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Volume: 119 No.87, March 28, 2022

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‘URGENT’ MOVE ON CRIMEWAVE

PM holds conclave after recent spate of murders in nation

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday convened an “urgent” conclave with key stakeholders to address the sharp increase of murders in the country.

For the first three months of this year there have been 35 murders, according to The Tribune’s records, with four of those murders occurring last week.

Mr Davis said while much of the killings were clearly gang related, it was obvious that a range of other factors

were contributing to the spike.

“There are no easy quick fixes to the crime dilemma neither is there any one solution,” Mr Davis said in a statement released yesterday. “However, we were able to identify immediate measures that will help to reduce levels of crime.”

He said he would have more to say on the issue in the coming days.

Mr Davis said all sectors of society have a role to play in this partnership and going forward the government will invite the public to be involved.

SEE PAGE FIVE

LATEST MURDER VICTIM FOUND SLUMPED OVER IN HIS VEHICLE A MAN was found slumped over in his vehicle with gunshot wounds on Palm Tree Avenue last night.

Police said evidence suggests the man was shot on Blue Hill Road and ended up at Palm Tree Avenue where his small grey car collided with a fence.

After 9pm the police found the victim, who is said to be in his early 20s,

unresponsive.

At the scene, Superintendent Audley Peters said information on the killing was sketchy.

“The scene is speaking to us, and because it spoke to us it sent us to another location. We’re going to follow the line of inquiry which the evidence suggests at the moment,” he told reporters.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Flame-Grilled Beef, Crispy Chicken or Plant-based

Nassau

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE cost of fuel at pumps has shot up to over $6 a gallon at two major providers, with Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis saying the situation is “volatile” and out of the government’s control due to international market fluctuations sparked from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With times being tough, Mr Halkitis said motorists need to conserve where possible.

Rubis’ fuel stations are highest among providers at $6.33 per gallon, value added tax inclusive, while Esso’s fuel costs $6.16.

Shell’s cost per gallon is $5.50.

SEE PAGE 13

PROVIDERS TOLD HEALTH TRAVEL VISA TO END SOON

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

‘NO, YOU’RE A DUCHESS - I’M THE PRINCESS’ KATE, the Duchess of Cambridge, meets a young girl in a princess costume during her visit with Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, to Abaco on Saturday. For more photographs from the visit, see PAGES TWO, THREE, FOUR and THIRTEEN inside.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

PRINCE: WE WILL SUPPORT BAHAMAS DECISIONS New

IT’S OVER $6 A GALLON TO FILL UP YOUR CAR

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PRINCE William said the monarchy would support decisions The Bahamas makes about its future, with 50 years of independence next year and amid reignited public discussion about the country possibly shedding ties to Queen Elizabeth II. “This is not my first time in The Bahamas,” he said at Baha Mar. “I came here with my mother as a

PRINCE William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, waving farewell on Saturday. child, snorkelling around the James Bond wrecks of Nassau left me with the most vivid memory of your

vivid blue waters.

“For a young boy obsessed with 007, it was the best holiday ever. Next year I know you are looking forward to celebrating 50 years of independence, your golden anniversary, and with Jamaica celebrating 60 years of independence this year and Belize celebrating 40 years of independence last year I want to say this: we support with pride and respect your decisions about your future.”

SEE PAGES TWO & THREE

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Used under license. All rights reserved.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

HEALTH Travel Visa providers have been informed that the scheme’s COVID testing component will soon end, it was confirmed yesterday, amid assertions they have been given two months’ warning by the Government, Well-placed Tribune Business contacts, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several providers had in early March been given 60 days’ notice that both testing and their role were due to end, placing the date by which this will take effect around May 9.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

INSIGHT WHEN WILL THE DEEDS MATCH THE WORDS?

SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Prince: We will support Bahamas decisions from page one “Relationships evolve, friendship endures.”

This was welcomed by applause from those gathered as he also conveyed well wishes from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. The UK Telegraph reported that the remarks were a “last minute” change to the Duke’s speech.

The Duke made the remarks on Friday night during a special reception hosted by Governor General Sir Cornelius A Smith held in his and the Duchess of Cambridge’s honour before their stops in Abaco and Grand Bahama on Saturday.

Their visit to The

Bahamas closed a weeklong tour including Belize and Jamaica marking Queen Elizabeth’s 70th anniversary on the throne.

The Duke, however, made no comment about reparations for slavery, which some activists here and abroad had been calling for in the lead up to the visit.

There has not been a strong push here for The Bahamas to become a republic, however some prominent figures support such a move.

Prince William also commended Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis for his speech on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland at COP26.

In his comments before those of Prince

William, Mr Davis said he was delighted to see the Duke again following the United Nations’ COP 26 conference.

He also said the Queen’s time in service was both remarkable and historic, while offering best wishes for her good health and happiness.

Mr Davis said: “I’d like to take a moment to say ‘thank you’, to all those Bahamians, and members of our visiting delegation, who put in such efforts to make the arrangements which are necessary for a visit such as this. We are very grateful for all you have done.

“As for myself: I am delighted to see the Duke again, so soon after we met in Glasgow, last November,

PRINCE William speaking to members of the crowd in Abaco.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THE DUCHESS of Cambridge speaks to healthcare workers during an event at the Garden of Remembrance in Nassau on Friday.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

PRINCE William tries Sky Juice during a visit to Abaco as his wife, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, watches on.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

PRINCE William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at Baha Mar for the Governor General’s Reception Ball.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 3

PRINCE WILLIAM, the Duke of Cambridge, recieves a conch shell as a gift from a local during his visit to Parliament Square on Friday. during COP26, the UN Conference on climate change.

“In continuing our discussion yesterday, I was pleased and impressed that he has so fully embraced and engaged with these issues, especially as they impact on countries like our beloved Bahamas.

“While the threats we face are global and challenge all of humanity, I believe that the Duke and I share an abiding faith in the ingenuity and ability of human beings to overcome these challenges, by coming together, and working together, to do the right thing.

“While we will continue to do all that we can here in The Bahamas, I know that you will do the same

in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

“Your Royal Highnesses: We have done our best to make you feel at home. I trust that the rain showers today were more of a comforting reminder, rather than an inconvenience.”

Mr Davis said he was hopeful that as the royal duo shared their experience of the country one message would be consistent: “That it is better in The Bahamas.”

For his part, Sir Cornelius recalled the 17 visits made to The Bahamas by the Royal family. Seven of those visits, he said, were by Queen Elizabeth II. “Now although all those visits by the Royal family were not all official, they

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

all served to further knit the common thread which embraces our unity and our respect. They contributed positively to strengthening and deepening the bonds of unity, love and friendship which exist,” he said.

He said it was important to note that it was the Queen’s attendance at the October 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in The Bahamas that marked the historic signing of the Nassau Accord. This formed the foundation of the efforts of the Commonwealth that led to the release from jail of Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid.

KATE, the Duchess of Cambridge, speaks to a local grandmother in Abaco.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

PRINCE William jokes with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis as he arrives at Baha Mar for the Governor General’s Reception Ball on Friday.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

JUNKANOO IN THE RAIN FOR ROYAL VISITORS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge soaked in Junkanoo and greeted admirers on Friday afternoon during a trip to Parliament Square.

Intermittent rain, which threatened to spoil the event, did not stop a crowd of mostly tourists from seeing Prince William and Kate Middleton as the celebration of the Queen’s 70th Jubilee brought them Downtown, following their visit to Sybil Strachan Primary School earlier in the day.

Barricades lined Bay Street for their arrival and spectators who waited hours for them were entertained by some of the country’s best known bands: the Bahamas All Stars Marching Band, the Royal Bahamas Police Force band and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force band.

Few Bahamians attended the event. One who did, nurse Alkithia Colebroke, said she will “always” remember talking to the Duke as he walked past the House of Assembly and spoke to several of those assembled.

“I had a chance to talk to the Duke,” she said. “He asked me who I was, where I worked. I’m a nurse and he asked me how COVID was. I told him everything is on the go down now, everything is going good. He said that sounds great.”

The arrival of the Royals downtown was considerably behind schedule. Two American residents of Kentucky, Tim and Mixie, were among dozens who waited a long time for them to

appear but missed them because they were standing on the wrong side of the street. The pair said they wished there had been better communication around the event, which they only stumbled upon after their arrival in the Bahamas on Thursday.

The tour sparked debates about whether the Royals, who come from a privileged family with a colourful legacy, including the world’s history of slavery and colonialisation, should be welcomed at all.

For Bahamian Jerry Colebroke, the answer was easy. “I’m a fan,” he said, adding he had no complaints about the delay or the rain despite arriving well before Prince William and Kate. “I came here for what they had. The rain, it’s only water. It was an excellent event. I haven’t heard Junkanoo in so long, that was the most we’ve had in a long time and I was glad to be here for it.”

During their earlier appearance at Sybil Strachan Primary School,

students and teachers from every public and private institution were represented at the combined assembly.

During the ceremony a Yellow Elder was planted in the school’s Peace Garden by the Duke and Duchess, Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin; Glendena Mills, principal, along with students.

A time capsule was also sealed to memorialise the occasion. It includes a letter from the Royal couple, a programme of the ceremony, Friday’s newspaper headlines and Bahamian and British flags.

The couple was also presented with a portrait of the Queen and two books, Around the Archipelago and Expressions.

Later on Friday, the Duke and Duchess attended the Governor General’s Reception at the Baha Mar Convention Centre.

The couple travelled to Abaco and Grand Bahama on Saturday before departing the country to return to the UK.

ABACO residents share stories of Hurricane Dorian with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Daystar Bible Church in Abaco on Saturday.

Photo: BIS

JUNKANOO dancing in the rain on Friday for the Royal visit.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

PAGE 4, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Warm welcome in GB

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PRINCE William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, arrived in Grand Bahama on Saturday afternoon to a warm welcome from residents who lined the street to get a glimpse of the young couple.

They first visited the Grand Bahama Children’s Home, where they met with the residents and unveiled a plaque commemorating their visit to the home before heading to Coral Vita, which was awarded the new global Earthshot Prize by Prince William.

Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Anne Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister Philip Davis, and Grand Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey were present.

People lined the route leading to the entrance of the Children’s Home, waving Bahamian and British flags to greet Prince William and Kate when they arrived around 3pm.

The children at the home presented the couple with a special art piece of her favourite flower with 70 little fingerprints for the Queen’s 70th anniversary.

William and Kate also received a painting created by the children and joined them in creating a mosaic art piece.

After unveiling a plaque of their visit to the home, they were off to Coral Vita.

Laura St George said the visit is incredibly significant to Grand Bahama.

“I know it has been such a hard couple of years because of the hurricanes, and the island is now recovering and rebuilding. I feel so grateful that the Royal family has chosen Grand Bahama to visit during their busy tour,” she said.

“For me it signifies that the attention of the world is now back on The Bahamas because the last time that the world looked in this direction was during the hurricane (Dorian). And so,

GRAND Bahama ready to greet the Royal couple.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff now we can show the world The couple also spoke we are ready for interna- with students and repretional visitors, for business sentatives of Waterkeepers to return, and welcome new Bahamas about their manpeople,” Ms St George said. grove planting initiative in Grand Bahama resident Grand Bahama. They were Kay Hardy, who is originally then taken onboard a catafrom Britain, waited for three maran vessel out at sea to hours along Young Husbands plant the coral in the ocean.

Avenue with her British Sarah St George, chairfriends to see the Royals. person of Grand Bahama “I am so glad the people Port Authority, said the came out,” she said. “We Royals’ trip to Grand came out from noon, and Bahama is one of excitewe were singing, brought ment and inspiration. drinks, and sausages, and “It is an inspiration for it was just fun for us,” she us to have the young Royal said. “We had the best time. couple come to Grand “Some of us have been Bahama, which has been here 50 years, but we are through so much,” she said. still very into the Royal “Their visit signifies the (Family). We still have Hello level of faith, the spirit of magazine which is all about resilience of the people and Royals, and we follow their the island. It lifts the spirit fashion and whatever they to have a day like today.” are doing. We love Diana, Ms St George believes Harry and William and now their visit will boost tourism. we love Kate,” she said.

“The picture the world saw People also gathered at of Grand Bahama was after Midshipman Road along the tragedy of Hurricane the route that the Duke and Dorian and this sends a difDuchess took on their way to ferent message of a resilient Coral Vita, the first commer- spirit, hope, and faith. We cial land based coral farm. want people to see this all Mary Silvera was among over the world so they will a group of people stand- want to come here. ing in the area around 4pm “I think it lifts the spirit with flags to greet them. to have a day like today.”

