01132022 NEWS AND SPORT

OBITUARIES THURSDAY

Guava créme Pie HIGH 75ºF LOW 65ºF

i’m lovin’ it!

Monday,

February

CARS! CARS!

8, 2021

The Tribune Established

Being Bound To

Swear To The Dogmas

1903

Of No Master

The Tribune

Volume: 119 No.35, January 13, 2022

L A T E S T

N E W S

tise Call

To Adver

-2351

601-0007 or 502

Starting at

$33.60

CLASSIFIEDS TRADER

ed

VAT includ

Established 1903

O N

T R I B U N E 2 4 2 . C O M

Biggest And Best!

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: PRICE–$1

VIRUS CASES RISE IN CHILD POPULATION

Vaccine controls for youngsters may be behind infection rise

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net DEPUTY Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen says health officials have noted higher coronavirus infection rates among children, a grouping that does not have the same broad vaccine coverage as other subsets of society.

Dr Brennen said officials noticed the increase among children as many adults were infected by what is believed to be the Omicron

variant of COVID-19.

Meanwhile Dr Philip Swann, Acting Chief Medical Officer, said vaccine supplies remained high in the country, but officials are still unable to source paediatric doses.

Officials did not provide specific numbers regarding child COVID-19 infections.

Dr Swann also said officials were still awaiting confirmation from tests sent abroad to determine if the Omicron variant is in the country.

SEE PAGE FOUR

THE country recorded 2,489 cases of COVID-19 in the first clinically monitored week of 2022, according to Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Phillip Swann.

Although high, the number reflected a “lesser increase” when compared with the previous two weeks when there were increased infections in The Bahamas.

More specifically, earlier weeks of the fourth wave of

the pandemic went from a low of 80 new infections per week, to a high of an estimated 2,640 per week.

Dr Swann added it is his hope that the country was “cresting” this wave of the pandemic.

“Two weeks ago, we spoke on the increasing trend of positive cases reflected in the daily reports of RT-PCR testing received by the Ministry of Health and Wellness,” Dr Swann said during a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday SEE PAGE FOUR

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

US CHAIN IHOP SIGNS NEW LOCAL FRANCHISE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN entrepreneur yesterday revealed plans to create up to 130 local jobs by making this nation “the anchor for the whole Caribbean” with the IHOP franchise he has secured.

Burton Rodgers said the agreement reached with the pancake-led restaurant chain that “is iconic to Bahamians” had been “a passion project” involving a five-year pursuit.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

... AS TOP OFFICIAL HOPES SURGE IS SLOWING DOWN

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

FRONT PORCH: CRISIS NOT GOING AWAY ANY TIME SOON

ANOTHER FAMILY LEFT TO MOURN CARLTON KING, who was shot several times outside his home on Tuesday night and killed. Mr King, 33, had a daughter and was a mechanic. See PAGE TWO for the full story.

LUCAYAN PRICE TAG SET AT $150M

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said the government hopes to sell the Grand Lucayan resort for about $150m, the amount that has already been invested in the project.

“That’s the number,” Mr Cooper told reporters yesterday. “We believe that that is an attractive

THE GRAND Lucayan Resort. proposition — 25 hundred acres of prime beachfront property, a golf course, a marina site. This is a

magnificent site, it has the opportunity to really drive the economy for Grand Bahama and can be a substantial plank in the offerings of one of the major brands, so we’re looking forward (to) the best deal for the people of Grand Bahama and the taxpayers.”

The agreement between the government and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line/ITM SEE PAGE THREE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

BLACKLIST REMOVAL BOOST TO BUSINESS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ removal from Europe’s blacklist “sets the stage” for financial services growth by eliminating the last “red flags” to doing business with this nation, says Attorney General Ryan Pinder.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

STATESIDE SHORT-TERM GAINS, LONGTERM PROBLEMS

- SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Another family left to mourn

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MAN is dead after being shot several times outside his home on Tuesday night.

Although police did not officially reveal the victim’s identity, a relative told The Tribune he is Carlton King, 33.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said shortly before 9pm, police were called to the scene of a shooting incident that had occurred on Knowles Drive off Tonique Williams-Darling

Highway.

“Officers responded; on their arrival they found an adult male lying on the ground outside his residence unresponsive. A search of the body confirmed several wounds consistent with gunshots.

Emergency Medical Services later pronounced the body lifeless,” according to a police release.

“Initial investigations revealed that the victim was outside his residence when a small vehicle pulled up.

Two males exited the vehicle armed with firearms.

They approached the victim and shot him several times about his body. The suspects returned to the vehicle and fled the scene.”

King’s cousin, Stephen Knowles, said he was not there when the incident took place, but a neighbour called to alert him. No one else was at home at the time, he added.

“My neighbour... just called me and he tell me he see someone shoot some shots in my grammy yard,” he told The Tribune.

“He said he ain’t sure, but he knew Carlton was home... but

he said he saw a phone on the ground and it (was) lighting up.

He said he (saw) someone run to a car and end up speeding out.”

He said when neighbours checked out what was going on, they found his cousin dead.

He said his cousin, who had a daughter, did not deserve to be killed. Mr Knowles said his cousin was not a troublesome person. He said he was a mechanic and liked DJ music.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477).

CARLTON KING

VERIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS CONTINUING

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority has so far verified that about 30 percent of contractors had existing contracts with the entity, according to its chairman McKell Bonaby.

In December the authority announced that it would cancel hundreds of contracts after external investigators found numerous lapses in the organisation’s functions and internal controls.

Mr Bonaby has said the contracts will be terminated in a legal manner so that contractors with valid agreements will be paid.

Contractors are required to present basic Know Your Customer information so officials can verify and pay them out.

“We are moving meticulously,” Mr Bonaby said yesterday. “We want to make sure when we are reporting to the Bahamian people we are reporting accurate information and so, myself, along with the board, we’re taking our time with this. It’s not something that we are going to just do in a knee jerk reaction.”

He added: “This was not a process that was set up to set people up so to speak, it was not a sleight of hand. What we’re doing is just simply trying to do things that ought to have been done from inception and so the process has been moving smoothly, persons are happy with the process.

“We have been doing it at the sports centre. We have about 1,500 contractors

MCKELL BONABY and so we have at least, by now, have verified about 450 or so contractors in the process and the process is continuing. The hold up has been the TCCs, the tax certificate compliance, and so we find that once that part of it is completed, I believe the numbers will pick up.

We’re there to help the Bahamian contractors, we want to make sure they get paid as long as they are able to verify what needs to be verified.”

Mr Bonaby said the authority is working on getting out new contracts.

In December he said some 300 general service workers will fill the void after the then current contracts were cancelled.

K Christie and Co Chartered Accountants conducted the operational review of the BPPBA. Its probe found the authority went millions of dollars over budget despite there not being any “real needs on the ground” for this overspend; found inconsistencies in signatures on contracts, and VAT returns were not filed, among other lapses.

To advertise in The Tribune, contact 502-2394

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 3

Bahamas removed from EU blacklist

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas has been delisted from the European Union’s anti-money laundering blacklist more than a year after it was placed there, according to Attorney General Ryan Pinder.

Mr Pinder made the announcement at a ceremony to mark the opening of the 2022 legal year, where he said the move came after heavy consultation and meetings with EU officials.

He said: “The Bahamas engaged in diplomatic and technical meetings and consultations on an ongoing basis to address the blacklisting by the EU. During the period August 2020 to October 2021, there were two draft assessments

submitted for The Bahamas’ review with requests for supplemental information, and the last submission was made to the director general of FISMA on the first of October of 2021.

“The Office of the Attorney General followed up with the director general on October 11 and December 15th of 2021 and on Friday January 7, 2022, just last week, the European Commission adopted a new regulation to update the EU AML Blacklist which included delisting The Bahamas. It has now been shared with the European Parliament and Council for formal consultation.

“After such consultation, the regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and entering into force 20 days after its publication.

I am pleased to announce that The Bahamas has been delisted from the EU AML Blacklist of countries, another achievement that we should collectively be very proud of,” Mr Pinder added.

The Bahamas was placed on the EU’s blacklist in May 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explaining its rationale for placing the country on its “high risk” listing, EU officials said COVID19 enforced delay to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “site visit” to the nation meant it “cannot confirm” whether the country has resolved the deficiencies in its antifinancial crime regime.

“The Bahamas has taken steps towards improving its anti-money laundering/ counter terror financing

regime and, in February 2020, the FATF made the initial determination that The Bahamas has substantially completed its action plan and warrants an onsite assessment to verify that the implementation of The Bahamas’ reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation in the future,” the European Commission said at the time.

“The FATF has yet to carry out such assessment to confirm its initial determination. Therefore, the Commission does not have in its possession information which would enable it to confirm at this stage that the strategic deficiencies have been effectively addressed.”

ATTORNEY GENERAL RYAN PINDER

LUCAYAN PRICE TAG SET AT $150M

from page one Group for the acquisition of the resort was cancelled last month. Mr Cooper said bad terms negotiated under the Minnis administration and a lack of clarity on how quickly the project would be advanced were to blame for the failed deal.

Yesterday, Mr Cooper said the Davis administration is sending a clear message that it wants the process of selling the resort to be done swiftly.

“We are in an active process now of engaging all of those persons who

are interested,” he said. “I’ve said before that there are six credible buyers. There are more coming to the table, we now have the board in place, we are retaining a broker who is going to be managing the process for us.

“As you can imagine this is a very attractive property, an attractive offering, it’s the anchor for Grand Bahama and, therefore, we see a few potential participants in this bid coming forward every day so we are seeking to get through that initial pre-qualification stage over the next six weeks and then we will have a shortlist of potential

buyers and then hopefully at that point we’ll come back and give another update, but as it stands we recognise the significance of this property to tourism, to employment in Grand Bahama, to the business community and to the people generally.”

Mr Cooper wouldn’t say how many potential investors will be shortlisted, only that it will depend on how many meet the criteria of having a clear vision and significant financial resources.

He said the government will refine the selection process over the next week or so.

MUNROE COMMENTS ON SHOOTING ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ FREE National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer, Sr, has said it is “unacceptable” for National Security Minister Wayne Munroe to openly comment on an active investigation into a police shooting.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, Mr Culmer said Mr Munroe, QC, must take off his “litigious hat” and remember that he is the Minister of National Security.

“It is unacceptable for the Minister of National Security to openly comment on an active investigation of a police-involved shooting, particularly when the deceased was also a member of the armed forces under the minister’s remit,” Mr Culmer said.

“The careless commentary pre-empts the official investigation and prejudices the coroner’s inquest proceedings. The minister should not recklessly and arrogantly make himself the judge and jury on the veracity of the body-cam footage.

“The minister’s assertion that the footage is

CARL CULMER ‘consistent’ with anyone’s statement can only properly come after a thorough formal investigation. We are confident that the process and protocols established for police-involved shootings are sufficient to (determine) issues of facts.”

Mr Culmer also said Mr Munroe must “refrain from making premature remarks, stop interfering with this and any investigation and let the professional public servants do their jobs.”

His statement added that if Mr Munroe continues acting as a defence attorney, “he should take up the cause of the wrongfully terminated Urban Renewal workers, and the many other Bahamians who find themselves unjustly affected by the government’s reckless and harsh handling of hard-working Bahamians.”

The FNM also extended condolences to the family of slain Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer, Leading Seaman Rodney Adderley, his colleagues and to all those affected by this “tragic and unfortunate incident”.

Adderley was shot dead by police around 4am on Monday after he “charged” at an officer and tried to disarm him, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Police said they were alerted to a complaint about a suspicious vehicle parked near a vacant lot on Dunmore Avenue.

Officers were subsequently dispatched to the area and upon arrival, they noticed a man in the vehicle.

After being ordered out of the vehicle, the man “charged” at one of the officers, police said.

“The officer attempted to evade his oncoming aggression. However, the suspect continued and attempted to disarm the officer,” police said.

“Being aware of the threat to his life, the officer discharged his service weapon at the suspect, hitting him in the upper body.”

On Tuesday, Mr Munroe reiterated an earlier joint statement released by the RBPF, RBDF and Ministry of National Security which said body cam footage of the incident is consistent with officers’ description of what they say happened when they encountered Adderley in Chippingham.

However, officials have said the body cam footage will not be released to the public.

On Tuesday, Mr Munroe also told reporters that the deceased officer had mental challenges that were known to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and had been addressed by the agency.

PAGE 4, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Virus cases rise in child population from page one “I think there is a caveat to why the consideration is to children being at higher risk when it comes to the Omicron variant and our current timing,” Dr Brennen said on Tuesday night during a virtual town hall meeting. He was asked about the risk Omicron presented to children.

Currently only children 12 to 17 years old can get vaccinated in The Bahamas.

“If we remember correctly, just in the timing of our ability to prevent infection, one of the big things that we have seen is that when we started rolling out our vaccination campaigns, we really started with an older population to do so.

“We were seeing higher numbers of infections in general in older populations so it was a great strategy to do because vaccines have

been approved first in older populations. So, the paediatric population really has not had access to the vaccinations for a very long period of time, even globally, and then when you talk about subsets of paediatric populations, remember children who are five to 11 years of age have really just had access in some countries to the vaccine.

“Even here in The Bahamas we still don’t have access to those vaccines that are able to protect that age group of children and nowhere in the world do the children who are four years and younger have access to the vaccines.

“So, unfortunately when you consider proportions of adults to children who are seeing infections with the Omicron variant we are seeing higher proportions or higher percentages of children being affected and having to be hospitalised

and the like, and a lot of that is going to be due to the fact that they have not been afforded the same level of protection from vaccines when you look at the timing of when vaccines have been made available to that populous.”

