01242023 NEWS AND SPORT

‘MY SON RAN SO WHY SHOOT HIM?’

‘Youth engaged police’ say officers - as family wants camera footage

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE distraught mother of 18-year-old Kwondrick Lowe, who was killed in a police-involved shooting on Saturday, believes her son “ran for his life” when he saw the officers.

She dismissed an official police report that said her son, who was 4’2”, engaged officers.

“They shouldn’t shoot my child like he’s a dog,” Fredricka Richards said.

Police said a man who allegedly engaged police in the Kemp Road area on Saturday was killed by officers around 12.30am.

Officers were on routine patrol in the area of Kemp Road and Edwards Avenue when they saw a man with a gun. The suspect fled the

area on foot after seeing the officers.

Police pursued the suspect onto Hillbrook Close, where the man “engaged the police and was fatally wounded,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

EMS attended the scene where he was pronounced dead.

Police said a handgun with ammunition was recovered from the deceased.

The coroner will investigate, police said.

Ms Richards said she didn’t learn of her son’s death until hours after he had passed, adding her son was “kind” with a future ahead of him.

“All he wanted to do was fix cars,” she told The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE near threeyear absence into police-involved shootings has stirred anger in some family members who say they are still searching for answers on their loved

ones’ deaths.

Fredrick Major said more than a year after losing his 31-year-old son Azario Major, the family is still upset over what happened, but is mostly disappointed that nothing is being done to confirm what he believes is his son’s innocence.

“It’s terribly upsetting and unbecoming and it’s intentional that they’re telling us here’s what the Attorney General’s Office is saying (and) the attorney general is saying that they cannot find any prosecutors to prosecute the matter,” he claimed in a recent interview with The Tribune

“They are spending money on everything else in this country so bring in the pending prosecutors to prosecute. They’re paying millions of dollars to clean constituencies just to put money in some PLP cronies’ pocket.”

Major was shot multiple times by off-duty police on

December 26, 2021.

According to police, three off-duty officers were at a business on Fire Trail Road when they spoke to a man who was “acting in a disorderly manner”.

The man was warned, police reported at the time, and eventually left the

BLOOD BANKS ‘IN CRITICAL STATE’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Hospitals

Authority managing director Dr Aubynette Rolle said yesterday that the country’s blood banks are in a “critical” state.

Dr Rolle’s comments came after reporters asked for an update on the blood banks following an investigation being launched on the death of Kenise Darville.

Darville posted a

hospital waited several days after she was admitted before informing her that she needed to make an urgent plea to friends and family for blood donations.

The mother died on January 19, after being admitted only two weeks earlier. Dr Rolle told reporters that the investigation surrounding the circumstances of Darville’s death is continuing, adding she hoped to speak with Darville’s husband soon.

BABY BOY AGED THREE MONTHS DIES AT DAYCARE

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a three-month-old boy who was found unresponsive at a local daycare centre yesterday.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said around 8am, the child’s mother left the infant at the daycare in southern New Providence. The centre’s director later made “routine checks” and found the baby lifeless.

EMS were called and the baby was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Police said that efforts to revive the infant were unsuccessful and he was declared dead.

MAN IN COURT OVER DEATH OF TENEISHA

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was remanded to prison yesterday in connection with the tragic death of three-month-old Teneisha Tanya Mifort who was left in his care while the child’s mother was at work last week.

Kirkwood Thompson, 29, represented by attorney Ryszard Humes, faced Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, on a charge of manslaughter.

According to police reports, the child was in the custody of Thompson, a family friend, on January 16. Around 11am, the man believed the baby was sleeping before he eventually noticed she was unresponsive, police said.

gut-wrenching video on Facebook on January 11, where she claimed doctors of Princess Margaret

KENISE Darville pictured in the video she posted to Facebook.

Ann Marie Davis calls for more help for victims families

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting @ tribunemedia.net

LOCAL advocacy group

Families of All Murder Victims yesterday honoured the families’ 20 victims, with the day being proclaimed FOAM Day after a ten-year fight by the group’s founder.

The event was held at FOAM’s Alexandria Boulevard headquarters yesterday.

Khandi Gibson, founder of FOAM, said yesterday has been a long time coming and she hopes to see more done for the families of murder victims.

“It has taken 10 years plus. I want to offer condolences to everyone who lost a loved one. FOAM doesn’t judge anyone. Our mandate is the children. As we move forward we want to make these children get counselling,” she said.

“My next step is I want to see some amendments done especially with National Insurance (Board). Once a person is killed in this country and they don’t have sufficient contributions at NIB, their children don’t qualify for anything and that’s very sad. Why does National

Insurance think it’s ok for them to keep that?” Ms Gibson said.

Several officials were present at the event yesterday, including Ann Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who gave a few suggestions on how the families of murder victims can be further assisted.

“(A lack of) resolution of conflicts is one of our biggest problems that we have, not only here in The Bahamas, but in Latin America and the whole Caribbean,” she said.

“I think information on police, what they’re doing to solve the crime, and information on the court proceedings for these matters should be made more readily available to families, don’t you think? Also we should have court accompaniment by counsellors at the court proceedings,” Mrs Davis said.

“And then how about assistance in obtaining protection orders? Assistance in filing for victim’s compensation. Do we have this here in this country? No. But this can help with the pain and grief. We can have a system where the perpetrator should pay the victim’s family,” she said.

“More referrals to other agencies for additional services such as emergency food, shelter, home repairs, etc. Listen, I think we have a tremendous shortage of shelters, but I’m working on that, okay,” Mrs Davis continued.

“And there should be some sort of assistance in registering for victim notification,” she said.

State Minister for Social Services and Urban Development Lisa Rahming said assisting vulnerable families is the job of everyone.

“It has to be all of our business. The same thing I want for my child, I want you to know, I want that for your child,” Ms Rahming said.

“Every one of us (should) commit to sponsor a child in any way that you can, who has lost a parent. Commit to ensuring that the child attends church regularly. Commit to ensuring that they get proper counselling to deal with their grief.

Commit to being a mentor for at least one child,” she said.

Those honoured at the event yester day include families of the following: Anthro and Khanaochi Knowles, Leonardo Black, Shande Cartwright, Jeffonya Rolle and Tekoyo McKinney, Gloria Collie Grant, Akio Francis, Alexander Hepburn and Ishmael Forbes, Brandon Russell, Myron Gelin and James Cartwright, Ednique Wallace, Kyhiliee Chamar Wallace, Alfred Renaldo Munnings, Tadasha Brittany Morgan Rears, Osworth Rashad Rolle, Quinton McKenzie, Reyes Williams, Steffen Rolle, Keion Butler and Shavonya Adderley, Rinardo Brown and Carlosn Taylor, Gloria Gala Rolle, Heavenly Terveus, Arthur Devon Culmer, Cleo Patrice Major-Lockhart, and Kenrica Martin.

MOTHER OF MAN KILLED BY AIR RIFLE BELIEVES INCIDENT WAS NOT AN ‘ACCIDENT’

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings @ tribunemedia.net

THE mother of a man who was shot while a coworker was reportedly trying to clear a rifle wants answers about the death of her eldest son.

Police reported that the incident occurred shortly after 5pm on Saturday.

It was reported that the 37-year-old victim, Lavardo Fernander, was with coworkers at the back of a

residence on Faith Avenue South, when one of the co-workers reportedly attempted to clear a highpowered air rifle.

Fernander was hit in his upper body and was later pronounced dead by EMS at the scene.

At present, police are questioning a 27-year-old man in connection with the incident.

However, Michelle Aranha, the mother of the deceased, said she does not believe that the incident was

an “accident”, adding that she wants justice to prevail.

“An accident sweetie is me knocking my foot or getting knocked down or maybe a car accident. Do you understand me?

“An accident isn’t with a human life involved. Ain’t no accident could be explained for this, I keep telling people this,” the mother of six said.

She continued: “That’s a 37-year-old man (the deceased) that I raised from birth. I carried him

nine months, until the day he died I was on the phone with him every day we laughed (and) we talked.

“Ain’t no accident there, miss. Ain’t no accident with people life and then on the back of that five children must pay the price because he was negligent. I don’t believe in that,” she added.

The deceased leaves behind a wife, one daughter and four sons.

Ms Aranha described her son as her “king” and “best friend” all in one, saying that

he was everything a mother would want in a child.

Since the incident, she said the family is having a difficult time with accepting the death of the 37-yearold. However, after viewing the body of the deceased yesterday, the grieving mother said reality is beginning to sink in.

Fernander had the “three best occupations”, according to his mother, a resident of Berry Islands, as he was a qualified carpenter, a licensed boat captain and

Police

certified chef. Despite the circumstances surrounding Fernander’s death, Ms Aranha is grateful for the outpouring of love and is hopeful that her eldest son’s legacy will live on.

are urging members of the community to ensure they obtain the proper firearm licences, noting that persons are encouraged to exercise safety precautions when operating firearms to prevent incidents of this nature from happening.

PICTURED at top: Minister Carlos Reed, Opposition leader Michael Pintard, Minister of state for Social service Lisa Rahming, and wife of the Prime minister Ann-Marie Davis pictured with family of murder victims

PICTURED left: Family members of murder victims take part in FOAM event last night

Photo:Austin Fernander

KHANDI Gibson speaking at last night’s event.

Photo:Austin Fernander

‘My son ran so why shoot him?’

from page one

“Be a mechanic, that’s all my baby wanted to do,” she said.

Ms Richards said her son had always been fearful of police, saying she believed he “ran for his life” when he saw the officers.

“When they said my son had a gun, I know my child,” his mother said.

“That’s a lie, shoot at them? I know my child, my child scared of police.”

Ms Richards said the day of her son’s death she was told he went out with some friends to a club.

Asked if she believed her son had a good social circle, Ms Richards responded “no” noting her son’s friends weren’t good company.

Cynthia Ferdinand, the

victim’s grand aunt, said she was told her nephew was on his knees pleading for his life when police approached him.

She said that the deceased was only 4’2 and barely weighed 120 pounds, adding when they viewed his body he had seven bullet injuries.

“Seven bullets in him, we went to identify his body not too long ago. On his left eye it’s a big bullet hole.

“That’s overkill but y’all (police) in fear for y’all life.

“What they have to realise, too much of these police are doing this to people children; they are not dogs, they have family. And they (police) are getting away with it because it gets swept under the rug,” Ms Ferdinand said.

The distraught aunt cried out that her nephew will not be another statistic, adding her

family wants justice for him. Members of the family said that they are in need of a lawyer’s assistance to aid in the investigation surrounding Lowe’s death. The distraught family said that they want answers and footage of what led to the fatal incident.

PICTURED, the scene of the police shooting in the Kemp Road area.

Photo: Moise Amisial

THREE YEARS WITH NO INQUESTS INTO POLICE SHOOTINGS

from page one

establishment. However, police say he returned, then left and returned again twice more.

The third time, the officers claimed they noticed the man had a gun and being in fear for their lives, they shot him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

However, the family does not believe what police said actually occurred that night.

“I have all the answers. For me personally, I have all the answers. I know how my son and I know why my son was killed,” Mr Major told this newspaper.

The grieving father claimed that one of the officers involved in the shooting had known his son personally and was in contact with him.

He also alleged that the three times his son went to the establishment was

“because they were in communication via telephone.”

Mr Major said to date, the family has yet to retrieve his son’s telephone which he alleged went missing from the crime scene after the incident.

“I did my investigations and we found that the phone left the crime scene and ended up in the Podoleo Street area where the tracker was dismantled and all of his information was wiped from his phone,” he added.

He also said the family hired international experts to analyse the vehicle his son was killed in, adding that findings showed he was shot multiple times to the head and body.

“The forensic scientist said that my son was killed sitting in the car and the initial shots were fired though the car glass with the door closed and he stated that it displayed ‘malice intent’ and there’s no indication

BABY BOY AGED THREE MONTHS DIES AT DAYCARE

from page one

Police said while the baby had no visible signs of injury, an autopsy will be held to determine the exact cause of death.

This comes a week after another three-month-old baby died, however that incident took place when the infant was in the care of a family friend. Police said the baby was taken to hospital unresponsive and had injuries to her face.

A man was charged with manslaughter in connection with that case yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event yesterday, Ann Marie Davis expressed condolences to the families on the tragic deaths of their infants recently.

She suggested that the families be kept abreast of

the investigations, so that they can better cope and eventually find closure.

Mrs Davis said: “My heart goes to the family of the three-month-old. It is always the impact, the grief that follows and how long it will take to heal if at all.

“(They need) information to comfort them more, to do an investigation to let them know what happened so they can begin the healing process.

“I just don’t know what to say, it’s so sad, very sad. Let’s have some answers. I would like to see that happen as soon as possible, so we could start having closure and be able to cope with this situation.

“So my condolences to the families and friends of this young child that died,” Mrs Davis said.

MAN IN COURT OVER DEATH OF TENEISHA

from page one

The child was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle where medical staff noticed that the baby suffered from visible injuries to the face and later pronounced her dead.

Due to the nature of the offence, the accused was not required to enter a plea

yesterday. He was informed that his matter will proceed to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Thompson was told that the magistrate lacked the jurisdiction to grant him bail; however he has the right to apply for it in the higher court.

He is set to receive his VBI on March 9.

of them being in fear of life so he totally disputes what the officer said,” Mr Major alleged.

