.

December 18, 2023 Auditor General published a report on the Road Traffic Department years ago.

The report suggested that the department could be losing up to $20 million annually through fraud.

However, the then Minister of Transport, Glenys Hanna Martin, rejected the report and accused the auditor of making guesses about road traffic.”

THE TRIBUNE

Cooper ‘disappointed’ that Ragged Island school not complete

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 7

‘Judges should be held accountable’

EXUMA AND RAGGED ISLAND MP CHESTER COOPER

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net EXUMA and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper said he is disappointed that a public school in Ragged Island is incomplete, but expects its completion by Easter.

“In the meantime, we are actively looking for a retired, recently retired teacher or teachers who would wish to reside in Ragged Island over the next few months to provide support for the seven or eight young children who continue to reside in Ragged Island,” he said.

“We’ve already secured

commitment from teachers for the end of June, who will move to Ragged Island permanently, live there, and we will rebuild the numbers of the school, which will rebuild the community.”

Mr Cooper also said a clinic on Ragged Island is fully furnished, and a nurse will work there by January 15.

“Whilst we speak of the clinic, the new clinic, which looks really like a hurricane bunker, is well advanced,” he said. “The work I’m pleased is progressing, and we expect that that’s going to be completed towards the end of 2024, but it will not disrupt service to the residents.”

MAN CHARGED WITH STEALING AND 24 BREACHES WHILE ON BAIL

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A MAN was sent to prison yesterday after he allegedly breached his curfew 24 times this year while on bail for four counts of armed robbery.

Magistrate Kendra Kelly charged Luther Saunders, 28, with stealing, damage and twenty-four counts of violating bail conditions.

While on release for a series of armed robberies in December 2017, including a carjacking, Saunders

allegedly breached his curfew 24 times between July 1 and December 2.

Saunders also allegedly stole and damaged Marion Smith’s $860 Gould water pump from Bay Berry Drive on December 4.

Although the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, the prosecution objected to his bail, citing his propensity to reoffend while on release.

Saunders was denied bail and was sent to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Saunders’ trial begins on February 8, 2024.

FOUR ELEUTHERA TEENS CHARGED WITH GRIEVOUS HARM OF A YOUTH

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net FOUR Eleuthera teenagers were accused of seriously injuring another juvenile on that island earlier this month.

Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, charged two 15-year-old boys and two 16-year-old boys with grievous harm.

The defendants’ names are being withheld because they are minors.

They appeared in court with their respective guardians.

The four juveniles are accused of beating up and seriously injuring a teenage boy on Church Street in Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, on December 4.

After denying their involvement in the incident, the defendants were informed that under their bail conditions, they must obey a daily residential curfew of 7pm to 7am.

They are to return to court on January 26, 2024, for a status hearing to determine whether the matter will be heard in New Providence or Eleuthera during the circuit court.

MAN CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF HEMP WITH INTENT TO SUPPLY

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net A MAN was fined $6,500 yesterday after admitting to having $3,040 worth of marijuana products in his home last week.

Magistrate Samuel McKinney charged Ian Hart, 35, with three counts of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

Alphonso Lewis represented the accused.

Hart was arrested in Kennedy Subdivision after a police search of his residence recovered an estimated $3,040 worth of marijuana-infused products on December 14.

These included 36 vape THC cartridges, 29 gummies,

four mushrooms, 15 marijuana tapes, 31 Grenadine Vape pens, 51 marijuana cartridges, seven straps and eight grams of weed.

During this same drug bust, $860 was seized from the defendant’s home, suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

Hart pleaded guilty to all charges against him.

Magistrate McKinney ordered that he pay $6,500 or risk a nine-month prison term.

The defendant was expected to pay $1,500 before his release, with two further payments of $2,500 to be made on December 22 and January 8, 2024.

Hart was informed that the money seized during his arrest would be forfeited.

ATTORNEY GENERAL RYAN PINDER from page one Mr Pinder agreed and said he would speak to the chief justice.

“For years,” he said, “the country has suffered under a regime where judgements and decisions have been delayed unnecessarily in certain instances for years and years and years, which has a direct affect on those who are looking to get justice from the courts themselves. And it is inequitable. It is unfair. In the private sector, you would be terminated. You would not have a job.”

“I support the notion that the honourable member raised about having some form of disciplinary framework for the judiciary.

Everybody else has to answer to that. The judiciary should have to answer for instances which justifies discipline.”

The senators debated a compendium of court bills to improve the judicial system yesterday.

Mr Pinder revealed that the government bought space on Shirley Street and conveyed the Rodney Bain building to build a new judicial complex that would house at least 19 courts.

Construction will begin next year.

The government, he said, will demolish the Rodney Bain building.

Complaints about the deteriorating state of court facilities have been longstanding. Earlier this year,

Chief Justice Ian Winder lamented the courts’ infrastructure, saying a new complex is needed.

Mr Pinder said yesterday that new family and juvenile courts will be built next year as well.

“The facility will allow for the confidentiality of sensitive family matters that will be adjudicated at that location,” he said.

“Another important component of these courts are the availability of mediation rooms and expertise for pretrial dispute resolution, especially in sensitive matters such as family matters.”

“Our efforts to modernise and advance the infrastructure of the courts is an important component

in our approach to justice.

We also have plans for the development of a commercial court, which we likewise hope to be in a position to launch and open in 2024. Once we move the Supreme Court into their new judicial complex, we will likewise have the ability to further advance the specialty courts.”

“And we look to put the sexual offences court where the current Supreme Court is, and we would look to also put the Coroner’s Court into new facilities where the chief justice’s offices are, allowing for a proper allocation of judicial resources and speciality areas in their own facilities with their own intention.”

PAGE 8, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

A long journey upwards: Janet McKenzie earns ACP after 30 years of service FOR the first time in the history of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, two women were promoted to the lofty position of Assistant Commissioner of Police at the same time. Their success paves the way for a new era in the Police Force, one where women are being presented with more opportunities for leadership. This is important, not only to the women of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), but to the young school girls who will aspire to join the force, knowing that they, too, could reach the heights within the organisation.

The newly-appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Janet McKenzie was one of them. She was a young teenager, attending RM Bailey Senior High School, when she hopped off the bus in downtown, Nassau, and saw a female officer at work.

These were the days when officers would stand on the ceremonial black box at the corner of East and Bay Streets, fully regaled, directing traffic. Their uniform and movements on that box were iconic, alluring to tourists, and captured by countless photographers.

“She was immaculate, she commanded respect and she

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

ACP at the same time.

These appointments come ahead of a monumental year for women in policing in The Bahamas. The year 2024 will represent a landmark 60 years since women first served as police officers in the country.

ACP McKenzie’s appointment comes after more than 30 years of policing in The Bahamas. Her vast experience includes operational planning, leadership, training, risk management, and administrative positions.

Most recently, she served as the Officer-in-Charge of the Western Division, where she enjoyed much success by operating on evidencebased policing. The Western Division covers the historic villages of Gambier and Adelaide. It is also the home of several open and gated communities, commercial and tourist areas.

ACP McKenzie’s promo-

JANET McKenzie as a young officer with great dreams for her future. was completely focused,” Janet reminisced.

That incident solidified her interest in policing, which was fostered many years before, when she was a little girl growing up in the inner city in the Englerston community.

“I grew up on Podoleo Street in the 1980s and 90s the drug era,” she shared.

“I often saw police officers come through the area.

I didn’t like the way some of them spoke to the people in our community. It was a generalisation.

Although there were some people who involved in not-sogood activities, that did not define everyone on Podoleo Street.”

Even as a little girl, she was uncomfortable with this. There were community members deserving of respect, who were being disrespected because of where they lived. Her young, bright mind envisioned being a part of the change - joining the force so that she could help to change perceptions and close the gap between the police and the people.

Today, she has the opportunity to do just that. On Monday, December 11, 2023, she received her official letters, promoting her to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. She is responsible for the Human Resources Department; Civilian Personnel; the Domestic Violence Unit; the Ministry of National Security Police Personnel; Police Staff Association Personnel; the Police Day Care Centre; the Police Force Insurance Office; and the New Providence District Headquarters. ACP McKenzie and ACP Shanta Knowles have made RBPF history - their appointment represents the first time that two women were promoted to

tion is well-deserved. She is a major event security expert. She has strategized, provided direction for, and coordinated with international, regional, and local law enforcement agencies for the execution of successful high-level security of world leaders from the Caribbean, Africa, China, The United Kingdom, The United Arab Emirates, and the United States of Amer-

the former Director of the Strategic Policy, Planning & Research Branch. She was responsible for crime analysis, statistical data, research, organisational development, and Geographical Information System (GIS) crime mapping for the Royal Bahamas Police.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, ACP McKenzie reflected on how far she has come since the days when she first entered the Police Training College.