He continued: “So, that is a big concern for us and it’s one of the reasons the Ministry of Health continues to push as much as possible to making sure that we try to get vaccines that are safe to use in those populations and making them available to the Bahamian public and the children of our society.”

For this reason, Dr Brennen said it was the focus of health officials to ensure there were rules and regulations in place to protect children, especially with regard to the opening of schools.

“We’ve had strong opinions and strong decisions that have been made

throughout the policy level decision making that has been made in county to make sure that we put rules and regulations in place in order to make sure that we protect that level of the populous as well and so we get a lot of feedback about why children have not necessarily been able to get into schools and the like.

“The reasoning is we are seeing those higher levels of infections in children and we need to make sure that we put them into those types of spaces in a manner that allows them to do so safely so that we don’t increase their risk and then end up with higher levels of disease in that population and then end up with more needing to be hospitalised as well.

“So, we need to make sure that we put those things in place and that we protect that populous

as much as possible but we want to make sure that we do so safely so that’s why we’re seeing the ever-changing numbers of infections, but also the policy making decisions to go along with it as well.”

Dr Brennen also noted that even with rules, the risk of children contracting COVID-19 at school could not be completely eliminated.

“We know that putting them into a space, especially indoor spaces, is going to increase their risk so we have to do so safely and so a part of that strategy has to include making sure that we don’t have overcrowding in classroom spaces, we take advantage of outdoor educational spaces as much as possible.

“We’ve been blessed with a climate that allows us to do more things outdoors without having to be inside the classrooms so we need

to take as much advantage of that as we can.

“We want to make sure that if you have to be indoors that you have good ventilation that will include keeping doors and windows open when possible and then making sure there is as much fresh air in as possible. If there is an air-condition or HVAC system, we need to make sure that all of that is incorporated but you know you have strategies where some children are able to come in and others are not.

Where you have smaller numbers of children within individual classrooms at a time.

“All of those are strategies that will help to make it safer, but there is no way to make it absolutely safe.

There is always going to be some level of risk that is taken on by allowing children to come into a school space,” Dr Brennen said.

... AS TOP OFFICIAL HOPES SURGE IS SLOWING DOWN from page one

night where health officials answered questions from viewers.

“And as we began to look at the data and trends, we pause to take a look at where we are today compared with where we have been during the early phases of the pandemic.

“What was depicted at the last presentation is now as a significant increase of cases and if you look at the ending part of this graph which depicts the experience of the fourth wave. We went from about 80 cases per week to 207 per week to 1,044 per week then doubled to 2,640 per week.

“Most recent reports for the first epi-week in this year shows a total of 2,489 cases and what that shows is that we are seeing a lesser increase than in the previous two weeks where there were orders of magnitude in the increased numbers.

“It is my personal hope that we are cresting this wave, that is my personal hope, but time will tell.”

An epi-week, or epidemiological week, is simply a standardised method of counting weeks to allow for the comparison of data year after year.

The first epi-week of the year ends, by definition, on the first Saturday of January, as long as it falls

at least four days into the month.

Dr Swann said the “erratic” nature in the test reporting was due in part to the fact that the past three weekends were followed by public holidays, which delayed the usual timely reporting of labs.

Hospitalisations have also shown a steady, but marked increase, Dr Swann said.

“The numbers have stabilised at around 120 for the past few days, but it is important to note that these numbers reflect a significant proportion of individuals that are admitted for other conditions, but would have tested positive for COVID19,” he said.

He added that the ministry was working to reflect this experience in a more succinct way to provide a measure of reassurance to the public about the actual illness spectrum of admitted cases.

Additionally, vaccination efforts remain active with 156,777 persons fully inoculated.

According to the latest information from the Ministry of Health, 241 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on January 11, bringing the nation’s toll since the start of the pandemic to 29,730.

The latest data shows 125 people in hospital, with six of them in the intensive care unit.

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis pictured when receiving his vaccination.

CALL FOR INQUIRY ON COVID-19 SPENDING

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Bar Association President Khalil Parker has called on the government to establish an independent public inquiry into the former administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Parker made the call as he raised concerns about the COVID-19 emergency orders’ impact on Bahamian livelihoods.

The country was placed under a state of emergency in March 2020.

However, after assuming office, the Davis administration ended the country’s state of emergency along with its associated emergency orders and enacted health and safety regulations to govern the pandemic.

Yesterday, Mr Parker said even though the government has since moved away from the emergency powers regime, it is still incumbent for officials to give a detailed account of the decisions made by its predecessors.

He said: “The emergency powers regime ended and the health services COVID-19 prevention and management of the community spread regime commenced under the Health Services Act on November 13.

“While the impact of that transition might not be felt in our day-to-day lives and though it may be an important step on our journey to normalcy, it ought not cause any complacency on our part as guardians of

the rule of law and partners in the administration of justice.

“The emergency powers regime involved significant and substantive interference with the liberty, lives and livelihoods of every Bahamian citizen, resident and visitor throughout its duration. It is, therefore, essential that a clear account be given of our national response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the decisions made under the emergency powers regime.

“I, therefore, call on the government as a matter of urgency to establish an independent public inquiry into The Bahamas’ pandemic response.”

Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has previously expressed concerns about the Minnis administration’s response to COVID-19, particularly its emergency spending.

Last week, Financial Secretary Simon Wilson told reporters that finance officials had been challenged in obtaining the necessary information to determine a true picture of

the former government’s COVID-19 emergency spending.

“The challenge that we have is that the information that is available with respect to the state of emergency is not easily available,” Mr Wilson said.

“It’s a real challenge.

So, if you ask me about anything (to do with) the state of emergency, any expenditure, I have no information. If you ask the persons who were involved, they have no information. It has to be gathered and collated to be presented.”

In a report from the International Monetary Fund last January, the Minnis administration pledged that the Auditor General would probe all COVID-19 related spending and revenue losses in a bid to uncover any “irregularities”.

The fund, in a full Article IV report on The Bahamas, said at the time that this effort was key to fostering public trust in the government and ensuring value for money was obtained for every dollar spent.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 5

More than 100 nominees for local government in GB

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net OVER 100 candidates have nominated for local government positions in the four districts on Grand Bahama.

The local government election is January 27.

Denise Pinder, of the Parliamentary Registration Department, reported that a total of 102 candidates were nominated on January 6. Of the four districts, West Grand Bahama recorded the highest number of candidates with 54 people vying for posts.

The City of Freeport District has 24 hopefuls; East Grand Bahama has 16, and Sweeting’s Cay has eight candidates.

She said there were insufficient people nominated in some areas where there will be uncontested elections.

Candidates have their campaigns underway, erecting billboards along highways, and some are canvassing neighbourhoods, talking to constituents and giving out flyers and holding meet-and-greet events.

Kendal Culmer, chief councillor for the City of Freeport District, is

CHERVITA CAMPBELL

KENNETH CULMER

FRAZETTE GIBSON

seeking re-election. He is a candidate in Marco City, which has three of the nine council seats on the City of Freeport Council.

Ms Pinder said that a total of nine candidates nominated in Marco City; five in Central Grand Bahama, six candidates in East Grand Bahama, and four in Pineridge.

In the Sweeting’s Cay District, she said eight candidates were nominated.

In East Grand Bahama, there are five polls, but an election will be held in only two. In EGB polling division six, there will be elections held for residents

in McLeans Town, Pelican Point, and Rocky Creek.

Six candidates were nominated there.

And in polling division 9B, there will be elections for residents in Smith’s Point, Mather Town, and Laing Town. Three candidates were nominated for that polling division.

In the West Grand Bahama District, elections will take place in polling division five, where six candidates are vying for the seats. In polling divisions six and seven, there are four candidates each; polling division 12 has three candidates; and polling division

13 has five candidates.

Ms Pinder said in East Grand Bahama polling division 2A, there will be no elections for residents of High Rock. The four persons nominated filled the four vacancies.

In East Grand Bahama polling division 2B, there also will be no contested election for residents of Freetown, Bevans Town, Gambier Point, and Gold Rock Creek. Two persons were nominated for the two positions on the town committee.

Ms Pinder said in polling division five, which is Water Cay, one person had

nominated to fill the one vacancy for a town committee member.

Mr Culmer said he is looking forward to the election. He said he has been working since day one, through Hurricane Dorian, and the pandemic to assist constituents of Marco City.

He is optimistic based on the work he has done in the area.

“I have made myself available to constituents of Marco City,” he said.

“I provided $20,000 worth of building materials after the hurricane, and during the pandemic provided 200 masks and breakfast in the park, and back to school and grocery package distribution, and Christmas parties.”

If re-elected, he plans to partner with Marco City MP Michael Pintard in developing a tech hub on Gambier Drive for children in the area for computer access and after school classes. He also plans to develop a youth mentorship programme for high school boys seeking to acquire community hours for graduation.

Frazette Gibson, a former chief councillor, is also seeking re-election in the Central Grand Bahama area. She said she was able

to achieve all her initiatives over the past four years.

She was able to partner with persons to develop a community park in the Sunrise Subdivision and Wellington Pinder Heights Subdivision; speed bumps and street signs erected in the area, and getting beach access in Bahama Terrace area for residents.

Ms Gibson said if reelected, she will seek to enhance the community park by developing a community centre there, and seek to have CCTV installed in areas of South Bahamia where theft has been an issue.

“There have been some car break-ins in the area and so I would like to partner with the police to have CCTV put up in that area to deter break-ins and stealing,” she said.

One of her goals is also to partner with an organisation to develop temporary shelter for battered women and children.

Chervita Campbell is also a candidate. She is a former chief councillor who has been employed at the Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School as a school guidance counsellor for 18 years.

SEEKING TO BUILD SKILLS FOR YOUTH

By PAVEL BAILEY

THE Bahamas Association for Social Health marked its 31st anniversary with a dedication programme for the start of the BASH Youth Build-A-Skill programme yesterday.

The event was held at The Village Recovery Way Centre.

Special guests included Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin and members of the community who came together to celebrate the commencement of the organisation’s week long celebrations.

During her remarks at the ceremony, Mrs Hanna Martin gave her support to the new initiative and commended BASH founder Terry Miller for his outstanding social work in service to the nation.

“So, I want to say to Terry Miller, I congratulate you, because you have been so faithful to the course.

You have understood the journey and you have been faithful,” she said.

“Against all odds, facing every challenge, every setback, every disappointment. Many would have gone in a different direction, but you stayed the course.”

Afterwards Mr Miller expressed his excitement at the launch of this new initiative aimed at helping at-risk youth who dropped out of high school.

“We want to train between 100 and 150 young people in marketable skills.

Our target group is the high school dropout and we want to get them excited about learning a new skill that they can market and generate income,” he said.

The Build-A-Skill programme plans to teach at-risk youth valuable skills such as carpentry, basic construction, project management, solar power assembly and installation, media production, backyard farming and much more. It is Mr Miller’s hope that as well as teaching young people valuable skills, the programme can help them deal with anger management and improve their social skills.

“While we have a captive audience, we will also empower them with social skills, motivation, patience and anger management.

Many of our young people are having issues with

interacting with each other, social interactions. They’re angry. They are fearful.

They’re going through a lot of anxiety. And so, we want to train these young people to help to manage their anger with therapy.”

By helping these at-risk youth, the Build-A-Skill programme aims to not only steer them away from substance abuse, but also reduce crime and violence in the community.

“They’re sitting back and watching their friends excel and get a car and going out and have nice things, you know? Almost the natural thing that you are going to see happening is they want it too. And how do they get it? So, you’re going to have more crime and violence going on as well. So, this is a part of our main focus of substantially reducing crime and violence in our communities and helping the social landscape to evolve in a more peaceful way,” Mr Miller said.

While this pilot project is currently only open to those in Chippingham and nearby communities, there are plans in the works to eventually expand the programme to other high-risk areas such as Fox Hill and Kemp Road.

However, BASH has faced several challenges recently in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic such as a noticeable loss in funding as many donors could no longer financially support them. This, coupled with the closure of the Lignum Vitae Unit of Sandilands last year, has put more substance abuse victims on the street in a time when they needed programmes like these most.

Despite these setbacks, Mr Miller believes that BASH can still make a positive change in the country if the facility continues to reach out to those at risk with the support of the wider community at their back.

“We need the support of the public. We need family members to encourage their children to take advantage of this opportunity and to talk to them.

If they need help from us, give us a call. We are ready to help. My cell number is 809-7178, anyone can call me. And if you have issues with a family member who has substance abuse disorder issues, you’re looking at a family member who wants to be part of the programme, give me a call, I’m available.”

Determination DETERMINATIO-

Don’t delay, keep pressing forward.

Earnestly work hard for your future.

Time is vitally important. Don’t waste it.

Every day will bring you closer to your goals.

Remember to stay strong and stand up against all obstacles.

Money is essential, so spend it wisely.

Initially, you must determine what your goals are.

Never, never quit. Don’t give up.

Always keep focused, and think positively.

Talk less, and more.

Innovation is the key - expand and explore new ideas.

Open the door of opportunity by taking advantage of it when it comes your way.

N- Nothing is impossible for you to achieve; believe in yourself, and don’t give up.

~Betty Taylor ~ Original Author

EDUCATION Minister Glenys Hanna Martin addressing the event at BASH yesterday, founded by Terry Miller.

PAGE 6, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

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

LEON E. H. DUPUCH,

SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH,

jamaaltheartist@gmail.com

Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon.) LL.D., D.Litt .

Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991

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) 322-1986 (242) 502-2394 (242) 502-2386 (242) 328-2398 (242)-352-6608 (242) 352-9348

WEBSITE, TWITTER & FACEBOOK www.tribune242.com

@tribune242

tribune news network

Protecting our children in the pandemic THROUGHOUT our efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the focus has been in trying to protect those who are more vulnerable to the virus.

Previously, that has seen considerable efforts around the world to protect those who are immunocompromised, are older, or who have other conditions that would make them more likely to suffer more serious effects from COVID-19.

Here at home, that has seen older people being urged to get their shots, and being put first in the line when it comes to getting boosters – and rightly so.

However, one group that has not had as quick access to vaccinations has been our children – and worryingly, the new spike in cases has seen an increase in the number of children being affected.

First things first, approving vaccines for children is a process that has taken longer – for many reasons. Routinely, vaccines have been created and tested with older age groups before trials have moved on to younger patients. That’s been the same with COVID-19, too.

Even now, children aged under 12 still do not have approval to receive vaccines here in The Bahamas – which means these new cases are increasingly affecting those who do not yet have vaccine protection.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Philip Swann said: “One of the big things that we have seen is that when we started rolling out our vaccination campaigns, we really started with an older population to do so.

“We were seeing higher numbers of infections in general in older populations so it was a great strategy to do because vaccines have been approved first in older populations. So, the paediatric population really has not had access to the vaccinations for a very long period of time, even globally, and then when you talk about subsets of

paediatric populations, remember children who are five to 11 years of age have really just had access in some countries to the vaccine.

“Even here in The Bahamas we still don’t have access to those vaccines that are able to protect that age group of children and nowhere in the world do the children who are four years and younger have access to the vaccines.”

Dr Brennen called for rules and regulations to protect children – especially with regard to the opening of schools, a matter to the forefront of minds lately amid tours of schools to see if they are ready for in-person classes.

The timing of such decisions will be crucial – and as much as parents might be longing for children to get back to their classes, and children themselves to see their friends, health has to be the top priority when it comes to making that choice.

Dr Brennen encouraged the use of outdoor spaces – but that isn’t necessarily something that can be counted on as anyone seeing the downpours over the past few days can attest.

Given how important such decisions are, we could do with as much information as possible – for example, how many of those in hospital have been children?

Parents would perhaps be reassured to know if that number was small – but equally it is only fair for parents to make decisions based on an informed choice.

The government could also do with pressing harder on public information campaigns to encourage parents to get children who can get the vaccine – those aged from 12 upwards – to get the jab.

Routinely, medics have reported that those who are being hospitalised are those who have not had the vaccine – so let’s give our children the best chance possible, and get them the jab. With numbers on the rise for child infections – it could make all the difference.

Don’t trust the hype EDITOR, The Tribune.

CERTAIN business celebrities if they need a description, love the use of extreme superlatives to describe something they are just getting into, or even at concept stage, a thought, but it is already a world beater, will shoot the Bahamas ahead of the world, and, of course, it is already internationally famous hardly conceived.

Sometime ago there was a finance house on Wall Street, in their very sexy

TV advertisement, used an elderly gentleman to promote their business… the jest of the pitch was… ”we earned our reputation”… to all PR seekers around, please achieve the concept, not presume it is a world beater.

Let us comment on the Real Estate market, what is the reality? Has there been a boom in sales, over the past six months or just PR make believe? Check the best agencies, all have 30-40 high-in listings… check Supplementary Budget, do

not see too much optimism for new revenue under Real Estate. Editor, what is the truth?

How many caught finally that Junkanoo parades, need not happen to have a full house at our hotels? It happened this year even with COVID! Today is moreso an information time… you can Google anything and find the truth.

M THOMPSON Nassau, January 11, 2022.

Stupid are we!

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I SEE that the politics of remote learning is not keeping pace with the reality of it all. Indeed, virtual learning is a new cultural pill that many Bahamian parents will have to swallow, and adjust to eventually.

COVID-19 has awakened the world to the great possibility that schooling as we know it today, will be done more from home – than in the classroom, in the not too distant future – in my view. That’s something that every parent with children of school age, needs to bear in mind.

There are political decisions being made in The Bahamas and elsewhere about the question of school opening; even though COVID-19 is raging and no one can say for sure - what the impact of future COVID variants will be on communities of the world.

The madness continues nonetheless. Every visionary and pragmatic politician in this universe – ought to be planning and preparing their population for a revolution in education – outside of the classroom setting - in my opinion. Instead of catering to political correctness in education, the focus should

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net be on the new normal and reality of distant learning.

Actually, with the advent of the Internet, the process should have started a long time ago. COVID-19 simply exposed our serious weaknesses and deficiencies in public education in the Bahamas. Children have computers at home to play games and flirt all day, but they do not have any for educational purposes.

It’s a mad world.

Parents want schools to reopen, because the majority of them are only looking for babysitters. The performances of our public school graduates prove this. Our children wear the best clothing to proms, but most of them can’t even write a proper or readable sentence - after twelve years of education in the public school system of The Bahamas. More and more chickens are coming home to roost, as we burn in the fire of social and political stupidity.

Homeschooling in The Bahamas has been growing productively for more than twenty years. There are many Bahamian children who have never sat in

a school classroom in their life, and the very most of them are better educated than those who have. I have read about one young lady who won a Lyford Cay Foundation Scholarship.

Yes, a homeschooler who might be sitting in a classroom for the first time – in a prestigious university somewhere.

Learning can be done anywhere - even in one’s backyard. But our children for the most part, are not programmed or encouraged to learn. They are allowed to roam the streets in mass numbers all day long – from young ages. The culture is all about friends, play and the good old gang life – while the parents do their things all day - in the web shops, bars, drug houses and so on.

So, open the schools for their children while the mutating COVID-19 variants keep coming to our shores. Open the schools while the hospitals overflow with COVID-19 emergencies. Open the schools while COVID-19 spreads like wildfire in the Bahamian society. Let’s show the world exactly how stupid we and our politicians are.

DENNIS DAMES Nassau, January 11, 2022.

A waste of time EDITOR, The Tribune.

SURELY after four administrations spending millions on community clean-ups, someone would understand this is a useless exercise as the community messes up right after the last truck and tractor leave the area.

Ministry of Environment will spend an undisclosed capital sum on this totally wasteful exercise. Unless the community dumping is controlled through a strict disciplined issuing of citations and prosecutions this is yet again a wasted programme.

Minister Miller… please

put energy into self-cleaning - putting pride into your community - clean your own dirtiness and lets simply stop wasting hard to find money.

When last was there a prosecution for littering? Oh, yes, we have an Environment Court - that is a joke who was it at Bahamas National Pride lobbied and lobbied, then DPM Frank Watson eventually got the Court and guess what…nothing happened.

It costs nothing to take your old washing machines, refrigerators – large garbage that the truck cannot carry – not a dime, but

guess what go wherever you like and garbage - washing machines, refrigerators, cookers, bed-mattresses are piled up on vacant lots.

Clean today, by tomorrow new garbage back on same cleaned spot yesterday, at the cost to the Public Treasury. We learned anything?

Most littering if checked, will trace who dropped it... rather than cleaning it away, find who dropped it and prosecute and require that person to clean it up at his or her costs.

J HALL Nassau, December 7, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 7

‘Legislation being reviewed to improve justice system’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder says the government is reviewing several key pieces of legislation, including the Court Services Bill, which it hopes to pass in Parliament to improve the nation’s judicial system.

Mr Pinder was speaking at a virtual ceremony yesterday to mark the opening of the 2022 legal year. This year’s theme is: “The Centrality of Justice to the Way of Life in The Bahamas”.

During his address, Mr Pinder committed the government to ensuring the judiciary has the resources it needs to effectively administer justice and noted several initiatives are being discussed to assist in this regard.

“Some of the legislative initiatives we are reviewing with a mind to advance to Parliament include the Court Services Bill, amendments necessary to expand the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court, legislative reforms for the Juvenile Court and amendments to the Evidence Act for remote

trials,” the Attorney General said.

“We can undertake initiatives legislatively to allow for the efficient administration of justice and we look to advance any agreed amendments in this regard hopefully as a compendium of bills that will have a meaningful impact.”

He also said discussions are continuing regarding the establishment of courts to hear juvenile, family, sexual offences and commercial matters and added that work is underway to find a suitable location to house the respective courts.

“The move towards specialty courts is one that most of us as advocates, enforcement and the judiciary can agree will contribute to the proper, and effective administration of justice,” Mr Pinder continued.

“His Lordship and I have had numerous conversations on this matter and have begun identifying suitable locations in order to establish a Juvenile Court, Family Court, Sexual Offences Court and Commercial Court.

“The use of specialty courts, in both sensitive

MINISTER of Education Glenys Hanna Martin and Minister of State in the department Zane Lightbourne outside the House of Assembly yesterday. Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

NEW CONCERNS OVER ONLINE LEARNING SYSTEM

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THERE are new complaints about the Ministry of Education’s learning management system, with issues causing some delays in teaching and reports of users being unable to log on to the system.

Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson released a voice note about the problems she said were experienced with the LMS on Tuesday, calling it “a new term with the same old issues”.

Tuesday marked the opening of the new school term for the public school system.

“The same challenges that the union raised,” she said. “The same challenges that teachers and students faced for over 20 months still have not been corrected. This morning (Tuesday), because of the LMS, teaching never started until 11.30am in some schools or classrooms.

Others missed the first lesson. Others never got on to the LMS so they resorted to Zoom and other personal platforms.”

She added: “As we focus on the thousands of students who (have) never logged on to the virtual (system) since March of 2020, we also have major concerns about the number of hours lost because of system errors, blank screens, incorrect passwords, system shutdowns, and users being dropped off of the platform very frequently.

“Teachers, assignments, lesson plans, and work being deleted and much much more. It is paramount

that the Ministry of Education ensures that the myriad of technological issues that have frustrated teachers, students, and parents be fixed forthwith. Why are we wasting the taxpayers’ money on an inadequate, inoperable, inefficient virtual platform to the detriment of our nation’s children?”

For her part, Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin expressed disappointment with the system having issues, but said she was assured they would be ironed out. “(We are) very disappointed that on the first day of school the system had issues. Now in speaking to the operators of the system, the producers of it, they have advised that you know it was a blip, etc, but I’m told today again there are problems and we’ve spoken directly to them,” Ms Hanna Martin said.

“We don’t find it acceptable that on the first day of school that they are having these sort of issues.

Of course with technology, things get hampered and so we’re watching it with a view to ascertaining exactly how this will play out.

“I have been assured that the issues will be ironed out, but certainly we will not be looking forward to a situation where we have recurring and sustained problems with this system.

So we’re currently monitoring it. We’re in dialogue with the producers or originators of this programme and we are trusting and hoping that this will work itself out quickly and that we will not see continued disruptions in virtual education in this country.”

community matters and for commercial matters will not only give a focused and dedicated avenue for the administration of justice in these areas, but will also allow other matters in the courts to function with greater efficiency.”

As it relates to the backlog of court cases, Mr Pinder highlighted the issue as a problematic one and urged the judiciary to address this.

He said there are too many “unnecessary delays” in the court because attorneys are simply not prepared.

“Too often it is taking more than a year, and in some instances, more than two years to receive a judgment,” Mr Pinder noted.

“This not only leaves the parties in limbo for an unreasonable period of time, but also could have significant economic consequences to our people and our country as well as those who seek to invest in our country.

“There is a legal maxim that says, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. This means that cases should be heard without unnecessary delay, as to do otherwise leads to great injustice. I

encourage the judiciary to work with all of us to address this.

“It is necessary to point out the delays in court are a collective responsibility.

We, as attorneys, must be more focused and committed to presenting a thorough and well-prepared case at the outset. There are too many unnecessary delays because attorneys are not ready or are ill prepared.

We, as a body, must re-commit ourselves to advancing the administration of justice in a complete and prepared manner.”

For his part, Chief Justice Sir Brian Moree stressed that the court can no longer continue in this manner, especially when it comes to setting trial dates.

He described the issue as a challenging one and insisted the court will no longer “surrender its calendar” solely to accommodate lawyers, adding it was “unsustainable”.

He said: “In the Supreme Court criminal division, we continue to have difficulties with fixing trial dates within reasonable time dates. Lawyers who practise in this area are accustomed to obtaining trial dates which are far into the future based

on their calendar. Every case must be considered on its own facts and circumstances, but as a general point, the court will not surrender its calendar to the commitments of counsel.

“It is time that we address the problem of scheduling conflicts and adjournments.

Lawyers who are booked for 18 to 24 months into the future should not assume that this will dictate the pace of the case or the fixing of the trial date.

“I am aware that constitutional issues are engaged in this discussion, but the court is not impotent in the face of counsel who claim to have no availability for two or three years.”

The Chief Justice also said he planned to discuss the issue with relevant stakeholders.

“We have a duty to the public to address the backlog and to get criminal cases to trial within a reasonable period of time,” he said.

Despite this, Sir Brian said the court had a productive year in 2021, but noted there is still much more work to be done.

Speaking about the Court Services Bill, he said he was disappointed the bill had not been passed

in Parliament and urged the Davis administration to make the legislation a priority.

He said: “(The bill) was tabled in the House of Assembly last year, but it was not advanced prior to the dissolution of Parliament. I am in communication with the Attorney General with this subject and I am encouraged by his assurance that this matter will receive the urgent attention of the new administration.