“There’s no way in the world that a man (is) supposed to be shot four times point blank to the head by police officers, 26 times to the body. (His) body had to be cremated because his entire skull collapsed,” he said.

“We couldn’t have an open coffin for him. Now, why is it that police officers are walking around and not being arrested?”

He is not the only loved one of a person killed by police that has posed the same questions.

Family members and close friends of 25-yearold Deshoan Smith aka “Spider”, who was killed by police on June 13, 2020, share similar concerns and have also questioned the police’s version of the story.

Smith and two other men were killed on Cowpen

Road after they allegedly “ambushed” an officer.

Police reported at the time that officers also suspected the men were waiting off Cowpen Road to target someone who was attending a burial ceremony.

A friend of Smith, who asked not to be named, said his death is still hurtful because it feels “like it’s nothing being done” so they can get the answers that they need.

“It’s very hard because although I understand he had a past, he was still human and you know, and I feel as if the way they go about doing things is completely wrong,” she said.

“Because what I gathered from the incident is that if it was a tinted vehicle then how can you open fire on a tinted vehicle because you don’t know who is in the vehicle first of all.

“What if a child was in there? What if a woman was

in there, pregnant or something and nothing is being done and it’s like there’s no law for them. It’s like when things happen, they just sweep it under the rug.”

The friend, who shares a daughter with the deceased, said living as a single mother has not been easy.

“It’s hard because my daughter asks for him every day. She was two months (old) when he died,” she said, adding that her daughter will turn three in April.

Inquests into police involved shootings were initially delayed because of COVID-19 in 2020.

Later, former Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, causing further delays as officials waited to replace her.

Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux was named acting coroner in September 2021.

However, while inquests into other matters are

already being carried out, they have not yet resumed into police-involved killings because the director of public prosecutions has yet to appoint a lawyer to marshal the cases.

Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder addressed the issue earlier this month during a ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year.

“Discussions with the learned director of public prosecutions had initially identified an officer to perform the function,” he said.

“That option has since fallen through and the search continues, I’m advised, to locate a replacement marshall. I implore the learned director of public prosecutions once again to bring the conclusion to this matter.

“It is hoped that the Judicial and Legal Service Commission will shortly advertise to permanently fill the post of coroner,” Sir Ian said.

Abaco ‘at boiling point’ over shanty towns: MP

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

ABACO residents are outraged by the growth of unregulated shanty towns, saying the issue has been out of control for some time.

These comments came after Central and South Abaco MP John Pinder said last Wednesday the government must act now to deal with unregulated shanty towns in Abaco as the issue is about to reach a “boiling point”.

Mr Pinder said he was “optimistic” that the Davis administration will address the issue.

However, residents in Abaco said the unregulated communities have mushroomed, adding the matter has caused residents to feel

threatened in their own country.

Crystal Williams told The Tribune the immigration issue has been a vexing one for many years.

“This isn’t a first-time tune, I’ve been singing this exact same tune for the last three years after Hurricane Dorian,” she said.

The monster storm wiped out shanty towns across Abaco. After the storm hit the island, the government issued an immediate ban on the construction of any new buildings in the four major shanty towns on Abaco and later began demolition exercises of newly built structures there.

However, those exercises were stopped after Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson

ordered the government to cease and desist further interference with those communities until the judicial review of the matter, which is still pending, was completed.

While undocumented migrants do live in these communities, officials say some Bahamian residents also reside in shanty towns.

Another resident claimed more shanty towns and illegal homes are being built every day in Abaco.

“We see extra homes just going up and nobody’s doing anything about it. When I was building, I had to get a permit number before I started to build. But then you just see their homes, you’ll see the footing going up first, and then there’s no permit number,” the resident said.

The resident said most of the homes in these unregulated communities are not up to standard and lack proper bathroom facilities.

Another resident, Cay Mills also expressed frustration over the shanty towns.

“We want them gone, we want them eradicated,” Mr Mills said.

“Every one of them needs to be taken out. That’s enforcement that I’m talking about, all of those structures need to be removed.”

He stressed the government needs to enforce the law more aggressively to combat the unregulated structures from spreading on the island.

In November, Public Works Minister Alfred Sears warned that illegal shanty towns will

not be allowed to go unchecked indefinitely, while revealing that officials are reviewing the existing injunction with a view to making appropriate applications to the Supreme Court to crack down on the unregulated

communities. Also in November, Mr Sears said the government’s shanty town committee had started surveying several irregular communities in the country as it seeks to crack down on the growing problem.

BPSU AGREEMENT FOR SALARY RISE SIGNED

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) and Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) signed an industrial agreement that includes a series of incremental salary increases over three years and increases in rental allowance.

Dr Aubynette Rolle, PHA’s managing director, said yesterday the agreement covers the period beginning July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025 and is valued at approximately $10m.

At the signing, she listed some of the agreement’s provisions which included increases in other areas.

“Employees represented by the BPSU will be pleased to note that this agreement encompasses a series of incremental salary increases over three years – one in the first, two in the second year, and another in the final,” she said.

“In addition to these increases, the agreement also makes provisions for the following benefits: increases to the project pay,

which increases now to $20 an hour.

“Expansion of categories of staff eligible to receive monthly hazard allowance. So we’ve expanded that, but I’ve also based it on our risk rankings from low,

medium to high. We’ve also increased our rental allowance by $50 per month across the commonwealth.

“We’ve increased the subsistence allowance, so individuals who are travelling and their stay is 28 days

or longer this allowance will now move to $1,500 per month and expansion of compassionate leave is also included to in laws.”

She mentioned progressive expansion of adoption leave of six weeks for new parents adopting children under the age of one and development also of mental health support programmes for all staff.

The agreement makes provisions for education and training, as well as providing new uniforms per year for employees.

BPSU president Kimsley Ferguson said there have

been some minor adjustments to this particular agreement.

“We are indeed elated to sign off on this particular industrial agreement where we’re satisfied and it’s very unique in that we are signing off on an agreement that to some extent would have been negotiated by the prior administration,” he said.

“However, there have been some minor adjustments to this particular agreement under this particular administration and so after our perusal of those particular terms and conditions, in this particular agreement, we’re satisfied that this is something that we can sign off on behalf of the employees and the Public Hospitals Authority.”

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville stated the negotiations had been “long” and a “difficult task”, but officials are happy the staff represented by the union will now have the opportunity to reap some of the benefits that were long outstanding.

He added: “This is all a part of an agenda from the Ministry of Health and the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to address some of these long-standing issues that we need to correct going forward to improve morale at all of the public health care facilities and to ensure that workers are protected, and they get what they truly deserve.”

Asked if this agreement

will boost morale, Mr Ferguson replied: “We do believe that under the current circumstances where there has been a challenge with regards to inflation, cost of living and so on, that it will motivate to some extent persons who were challenged in the area of their personal emoluments.

“The view that we take at this particular time is it’s not a long agreement and so we’re going to be back at the table in short order, with a view to getting some additional benefits for those that we represent.”

While satisfied, there was an issue concerning hazard allowance that was hoped to be discussed.

“One of the outstanding issues that we had presented was the longstanding nature of the hazard allowance, and the period which had elapsed not taking for granted the timeframe under which the individuals were working in these particular environments that there will be no compensation for. So that is something we hope that we can have a discussion on and that we can arrive at some amicable solution regarding that particular item,” Mr Ferguson said.

Dr Darville said that within short order he understands that Mr Ferguson will be in negotiations with the Public Service Ministry to finalise all of the necessary outstanding conditions in their industrial agreement for the wider civil service.

BLOOD BANKS ‘IN CRITICAL STATE’

“We do know that she was a wife, a mother of three and also well loved by family members and friends.”

She added: “We have launched the investigation; we’re still looking into the investigation. I’ve been dealing with portions of it yesterday (Sunday) and last night and it will continue.”

Jerad Darville, Darville’s husband, in a press conference on Friday called for changes to be made in the healthcare system, stressing his wife was asked on her deathbed to find blood.

Dr Rolle said yesterday that officials have heard the concerns about the availability of blood in the healthcare system, noting efforts are being made to address the issue.

“I’ve been talking with civic organisations over the weekend, on how we could deal with the issues of lack of blood within the country. And it’s not only at Princess Margaret Hospital.”

Dr Rolle said she has also heard of other countries struggling with similar issues.

She continued: “We’re looking to extend the ability for persons to donate right within their communities. So, I’m working with them this week, as well as organisations to come together. I also want the

public to understand that even though you may have donors, we have various types of blood.”

Dr Rolle explained that PMH’s blood bank and the privately owned blood banks are challenged in the “amount of blood based on our population”.

She said although the banks may have different types of blood, the blood that is available may not be suited for the patients in need.

The facilities are in “critical need of blood”, Dr Rolle said. She noted she has encouraged people who are able to donate to lend a helping hand.

“That is why our approach, listening to the cry of the community, understanding what’s happening within our facilities, really going to the community so the community can understand and also assist us so it’s the various types of blood, so we are in critical need of blood.”

Dr Rolle added there are also challenges in blood donations, particularly in finding people who are in a state of being able to donate.

“We need fresh blood, right, and it’s very difficult. We have a lot of people in the population with tattoos that can’t donate. All of the variables so, what we really need to do is to educate, and that’s the information

and then also engage persons to become partners so that we can always have blood in any of the healthcare facilities.”

Meanwhile, PMH has faced criticism on its quality of care since Mrs Darville’s death caused outrage.

When asked about this criticism, Dr Rolle responded that she does not want people to be deterred from the hospital and not access the care they need.

She noted that every day the hospital has a large volume of patients that come in for care.

However, Dr Rolle said officials are making efforts to improve the service at PMH.

“We’ve also partnered with an organisation to be able to help us with our boarders, we have 20 boarders in the hospital. And so, we’ve started that process of moving the boarders out. That will, you know, provide relief.”

She added: “We are seeing a full population — every day our census is up to 414 patients. And that is not those who are sitting in the emergency room in what we call virtual spaces, they don’t have assigned beds, they’re on trolleys, they’re on the emergency medical systems stretches.”

Dr Rolle said the hospital has sent 130 people to Doctors Hospital in recent weeks while PMH is undergoing renovations.

MP for Central and South Abaco John Pinder.

PUBLIC Hospitals Authority managing director Dr Aubynette Rolle alongside Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville at yesterday’s signing.

Photo: Ulric Woodside/BIS

Pintard: Davis should reshuffle unsuitable Cabinet ministers

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard has called on Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis to consider shuffling his Cabinet, saying it is quite evident that several ministers are unsuitable for their portfolios and should be reassigned to roles better suited to their skills or replaced entirely.

Topping the list, he said, is Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears and Housing and Transport Minister Jobeth ColebyDavis who, he said, needed to be removed from their ministerial posts effective immediately.

The FNM leader also expressed concerns about Grand Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey’s performance in office, saying he believed she should serve the country in a different capacity.

“Yes, there are several ministers that seem to be in conflict (with) their previous occupation and how that intersects with the ministry that they now oversee,” Mr Pintard told The Tribune yesterday.

“I believe that is a reflection on the effective management of the prime minister. He has been ineffective in managing various ministries. He has had to

intervene in multiple ministries to hit the reset button for various ministers.”

Mr Pintard also said reassigning ministers to different posts would only be effective if the prime minister gives more focused attention to “domestic matters” and better manages the ministries at hand.

He especially zeroed in on Minister Sears, who he said lacks “bold, honest and effective leadership”.

“He has (on) no less than eight occasions been untruthful to both the Parliament and to the general public when questioned and, therefore, he has a fundamental credibility issue, and he has only confessed when the public was presented with unreachable evidence,” he claimed.

Mr Pintard was referring to controversy surrounding Mr Sears’ conflicting

statements over the Bahamas Power and Light fuel hedging issue.

Mr Sears had initially denied that he was briefed on BPL’s fuel hedging controversy, but later admitted that he in fact was aware of the recommendations made to hedge oil prices in advance of the BPL surcharge increase last year for consumers.

The FNM leader also rehashed concerns about the deteriorating state of roads in the capital and pointed to such missed deadlines as the Village Road project.

He said the minister does not appear to be on the same page with the ministry’s technical team, adding “there appears to be a lack of coordination between him and those other utility companies that need to use the same space where roads are being paved.”

“There are members of his own caucus who are tremendously angry because the performance of the ministry which he has oversight cannot seem to complete works that are affecting their constituents and by extension, their fortunes as members of Parliament,” Mr Pintard said.

He conceded that Mr Sears was experiencing multiple challenges in his ministry and said while the opposition is grateful for national contributions

THREE ACCUSED IN SEPARATE MURDERS

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THREE men were charged in court yesterday in connection with three separate deaths in the nation’s capital in the past two months.

Alexander Sands, 22, appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain on a charge of murder.

On July 10, 2022, it is alleged that Sands, being concerned with others, shot Lavandro Paul multiple times. While the victim initially survived this shooting he later died in hospital on December 17 of that year.

Sands was not required to enter a plea and was informed that his matter would be fast tracked to the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Sands was further told that as the court lacked

the jurisdiction to grant him bail he had the right to apply for it through the higher court. He was remanded until then.

Sands’s VBI is set for service on April 27.