“They are here supportTourism Minister Chester ing our island and Coral Cooper, along with his wife, Vita, which is important, Cecile, said: “I was happy and I think that is great today to come to Coral Vita they are coming here and - it is something special. I doing that,” she said. am coming back, and we “We are excited about are bringing our children this. It will be my first because it is exceptional time seeing a Royal,” said what they are doing, and another woman. it really speaks to many of At Coral Vita, the Duke the things that our Prime and Duchess were shown Minister talked about conthe outdoor tanks where cerning the preservation of resilient coral are being the environment and cligrown for replanting in the mate change.” ocean to restore dying reefs.

Mr Cooper believes

THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge at Coral Vita in Grand Bahama on Saturday.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn Coral Vita will be a terrific addition to Grand Bahama tourism.

“It is a great tourism spot, and I think we can craft it into a tour, and hopefully get more cruise passengers off the ships here to Coral Vita and stopping at Port Lucaya Marketplace, and we are going to be working on that. I think this is a great draw,” he said.

Environment Minister Vaughn Miller said what is being done at Coral Vita can also be replicated in other islands.

“What I would like to see… is Bahamians becoming much more involved in it and the training (of) Bahamians,” he said. “We can go to other islands and take this back because the stony coral disease is spreading and is a real issue and challenge.”

Mr Cooper thinks the Bahamas-leg of the Royal tour left an imprint on the Duke and Duchess.

“We were able to showcase our art, our culture, the warmth and resilience of our people, and that is the message from the last

THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge arriving at the Grand Bahama Children’s Home.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn few days of the Duke and Duchess visit here. And we wanted to demonstrate the quality and the pride of the Bahamian people, and I believe we have done that.

We are a tourism destination and we wanted to show what a Bahamian welcome is all about, and I think we did just that,” he said.

“They saved the best for last. I think they will go home on a high. We showed them true Bahamian hospitality. We understand the entire trip has not been smooth for them, but they are going to go home raving about the Bahamas, and they will say it is truly ‘Better in the Bahamas’.”

THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge at the Marsh Harbour Memorial Gardens to unveil a new plaque in honour of Hurricane Dorian victims.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

SOME of the Grand Bahama residents getting ready to welcome Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 5

‘URGENT’ MOVE ON CRIMEWAVE from page one Free National Movement Leader Michael Pintard also attended yesterday’s meeting.

While he declined to reveal the specifics of the discussions, he said the opposition presented the government with his party’s recommendations to tackle the scourge of violence.

Some of the recommendations include the increased use of police mobile vans and the establishment of a crime commission that looks at how certain arms of government can improve collectively to fight crime.

Mr Pintard told The Tribune: “We presented the government with a list of recommendations of immediate, medium-term and long-term steps that we believe would be helpful in addressing the crime situation. Our focus was on

violent crime in general and steps that ought to be taken to address violent crime.

That’s whether it resulted in death or maiming, whether it was the result of conflict between gangs or individuals or domestic violence.

We wanted to make some recommendations because no doubt we were there because the surge in crime is what forced the kind of discussion we would have had last week.

“Obviously, the public has been discussing it, but we raised it in particular last week and indicated we are prepared to sit with the government and other stakeholders with a view of arriving at some common solutions in terms of addressing violent crime.”

Another recommendation from the FNM is increasing police presence in hotspot areas.

Mr Pintard said this can be used “to either deter crime or just enable a quick

PRIME MInister Philip “Brave” Davis at the conclave on crime. response in the event that crime is committed.”

He said an increase in the police use of mobile vans would assist in this effort.

“I mean that is something that I have seen over the years that has been quite effective when the van is provided to particular areas.”

POLICE at the scene of a homicide on Palm Tree Ave and Blue Hill Road last night.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

LATEST MURDER VICTIM FOUND SLUMPED OVER IN HIS VEHICLE from page one

This comes after another man was shot dead late Thursday, the fourth man to be killed last week.

Police said the incident took place off East Street.

Officers were called to the scene after midnight on Friday.

Police were told the man was sitting on the porch of a residence on Coleman Lane when a gunman approached and shot him several times.

The man received attention from Emergency Medical Services technicians, but was later pronounced dead.

His death came after a

man on bail was fatally shot last Wednesday. A relative identified the deceased in that incident as Edison McQueen, 34. McQueen was accused of murder, in prison for four years, and was released on bail in December 2021.

With more than 30 people killed since the start of the year, Supt Peters was asked what police were doing to aid the crime fight.

He said police are allocating manpower to meet the challenge in particular areas, noting that police put a mobile vehicle in Thompson Lane, an area which has seen several shootings lately. He said this may also be done in other areas.

He added: “It is really a disincentive for persons to carry on with their usual activity and then the other thing is we believe that we should move very quickly to eliminate whatever the habitats are where criminality flourishes and this includes removal of

He said police have also added more manpower to certain “hot spots”. He also acknowledged that the scene of last night’s killing is an “area of concern”.

“We understand there is an issue between two opposing areas within this general Grove area so it is of a concern for us and we have persons in place who are patrolling the areas. It’s just simply that our presence was not at this location to either deter or cause this incident not to happen,” Supt Peters said last night.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to call police at 5029991 or Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477).

dilapidated houses, some of the overgrown lots and derelict vehicles and gathering spots for known criminal enterprises.

“We live in a country where we for years would know particular areas are known for certain criminal activities and yet we don’t fundamentally reorder or transform that particular area. We also believe that there has to be a deployment of intelligence officers in communities where there are historical problems and the law enforcement then needs adequate information in order for them to formulate their strategy.”

Mr Pintard said there was also a need for a clear message to be sent to weapons smugglers.

“So, whether that means increased inspection of pleasure crafts. Making sure that they go through the correct protocols when they enter the jurisdiction or other vessels that are coming into The Bahamas transporting various types of goods, we have a surveillance system that allows us to detect whether or not somebody might be engaged in the trafficking of contraband of any type and

in particular weapons.

“That was one of things we raised - increased border patrol and then, of course, we need to engage our regional partners for the involvement of undercover national security operatives to really help in terms of dismantling some of these organised gangs.”

He said while police had been making some progress in this regard, there was a need to tighten efforts in terms of the uptick in violent crimes.

The party also recommended the increased use of drones; enhanced monitoring of people on bail; and that authorities immediately convene meetings with feuding gangs and communities to interrupt the cycle of violence, among other suggestions.

Agencies and stakeholders represented at yesterday’s conclave included the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Department of Public Prosecutions, the Bahamas Crisis Centre, the Hope Centre, the official opposition, Bahamas Christian Council, members of the government and Cabinet.

PAGE 6, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

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No respite at home for Biden WITH the last nine, unscripted words of an impassioned speech about Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, President Joe Biden created a troubling distraction, undermining his effectiveness as he returned home to face restive Americans who strongly disapprove of his performance on issues that matter most to them.

His comment that Russia’s Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” — an assertion that his aides were forced to quickly clean up — overshadowed his larger message of solidifying the Western coalition that’s confronting Moscow.

It punctuated another frustrating moment for an administration that’s struggled to regain its footing — and the American electorate’s support — in the face of an ongoing pandemic, escalating inflation and an increasingly complicated foreign policy crisis that raises the specter of nuclear conflict.

Although he’s forged a united front to punish Russia with sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, polls show Americans feel no better about his leadership as the bloody war continues. Meanwhile, Democrats are in danger of losing control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, leaving Biden with limited opportunities to advance a progressive domestic agenda that remains stalled.

The president is on the verge of securing the confirmation of the first Black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, on the US Supreme Court, yet there’s no clear path forward for him to fulfill other campaign promises around voting rights, criminal justice reform and fighting climate change. While polls show that Jackson is broadly supported by Americans, it hasn’t helped improve Biden’s standing with voters less than eight months before the midterms, which Republicans hope to frame as a referendum on the president.

The war in Russia has consumed much of the White House’s messaging bandwidth, but Biden is looking to turn the spotlight onto some his domestic priorities this week.

He is expected to unveil a new budget proposal on Monday, which includes a renewed focus on cutting the federal deficit and a populist proposal to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

If approved by Congress — far from a certainty — households worth more than $100m — a measurement of wealth, not income — would have to pay a minimum tax of 20% on their earnings.

The added revenue could help keep the deficit in check and finance some of Biden’s domestic priorities, including expanded safety net programs. There are few if any signs of Republican support for the proposal so far, and even some Democrats have been lukewarm to the idea.

Biden’s case isn’t helped by his approval ratings. A slim 34% of Americans think Biden is doing a good job handling the economy, which is normally the top issue for voters in an election year, according to a poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

His contentious assertion about Putin in his Warsaw speech did little to help things. The White House rushed to clarify that Biden wasn’t actually calling for “regime change,” but by the next day it became clear that the dramatic statement had produced some of the first overt cracks in unity among NATO nations that had just convened in Brussels for an emergency meeting.

Some leading Western European allies, including France and Germany, tend to be more cautious than the U.S. about how to confront Russia. Until Saturday night, Biden had calibrated his words carefully.

French President Emanuel Macron said Biden’s remarks could make it harder to resolve the conflict.

“I wouldn’t use those terms, because I continue to speak to President Putin, because what do we want to do collectively?” he said. “We want to stop the war that Russia launched in Ukraine, without waging war and without escalation.”

In Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that neither NATO

nor Biden seek regime change in Russia.

Asked about Biden’s remarks during an appearance on ARD television, Scholz also said Biden had not made a dangerous mistake. “We both agree completely that regime change is not an object and aim of policy that we pursue together,” the chancellor said.

Biden has enjoyed some rare bipartisan support for his handling of the Ukraine crisis. But some Republicans who have been generally supportive of his approach to the crisis chided him for his comments.

Sen James Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dryly noted on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, “Please, Mr President, stay on script.”

Sen Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Biden’s final comment “plays into the hands of the Russian propagandists and plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin”.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to continue clarifying Biden’s speech during a trip through the Middle East, where he had intended to focus on solidifying American partnerships as the administration seeks a renewed nuclear agreement with Iran.

Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, Blinken said Biden meant that “Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else.”

In case there was any doubt, Biden gave an emphatic “No!” when asked by a reporter outside of church Sunday if he was calling for regime change with the remark.

Even as Biden seemed to go too far for some allies with his speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemed to draw little comfort from it.

He accused Western nations of lacking courage to confront Russia, and he said criticized their “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets” and other weapons to the Ukrainian military.

The speech in Warsaw was the third, and by far most consequential, of instances from the trip where Biden’s aides needed to clean up his comments.

During a news conference in Brussels on Thursday, he said the US would respond “in kind” if Putin used chemical weapons in Ukraine. The next day, national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the president meant that “we’ll respond accordingly,” not that the US would use chemical weapons of its own.

And then, while speaking to members of the 82nd Airborne Division soldiers recently deployed to Poland, Biden seemed to suggest they would be going to Ukraine. Speaking about the bravery of Ukrainians, Biden said: “Look at how they’re stepping up. And you’re going to see when you’re there.”

Afterward, the White House reiterated that Biden had no intention of sending troops into Ukraine, something the president has insisted since the beginning of the conflict.

While running for office two years ago, Biden repeatedly told voters that “the words of a president matter,” and he promised that his foreign policy experience would serve the country well on the international stage.

There’s little doubt that Biden has been able to maintain unusual unity among allies during this war. But by speaking with more passion than caution — particularly in his speech in Warsaw — Biden has also reminded Americans of his proclivity for misstatements at a precarious time for his presidency.

Just 26% of Americans have faith that Biden can manage a crisis or the military, according to last week’s AP-NORC poll. There’s also been a mixed response to Biden’s approach to Russia. Although Americans have been skeptical of getting involved in another foreign crisis, they’ve also watched with horror as Putin continues to raze Ukrainian cities despite an array of punishing sanctions.

Only 36% said his approach has been “about right,” while 56% said Biden has not been tough enough on Russia.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

The debate on Republic has begun EDITOR, The Tribune.

WELL the debate on Republic or not Republic has started and hopefully the commentators will do their research and not talk total garbage so we get a mixed up opinion of untruths.

Set the stage... debate Wednesday on changes to National Awards heard significant two words stated by a Government Minister ‘No consensus’.... Does that mean at a Cabinet meeting the Ministers could not agree either way - Republic or stay as is? Does it mean to the PLP National Council there is no consensus?