“I strongly urge the government to reintroduce the Court Services Bill in the House of Assembly and expedite its passage and enactment into law. The bill, if passed, would be a transformative legislative intervention which would fundamentally change the operations of the courts.”

This year’s ceremony was the last one Sir Brian will participate in as Chief Justice, as he is set to retire this year.

“I remain grateful and humbled by the o ​pportunity to serve my country and the Bahamian people as the Chief Justice and I continue to thank God for his many blessings in my life,” he said.

PAGE 8, Thursday, January 13, 2022 APPROXIMATELY two years into an historically great pandemic and with the onset of the Omicron variant, the world and The Bahamas have entered another phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global commons, including countries, international health agencies and biomedical institutions have learned many lessons. Yet, so much remains unknown about the virus, its variants and trajectory.

And, as is human, populations and governments continue to make the same mistakes, a number of them avoidable.

Every time the case numbers go down and there is a lull, people become giddy required to enter public and somewhat delirious. transport, cafes, hotels, This was especially so this gyms and other popular past Christmas, with many venues. The new ‘super’ super spreader events and health pass requirement the ongoing disregard for eliminates the ability to personal and collective show just a negative test to responsibility. gain access to services.

Unfortunately, this gidThe new measures are diness was exacerbated largely supported by Italby a collapse of necessary ians, who understand a government restrictions, greater return to norincluding curfews and a malcy and less dire health greater limit on the number outcomes require mass vacof people able to attend cination and mandates. Just various events. How many last week Prime Minister countries in our region have Mario Draghi was criticized no curfews whatsoever? for his government’s deciThe virus mocks our sion to require vaccinations exhaustion, tentative cer- for those 50 and older. titudes, complacency, But Mr Draghi has not pseudo-science, magical backed down, insisting certhinking and ignorance of tain mandates are necessary history and basic science. for economic recovery and Despite our desire to be stability and to prevent seridone with the turmoil, the ous illness and death. He anxiety and the dislocation noted to reporters: “The caused by the virus, it keeps data tells us that those older returning in some form. than 50 run greater risks, Though we want the and that intensive care units worst of the pandemic to are occupied by two-thirds be over, our human nature of those not and desires vaccinated.” are continu- ‘The virus mocks Italy is ally upended our exhaustion, facing the by science tentative certitudes, same hospiand math. tal crisis as The coun- complacency, others. With try is getting pseudo-science, hospitals another overrun with magical thinking lesson in COVID-19 mathematical and ignorance of cases, those exponential needing surhistory and basic growth. gery and care We are science. Despite our for other illdogged by desire to be done nesses or many ques- with the turmoil, diseases are tions.

Will risk of not the anxiety and the at Omicron receiving the prove the dislocation caused care they beginning desperately by the virus, it of the end need. of the acute keeps returning The panphase of the in some form.’ demic and pandemic? the ecoWill there be even deadlier nomic and social fallout variants than Delta? How will remain the highest or does Omicron behave dif- among the highest public ferently in various locales? policy challenges governWhat are some of the long- ments around the world term physical and mental will face for some years to health effects of the multi- come. ple variants?

We don’t fully know the answers to many of these queries, which is why we should be cautious. What The World Bank recently we do know is that countries and jurisdictions with advised that it expects a slowdown” higher rates of vaccina- “pronounced tion with booster shots in economic growth in the tend to have better health next two years. The Bank also noted that “elevated outcomes.

Correspondingly, those financial vulnerabilities in with lower rates and with large swathes of the world many underlying health could increase the risk of a problems – like a terribly hard landing.”

Bank President David obese Bahamas – tend to fare worse. Thankfully, the Malpass warned: “The Omicron variant seems less world economy is simultasevere in terms of fatalities. neously facing COVID-19, inflation, and policy uncertainty, with government spending and monetary policies in uncharted terItaly, which experienced a ritory. Rising inequality high number of deaths and and security challenges are suffering at the beginning particularly harmful for of the pandemic, is doing developing countries.” considerably better because During the first two years of an aggressive vaccination of the pandemic, governprogramme and a variety of ments and international mandates. agencies had to develop This past Monday, the novel policies and stratecountry targeted more of gies, constantly making the unvaccinated with proof adjustments as one of hisof vaccination or recovtory’s great pandemics hit, ery from a recent infection

WORLD SLOWDOWN

ITALY MANDATES

THE TRIBUNE

WE NEED A CLEAR STRATEGY FOR HANDLING THIS CRISIS - BECAUSE IT’S NOT GOING AWAY ANY TIME SOON

ITALIAN Premier Mario Draghi wears his face mask during a press conference to explain the Government’s new anti-COVID 19 measures in Rome on Monday.

Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP and quick and difficult decisions were made with often limited information and the fog of a new pandemic.

In a disappointing editorial in a local journal, a writer simplistically opined: “Former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and his team of health officials largely overreacted to COVID-19, as did, arguably, much of the world.

“Guided by often haphazard advice from the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many world leaders immediately chose draconian measures to stop the spread of COVID to no avail.”

This is an unconvincing and insipid narrative that has taken hold in a number of quarters. Initially, much was not known about the virus and how severe it might be. For a good period of time we did not know if there would be successful vaccines to stop the dying.

We did not know the potential fatality rate.

In parts of South America bodies were placed on curbsides and mass graves were quickly readied for the many who were dying daily.

The World Health Organization has now recorded approximately five million COVID deaths.

Some suggest that because of inadequate reporting the number is much higher.

Trinidad and Tobago has experienced just over 3,000 deaths so far.

The Bahamas, like other History will better and countries, had to prover- more accurately judge bially move heaven and various leaders for their earth to secure vaccines, handling of the pandemic, which were being greed- including former Prime ily hoarded by developed Minister Dr Hubert Minnis nations. and his SpeThere was Simplistic assertions cial Advisor a massive Dr Merceline global effort of “draconian” Dahl Regis, to secure and are an insult to a leading manufacture individuals like Dr regional ventilators, public health oxygen,masksand Dahl Regis and the and epideother lifesav- other medical and miological ing medical scientific experts expert. supplies.

Still, The WHO who expended simplistic and others themselves to assertions of responded “draconian” save lives. in real-time, are an insult changing to individuals guidance as the virus like Dr Dahl Regis and the mutated and events war- other medical and scienranted.

Governments tific experts who expended intervened with economic, themselves to save lives. business, unemployment, The Minnis Administrasocial and food assistance as tion left in place vaccines, economies ground to a halt. templates and other measMost of this was not “draco- ures. But now we are in a nian” or an “overreaction”. new period. It is now the responsibility of the Davis Administration to lead the country in this phase of COVID-19.

What is the medium to long-term strategy? What It is easy for some, who are the decisions for the did not have the football of new phase? On a micro managing the pandemic in level, Omicron may be less their hands, to now breez- severe. But what about on ily offer certain opinions a macro level given how as Monday morning quar- highly infectious this variterbacks. Millions are now ant is? dead because of COVIDGovernments have to 19. And many millions were make assumptions and likely saved because of make decisions in reallockdowns, curfews, masks time. What is the absolute and eventually vaccines. number of people with These proved to be of great COVID that our health benefit. system can handle because

MONDAY QUARTERBACKING

we do not have the health care personnel? Do we have sufficient oxygen?

How will schools be opened as safely as possible?

COVID-19 will be with us in some form for the foreseeable future, including its public health and economic consequences, ranging from long-COVID, mental health challenges, disruption to businesses and essential services, fallout for students and public finances.

We are in an ongoing fight. The Prime Minister will need to be aggressive in organizing his government for the fight ahead. A more judicious and intellectually coherent and consistent editorial in the same local journal noted this past Tuesday: “We believe that the Prime Minister should not permit his ill-conceived pledge not to employ lockdowns or curfews to stand in the way of leading us in this fight. It will take strong leadership to guide us out of the shadow of COVID.” While many believe lockdowns should or may be off the table at this point, what measures will the government put in place moving forward, especially to appreciably increase the vaccination rate and to lessen the impact of future waves?

Still, we can all agree the country needs strong leadership during this phase of the pandemic as we weather this wave, with likely more to come.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 9

Short-term gains can lead to long-term problems

STATESIDE

with Charlie Harper

THERE’S an old saying: what goes around, comes around. It means that if you do something today, there may well be consequences down the road. You may be well pleased now with the results of what you did, but in the future, maybe you won’t be so happy.

A couple of recent American political developments bring this to mind.

First, long-time Nevada Democratic senator and Obama-era Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passed at the end of December.

Known for a childhood spent in desperate poverty and his boxing prowess as a young man, Reid also is remembered for invoking the “nuclear” option to change Senate rules in November 2013.

At that time, Reid and President Obama were increasingly frustrated by Republican obstructionism and unwillingness to confirm presidential nominees to the courts, to embassies overseas and in some cases, to senior political jobs in Washington. So Reid went “nuclear” and changed Senate rules to permit confirmation of those nominees by a simple majority vote. It worked well, at the time.

Fast forward to

April 2017. Now Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell is Senate Majority Leader, and thenPresident Donald Trump proposed Brett Cavanagh for a Supreme Court vacancy. The Democrats wouldn’t support him. So McConnell duplicated Reid’s 2013 move and invoked the nuclear option himself, further changing Senate “filibuster” rules to permit confirmation of Supreme Court justices by a simple majority vote.

With their slim Republican majority in the Senate, Trump and McConnell were able to confirm three new Supreme Court justices in three years.

McConnell often reminded the Democrats they had started it all, back with Reid in 2013.

Now the Democrats are poised to go down the same road again, on a different issue. This time, the issue is voting rights. The House of Representatives has passed a couple of bills that would basically invalidate the measures taken in nearly two dozen states in 2021 that appear to be attempts to restrict access to the polls in upcoming elections by likely Democratic voters. Often, voter registration procedures have been tightened to

make the process more difficult. Mail-in and drivethrough voting, as well as same-day registration, have also been curbed in several states.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden declared his willingness to invoke the nuclear option to facilitate Senate passage of the House voting bills by a simple Senate majority – not the customary 60 votes.

Maybe that will work. Progressives and liberal pundits certainly think it is necessary. But both McConnell and Texas senator Ted Cruz have warned if the Dems pursue this course, there will be consequences once the Republicans retake control of the Senate. Just like in 2017.

Two things: first, Biden & Company will have a tough time rounding up even a simple majority for the House voting bills. It is not certain all Democratic senators will support them.

But the mere attempt will open the door for future Republican machinations.

And when the Republicans get back in power, they will remind everyone they warned of the consequences of what Biden is now proposing.

Who knows what mischief the GOP might have in mind by then?

PRESIDENT Joe Biden pays his respects to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Rotunda of the US Capitol as Reid lies in state in Washington yesterday. Photo: Bill Clark/Pool via AP

NOW THE REAL ACTION BEGINS WE HAVE now arrived at “wild card weekend” in the NFL season. This is the first weekend of the post season play-offs, and it’s the chance to shine for the underdog teams that make the playoffs without having won their division titles. It seems like every single NFL broadcaster on American TV has said: “This weekend is my favourite weekend of the sports year!!” It’s not for nothing that they say that. It is indeed a pretty good time to be an American football fan.

But first, the Dolphins did a foolish thing the other day. They fired their head coach Brian Flores. It was foolish not because Flores is black and his dismissal led to another avalanche of punditry lamenting the treatment of black coaches in a league clearly flourishing on a foundation of black talent – though the loss of another black coach is indeed a discouraging development. The reason Flores’ departure is foolish is that he is a good coach and the Dolphins may well have been on the right track under his leadership.

Flores finished with a 24-25 record and no

play-offs in three seasons in Miami, but the team was developing an impressive defence and its quarterback showed some resilience and skill this season. There’s lots of speculation about why the owner chose to dismiss Flores instead of GM Chris Grier; sports pundits are jumping to criticize owner Stephen Ross’ choice. Most observers think Flores will get another head coaching opportunity, perhaps even this off-season. And the bet here is that he will make Miami regret its choice.

Meanwhile, in a truly amazing last game of the regular season, the Las Vegas (formerly Oakland and Los Angeles) Raiders edged the Los Angeles (formerly San Diego) Chargers in an overtime game in which a tie result would have seen both teams reach the play-offs.

Many wondered why the Raiders took some risks to win when a tie would have guaranteed their play-off berth. Perhaps the reason is they will now face Cincinnati in the first round on Saturday instead of Kansas City. And it says here the Raiders chose well, and will upset the Bengals, for all of

whose young stars this will be the first post season.

Elsewhere in the American Conference, favoured Buffalo’s greater experience at quarterback and playing at home should see them past the Patriots and legendary coach Bill Belichick, and Kansas City probably won’t cover its 13-point betting edge over Pittsburgh, but should finish Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’s long, successful career with a loss.

In the NFC, the defending champion Buccaneers should eliminate the surprising Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but won’t cover their nine-point betting edge. And the Rams should reap the rewards of all their in-season star signings by winning their third match of this season with Arizona.

But the Dallas Cowboys, still often described as “America’s Team” despite having won no championship in 25 years, will be the second home favourites to stumble in the first round. Their visitors from San Francisco, like the Raiders, are emerging hot from a strong division race and should ambush the Cowboys.

A PART TO PLAY AND NOT JUST ON THE SCREEN SIDNEY Poitier, KBE, died in Los Angeles a week ago. Born in Miami to Bahamian parents, Sir Sidney grew up on Cat Island and in Nassau. He was sent to live with a married older brother in Miami as a teenager and spent most of his life in the US, holding both Bahamian and American citizenship.