The other two men — Jeremiah Andrews, 29, and Deontalay Bethel, 18, both faced Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on separate charges of murder. At around 2.30am on January 6 at a bar on Washington Street and Robinson Road, it is alleged that Andrews approached 34-year-old Tykeil “Pumpkin” Tynes, of Montell Heights. There, the victim was killed after being shot multiple times by his assailant.

Bethel, being concerned with others, was accused of the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Robert Delancey, Jr, on January 17. As the victim sat in front of his residence

in Red Land Acres, a male suspect got out of a black Suzuki vehicle and fired multiple shots in Delancey’s direction.

While police later arrested Bethel and recovered the vehicle in this shooting in nearby bushes, a second male suspect in the matter is still at large.

In court, both accused were told that their matters would proceed to the Supreme Court by VBIs, where they will officially enter a plea at a later date.

The accused were also informed of their right to appeal for bail through the higher court, until that is granted, they will both be remanded to BDCS.

Before being taken into remand Andrews was allowed a brief moment with family members present in court.

The service of Andrews’s and Bethel’s respective VBIs is set for April 12.

he made in the past, they believe that he needs to resign.

“To reshuffle him is an attempt to deceive, I believe, an insightful public who really wants bold, honest and effective leadership,” he added.

“And unfortunately, Minister Sears, who in my view has historically been a voice that we have valued in the country, I think he has now hit that point of diminishing returns and no day that he stays longer, he is going to, I think, recover the kind of promise that he has shown.”

With respect to Mrs Coleby-Davis, Mr Pintard said there’s no doubt that she also needs to be fired.

He said in addition to her showing a “spirit” of arrogance since being elected, he claimed she has also not followed the law with regard to several processes.

This, he said, was evident when she issued hundreds of taxi plates without gazetting the candidates among other things.

He also accused her of allegedly violating the law by failing to disclose the details surrounding the awarding of housing contracts and a $20m loan she

secured for her ministry’s projects.

As for Ms Moxey, the opposition leader said while the minister showed much promise, the party believed a more experienced person would do better in the role.

He said there is a perception by many companies on the island that Ms Moxey “is an extension of the Grand Bahama Port Authority,” because she once served as GBPA’s vice president.

“We believe that obviously she has some promise, but certainly Grand Bahama is a very complex island and it requires a stature of leadership that presently is not there,” he added.

“We know the Ministry of Tourism has gone out of its way to try and shore up the Ministry of Grand Bahama in order to close on some of the huge initiatives, particularly the hotel and to get the airport moving, etc.

“But we certainly believe that there has to be a minister with previous Cabinet experience or greater gravitas in terms of managing what is going on in Grand Bahama. There is tremendous outcry in

Grand Bahama at that moment.”

He said it is also apparent that the prime minister is not “suitably utilising” certain ministers, such as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Vaughn Miller, and State Minister for Environment Basil Mcintosh.

“Neither of them travelled to Cop27 recently and so they appear to not be in the epicentre of a number of the things that he (the prime minister) is doing in that ministry,” he also said.

It is not unusual for a prime minister to reassign roles to ministers in their Cabinet after assuming office.

Back in 2018, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis reassigned four Cabinet portfolios just 14 months after being elected to government.

He said at the time that the decision did not mean that he had lost faith in any of his ministers, but rather to give them more exposure.

Prime Minister Davis, however, has given no indication that he is planning to shuffle his Cabinet.

The Tribune is seeking an enthusiastic Sports Reporter to add to its team.

Candidates should be passionate about sports and have a talent for writing.

Preference will be given to candidates with training in journalism.

Duties will include live coverage of events, interviews with athletes and senior figures in the sporting world, both locally and internationally, and more.

Please apply with resume and any examples of work to Managing Editor Stephen Hunt at shunt@tribunemedia.net or at The Tribune, P.O. Box N3207, Nassau, The Bahamas.

OPPOSITION leader Michael Pintard yesterday. Photo: Austin Fernander

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Florida’s rejection of black history course stirs debate

FLORIDA Gov Ron DeSantis reiterated Monday the state’s rejection of a proposed nationwide advanced African American studies course, saying it pushes a political agenda — something three authors cited in the state’s criticism accused him of doing in return.

DeSantis said his administration rejected the College Board’s Advanced Placement African American Studies course because “we want education, not indoctrination”. It was revealed last week that the Florida Department of Education recently told the College Board it would bar the course unless changes are made.

The state then issued a chart late Friday that says the course promotes the idea that modern American society oppresses black people, other minorities and women, includes a chapter on “Black Queer Studies” that the administration finds inappropriate, and uses articles by critics of capitalism.

The governor said the course violates legislation dubbed the Stop WOKE Act he signed last year. It bars instruction that defines people as necessarily oppressed or privileged based on their race. At least some writers the course cites believe modern US society endorses white supremacy while oppressing racial minorities, gays and women.

“This course on black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory. Now who would say that an important part of black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda,” said DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024.

Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell called the administration’s rejection of the course “cowardly” and said it “sends a clear message that Black Americans’ history does not count in Florida”.

“Imagine how boring and closed minded we’d all be if we only met ideas that we agreed with,” she said Monday.

The College Board, after a decade of development, is testing the African American Studies course at 60 high schools nationwide. No school or state would be required to offer it after its scheduled rollout.

The organisation offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. Taught at a college level, students who score high enough on the course’s final exam usually earn course credit at their university.

The College Board hasn’t responded to emails and calls since Friday. It issued a statement last week saying it encourages feedback and will consider changes.

The state, in its Friday chart, criticised five living authors. The Associated Press emailed them and three responded.

• The section on “Black Queer Studies” includes readings by Roderick Ferguson, a Yale University professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies. The state says he “exclaims, ‘We have to encourage and develop practices whereby queerness isn’t a surrender to the status quo of race, class, gender and sexuality’.”

Ferguson said that quote comes from an interview he did about his book, “One-Dimensional Queer”. The book, he said, is a discussion of “employment discrimination, laws against LGBTQ+ people, the suppression of progressive

movements in the US, police violence against minority communities, restrictions on immigration (and) anti-black racism”.

“These are real histories. The arguments about them are based on scholarly investigation and research — as are the arguments from the other scholars on this list,” Ferguson said. “Unfortunately, we are in a moment in which right-wing forces are mobilising to suppress the free discussion of those realities. If we need an example of that mobilisation, we could probably just turn to the forces that came together to reject this course”.

• The state calls out the course for including “Black Study, Black Struggle,” a 2016 piece by UCLA history professor Robin DG Kelley, saying he “argues that activism, rather than the university system, is the catalyst for social transformation”. Kelley called that description oversimplified.

His piece challenges student activists to move their efforts beyond campus and decries racism, inequality, capitalism, militarism and police brutality. But he also said activists must love everyone, “even those who may once have been our oppressors”, and read and understand Western literature if they are to criticise it.

He said one point is “that we should not pay so much emphasis on trauma and victimisation, but instead understand how we have fought for justice not just for black people but for the whole nation (yes including struggling white people), despite the violence and oppression we have experienced.”

The state also points out Kelley wrote the 1990 book “Hammer and Hoe”, a history of communism in Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“It won several awards and accolades, including from a few conservative antiCommunist historians, because it is based on thorough research — something DeSantis’s people are not familiar with,” Kelley said.

• The state criticised the inclusion of a section about “Movement for Black Lives”, a coalition of more than 50 groups including Black Lives Matter and the National Conference of Black Lawyers. It says the group wants to abolish prisons and that it alleges there is a “war” against gay and transsexual black people.

The state criticises the section’s inclusion of a reading by Leslie Kay Jones, an assistant sociology professor at Rutgers University. It cites her quote, “Black people produce an unquantifiable amount of content for the same social media corporations that reproduce the white supremacist superstructure that suppresses us.”

Jones said she found no indication that the Movement for Black Lives has ever advocated for prison abolition. She is surprised DeSantis’ staff attacked her for criticising social media companies, as he does the same.

She said this is why students should have the ability “to come to their own conclusions through an evaluation of primary and secondary texts”.

“Is Ron DeSantis claiming that Florida students are unable to formulate their own opinions?” she said.

By TERRY SPENCER and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press

Alternatives are needed to reach source of crime

EDITOR, The Tribune.

It has become very clear that we are losing the war against crime despite the idea that things are under control; and what is nerve wracking is that the year has just begun. The crime rate is climbing, and we are crossing into dangerous waters.

Despite efforts to strengthen and reform policing, crime rates are at an all-time high.

I have concluded that we need to reconsider our attitudes about crime, policing, and community considering the rise in crime and the failure of the criminal justice system. Public safety goes beyond enforcement and punishment.

Without attempting to address the source of the issue, systemic inequity that drives individuals into cycles of crime, we can’t keep pouring money into enforcement programmes and consultants with no results.

Although there isn’t a definitive list of the causes of crime, it is easy to identify some of them.

Everyone has needs. They are compelled to work outside the system to meet their wants when their needs aren’t supplied.

Traditionally, we have marginalised certain communities in the areas with the greatest rates of violent crime. But what we also fail to analyse is that some people from these communities are unable to move up the social scale because they are limited. It is almost as if a cycle of poverty has been enacted from these communities.

We see the presence of police, but I beg to question, is their presence to perpetrate fear or safety?

My further question, what is the consistency of the police presence? A walk through the community to say that “we are there?” They add stress and create a negative power dynamic with their presence and excessive policing.

Diversity training and false pledges won’t bridge

letters@tribunemedia.net

the gap caused by the people’s mistrust in their justice system.

Sending over-armed and poorly trained police officers into “problem neighbourhoods” will not stop crime, and it will not undo the damage already inflicted. Violence cannot be policed out. Despite the authorities trying to create different interventions.

The questions are, if more police presence in high-crime neighbourhoods is not the answer, then what is? We need to see crime as a symptom of a much bigger issue, which is systematic oppression and a lack of resources, rather than addressing it as a stand alone problem.

There is no question that there is a barrier between the communities, police and even the government, but by extension the politicians who were elected to serve them.

Alternative approaches are needed for conflict resolution and crime prevention outside of the normal “reforming policing.” There is a gap that needs to be filled.

If we continue to allow crime to rampage like this, it can potentially damage and harm our development as a nation. We are in a crime pandemic. And an immediate vaccination at any cost must be secured before we all pay the grave consequences.

This disregard for human life has become unproportionally great from two years of death. The coronavirus, and now the rise in gun violence.

We must fix this justice system. And then, we must reassure the Bahamian people that they can trust the system too.

It is appalling when even the Commissioner of Police can admit that criminals who are arrested and arraigned for murder, secure bail. Sometimes just weeks after. This too is

another major concern that we must deal with if public safety is the paramount goal.

Despite the statistics, I still believe that this country, these islands are still a safe place to live, work, learn and play. But these criminals are playing Russian roulette, and too many innocent lives are being taken by their lawlessness.

On the other hand, some have a different view that some of these murders, even from last year, are a result of criminals’ vs criminals who are getting revenge and are killing each other.

However, despite this rhetoric, we’ve seen enough innocent children, and mothers taken at the hands of these tyrants.

Time after time, whenever the police come to the media at a murder scene, we can rest assured that they make a plea to the public to come forth and assist them in their investigation. It is going to take all of us to approach this together.

I don’t care how many times they recruit police officers per year, crime is not solely a police problem, it is ours too.

We are all needed together to wrestle down what seems to be an intensification in criminal activities. It makes no sense complaining, if we are not willing to work together to make a safer Bahamas for us, and our generations to come.

If you have information pertinent to a crime, come forward. Help these officers put these criminals behind bars. If you see something, say something.

I know some are afraid to come forward because of consequences, however, we should never allow fear to hold us back from speaking the truth.

We cannot allow crime and violence to continue to permeate our communities.

DR MATHEO SMITH

Nassau, January 22, 2023.

BTC mishaps?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I think that BTC has completely lost the plot now.

Over the last few days I have had several missed calls from a number. When I called back I got the message that it was BTC but we can’t take your call right now.

Yesterday morning at 7:40am I got another call from this number on my mobile phone, and the lady on the other end with a heavy Jamaican accent, was most chirpy and happy and wished me all the wonders of the world, but said she just wanted to tell me that my land line was on the disconnect list and urged me to come in and pay today.

I apologised and said I would have it paid today.

She then asked if I could tell her where (which BTC location) I would be paying at, which took me a bit aback but I said none, I will be paying online.

Oh ok, great she says and bid me a wonderful day.

I found it a bit strange at the time, however, as my wife usually pays these bills but I thought there might be a mistake. When I got to my office I went online to MY BTC and selected “Landline” and low and behold my balance was actually in credit by $-93.00 odd.

I thought no more about it until this morning when I came back home from an errand and my wife told me that our phone had been disconnected. Impossible I said. BTC owes us $93.00.

She asked me to call her cell number if I did not believe her. As I dialled the number I got a voice message saying that this line has been suspended due to an outstanding balance.

I then called the number that had been calling me all week and a Bahamian male voice answered and after exchanging pleasantries he enquired as to how I am.

So I let him have it, starting with an answer to how I am, being not very well.

I told him the story and

off he went after asking me to hold. Five minutes later he returned to apologise for their “mixup” and says that he has now reconnected my line.

Another incident that indicates that they are in a real muddle was my wife going into Cash ‘N Go and asking to pay her BTC balance for her cell phone.