She first caught a ride with a family member to the College to apply. Eventually, she was accepted, and told she would be able to join the next cohort. That group came and went, and she was not called. Another cohort was called, and the young Janet was still not called for training. She continued to check back and on the third occasion, she was finally accepted, and a lifelong career began.

When she first entered the Police College, one of the things Janet was required to do was to write an essay on what she wanted to do as a police officer. In that essay, she shared that she wanted to improve the relationship between the public and the police.

“This whole week for me was so surreal,” she said of being appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police.

“Even though it was out there, it isn’t official until it’s official. On my drive from work after getting my promotion letters, tears were flowing down my face. God was showing me my career like a movie.”

She was seeing all of the highs and lows of her career.

She remembers how one of the instructors would yell, “Drop and give me 50!”

And she would have to do 50 pushups anytime he saw her. Despite wanting to give up many times during training, she refused to do so, because she didn’t want to let her mother Violet Kelly, aunt Nellie Bullard, and father James Thurston down.

She remembers being an officer and working on the “big blue bus”, the “house of pain” under officer Oscar Sands. She thought about the day her husband, who was in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, was out to sea, her mom was unavailable, and she had to bundle

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Janet McKenzie with her husband, Reserve Supt. Lorenzo McKenzie and their children, Dr.Jameco and Jacovia McKenzie. ica. They include: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate); Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau; Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris; Prime Ministers Mia Mottley of Barbados, Andrew Holness of Jamaica, and thirteen other Prime Ministers and Ministers throughout the Caribbean and the region.

She has also served as the Officer-in-Charge of the Northwestern Division; and Officer-in-Charge and Second In-Charge of the Southern (Quakoo Station) Policing Division. She is

up her young baby and take him to work because her superiors accepted no excuses. She recalls the miscarriage she experienced with a baby so close to full term, and the birth of her daughter. Through it all, she says God girded her with the strength to overcome all of her trials and to celebrate all of the highlights of her career.

There was a point in her career where she thought she would never be promoted. She spent 7 years at the rank of Sergeant and no matter how many times she applied for promotion, it

OFFICER McKenzie greets Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

did not come through. If an officer is not promoted to “khaki” or inspector within a certain period of time in their career, they would never receive that rank.

This was almost Janet’s fate.

However, her faith proved worthwhile and before the time was up, she was presented with her Khaki uniform.

An advocate for lifelong learning, ACP McKenzie is currently completing a Doctorate degree. In 2014, she completed a Master’s degree in Organizational Learning and Leadership from Barry University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from The College of The Bahamas. These degrees and other certifications have amalgamated her practical knowledge to a strong theoretical base. Her educational journey began at Claridge Primary School, then CI Gibson Junior High, before graduating from RM Bailey Senior High School.

ACP McKenzie received law enforcement training in the United States, Canada, Central America, and the Caribbean. She was trained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre (FLETC); Secret Service (SS); Customs Border Patrol (CBP); Defensive Security Service (DSS); Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE); Ammunition Tobacco & Firearms (ATF); Internal Revenue Services (IRS); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Department of Homeland Security and the Canadian Mounted Police.

Over the years, ACP McKenzie has trained hundreds of police officers from the recruit to those in senior command. She relishes these opportunities as she recognises that training is a vital part of progress and productivity in any organization.

She is a “systems thinking leader” who believes that everyone has an important role to play in the overall success of an organisation.

She is extremely grateful to be able to directly

impact the lives of so many in this essential service in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Also being promoted to ACP with the two historymaking women are: Rodger Thompson, Warren Johnson, Roberto Goodman, Earl Thompson, Dwight

have the ability to bring people together, understand the contributing factors of crime, and effectively mobilise people and resources to make an impact on crime and criminality in our society.”

Her commitment to God, family and coun-

ACP Janet McKenzie’s mother, the late Violet Kelly.

Adderley, Chaswell Hanna, Damien Robinson, and Anthony Rolle.

During the promotions, RBPF Commissioner Clayton Fernander said “you could see that there is a female knocking on the door to be the next Commissioner of Police.”

When asked about her view, ACP McKenzie said: “A Commissioner of Police, who is also a woman, brings together the intersections of passion, compassion, sternness, and care.”

“In addressing the crime fight, what’s most important is having a leader who is a visionary and strategic thinker. As a woman, we

try is evident. During her career, ACP McKenzie has received the Meritorious Award, Long Service & Good Conduct Award, and the Long Service and Conduct Clasps from the Royal Bahamas Police Force. She is the vice president of the first International Alumni Chapter of Barry University, Miami Florida. She is also on the Board of Directors of ZONTA Club of New Providence, and serves as Chairperson for the Advocacy Committee, which has been a strong national advocate for women’s protection, rights and empowerment in The Bahamas.

New initiative by Bahamas to combat climate change THE TRIBUNE

TWO years ago at the UN’s Conference of the Parties on climate change, COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Philip Davis delivered a memorably impressive speech. He spoke eloquently and in dramatic language about the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change and global warming on low-lying Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like his own, in particular as a result of rising ocean levels.

Some of his words – “We cannot out-run your carbon emissions; we cannot outrun the hurricanes which are becoming more powerful; and we cannot out-run the rising sea levels as our islands disappear beneath the seas” – became the Glasgow gathering’s quote-of-the-day used by Bloomberg. His address attracted wide international interest and praise.

There followed COP27 at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt last year and now COP28 in Dubai has just ended, where, by all accounts, the Prime Minister distinguished himself once again on behalf of the Bahamian people.

These annual international meetings are where the world comes together to agree on ways to address the climate crisis, such as limiting the globe’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable countries adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net zero emissions by 2050 “in keeping with the science”.

The reaction to the outcome of COP28 has been mixed. It has been hailed as an “historic package to accelerate climatic action”

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 9

The Peter Young column and at the conclusion the summit president received a standing ovation. It seems that one of the reasons for this was that the nearly 200 countries attending agreed to a deal calling on all nations to “transition in a just and orderly way” away from fossil fuels - which have been described as the “giant” behind the climate crisis - to avert the worst effects of climate change; and this is the first time that any reference to moving away from fossil fuels has been included in the final version of a UN climate change agreement.

Nonetheless, critics say that the final text was unsatisfactory in a number of other respects; for example, the agreement did not include an explicit commitment to phase out – or even phase down – fossil fuels.

Moreover, it is said that some SIDS are not happy because the agreement fell short in relation to what was needed on emissions reductions so the 39-strong Alliance of Small Island

States (AOSIS) announced that “the process has failed us”.

Furthermore, it appears that little real progress was made in relation to climate adaptation and there was no exclusive focus on climate finance; though, according to all reports, finance was a key talking point in most of the negotiations.

Developing countries have made it clear consistently that they will need large amounts of money to transition away from fossil fuels and develop renewables, and they will need access to the Loss and Damage Fund, approved most recently by COP28, to help the most vulnerable repair their infrastructure and to build their capacity.

Amidst all this, what will surely interest Bahamians most will be the announcement by the Prime Minister of the launch of a major initiative – the Bahamas Sustainable Investment Programme (BSIP)-- and its potential to save and transform the lives of the Bahamian people. In his formal remarks Mr Davis explained, as he has done before, that most of The Bahamas lies within a few feet of sea level, adding “we are right in the strike zone of Hurricane Alley and just within the last four years we have been hit by four major storms”. He said that The Bahamas was working regularly with SIDS to persuade other countries to reduce carbon emissions and was constantly looking for ways to strengthen its capacity to respond to hurricanes, including launching a National Youth Guard to help the country’s response to disasters. It was working to

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaking at COP28. achieve sustainable development. Examples were efforts to make the country’s infrastructure more climate resilient, developing renewable energy, conserving coastal zones, reducing biodiversity loss, regenerating agriculture and participating in carbon credit programmes.

But what was needed was financing to support all these and recovery and adaptation efforts more generally.

The Prime Minister said he was both excited and optimistic about the BSIP as he wanted to establish a new benchmark in climate finance. He intended to work with regional and global capital market leaders to underwrite and put in place an “innovative financing facility” and he offered maximum collaboration on the Bahamian side. He understood the critical need

for “climate smart” investment, especially in SIDS, as the world faced one of the most “significant challenges of our time” – and he believed the BSIP was a testament to his country’s resolve to take positive action to help itself as it reached a turning point in its approach to the issue.

I do not know how much publicity has already been given to all this, though I may have missed some earlier press coverage.

According to reports I have seen, in order to prepare for COP28 there was a meeting in Grenada in September of Caribbean countries to discuss a united front in dealing with climate change issues and for the region to speak jointly since its voice as a bloc would carry more weight. What I have found interesting is that, under the Prime Minister’s direction, The Bahamas seems

Photo: OPM to have taken the lead in developing Caribbean unity and that necessary joint voice in support of action, accountability and climate justice.