As the tributes continue to pour in for this accomplished and transformational man, it is fair to wonder in which country he had the greatest impact. In the minds of most Americans, the answer is clear.

This winner of two Academy Awards and a Grammy was most significant in the US. Tall and handsome, Sir Sidney probably reached his peak as an actor in the late 1960s, when he starred in three highly successful, much-awarded movies.

He was, and intended to be, a trailblazer.

He often spoke of his desire to move black roles in American movies away from stereotypical servants or villains.

Many writers have recalled Poitier’s determination to use his fame and Hollywood star power to alter how black

actors were viewed in the American movie industry. The peak of that star power occurred at the time the US was driven by President Lyndon Johnson’s determination to end a century of postCivil War racist bias by ramming through Congress epochal civil rights legislation.

As a result, the roles and performances of Sidney Poitier made a real impact on American society at a time of tumultuous change.

The Washington Post’s lead movie critic wrote the following in the days following Poitier’s death: “He is understandably being celebrated as an icon of cinematic representation and reassurance. But those values coexisted with a rage that feels as palpable and galvanizing today as it did half a century ago.”

In the 1967 hit movie “In the Heat of the Night,” Poitier played an experienced detective helping a Mississippi sheriff with a tough case. At one point, a local businessman slaps Poitier’s character for perceived impertinence. Sir Sidney slaps him right back. Movie history was made. And maybe more.

PAGE 10, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre, sits in a car as he leaves Parliament after attending the weekly Prime Ministers’ Questions session in London yesterday.

Photo: Frank Augstein/AP

Is it time to call a taxi for Boris?

By PAUL WHITELEY Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex

THE Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson coined the phrase “a week is a long time in politics”, something that has certainly been confirmed by recent events.

Up until very recently, it looked like Boris Johnson was unlikely to be ousted from Number 10 any time soon, largely because the Conservatives were not that far behind in the polls. But the leadership problem in the Conservative party has now morphed into something much more serious.

It has become a constitutional crisis as well as a political crisis for the Prime Minister.

Johnson was forced to apologise to parliament on January 12 when he could no longer deny the clear evidence that his staff had gathered in a large group in the garden of 10 Downing Street while the UK was in strict lockdown. (And again yesterday when he admitted he’d attended the event).

There are two aspects to the constitutional crisis.

The first is the matter of

lying in parliament. The of the Ministerial Code. In Prime Minister claims that the past, this offence has the May gathering was a not just resulted in minis“work event” and therefore ters being sacked from the could be said to “technically front bench but even in fall within the guidance” of MPs being expelled from the time. Many will have parliament altogether. greeted this assertion with The Profumo affair in significant 1963 is a scepticism – ‘If Johnson has vivid illustraparticularly tion of this. anyone who been lying to When John faced crimi- parliament by Profumo, the nal charges claiming rules Secretary of for meeting State for War, others out- were followed lied to parliaside during when they were ment about the period not, it is a breach his extrain question. marital affair Back then, of the Ministerial with Chrispeople were Code. In the past, tine Keeler, only allowed this offence has he ended up to mix with having to one other not just resulted leave parliaperson out- in ministers being ment.

The side their sacked from scandal evenhousehold tually brought when meeting the front bench down the outdoors. In- but even in MPs government. person work The second being expelled meetings constitutional were only from parliament issue relates allowed when altogether.’ to the police “absolutely investiganecessary”. tion of the If Johnson has been lying party in Downing Street to parliament by claiming during the May 2020 lockrules were followed when down. Johnson admitted they were not, it is a breach he attended this event

during Prime Minister’s Questions on January 12.

The gathering took place when the rest of the country was tightly locked down. He has claimed the party was a “work event” but if the police investigation finds it did break the rules, it would mean Johnson and the other participants were committing a criminal offence. Lying to parliament or breaking the lockdown rules are both resigning offences.

That said, the political fallout from the crisis is likely to loom largest. The public backlash is apparent in a recent poll published in the Independent which showed two-thirds of voters think Johnson should resign. Conservative backbench MPs now know Johnson is no longer an election winner and are likely to be fearing for the security of their seats. If the party is to recover, it will have to deal with this fact.

HOW OTHER PMS LOST THEIR JOBS

It is interesting to put Johnson’s crisis in context by looking at the reasons

why Prime Ministers have resigned in the past. Since the end of the second world war the UK has had 15 Prime Ministers. The most common reason for them to step down was losing an election. This happened to Winston Churchill in 1945, Clement Attlee in 1951, Alec Douglas-Home in 1963, Edward Heath in 1974, Jim Callaghan in 1979, John Major in 1997 and Gordon Brown in 2010 – all of whom lost general elections. We can add David Cameron to the list since he lost the EU referendum in 2016, and also Theresa May because she stood down after losing the European Parliament elections in 2019.

The second most common reason for resigning was ill health. This explains why Churchill stepped down from his second term in April 1955. It also explains why his successor Anthony Eden resigned in January 1957. He had a nervous breakdown following the Suez crisis of 1956 when Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt after its President, Gamel Abdel Nasser, nationalised the Suez Canal.

Another case was Harold Wilson, who surprised most observers by resigning in March 1976 at a time when there was no particular crisis afoot. It turned out later he was concerned about his loss of memory and impending dementia, which eventually caught up with him. Thus he counts as a premier who resigned due to ill health.

The two remaining cases who do not fit into these categories are Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

The former was sacked by her own party in 1990 when Conservative polling support collapsed after the introduction of the ill-advised poll tax. Blair resigned after constant pressure to do so from his successor, Brown, but his departure came amid his growing unpopularity following the Iraq war.

It’s debatable whether he

would have passed on the mantle had he not faced such a public backlash.

An interesting question is the role of public opinion in all of these resignations.

The above chart looks at approval ratings for the six Prime Ministers who did not resign immediately after an election loss. It doesn’t include those who lost an election since that’s a clear signal the electorate has rejected a leader.

The chart shows approval ratings for these six Prime Ministers in the month they resigned plus the current approval rating for Johnson. Clearly, Churchill was very popular when he stepped down in April 1955 so his was a genuine case of illness bringing on retirement. Eden, Macmillan and Wilson all had respectable ratings and Blair was less popular – although he still achieved an approval rating of 35 percent.

The big standouts are Thatcher and Johnson.

However, there is an important difference between them. Both Thatcher and the Conservative party were very unpopular at the time she resigned, with the party polling well behind Labour in voting intentions.

Currently, Johnson’s ratings are much worse than his party’s. According to a YouGov poll published just before Christmas, the Conservatives were only six percentage points behind Labour in voting intentions.

This is likely to change in the near future as the Prime Minister’s political problems drag down his party in the polls. That means there is a clear route out of the problem for Conservative MPs – namely to remove Johnson and hope for a recovery in the polls by electing a new leader. The party did this successfully in 1990 when they sacked Thatcher, so many will think that there is a good chance of repeating the exercise this time.

• Originally published in theconversation.com

Caves Village Premium Office Space for Lease 850 sq.ft. 3 offices, reception, conference room, kitchen $2,125.00 pm. plus CAM and VAT 1,056 sq.ft. 4 offices, conference room, reception, kitchen $2,640.00 pm. plus CAM and VAT Contact Mr. Sean McCarroll 327-1575 or 359-2957 Email: sean@mccarrollrealestate.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 11

RELATIVES AWAIT DETAINEES’ RELEASE IN KAZAKHSTAN ALMATY, Kazakhstan Associated Press

WITH about 12,000 people arrested after antigovernment protests in Kazakhstan last week, friends and relatives of those held by police waited outside a jail yesterday, hoping to learn their fate. Some even went to morgues to see if a loved one was among the scores killed in the unprecedented violence in the Central Asian nation.

Authorities have refused to allow relatives or lawyers to see those in custody, giving little information about them, according to human rights activists.

The demonstrations began January 2 in the western part of Kazakhstan over a sharp rise in fuel prices and spread throughout the country, apparently reflecting wider discontent with the government, which declared a state of emergency for the whole country and asked a Russialed military alliance to send in troops to help restore order.

Another 1,678 people were arrested in the past 24 hours in Almaty, the largest city that was hit hardest by the turmoil, and more than 300 criminal investigations have been opened.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev blamed the unrest on foreign-backed “terrorists,” but did not provide any evidence, and had given shoot-to-kill orders to security forces to quell the

POLICE block the road to control the traffic in Almaty, Kazakhstan, yesterday. unrest.

Outside a branch of the Internal Affairs department that housed a large detention center, a man who gave his name only as Renat said he has been waiting nearly a week to see or get any information about a close friend, Zhandos Nakipovich. He said Nakipovich, whom he described as being like “a brother” to him, was taken into custody on

January 4 during a peaceful protest.

“He was at first held at a precinct, then they told us he was in the Internal Affairs department,” Renat told The Associated Press.

“Since January 6, we’ve been here and we don’t know whether he’s alive or not.”

Military checkpoints prevented anyone from getting close to the building.

“Neither lawyers nor relatives — no one is allowed inside. Lawyers should be present during interrogation, but as you see, no one can pass,” said Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights group, who was waiting at the barricade.

“The checkpoint blocks the access for lawyers and relatives to see what’s going on there. We don’t even

have the list of detainees,” Ageleuov said.

More than a dozen men and women in dark winter clothes gathered outside one of Almaty’s morgues, with some of them waiting to collect the bodies of relatives killed in the unrest.

Huddled together in small groups, they stood at the gate of the facility, chatting quietly with each other but refused to talk to a reporter.

RONNIE SPECTOR, OF RONETTES, DIES AGED 78

Prince Andrew lawsuit goes ahead NEW YORK Associated Press A JUDGE has — for now — refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew by an American woman who says he sexually abused her when she was 17.

Stressing yeserday that he wasn’t ruling on the truth of the allegations, US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan rejected an argument by Andrew’s lawyers that Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit should be thrown out at an early stage because of an old legal settlement she had with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier she claims set up sexual encounters with the prince.

Kaplan said the $500,000 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre didn’t involve the prince and didn’t bar a suit against him now.

Giuffre sued the 61-yearold Andrew in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with him in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre said she was sexually abused

by Andrew at Maxwell’s London home, at Epstein’s New York mansion and his estate in the US Virgin Islands.

Andrew’s lawyers had said the lawsuit lacked specificity and was disqualified by the deal she reached in 2009 with lawyers for Epstein. They also attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives, saying in October that the lawsuit was aimed at achieving “another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him”.

Kaplan said Giuffre’s complaint is neither “unintelligible” nor “vague” nor “ambiguous”.

“It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations.

It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse,” he wrote.

The judge included in his ruling facts alleged by Giuffre, including that Epstein and Maxwell were guests at the prince’s 40th birthday party in 2000 and that Andrew invited Epstein to his daughter’s 18th birthday party in 2006, a month after Florida state prosecutors charged Epstein with procuring a minor for prostitution.

The prince’s lawyers have said that Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre and that he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him”.

The prince himself has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations. In late 2019, Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight that sex with Giuffre “didn’t happen” and he has “no recollection” of ever meeting her. His statements led critics to say he seemed insensitive to Epstein’s victims. Afterward, the prince stepped back from royal duties.

His lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday. Buckingham Palace told The Associated Press that it would not comment on the “ongoing legal matter”.

Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Giuffre, said in a statement that Kaplan’s ruling “is another important step in Virginia’s heroic and determined pursuit of justice as a survivor of sex trafficking”.

While Andrew denies the allegations, Buckingham Palace will want him to settle the case so Queen Elizabeth II can move on without more sordid headlines that weaken the monarchy and taint every member of the royal family, said

Although the official death toll was announced as 164, Tokayev has said hundreds of civilians and security forces were killed and injured.

Life in Almaty has started returning to normal after days of unrest that saw cars and buses torched, government buildings stormed and set ablaze, the airport seized and the sound of gunfire ringing out. The unrest had largely ended by last weekend.

Public transportation has resumed and shopping malls reopened, and the only reminders of the violence were occasional military roadblocks and the charred exterior of city hall, which was set ablaze at the height of the rioting.

Authorities in the energyrich country of 19 million sought to mollify the anger at the government by capping fuel prices for 180 days. The Cabinet resigned, and longtime former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev was ousted from his influential post of head of the National Security Council.

Nazarbayev had stepped down as president in 2019 after nearly three decades in power, but retained influence in the security forces.

Tokayev requested help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a Russia-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states. The bloc sent over 2,000 troops to Kazakhstan, and Tokayev said the troops will start withdrawing today.

NEW YORK Associated Press RONNIE Spector, the cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ’n roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as Be My Baby, Baby I Love You and Walking in the Rain as the leader of the girl group The Ronettes, has died. She was 78.

Spector died yesterday after a brief battle with cancer, her family said. “Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humor and a smile on her face.

She was filled with love and gratitude,” a statement said. No other details were revealed.

RONNIE Spector after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

BRITAIN’s Prince Andrew will face a civil sex case trial after a US judge dismissed a motion by his legal team to have the lawsuit thrown out.

Photo: Neil Hall/PA via AP Mark Stephens, a specialist in international law at Howard Kennedy in London.

Stephens said yesterday’s ruling means the process of delaying every technical point open to them as a matter of law has effectively played itself out.

Even though Andrew is likely to appeal, the case will move forward, and he will face the embarrassment of having to testify about his alleged activities with a 17-year-old.

“The practical realities of this position have stuck a noose around Prince Andrew’s neck,’’ Stephens said. “He’s got to settle. He’s got to get out. Or he’s a dead man walking.”