The clerk says she owes $239.60 so she writes a cheque to pay it forgetting that we ported her number to Aliv last year and had cleared the BTC balance to do so.

Cash and Go were very co-operative when told of the mistake and recovered and returned my wife’s cheque yesterday and hopefully corrected their BTC misinformation.

Two hiccups in as many days indicates something has gone awry at the phone company accounts department.

BRUCE G RAINE Nassau, January 21, 2023.

TWO dogs wait in a stroller for their owner, visiting a boat show for yachts and water sports in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Monday.

Photo: Martin Meissner/AP

Officer calls for fair treatment for disabled

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Theophilus Cunningham said it is important that disabled individuals are treated fairly in society.

ACP Cunningham, along with members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, held a food distribution initiative for disabled residents on Friday at the Fire Station Police Complex on Settler’s Way.

He said that persons living with disabilities deserve to be a part of society like everyone else.

“They have the right to equal opportunity, to live independently, and to be treated with love and respect,” the senior police official said.

“It is indeed our moral obligation to ensure that our disabled brothers and sisters are treated with equality. We must stop using disability as a flaw or imperfection and see it for what it is - a human condition.”

He stated that people living with disabilities experience complications daily.

“We must take on the role of being our brothers’ keeper and promote disability awareness so that steps can be taken to make our society inclusive for all. It is important to stand together and spread disability awareness,” ACP Cunningham said.

PLP Senator Kirk Russell commended Mr Cunningham and his officers for reaching out and assisting the most vulnerable in society.

He noted that the government has launched the Access Ability App to assist disabled persons in the Bahamas.

Mr Russell encouraged

disabled persons to register for the app, which provides many benefits to them.

He explained that the app can accommodate the disabled when they travel at the airport, or just need transportation to the food store or bank, etc. It also provides them access to timely and accurate information and updates from NEMA, he added.

The app, he said, is available now on all new phones from Aliv since November.

Senator Russell stressed that The Bahamas must ensure that the law is applied, especially as it relates to persons living with disability and equal rights to work.

“The law states if you have 100 or more persons employed, for every 100 persons working at your establishment, one must be a person living with disability.

“We know in this country that is not the case, and we sign onto to these treaties and pass these laws and we don’t enforce them. That is one law I believe we must enforce in this country. Persons must be given the right to work and earn a living and live with dignity,” Mr Russell said.

“As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, it is not about we have arrived as a country, far from it. The celebration is simply to pause for a moment and say thank you God for where you have brought us from, and to pivot and decide where we are going to and what our future is going to be for all Bahamians, and we must take into consideration persons living with disability.

“You can’t have 10 percent of your population totally excluded from normalcy and opportunities, and from being able to fulfill their dreams,” he said.

GOVERNMENT MOVING QUICKLY TO IMPLEMENT SUGAR AND SALT TAX

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville revealed officials plan to implement new legislation that will create a tax for sugar and excess salt as well as try to eliminate trans fats being imported into the country.

When asked about the tax percentage, he could not say exactly.

“I’m telling you the draft legislation is complete. We’re about to move very quickly to have it at our Attorney General’s Office so that they can be drafted and after being drafted it has to be circulated through the public domain for input,” Dr Darville said yesterday.

“We’ve been looking at what Barbados has done. Barbados has already passed tax legislation for sugar and salt. Some of the other Caribbean countries are moving in the same direction.

“We know that we’re moving in the same direction and hopefully all of this will be necessary to implement to change choices and behaviour.”

Dr Darville unveiled the plan while explaining the importance of health and wellness to fight non-communicable diseases which are high in The Bahamas according to a recent survey.

“I’m so pleased to say that in the last budget I put a new line item for health and wellness and very soon I will be launching my health and wellness initiative. It will extend for our workers in the Department of Public Health and the PHA and by extension to all ministries and hopefully, very shortly be able to get to the grassroot.

“It’s important for us to preach health and wellness because we did a STEPS study that was completed and it clearly indicated where we are as a nation in terms of our health. We have the highest incidence of obesity in the region. We have the highest incidence of diabetes

and hypertension. We have the highest incidence of renal failure and we must do better as a country.

“So the new health and wellness unit that is about to be established will be throughout the country preaching nutrition, physical activity, mental health, the importance of the selection of right foods, and we plan to implement some new legislation that will create a tax for sugar, a tax for excess salt (and) try to eliminate trans fats being imported into the country.

“All of these are precursors for cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, and organ disease. Health and wellness is paramount and the STEPS survey clearly indicates the direction we’re heading in is the wrong direction.”

He also added the STEPS survey found that people smoking cigarettes in The Bahamas or tobacco use is actually increasing. The survey found that Bahamians take almost 10 times the recommended amount of salt per day in their diet.

“One of the things that is concerning us at the Ministry of Health is the fact that there are some genetic predispositions for hypertension among our diaspora and it’s very important that we look at nutrition and begin to do the right thing. So that we can prevent these chronic non-communicable diseases,” the Tall Pines MP noted.

“What we’re finding from the statistical analysis is that the majority of people that are utilising the beds at the Princess Margaret Hospital (or) Rand Memorial Hospital are those who are suffering from chronic non communicable diseases.

“We’re also noticing that they are repeats and so the new cases that are discovered are sometimes difficult to treat, because we have the same group of people oscillating through our tertiary healthcare facilities. Clearly demonstrating that we need to implement health and wellness and do a much better job and the primary health care level.”

A FOOD donation being presented as part of efforts by members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

Leading light in American football for The Bahamas

AMERICAN football has yet to become as big as it could be in The Bahamas. Even though thousands of Bahamians energetically follow the NFL and anticipate the Superbowl, football is not a major sport in this country.

Young Bahamians who could potentially become some of the greatest stars in the NFL never have the opportunity to train for the sport.

While sports like track and field, basketball, baseball, swimming and others are getting more attention and focus as Bahamian children are excelling in these areas, American football has yet to gain prominence.

Nonetheless, people who are passionate about the game and who play it well continue to push for its recognition and support in this country.

There was a time when the local league gained immense popularity and had a robust roster of teams competing in a series of tournaments. Even now, there are those still carrying the torch with hopes that one day, government and private investment could come together and create a league that could nurture young talent and breed superstars.

Considering the sports prowess of Bahamians in other fields, this dream is one that has full potential to come to fruition and could serve as another way to put The Bahamas on the map.

Today, as one of the brightest stars in local football in The Bahamas turned 70 years old, comrades, colleagues, players and enthusiasts gathered to celebrate his birthday and their beloved sport.

Burket Turnquest, Sr, put his heart into his football game and because of it, he became a ten-time all star, six-time all Bahamian, and overall 12-time champion in the game of American football in The Bahamas as a player and coach. His story is one that could pave the way for young men in the country, in need of a more aggressive outlet to express themselves, to find their niche and become successful.

For a big, tall young man like Burket, athletics was a given. Like many young boys with girth growing up, adults will make comments with expectations that they should be good in one sport or another.

Burket first took an

Face to Face

By FELICITY DARVILLE

interest in baseball and softball. He played baseball for the Slitz Beer team, and he played softball for Civil Aviation in the Government’s Departmental League. Back in 1969 while playing softball, Burket was banned for playing too rough. The league said he needed a more contact sport.

This is the case with many young men today. Considering the circumstances they face, especially inner city children, those from broken homes, those with educational challenges and so on, need an outlet to express frustration constructively. A sport gives a child an opportunity to belong, to display their talents, to be praised, and to release their energy positively.

was coached by Billy Lowe. That team included members like Pastor Dave Lamb, Sidney “Butts” Outten, Steve Thompson, Glenn Pritchard, Danny Albury, Larry Minns and others.

During his time with the Citibank Pros, Burket experienced another winning streak, as the team racked up three championships.

Team members included Michael Foster, Lilly John Taylor, Charlie Green, Edney Pickstock, Valdez Bodie, Apple Edwards, Sheldon Cartwright, Ricardo Thompson, Ken Kerr, Terry and Brad Outten, Obie Roberts, Trevor Major, Quentin Albury, Revelo Williams and Ace Bullard.

‘Burket Turnquest, Sr, put his heart into his football game and because of it, he became a ten-time all star, six-time all Bahamian, and overall 12-time champion in the game of American football in The Bahamas as a player and coach.’

Burket knows this well; that is why he not only enjoyed a decent career in local football, he put his energy into coaching countless kids in the sport he loves. He played for several successful football teams, including: the Nassau Jets from 1970; the Citibank Chargers from 1976; Citibank Pros from 1978; the Baintown Bombers from 1980; and the Nassau Sunburners from 1983. During this time, Burket helped his teams come to many victories, and contributed to the prowess that many of his fellow athletes still have today.

When he joined the Nassau Jets in 1970, Burket played offensive centre. His teammates included Jesey Ferguson, Don Huyler, Gilbert Moncur, Earl Bostwick, Keith “Five” Albury, Secora Allens, Skeebo Roberts and Megorn Knowles. The team went on to win three consecutive championships. Later on, with the Citibank Chargers, Burket

Eventually, Burket turned his attention to coaching. He wanted to see the younger generation get out on the field and find the same enthusiasm and self pride that he built out there playing. He coached three teams during his tenurethe John Bull Jets, the Bain Town Bombers and the Nassau Sunburners. Burket coached each of these teams to their first championship.

When asked what football could do for young men in The Bahamas, Burket noted that crime had decreased in areas where American football had been introduced previously.

”The game of football has the ability to transform the lives of young men,” Burket shared.

”They can put down their weapons and put their aggression on the field. Football creates a bond - a brotherhood. I can recall guys who I tried to recruit, telling me that they couldn’t focus on playing because they needed a job to take care of responsibilities. They had no interest in

the sport. I told them to come and play and I would take care of it. I would canvas other players who were business owners who were well placed, and they helped.”

Altogether, Burket invested 30 years of dedication and passion into the sport of football, either as a player or a coach, leaving a successful track record that many spoke of during his 70th birthday party this past weekend.

Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Obie Wilchcombe was among those gathered to celebrate Burket’s birthday. “Burket, you are a special one,” Minister Wilchcombe told him.

“Whenever you saw me, it was always a good embrace. You were always encouraging me in what I was doing. Politics never was an issue, because our relationship, our time on the football field had nothing to do with the politics of our lives or the politics of the country. You are blessed by God to reach the age of 70, and I pray God I reach that age and people will love and cherish me the way they are doing for you.”

Minister Wilchcombe pointed out that the outpouring of love from his family and friends shows the merit of Burket’s character. He also praised Burket for his passion for farming and most importantly, for teaching others whenever he could.

“It’s so good to see my colleagues and friends who I played football with, and to talk about the hits and the times we had on the football field,” Wilchcombe added.

“We can laugh at it today, but we had some pain! But we had fun. When we won, we celebrated, and when we lost, we celebrated. We always remembered that it’s playing the game that counts, not the win... not worrying about the losses, but playing the game. You’ve played a wonderful game in life, and you’re always a winner.”

Reflecting on his beloved sport, Burket shared: “Generally, the sport of football can bring discipline to a young man’s life.”

“It allows you to take your aggression out in the field. Also, if you’re really good, an opportunity may present itself for

LAST year, I had the opportunity to share Kenise’s amazing story as a wife, mother, daughter and entrepreneur. She sewed seeds into the next generation with a successful arts and crafts summer camp.

But Kenise was also my friend and classmate at the Bahamas Agriculture & Marine Science Institute (BAMSI). She and her husband, Jerad, and my husband, Victor and I, all attended BAMSI, preparing to graduate this year. Kenise was an excellent classmate with near perfect scores in her classes. We had great plans upon graduation.

Her loss is one shared with the entire BAMSI student body. We offer Jerad and her entire family our heartfelt love and support through this most difficult time.

BAMSI executive

a scholarship. I have had a son who played locally, and another who played for the US Army. I have a grandson playing pony league in the US, and another who received a scholarship to an American university to play football. Those who still can, should use this sport as an opportunity to mentor young men.”

Burket pointed out that there are a number of players who had the opportunity to play football abroad. My father, Allan Ingraham, is among them. He was playing in the local league like Burket. The coach for the Washington Redskins was visiting Nassau and decided to watch a local game. He saw my father, and impressed by his skill, invited him to America to join tryouts.

Allan became one the first players to join an NFL team not by being drafted, but as a Free Agent. He proudly wore the Redskins uniform. When the Tribune printed its Independence edition on July 10, 1973, my father was starring in the sports section for representing The Bahamas abroad. During training, Allan was unfamiliar with the calls used in professional football. His skill was undeniable, but he needed the technicality to go along with it.

From that time, 50 years ago until today, the Bahamas American Football League is still in need of the kind of assistance and support necessary to train Bahamian athletes to be able to rise to heights in the sport such as the NFL - National Football League of America. My godfather, Ed Smith, received training at Colorado College and went on to make The Bahamas proud as a member of the Denver Broncos. He was selected in the 13th round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, becoming the first player in league history from the Bahamas to be drafted.

His son, Alex, enjoyed an extensive career in the NFL, which started with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005, and ended with the Washington Redskins in 2015.

But football isn’t Burket’s only passion. He has invested decades of time, love and effort into farming as well. His family (his

Papageorge and wife, Shirley) started the well known Marigold Farms back in 1962.