Presumably, the government will wish to raise public awareness of what action it is taking. In talking about BSIP, the Prime Minister has said: “With this programme, we are spearheading our own climate financing solution and we invite the region, and the world, to partner with us”. Apart from COP28, the issue of climate change and fossil fuels is anyway separately in the news right now. I note from an article in The Tribune last week that the government has been asked to endorse the initiative for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, but I have seen no further reporting about this.

POLITICAL HARD BARGAINING IN WASHINGTON

REPUBLICANS are pushing border control in order to give support for Ukraine aid - many don’t think the two should be linked though.

Writing recently about the new breed of political practitioner in Britain now that politics has become akin to a career, I suggested that among modern-day politicians there was a lack of genuine ideologues with deeply held beliefs and adherence to certain values.

Rather, they seemed more interested in attaining and hanging on to power at whatever cost.

The same thoughts crossed my mind last week when reading about the efforts of Republicans in Washington to make approval of further aid to Ukraine conditional on tightening up immigration controls on the US/Mexican border.

A study of the UK press reveals disbelief among many observers - which I must admit to sharing - that the two issues could be linked in this way. But it is the Americans’ own system and reflects the rough and tumble of their domestic politics. So it is clear that this sort of hard bargaining is possible and might even work.

The circumstances of the war in Ukraine are so well known to all concerned that there is no need to repeat the importance of Western military aid and support - particularly the US commitment to help Ukraine “for as long as it takes” - to defeat the Russians and force them to withdraw. The

reasons for the aid have also been explained ad nauseam; not least, of course, to show Putin, who, if he succeeds ultimately in Ukraine, may be tempted to invade other countries in that part of the world. The message to him has to be, in loud and clear terms, that if he does that he will be stopped by force – and that, of course, would require heavy US involvement.

Thus, there can be no doubt in the minds of lawmakers in Washington that the continuing war in Ukraine is an important matter of US national security and that a Putin victory would be a serious setback for the West with unpredictable repercussions. US support for Ukraine has also become a moral issue and one of Western integrity in honouring commitments already made since the Russian invasion in February, 2022.

All that said, some Republicans maintain that the current crisis at their southern border, with thousands crossing over it almost uncontrolled, is likewise an important matter of national security. But this is surely of less significance than Ukraine, if only for the fact that the Americans themselves can resolve it as long as political differences allow some sort of compromise.

Republicans have said repeatedly that they will

only vote for a new aid package for Ukraine and Israel if it is paired with new controls for the US/Mexico border. The polls show that the crisis at this border is a matter of huge concern to American voters and needs to be fixed while many have no interest in Ukraine and could not care less about it when problems at home need to be addressed and solved first.

Despite this, the general view from across the pond is that, while both issues affect US national security, they should not be linked in this way for they have no direct connection. Further aid to Ukraine resulting in Russia’s eventual defeat could determine the future of world peace and should anyway be partly a matter of conscience for the Republican lawmakers concerned.

Observers see this issue as a cynical political ploy

by Republicans and surely unrealistic when they know that the crisis at the border ought to be resolved through direct negotiation in their own country.

At the time of writing at the weekend, the US Senate was due to vote on a supplemental aid package for Ukraine and Israel yesterday. But, for many watching these developments from afar, the whole episode has not been a good advertisement for the workings of democracy.

A STATUE of Winston Churchill faces the iconic Big Ben in London.

Big Ben back in business Recently, I spotted – and then could not find again a reference in the UK press to Britain’s iconic clock in central London, known universally as Big Ben. Its tower stands almost 320 feet tall and it has become a famous symbol of Britain; and I assumed the reference must have been to the anniversary of its construction or some similar event.

In fact, what I eventually found was a report that, after only occasional appearances recently, Westminster’s famous bells – known as the Westminster chimes -- which are one of the most recognizable sounds in Britain, are now being heard again

live on the BBC which has started broadcasting the chimes as a part of its regular schedules. Big Ben will also ring in the New Year to mark the arrival of 2024.

The huge clock is housed in the famous Elizabeth Tower, which was renamed to honour The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The tower is alongside the Houses of Parliament, and the clock at the top has become an easily identifiable landmark. Miraculously, it escaped serious damage when German bombs hit the Palace of Westminster during a nighttime raid in May, 1941.

The clock was installed

in 1859 with the aim of creating the most accurate timepiece in the world and it has recently completed a five-year repair and conservation project which was said to be the biggest such undertaking in its history. Big Ben was silent throughout the period of its refurbishment but pealed again for the first time since its restoration work on November 11, 2022, for Remembrance Sunday.

It is said that Londoners are overjoyed to have Big Ben fully back to normal – and, thanks to the BBC, those outside London as well will be able to hear again the famous chimes of an old familiar friend.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Pope approves blessings for same-sex couples that must not resemble marriage ROME Associated Press

POPE Francis formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced Monday, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage.

But while the Vatican statement was heralded by some as a step toward breaking down discrimination in the Catholic Church, some LGBTQ+ advocates warned it underscored the church’s idea that gay couples remain inferior to heterosexual partnerships.

The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if the blessings weren’t confused with the ritual of marriage.

The new document repeats that condition and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings in question must not be tied to any specific Catholic celebration or religious service and should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union ceremony. Moreover, the blessings cannot use set rituals or even involve the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.

But it says requests for such blessings for samesex couples should not be denied. It offers an extensive and broad definition of the term “blessing” in Scripture to insist that people seeking a transcendent relationship with God and looking for his love and mercy shouldn’t be held up to an impossible moral standard to receive it.

“For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior

moral perfection,” it said.

“There is no intention to legitimize anything, but rather to open one’s life to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness,” it added.

The document marks the latest gesture of outreach from a pope who has made welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy. From his 2013 quip, “Who am I to judge?” about a purportedly gay priest, to his 2023 comment to The Associated Press that “Being homosexual is not a crime,” Francis has distinguished himself from all his predecessors with his message of welcome.

“The significance of this news cannot be overstated,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which supports LGBTQ+ Catholics. “It is one thing to formally approve samegender blessings, which he had already pastorally permitted, but to say that people should not be subjected to ‘an exhaustive moral analysis’ to receive God’s love and mercy is an even more significant step.”

The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed same-sex marriage and considers homosexual acts to be “intrinsically disordered.” Nothing in the new document changes that teaching.

And in 2021, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the church couldn’t bless the unions of two men or two women because “God cannot bless sin.”

That 2021 pronouncement created an outcry and appeared to have blindsided Francis, even though he had technically approved its publication. Soon after it was published, he removed

the official responsible for it and set about laying the groundwork for a reversal.

In the new document, the Vatican said the church must avoid “doctrinal or disciplinary schemes especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyses and classifies others.”

It said ultimately, a blessing is about helping people increase their trust in God. “It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered,” it said.

It stressed that people in “irregular” unions of extramarital sex — gay or straight — are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn’t deprive them of God’s love or mercy. “Even when a person’s relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God,” the document said.

“Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it,” the document said.

The Rev. James Martin, who advocates for a greater welcome for LGBTQ+ Catholics, praised the new document as a “huge step forward” and a “dramatic shift” from the Vatican’s 2021 policy.

“Along with many Catholic priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex marriages,” he said in an email.

Traditionalists, however, were outraged. The traditionalist blogger Luigi Casalini of Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) blog wrote that the document appeared to be a form of heresy.

“The church is crumbling,” he wrote.

University of Notre Dame theologian Ulrich Lehner was also concerned, saying it would merely sow confusion and could lead to division in the church.

SAME-sex couples take part in a public blessing ceremony in front of the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, on Sept. 20, 2023. Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document released yesterday explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.

Photo: Martin Meissner/AP “The Vatican’s statement is, in my view, the most unfortunate public announcement in decades,” he said in a statement.

“Moreover, some bishops will use it as a pretext to do what the document explicitly forbids, especially since the Vatican has not stopped them before. It is — and I hate to say it — an invitation to schism.”

Ramón Gómez, in charge of human rights for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation group in Chile, said the statement was a step toward breaking down discrimination in the church and could help LGBTQ+ people in countries where even civil unions aren’t legal.

But he said the document was “belated” and “contradictory” in specifying a non-ritualised blessing that cannot be confused with marriage. Such a mixed message, he said, “thus once again gives the signal that same-sex couples are inferior to heterosexual couples.”

The Vatican admonition to refrain from

codifying any blessing or prayer appeared to be a response to Flemish-speaking bishops in Belgium, who last year proposed the text for a prayer for samesex couples that included prayers, Scriptural readings and expressions of commitment.

In Germany, individual priests have been blessing same-sex couples for years, as part of a progressive trend in the German church. In September, several Catholic priests held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne Cathedral to protest the city’s conservative archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

The head of the German Bishops Conference welcomed the document.