Kaplan noted that he was required by law, at this stage of the litigation, to assume Giuffre’s allegations are true, though the prince’s lawyers could cast doubt on the truth of the claims at trial. The judge has said a trial would not occur until late this year, at the earliest. Depositions

of the prince and Giuffre would take place before then.

Giuffre’s settlement with Epstein was reached a decade before the 66-year-old financier killed himself at a Manhattan federal lockup as he awaited a sex trafficking trial in 2019, over a decade after Florida federal prosecutors struck a deal with his lawyers not to prosecute him. His lawyers claimed the Florida deal prevented the New York charges.

Similarly, Andrew’s attorneys cited language in the recently unsealed $500,000 settlement by Epstein with Giuffre that said her claims against “potential defendants” were also disallowed by the deal.

But Kaplan wrote that there were substantial indications in the settlement that Epstein and Giuffre did not clearly intend to “directly,” “primarily,” or “substantially” benefit someone such as the prince.

He noted that the prince was not a party to the agreement.

He also said the agreement was “far from a model of clear and precise drafting.”

The judge’s findings mirrored comments he made during oral arguments by both sides when he was particularly dismissive of the arguments made on the prince’s behalf.

Epstein’s death came more than two years before his former girlfriend, Maxwell, 60, was convicted of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court. Giuffre’s allegations against Andrew were not part of the criminal cases against Epstein or Maxwell.

Giuffre asserted that she met Andrew while she traveled frequently with Epstein between 2000 and 2002, when her lawyers maintain she was “on call for Epstein for sexual purposes” and was “lent out to other powerful men,” including Andrew. Her lawsuit said she still suffers significant emotional and psychological distress and harm.

Tributes flooded social media, with Stevie Van Zandt saying it was an honor to produce her, to Brian Wilson, who wrote on Twitter: “I loved her voice so much and she was a very special person and a dear friend.” Diane Warren called her “The voice of a million teenage dreams including mine.”

The Ronettes’ sexy look and powerful voices — plus songwriting and producing help from Phil Spector — turned them into one of the premier acts of the girl-group era, touring England with The Rolling Stones and befriending the Beatles.

Spector, alongside her sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley, scored hits with pop masterpieces.

“We weren’t afraid to be hot. That was our gimmick,” Spector said in her memoir. “When we saw The Shirelles walk on stage with their wide party dresses, we went in the opposite direction and squeezed our bodies into the tightest skirts we could find. Then we’d get out on stage and hike them up to show our legs even more.”

SPORTS PAGE 14

NFL, Page 17

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022

Ollen Smith looks to get Bahamian prospects in Canada prep basketball

JONQUEL JONES HAS DOUBLE DOUBLE, FOXES 11-0 IN EURO LEAGUE

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JONQUEL Jones and her UMMC Ekaterinburg Foxes returned to FIBA Women’s EuroLeague play for the first time in nearly a month and remained just as dominant as the last time they took the floor.

Jones finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and four steals in the Foxes’ 90-77 win over ZVVZ USK Praha in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Foxes improved to 11-0 in the EuroLeague season.

Jones is averaging 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 2.8 assists per

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

O

llen Smith plans to use his platform at the coaching level to help facilitate the transition for Bahamian prospects to the constantly developing Canadian prep basketball scene.

Smith, the director of Empower Sports Network (ESN), currently serves as the assistant coach for Niagara Prep and also has recruiting ties to Brock University.

“In my role with the coaching staff and with recruitment I hope to build on Bahamian athletes coming into our system and developing into formidable college, university players and potentially professional players,” he said.

“With ESN right now we have a system where Canadians can foresee some of the Bahamian talent first hand and we have the ability to build on that trend moving forward.”

Niagara Prep, or Saint Paul Catholic School at Niagara Falls, competes in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA), the top prep league in the country.

The former Bahamian junior national team standout seeks to establish an exchange programme between the Bahamas and Canada for prep basketball prospects.

“For years we have been talking about ESN trying to be a frontrunner to helping youth basketball in the Bahamas and due to circumstances we can’t control we had to adapt.

Post-COVID, we hope to do a lot of things to have a place where people can gravitate toward OSBA and play for a Bahamian coach rather than gravitate to other programmes within Canada,” Smith

SEE PAGE 16 OLLEN SMITH, director of Empower Sports Network (ESN), and Crestwood Preparatory College power forward Romad Dean. Smith currently serves as assistant coach for Niagara Prep.

SHAVAUL BUTTERS MAKES NCAA DIVISION I DEBUT

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

NIAGARA PREP, or Saint Paul Catholic School at Niagara Falls, competes in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA), the top prep league in Canada. said. “The secret is out, the Bahamian talent is something that they seek and they go out of their way to find it. We will be doing a lot of invitational and showcases, we want to mold a proper dialogue when it comes to transitioning from The Bahamas to Canada because we are still a few steps behind.

“If we can change that dynamic to having more people understand what prep basketball is like at an earlier age that would be an easier transition.”

Smith cited recent Bahamian success stories in the OSBA, including Ole Miss forward Sammy Hunter

(British Columbia Prep), Florida Gulf Coast guard Franco Miller Jr (Crestwood Prep), and current Crestwood wing Romad Dean.

Prior to his post at Niagara, Smith was a member of the coaching staff for the St Mary’s University Huskies who compete in the Atlantic University Sport Conference of U Sports.

Smith recruited Qyemah Gibson when ESN hosted tryouts for its exchange programme in 2018.

In his third year with the Huskies, Gibson continues his stair climb this season and recently won Male Athlete of the Week

for the week of November, 22-28. The Huskies are 5-4 on the season.

Gibson, a third year forward, led the Huskies with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and added two assists and a block in a 92-90 overtime loss to the Cape Breton Capers to conclude the fall semester. Gibson is ranked top 10 in the AUS in points scored (173, second), points per game (19.2, fifth), field goals made (66, second), three-pointers made (third, 3rd), total rebounds (71, third), rebounds per game (7.9, sixth), blocks (10, third), minutes (340, first) and minutes per game (37.8, first).

ESN plans to teach the importance of youth development through sports and education. The organisation plans to focus on the development of youth basketball throughout the country. “We have a few things to focus on multi-tasking – hand-eye coordination, foot placement, balance, learning to pick your spots and get your shot off the way you want to because that’s what great offensive players do,” Smith said. “We have to target the youth before they can develop egos, bad habits, they would know the basic fundamentals and terminology.”

SHAVAUL Butters made his long awaited NCAA Division I basketball debut with the Texas Rio Grande Valley after injuries derailed the start of his collegiate career.

Butters has recovered from tibial stress fractures and finished with five rebounds in just eight minutes of the Vaqueros 86-75 loss to the Stephen F Austin Jacks on Tuesday night.

The 6’8”, 210-pound freshman forward was the first commit of the first class for first year UTRGV head coach Matt Figger last offseason. The Vaqueros are 5-11, and still winless at 0-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Last season they went 9-10, 2-5 in the WAC, and

SEE PAGE 16

Ryan Reckley remains at No.9, signing period opens Saturday

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Major League Baseball 2022 International Signing Period is expected to be an active one for The Bahamas and one of the country’s prospects remains listed among the top 10 signees by MLB Pipeline.

Ryan Reckley is listed at No.9

by MLB.com as the signing period opens on January 15 and continues through December 15.

The first day of the signing period traditionally features the best teenage international prospects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Among the top 50 prospects, 25 are from The Dominican Republic, 15 from Venezuela, four from Cuba, two from Colombia, two from Panama, one from Mexico, and Reckley from The Bahamas.

The 17-year old Maximum Development Academy shortstop is among 26 infielders, 16 outfielders, two pictures and six catchers listed.

An international player must turn 16 before he signs and be 17 before September 1 the following year. Players born between September 1, 2004, and August 31, 2005, will be eligible to sign in the upcoming signing period.

Despite not being listed among the top 50, several Bahamian prospects are expecting to sign on the first weekend of the period and throughout the calendar year.

“The Bahamas has emerged as a hotbed for prospects in recent years and might be the next frontier for international scouting,” his MLB prospect analysis said.

“If all goes according to plan, Reckley will join the prestigious list in a few years. Reckley is a plus athlete that has an excellent

MAJOR League Baseball prospect Ryan Reckley. feel for hitting and an understanding of the strike zone. He’s

a disciplined hitter and will continue to improve in that area as he develops. Specifically, he uses a short and compact swing with above- average bat speed to make hard contact.”

Listed as a 5’10”, 165-pound shortstop, Reckley’s scouting grades include Hit: 55, Power: 45, Run: 60, Arm: 50, Field: 55 and Overall: 55. “Overall, he might be a better hitter from the left side than the right side of the plate, but for now, he shows more power as a right-handed hitter. What’s more, he has the speed to steal bases,” the analysis continued.

“On defence, he shows good footwork, quick hands, and enough arm strength to stay at shortstop.”

In 2019 Reckley received the opportunity to showcase his skills against the top players in his class across the United States when was named to the roster of the Perfect Game 14u Select Baseball

Festival. The fourth edition of the event featured the top 44 prospects from the national prep classes of 2022 and 2023.

Reckley was also previously listed by Baseball America as one of the top international prospects last March.

In the first edition of its “International Big Board” for the 2021-22 International Signing Period, Reckley was listed as the No.8 prospect overall. According to BA, the San Francisco Giants are reportedly the leading candidate to sign the switch-hitting shortstop to a deal worth more than $2 million.

MaxD was established in 2014 and with Greg Burrows Jr as its director, has continued to provide an avenue for players between the ages of 11 to 17 to hone their skills with the view to achieving scholarships or pursuing professional baseball.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 15

AP SOURCE: MLB LABOUR TALKS TO RESUME AFTER 42-DAY BREAK

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball and the players’ association are scheduled to meet today, ending a 42-day break in negotiations that began when management started a lockout, the sport’s first work stoppage since 1995.

With the scheduled start of spring training five weeks away, management was planning to make a new proposal to players, several people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made.

The sides last met December 1 in Irving, Texas, a brief session that broke off hours before the collective bargaining agreement expired. Since then, negotiations have been limited to peripheral issues.

The meeting today is scheduled to be conducted by video conference.

MLB payrolls dropped four percent in 2021 compared to the league’s last

MAJOR League Baseball union head Tony Clark listens to a question during a media availability in Irving, Texas.

(AP Photos/LM Otero) full season in 2019, and the $4.05 billion total was the lowest in a fully completed year since 2015.

Players have asked for liberalised eligibility for free agency and salary arbitration, raising the luxury tax threshold from $210 million to $245 million, changes to spark increased competition among clubs and measures to address what the union claims is service time manipulation.

Management has offered to increase the tax threshold to $214 million, to extend the designated hitter to the National League and to eliminate draft pick compensation for losing players in free agency, a provision that has existed in various forms since 1976.

Both sides would increase the minimum salary, players from $570,500 to $775,000 this season and management to a series of tiers:

MAJOR League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference in Arlington, Texas. $600,000 for players with less than a year of big league service, $650,000 for at least one but less than two and $700,000 for at least two.

Negotiators also have discussed an NBA-style draft lottery, but management would limit it to the top three teams and the union would expand it to the top eight. Players would reward small-market teams with additional draft picks for

success, such as making the playoffs or finishing with a winning record.

Retired pitcher David Cone, a member of the union’s executive subcommittee during the 1994-95 strike, views the issues as less contentious than during the previous stoppage, when players fought off management’s proposal for a salary cap.

“I think there is the framework for a deal. Back

in the mid-90s there was two completely different frameworks,” Cone, now an analyst for the Yankees’ YES Network and ESPN, said.

“They are within the same framework: Where does the luxury tax fall?

Can the players address control issues and competitive teams instead of tanking? Or service time manipulation certainly is an issue. So control issues on the player side, but the framework I believe is there for a deal. At some point I believe it’s going to happen.”

Baseball’s ninth work stoppage began December 2, its ninth since 1972 but first since the 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95.

Spring training is scheduled to start February 16 in Florida and Arizona, and opening day is set for March 31.

With the need for at least three weeks of spring training and time for players to arrive and go through COVID protocols, an agreement by about March 5 is needed for an on-time start to the season.

Analysis: The top performers as NBA reaches midway point

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer THE NBA season has reached the midway point, with a record number of players already having gotten minutes. Virusrelated issues have forced every team to scramble on some nights to find players with plenty of surprises and, yes, plenty of disappointments.

With basically 50 percent of the games played, there’s enough of a body of work to start making some informed looks at the league’s awards.

MVP The contenders: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee; Kevin Durant, Brooklyn; Nikola Jokic, Denver; Stephen Curry, Golden State; DeMar DeRozan, Chicago; LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers.

There is still a second half of the season. Right now, anyone from this group of six players — and probably a few other names, too — has a valid case for the award.

Antetokounmpo is on his way to averaging at least 28 points and 11 rebounds for a third consecutive season, something nobody has done since Karl Malone from 1989-92. Jokic’s numbers are just as good, and maybe even a little better, than they were last year when he was the runaway winner. Curry has the Warriors right back in title contention and now he’s got Klay Thompson next to him again. DeRozan has led the Bulls into the role as official NBA surprise of the first half. James is carrying the Lakers out of necessity and somehow isn’t losing a step in Year 19. And Durant, well, he’s just unguardable.

The midway pick: Durant. The Nets have had plenty of things not

going according to plan, yet they’re still near the top of the East because quite simply Durant is just that good.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR The contenders: Draymond Green, Golden State; Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee; Rudy Gobert, Utah; Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee; Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia.