Burket, his cousin Ida and other relatives all worked in the family business. Marigold became one of the largest farms in The Bahamas with an outgrowth of 140,000 birds. The farm provided chicken to businesses including Chicken Unlimited, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Super Value Foodstores and several restaurants on Bay Street.

His experience at Marigold Farms eventually led to him starting his own farm - a piggery. His customers looked forward to the fresh, tasty pork he provided.

Burket pointed out that while farming can be rewarding, it requires a “huge personal investment”. He started by purchasing his own animals and maintaining a husbandry, which also requires significant investment.

The government assisted farmers like Burket with some feed from the feed mill, however, farmers often had to bring in their own feed to compensate for the needs of the farm. His farm did experience some degree of success, but like many farmers, Burket says much more support is needed for Bahamian farms to thrive.

At heart, Burket is a patriotic Bahamian. He was born in New Providence and is the eldest child of Thelma and William Turnquest. His mother hailed from Exuma and his father hailed from Deadman’s Cay, Long Island.

Burket was always industrious and for a time, he worked in construction, helping to build Lowe’s Hotel. He then became a self-employed contractor to construct numerous middle and upper class homes in New Providence. He believes that once given an opportunity to be productive, and form a sense of brotherhood, many young men in this country could be saved from a life of crime and instead, like him, find purpose in life.

about her work and made every effort to apply what she learned to her future

“Kenise had a fierce determination and made a positive impact in her classes and here at BAMSI.

“We are shocked, heartbroken, saddened and still grappling with the recent events. There are no words that can express the emotions that we are all feeling,

our prayer

“On behalf of the administration, faculty, staff and students of BAMSI, I offer sincerest condolences to the family of Kenise Darville - to her husband Jerad, a BAMSI student, we stand with you in support and in prayer. May her passing bring the needed change and may her soul rest in peace and rise in glory.”

“She

Charles

director Raveenia Hanna shared these words: “The sudden passing of Mrs Kenise Darville has left a gaping hole in the student body landscape of The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute, BAMSI. Kenise was an agribusiness major making great strides in her academic endeavors.

was passionate

business plans.

but it is

that the Lord will comfort the family during this time of bereavement.

KENISE DARVILLE

ALL star team - Burket huddles with his sister and his daughters representing “Team Turnquest” for his 70th birthday and, inset, with his wife Phedra, and, right, during his heyday as a local star.

European trade unions flex their muscles amid rising inflation

THE extent to which industrial action by militant trade unions is currently causing chaos across Europe may come as a surprise to some. But it is, I think, worth examining as a sign of the times.

While widespread strikes in Britain have been fully reported in the local press, there seems to have been limited international media coverage of violent protests by workers in countries like France, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Union bosses there have been leading their members out in droves demanding better pay and working conditions, with nationwide strikes in France – also partly about pension reform - while Greece was brought to a standstill in the face of a general strike in November.

Britain has been grappling for weeks with ongoing strike action across a range of industrial sectors. Walkouts took place almost every day in December and more are scheduled for the coming weeks.

Such strike action is not altogether unexpected given the persistent high rates of inflation that are

The Peter Young column

outpacing wages so that trade unions are pressing for higher pay settlements to prevent a drop in the standard of living of their members.

What is potentially sinister, however, is evidence that the trade union movement in the UK may be trying to provoke a general strike for political reasons, and some commentators are now warning of the danger to the nation’s economy of a sustained rolling

wave of industrial action.

It is not hard to understand why economists have differing views about whether wage-price spirals fuel inflation, with some maintaining that, as prices continue to rise and workers demand higher pay, this pushes up prices even further and inflation becomes entrenched. But, from a study of the UK press, it appears that many people believe union leaders are principally interested in the short-term in so far as they see their role as protecting and promoting the immediate interests of their members.

Thus, they may not explain adequately that, by pressing for unrealistic pay increases and fuelling inflation, strikers may be impoverishing themselves and the rest of the country in the long run.

In the UK, there are lasting memories – particularly amongst politicians - of the so-called ‘winter of discontent’ in 1979 when unions worked together in an attempt to bring the country to a standstill in conditions of soaring inflation, high interest rates and

A LEADER MORE POPULAR OVERSEAS THAN AT HOME

NEW Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has invariably been called a kind and decent person and inspirational. She has been widely admired as a prominent world leader, not least for her charisma that has brought her much praise, especially overseas.

She has also been dubbed the ‘posterchild’ of the international Left. But she surprised everyone last week and hit the international headlines with her decision to quit after more than five years in office because she no longer had ‘enough in the tank’ to do the job.

Signalling the end of her premiership, Ms Ardern’s announcement stunned the rest of the world because it is unusual for political leaders to leave office voluntarily and to admit that they are ‘burnt out’.

Almost always, such leaders are either forced out of office or step down at the end of their designated elected terms.

She said that the stress of leading one’s country can take its toll – the range of responsibilities, the heavy programme of commitments, long hours and constant travelling with little rest; and, in her case, the difficulty of balancing family and career after giving birth during her time in office.

She said that the pressures were greater in the era of social media and the 24-hour news cycle.

As prime minister, Jacinda Ardern was faced with a number of crises, including the Christchurch mosque massacre of fifty-one Muslims in 2019, the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, after which her Labour party won a landslide election victory, and a major earthquake.

She received international acclaim for her handling of the first two. But, subsequently, not everyone at home was happy with the prolonged draconian lockdown measures imposed by her government to

ONE of the advantages of being temporarily housebound for medical reasons is the opportunity to watch TV at will. This past week I tuned in to what turned out to be an exciting and truly memorable match – later labelled ‘epic’ -- at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne featuring Britain’s leading player, Andy Murray, or Sir Andy as he should be called formally. He was up against a prominent local Australian player called Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round having defeated a top-20 player, Italian Matteo Berrettini, in a five-set thriller in the previous round.

As a five-time finalist at Melbourne, Murray is said to be a well-liked figure there. He ultimately prevailed over his Australian opponent in five sets after coming back from two sets down in what became the longest match (more than five hours) he had ever played and which lasted until 4 o’clock in the morning. Commentators ran out of superlatives to describe what was judged to be an exhilarating exhibition and phenomenal display of topclass tennis in a wonderful

combat COVID-19 which included closing New Zealand’s borders for lengthy periods.

After this, she was criticized as a ‘Covid zealot’ and her popularity and that of her party waned to the extent she was attacked by the anti-vaccination movement and right-wing protest groups.

In the foreign affairs field, she actively developed bilateral relations with China – New Zealand’s biggest trading partner and source of tourism and of long-term migrants. But, according to most reports, it seems her domestic reform programme in relation to issues like crime, poverty – especially child poverty – welfare and housing and benefits for minority Maori and Pacific citizens were less successful. So, some say that her sudden resignation may have had something to do with a realization that she would have struggled to win again at elections in October.

Jacinda Ardern declared at the beginning of her premiership that she preferred kindness to confrontation and proposed to adopt a ‘compassionate’ leadership style. With her charm and charisma she surely captured the world’s imagination. But her domestic political record was judged to be relatively poor. So, in the end more and more people were saying it was all a matter of looking good and talking positively but not achieving much – a triumph of style over substance? That sounds a harsh judgment which some will say is unjustified, but time may tell.

I have written fairly fully about this today because it is invariably interesting when an apparently successful political leader suddenly steps away from the top job. This prompts reflection on the qualities of politicians and what motivates them to seek power in public office – and I hope to offer some thoughts about that in next week’s column.

severe industrial unrest.

Now, with a general election barely two years away and weak Tory poll ratings, in face of such a range of strikes - including, most alarmingly, in the National Health Service in which action by ambulance drivers has become a particularly sensitive issue - it must be tempting for new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to give in to inflation-busting pay rises in respect of groups for which the government is directly responsible.

But the elected government of the day must surely show itself to be firm in controlling public spending in the broader interest of the country if it is not to lose the confidence of investors in a national economy that is properly and prudently managed.

It is interesting that, according to the latest polls, a majority of the British public oppose the unions’ demands for double-digit pay hikes while, at the same time, supporting their right to take strike action over pay in broad terms. So public support for strikes falls away if the demands

are too high.

After the Labour government in the 1970s surrendered to union demands for substantial wage rises to help their members cope with the rising cost of living, public and press criticism led indirectly to Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in 1979.

Her new Conservative government placed restrictions on trade union power and by 1981 the number of working days lost to strikes fell significantly and union membership dropped. Wide ranging employment legislation severely reduced the power of trade unionism in Britain.

There are clear parallels with the present – high inflation and a rise in strike activity - and, reportedly, the UK government will unveil controversial legislation in the coming weeks to set ‘minimum service’ levels in essential sectors while inviting the trade unions to new talks to discuss public sector pay settlements in 2023-24.

Against this background, it is notable that after earlier assessments that Britain

faced the deepest recession among the world’s largest economies and that inflation would remain ‘uncomfortably high’, official data shows that the UK economy grew slightly faster than expected in November and that price rises slowed for the second month in a row – and it is now being suggested that the recession predicted by the Bank of England last year might be avoided altogether.

Moreover, it seems that at last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos there was some optimism that the global economy might now be faring better than expected.

The next major official economic event in the UK will be the Budget on March 15. Meanwhile, the Treasury insists that the way to stimulate economic growth in the immediate term is to bring down inflation – and that explains why Mr. Sunak, in his major speech to the nation on January 4, promised to halve inflation this year in order to ease the cost of living and to give people greater financial security.

atmosphere – a match full of drama that went right down to the wire with a fifth set score of 7-5.

Andy Murray is a threetime Grand Slam winner – Wimbledon twice and the US Open – and a

two-time Olympic gold medallist in singles. He is also a former World No 1. He has reached eleven major finals, and, by winning the US Open in 2012, he became the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to capture a Grand Slam title.

In the next round in Melbourne, he lost to the leading Spanish player, Roberto Bautista Agut, in a close four-set match. But his performances in the first two rounds have been hailed as exceptional, not least for his grit and determination in fighting back after losing the first two sets.

Having reached the heights of professional tennis as Grand Slam winner and World No 1, now -- at the age of thirtyfive and with an artificial hip because of earlier injury - people wonder how long it will be before retirement beckons. But his will to win seems to be undiminished and he is quoted as saying recently that ‘I can still do some damage’. Long may that be the case – and fans of the most successful British tennis player of modern times will surely wish him well.

NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arriving at parliament on Sunday.

ANDY Murray gestures as he leaves Margaret Court Arena following his third round loss to Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.

Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP

KIWANIS REACHES OUT TO COMMUNITY

THE Kiwanis Club of Nassau AM held a series of events over the Christmas season to help members of the community.

On December 17, members packaged and donated 52 parcels of groceries to needy families and The Children’s Emergency Hostel. These parcels included rice, sugar, grits, breakfast cereal, oats, bread, spaghetti, crackers, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, cream, tuna, sardines, corn, corned beef, tea and iced tea products and a voucher for fresh meat.

Marcel Gibson, president of the Kiwanis Club of Nassau AM, said: “As a club, we are devoted to caring for the children of world, and this means placing all of our time, effort and resources into ensuring that their lives are improved as often as we can.”

On Boxing Day (December 26), members supported residents of the Grove Community.

Jesmeika Munroe, club chairperson for the community service committee, said: “This event was important because we wanted to provide families in need an opportunity to enjoy a hot Christmas meal and share love to children during the Yuletide season.”

She said the club was

able to provide hot meals to nearly 400 persons and to bless 150 children with Christmas gifts.

“Parents and children were able to enjoy live music as entertainment, a Minnie Mouse Mascot and play games for the duration of this event,” she said.

The project would not have been possible without sponsorship including from Commonwealth Bank (Plaza Branch), Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTC), Lyford Cay Club, Pineapple House Restoration Limited, Core Capital Partners Limited, Providence Advisors Limited.

The club also thanked partners including First Baptist Church, Lowes Pharmacy, the Salvation Army, Great Commission Ministries, the Red Cross of The Bahamas and CH Reeves Jr. High School which were all essential for the success of this signature project.

This year’s plans include reading and feeding projects, and a major clean-up campaign at the All Saints Camp and construction of a lunch pavilion for students at a local junior high school. For detils of how to help the club, contact kcnamclubsecretary@gmail.com or via its Facebook and Instagram pages.

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A veteran educator believes that more must be done to provide technical training to young people so they can take advantage of opportunities in Grand Bahama and The Bahamas.

Fred Delancey, founder of Ruthnell Technical Institute and co-chair of the West Grand Bahama Youth Development Association, said too many young people are being left to fend for themselves.

“We are just promising, but we need to invest millions to get thousands of young people off the streets and make them into more productive, responsible individuals,” he said.

“We know that earlier in the development in Grand Bahama there was a Bahamianization policy where young Bahamians were trained by industrial companies, such as Syntex, BORCO, Uniroyal, etc. But since then, it seems to be some kind of neglect. The past two generations have not had that kind of opportunity and we are leaving them to fend for themselves.

“There needs to be a technical education revolution where young people can receive the training they need, but we are only paying lip service to our young folks.”

The West Grand Bahama Youth Development Association and Ruthnell Technical Institute recently held a Youth Development

Forum.

In attendance was Lindy Russell, co-chair of West Grand Bahama Youth Development Association. Attorney Pleasant Bridgewater, retired educator Cecil Thompson, Bishop Ricardo Grant and Michael Blanton were speakers. Several pastors, police officials and Urban Renewal representatives were also present.