“This means that a blessing can be given to couples who do not have the opportunity to marry in church, for example due to divorce, and to same-sex couples,” Bishop Georg Baetzing said in a statement. “The practice of the church knows a variety of forms of blessing.

It is good that this treasure

for the diversity of lifestyles is now being raised.”

In the United States, the Rev. John Oesterle, a Catholic priest and hospital chaplain in Pittsburgh, said many priests would probably not be open to offering such a blessing, but he welcomed Francis’ action.

“I think the pope has learned to accept people as God made them,” he said on Monday. “When I was growing up, the assumption was that God made everyone straight.

What we have learned is that is not true. In accepting people as God made them, and if Jesus’ primary teaching is we should love and serve one another in the community, I think that’s what gives Pope Francis the openness to God’s presence in those relationships.”

The Church of England on Sunday announced a similar move allowing clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have had civil weddings or partnerships, but it still bans church weddings for samesex couples.

Houthi attacks on commercial ships have upended global trade in vital Red Sea corridor LONDON Associated Press THE attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea

by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world’s top shipping companies and oil giants, effectively rerouting global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies that is expected to trigger delays and rising prices.

BP said Monday that it has “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea,” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. Describing it as a “precautionary pause,” the London-based oil and gas corporation said the decision faces ongoing review but crew safety was the priority.

Both oil and European natural gas prices rose partly over market nerves about attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who confirmed two new attacks Monday. It is the latest targeting of container ships and oil tankers passing through a narrow waterway that separates Yemen from East Africa and leads north to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, through which an estimated 10% of the world’s trade passes.

Besides critical energy supplies reaching Europe and beyond on tankers, food products like palm oil and grain and most of the world’s manufactured products move by container ships — many of them heading through the Suez Canal.

“This is a problem for Europe. It’s a problem for Asia,” said John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80% of the world’s commercial fleet.

He noted that 40% of Asia-Europe trade normally goes through the waterway: “It has the potential to be a huge economic impact.”

Almost all goods that stores needed for Christmas will have already been delivered, but online orders could be delayed, analysts say, because four of the world’s five largest container shipping companies have paused or rerouted movements through the Red Sea in the last several days.

MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM Group and HapagLloyd are leaders in alliances that move the bulk all consumer goods between Asia and Europe, so “virtually all services will have to make this rerouting,” said Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research for Drewry, a maritime research consultancy.

Ships will have to go around the Cape of Good Hope at the bottom of Africa instead, adding what some analysts have said could be a week to 10 days or even longer to voyages.

Depending on what companies decide to do, they will have to add more ships to make up the extra time or burn more fuel for the longer journey and if they decide to go faster to meet their itineraries — both of which would release more climate-changing carbon dioxide, Heaney said.

“The impact will be longer transit times, more fuel spent, more ships required, potential disruption and delays — at least in the first arrivals in Europe,” he said, noting that ships could arrive to ports from their longer journeys “in clumps.”

That brings up the cost of shipping, but “I don’t think it’s going to go to the heights that it reached during the pandemic,”

AP MAP FOR YEMEN AND SURROUNDING SEAS Heaney said.

Supply chain disruptions increased as people stuck at home during the COVID19 pandemic ramped up orders for all sorts of products, driving up consumer prices around the world.

Stawpert of the shipping chamber said he would expect to see some price increases for consumers in the short term but that it depends how long the security threat lasts.

The Houthis have targeted Israeli-linked vessels during Israel’s war with Hamas but escalated their attacks in recent days, hitting or just missing ships without clear ties.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said Monday that they launched what he described as “naval aircraft” at the Cayman Islands-flagged Swan Atlantic, a chemical and oil products carrier, and Panama-flagged MSC

CLARA cargo ship. He didn’t offer further details.

Denmark-based operator Uni-Tankers said the Swan Atlantic, which was carrying vegetable oils to France’s Reunion Island off Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, was hit by an unknown object that ignited a small fire. Crew members put it out and all were reported to be safe, the company said.

It received military aid and continued on its journey.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a news conference during a visit to Israel that he was convening a meeting of his counterparts in the Middle East and beyond on Tuesday to address the Houthi risk to shipping.

“These attacks are reckless, dangerous, and they violate international law,” Austin said. “We’re taking action to build an international coalition to address this threat.”

US, French, UK and other coalition warships already patrol the area, keeping the waterway open.

Stawpert said deployments by navies have increased and that should boost confidence in the shipping industry and ease the threat to some degree.

“We would also hope for a surge in forces, given how important this is to the world economy and people around the world,” he said.

Disruptions expected from the Red Sea could have far-reaching effects because they would happen at the same time ships are being restricted through the Panama Canal, a major trade route between Asia and the United States.

Some companies had planned to reroute to the Red Sea — which is a crucial thoroughfare for Asia-Europe shipments — to avoid delays at the

Panama Canal caused by a lack of rainfall, analysts say.

Now, some may be scared away from that alternative by the threat of Houthi attacks. That means those taking extra precautions to avoid risks and delays from both global trade arteries will have to take the longer journey around Africa.

“It’s unprecedented that the two have coincided,” the analyst Heaney said, adding that neither the Suez nor Panama canals are closed, “it’s just that they’re becoming less viable for the short term.”

The cancellations also will mean problems for cash-strapped Egypt, he said, with millions in fees that shipping companies pay to clear the Suez Canal representing a big source of income for a country whose economy is struggling with high inflation and a weakening currency.

SPORTS PAGE 11

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023

NBA, Page 14

‘Donnie’ gets Lifetime Achievement Award

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

D

onald “Donnie’’ Martinborough, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Bahamas Realty, became the first Bahamian to be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd International Sunfish Class Association (ISCA) World Championship in Miami, Florida.

Martinborough has not only experienced success in his professional endeavours but also in the national sport, winning three world championships in the Sunfish Class over the years.

Although he was not as successful at last weekend’s World Championships, the avid sailor has gained full membership privileges due to his noteworthy contributions as recognised by the Sunfish World Council.

“The Lifetime Achievement Award was for all my accomplishments in the Sunfish Class, which

came as a huge surprise and was very humbling.

This is an award voted on and presented by the Sunfish World Council mainly for my success in winning three world championships. Being the first Bahamian to achieve such an honour is truly exciting,” Martinborough said.

The 12-time national champion earned the first of his trio of titles at the 14th Sunfish Worlds in San Andrés, Colombia, in 1983.

The feat accomplished four decades ago made him just the second Bahamian since Pierre Siegenthaler at the time to attain this achievement at the sailing event.

Two years later at the 16th Sunfish Worlds hosted in Riccione, Italy, Martinborough earned his second title. The final title, which might be the sweetest of them all, was secured on home soil at the 19th Sunfish Worlds in 1988. During this stretch, he also claimed

SEE PAGE 12

A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Donnie Martinborough was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Sunfish Class Association during the 2023 ISCA World Championships in Miami, Florida, last week.

GIORGIO BALDACCI TENNIS QUARTERS ON TODAY

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net THE Giorgio Baldacci Open National Tennis Championships got underway yesterday at the National Tennis Centre (NTC). After a busy day one, tennis action will pick up in the quarterfinals today.

Denali Nottage, who emerged as last year’s national champion, downed Jody Turnquest in straight sets. He took set one in comfortable fashion, winning 6-0.

In the following set, he bested his opponent 6-1.

Alec Hooper booked his trip to Tuesday’s quarterfinals against Nottage after defeating Theophilus Weir 6-2, 6-0.

Nottage talked about his expectations this time around as the defending champion. “My goal is the same thing, trying to come out victorious again so that I can represent my country

SEE PAGE 12

BLTA Awards: Top players soak up spotlight

By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net ATHLETES received top honours at the inaugural Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) Recognition Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).

Among the awards presented at the ceremony were the senior male and female athlete of the year, junior achiever award of excellence, association awards, sponsorships (award of appreciation), media awards, NTC director of service, excellence in service, along with other awards for the BLTA executive team members.

Perry Newton, president of the BLTA, said the first awards ceremony has been

in the pipeline for the last two years but it was great to finally have an opportunity to recognise those who have not only demonstrated top performances in the sport but also contributed to it behind the scenes.

“It was a great night of celebration recognising those who have given selfless service in areas of media, tennis administration, association work, national tournament and team representation, coaching, community outreach, NTC development and management and more.

“We also wanted to honour some of the persons who have been working diligently during the pandemic to ensure that we were able to host tournaments and clinics to keep tennis up and running,” explained Newton.

SPORTS CALENDAR

A TIME TO CELEBRATE: Top female tennis player Sydney Clarke receives her award from BLTA president Perry Newton during the inaugural Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association awards ceremony on Saturday evening.

Dec 2023

Denali Nottage, who won the 2022 Giorgio Baldacci Tennis Nationals and represented The Bahamas at his first Davis Cup in Paraguay earlier this year, took home the senior male athlete of the year award.