The former, if accurate, the Ministers, that causes one to conclude seemingly a potential opinion that the younger newer Ministers are not in favour of a Republic - I see that as the likes of Hanna Martin - Mitchell - Sears possibly Wilchcombe would certainly be in favour.

So what if......

Really the model used most in the Commonwealth

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net where the majority by far of the member States are Republics basic change is solely and only the name change Governor General becomes President - everything otherwise stays the same... justice system Privy Council goes as does the much loved British Honours, you know we all want a British ‘Sir’ or CMG or even a CBE - MBE, etc. Then an Executive President elected, not appointed, with a Parliament. Not determined by composition of Parliament.

The simplest and easiest form is the first... change of name... but there will have to be a sell as there was for Independence as is UK guarantees nothing except in the bilateral Defense Agreement.

Now should we? After 50 years this coming year as an Independent State there surely are no presumed

risks of economic dangers as the majority of the Commonwealth have taken this step and all survived. As Minister Mitchell said ‘statehood building’.

50 years on does the Constitution need revising amending? Yes, the issue of Right to Citizenship has to be equalized once and for all... see this Government appealing the Supreme Court Appeal decision on citizenship....so if the Privy Council supports that position then what? The Davis Government will be forced to change the rules...could it mean a referendum or just an amendment to the Citizenship Act? Surely, any person born of a Bahamian, no gender qualification, should be Bahamian....let’s stop this fooliness and stupidity.

My thoughts will listen attentively to the speeches around the HRH Royal visit if PM indicates his course of choice.

JEROME JOHNSON Nassau, March 25, 2022.

Readers have say on visit AS the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited The Bahamas, readers of The Tribune’s website, www.tribune242.com, commented on the trip.

As the couple visited Abaco to hear the experiences of Hurricane Dorian victims, ThisisOurs commented: “This is all well and good. But the world has moved on.

“So many crises have happened since Dorian the eyes of the world are elsewhere, if anyone is to restore the people affected

by Jean, Irma, Matthew, Joaquin, Dorian it has to begin with us. We have the funds, we just got 250m from the world bank for COVID and nobody knows where it went.”

After Prince William

said the monarchy would support any decision by The Bahamas on its future, Alan1 noted: “Nearly every country which has abolished our Monarchy has joined the ranks of a failed third world republic. Why would we want to change our democratic foundation of a free parliament, our own Governor-General and impartial courts? . This stability has brought us the investment we really need to progress.

What advantage to us is a change to a republic? None

that I can see.”

TruetrueBahamian added: “It would be a huge mistake to lose our present standing and take on being a republic. As much as I respect some of those who would like to see that happen, it is not a realistic or wise choice to take that road. Once our current best position is lost it will not be able to return. Regrets and hindsight would abound.

Then it is too late and tears of loss due to such bad decisions will not be of any substance.”

But moncurcool replied: “Why do we want to say we independent but yet still hold onto the vestiges of colonialism? Wh do we still enslave ourselves? Sad we are still walking with the shackles of the past.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 7

Two years in jail for club stabbing

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday after stabbing two men at a club.

Alberto Bayard, 31, of Wulff Road, stood before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on two counts of causing grievous harm.

On March 20, around 3am at a club on Rosedale Street, Bayard stabbed two men — Chad Delancy and Earl Johnson — with a knife.

This incident reportedly occurred around the club’s closing time when the accused is said to have bumped into and harassed patrons of the bar on the dance floor.

When Mr Delancy tried to stop Bayard, the court was told that the accused drew a knife and stabbed him twice in his face and neck. When the other complainant, Mr Johnson, intervened in the situation, Bayard stabbed him in his left hand, the court was told.

This caused serious injury to three tendons in Mr Johnson’s hand for which he is still undergoing surgery.

After being arrested by police, the

accused was shown surveillance footage of the stabbing incident and admitted that he was the person in the film.

While Bayard pleaded guilty to both charges against him in court, he also claimed that he only attacked the complainants in self-defence.

Bayard, an amputee who lost his right leg, explained to Magistrate McKinney that he was under the influence and bumped into people by accident.

He said when he went to apologise to Mr Delancy, he was attacked by three men leading to him striking back in self-defence.

When the magistrate asked why the accused went to a club with a knife, Bayard explained that he only had it on him as he works as a self-employed sponge fisherman. He said he forgot he had the knife on him.

Bayard had a previous assault with a deadly instrument charge, however he asked the court for mercy so he can continue to provide for his children.

Magistrate McKinney sentenced Bayard to two years in prison.

The magistrate also informed the accused of his right to appeal his sentence within seven days.

EXUMA MAN ACCUSED OVER ‘WE’LL APPEAL RUDY KING ACQUITTAL’ BURGLARY AND DRUGS RUDOLPH “Rudy” King pictured at a previous court appearance.

By PAVEL BAILEY A MAN from Exuma was charged in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday with burglary and drug possession.

Alexio Marshall, 34, of The Forest, Exuma, appeared before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on charges of breaking and entering, stealing, receiving and possession of dangerous drugs.

On March 18 and sometime between March 22-23, Marshall is accused of breaking into two separate homes in Exuma and stealing two different luxury watches, including a red and

black Rolex.

These incidents resulted in Marshall being charged with two counts of breaking and entering, stealing and receiving.

He was also charged with being in possession of dangerous drugs. On March 23 police arrested Marshall after he was caught with two grams of Indian hemp.

Marshall pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him.

He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until March 30 when he is expected to return to court for bail consideration.

His trial was adjourned to April 8.

THE Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions plans to appeal a magistrate’s decision to acquit Bahamian businessman Rudolph “Rudy” King of fraud and money laundering charges on Friday based on a no-case submission by his defence team.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Franklyn Williams said his office believes the judge erred in the case and that an appeal will be filed by the end of next week.

“I’m advised by my officers that he (Mr King) was

acquitted on a no case submission,” Mr Williams told this newspaper when contacted yesterday. “We are preparing an appeal; we believe that the magistrate is in error and that there are grounds for appeal in this matter.”

Asked for a timeline of when this would occur, he said: “The appeal will be filed before the end of next week. I’m in consultation with my senior officers on the preparation of that appeal... Suffice it to say we believe that there were or

are no grounds for acquittal in this matter on a no-case submission.”

In July 2019, Mr King was charged before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis, of defrauding the General Post Office of over a half a million dollars, then laundering that amount between 2012 and 2015.

Prosecutors allege he defrauded the Post Office’s savings account of $661,648.

Mr King denied the allegations and maintained his innocence during the trial.

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

When will the deeds match the words?

By MALCOLM STRACHAN WHAT politicians say and what they do can sometimes be oceans apart – and we’ve seen a lot of that lately.

The last few days have seen the visit of the royal couple, Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, take the spotlight. Lots of noise, lots of spectacle, but what about the substance?

One of their first ports of call was to see Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, who said discussions “did touch on some matters of mutual interest (like) climate change,

carbon credits and the fact that it appears from where he was observing that The Bahamas is really punching above its weight in respect to leading the voice on climate change and the existential threat that it has, not just to a small island developing state like ours, but the whole world.”

Aside from the fact that it might be nice if the Prime Minister had let Prince William say this himself rather than just passing on what was said behind closed doors, let’s consider what is really going on here.

Mr Davis is essentially patting himself on the back for his speech at the

Glasgow climate conference – which did indeed gain international attention. But what have we done since?

A discussion that does little more than “touch on” issues such as climate change probably wasn’t of very much weight, but at least it’s on the agenda.

Now, what’s our agenda on the matter? Because apart from that speech and a suggestion from Mr Davis that The Bahamas can earn money from its carbon credits, what have we actually done to deal with climate change?

There’s that gap between what we say and what we do.

Has there been

MINISTER of State for Social Services and Urban Development Lisa Rahming said the public needed educating on gender-based violence, but couldn’t bring herself to say what her beliefs are when it comes to marital rape.

Photo: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis at the Governor General’s reception for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Friday.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff legislation on zoning laws, for example, to ban construction in projected flood zones? Are we reducing our own emissions? Are we moving to renewable energy? Or is it just all talk?

Even in his description of the discussion, Mr Davis says that climate change is an existential threat – as in a threat to our continued existence, so what next, Mr Davis?

Mr Davis is far from alone in the distance between what is said and what is done, however.

Let’s talk about crime, shall we? Time and again we hear about how crime is under control – last month Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said “a preliminary review of crime indicates that the deliverables targeted were achieved, as evidenced by the overall rate of crime remaining unchanged by the end of 2021”. So serious crime is not increasing, apparently, but last week National Security Minister says the country needs 900 more constables and wants to put police officers into the schools. One of these things is not like the other.

How about Lisa Rahming, the State Minister for Social Services and Urban Development, who

very earnestly declared that there was a need for public education on gender-based violence before any new legislation was introduced. We had a lot of education about that for the last referendum, but it didn’t seem to help.

When pressed on the details, Ms Rahming’s education plan seemed to go to pieces, however. She was asked about the terminology that would be used with regard to marital rape – but said that nothing has been determined in that regard. It’s not a great start to an education plan if you can’t simply say that rape is rape. She was asked whether she indeed believed that rape is rape, but refused to say what her position is on that or on marital rape itself. It sounds to me like it’s not the public that needs to be educated on the issue as much as the minister of state herself, perhaps.

How can you say that the public needs to learn the details of the issues if you can’t commit your own mouth to articulating what the issues are? You can’t be serious.

That’s all without even looking at the settlement for former Cabinet Minister Shane Gibson – paid $2.5m in his settlement with the government over malicious prosecution and

false imprisonment. Mr Gibson is, of course, entitled to take his lawsuit up, but in comparison Douglas Ngumi, who was detained for six and a half years unlawfully and subjected to inhumane treatment, was awarded just $750,950.

That contrast raises more than an eyebrow.

The Organisation for Responsible Governance has said that the settlement underscores the need for the establishment of an Integrity Commission.

ORG is right, but don’t hold your breath waiting for such a commission.

Let’s round off with a visit to Grand Bahama – where Minister Ginger Moxey said there are “robust plans” for the International Bazaar.

She said she was excited about it, along with the reopening of the road at the Royal Oasis Resort at a date that remains unrevealed, and that there was “a lot that is going to be going on there”. However, she then said: “I can’t say too much on it”. Why not?

If there actually is a plan, why not publish it, table it, let local residents see what’s coming? Or will this be another case where words and actions don’t match up?

I’d love to be proven wrong on any of these issues – let’s see if I am.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022 PAGE 9

HMAS Adelaide embarks Chinook Heavy-Lift Helicopters, in January before departing Australia to provide humanitarian assistance to Tonga after a volcanic eruption.

Shelter from the storm IN January of this year, the biggest volcanic eruption in three decades occurred in Tonga, a Polynesian country consisting of 169 islands scattered throughout the Southern Pacific Ocean. With a total population of approximately 105,000 people, this cataclysmic eruption was so loud that it was heard in both Australia and New Zealand, leaving three people dead and many more missing.

The United Nations World Health Organization reported that this event resulted in a mushroom cloud of smoke and ash hovering over the country, measuring over 65,000 feet and clearly visible from space. It was soon followed by a tsunami with rocks that rained down from above and waves so ruthless, it destroyed 50 houses and left another 100 damaged.

The day his appendix burst, my patient likened it to the eruption of this very same Tonga submarine volcano. His own organ had betrayed him and its internal explosion yielded agonising pain and an infection that shot through his entire body like a seismic tidal wave and left him in a coma, near the brink of death.

Telling his story, he wanted to start from the top and revealed that at the age of four, he ran away from home. At the time he was living with his mother in a small house under the harshest of circumstances so, one day, he packed some clothes and walked for over an hour to his father’s electrical shop.

His parents were never married. His mother had six children and his father had fourteen, so it took some time before anyone noticed that he was gone. Eventually a neighbour discovered him wondering outside the shop and phoned his father. Afraid that he might run away again if he sent him back to his mother, my patient’s father agreed to let his son live with him.

His mother, hurt and angry, refused to speak to him for 10 years.

His father was not always the easiest person to be around. He was sometimes short-tempered and incredibly strict but he loved his children and taught them valuable lessons. My patient matured quickly. In March 1984, he had to run an errand for his father. On his bicycle, he pedaled along the cobble route, waving to neighbours

By DR KENNETH D KEMP

and racing local street dogs eager for his attention. One of the dogs started barking angrily, running back and forth in a frantic desperate manner. By the time my patient turned to see why, it was too late. A car burst through an adjacent fence and hit his bicycle head on.