Mr Delancey stated that a panel discussion was held, and a proposal will be presented to the Ministry of Education.

Ruthnell Technical plans to expand to the Family Islands, and is expected to open an institute in Cooper’s Town, Abaco, in a couple of weeks

According to Mr Delancey, their programme is recognized by National Accreditation and Equivalency Council (NAECOB), and they are now registered to offer 11 technical courses. In addition to inperson learning, they also offer online courses.

When she spoke, Ms Bridgewater said that young people sometimes miss out on opportunities because older Bahamians do not want to retire.

“A lot of the time we compete with our children; we don’t want to retire so our children don’t get the opportunity to get there and would have lost some opportunities. And so, we must think less of ourselves and more of our young people and country because they are the future,” she said.

THE WEST Grand Bahama Youth Development Association and Ruthnell Technical Institute recently held a Youth Development Forum to discuss investing in technical education for the youth of The Bahamas.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

FOUR members of the Oath Keepers were convicted Monday of seditious conspiracy in the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol attack in the second major trial of farright extremists accused of plotting to forcibly keep President Donald Trump in power.

The verdict against Joseph Hackett of Sarasota, Florida; Roberto Minuta of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel of Punta Gorda, Florida; and Edward Vallejo of Phoenix comes weeks after after a different jury convicted the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, in the mob’s attack that halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

It’s another major victory for the Justice Department, which is also trying to secure sedition convictions against the former leader of the Proud Boys and four associates. The trial against Enrique Tarrio and his lieutenants opened earlier this month in Washington and is expected to last several weeks.

SEARCH FOR MOTIVE AFTER DANCE HALL SHOOTING IN LA

CALIFORNIA Associated Press

THE search for the motive behind the shooting massacre at a Los Angelesarea ballroom dance hall led police to a mobile home community as they probed the past of the 72-year-old suspect Monday and his relationship to the club.

The death toll rose to 11 after health officials announced one of the 10 people who were wounded had died.

The suspect, Huu Can Tran, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday, had visited police in his town of Hemet twice this month to allege he was the victim of fraud, theft and poisoning by family members between 10 and 20 years ago in the LA area, spokesman Alan Reyes told The Associated Press. Tran said he would return to the station with documentation but never did.

Tran was found dead in the van that he used to flee after attempting to attack a second dance hall, authorities said. The mayor of Monterey Park said Tran may have frequented the first dance hall that he targeted, and his ex-wife told CNN she had met him there and he offered her free lessons.

All but one of the victims were 60 or older, according to information released Monday by the Los Angeles coroner’s office providing the first identifications.

POLICE BEAT VICTIM FOR THREE MINUTES

TENNESEE Associated Press

A LAWYER for the family of a Black man who died at a hospital three days after a confrontation with police during a traffic stop said Monday that video of the encounter shows it was “violent” and “troublesome on every level.”

Attorney Ben Crump said that the footage of Tyre Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest “is appalling. It is deplorable. It is heinous.”

“Regrettably, it reminded us of Rodney king video. And unlike Rodney King, Tyre didn’t survive,” he said.

Another of the family’s attorneys, Antonio Romanucci, said the beating of Nichols lasted three minutes. “He was a human piñata for those police officers,” Romanucci said.

Nichols, a 29-year-old father, FedEx worker and avid skateboarder, died Jan 10 at a hospital.

Memphis Police Department Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said Friday that five officers involved in the arrest were fired after the police probe determined that they used excessive force or failed to intervene and render aid.

US proposes oncea-year COVID shots

WASHINGTON Associated Press

US HEALTH officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus.

The proposal comes as boosters have become a hard sell. While more than 80% of the US population has had at least one vaccine dose, only 16% of those eligible have received the latest boosters.

The FDA will ask its panel of outside vaccine experts to weigh in Thursday. The agency is expected to take their advice into consideration while deciding future vaccine requirements for manufacturers.

FDA scientists say many Americans now have “sufficient pre-existing immunity” against the coronavirus because of vaccination, infection or a combination of the two. That baseline of

protection should be enough to move to an annual booster against the latest strains in circulation and make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the yearly flu shot, according to the agency.

For adults with weakened immune systems and very small children, a

two-dose combination may be needed for protection.

FDA scientists and vaccine companies would study vaccination, infection rates and other data to decide who should receive a single shot versus a two-dose series.

FDA will also ask its panel to vote on whether all

vaccines should target the same strains. That step would be needed to make the shots interchangeable, doing away with the current complicated system of primary vaccinations and boosters.

Under FDA’s proposal, the agency, independent experts and manufacturers

would decide annually on which strains to target by the early summer, allowing several months to produce and launch updated shots before the fall. That’s roughly the same approach long used to select the strains for the annual flu shot.

POLISH officials said yesterday it would ask Berlin for permission to send German-built Leopard tanks to Ukraine as its Western allies move to supply Kyiv with more powerful military hardware to thwart Russia’s invasion.

Germany has hesitated to approve sending tanks to Ukraine. But Polish officials took heart from remarks Sunday by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that Berlin wouldn’t seek to stop Poland from providing Leopard 2 battle tanks.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki didn’t specify when the request to Germany will be made. He said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

Poland needs the consent of Germany, which builds the tanks, to send them to a non-NATO country.

But even if Germany doesn’t grant permission, Warsaw will make its own decisions, Morawiecki said.

Ukraine says tanks, especially the Leopards, are vital to its war effort. Both sides’ battlefield positions are mostly deadlocked during winter, with new ground offensives expected in the spring.

Poland has become a leading advocate in the European Union for giving military aid to help Ukraine

prevail 11 months after the Kremlin’s forces invaded. Germany’s hesitation has drawn criticism, particularly from Poland and the Baltic countries on NATO’s eastern flank that feel especially threatened by Russia.

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said it was important for Germany not to take a “reckless” step it might regret, adding that a decision will not be rushed.

“These are hard questions of life and death,” he added. “We have to ask what this means for the defense of our own country.”

Pressed on how long a decision might take, Hebestreit said: “I assume that it’s not a question of months now.”

Previously, Polish officials have indicated that Finland and Denmark were ready to join Warsaw in sending Leopards to Ukraine. The United Kingdom has pledged to send Challenger tanks. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he asked his defense minister to “work on” the possibility of sending battle tanks to Ukraine.

But Macron said a decision hinged on three criteria that have also weighed on the minds of other Western leaders: that sharing the equipment doesn’t lead to an escalation of the conflict; that it would provide efficient and workable help when training time is

taken into account; and that it wouldn’t weaken his own military.

Morawiecki said that while Poland intends to ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the request is “a secondary matter” as a group of EU countries look at how to help Kyiv.

“Naturally, these are not easy talks, but we will be taking efforts to break this barrier of unwillingness in various countries,” he said.

Baerbock, Germany’s top diplomat, told French television channel LCI on Sunday that Poland hasn’t formally asked for Berlin’s approval to share some of its Leopards, but added “if we were asked, we would not stand in the way”.

Regarding Baerbock’s comments, Morawiecki said that “exerting pressure makes sense” and that her words are a “spark of hope” that Germany may even take part in the coalition.

She said Germany has “more than 350 active Leopards and about 200 in storage”.

Poland wants to send a company of Leopard tanks, which means 14 of them, but they would barely make an impression in a war that involves thousands of tanks. If other countries contribute, Warsaw reckons, the tank detachment could grow to a brigade size.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the latest developments on Western Europe sending tanks to Ukraine “signaled increasing nervousness among members of the alliance.”

Ukraine’s supporters pledged billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv at a meeting Friday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

International defense leaders discussed Ukraine’s urgent request for the Leopard 2 tanks, and the absence of an agreement overshadowed new military commitments.

In Brussels, EU foreign ministers gave the green light Monday to a further 500 million euro package of military support for Ukraine, as well as funds to help pay for a training mission the bloc has set up for the country’s troops.

The money would be used to reimburse EU countries for weapons and ammunition they supply Ukraine.

Another 45 million euros will pay for the 27-nation bloc’s military training mission this year.

It brings the total amount of money provided to Ukraine from the EU fund to about 3.6 billion euros.

Moscow, in response to the pledges of sophisticated Western weapons for Kyiv’s military, has stepped up its warnings that escalation risks catastrophe.

“We have said on numerous occasions that

escalation is the most dangerous path, and the consequences may be unpredictable,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

“Our signals are not listened to, and Russia’s adversaries keep raising the stakes.”

Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said Russian forces shelled several towns and villages in the northeastern region in the previous 24 hours, killing a 67-year-old woman and leaving another resident wounded.

Neither side shows signs of backing down as the war heads for a second year.

Russian authorities declared that the mobilization of an additional 300,000 reservists in late October is complete. However, some Russian lawyers and rights groups pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization decree remains in effect until another presidential decree is issued to formally end the action.

Peskov said yesterday although the assigned number of reservists have been mobilised, the decree remains in force because it also includes “other measures needed to ensure the fulfillment of tasks by the military.” He didn’t elaborate.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that Russia’ plans to continue mobilizing more troops.

WARSAW Associated Press

LEOPARD 2 tank as seen at a demonstration in 2011, which could soon be sent to Ukraine.

US HEALTH officials propose simplified approach to COVID-19 Vaccinations

AFTER PLAYOFF RUN, GIANTS FACE DECISIONS ON JONES, BARKLEY

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — In their first season with the New York Giants, general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll cleaned up a mess that had littered the Meadowlands for five years.

Schoen transformed a franchise in a salary-cap crisis into one that will have nearly $54 million to retain quarterback Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley — if he chooses — and add players who can fill the team’s many needs heading into next season.

All Daboll did was turn around a team that had five straight losing seasons and lead it to a 9-7-1 record and a playoff run. The Giants won a wildcard game at Minnesota before getting blown out 38-7 by top-seeded Philadelphia in the divisional round.

Repeating that success is the next step. New York was 1-5-1 in the NFC East, losing three times to the Eagles. The Giants’ 6-2 start featured five wins by six points or fewer.

“There’s a talent gap there that we need to close,” Schoen said Monday while sitting next to Daboll. He was just as quick to note that the Giants had a good team despite not having the most talent in the league.

It’s no guarantee Daboll can build on this season’s success. Seven teams that made the playoffs in the 2021 season failed to get back this season. The Rams went from winning the Super Bowl to a losing record.

“Every team is different,” Daboll said. “Just because you won one year doesn’t guarantee you anything the next year relative to what players you have, what players you don’t have.”

The biggest offseason questions for the Giants will revolve around Jones, Barkley and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Jones and Barkley are free agents and Lawrence will be playing on the fifthyear option of his rookie contract.

They were among the most important players on the team.

After the Giants declined to pick up his fifth-year option, Jones had a career year, throwing for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also ran for 708 yards, a team record for a QB, and seven TDs.

Barkley finally recovered from an ACL injury in 2020 and rushed for 1,312 and 10 touchdowns, while catching 57 passes. Lawrence was a force in the middle of the defence with a team-high 7 1/2 sacks.

Schoen danced around questions about re-signing them several times before saying: “We’re happy Daniel is going to be here.”

He quickly clarified that’s continent on the sides reaching an agreement.

Barkley and his representatives talked with Schoen and the Giants about a new contract during the bye week in early November, but the GM said the two sides were never close.

When he was with the Bills as an assistant general manager, Schoen worked for an organization that didn’t overpay running backs.

That would indicate Barkley may not have the same negotiating power as Jones’ representatives.

“We’d like all our guys back but there is a business side to it,” Schoen said.

The Giants have already held their postseason meetings with players and they plan to have a staff meeting on Thursday. Offseason training will start on April 17 and that’s when Daboll will start building team chemistry.

Schoen said no players were told the team didn’t want them back.

“Every team that I’ve been part of has been different,” Daboll said.

“Not one team is the same.

“So that’s the beauty about this league, is every year is a new year for everybody.”

49ers defence steps up in divisional-round win

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif.

(AP) — The San Francisco 49ers defence hadn’t been playing up to its usual high level in recent weeks, allowing a few too many big plays.

On a day when the offense struggled to produce, the Niners defence responded with a signature performance that sent them back to the NFC championship game.

Fred Warner had one of San Francisco’s two interceptions against Dak Prescott and the Niners allowed only one touchdown in a 19-12 divisional-round win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

“It sure felt like us,” Warner said. “Obviously we know that we’ve got to play big-time football in the playoffs to have a chance to win this next game.”

The 49ers will try to build on that performance when they visit Philadelphia for the NFC title game on Sunday.

With Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead providing

the pressure up front, Warner controlling the middle of the field, and Jimmie Ward and Talanoa Hufanga controlling the deep end, the Niners allowed very little to the Cowboys.

Dallas managed just 282 yards, averaged 4.7 yards per play and had just three scoring drives — with two coming on short fields.

San Francisco (15-4) looked much more like the dominant unit from early in the season than the one that had some slipups late in the season against Washington, Las Vegas and Seattle in the playoff opener.

“We went out there and from the very first snap, the energy was on 10 and so that was kind of our mantra,” Hufanga said.

“A lot of people always tell us, our defence has to beat their defence, and that’s when those things happen and great teams can win. So when we look at it like that, you hold a great offence to just under 17 points, under 15 points, you try to hold those goose eggs, that’s when great defence is happening.”