Gobert, Antetokounmpo and Green have combined to win the last five awards.

And it’s deserved, though it’s not uncommon for NBA players to question the methodology voters have when picking the award.

(Note: it should be about more than steals and blocks stats.)

The midway pick: Green.

Everyone talks about Golden State’s offence and Curry’s shooting, and rightly so. The Warriors are a nightmare because of the way they defend, and Green is the leader.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR The contenders: Tyler Herro, Miami; Carmelo Anthony, Los Angeles Lakers; Kelly Oubre Jr, Charlotte; Buddy Hield, Sacramento; Jordan Clarkson, Utah.

It’s a pretty simple rule.

If a team has someone have a big game off the bench, that team usually wins; the teams with a reserve that scores 25 points have won about 70 percent of their games this season. And Herro — who would probably be a frontrunner for Most Improved Player right now, too — has 11 games of 25 or more points off the Heat bench this season.

The midway pick: Herro.

In a runaway.

COACH OF THE YEAR The contenders: Billy Donovan, Chicago; J.B.

BUCKS forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) sits on the scorers table during a timeout against the Charlotte Hornets January 8.

(AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

GOLDEN State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts toward the Miami Heat bench after shooting a 3-point basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco,

HEAT’s Tyler Herro (14) drives around Suns’ Cameron Payne on January 8 in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

TRAIL Blazers forward Trendon Watford guards Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley on January 7.

(AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

Bickerstaff, Cleveland; Taylor Jenkins, Memphis; Erik Spoelstra, Miami; Steve Kerr, Golden State.

Spoelstra hasn’t won this award but this season might be his best coaching job to date.

The Heat are a true contender, have played well over half their games to date on the road, and haven’t had Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler very often. Kerr’s brilliance, if anyone forgot it exists, has been on full display this

is the calm in the eye of the storm.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR The contenders: Cade Cunningham, Detroit; Jalen Green, Houston; Franz Wagner, Orlando; Evan Mobley, Cleveland; Scottie Barnes, Toronto.

These are the top five rookie scorers, but that’s not entirely why they are the five to make this list.

Cunningham is finding his groove, Green has been explosive and Wagner

season. But the biggest surprises in the NBA to date might be the Cavaliers, Bulls and Grizzlies.

It’ll be tough, though not impossible, for Cleveland to keep this going because of injuries, but the Bulls and Grizzlies look very much for real.

The midway pick: Donovan, in a very close call over Jenkins. Nobody thought the Bulls would be atop the East at this point.

Chicago just keeps rolling with punches, and Donovan

might be way ahead of whatever schedule the Magic envisioned for his development.

What sets two of these guys apart, however, is how they have impacted winning.

Barnes is in a tremendous spot, learning from winners in Toronto.

Mobley, however, went to a place where little was expected and has excelled.

The midway pick: Mobley, who is only going to get better.

Clippers rally from 25 down in 2nd half, stun Nuggets 87-85 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Amir Coffey had 18 points, Reggie Jackson scored 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter and Los Angeles rallied from a 25-point deficit in the second half for a stunning victory.

Terance Mann scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles, which won for the fourth time in 10 games since Paul George joined Kawhi Leonard on its lengthy injured list. The Clippers won despite managing a meager 28 points in the lowest-scoring first half in the NBA this season and then falling behind 59-34 midway through the third period.

Denver scored just seven points in the next 10 minutes, allowing the Clippers to mount their improbable comeback.

Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 30 points and Nikola Jokic had 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets.

WIZARDS 122, THUNDER 118 WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30.8 seconds remaining and Washington beat Oklahoma City despite being without star Bradley Beal because of health and safety protocols.

The Thunder lost their fifth straight game, and the

key possession came with about a half-minute to play and the score tied at 118.

The Wizards worked the shot clock down, and Caldwell-Pope’s attempt from the right wing went in off the glass. He responded by holding both arms out, apparently in relief, disbelief or both.

Luguentz Dort missed everything on a 3 at the other end, and Kyle Kuzma made a free throw with 13.3 seconds left. Kuzma led the Wizards with 29 points, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 22 points and 10 assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points, including two straight layups that tied it at 118.

BULLS 133, PISTONS 87 CHICAGO (AP) — Nikola Vucevic scored 22 points, DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Chicago routed Detroit.

DeRozan sat for most of the final 16 minutes but still added seven assists.

Eastern Conferenceleading Chicago won after its season-best nine-game winning streak ended Sunday in Dallas.

Josh Jackson scored 16 points and Saddiq Bey added 14 for the Pistons, who had won two straight.

The Bulls led 61-52 at intermission and quickly turned it into a blowout

by starting the second half on a 17-0 run that included four straight 3-pointers; two each from Derrick Jones Jr and Vucevic.

PELICANS 128, TIMBERWOLVES 125 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram capped a 33-point, nine-assist performance by hitting three 3-pointers in the final 1:13 — the last with less than a second left — and New Orleans edged Minnesota.

Ingram went 6 for 7 from 3-point territory and his most pivotal shots came in a long-range exchange with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, whose fifth 3 of the game cut New Orleans’ lead to 117-115 before

Ingram hit from the right wing while being fouled for a four-point play.

After Edwards came right back with a left-wing 3, Ingram hit another from deep to make it 124-118 with 50.5 seconds left.

Malik Beasley’s sixth 3 of the game cut it to 124-123 with 12.9 seconds left.

And the Wolves fouled Devonte’ Graham, who made one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds to go.

Minnesota tied it at 125 on D’Angelo Russell’s driving scoop with 3.6 seconds left, only to see Ingram’s rainbow 3 from more than 25 feet swish through for the win.

PAGE 16, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Man charged with giving Olympic athletes performance drugs

By JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — United States prosecutors charged a Texas man yesterday with providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes competing in last summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, including the star Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare.

Eric Lira, 41, of El Paso, is the first person to be charged under a new US anti-doping law governing international sports competitions.

The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said Lira distributed the drugs, including human growth hormone and erythropoietin, a blood-building hormone, “for the purpose of corrupting” the 2020 Games, which were held in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lira also is accused of conspiring to violate drug misbranding and adulteration laws. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

“It’s not winning if you take illegal substances — it’s cheating,” FBI Assistant Director Michael J Driscoll said in a statement.

The criminal complaint identifies Okagbare only as “athlete 1,” but it includes details, including her performances in specific races, that make it clear she was one of Lira’s clients. A text message was sent to Okagbare seeking comment.

Okagbare had been provisionally suspended for testing positive for human growth hormone in July 2021 — in an out-of-competition test — just hours before the former world championships silver medallist was due to run in the semifinals of the women’s 100 metres at the Olympics. A criminal complaint unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court described that suspension.

The Athletics Integrity Unit last year said Okagbare also had tested positive for a blood booster in Nigeria in June. She was charged with failing to cooperate with the investigation after she disobeyed an order to produce

BLESSING OKAGBARE, of Nigeria, races in a women’s 200 metre heat at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, on September 30, 2019. US prosecutors charged a Texas man yesterday with providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, including Okagbare.

(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) “documents, records and electronic storage devices” in relation to the other charges, the AIU said at the time.

“When it’s time to say anything, I will and it will be worth the wait,” Okagbare tweeted last year.

The criminal complaint alleges that Lira, a

kinesiologist and naturopathic doctor, brought “misbranded” versions of the drugs to the United States from Central and South America before distributing them to athletes.

Federal authorities searched Okagbare’s cellphone as she was returning to the United States from

Tokyo and found she had frequently communicated with Lira over an encrypted app, according to the complaint.

“Is it safe to take a test this morning?” Okagbare wrote in one message to Lira, according to the complaint. “Remember I took it Wednesday and then yesterday again. I wasn’t sure so I didn’t take a test.”

In another exchange, Okagbare wrote Lira that she had just run the 100m in 10.63 seconds. News reports detailed Okagbare running a race in that time a few days before the message was sent. “Eric my body feel so good,” she wrote. “Whatever you did is working so well.”

“You are doing your part and you will be ready to dominate,” Lira wrote to the athlete.

The charges against Lira were brought under the Rodchenkov Act, a law signed in 2020 that prohibits “any person, other than an athlete,” to knowingly influence any “major international sports competition” with the use of a prohibited substance.

RJ Barrett scores 32 points, Knicks beat Mavericks 108-85 NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 32 points, Mitchell Robinson had a season-high 19 and the New York Knicks snapped the Dallas Mavericks’ six-game winning streak with a 108-85 victory last night.

Robinson threw down three dunks in a powerful third quarter for the Knicks, who won for the fourth time in five games and returned to .500 at 21-21. He shot 9 for 10 from the field and had 10 rebounds. Julius Randle finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Booed in the last game after holding his thumb down to the crowd last week, he gave fans nothing to be mad about with a strong all-around game.

Luka Doncic had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who had won six straight for the first time since 2016 and were looking for their longest winning streak since an eight-game run in their 2010-11 NBA championship season.

But after ending Chicago’s nine-game win streak in their last game, the Mavericks clanged their way to an 8-for-37 night from 3-point range.

Doncic had only five assists, in part because his teammates missed so many open looks behind the arc — though he was only 1 for 9 there himself.

ROCKETS 128, SPURS 124 SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Eric Gordon had 31 points and Houston beat San Antonio to snap a three-game skid.

Christian Wood scored 23 points, Kevin Porter Jr. added 18 and Jalen Green 14 for Houston.

Dejounte Murray had a career-high 32 points for the Spurs. San Antonio has lost four straight and seven of eight.

HORNETS 109, 76ERS 98 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gordon Hayward made his first nine shots and scored 30 points and Charlotte beat Philadelphia to snap a 16-game losing streak in the series.

Hayward was 9 of 9 in first half -- that included

TO ADVERTISE TODAY IN THE TRIBUNE CALL @ 502-2394

NEW York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9) drives to the basket against Dallas Mavericks centre Dwight Powell (7) during the second half last night in New York.

(AP Photo/Noah K Murray) four 3-pointers — for added 33 and Boston beat Jones that began with the 22 points. Terry Rozier Indiana.

Foxes’ 13th straight league added 22 points, and Miles Boston snapped a sixvictory to remain perfect in Bridges had 21. The Hor- game road losing streak, FROM PAGE 14 their 2021-2022 Russia Prenets hadn’t beaten the beating Indiana for the game while shooting 65 mier League season.

76ers since November 2, second time in three days percent from the floor, 40 They dominated Peresvet 2016. Joel Embiid scored and the fourth straight percent from three, and SFedU Rostov-Don, 92-43, 31 points for the fifth time. Myles Turner had 75 percent from the free at the Rostov-on-Don straight game for Philadel- 18 points for Indiana. The throw line. UMMC Eka- Palace of Sports in Rostovphia. The 76ers had won Pacers have lost two in a terinburg will host their on-Don, Russia, on Sunday. seven in a row. row. next EuroLeague game on Jones scored 18 points CAVALIERS 111, WIZARDS 112, January 20 when they face and grabbed a game-high JAZZ 91 MAGIC 106 KSC Szekszard out of Hun- 17 rebounds in 30 minutes SALT LAKE CITY WASHINGTON (AP) gary. The Foxes won the on the floor. She shot 7-10 (AP) — Lamar Stevens — Kyle Kuzma had 19 first matchup between the from the field. scored 15 of career-high 23 points, 10 rebounds and two teams on November 2, They will return to the points in the third quarter nine assists to help Wash82-67. Jones finished with Premier League on January in Cleveland’s victory over ington beat Orlando.

17 points and 10 rebounds. 16 when they face Dynamo short-handed Utah.

Washington has won She has posted five double Moscow at Verkhnyaya Darius Garland had his three in a row, and the doubles thus far in EuroLe- Pyshma in Yekaterinburg, first triple-double with 11 Wizards won for a second ague play.

Russia. points, a career-high 15 consecutive night without Yesterday’s match comJones’ extended offseaassists and a career-high 10 star guard Bradley Beal, pleted a busy week for son last year included three rebounds. who was out because of Lauri Markkanen added health and safety protocols.

20 points, Kevin Love had Cole Anthony had 19 16. And Eric Mobley fin- points, 11 rebounds and ished with 15 points, 10 nine assists for the NBAFROM PAGE 14 rebounds and seven assists. worst Magic. They have were eliminated in the Cleveland improved to lost 10 in a row. quarterfinals of the WAC 3-1 on its six-game trip.

HEAT 115, tournament. Listed as a Jordan Clarkson scored HAWKS 91 two-star recruit by Verbal 22 points for the Jazz in ATLANTA (AP) — Commits, Butters comtheir fourth straight loss.

Tyler Herro had 21 points pleted his high school Centres Rudy Gobert, and Miami scored the first career at Elevation Prep Hassan Whiteside and 16 points of the second half in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Udoka Azubuike and for- to break open a close game The Grand Bahama native ward Rudy Gay are in against Atlanta. spent the previous season COVID-19 health and Herro added 11 assists. with Aspire Academy in SHAVAUL Butters safety protocols.

Caleb Martin had 18 points Louisville, Kentucky. expected to be an active CELTICS 119, to help the Heat finish 4-2 Butters began to garner recruiting process last PACERS 100 on a trip. attention from major summer. He was officially INDIANAPOLIS (AP) John Collins led Atlanta Division I basketball pro- offered by the Austin — Jaylen Brown scored with 16 points. Trae Young grammes and received Peay State University 34 points, Jayson Tatum had 15. his first offer of what is Governors. Butters also

JONES

BUTTERS

DJOKOVIC ADMITS TRAVEL DECLARATION HAD INCORRECT INFORMATION

By JOHN PYE and ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic acknowledged yesterday that his Australian travel declaration form contained incorrect information, and he also confessed to an “error of judgment” in taking part in an interview and photo shoot in Serbia last month after testing positive for COVID-19.