He went flying but his pant leg was caught on the bike’s pedal so he was dragged, his body bouncing up and down and beating the concrete road, several meters at full speed until the car eventually slammed into a lamp post.

As he lay there, his face, thigh, hip and back were scorched extensively but his right leg was visibly crushed, abnormally rotated and bleeding profusely with bones exposed.

His entire leg was numb. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move. Bystanders ran to assist and one of them recognised him immediately. He was taken to the hospital and spent the next 14 months recuperating.

He required multiple surgical grafts to repair the skin defects all over his body.

Steel rods had to be fixated to his leg bones with metal plates and screws utilized to rebuild the skeletal system in his right lower extremity.

Because of his prolonged immobilization in bed, he developed bed sores, particularly on the right heel, which had to be surgically debrided and treated for an infection.

Once released, he had considerable leg shortening, nerve damage and muscle wasting on his right side causing him to ambulate with crutches for the next three years. Then one day his father took his crutches and broke them in half, right in front of him, forcing him to walk from that point forward without assistance.

For the first few weeks he hopped everywhere, mostly using his toes, but eventually he began to walk with more confidence. He still had a notable limp but he was deeply indebted and grateful to his father for forcing him to walk and use his injured leg. The accident led to the eventual reconciliation with his mother.

Not long after that, his father developed a sharp headache that wouldn’t go away. He was taken to his general practitioner and sent for scans, which revealed that he had a brain tumor. Before the family could decide how to proceed, the cancer metastasized throughout his body and on a rainy Monday he died surrounded by his children, two years following his initial diagnosis.

Meanwhile, he started a family of his own ultimately having nine children. He now has his own business and with hard work, over the years he’s become very successful. But the stresses of his job took a toll on his health and he began experiencing severe pain in the middle and lower right side of his abdomen that increased exponentially when he stood

or attempted to walk. He felt nauseous and had an alarmingly high fever that quickly intensified.

His cousin is a medical practitioner and when he called her for advice, she advised him to go to the hospital immediately. He was quickly admitted into accident and emergency but laid on a gurney for an hour waiting to be evaluated by the on-call surgeon. Fortunately a friend recognized him and instigated for him to receive prompter service.

Within minutes of seeing him, it was apparent that his appendix had burst. He was transported directly to the operating theatre but by the time the surgeon opened him, his appendix looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off and the tide of thick and malodorous green-yellow pus inside had

already surged out. He was in a coma for eight days and in the hospital for 19 days, released and then readmitted for another nine days to control his infection.

Today, at the age of 52, he can be found in his shop helping customers, in his community helping neighbours or with his wife and children imparting the same lessons that his father gave to him. He often ignored advice from his wife and children to slow down and to see his doctor whenever sick. Not listening to them sooner almost cost him his life. So, the message he wanted others to take from his story was to listen when loved ones beg you to take care of yourself, take charge of your health and not put off seeking medical care. Be receptive to their advice, he stated reassuringly, because

they love you and at your weakest moment, they’ll be the ones you need the most.

A shining example that not all heroes wear capes, this patient has survived many hardships. Despite that and with a glaringly positive outlook on life he remains perpetually grateful for his family. Upon reflection he states that they have consistently and openheartedly throughout his entire life provided him with his most cherished blessing – an enduring and coveted shelter from whatever storm may come his way.

This is The KDK Report.

• Nicknamed ‘The Prince of Podiatry’, Dr Kenneth D Kemp is the founder and medical director of Bahamas Foot and Ankle located in Caves Village, Western New Providence. He served as the deputy chairman for the Health Council for five years and he currently sits on the board of directors for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in his role as co-vice-chairman.

He is the recipient of over 15 global awards and certifications.

PAGE 10 MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022

OAS VOTES ON ISSUE OF UKRAINE

IN place of the regular article by Sir Ronald Sanders, this week we publish a statement he has given to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States addressing issues of security and the situation in Ukraine.

The issue was put to a vote, with 28 votes in favour, zero votes against and five abstentions. There was one absentee, Nicaragua. The full statement is as follows: Statement by Sir Ronald Sanders Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda ALL our countries are living in a deeply troubling time.

As we gather here, at this important meeting of the Permanent Council, the international legal order is fighting for its life.

Peace and security in the world – and, indeed, peace and security in our hemisphere – has been dependent on respect for international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter and the OAS Charter, both of which require suppression of acts of aggression and conformity with the

INSIGHT

A UKRAINIAN serviceman walks yesterday outside the regional administration building damaged in a Russian attack earlier this month in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo: Felipe Dana/AP

World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS principles of justice and international law.

Peace and security are now gravely threatened, destabilising the world economy, and the economies of every country on the planet with no exception.

Those conditions have quickly impacted every person in the world, and more particularly the poorest, the powerless and the least resilient.

High prices for oil, shortage of food supplies, increased cost of food, of air and sea transportation; higher costs for the supply of water and energy – all of these developments have touched every person in all our societies, especially the poor and vulnerable.

Our societies are at serious risk of destabilisation.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

The crisis in Ukraine caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation has not spared any of our nations.

Therefore, every member state of this Organisation of American States has to be deeply concerned for themselves and for world peace and security.

Unquestionably, each of our countries is also deeply disturbed that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine has been violated.

Small countries, such as mine, are especially troubled, because we are militarily and economically powerless.

The only defence we have is respect for and adherence to international law.

When international law

is violated, our defences are breached and we are exposed to aggression, in all its forms, that we have little capacity to resist.

Events in Ukraine have unfolded before our eyes.

No one can deny the loss of life and the displacement of millions of people; none can refute that innocent women and children, including babies have been the hapless victims of military action in densely populated cities; no country can turn a blind eye to the dire humanitarian crisis which is worsening even as we now meet.

Over the last three weeks – and up to yesterday - the overwhelming majority of our member states have twice voted in the United Nations General Assembly to express condemnation of all violations of international law, including international humanitarian law.

However, our own organisation is yet to make a collective statement on this matter, even though Ukraine and the Russian Federation are both permanent observers to the OAS and sit among us.

This is why the delegations of Guatemala and Antigua and

Barbuda, with the support of several other member states, have brought this important Resolution to the Permanent Council.

We thank the member states that have co-sponsored this Resolution and the overwhelming majority of delegations that have pledged their support.

We want an end to this military assault in Ukraine.

We want a return to international law.

We want the humanitarian situation in Ukraine to be addressed to end the suffering of its people.

We want dialogue and negotiations to end the hostilities and to restore peace.

And, we want all our member states and permanent observers to honour their responsibilities to the principles and values in the OAS Charter.

Madam Chair, in this connection, Antigua and Barbuda moves that we submit the Resolution to a vote, and we now formally do so now.

I respectfully request a rollcall vote, in accordance with article 58 of the Rules of Procedure of this body.

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022 PAGE 11

Even after lockdowns eased, pandemic depression persisted across social classes

By CATHERINE ETTMAN, Boston University and SANDRO GALEA, Boston University ONE year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that more than one in five US adults reported probable depression in both spring 2020 and spring 2021. We also found that financial assets helped reduce the persistence of symptoms – but only to a point. Our recently published research highlights COVID-19’s continuing mental health effects on the US population.

We launched a national study in March 2020 measuring mental health and assets. COVID-19 was a national emergency, as deaths were on the rise. Schools, workplaces and government offices closed as Americans were urged to stay home.

At that time, we found that 27.8 percent of U.S. adults in our study reported symptoms of depression, such as losing interest in activities or feeling down or hopeless.

This number was over three times as high as the national pre-pandemic depression estimate of 8.5 percent.

Most striking to us was that a year into the pandemic, depression rates remained high, despite hopeful signs of reducing infections and deaths.

In April 2021, people were lining up for COVID-19 vaccine shots, doctors were finding better COVID-19 treatments and efforts to reopen society were under way.

But by that point, the share of adults in our survey reporting symptoms of depression had gone up to 32.8 percent.

Worse yet, that higher 2021 number included 20.3 percent who had reported symptoms of depression both in April 2020 and in April 2021.

This finding suggests that poor mental health driven by the pandemic was both prevalent and persistent.

We also wanted to know which assets – financial, physical and social – might be influencing people’s mental health during the pandemic.

In our first survey, we found that people who came into the pandemic with relatively few assets – especially financial ones – were more likely to be affected by COVID19-related stresses.

In our April 2021 follow-up survey, we were interested in the relationship between mental health and asset status.

We looked at financial assets such as personal savings, physical assets such as home ownership and social assets of education and marital status.

We compared people who were similar in terms of marriage, education and home ownership.

We found that people in households earning less than US$20,000 a year were 3.5 times as likely to report persistent depression symptoms as those making $75,000.

We also found that people who had $5,000 or more in savings or a bank account reported less persistent depression. Having more assets, however, did not reduce the depression-inducing stress of losing a job, suffering relationship problems or experiencing financial difficulties during the pandemic.

WHY IT MATTERS Nearly one million US lives have been lost to COVID-19, and there have been almost five million hospitalisations.

But measuring the effect of the pandemic on the nation’s mental health is just beginning. And we believe the pandemic’s sustained impact on the nation’s mental health is unprecedented.

WHAT’S NEXT

Our next move is to further examine areas of overlap between those who started the pandemic with fewer assets and those who suffered job losses, relationship problems or financial difficulties during the pandemic.

People who have fewer assets are the ones most at risk of depression, especially depression that lasts over time with social upheaval. Assets can be a cushion, but even they did not protect people from the harmful effects of stressors brought on by the pandemic. Our research shows that although the pandemic seems to be easing, Americans are still suffering. And they may continue to feel ill effects on their mental health for a long time to come.

• Originally published on www.theconversation. com.

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PAGE 12, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

‘West needs more courage in helping Ukraine to fight’ LVIV, Ukraine Associated Press

WILL SMITH, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage during last night’s Oscars ceremony.

Photo: Chris Pizzello/AP

WILL SMITH’S BLOW DOMINATES OSCARS

LOS ANGELES Associated Press

THE movie CODA won the best picture Oscar last night - but the talk of the night was when Will Smith hit presenter Chris Rock after taking offence to a joke the comedian made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

CODA’s win was groundbreaking - the deaf family drama won Hollywood’s top award for a streaming service for the first time, and was the first film with a largely deaf cast to win best picture.

But the headlines were dominated by Smith, who later won best actor for his role in King Richard. Jessica Chastain won best actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

After Rock joked to Smith that he was looking forward to a sequel to GI Jane, Smith stood up from his seat near the stage, strode up to Rock and slapped him.

After sitting back down, Smith shouted

at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth”. When Rock, who joked about Jada Pinkett Smith while hosting the Oscars in 2016, protested that it was just a “GI Jane” joke, Smith repeated the same line.

“That was the greatest night in the history of television,” Rock said, before awkwardly returning to presenting best documentary, which went to Questlove’s “Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Was Not Televised).”

At the commercial break, presenter Daniel Kaluuya came up to hug Smith, and Denzel Washington escorted him to the side of the stage. The two talked and hugged and Tyler Perry came over to talk as well.

In his later acceptance speech, Smithshared what Washington told him: “At your highest moment, be careful because that’s when the devil comes for you.”

Ultimately, Smith apologised to the academy and to his fellow nominees.

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of cowardice as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invading troops, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense as the war ground into a battle of attrition.

Speaking after US President Joe Biden said in a lacerating speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power — words the White House immediately sought to downplay — Zelenskyy lashed out Sunday at the West’s “ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets” and other weapons while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians.

“I’ve talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I’m in constant contact with them. Their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing,” Zelenskyy said in a

video address, referring to the besieged southern city that has suffered some of the war’s greatest deprivations and horrors. “If only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had 1% of their courage.”

Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that her country had heard Biden “loud and clear”.

“Now, it’s all up to all of us to stop Putin while it’s still local in Ukraine because this war is not only about Ukraine,” she said, but “an attack on democracy.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its 32nd day, has stalled in many areas. Its aim to quickly encircle the capital, Kyiv, and force its surrender has faltered against staunch Ukrainian resistance — bolstered by weapons from the US and other Western allies.

Zelenskyy signed a law yesterday that bans reporting on troop and equipment movements that haven’t been announced or approved by the military.

Journalists who violate the law could face three to eight years in prison. The law does not differentiate between Ukrainian and foreign reporters.

Britain’s Defence Ministry said Russia’s troops are trying to encircle Ukrainian forces facing the two separatist-held areas in the country’s east. That would cut the bulk of Ukraine’s military off from the rest of the country.