WHAT’S WORKING

Second-half run game. After being bottled up on the ground in the first half with just 27 yards on 11 carries, the running game keyed two long drives in the second half. San Francisco had 21 carries for 86 yards after halftime, with 70 of those yards coming on the two scoring drives.

Elijah Mitchell and Christian McCaffrey each had three first downs rushing in the second half after San Francisco had only one as a team in the first two quarters.

WHAT NEEDS WORK

End of half clock management. The 49ers almost squandered a scoring chance late in the first half thanks to some questionable clock management. Coach Kyle Shanahan let about 25 seconds run off the clock before calling a timeout with 30 seconds left before a third-and-1 play.

The Niners converted and got into field-goal range, but could have had a chance at a TD with more time. They did get the field goal after Brock

Purdy almost let the half run out before throwing the ball away.

STOCK UP Warner. The All-Pro delivered one of his better performances of the season. Warner led the Niners with nine tackles, including one for a loss. He also had an interception in the red zone late in the first half and had perfect coverage 30 yards downfield on a third-down pass to CeeDee Lamb that led to a Dallas punt from the San Francisco 40 with the game tied at the end of the third quarter.

STOCK DOWN Special teams. The Niners had some issues on special teams with RayRay McCloud losing a fumble on a punt return that set up a field goal for Dallas.

The kick coverage unit also allowed KaVontae Turpin to have returns of 44 and 36 yards. The bright spot on special teams was kicker Robbie Gould, who made all four field goals to improve to 29 for 29 in the postseason for his career.

INJURIES

McCaffrey (calf), Mitchell (groin) and DL Charles Omenihu (oblique) are all day to day. Shanahan said he expects all three to be able to play Sunday. ... Shanahan said he doesn’t expect QB Jimmy Garoppolo to return to practice this week.

KEY NUMBERS

200 and 0. Purdy has thrown for at least 200 yards in both playoff games and hasn’t committed a single turnover. He’s the only rookie QB in the Super Bowl era to do that even once in the playoffs. Purdy joined Joe Flacco (2008) and Mark Sanchez (2009) as the only rookie QBs to win two playoff starts. He’s looking to become the first to make the Super Bowl after Flacco, Sanchez, Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Shaun King (1999) all lost in the conference title game.

DISRESPECTED NO MORE, BENGALS PREPARE TO FACE CHIEFS AGAIN

By MITCH STACY AP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI (AP) —

The Cincinnati Bengals went into Buffalo feeling disrespected and played their most complete game of the season.

With tickets on sale last week for a potential neutralsite Buffalo-Kansas City AFC championship game, the Bengals came into a snowstorm and dominated the second-seeded Bills.

Cincinnati’s 27-10 win — its 10th in a row — sets up a rematch with Patrick Mahomes and the top-seeded Chiefs in the AFC championship game Sunday.

The Bengals are peaking in the playoffs again, and nobody is more confident than quarterback Joe Burrow, who said this team is better this last year’s. That squad won 27-24 in overtime at Kansas City to advance to the Super Bowl, where it lost 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams.

“We’re a more complete team and a better team,” Burrow said. “We just seem to make plays when it counts.”

With three backups playing on the offensive line against Buffalo, it was hard to predict how efficiently the Bengals’ offense could operate.

It couldn’t have gone

much better.

Burrow completed 23 of 36 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He had zero turnovers and was sacked just once. He completed passes to eight different receivers.

“Unbelievable,” running back Joe Mixon said. “To come through in the snow and deliver dots the way he was doing it, that’s crazy. I’m going to be honest, that’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it, to be real.”

Mixon had a big game, too — a welcome development considering the Bengals’ running game had stalled in recent weeks. He rushed for

105 yards, averaging 5.3 per carry, and a touchdown. It was Mixon’s first 100-yard game since Nov. 6 and only his second this season.

WHAT’S WORKING

Just about everything on Sunday. Cincinnati was balanced on offense, picking up 30 first downs, converting 6 of 10 third downs and finishing with 412 total yards — including 172 on the ground, its most since Nov. 6.

The defence limited Buffalo to 63 rushing yards and kept constant pressure on quarterback Josh Allen, who was hit eight times and

sacked once. The Bills’ top receiver, Stefon Diggs, finished with four catches for 35 yards.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

As far as the Bengals are concerned, the NFL’s decision-making process could use some work. The league began selling tickets for a possible game in Atlanta that was dependent on the Bills and Chiefs winning last weekend.

The NFL had decided on the first-of-its-kind, neutral-site conference championship because the Bills (13-3) finished the season a half-game behind the Chiefs (14-3) after their game at Cincinnati was canceled on Jan. 2 when Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field.

The Bengals felt disrespected by that plan and were determined to ruin it.

“They keep talking us down, and we’ll keep showing up,” receiver Ja’Marr Chase said.

STOCK UP Jackson Carman had not played tackle for the Bengals since he was drafted in 2021.

Carman was pushed into service at left tackle after Jonah Williams dislocated a kneecap in the wild card-round playoff win over Baltimore.

Backups Hakeem Adeniji

and Max Scharping were already starting on the right side because of injuries.

The O-line has hardly looked better than it did Sunday, when it dominated Buffalo’s defensive front on a snowy field.

STOCK DOWN WR Tyler Boyd had just one catch for 23 yards.

INJURIES

C Ted Karras suffered a knee injury during Sunday’s game but played through it. He said he’ll be OK for the AFC championship game. ... Williams and G Alex Cappa (ankle) were considered week to week.

KEY NUMBER

5 — Number of career postseason wins for Burrow, the most for any Bengals quarterback.

NEXT STEPS Beat Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday for the fourth time in the span of about 13 months to earn a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl. Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday that could limit his mobility.

“I hope that (Mahomes) is healthy,” Cincinnati safety Jessie Bates III said.

“I hope that he is 100 percent healthy so there is no excuses.

“We’ll be ready.”

WHAT’S NEXT San Francisco visits Philadelphia on Sunday looking to make the Super Bowl for the second time in the past four seasons.

SAN Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) is tackled by Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb after intercepting a pass during the first half of an NFL

divisional round playoff football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

CINCINNATI Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) and Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon (28) motion for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter of an NFL division round football game, Sunday, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)

AINSLIE’S BRITISH SAILGP TEAM PARTNERS WITH LOW CARBON

SAILING

By BERNIE WILSON AP SPORTS WRITER

The Great Britain SailGP Team led by former Olympic stars Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills has signed a three-year partnership with renewable energy company Low Carbon in its quest to become the most sustainable elite sports team in the world.

The partnership, announced Monday, is intended to help the sailing team attain its goal of reaching net zero by 2025, to compete for the SailGP’s Impact League title and establish climate education programmes designed to reach 3 million young people.

An immediate benefit of the partnership will be a portable solar and battery installation that will power the team’s base with renewable energy as it moves from regatta to regatta in tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s global league, which is contested in foiling 50-foot catamarans. That system is expected to be ready by the season finale in San Francisco in early May.

“That’s such a big partner to have, bearing in mind our sustainability goals both as a team and part of the SailGP league,” Ainslie, the team’s CEO and skipper, said in an interview.

Ainslie said becoming net zero by 2025 “is a tough push, but with partners like Low Carbon it’s certainly much more realistic.”

Ainslie is the mostdecorated sailor in Olympic history, having won four gold medals and a silver. He won the America’s Cup with Oracle Team USA in 2013 before forming his own team and is in his second season leading the British SailGP team. Mills is the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time with two golds and a silver.

The British team finished second to New Zealand in last season’s SailGP Impact League competition, which rewards teams for positive environmental and sustainable actions that run parallel to the sailing competition. The Impact League winner receives $100,000 for its sustainability partner. The British are currently in fourth place in this season’s Impact League while sitting in third place in the sailing competition, which will culminate with a $1 million, winner-takeall championship race involving the top three teams at the end of the San Francisco regatta.

“We talk about the oceans being our pitch as a sports team and of course it’s incumbent on us to try to protect that,” Ainslie said. He added that athletes are in position for “really setting an example for particularly the younger generations coming through by looking up to these sports people around the world as to what does climate change mean and what can we really do in our everyday lives and in our communities to make a difference.”

The partnership is the first for the British team since Ainslie and two business partners took 100% ownership late last year, a first for a SailGP team. Low Carbon is working to generate 20 gigawatt hours of renewable energy by 2030, enough energy to power more than 7 million homes, or roughly powering every home in every city visited by the SailGP tour this season.

SPECTACULAR DEBUT FOR RED-LINE ATHLETICS IN TEXAS

FROM PAGE 16

for new lifetime best for 204th; Tajonee Duncombe - 27.74 for new lifetime best for 229th and Kennedy Hannah - 28.53 for new indoor PR for 284th.

200m boys results out of 335 competitors - Clinton Laguerre - 21.97 for new lifetime best for 18th; Tumani Skinner - 22.18 for lifetime best for 27th; Jonathan Fowler - 22.48 for new indoor PR for 48th; Morgan Moss - 22.74 for new indoor PR for 71st; Khalon Christie - 23.03 for lifetime best for 98th; Alexis Brown - 23.54 for lifetime best for 148th; Jaden Clarke - 25.38 for new indoor PR for 297th and Trent King - 25.76 for new PR for 304th.

Girls 400m results out of 197 competitors - Nya Wright - 58.60 for lifetime best for 21st; Bayli Major - 59.78 for lifetime best for

PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTS FOR I-ELITE PLAYERS

FROM PAGE 16

Major, Sands and Cartwright do a lot of their instructional work with the players on the field at the Pinewood Park.

The other coaches assisting in the programme are Stephen Curtis, Pedro Dean, Aneko Knowles, Donovan Cox (in Grand Bahama), Marcian Curry (in Florida) and Martyra Turnquest (who deals with strength and conditioning).

And for the past year, coach Dachye Stubbs had been working with the girls softball programme.

Interested persons wishing to get their children involved in the programme, which also includes softball for girls, can contact I-Elitesports. com on Instagram, gmail or facebook.

38th and Kennedi Knowles - 1.02.31 for 73rd; Kennedi Hanna - 1.07.93 for 163rd.

Boys 400m results out

of 187 competitors - Clinton Laguerre - 49.73 for 16th; Morgan Moss - 51.76 for lifetime best for 51st; Tumani Skinner - 52.78 for

74th and Alexis Brown52.87 for 76th.

Girls 800m results out of 83 competitors - Ezthia Maycock- 2.26.86 for

lifetime best for 19th.

Boys 800m results out of 112 competitors - Terron McKenzie - 2.54.99 for 111th.

FRANK RUTHERFORD CLOSE SUBDIVISION UNVEILED

ON

Bahamian

subdivision,

The

Rutherford, who

currently resides in Houston, Texas, attended the event with his wife, Melissa; his long-time Baintown Flyers Track Club coach, Neville Wisdom, and his fellow team-mate Pauline

RED-Line Athletics track team braving the cold weather.

RED-Line Athletics boys team in Texas.

Friday, executives of Arawak Homes, headed by Sir Franklyn Wilson, along with Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and other dignitaries, unveiled the new

Frank Rutherford Close, on Pine Barren Road, Prince Charles Drive.

new subdivision was named in honour of Rutherford, the first

to win an Olympic Games track and field medal when he secured the bronze in the men’s triple jump in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

Davis-Thompson, among other family and friends. Rutherford, fourth from left, is shown with the dignitaries as they unveil the sign for the Frank Rutherford Close.

ANDRU ARTHUR, the latest signee, is shown with coach Albert Cartwright, Cardnals’ international crosschecker Damaso Espino and coach Geron Sands.

GREEN SCORES CAREER-HIGH 42, ROCKETS END THEIR 13-GAME SKID

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON (AP) —

Jalen Green scored a career-high 42 points and the Houston Rockets held on for a 119-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night to snap a 13-game losing streak.

Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, had 21 points by halftime and kept up his strong play in the second half to lead the Rockets to their first victory since Dec. 26 at Chicago. They ended their longest skid of the season and also a 10-game home losing streak, winning at home for the first time since Dec. 13 against Phoenix.

Tied

Anthony Edwards had 31 points and D’Angelo Russell tied a season high with 30 for the Timberwolves, who had won two straight.

The Rockets were clinging to a one-point lead before Green scored the next five points, capped by a 3-pointer, to make it 105-99 with two minutes to go.

Anthony Edwards made the second of two free throws before Green struck again, knocking down a long 2-pointer to leave Houston up 107-100 with 90 seconds to go.

Dunk

Kenyon Martin Jr. then stole the ball from D’Angelo Russell and finished on the other end with a dunk to extend the lead to nine with less than a minute left.

Edwards made a 3 for Minnesota after that but Green hit a 3-pointer for Houston seconds later to make it 112-103 with 41 seconds to go. Minnesota closed within four with 12 seconds remaining but Green answered with a free throw.

Green swished a 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to leave Houston up 90-81. The Timberwolves used an 8-0 run, with five points from Russell, to cut the lead to 92-89 with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Houston went on a 7-0 run, with a 3 from Garrison Mathews, to take an 81-74 lead with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

Austin Rivers made a 3 for Minnesota seconds later, but the Rockets scored the next six points to make it 87-77 with about two minutes left in the quarter.

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: Taurean Prince sat out with a sprained left ankle. … Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 16 rebounds in his return after missing three games right groin soreness.