While at the 2023 Davis Cup competing out of Americas Group III, Nottage helped The Bahamas to knock off Honduras 3-0 and earned his first singles win at the event. Additionally, the Freeport native won the crown at the Casely $10k Men’s Open in Hollywood, Florida.

Taking home the senior female athlete of the year was none other than Sydney Clarke, who is currently ranked number one at the 2023 Giorgio Baldacci Tennis Nationals.

Clarke represented the country at the Pan

American Games in Santiago, Chile, alongside Justin Roberts and Kevin Major Jr. The 22-year-old teamed up with her younger sister Sarai Clarke at the sixth Bahamas Games to give the Andros Chickcharnies a gold-medal finish.

In the junior category, Tatyana Madu, who finished as a double crown winner at the U-14 COTECC Junkanoo Bowl, received a Junior Achiever Award of Excellence.

Patrick Mactaggart, recipient of the boys’ singles title at the U14 Junkanoo Bowl, was also selected along with Jerald Carroll and Jalisa Clarke.

The Association awards went to the Abaco Tennis Association for their continued growth in the sport

SEE PAGE 12

DREW LOCK’S LATE TOUCHDOWN PASS RALLIES SEAHAWKS TO 20-17 VICTORY OVER SLIDING EAGLES

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer

BAAA Odd Distance Track and Field Meet Date: Friday, December 22 Venue: The original Thomas A Robinson Stadium The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) is set to host their first track and field meet of the season on Friday from 1-6pm at the aforementioned venue. The event will feature divisions, including under-7, under-9, under-11, under-13, under-15, under-17, under-20, and open.

BASKETBALL HENFIELD WINTER BASKETBALL CAMP THE Marvin Henfield Winter Basketball four-day training camp began yesterday and is scheduled to continue through Thursday with three different sessions being held daily. Participants from ages 6-10 will be trained from 9am

to noon, 11-15 from 1-4pm and 16-years and older from 4:15-7:15pm.

Returning players will be charged $100 or $35 per day, while new players will be charged $150 or $50 per day.

Interested persons can register online at www.marvinhenfield.com or WhatsApp 242-828-2353 or 242-424-2353 for more information.

Henfield, however, noted that the Saturday Basketball and After-School Basketball is now closed for 2023.

MACEDONIA BAPTIST CHURCH FAMILY FUN WALK THE Men’s Department of Macedonia Baptist Church is scheduled to hold a Family Fun Walk Race to kick off the new year and the beginning of its Men’s Anniversary at 6am on Saturday, January 6. The event will honour the late Minister Charles Albury, who passed away this year.

SEATTLE (AP) — Drew Lock threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 28 seconds left to cap a 92-yard drive, and the Seattle Seahawks stunned the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17 last night, ending a four-game skid and getting back into NFC playoff contention.

Seattle (7-7) rallied behind its backup quarterback, who moved the team the length of the field for its longest touchdown drive this season and found the Seahawks’ rookie firstround pick for the biggest catch of his young career.

On third-and-10, Smith-Njigba beat James Bradberry off the line and

SEATTLE Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock works out prior to an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles last night in Seattle.

(AP Photo/John Froschauer) Lock’s throw was perfect decisive drive, including to cap the unlikely rally much-needed chunk plays from an early 10-0 defi- of 18 and 34 yards. cit. Lock, who made his Philadelphia had one second straight start in last chance, but Julian place of the injured Geno Love made his second Smith, connected with DK Metcalf three times on the SEE PAGE 13

PAGE 12, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

CHIEFS STILL SHOWCASE THEIR WARTS, BUT ALSO THEIR PROMISE IN 27-17 VICTORY OVER PATRIOTS

November Cup on par for Jan. 13 THE Albany Golf Community presented the Cancer Society of The Bahamas with a cheque for $106,125.35 which were proceeds from their last year’s November Cup Golf Tournament held at Albany’s Golf Course.

These proceeds will assist with the Cancer Society’s Cancer Caring Expansion Project, which will be groundbreaking in the second quarter of 2024.

Due to inclement weather in November, this year’s November Cup was rescheduled and will be played on January 13.

DONNIE FROM PAGE 11

10 consecutive Bermuda International Invitational Race Week championships.

The triple champion was not only the first Bahamian to receive the Lifetime Achievement honours but the last one to win gold at the Sunfish World Championships.

Despite being introduced to sailing at the tender age of 15, Martinborough still feels the same excitement felt when he first stepped onto a boat

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer

SHOWN, from left to right, are Keno Turnquest, Mark Knowles, Susan Roberts, founder of the Cancer Society of The Bahamas, Rochelle Wilkinson, president of the Cancer Society, and Brian Simms.

with top Olympic sailor Percival “Percy” Knowles.

“Sailing has been such a challenging and exciting sport for me from the first time I stepped into my first boat at the age of 15 with Mr Percy Knowles, who took the time to teach, mentor and mould me into the sailor that I am today.

My appetite for winning at the highest level in the world is what drives me.

It is a feeling I can never express in words but it is great knowing on any given day that I can be the world champion.

“This is all the motivation that I need to keep me going, even at my age, in the sport that I have grown to love so very much,” he said.

As for his recent stint at the 52nd ISCA World Championship hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, Martinborough was the top Bahamian finisher at the event. He concluded ranked 53rd out of 100 sailors. After competing in 12 events, the skipper finished with a cumulative total of 469.0. Unfortunately for the former world

champion, he was disqualified from two races which affected his outcome.

“The racing in Coconut Grove, Miami was tough.

There were 100 plus boats and it was extremely windy.

I learned a lot but did get thrown out of two races which really hurt me in the overall standings. But I hung in there and being the first Bahamian and a part of such a talented team of Bahamian sailors, namely Gavin Mckinney, Jimmy Lowe, Lori Lowe, George Damianos and Peter Vlasov, all whom gave their

best and represented The Bahamas well, is really special,” he said.

Lori Lowe, who became the first Bahamian woman to collect the Bahamas Sunfish Open National Championship, turned in the best performance for The Bahamas in the ladies’ category. She finished ranked 72nd overall at last weekend’s Sunfish Worlds.

The event wrapped up on December 10 with Peru’s Jean Paul de Trazegnies taking home his second consecutive Sunfish World Championship.

JERALD Carroll is presented with his award.

TENNIS junior Tatyana Madu receives her Junior Achiever Award of Excellence.

JALISA Clarke gets her award.

BLTA AWARDS FROM PAGE 11

of tennis. The Eleuthera Tennis Association got the community outreach honours and the Grand Bahama Tennis Association was awarded the tournament participation award. The president’s award for excellence in service went to former BLTA president Kit Spencer for his role in the development of the NTC. Cornell “Mickey” Williams was recognised for his officiating and administration duties.

Mark Knowles, former professional tennis player, was honoured for his invaluable contributions to tennis.

Darnette Weir, Paula Whitfield and Mateo Smith also saw their efforts with the Play Tennis and After School programme celebrated.

Other awards: Vice President AwardsExcellence in Service

TENNIS AWARDS: Top tennis players received their honours during the inaugural Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association awards ceremony on Saturday evening.

Bradley Bain – Coaching, Administration and Officiating Marvin Rolle – Coaching and Team Commitment Malkovich “Steve” Taylor – Coaching, Administration and Officiating Daniel Rigby – Coaching and Administration Dugald Small - Coaching Esther Newton Media and Officiating - The sponsorship award

of appreciation went to Limeade, Royal Bank of Canada, Automotive Industrial Distributors Ltd and Bahamas Waste Management.

Eugene Gibson was the lone recipient of the NTC Director Service Award.

Media awards for a stellar job in reporting and bringing awareness to the BLTA’s players and programmes were presented

to Tenajh Sweeting and Brent Stubbs (Tribune Sports section) and Simba French (Nassau Guardian Sports section).

Newton also presented awards of appreciation to executive team members Chilean Burrows, Cameel McDonald, Yvette Godet, Tara Mactaggart and Timothy Dames.Overall, Newton was impressed with the 2023 year of

competition for the BLTA. “It was a good and exciting year, we are just looking forward to the cycle again and adding more events and opportunities to train younger players. We are also looking forward to the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup,” he said.

Calendar year wraps up Thursday after the Giorgio Baldacci Open National Tennis Championships.

just have to go one match Mortimer Jr in consecuTENNIS at a time and cannot think tive sets 6-2, 6-4. He will far ahead,” said the now face Cailan Bowe who NATIONALS too Freeport native. Rodney dropped Jeffrey Thompson

FROM PAGE 11

at the Davis Cup. But I

Carey Jr, the third seed, knocked off Dentry

in a tightly-contested three sets. Bowe won set one 7-6(1) but fell in the following set 6-2. In the final set, Bowe claimed the victory 6-1.