Moscow claims its focus is on wresting the entire eastern Donbas region, which has been partially controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014. A high-ranking Russian military official said on Friday that troops were being redirected to the east from other parts of the country.

The leader of one separatist-controlled area of Donbas said yesterday that

he wants to hold a vote on joining Russia, words that may indicate a shift in Russia’s position. Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said it plans to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia “in the nearest time”.

Russia has supported the separatist rebels in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk since an insurgency erupted there shortly after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. In talks with Ukraine, Moscow has demanded Kyiv acknowledge the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, accused Russia of seeking to split Ukraine in two, like North and South Korea.

“The occupiers will try to pull the occupied territories into a single quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine,” Budanov said in a statement released by the Defence Ministry. He predicted that guerrilla warfare

by Ukrainians would derail such plans.

A Ukrainian delegate in talks with Russia on ending the war, Davyd Arakhamia, said in a Facebook post the countries would meet in Turkey beginning today.

However, the Russians then announced the talks would start tomorrow. The sides have met previously with no deal reached.

Ukraine says to defeat Russia, the West must provide fighter jets and not just missiles and other military equipment. A proposal to transfer Polish planes to Ukraine via the United States was scrapped amid NATO concerns about being drawn into direct fighting.

Zelenskyy accused Western governments of being “afraid to prevent this tragedy. Afraid to simply make a decision”.

“So, who is in charge of the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it still Moscow, thanks to its scare tactics?”

EL SALVADOR DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador Associated Press

EL SALVADOR’S congress granted President Nayib Bukele request to declare a state of emergency early yesterday amid a wave of gang-related killings over the weekend.

Fourteen people were killed on Friday and 62 people died on Saturday, a scale of violence that has not been seen for years.

By comparison, there were 79 homicides in the entire month of February.

Bukele announced the request on Saturday in his social media accounts, and congress approved it early yesterday. The decree would suspend constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and loosen arrest rules for as much as thirty days, but could be extended.

The homicides appeared linked to the country’s notorious street gangs, who effectively control many neighbourhoods in the the capital. The National Police reported they have captured five leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, who they claimed ordered the weekend killings.

Bukele announced the request in his social media accounts, and taunted those who opposed the measure, saying: “Is the opposition coming out to defend the gang members?”

While Bukele has tried to project a tough attitude on crime, the country’s enormously powerful street gangs have proved a double-edged sword for him.

“We must remind the people of El Salvador that what is happening now is due to the negligence of those who protected

criminals,” the conservative Arena party said in a statement.

That was an apparent reference to a December report by the US Treasury Department that said Bukele’s government secretly negotiated a truce with leaders of the gangs.

That contradicted Bukele’s denials and raised tensions between the two nations.

The US government alleges Bukele’s government bought the gangs’ support with financial benefits and privileges for their imprisoned leaders including prostitutes and cellphones.

The explosive accusations cuts to the heart of one of Bukele’s most highly touted successes in office: a plunge in the country’s homicide rate.

The president responded sarcastically via Twitter to the accusations. “Cell phones and prostitutes in the prisons? Money to the gangs? When did that happen? Didn’t they even check the date? How can they put out a such an obvious lie without anyone questioning them?”

Bukele vehemently denied the accusation when it was reported in August 2020 by the local news site El Faro.

In 2020, Bukele’s administration ‘’provided financial incentives to Salvadoran gangs MS-13 and 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18) to ensure that incidents of gang violence and the number of confirmed homicides remained low,” the Treasury statement said.

“Over the course of these negotiations with Luna and Marroquin, gang leadership also agreed to provide political support to the Nuevas Ideas political party in upcoming elections.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 13

Miller: Republic issue is dead talk

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net FORMER Cabinet minister Leslie Miller says reignited discourse about The Bahamas possibly becoming a republic is “dead talk”, adding that he doubts any significant change toward removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state will happen during his lifetime.

The matter has become a renewed topic of discussion after Barbados shed its ties with the monarchy last November as well as in the lead up to the Royal visit to the Caribbean this month.

Prince William’s comments on Friday night about the future of this nation have added another layer of context to the discussion.

During a reception held at Baha Mar the Duke of Cambridge said in part: “Next year I know you are looking forward to celebrating 50 years of independence, your golden anniversary, and with Jamaica celebrating 60 years of independence this year and Belize celebrating 40 years of independence last year I want to say this: we support with pride and respect your decisions about your future. Relationships evolve, friendship endures.”

Mr Miller who was present during the Duke of Cambridge’s remarks expressed doubts that the Davis administration had the political will to make the change.

“That’s really dead talk.

In my lifetime it ain’t (going to) happen,” he said following the event.

“The average Bahamian

who thinks about a republic are those who can get press, think about Haiti and those other third world countries.

Not realising that America is a republic and most of the countries around the world are republics.

“But it’s not going to happen in our country in the next 50 years.”

Asked by The Tribune why he was of this view, Mr Miller said: “Because we don’t have the guts to do it.

“Those at the top would have hollow rhetoric on it, but they are not going to go to the front,” the former Tall Pines MP said. “First of all, if they have a referendum, they (will) get beat because our people are ignorant towards what is a democracy, what is a true democracy.

“The minute you say a president, we don’t want a president. We want a prime minister.”

Despite this, Mr Miller said he would support a push toward The Bahamas becoming a republic, adding “I would love to see it in my lifetime, but it ain’t (going to) happen so I don’t think about it. I’ll be gone by then.”

Responding directly to Prince William’s comments, Mr Miller said it was not the British monarchy’s fault that the country had maintained ties to the Crown despite nearly 50 years of independence.

“We like what we have.

Innately, those people who are out there complaining like the Rastafarian faith and the rest of them they’ll be the first ones to take a damn ticket and come here to have a good time. That’s just how they go. They complain about it, but they aint

PRINCE William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, saying farewell on Saturday.

Photos: Racardo Thomas/ Tribune Staff gonna do nothing towards it.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell declined comment when contacted yesterday.

However, he has previously said he is still committed to seeing The Bahamas become a republic. He is also of the view that it will happen eventually.

His comments at the time followed Barbados becoming a republic last year.

“I suspect that there will be a cascading effect since Barbados - arguably

the most conservative of CARICOM societies - has done so,” Mr Mitchell said at the time.

“The whole question of whether or not a republic is impatient of debate, but the political reality is that unless the younger

generation buys into it, it will go nowhere.”

Last week, during the Royals’ stop in Jamaica, that country’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness indicated that the nation was making moves towards becoming a republic.

“We are moving on,” Mr Holness said during a meeting with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. “We intend to… fulfil our true ambitions and destiny as an independent, developed, prosperous country.”

PRINCE William talks to Bahamas Olympian Shaunae Miller-Uibo and her husband, Maicel Uibo.

DURING the visit to Abaco, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, offers Prince William some conch salad and also tried her hand at making the dish at with Kow’s Conch Salads, below.

THE BAHAMAS National youth choir performs at the Governor General’s reception at Baha Mar.

IT’S OVER $6 A GALLON TO FILL UP YOUR CAR from page one

Just last week, Rubis was $5.52 a gallon, Esso was $5.68 and Shell was $5.50.

“It’s a very volatile situation that’s out of our control,” the minister told The Tribune yesterday when contacted for comment. “The latest spikes have resulted from what happened in Russia with the war in Ukraine and the disruptions in the Russian oil supply and in general the uncertainty that it causes, which causes prices to fluctuate.

“So, we see prices have gotten as high, I think it’s $130 and down to under $100 (a barrel) and now back over $100. So, it is our hope that things stabilise

and some of that uncertainty is removed and we see prices go back to a more normalised level. So, that is something we are watching and we’re actively watching that with the hope that things move to a more normalised position.”

Asked whether the government was considering cutting the rate of taxation on fuel imports to help keep costs down as some places like Barbados have done, the minister said The Bahamas has a different tax structure.

“As it pertains to other countries doing things with taxes on fuel you would note that for example in Barbados, they did do a reduction but as a counterpart to that they did things like put in place a COVID

levy on individual income tax as well as surcharge on corporate tax and raised some other taxes,” he said.

“So, whereas they lowered the tax on fuel, some types of fuel, they actually raised it on other types of fuel.

For example, in Barbados they raised it on LNG and in Barbados they instituted a pandemic levy on income tax at a certain level and they implemented an additional corporate tax.

“So, our position is different in that we don’t have income taxes. We don’t have corporate taxes that would allow us to raise those things and in reality, our taxes come from import duties as we don’t have income tax.”

Mr Halkitis continued: “The other point I want to

make is that the government of The Bahamas gets revenue from taxes and if we don’t get it from taxes we get it from borrowing and as you know we have had a significant run up in debt over the last few years and so we have to be very careful when we talk about affecting our revenue base because if our revenue goes down we have to make up the difference through borrowing.

“So, in short, we just advise people to conserve as much as they possibly can.

We know it’s a difficult time and we are observing the situation and volatility particularly coming out of the war and we are hopeful that that situation normalises and the prices of oil on the international market will go back to more normal levels.

“From time to time we see these sorts of disruptions and volatility and hopefully this is short lived and we just ask people to bear with the situation and hopefully we move to a more normalised level.”

Earlier this month, Public Works Minister Alfred Sears said the government was concerned about the rise in gasoline prices at the pumps, adding some “extraordinary” measures will have to be considered and taken in response to an expected continued increase in fuel costs.

Weeks later, nothing has been made public to align with Mr Sears’ position.

In February Bahamian consumers and businesses were warned to brace for gasoline prices to hit $6

per gallon this month after the Ukraine crisis sent oil prices soaring to seven-year highs.

In early March, The Tribune reported that over a two-week period, motorists in New Providence, especially those who frequent Rubis gas stations, had faced a dramatic price hike. In mid-February, the supplier’s price at the pumps was $5.16 per gallon - below its competitors. By March 2, that price had risen to $5.52.

While Shell stations did not increase during that time frame, remaining at $5.37, Esso rose by five cents, increasing from $5.19 to $5.24.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has predicted a high of $8 per gallon of gas this spring.

PAGE 14, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

SPORTS PAGE 15

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022

Softball, Page 20

Strachan dips under 11 seconds in 100 metres

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

C

oming off her semifinal appearance in her initial World Indoor Championships on March 18 in Belgrade, Serbia, Anthonique Strachan powered her way through with a vintage outdoor debut at the Wolmer Speedfest in Kingston, Jamaica.

As the outdoor season officially got underway, Strachan led a list of Bahamians in action as she lowered her decade-old lifetime best from 11.20 seconds (July 11, 2011) to 10.99 in an impressive victory in the 100 metres at the National Stadium on Saturday.

In the process, she became the seventh Bahamian woman to dip under the 11-second barrier.

“The race went very well, much better than I anticipated,” Strachan said.

“I just followed the instructions of my coach (Stephen Francis) and the things that I’ve been practicing in training and would have and have been told to see if I could execute a good race, which I think I did.

“I messed up in a few parts, but it was my best race in my entire career and so I can’t complain about it. I’m really excited about the time. I never complain about any time I run, but this shows me that I still have a lot more to give. It’s just up for me.”

After a decade of getting to the level where she was a contender on the world

stage as the then IAAF Rising Star of the Year, Strachan said she’s looking forward to getting in a few Diamond League meets where she can continue to improve on her time.

She noted that despite not making the final in Belgrade, running a PB of 7.17 in the semifinals of the 60m really prepared her for the outdoor season opener, although she didn’t get to do any additional speed work in between.

“I’m excited to be making improvements and running a PB (personal best) after 10 years, a whole decade,” she said about her outdoor 100m time.

When asked what took her so long, Strachan still training in Jamaica with the MVP Club that features double Olympic

SEE PAGE 20

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net DANIELLE Nixon and Taysha Stubbs were the latest field athletes to attain the CARIFTA Games qualifying standard.

At the Star Trackers Track and Field Club’s Road to CARIFTA Qualifying Meet on Saturday at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, Nixon tossed the under-17 girls’ shot put 12.85 metres and was followed by Extreme Athletics’ Terrell McCoy with 12.76m.

They both surpassed the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ qualifying standard of 12.63m, although it was the second time for McCoy, who on February 22 qualified for the first time at the Roadrunners Track Club’s Dianna Lynn Thompson Time Trials.

However, they still have to compete in the BAAA Final Trials this weekend - on Friday and Saturday - before the team that will head to Jamaica for the games is named on Sunday.