In a statement posted to his social media accounts, the tennis star blamed “human error” by his support team for failing to declare that he had travelled in the two-week period before entering Australia.

Giving false information on the form could be grounds for deportation, the latest twist in a saga over whether the athlete should be allowed stay in Australia despite not being vaccinated. The initial news that Djokovic was granted an exemption to strict vaccination rules to enter the country provoked an outcry and the ensuing dispute has since overshadowed the lead-up to the Australian Open.

Djokovic acknowledged the lapses when he sought to clarify what he called “continuing misinformation” about his movements after he became infected last month — though he did not spell out what inaccuracies he was referring to.

The statement was posted while the men’s tennis No. 1 was in Rod Laver Arena holding a practice session, his third on the tournament’s main court since being released from four nights in immigration detention.

The nine-time and defending Australian Open champion remains in limbo before the year’s first tennis major starts Monday. The stakes are particularly high since he is seeking a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

His visa was cancelled on arrival last week when his vaccination exemption was questioned, but he won a legal battle on procedural grounds that allowed him to stay in the country.

He still faces the prospect of deportation — a decision that is entirely at the discretion of Australia’s immigration minister if deemed to be in the public interest for health and safety reasons.

Deportation could result in sanctions ranging up to a three-year ban from entering Australia, a daunting prospect for a player who has won almost half of his 20 Grand Slam singles titles here.

championship titles with the Foxes. They claimed their sixth FIBA Women’s EuroLeague title. The Foxes’ season of milestones also included the Russian Premier League title for the 15th time in club history, and for the 13th consecutive season, along with the RFB Super Cup. “We didn’t lose a game, so I don’t think you can do too much better from that standpoint,” Jones said about her 2020-21 UMMC experience. “I just worked on a lot of things and was able to sharpen myself playing against the best players every day in practice, playing with them on the court.” received high interest from UNLV, Maryland, Eastern Kentucky, North CarolinaGreensboro, and several others.

At the local level, Butters was a member of the St George’s Jaguars programme, headed by Darell Sears.

“He’s just excited to get back on the floor. He’s still got to learn plays, because he was out for a long time and he’s just excited to play again,” Sears said. “He has an extra year of eligibility and is still a redshirt so we look forward to his growth and development with the programme.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 17

To Publish your Financials and

Legal Notices Call: 502-2394

PAGE 18, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Chelsea finishes job against Spurs to reach League Cup final

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — Even before celebrating his first anniversary as manager later this month, Thomas Tuchel has achieved a first with Chelsea.

Defeating Tottenham in the League Cup semifinals means Tuchel has reached every major final unlike any predecessor at the west London club.

There was victory in the Champions League final and a losing FA Cup final last season. Chelsea will be back at Wembley Stadium

next month to contest the League Cup final after Antonio Rüdiger’s header sealed a 1-0 victory at Tottenham yesterday to complete a 3-0 aggregate win.

“It’s good we are not shy to say we want to be finalists and win finals,” Tuchel said. “But we cannot simply expect to win every title that’s available, we shouldn’t be arrogant.

“We enjoy that we play for an ambitious club. This is a gift. The club sharpens the mentality of the players.”

Chelsea’s display was again so commanding that Tottenham

offered little threat, aside from having two penalties and an equaliser correctly overturned by VAR. That should trouble Antonio Conte, two months into his reign as Tottenham manager with a squad ill-equipped to win a first trophy since beating Chelsea for the 2008 League Cup. Chelsea is into a 15th final since then, including the FA Cup won

by Conte in 2018 to complete his two years in charge of Chelsea.

In the February 27 League Cup final, the west London club will play Arsenal or Liverpool, who meet in their delayed first leg on

today. And there’s still a trip to the Club World Cup before then in February.

Such is the strength of the squad, Chelsea could deploy N’Golo Kante from the bench at Tottenham and leave Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz as unused substitutes.

Despite the chance of using the second-tier competition to end Tottenham’s trophy drought, it wasn’t the strongest possible team deployed by Conte with an eye on Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal and the bid to make the Premier League’s top

four. Now only the FA Cup can end Tottenham’s 14-year trophy drought.

Chelsea also remains in contention in that competition as well as the Champions League but heads to Manchester City on Saturday sitting 10 points behind the Premier League leaders in second place.

In a rescheduled Premier League game yesterday, Jarrod Bowen scored twice to lead West Ham to a 2-0 victory over last-place Norwich, dislodging Arsenal from fourth, having played a game more.

Madrid beats Barcelona for 100th time, reaches Cup final RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Federico Valverde scored in extra time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 win over Barcelona yesterday for its 100th victory over its storied rival and a spot in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Barcelona twice equalised in regular time but couldn’t recover after Valverde scored from close range on a breakaway eight minutes into extra time.

Defending Super Cup champion Athletic Bilbao will face Spanish league champion Atlético Madrid in the other semifinal today.

The Spanish Super Cup is being played in Saudi Arabia again after the coronavirus pandemic transferred last year’s edition back to Spain. The competition was moved to Saudi Arabia — and expanded from two to four teams in a “Final Four” format — as part of a deal reportedly worth 30 million euros ($34 million) a year until 2029.

The changes drew criticism from human rights activists and complaints from fans who preferred the competition stayed in Spain. Among those complaining was Athletic midfielder Raúl García, who said this week it made “no sense” to play the games away from Spain.

It was Madrid’s fifth straight win over Barcelona and its 100th in 248 competitive matches against the rival. Barcelona has 96 wins.

It was a mostly even match but Madrid looked the more dangerous team throughout thanks to its counterattacks led Vinícius Júnior and Benzema.

The duo gave Madrid the lead in the 25th minute after Benzema stole the

ball from Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets near the midfield line and fed Vinícius, who made a run into the area and beat goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a shot into the top of the net.

Barcelona equalised with a fluke goal near the end of the half. Madrid defender Éder Militão tried to clear a ball from inside the area but his shot bounced off Barcelona striker Luuk de Jong and then off the post before going over the line.

Benzema hit the post in the 69th, then a couple of minutes later put Madrid ahead again from close range off the rebound of a deflection by Ter Stegen following a cross by Dani Carvajal.

Ter Stegen had stopped another Benzema shot just moments earlier.

Ansu Fati, who replaced De Jong in the 66th, levelled the match again in the 83rd with a header off a well-placed cross by Jordi Alba.

Valverde scored the winner after a fast counterattack by Madrid, converting a cross by Rodrygo from the right flank with Barcelona’s defence heavily outmanned.

Madrid arrived as as one of the hottest teams in Spain and was the favourite over a Barcelona side still rebuilding after the loss of Lionel Messi to Paris SaintGermain. The Catalan club trails its rival by 17 points in the Spanish league with a game in hand.

It was the first clásico for Xavi Hernández as Barcelona coach. Ronald Koeman was still at the helm when the Catalan club lost 2-1 to Madrid at the Camp Nou in the first clásico of the season in the league last October.

REAL Madrid’s Federico Valverde celebrates after a goal during the Spanish Super Cup semi final soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at King Fahd stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yesterday.

(AP Photos/Hassan Ammar)

REAL Madrid’s Karim Benzema shoots by Barcelona’s Dani Alves yesterday.

Ferran Torres made his Barcelona debut after being signed from Manchester City. Torres and young midfielder Pedri González arrived in Saudi Arabia later than their teammates because they tested positive for the coronavirus. Torres, who was

substituted at halftime, hadn’t played since getting injured with Spain’s national team in October.

Madrid was without defender David Alaba because of an injury.

Madrid made it to the “Final Four” after finishing second to Atlético in the

league last season. Barcelona qualified as the Copa del Rey champion, which it won over Athletic.

Only about 30,000 fans were allowed at the 62,000-capacity King Fahd International Stadium because of the coronavirus pandemic.

INDIA LEADS BY 70 IN DECIDING TEST AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — India was 57-2 in its second innings at stumps yesterday for a lead of 70 runs over South Africa in the decisive final test.

The game progressed rapidly on Day 2 at Newlands after South Africa started on 17-1 in its first innings and was bundled out for 210.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was India’s star again with 5-42 as South Africa threatened to overhaul India’s first innings of 223, then tumbled under the pressure created by Bumrah.

The Proteas went from 159-4 to 210 all out in the kind of collapse that has dominated the series because of the two strong bowling lineups.

Keegan Petersen made 72 for South Africa but the next highest score for South Africa was 28 by Temba Bavuma.

Petersen was one of Bumrah’s five, a ball that angled in and moved off the seam to catch an outside edge and travel to Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip.

India extended its advantage to 70 by stumps but at the expense of losing both openers.

Virat Kohli, back in the team after missing the second test with injury, was 14 not out after top-scoring in the first innings with 79.

Pujara was with him on 9.

Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen had struck for South Africa but India had a strong chance at a first test series win ever in South Africa if it took its lead past 200.

The three-test series is level at 1-1, setting up the series finale at Newlands in Cape Town.

REFEREEING BLUNDER, SECURITY CONCERNS MAR AFRICAN CUP LIMBE, Cameroon (AP) — A major refereeing blunder and serious security concerns overshadowed yesterday’s games at the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The referee in charge of the Mali-Tunisia game caused chaos by twice blowing the final whistle too early, incensing coaches on the losing team and causing a lengthy debate about whether the match would have to be restarted.

Mali was ahead 1-0 when referee Janny Sikazwe of Zambia ended the game early in the western city of Limbe. But it was Tunisia that refused to come back out 30 minutes later when officials tried to restart the match, with the coach saying his players were already in their ice baths by then.

While the farcical scenes created more negative headlines for the tournament, there were more serious concerns away from the matches.

The Cameroon news agency reported that a gun battle between separatist rebels and government soldiers left two dead and five injured in Buea, a city 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Limbe and where the Mali squad is based. “Heavily armed” rebels fired guns indiscriminately near a training stadium used by the Mali squad, the Cameroon news agency said.

The fighting was a stark reminder that Cameroon’s African Cup is not just unfolding under the shadow of the coronavirus, but also during a far less publicised but violent rebellion playing out in the western part of the country. The fighting is precariously close to where Group F teams Mali, Tunisia, Mauritania and Gambia will operate.

And if that wasn’t enough problems to contend with on Day 4, the sound system temporarily failed at Limbe Stadium before the day’s second game, causing Mauritania and Gambia players to stand around waiting to sing national anthems.

There was one feel-good moment at least: Gambia’s Ablie Jallow sent a shot arrowing into the top corner from outside the penalty area to give his country a 1-0 victory in its first appearance at the continent’s soccer showpiece.

Max-Alain Gradel scored with an equally-good long range shot in the sixth minute to give 2015 champion Ivory Coast a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in Wednesday’s last game. It meant nine of the first 12 games at the tournament have ended 1-0.

But there’s no doubt which incident was the talking point of the day.

With Mali leading Tunisia 1-0, referee Sikazwe first blew for full time after only 85 minutes. He seemed to

A OFFICIAL wearing PPE sprays the players bench with disinfectant spray before the African Cup of Nations 2022 group F soccer match between Tunisia and Mali at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium in Limbe, Cameroon, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) realise his big blunder and restarted the game.

He then sent off Mali substitute El Bilal Touré in the 87th minute for a rash tackle — also a questionable decision.

But Sikazwe blew full time again about 20 seconds before the 90 minutes were up, according to the clock at the stadium and on TV broadcasts.

About three minutes of added time had been expected.

The second early whistle infuriated Tunisia coach Mondher Kebaier and other members of the

coaching staff. Kebaier ran to confront the referee while pointing angrily at his own watch and Sikazwe had to be escorted from the field by security officials. One of the match officials shoved a Tunisian official during the commotion, stoking the situation.

There were then suggestions that the game would be restarted and reports that organisers had burst into Mali’s post-game news conference and told coach Mohamed Magassouba that his players had to get back on the field to play another three minutes.

Officials gathered on the field about 30 minutes after the game ended and were seen in discussions. Mali players also came back out but Tunisia refused to restart the game.

“The players were in their ice baths and then he (the referee) asked us to come back out,” said Tunisia coach Kebaier.

“In 30 years in this business I have never seen anything like it.”

There was no official word from the Confederation of African Football on any decisions made over the game and it appeared

the 1-0 win for Mali would stand.

Sikazwe was temporarily suspended by CAF in 2018 following accusations of match-fixing for his performance in charge of an African club game. The Zambian was an official at the World Cup in Russia earlier that year and refereed two games there.

Ibrahima Koné scored from the penalty spot for Mali’s goal after a handball

by Ellyes Skhiri. Tunisia was awarded a late penalty, also for handball and after a video review by Sikazwe. Tunisia captain Wahbi Khazri had his powerful penalty saved. Mali held on with 10 men after Touré’s red card, although not for as long as they should have had to with Sikazwe ending it early.

The violence in Buea led to more questions over why organisers chose it as a suitable base for African Cup teams considering the volatile situation.

Buea, the regional capital, has seen many deadly clashes because of an insurrection by English-speaking separatists. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the fighting across the western part of Cameroon since it erupted five years ago.

There was a heavy police and military presence outside the Limbe Stadium and a military helicopter hovered overhead during the Mali-Tunisia game.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, January 13, 2022, PAGE 19

PAGE 20, Thursday, January 13, 2022

THE TRIBUNE