Michael Major Jr, who attends Howard University, will face top junior Jerald Carroll after toppling Bradley Fowler 6-1, 6-1. Carroll upset the fourth ranked Anthony Burrows Jr comfortably 6-1, 6-0.

Baker Newman is set to take on two-time Davis Cup team member Donte Armbrister who is also ranked as the number two seed. Newman ousted Jackson Mactaggart 6-2, 6-0 and Armbrister won 6-0, 6-0 against Miguel Smith.

Elana Mackey, who nabbed the girls’ division of the 2022 Giorgio Baldacci Open Tennis Nationals, will take on Sarai Clarke in the girls’ quarterfinals today. Clarke was locked into a competitive battle

THE GIORGIO Baldacci Open National Tennis Championships got underway yesterday at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) Photo: Tenajh Sweeting/Tribune Staff with Sierra Rodgers that resulted in three sets. The latter stole set one 7-5 but Clarke regained composure in set two, winning 6-2. She claimed the final set 6-3 to battle against Mackey in the quarterfinals.

Mackey is ready to defend her crown this week.

“It feels pretty good to be back. I know this year

we have a lot more new players in the draw and I am excited for the tournament. I am expecting to do pretty good, make it to the finals and possibly win the tournament. I have been training really hard so I hope to show that at this tournament,” she said.

Sydney Clarke, the number one seed, will

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs beat the New England Patriots on Sunday in spite of themselves.

It’s a trick they can pull off against a three-win team, even on the road. But probably not one against a team in the postseason.

So that is where the Chiefs — that equally befuddling and beguiling Super Bowl champions — finds themselves with three games left in the regular season.

They improved to 9-5 with their 27-17 win on Sunday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, but still find themselves staring up at Miami (10-4) and Baltimore (11-3) in the AFC playoff picture with three regularseason games to go.

They also find themselves making the same mistakes that have cost them all season: penalties, dropped passes, turnovers and mental errors, and often several of them happening on a single disastrous play.

That was certainly the case for Kadarius Toney, whose offside penalty cost them so dearly the previous week against Buffalo, taking away a go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute left. For the second time this season, Toney not only dropped a pass but had it picked off, and just like Detroit in the opener the Patriots turned the turnover into points.

He wasn’t the only issue Sunday, though.

Right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who has been penalised six more times than any player in the NFL, was flagged again for a false start. Rashee Rice, one of their rare offensive bright spots, fumbled again but was able to get back on it. And drop-prone Skyy Moore was fortunate to have a lost fumble wiped away by a penalty.

The same culprits that have made the same mistakes all season.

“We’ve had great spots and we’ve had spots where we’ve struggled,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “We’ve just got to continue to make it a full game. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Still, the Chiefs had lost two straight and were in desperate need of a win, and they got it. And they have three winnable games to finish against the Raiders, Bengals and Chargers — three teams with backup QBs and two of them led by interim coaches.

“When you’re as close as the AFC is right now, wins are hard to get and you better enjoy each one,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “They’re very important, and so this one (against New England), no different than that because of the situation.”

match up against Breann Ferguson today at the NTC. Ferguson defeated top junior Tatyana Madu 6-1, 6-4.

Takaii Adderley and Afrika Smith both solidified their quarterfinals spots with wins yesterday. Adderley dropped off Saphirre Ferguson, the number fourth seed, 6-1, 6-1. Meanwhile, Smith handed Leila O’Brien a loss in straight sets. She won against her opponent 6-1, 6-2.

“It was my third time playing Saphirre so I stuck with my game plan. I did not really play the way I wanted to but overall I was happy to get the win. It feels great. It is my second time back here and the goal is to win it all while getting better in every game,” Adderley said.

Freeport native Jalisa Clarke defeated Caila Bowe 6-1, 6-0. Clarke and the third-seeded Simone Pratt will battle for a semifinals spot today. The quarterfinals are slated to begin at 9am.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 13

The Dolphins won easily without Tyreek Hill. Now they need to show they can beat a winning team

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa had already checked out of the game along with many other Dolphins starters when Miami fans started chanting, “We want Dallas!”

Miami’s 30-0 win over the New York Jets was the bounce-back the Dolphins needed after an embarrassing collapse against Tennessee six days prior.

And Miami was just fine playing a full game without star receiver Tyreek Hill.

Tagovailoa said he felt the offence was a bit disoriented with Hill limited to 34 snaps against the Titans because of an ankle injury, but getting reps without Hill in the week leading up to Sunday’s game helped with Miami’s production.

“It’s tough not having one of your star guys out there,” Tagovailoa said.

“But as a collective group, it’s like, well, what are we going to do? Are we going

to run the ball the entire game or are we going to do action game the entire game? No, we shouldn’t change who we are as an offence because one guy is out. We’ve got a lot of other guys that we trust, that we believed in, to keep on the team, and that’s what happened out there.”

Miami (10-4) can clinch a playoff berth for the second straight season with a win over Dallas next week.

The Cowboys are the first of three tough opponents left on the schedule — followed by Baltimore and Buffalo.

All three foes have winning records, and Miami hasn’t beaten a team all season that entered the game over .500.

Ending that trend without its No. 1 deep threat in Hill would be tough, but the good news is that the Dolphins got production from almost everywhere on Sunday.

Raheem Mostert had two rushing touchdowns, giving him franchise bests

MIAMI Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) of 20 total TDs and 18 on Mostert said. “It’s hard the ground. Jaylen Waddle to shut out a team, espehad his best game of the cially a divisional opponent year with eight receptions like the Jets and we swept for 142 yards, including a them this year. It just shows 60-yard touchdown catch. you the type of characters Tagovailoa completed that we have in this locker 87.5% of his passes, and six room.” players recorded a sack.

WHAT’S WORKING “Tyreek, it sucks that we Miami’s defence held didn’t have him (Sunday) an opponent under 100 because he’s a hell of a yards rushing for the sevplayer, definitely a gold enth time in the last eight jacket guy, and I say that games and recorded at with full conviction,” least six sacks for the third

time. The Dolphins were also a yard away from extending their streak of three straight games with a defensive touchdown when Bradley Chubb knocked the ball free from Zach Wilson’s hands and Zach Sieler recovered it at the Jets 1.

WHAT NEEDS HELP The Dolphins were 2 of 5 in the red zone for the second straight week.

Miami drove inside the Jets 14 in the first quarter but was penalised three times, including an offsides call against receiver Robbie Chosen, and settled for a field goal.

Penalties and negative plays also stalled momentum on a drive into the red zone in the fourth quarter, which ended in a sack of Tagovailoa and another field goal.

NEXT STEPS After hosting the Cowboys on Sunday, the Dolphins will travel to face the Ravens, who are currently the top team in the AFC.

Bills look like playoff contenders again. Now they have to prove it over their final three games

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Given up for done after consecutive losses in early November, the Buffalo Bills have their fans clambering back onto the bandwagon and checking out the latest playoff projection simulators to verify what their eyes apparently fail to see: a bona fide contender.

Sure, at 8-6, the Bills’ path to the postseason remains complicated.

And the team could have made it easier by not blowing late leads to New England and Denver, with “12 Men” — a too-manymen penalty that resulted in the Broncos hitting a game-winning field goal as time expired — already stenciled on this season’s epitaph should Buffalo fall short.

Since then, though, the Bills have regained their swagger, overcome their injury-depleted defence and discovered a new dynamic running dimension to their offence. All those elements were on display in the James Cookled 31-10 stampede over Dallas on Sunday.

After consecutive wins against the Cowboys and Chiefs, the Bills getting to 11 wins doesn’t appear as unfathomable as it seemed three weeks ago.

That’s when McDermott’s future was being called into question after Buffalo squandered leads in the final minute of regulation

and overtime in a 37-34 loss at Philadelphia.

Buffalo even has a shot at claiming its fourth straight AFC East title, which could come down to a season-ending showdown at Miami. The Dolphins are 10-4, but the Bills have already beaten them.

For all the criticism heaped on McDermott, perhaps the seventh-year coach deserves a little praise for keeping the ship afloat.

He fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Joe Brady in a move that’s reinvigorated Josh Allen and the offence. After going six games without scoring 26 or more points, the Bills have topped 30 in three of four outings under Brady.

Buffalo’s offence has become less Allen-centric and more balanced, with Brady placing an emphasis on the ground game.

In four outings, Cook has gone from ranking ninth in the NFL with 837 yards from scrimmage to entering Monday third on the list with 1,401. He’s scored four touchdowns during that stretch, bringing his season total to six.

Cook’s numbers got a big boost from his 179yard rushing performance against Dallas, but credit Brady for sticking with what worked.