CARIFTA is making a return after a two-year hiatus as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It feels great because I worked really hard in practice with coach (Corrington) Maycock and I just wanted to qualify,” said Nixon, a 15-year-old 9th

SEE PAGE 18 ON THE REPLAY: Anthonique Strachan leads Jamaican Sashalee Forbes through the finish line in the 100m at the Wolmer Speedfest in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday. As the outdoor season officially got underway, Strachan lowered her decade-old lifetime best for the victory.

NBA-LEADING SUNS TOP 76ERS, 114-104

PHOENIX Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts to the Philadelphia 76ers bench during the first half yesterday in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

ATHLETES QUALIFY FOR THE CARIFTA GAMES

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 35 points, Chris Paul had 19 points and 14 assists and the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns won their eighth straight game, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-104 yesterday.

It was an intriguing matchup between two teams with an eye on the NBA Finals. The Suns have wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and best record in the league, while the 76ers

are fighting Milwaukee, Boston and Miami for the top spot in the East. The loss left the 76ers tied with the Bucks, a half-game behind the Celtics and Heat.

Phoenix is 61-14, a victory shy of trying the franchise season victory record. The 76ers had their three-game winning streak snapped despite another big game from Joel Embiid, who had 37 points and 15 rebounds.

James Harden had a tough

game, shooting 2 of 11 from the field. He had 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

HORNETS 119, NETS 110 NEW YORK (AP) — LaMelo Ball had 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and Charlotte beat Brooklyn to spoil Kyrie Irving’s first home game of the season and tie the Nets for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

SEE PAGE 17

NATIONAL SCHOOL GOLF GRAND FINALE SET FOR TODAY AFTER getting rained out on Friday, the Bahamas Golf Federation will now complete its 2022 National School Championships today in their new facility at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

More than 282 players played in the preliminary rounds from Monday to Thursday to qualify as one of the top 5 teams and up to 10 individuals (based on space available) per division for the grand finale.

Heavyweight boxer Prince William: Amron Sands loses Commonwealth links to crown up to the people in the first round

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net IT was a disappointing return to the ring for Amron Sands as he suffered his second consecutive loss.

In the co-main event Friday night at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida, Sands suffered a first round stoppage at the hands of Christian Thun of Schwelm, Germany.

Thun improved to 8-0, 6 KOs after a first round stoppage of Sands at the 2:22 mark in the first round. Sands fell to 11-2, 9 KOs. Thun, 30, unloaded a barrage of punches at a defenseless Sands before the referee intervened.

In his previous appearance, the 27-year-old Sands had the first loss of his professional career when he suffered a third-round TKO against Alexis Garcia of the Dominican Republic

March 12, 2021 at the Hotel Catalonia Malecon Center in Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic.

His last win came on February 20, 2020 when he won by an eight-round unanimous decision over SANDS Christian Galvez.

Sands trains out of Kissimmee Boxing Academy under the tutelage of coaches Rashad Mays and Jose Ramos. He fights under the Dibella Entertainment banner and is managed by Kevin Dever.

Thun, the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) heavyweight title holder, made his debut in 2018 and has opened his career with a series of dominant performances, most recently a one-round knockout of Keenan Hickmon on November 19, 2021.

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — As Caribbean nations debate their relationship with the British crown, Prince William says he will support and respect whatever decision the people make.

William, second in line to the throne, made the comments after an eight-day tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas during which he and wife Kate were celebrated but also criticised as being “tone deaf” for perpetuating images of Britain’s colonial rule.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the royals his country intended to become a republic, removing the

BRITAIN’s Prince William (AP) British monarch as its head of state.

“I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future,” William said in a statement reflecting the end of their

tour on Saturday. “In Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.”

The young royals visited the three nations as representatives of Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrates the 70th anniversary of her reign this year.

During those seven decades she has been the head of state for the United Kingdom and 14 “realms” that were once colonies of the British Empire and are now independent countries.

The royal couple was greeted by protesters demanding an apology for the role Britain played in the enslavement of millions of Africans and reparations

SEE PAGE 21

PAGE 16, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MLB Pipeline: Giants prospect Ryan Reckley ranked no.25

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net EXPECTATIONS loom large for highly touted San Francisco Giants prospect Ryan Reckley as he enters the organisation ranked as one of the top 30 players in its farm.

MLB Pipeline ranks Reckley at no.25 as it continues its annual preseason farm system ranking and analysis.

When Reckley signed last January, he was listed as the No.9 international prospect by both MLB.com and Baseball America.

GAMECOCKS CARRY RELENTLESS PUSH INTO FINAL FOUR

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Aliyah Boston headed across the court to join her South Carolina teammates in their celebration when she bumped into assistant coach Fred Chmiel.

Almost immediately, Chmiel jumped into the 6-foot-5 junior’s arms for an exuberant hug.

It was a reversal from a year earlier, when Chmiel held a sobbing Boston on the court after the horn sounded to end South Carolina’s title push in a Final Four game that ended with her missing a putback for the win.

Boston and the Gamecocks are headed back to that same point, this time as the No. 1 overall seed in the women NCAA Tournament. They’ve relentlessly stalked this title dream all season.

“She’s mature enough to handle it,” coach Dawn Staley said.

“She’s grounded. She knows who she is. She never gets out in front of anything...

“That’s just a real good sign of just maturing and knowing who you are, knowing your worth and knowing that she’s probably the (national) player of the year.”

The first-team Associated Press All-American had 19 points in Sunday night’s 80-50 win against Creighton in the Greensboro Region final, which sent South Carolina to the Final Four for the second straight year and fourth time overall.

Next up is a national semifinal against the Michigan-Louisville winner.

Boston didn’t have the monster output like she did in the Sweet 16 win against North Carolina, and even saw the end of her 27-game double-double streak.

But she commanded heavy defensive attention from multiple blue jerseys throughout the night while remaining the physical presence at the core of the Gamecocks’ push all year.

Boston was named the most outstanding player of the Greensboro Region.

He was the top signing of a Giants recruiting class that also included no.30 prospect Juan Perez of Venezuela.

The Giants signed 11 prospects on the first day of the international signing period.

“San Francisco signed him for $2.2 million in January, giving him its largest international bonus since paying Marco Luciano $2.6 million four years earlier.

Advanced for his age, he could come to the United States for his pro debut as a 17-year-old this summer,” his Pipeline analysis said. “Reckley should be able to adapt to pro pitchers immediately

because he understands his swing and the strike zone. A switch-hitter with bat speed, he shows more pop from the right side and could produce 15 homers per season once he adds strength. He’s more of a gap-to-gap hitter who could fit at the top of a lineup with his on-base ability and plus speed.”

The Giants organisation has had Bahamian talent in its pipeline dating back to Andre Rodgers in the late 1950s, drafted Byron Murray in 2014, signed Lucius Fox in 2015 and Antoan Richardson currently serves as a first base coach at the major league level.

Giants’ director of international

scouting, Joe Salermo, said Reckley’s foundation in addition to his play on the field made him one of the Giants’ top targets for the last few years.

“It’s been a pleasure watching Reckley play the last two and-a-half years,” he said. “The Bahamas is a hotbed for baseball.

From Antoan Richardson, to Jazz Chisholm, to Reckley and to all of these young players coming up.”

Listed as a 5’10”, 165-pound shortstop, Reckley’s scouting grades include - Hit: 55, Power: 45, Run: 60, Arm: 50, Field: 55 and Overall: 55 according to MLB Pipeline.

SAN Francisco Giants prospect Ryan Reckley.

Scheffler wins Match Play and goes to No. 1

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Winning by now should be old hat for Scottie Scheffler. Sunday in the Dell Technologies Match Play was special for so many reasons, and the new No. 1 player in the world couldn’t hide it.

Moments after Scheffler closed out Kevin Kisner on the 15th hole to win for the third time in five starts, the 25-year-old Texan was overcome by tears and hugs, from his wife to his parents and sisters and pretty much everyone who could get a piece of him at Austin Country Club.

From a top junior in Dallas to four years as a Texas Longhorn to his time outside the ropes at the Match Play watching the world’s best, all Scheffler wanted to do was play alongside them.

And now he’s the one everyone is chasing as No. 1 in the world.

“I never really got that far in my dreams,” Scheffler said at the trophy presentation, choking up and wiping away more tears. “I just love to play golf. I love competing. I’m happy to be out here, you know?”

The hottest player in golf now has the ranking to prove it.

One year after losing in the championship match, Scheffler never trailed against Kevin Kisner, building a 3-up lead through six holes and giving him no chance to catch up. Scheffler closed him out with a par on the 15th for a 4-and-3 victory.

Scheffler led the whole way in his 3-and-1 semifinal win over Dustin Johnson, either — he went the final 57 holes in Country Club without trailing — and he was so solid in the championship match that Kisner didn’t win a hole.

“I don’t know if anybody is playing better than he is,” said Kisner, who joined Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy as the only players to reach the

SCOTTIE Scheffler holds the trophy after winning the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament yesterday in Austin, Texas.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) championship match at that in front of my family.

That championship least three times. Kisner They’ve supported me so match was never in doubt, won the Match Play three much along the way,” he except to Scheffler. He years ago. said. “I really don’t know was well aware of Kisner’s So much was going what to say about that. record at Austin Country Scheffler’s way that on I don’t feel like that. I Club — 22-6-1 going into the par-5 12th, Schef- don’t feel like No. 1 in the the title match — and his fler got too cute with an world. I feel like the same record rally from 3 down eagle chip that caught a guy I was four months with four holes to play to slope and rolled into a ago, and I hope that beat Adam Scott the day bunker. Kisner had 6 feet doesn’t change.” before. for birdie, looking to cut He is the sixth-youngest Kisner, who outlasted the deficit to 1 down with player to reach No. 1 since Corey Conners of Canada seven to play. the world ranking began in 18 holes in the morning, And then Scheffler in 1986. began with a wedge to 3 holed the bunker shot for Scheffler joined Kisner feet for birdie. a birdie. as the only players to win Scheffler followed with Kisner had to make the the Match Play the year a shot to 8 feet and the putt to keep from losing after losing in the champi- Texas crowd roared when more ground. By then onship match. he made the putt to match it was getting late, and “I’ve thought about birdies.

Scheffler went 4 up with winning this tournament Kisner lost the second four to play when Kisner ever since last year,” hole with a bogey from a bogeyed the 14th.

Scheffler said. tough lie in the bunker, Scheffler is so good “It left kind of a poor Scheffler went 2 up with at blocking out so much taste in my mouth getting a 15-foot birdie putt on around him that he wasn’t so close and ultimately the par-3 fourth and hit even aware of the No. 1 coming up short. So it a beautiful chip from scenario until Saturday. feels really good to finish behind the green on the Jon Rahm, who had been the job this time around.” par-5 sixth to go 3 up. atop the ranking since Scheffler had to hold They halved the next the British Open, lost his breath in the semi- seven holes, each one in 19 holes in the fourth finals Sunday morning moving Scheffler closer to round. That meant Schef- against Johnson.

He the title. fler would go to No. 1 by seized on Johnson’s worst He earned $2.1 milwinning. round of putting to build lion for the win — that’s That he did, looking a 5-up lead through 11 $5,736,000 for his last every bit like the cool holes, only for Johnson to three wins — and heads to customer who won the win the next four holes. Augusta National as one Phoenix Open in a playoff Scheffler was 1 up on the of the leading favorites. six weeks ago, followed by par-5 16th when Johnson Conners won the first a rally to win the Arnold missed a 4-foot putt, and three holes in the conPalmer Invitational at Bay the match ended on the solation match and beat Hill. “Pretty cool to do 17th.

Johnson, 3 and 1.

SAINT PETER’S RUN ENDS IN ELITE EIGHT

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway pulled his starters off the court as the seconds ticked down and would not let them wallow in defeat. The Peacocks locked arms for one final team huddle — Doug Edert, KC Ndefo, Daryl Banks III and the rest of the bracket-busters who put the tiny commuter college in Jersey City, New Jersey, on the map.

Holloway’s speech — perhaps the last one he will ever give at Saint Peter’s — was simple: Stay proud of how a team few outside campus had heard of until two weeks ago had shocked the basketball world.

“We’ve got guys that are going to be remembered for things that they could tell their kids and grandkids,” Holloway said.

What a story to tell. Just maybe skip the ending.

The Peacocks’ joyous, bracket-busting, can-theytop-this ride through the NCAA Tournament ended with a dud in a 69-49 East Region final loss to North Carolina yesterday.