Rockets: Rookie Jabari Smith Jr. missed a second straight game with a sprained right ankle. … Kevin Porter Jr. missed a sixth consecutive game with a bruised left foot. ... Alperen Sengun had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Visit New Orleans Wednesday night.

Rockets: Host Washington Wednesday night.

DeRozan scores 26 in 1,000th game, Bulls beat Hawks 111-100

By PATRICK ROSE Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) —

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points in his 1,000th career game, Nikola Vucevic added 14 points and 17 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-100 on Monday night.

The Bulls returned to Chicago after 126-108 win over the Pistons in Paris on Thursday.

Trae Young had 21 points and 13 assists, while Dejounte Murray added 20

points for the Hawks, who have lost two straight after winning five in a row.

The Bulls started to pull away in the fourth quarter after Young found John Collins for an alleyoop dunk to cut the lead to 91-88. Zach LaVine answered with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws before DeRozan made a 3 to extend the lead to 99-88 with 5:29 left.

LaVine finished with 20 points.

In the previous two meetings in Atlanta, both games ended with a buzzer-beater.

AJ Griffin beat the Bulls at the horn on Dec. 11 and 10 days later, Ayo Dosunmu returned the favour with a follow shot as time expired.

The Bulls controlled most of the second half.

Patrick Williams sealed the game with a 3 to put Chicago up 108-95 with 1:53 left. Williams finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Clint Capela had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Atlanta.

The Bulls led 57-48 at the half. LaVine scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Murray led the Hawks with 15 points. Young was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting.

TIP-INS Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic was back in the lineup after missing Saturday’s loss to Charlotte with a right knee injury. He finished with 11 points in 33 minutes.

Bulls: G Goran Dragic missed the game with a non-COVID illness. Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Dragic will not travel with the team to Indiana but

may re-join them during the three-game road trip. ... Bulls were 6 of 25 from the floor in the first quarter and 17 of 25 in the second quarter.

DeRozan became the 143rd player to play in 1,000 games or more. ... The Bulls began a stretch where they play four games in six nights in four different cities.

UP NEXT Hawks: At Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Bulls: At Indiana on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo scores 29 in return, Bucks top Pistons 150-130

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 20 of his 29 points in the first quarter, returning to the lineup after a fivegame absence to lead the Milwaukee Bucks in a 150130 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

The two-time MVP had been out with a sore left knee and was joined by three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, putting the Bucks’ prolific duo in the same lineup for the first time in more than a month.

“The band is back together,” Antetokounmpo said.

Middleton, who hadn’t played since Dec. 15 due to a sore right knee, had eight points and four assists as a steadying presence for the Central Division-leading Bucks.

“It was great to see everyone playing together with no real chemistry issues,” said Bucks centre Brook Lopez, who scored 21 points.

Milwaukee scored 49 points in the first quarter, two shy of the NBA record, and led Detroit by 25 after Antetokounmpo made all six of his shots in eight-plus minutes.

“I was trying to be aggressive and some shots fell,” he said.

After drawing defenders, Antetokounmpo also had two assists along with two rebounds in the opening quarter.

“It was impressive to come out and play the way he did,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He did a little bit of everything, just like the whole group that in that quarter.”

Antetokounmpo didn’t keep up his scoring pace the rest of the game, but he didn’t have to with teammates such as reserve Bobby Portis scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter.

Milwaukee led 83-55 at halftime, had 115 after three quarters and finished

with a season high in points in a game that wasn’t competitive beyond the opening minutes.

“The first quarter is what I was afraid would happen,” Detroit coach Dwane Casey said. “A championship-caliber team came in and put their stamp on the game at the beginning. We didn’t respond, and that’s how you give up a 49-point first quarter. I liked our fight after that, but this is a 48-minute game.”

Mercifully, the Bucks held the ball and were called for a shot-clock violation in the final seconds when they were three points from matching the most by an NBA team this

season.

“I’m sure the basket looked big for them,” Budenholzer said.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 33 points and rookie Jalen Duren had a season-high 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who have won an Eastern Conference-low 12 games and are ahead of only Houston in the leaguewide standings.

Detroit rookie Jaden Ivey had 12 points and 11 assists, and Hamidou Diallo added 11 points off the bench.

“The challenge at that point is looking at the scoreboard and telling yourself there’s no 31-point shot,” said Detroit’s Saddiq Bey, who scored 21 points.

IN MEMORY OF

The Pistons honoured the late Bob Lanier throughout the game. The Hall of Famer, who played his 14-season career with Detroit and Milwaukee, died in May at age 73.

There was also a moment of silence for Chris Ford, who started his career with Detroit before winning three NBA titles in Boston as a player and assistant coach. Ford, who made the first 3-pointer in league history, died last week at age 74.

TIP-INS Bucks: Portis left the court with a sore right knee early in the fourth

quarter after grabbing a 10th rebound for his 29th double-double this season. “We’re hopeful that it is not anything serious,” Budenholzer said. ... Reserve Jevon Carter had 18, and Jrue Holiday added 16 points and seven assists.

Pistons: Killian Hayes (shoulder) was out along with Marvin Bagley (broken hand) and Cade Cunningham (shin surgery). ... The short-handed team has lost four straight and eight of 10 games in 2023.

UP NEXT Bucks: Host Denver on Wednesday night.

Pistons: At Brooklyn on Thursday night.

CHICAGO Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan (11) looks to pass under pressure from Atlanta Hawks’ Jalen Johnson (1) and Bogdan Bogdanovic during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

MILWAUKEE Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives on Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (41) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Detroit, Monday. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

CAMERON Riley

ABACO CLASSIC EVENT

FOLLOWING a magnificent showcase of high-level golf skills at last week’s PGA Korn Ferry Tour/Great Exuma Classic, top golfers moved on to the Korn Ferry Tour/Great Abaco Classic in Great Abaco, where they will continue the battle for 30 PGA TOUR cards and $28 million prize in money.

The Abaco tournament, which will feature Bahamian qualifier Cameron Riley, got underway on Monday and will run through Wednesday at the Abaco Club on Winding Bay.

The event management firm bdG Sports owns and operates the two season-opening events of the PGA sanctioned Korn Ferry Tour: The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic and The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic. Both golf tournaments were launched in 2017. This year marks the return of The Great Abaco Classic to the island of Abaco since the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

At the opening of the tournament at Abaco Club on January 22, John Pinder, MP for Central and South Abaco and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, expressed his excitement about the return of the Great Abaco Classic.

“I must say how pleased I am to have The Abacos, once again, be a part of the opening tournaments of the PGA Korn Ferry Tour,” Mr Pinder said.

Mr Pinder also used the occasion to express his gratitude to bdG Sports for the $250,000 donation the firm contributed to the Abaco hurricane relief in 2019.

“I want to thank bdG Sports for their donation to the relief effort of Abaco, which is my home,” he said. “The rebuilding of The Abacos has been a collective effort, and that collective effort has made this event possible.”

Riley, a Bahamian professional golfer, will make his big debut at the Great Abaco Classic, after defeating fellow Bahamian golfer Devaughn Robinson in a playoff during trials at the Royal Blue Club at Baha Mar on December 20, 2022.

This is The Bahamas’ third time hosting the illustrious Korn Ferry Tour, which continues to attract hundreds of visitors and golf enthusiasts. Following the conclusion of The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, next up on the PGA Korn Ferry Tour is the Panama Championship, which is slated for 2-5 February at Club de Golf de Panama, Panama City.

Professional contracts for four I-Elite players Programme aiming to

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SINCE the inception of the International Elite Baseball Academy in 2012, coaches Geron Sands and Albert Cartwright have not just signed players to professional baseball contracts, they have also secured athletic scholarships to high school and colleges in the United States.

Over the past week, I-Elite signed four players to professional contracts, pushing the total to about 20. Cartwright said it’s testimony to the fact that the programme is working and is growing in leaps and bounds.

“I think, with the challenges that we’ve faced in the past two years with Covid-19 and being able to get over that obstacle, it says a lot for us to be able to still get the deals for the players,” Cartwright said.

“So it’s exciting to see the progress they are making as they trust the process.”

Sands said it’s just a part of the mandate of I-Elite.

“We kind of look at turning pro as a big accomplishment when it’s really not,” Sands said. “I think kids going to school and getting their degrees is just as good as getting into the pro ranks. While getting an education, they still get to play baseball. So what we try to do is to find out where the kids fit and then we place them in the direction to achieve their goals.”

When they got started, Cartwright said not too many people believed in what they were trying to

accomplish and so it was a challenge to get themselves established. But he noted that he’s pleased with the progress they have made so far.

“Back then, we had to change the scope of Bahamian parents in terms of trying to take a different look at the route that we are taking to take to get these players to play professional baseball,” he said. “So I’m confident that as we continue to grow, more people will believe in us and we can continue to turn this thing up another notch.”

Sands, who worked as the manager of the Bahamas national team that participated in the fourth Caribbean Cup held in the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium in December, said they are now looking at expanding

their operation by taking their summer league teams to play in the USA, while they will also bring in some teams to compete in the new stadium.

“We want to expand baseball from the youth level to adults,” Sands said.

I-Elite currently have about 20 players enrolled in their programme in Fox Hill. With the departure of the four new pro signees, Sands said they have to recruit about seven players to compliment their operation.

“I-Elite is all about helping young people achieve their goals through sports, in this case, it is the sport of baseball,” Sands said. “There are a lot of scholarships out there to continue their education, so all we want to do is give our support and input to help young Bahamians achieve

their goals through sports and education.”

Cartwright, a former minor league player, said they are elated to open the eyes of these players to all of the opportunities that are available for them outside of The Bahamas.

“Our goal is to take baseball to the next level, whether it’s high school, college or the pro ranks and give guys the opportunity they might not have been afforded before,” Cartwright proclaimed. “We just want to open their eyes to the baseball world on and off the field because at the same time, a lot of these young guys come in at 11 and 12 and we have to mentor them to become young men and better guys in our society.”

Each player who signs their contract goes to the Dominican Republic for

their first sessions with their new clubs and then they prepare for the rookie level of competition. Depending on where the leagues are situated, they move to the United States to play for the affiliated teams in the organisations.

“If they don’t make it, all of these guys have college scholarships attached to their contracts,” Sands said. “That’s one of the first things we do when we negotiate for them. All of them have a college scholarship attached to their contracts, so if something happens while playing baseball, they have the opportunity to go to college and get their degree.”

While there is an educational component to the programme that is led by Danielle Sands and Arlene

SPECTACULAR DEBUT FOR RED-LINE ATHLETICS IN TEXAS

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Red-Line Athletics’ 20-plus member team made a spectacular debut at the Texas Tech High School over the weekend in Texas.

The team, according to head coach Tito Moss, returned home with quite a number of significant performances as they head into hosting their fourth Sonja Knowles Track Classic this weekend at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

“We had a phenomenal meet,” Moss said. “We literally had in excess of 25 indoors PR (personal records) and eight of nine lifetime best performances. So all in all, it was a very good meet for us.

“We had some competitors, who competed indoors for the first time, but they all performed very well

under the circumstances. We also had some athletes who weren’t accustomed to competing in such cold weather and so they had to make some adjustments.”

Moss congratulated athletes such as Clint Laguerre, Morgan Moss, Bayli Major, Nyu Wright, Jonathan Fowler, Tumani Skinner and Ezthia Maycock. He said the athletes all performed their best from the 60m to the 800m.

“I’m really pleased for the production of the kids,” said Moss, who indicated that they intend to make it an annual trip to Texas to compete as they expose their athletes to at least one indoor meet a year and another one during the outdoor season.

Now the focus switches back home where Red-Line will prepare for their first of two meets this year heading into the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’

hosting of the 50th Golden Jubilee Carifta Games over the Easter holiday weekend from April 7-11.

“We are really excited for our young under-17 and under-20 athletes. We are expecting some big performances this year,” Moss proclaimed. “This meet this weekend will be no different. We re looking to have some fun.

“This meet will have heats and finals in the 100, 200 and 400m, so we will be pitting the best against the best so that everybody can see where they’re and what they need to work on heading into the weeks ahead of Carifta. It promises to be a good meet for the athletes to compete in and the spectators to come out and cheer them on.”

The Red-Line meet, honouring former St Augustine’s College principal Sonja Knowles, will begin at 10am on Saturday and will wrap up on Sunday, starting at 2pm.

Here’s a look at some of the top performances from Red-Line Athletics at the meet in Texas over the weekend:

Girls 60m results out of 292 competitors - Darvinque Dean - 7.94 for 69th; Madison Moss - 8.17 for 130th; Tajonee Duncombe - 8. 27 for 151st; Tamia Edwards - 8.41 for 182nd and Andrea Seddembe8.58 for 219th.

Boys 60m results out of 271 competitors - Jonathan Fowler - 7.03 for 29th; Khalon Christie - 7.18 for 70th; Jaden Clarke - 7.72 for 224th and Trent King - 7.82 for 239th.

Girls 200m results out of 385 competitors - Bayli Major, 25.21 for lifetime best; Nya Wright - 25.24 for new indoor PR for 45th; Darvinque Dean 25.53 for lifetime best; Madison Moss - new indoor PR of 26.71 for 140th Kennedi Knowles - 26.80 for 148th; Tamia Edwards - 27.42

I-ELITE professional players along with coaching staff.

Athletics track team