This is the type of complementary style of play McDermott previously sought from his offence to offset Buffalo’s defensive

BUFFALO Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) waves to fans as he walks off the field after playing against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

(AP Photo/Jeffrey T Barnes) deficiencies. Too much The Bills enter Monday time of possession in each of the burden was being having allowed the of their past four outings, placed on Allen, which led 12th-fewest yards and keeping their defence well to him committing nine fourth-fewest points in the rested. turnovers over a six-game NFL. Against Dallas, BufWHAT NEEDS HELP stretch before Dorsey was falo limited the league’s A schedule that is out fired. top-scoring offence to of Buffalo’s control. The Allen has just three give- three points through 57 Bills have a short week aways in four games, and minutes and a season-low to prepare before travenjoyed his first turnover- 195 yards overall. elling to face the Los free outing in 10 games on “I think we’ve definitely Angeles Chargers on SatSunday. found ourselves as a team. urday night. The Chargers And then there’s the We’ve started to play with have been off since Thursinnovative adjustments a lot of swagger, a lot of day, giving interim coach McDermott has made juice,” defensive tackle Ed Giff Smith a few extra days to his defence to offset Oliver said Sunday. “It’s to prepare since Brandon injuries to cornerback contagious. We’ll be in the Staley was fired following a Tre’Davious White (torn playoffs not before long.”

63-21 loss to Las Vegas.

Achilles tendon), lineThree more wins just NEXT STEPS backer Matt Milano (right might do it.

The Bills can’t afford a leg) and tackle DaQuan WHAT’S WORKING misstep against a flounderJones (torn pectoral Ball control. The Bills ing Chargers team that’s muscle). have topped 35 minutes in missing Justin Herbert.

NFL MONDAY FROM PAGE 11

interception of the fourth quarter, picking off Jalen Hurts’ deep pass intended for A.J. Brown and just getting his feet down inbounds, to send the Eagles (10-4) to their third straight loss.

Midway through the fourth, Love picked off Hurts in the end zone to prevent the Eagles from extending their 17-13 lead.

Lock was 22 of 33 for 208 yards. Hurts, who was questionable to play with an illness, had 13 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns, but he was just 17 of 31 passing for 143 yards and the two picks.

Lock was also the lead blocker on Kenneth Walker III’s 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that pulled Seattle even at 10-10. Walker finished with 86 yards rushing.

Seattle moved into a logjam with four teams currently at .500 that are battling for the NFC’s last two playoff spots, while Philadelphia wasted a chance to move a game ahead of Dallas in the NFC East.

PHILADELPHIA Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, centre, holds the ball up after scoring a touchdown on a keeper against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half of an NFL football game last night in Seattle.

(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

ANALYSIS: NFL PLAYOFF RACE DEFINES PARITY, THOUGH COMPETITION DOESN’T ALWAYS EQUAL QUALITY FOOTBALL

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer THE NFL playoff race defines parity.

Thirty teams entered Week 15 still alive for a Super Bowl run. Of course, several of those teams had astronomical odds and a few more know they’re not going anywhere. But, it’s been five years since only two teams were mathematically eliminated this late in the season.

Close scores and competitive games don’t always translate into quality football — just ask Tom Brady — but the NFL takes pride in balance.

They’ve sure got it in 2023.

There are 24 teams in or within one game of a playoff spot. Seven of eight division races are within two games, including four that are within one or tied.

Eleven AFC teams have a winning record. Since the 1970 merger, that’s only happened three times previously through 14 weeks.

Five NFC teams that are 6-7 are tied for the final wild-card spot. Three 6-7 teams are tied for the top spot in the NFC South.

Three teams that opened the season 1-5 are within one game of a playoff spot.

Only four teams in the Super Bowl era have made the playoffs after starting 1-5.

“I’m sure we’ve seen it like this either in the NFC or the AFC, but I can’t recall having been a part of it,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton, whose team has gone from 1-5 to 7-6 and one game behind Kansas City in the AFC West.

“Obviously, we’re a game out in our division, and that’s how we’re looking at it. We kind of talked about this last week. This next quarter poll is going to obviously define a lot for a lot of teams, and fortunately, we’re one of those teams.

“We just have to focus on the next job. It is unusual. I think it probably comes up a little more than we think and moves around from the NFC to the AFC. It makes it exciting for the fans, and certainly for TV.” Five teams who missed the postseason in 2022 are currently in a playoff position: Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Since 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season a year after missing the postseason.

Overall, 72% of games (149 of 208) were within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter. That’s the third-most games through Week 14 in NFL history.

A total of 55% of games (115 of 208) were decided by eight points or fewer.

That’s also the third-most games through Week 14 in NFL history.

All this adds up for an exciting finish and a hectic race for the playoffs. It also means there could be quite a few mediocre teams playing in the postseason.

After first-place teams went 2-6 last week, the race for the No. 1 seed in both conferences opened up.

The Ravens (10-3) lead the way in the AFC but they’ve got a difficult schedule the rest of the way.

The Dolphins (9-4), Chiefs (8-5), Jaguars (8-5) and Browns (8-5) are also competing for the top spot.

In the NFC, the fight for the No. 1 seed is a threeway race between the 49ers, Cowboys and Eagles.

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PAGE 14, Tuesday, December 19, 2023

THE TRIBUNE

Pistons lose to Hawks - near NBA history with 24-game skid, Harden, Clippers win eighth straight ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young extended his recent hot streak with another double-double, scoring 31 points with 15 assists, as the Atlanta Hawks beat Detroit 130124 last night, handing the Pistons their 24th consecutive loss.

The Pistons’ last win came on October 28 against Chicago. Detroit is two losses away from matching the NBA’s longest losing streak in one season.

The NBA record for the longest losing streak within a single season is 26, shared by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers lost a record 28 consecutive games over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with a careerhigh 43 points. Bojan Bogdanovic had 25 points.

CLIPPERS 151, PACERS 127 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — James Harden scored 21 of his season-best 35 points in the fourth quarter and had nine assists as Los Angeles extended the league’s longest active winning streak to eight games by routing Indiana.

Kawhi Leonard added 28 points for Los Angeles and Paul George added 27 against his former team.

Facing the league’s secondworst defence, the Clippers matched their season-high point total for a half with 77 in the first on the way to their highest-scoring game of the season.

Bennedict Mathurin had a season-high 34 points to lead Indiana. Isaiah Jackson scored 15 points while starting in place of injured two-time NBA blocks champion Myles Turner.

All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton had an off night after missing Saturday’s game with a bruised knee.

He had eight points, 11 assists and four turnovers.

TIMBERWOLVES 112, HEAT 108 MIAMI (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 and Minnesota clamped down in the second half to beat Miami.

Naz Reid scored 15, Mike Conley added 12 and Rudy Gobert grabbed 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Minnesota improved to 20-5, tying idle Boston for

the NBA’s best record. The Timberwolves gave up just 42 points in the second half, after trailing by as many as 17 points in the early going.

Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo returned from long injury absences and combined for 47 points for the Heat; Herro scored 25, Adebayo had 22. Jimmy Butler scored 15, Duncan Robinson 14 and Josh Richardson 13 for the Heat.

BULLS 108, 76ERS 104 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Coby White scored 24 points and Chicago held on to snap Philadelphia’s sixgame winning streak.

Former Sixer Nikola Vucevic chipped in 23 points while DeMar DeRozan added 15 for the Bulls.

The Bulls have won six of their last nine even though they are playing without All-Star Zach LaVine, who has been sidelined with left foot inflammation and is likely still a little bit away from returning.

Joel Embiid had 40 points and 13 rebounds, his 11th straight game with 30 or more points and 10 or more boards. Tyrese Maxey added 29 points in the 76ers’ first loss to a team without a winning record this season after starting 12-0 against sub.500 teams. No other Sixers player was able to crack double figures.

CAVALIERS 135, ROCKETS 130, OT CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points, Sam Merrill had a career-high 19 off the bench and Cleveland earned its 11th consecutive overtime victory by beating Houston.

Merrill had five points and Max Strus added four in the extra period, when Cleveland outscored Houston 13-8 to match the second-longest OT winning streak in NBA history.

New Orleans owns the record with 13 victories in a row from 2006-08.

Rockets centre Alperin Sengun made one free throw with 36.8 seconds left in regulation to tie it. Caris LeVert missed a 3-pointer on the Cavaliers’ subsequent possession and Sengun’s fadeaway at the buzzer rimmed out.

Fred VanVleet had season highs of 27 points and 17 assists, along with eight rebounds, and

‘BUDDY’ HIELD SCORES 14 IN LOSS TO CLIPPERS

LOS Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) shoots over Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield (7) during the second half in Indianapolis last night.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Sengun had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Rockets are 2-10 on the road and 11-1 at home.

THUNDER 116, GRIZZLIES 97 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai GilgeousAlexander had 30 points and nine rebounds in three quarters to help Oklahoma City beat Memphis in the Grizzlies’ final game before Ja Morant returns from his suspension.

Gilgeous-Alexander hit a game-winner at Denver on Saturday night and followed it up by making 8 of 18 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws against Memphis.

Chet Holmgren had 17 points, seven blocks and six rebounds. Josh Giddey

added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won four of five.

Ziaire Williams scored 19 points and Desmond Bane added 17 for the Grizzlies (6-19), who have lost five straight. Jaren Jackson Jr., who had scored at least 40 points in two of his past three games, finished with 11.

RAPTORS 114, HORNETS 99 TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, Gary Trent Jr. had season highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Toronto rallied past a Charlotte team missing Miles Bridges and three other starters. Bridges was denied entrance to Canada

due to his past legal problems, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford would not comment on the reason for Bridges’ absence before the game.

Charlotte was already without injured starters LaMelo Ball (right ankle), Gordon Hayward (illness) and Mark Williams (back), plus key reserve Cody Martin (left knee).

Toronto’s Scottie Barnes scored 22 points and matched his career high with 17 rebounds.

Dennis Schroder scored 13 points and Precious Achiuwa had 12. The Raptors outscored the Hornets 35-18 in the final period.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR FACES THREE MONTHS OF RECOVERY AFTER SURGERY

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is recovering from surgery for a broken hip after he fell at a concert in Los Angeles.

The basketball Hall of Famer had surgery Sunday “with no complications,” his business partner and spokeswoman, Deborah Morales, told The Associated Press yesterday.

“He will be in recovery for the next three months,” she wrote via text.

Abdul-Jabbar was attending the Manhattan Transfer’s concert at Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night when he was injured. Paramedics at the venue responded and took 76-year-old by ambulance to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

“I’d like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over the balcony, but I just tripped,” he posted yesterday on his Substack account.

“Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equaliser and humbles us all.”

Abdul-Jabbar wrote that he had hip replacement surgery “like 450,000 other Americans every year.”

He had been scheduled to read a letter from Vice President Kamala Harris to the venerable vocal group before his fall.

The Manhattan Transfer was celebrating its 50th anniversary before performing for the last time.

Abdul-Jabbar is a longtime fan of the group that blends R&B, jazz, blues and pop, and is best-known for its 1981 hit “The Boy From New York City.”

“I’m sorry I was not able to join you onstage to read the letter and tell the audience how much your music has meant to me,” he wrote.

“On the plus side, my fall hit all the newspapers so I made your final show even more memorable. Come for the music, stay for the klutzy fall.”

Abdul-Jabbar was a key player on the Los Angeles Lakers’ teams during their “Showtime” era in the 1980s, leading them to five NBA championships.

“I’m wishing my Showtime teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a speedy recovery after falling and breaking his hip! Praying for the Captain!” Magic Johnson posted on social media over the weekend.

Klay Thompson scores 28 to help Warriors win PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Klay Thompson scored 28 points on a night Stephen Curry’s NBArecord 3-pointer streak ended at 268 games and the Golden State Warriors held off the Portland Trail Blazers 118-114 on Sunday for their second straight victory.

Curry was 0 for 8 from 3-point range, 2 for 12 overall and scored seven points. He began the streak December 1, 2018, at Detroit. “We can’t rely on Steph to bail us out on every single night,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

“It was a tough night for him, but that’s what a team

is supposed to be about.

Everybody filling in for each other, different guys stepping up each night.

That’s a great sign, because he’s carried us for long enough this year. We need to give him more help.”

Curry, the NBA career leader who recently made his 3,500th 3-pointer, last went without one in a regular-season game Nov. 8, 2018, when he went 0 for 4 against Milwaukee. He also owns the second-longest NBA streak at 157 games.

Andrew Wiggins, who was recently taken out of the Golden State’s starting lineup, had 25 points and seven rebounds.

“He did a little bit of everything. Rebounded, hit 3s, played above the rim,” Thompson said. “That’s the Wigs we love.”

Said Kerr: “That looked like vintage Andrew.. That’s the guy I know.”

Rookie Trayce JacksonDavis had 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors win consecutive games for the first time since the end of a five-game winning streak in early November.

Jerami Grant led Portland with 30 points.

Anfernee Simons scored all 21 of his points in the second half.

GOLDEN State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, left, dribbles the ball past Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons, right, during the second half on Sunday. The Warriors won 118-114.

(AP Photo/Steve Dykes Portland cut it to 113- it 116-114, Portland’s Shae- started attacking, I didn’t 111 with 39 seconds left. don Sharpe was called for really want to call a timeout Chris Paul’s jumper with an offensive foul with 0.6 at that point. We couldn’t 20.9 seconds left pushed the seconds left. Portland had really advance it after Warriors’ lead to 115-11, a timeout remaining but the play started going. If and Simon’s 3-point play elected not to call one with Shae had stopped attackmade it a 115-114 with 14.7 Sharpe attacking the basket ing, I would have called a as Golden State’s Brandin timeout. But once he was seconds to go.

“Chris Paul, what a gamer Podziemski drew the game- attacking, I thought let the young fellow figure it out.” he is to hit those shots at sealing foul.

“Going in I was thinking UP NEXT the end,” Thompson said Warriors: Host Boston about Paul, who scored all rebound, let’s go timeout,” four of his points in the final Portland coach Chauncey tonight.

Trail Blazers: Host Phoe2:26. After Curry split a Billups said. “But we got pair of free throws to make it out quick and once we nix tonight.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, December 19, 2023, PAGE 15

Embassy celebrates our shared story THE US Embassy held an art competition for local students and twelve lucky winners won a $200 gift card and had their drawings featured in the embassy’s 2024 calendars.

Students that participated

in the ‘Our Shared Story’ art competition were required to illustrate what relations between the USA and the Bahamas means to them.

Winners included students from local schools such as Jaa’ Rolle,

Aquinas College Catholic Schools and Family Island students such as Kinsey Marche and Ethan Spicer, St Francis de Sales School in Abaco and Cheneae Stewart, Jack Hayward Senior High School in Grand Bahama.

ARTWORK from the calendar by, from left, Jaa’ Rolle, Cheneae Stewart and Janelle Davis.

EMPOWERMENT CLUB HOLDS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY

By JEFAY SIMMONS Tribune Education Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Boys and Girls empowerment club at LW Young held its annual Christmas party at the Fox Hill Community Centre, with Archdeacon Keith Cartwright discussing the purpose of Christmas with the students.

Students were also given the opportunity to display their artistic and musical talents before sharing an early Christmas meal.

The club was started in 2015 to assist boys that struggled with social issues.

Club founder Anita Wilmott noticed many of the boys in her homeroom

class struggled with conflict resolution and were entangled with local gangs and decided to take action. She decided the next step would be to have local leaders come into the school and meet with the boys over biweekly lunchtime seminars.

The project was a success and shortly after, her female students were eager to have empowerment sessions of their own. In 2019, the Girls Empowerment Club was formed, targeted at teaching young ladies the same social skills.

The club now has 116 students, 60 boys and 55 girls and Ms Wilmott hopes her students will one day have an impact on the wider community. She plans to

continue with her programme and ensure the next generation is equipped with sound interpersonal skills.

She said: “Going forward, I hope that everything they have been taught will continue to be manifested throughout their lives at school and in the wider community. I want them to grow to become real men and women of virtue that will make good choices and have a positive influence on others.”

She added: “Social skills are necessary for today’s society. Academics will be built throughout life, but basic social skills such as manners, respect and consideration for others must also be learned as well.”

MARIO CAREY REALTY BRINGS CHEER TO CENTRE FOR DEAF

By JEFAY SIMMONS Tribune Education Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net STUDENTS at the Centre for the Deaf received an annual gift of Christmas cheer from Better Homes and Gardens Mario Carey Realty (MCR) Bahamas.

The students were treated to a party that that included Santa, rides on an eco-glide scooter and gifts.

For the past 26 years, Mario Carey, president and CEO of MCR, and friends delivered holiday happiness to students at the Centre for the Deaf with a party.

This year’s event took a special turn when students surprised Mr Carey and friends with their present to them, a song called The Sign of Love, thanking them for all they have done and wishing Cole Carey, who played Santa Claus, a happy birthday, all performed in sign language.

Michaela Smith, principal at the Centre for the Deaf said staff look forward to the annual party and

that Mr Carey mantains a consistent relationship with the students at the school.

She said: “He makes it a point to get to know each child. He remembers their names, speaks to them and checks on them ever year. It’s a blessing and Mr Carey and his team are wonderful. Our staff look forward to this event every year.”

Mr Carey, who has learned to compensate for his hearing impediment said that more attention needs to be focused on the hearing challenged especially with one in ten residents of The Bahamas projected to suffer a disabling hearing loss by the year 2050.

He said: “Many of the lives of these students and others can be improved with as little as a new or better set of hearing aids “We are a wealthy nation, we should not allow a simple solution like hearing aids to stand in the way of the life of someone who wants to be a productive and engaged contributor to society and lead a full, rich life.”