Saint Peter’s fans — large in numbers and loud again in Philly — rallied behind America’s new favourite team even as the score steamrolled out of control.

“You beat Kentucky!

You beat Purdue! You can beat these guys, too,” one man yelled.

Not these Tar Heels.

The Peacocks, so proud and poised as they became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, were discombobulated from the opening tip. The Tar Heels opened on a 7-0 run and Holloway called a quick timeout to try and steady his team.

No dice. “I didn’t really recognise my team the first 10 minutes of the game,” Holloway said. “I thought we came out a little slow, a little timid.”

Banks — who two nights earlier scored the winning bucket against Purdue — failed to finish an easy alley-oop. Edert missed a long 3 in front of the Carolina bench.

Badosa feeling right at home, moves on at Miami Open

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Paula Badosa was midway through an on-court interview after another victory at the Miami Open when a thought crossed her mind.

And given where she is right now, it made a lot of sense.

“Why am I speaking English?” she asked. “I think there’s much more Spanish people than English here.”

A few words in Spanish later, the crowd — always multicultural in the melting pot that is Miami — was roaring in delight. In whatever language, Badosa is through to the fourth round at the Miami Open after rolling past Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2 yesterday.

It is Badosa’s deepest run at Miami, where there were more than a few fans waving Spanish flags in her honour.

“Muchas gracias,” she said.

Badosa came to Miami — the tournament was played on nearby Key Biscayne then — for the first time in 2015 and made it to the third round while being ranked 419th in the world.

She was 222nd when she returned in 2016, then 316th a year later, 130th in 2019 and 71st when she arrived in Miami last year.

But the past 12 months have seen serious change in the world rankings, particularly on the women’s side, and not just after last week’s surprise retirement of Ash Barty — who will come off the rankings April 4 and be

replaced by Iga Swiatek as the new No. 1 player in the women’s game.

Depending on how the rest of this tournament goes, Badosa might be poised to climb to No. 2 behind Swiatek when Miami ends.

She is a full-fledged star now, even getting the celebrity treatment and her own personalised jersey when she headed to a Miami Heat game a few miles down the road last week.

“I’m really happy about the performance,” Badosa said.

Badosa will meet unseeded Linda Fruhvirtova in the fourth round, after the 16-year-old from the Czech Republic got past three-time Miami Open winner and 12thseeded Victoria Azarenka.

Fruhvirtova led 6-2, 3-0 when Azarenka — the only past Miami winner who was left in the draw — retired.

“This is what I’ve always dreamed of,” said Fruhvirtova, who entered Miami ranked 279th and will likely climb about 100 spots — more if she keeps winning.

It was not a dream for Azarenka, who quit the match very abruptly and walked off the court. Later, in a statement released through the tournament, she apologised.

“I shouldn’t have gone on the court today,” she said.

“The last few weeks have been extremely stressful in my personal life. Last match took so much out of me, but I wanted to play in front of a great audience as they helped me pull through my first match. I wanted to go

out there and try but it was a mistake. I hope to take a break and be able to come back.”

Swiatek, playing for the first time since clinching the world No. 1 ranking, rolled past Madison Brengle of the U.S. 6-0, 6-3.

Coco Gauff, playing about 45 minutes from her home, overcame a tough test from Zhang Shuai and won 7-6 (1), 7-5.

Jessica Pegula of the U.S. also made the fourth round, the No. 16 seed beating No. 17 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-4.

No. 21 Veronika Kudermetova advanced as well, topping Shelby Rogers of the U.S. 6-1, 7-5, and No. 28 Petra Kvitova also prevailed.

On the men’s side, Nick Kyrgios had 24 winners to just 12 unforced errors and

needed only 61 minutes to beat No. 31 seed Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-4 — and has now made the fourth round at Miami in all five of his appearances at the tournament. It’s no secret that he’s excitable.

This might be a surprise: Moments before he was introduced and took the court Sunday, Kyrgios actually yawned.

No. 28 Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. reached the fourth round in Miami for the fourth time after easing past Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2.

Tiafoe’s next opponent may be seeking family revenge.

He’ll now face Francisco Cerundolo — Juan Manuel’s brother — who got a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 22 Gael Monfils.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 17

Raptors rout Hield and Pacers after fire causes delay, fan evacuation

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 23 points and the Toronto Raptors routed the depleted Indiana Pacers 131-91 on Saturday night in a game delayed 70 minutes in the first half because of a speaker fire that forced the evacuation of fans.

Scottie Barnes added 19 points, Precious Achiuwa 18, OG Anunoby 16, Chris Boucher 15 and Thad Young 11 as the Raptors posted their biggest margin of victory this season.

Oshae Brissett led Indiana with 21 points. Justin Anderson had 18, Jalen Smith 15 and Buddy Hield 14. The Pacers have lost three straight and five of seven.

No one from the sellout crowd of 19,800 was around at end to see Toronto move past Cleveland into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference after the Cavaliers lost 98-94 in Chicago. The Raptors are one game behind the fifth-place Bulls with eight games remaining.

Sixth place is the last guaranteed postseason spot, with teams finishing in the Nos. 7-10 spots headed for the play-in tournament.

In the first quarter, two sections of fans behind the basket at the east end of the stadium were cleared and Toronto Fire Services personnel could be seen in the empty aisles, staring at the ceiling.

“I was like, ‘Jeez, I wonder why they didn’t sell

those seats tonight?’ That was my first thing,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

“Then I saw the firemen standing there.”

Later, another section was cleared as play continued. Before long, video surfaced on social media of flames coming out from a speaker hanging above the stands.

Pacers acting head coach Lloyd Pierce said he spoke to lead official Zach Zarba about the acrid smell coming from the burning speaker.

“You could definitely smell it,” Pierce said. “By the time (the game) stopped the smell was tough.

“Fifteen years for me, probably the most bizarre situation that we’ve been in for a game,” Pierce added.

During a timeout, public address announcer Herbie Kuhn announced that the arena was being evacuated at the order of Toronto Fire Services, telling booing fans that the game had been suspended.

Players headed to their locker rooms with 4:05 left in the second quarter and the Raptors leading 66-38.

Brissett, who is from Toronto, had a large crowd of people on hand to watch him play at home but they all had to leave.

“I got a whole bunch of texts from friends, family,” Brissett said. “They were really mad.”

During the delay, two workers using ropes and harnesses hung from the ceiling and sprayed a fire extinguisher at the problematic speaker.

FIREFIGHTERS and fire department officials stand on the court after play was suspended between the Raptors and the Pacers and the building was evacuated fans, during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Saturday in Toronto.

(Frank Gunn/ The Canadian Press via AP)

INDIANA Pacers guard Buddy Hield (24) plays against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The Kings defeated the Pacers 110-109.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Remaining ushers and arena security staff cheered when the Raptors returned to warm up for the restart.

The halftime break was cut from 15 minutes to 7 1/2 minutes, and players did not leave the court during the intermission.

“It was crazy,” Achiuwa said. “I’ve never been in a game like that.”

Toronto guard Fred VanVleet, who missed two

games earlier this month because of a sore right knee, did not return following the restart. This was the latest instance of fan-free basketball for the Raptors, who played to no more than a few hundred fans at home games between December 31 and March. 1 because of Ontario government restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.Anunoby and Siakam combined

for 22 points in the first, one more than the Pacers had as a team, and Toronto closed the quarter with a 23-5 spurt to lead 41-21. “We definitely came out really flat,” Brissett said.

Ahead 66-38 when the game was suspended, Toronto led 74-46 at halftime.

HURTING PACERS Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon (conditioning) sat

for the fourth straight game, while guard Chris Duarte (left big toe) missed his fifth straight, and forward Isaiah Jackson (headache) missed his second straight.

The Pacers were also without centre Goga Bitadze, who sat because of a sore right foot.

CHECKING ON COACH Pacers coach Rick Carlisle missed his second straight game for personal reasons.

Pierce said he’d checked in with Carlisle since a loss Thursday night at Memphis.

“We just keep it professional, but he’s doing well,” Pierce said. “He’s concerned about us but we’re concerned about him as well.”

SIX PACK Toronto is 15-4 when six or more players score in double digits.

TIP-INS Pacers: Smith returned after missing the past two games because of a nonCOVID illness.

Indiana is 9-29 on the road. The Pacers went 3-5 away from home in March.

Raptors: G Gary Trent Jr. (left big toe) sat for the third straight game but is “pretty close” to a return, Nurse said.

Signed G Armoni Brooks to a multi-year contract.

Brooks had previously signed two 10-day contracts with Toronto.

UP NEXT Pacers: Host Atlanta tonight.

Raptors: Host Boston tonight.

Nets rout reeling Heat as East playoff races grow tighter MIAMI (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 23 points, Seth Curry added 17 and the Brooklyn Nets overwhelmed Miami 110-95 on Saturday night, sending the Heat to their season-worst fourth consecutive loss.

Andre Drummond had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Brooklyn, which got 11 points from Kyrie Irving — who played his first home game of the season for the Nets yesterday — and 10 from Nic Claxton.

Bam Adebayo scored 14 points for Miami, which trailed by as many as 37 — its biggest deficit of the season.

The Heat were without coach Erik Spoelstra, who missed the game because of a family matter, and assistant Chris Quinn took his place.

Tyler Herro and Max Strus each had 13 and Kyle Lowry had 12 for Miami.

Jimmy Butler was held to just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.

And the Eastern Conference race only got tighter, now with the top four teams all separated by only a half-game.

Philadelphia (46-27, .630) moved into first in the East, percentage points ahead of Miami (47-28, .627).

Boston and Milwaukee — which lost Saturday night in Memphis — are both 46-28 (.622); the Celtics hold the head-to-head tiebreaker at this point over the Bucks.

Brooklyn (39-35) remained in the No. 8 spot, now a full game ahead of No. 9 Charlotte. The Nets and Hornets meet on Sunday night.

GRIZZLIES 125, BUCKS 102 MEMPHIS, Tenn.

(AP) — De’Anthony Melton had 24 points, Desmond Bane added 20 and

Memphis continued to win in the absence of scoring leader Ja Morant, beating Milwaukee.

Dillon Brooks scored 19 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 16 and two blocks to help Memphis win its fourth straight and eighth in the last nine games.

Morant is nursing a sore right knee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 30 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, scoring 18 points in the third quarter when Milwaukee tried to make a run.

Khris Middleton added 16 points. The defending champion Bucks lost for only the third time in the last 13 games.

BULLS 98, CAVALIERS 94 CLEVELAND (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 26 points, DeMar DeRozan added 20 and Chicago beat Cleveland to stay alone in the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls held the Cavs to just 35 points in the first half and won on the road for the first time since March 9, snapping a fivegame slide. Chicago, which is 4-8 in March, came in with a one-game lead over Cleveland for the fifth playoff spot.

Darius Garland scored 28 points for Cleveland.

SPURS 107, PELICANS 103 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Dejounte Murray had 15 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, Keldon Johnson punctuated his 21-point night with a break-away dunk in the final seconds and San Antonio beat New Orleans to bolster its postseason hopes.

San Antonio is a game behind New Orleans for the final Western Conference

play-in spot. Josh Richardson had 18 points for the Spurs.

CJ McCollum had 32 points for New Orleans.

KINGS 114, MAGIC 110, OT ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Donte DiVincenzo and Harrison Barnes hit 3-pointers in the final minute of overtime and Sacramento outlasted Orlando.

Davion Mitchell led the Kings with 22 points and seven assists, Barnes added 19 points and DiVincenzo had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Franz Wagner led Orlando with 19 points.

ROCKETS 115, TRAIL BLAZERS 98 PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Alperen Sengun scored 27 points and Houston beat Portland to sweep a two-game set in Portland.

Jalen Green added 25 points for Houston, tied with Orlando at 20-55 for the worst record in the NBA. The Rockets won 125-106 on Friday night.

Trendon Watford led Portland with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but left late in the game with a hyperextended and bruised left knee. The Trail Blazers said Watford will sit out a week and be re-evaluated.

NUGGETS 113, THUNDER 107 DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored 35 points and missed a tripledouble by two assists and Denver outlasted Oklahoma City.

Jokic had 12 rebounds.

He made all six of his shots from the floor and all six of his free throws in the second half. Aaron Gordon added 20 points.

Theo Maledon led Oklahoma City with 20 points.

MIAMI Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) defends against Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (7) during the first half on Saturday in Miami.

(AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

SUNS

FROM PAGE 15 Irving finished with 16 points and tied his season high with 11 assists but shot 6 for 22 from the field. He hadn’t been able to play at home this season until Mayor Eric Adams last week exempted athletes and performers from the New York City’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.

Miles Bridges scored 24 points and PJ Washington had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets.

Kevin Durant had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Nets.

WIZARDS 123, WARRIORS 115 WASHINGTON (AP) — Corey Kispert scored 16 of his career-high 25 points in the first half and Washington beat struggling.

Golden State has lost five of its last six, and the Warriors never led in this game. Golden State was without Stephen Curry (left foot sprain) for a fifth straight contest, and Andre Iguodala (low back injury) also was out.

Jordan Poole scored 26 for the Warriors. Klay Thompson had 25.

PELICANS 116, LAKERS 108 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored

26 in his return from a 10-game absence and New Orleans overcame a 23-point deficit to beat Los Angeles in a game with postseason implications for both clubs.

New Orleans moved a half-game ahead of Los Angeles for the ninth seed — and the first of two play-in spots — in the Western Conference.

New Orleans got an enormous boost from rookies Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones. Murphy, drafted 17th overall, scored all of his 21 points in the second half. Jones, a second-round draft choice, had 16 points and a careerhigh six steals.

LeBron James hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 39 points.

CELTICS 134, TIMBERWOLVES 112 BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Jaylen Brown had 31 points and 10 rebounds and Boston beat Minnesota for its sixth straight victory.

The Celtics won for the 24th time in their last 28 games. Minnesota is 12-5 since the All-Star break, winning 10 of 11 before back-to-back losses to Phoenix and Dallas this week. Anthony Edwards scored 24 for Minnesota.

Karl-Anthony Towns added 19.

MAVERICKS 114, JAZZ 100 DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 32 points and Dallas beat Utah for the inside track to homecourt advantage in what could be a first-round playoff matchup.

The Mavericks moved a game ahead of the Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference and earned a split of the season series, with the home team winning all four games.

Rudy Gay scored 18 points for the Jazz. They lost their fourth in a row on a season-long, six-game trip that ends Tuesday night at the Los Angeles Clippers.

KNICKS 104, PISTONS 102 DETROIT (AP) — Alec Burks hit a 3-pointer for New York’s final points and finished off Detroit with a last-second steal.

Trailing by two, the Pistons called a timeout to set up a final play with 6.6 seconds left. Killian Hayes inbounded the ball to Cade Cunningham, but Burks stripped the ball as he tried to drive.

R.J. Barrett led New York with 21 points, Julian Randle had 20 and Burks and Immanuel Quickly had 18 each. Marvin Bagley III led Detroit with 27 points, and Cunningham added 18.

PAGE 18, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Roadmasters Running Club makes donations THE Bahamas Roadmasters Running Club (BRRC) continued its spirit of philanthropy with recent donations totalling $3,000.

The Bahamas Alzheimer’s Association and The Nurses Association of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas (NACB) received $500 and $2,000 respectively, while veteran distance runner and long-time BRRC supporter Sam Brown received $500 to assist with his wife’s medical expenses.

The funds represented part proceeds from the organisation’s annual flagship event, Bahamas Half Marathon, Relay & 10 Race Series held last November.

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, it was staged as a virtual race and drew the support of locals as well as international runners.

The club is also known for its annual Midnight Madness Fun Run & Walk, held every June on the morning of the Labour Day holiday.

Plans are already in motion for the return to an in-person race for this year’s event to be held at 12:01am on June 3, starting at the Western Esplanade.

This will be followed by the 2022 Bahamas Half & 10K Race Series scheduled for November 20.

For more information, contact BRRC email address: bahamasroadmasters@gmail.com or website: www.bahamashalf242.com

CARIFTA

FROM PAGE 15 grader at Queen’s College. “In my warm up throws, I knew I was there, but in my first three actual throws, I didn’t feel that I was getting it.

“But on my last throw, I did it and I’m happy because Terrell, who has been my friend for years, has also qualified.”

Coached by Keno Demeritte, the 13-year-old 6-foot, 2-inch McCoy, who also plays basketball and softball at Windsor High School, said she’s looking forward to the CARIFTA Games.

“I honestly was just praying to God that I could do it again,” said McCoy, whose mark was on her sixth and final throw. “I was like God, I really need this assurance before I go to the CARIFTA trials.

“And in the end when I threw the mark, all I could do was hug my friend Danielle because she also qualified today just before I did it again. So I was happy we are going to CARIFTA together to compete for the Bahamas.”

SHOWN, from left to right, are Anastasia Turnquest, BRRC Asst. Secretary, Maria Smith RN, NACB Officer, Rebecca Johnson RN, President NACB, Marcel Major, President BRRC, Sam Brown (Mrs Brown’s Medical Fund).

SHOWN, from left to right, are Anastasia Turnquest, BRRC Asst Secretary, Renee Forsythe, (BAA), Wendy Poitier, President BAA, Marcel Major, BRRC President, Sam Brown

Also on Saturday, Taysha Stubbs placed third in the under-17 girls’ javelin with a heave of 36.13m. She trailed her Blue Chips Athletics teammates Dior-Ray Scott, who won with 39.92m and Kamera Strachan, second with 37.23m.

While it was the first time for Stubbs to accomplish the CARIFTA standard of 34.39m, both Strachan and Scott produced standards of 37.25m and 36.36m respectively at the Dianna Lynn Thompson Time Trials.

Only two athletes can make the team for the javelin, which will make the final trials an interesting one for Scott, Strachan and Stubbs.

The other qualifiers on the list are Blue Chips’ Keyshawn Strachan in the under-20 boys’ javelin and Calea Jackson in the under20 girls’ discus.

Two B standards of 10.71 were achieved in the under20 boys’ 100m as Swift Athletics’ Carlos Brown Jr raced to victory in 10.57 and Fast Forward’s Keanmo Ferguson got second in 10.66. The A qualifying standard is 10.50.

Ferguson also came close to the standard of 21.15

in the 200m when he ran 21.70 and Unique Athletics’ Ian Dawkins clocked 49.69 that was off the standard of 48.28.

In the under-17 boys’ division, Tabernacle Baptist Falcons’ Jordan Williams ran away with the 400m in 51.27 that was shy of the B standard of 50.03.

The automatic standard is 49.05.

“I felt I did great, but I know I could have done better,” said Williams, a 15-year-old 10th grader. “I have to work on my finish a little more. I just hope that I can make the team. I want to thank the guys for pushing me so that I could perform my best.”

Williams also competed in the 200m, but was fourth overall in 23.17. The top three finishers were Fast Forward’s Berkley Munnings in 23.04, Red-Line Athletrics’ Quinton Rolle in 23.05 and Star Trackers’ Nijae McBride in 23.08.

They were all off the standard of 21.84.

Johnathan Rodgers of Swift Athleitcs did 11.34 to clinch the under-17 boys’ 100m, but was short of the B standard of 11.24. The A standard is 11.02.

In a gutsy performance in the under-17 boys’ 800m, Raywind Winder ran away from the small field on the final lap to post a time of 2:01.22, but once again it was short of the qualifying standard of 2:00.14.

The under-17 girls 800m saw Grand Bahama Heats Athletics’ Erin Barr give it a gallant effort, winning in 2:22.30, but was off the standard of 2:16.53. The 14-year-old said she will not let it deter her because she will be back for the trials.

“I came into the race looking for the qualifying standard. I put all my faith and hope in God,” said Barr, a ninth grader at Tabernacle Baptist. “I didn’t make it, but I will be back and hopefully I can make the time.”

Star Trackers’ Zaria Stapleton won the under-17 girls 100m in 12.73, followed by 4D’s Stallions’ Darvinique Dean in 12.78, while Roadrunners’ Iesha Hanna was third in 12.82.

They missed the B standard of 12.20. The A is 11.96.

Dean also won the 200m in 26.36, but it was well off the standard of 24.58.

Star Trackers’ Amari Pratt doubled up in the

under-20 girls sprints, taking the 100m in 12.10, followed by Ambassadors’ Brianique Strachan (12.65), but they were both off the B standard of 11.92. The A is 11.69.

Pratt, a 15-year-old 11th grader at St Augustine’s College, also came through in the 200m in 25.36 with Fast Forward’s Tiana Culmer in pursuit in 26.44.

They needed to run 23.95 to qualify.

“Today, I did my PB in the 100m. I just came off an injury so to come out here and do that type of performance was just incredible,” she said. “This is my first year under-20 so I know I have a lot more work to do to qualify.”

Looking at the way the meet went, Star Trackers’ head coach David Charlton said it was fantastic and he praised the coaches, officials and volunteers for helping to make it a quick and smoothly contested event that finished well ahead of time.

“We had a beautiful day and positive participation from the athletes because they really wanted to meet the CARIFTA standards,” he said. “I believe we had

four qualifiers on the field and Carlos had a legit performance on the track.”

Some of the top performances from the age group divisions came from Star Trackers’ Jayla Smith in the under-13 girls 100m (13.47) and 200m (28.36) and Xtreme Athletics’ Shardae Gilles in the 400m (1:14.27).

In the under-15 girls division, Spirit of Excellence’s Shekinah Johnson took the 100m in 12.44, Fast Forward’s Zoe Adderley claimed the 200m in 26.95, Roadrunners’ Jasmine Thompson won the 400m in 1:01.34 and Hurry Murray’s Breytisha Kemp took the 800m in 2:40.48.

The boys’ under-13 100m was captured by Roadrunners’ Shawn Ferguson in 13.24, while Team Velocity’s Kamron Henfield doubled up in the 200m (27.48) and the 400m (1:00.34).

And in the boys’ under15, Fast Forward’s Everette Fraser took the 100m in 12.24, Red-Line Athletics’ Eagan Neely won the 200m in 25.98, T-Bird Flyers’ George Nottage came through in the 400m in 55.44 and Hurry Murray’s Tieano Ferguson took the 800m in 2:25.57.

ENGLAND REACHES WORLD CUP SEMIS, SOUTH AFRICA OUSTS INDIA STEVE McMORRAN AP Sports Writer WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia will play the West Indies and South Africa will play England in the semifinals of the Women’s Cricket World Cup after the makeup of the top four was finally decided yesterday on the last ball of the last match in the league stage.

Mignon du Preez hit the winning run from the final ball of the final over of the final match to finish 52 not out and lead South Africa to a three-wicket win over India. In doing so, South Africa snuffed out India’s semifinal hopes in the cruelest of circumstances.

Du Preez was caught in the deep with three runs required and two balls remaining, in a moment which seemed to swing the match in India’s favour. She was walking from the field

when the umpires consulted the television official and determined that Deepti Sharma, who was bowling the last over from which seven runs were needed, had over-stepped.

The decision reprieved du Preez, gave South Africa a run, another ball and a free hit and they took the opportunity to clinch a win that crushed India’s hopes of reaching the final for the second consecutive tournament.

“I think we can feel sure that the girls have given their all, knowing the importance of the game today,” India captain Mithali Raj said. “It was just a good game from both sides.

I mean it went to the last ball and it’s good for the sport but for the India team it ends our campaign.”

South Africa’s win also secured a semifinal place for the West Indies who were powerless spectators

to the events of the final day. After completing the league matches, they were in third place with seven points behind unbeaten Australia and South Africa who both had qualified.

The West Indies would have been denied a semifinal place if India had won but South Africa’s win kept their tournament alive.

Earlier yesterday, defending champion England eased into the semifinals with a 100-run win over Bangladesh.

Sophia Dunkley made 67 and Nat Sciver 40 as England posted 234-6 as it batted first after winning the toss. Its spinners then shackled Bangladesh who were unable to threaten the total and were bowled out for 134 in the 48th over.

The pitch at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was slow, which suited spin bowlers but made batting tricky. Dunkley surmounted the conditions more than any other batter, taking her 67 runs from 72 balls with eight boundaries.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy pitch to get in on,” Dunkley said. “I thought the Bangladesh bowlers started really well, bowled really well.

“But me and Amy Jones (31) just tried to get in there, dig in there and get a partnership to carry us through to the end.”

Left-armer Sophie Ecclestone bowled superbly to

lead England’s defence of its total, taking 3-15 from her 10 overs. Charlie Dean took 3-31 and Freya Davies 2-36 as England continued a steady improvement throughout the tournament to claim its place among the semifinalists.

England lost its first three matches in New Zealand and struggled to find its best form but came into the last day of the eight-team round-robin in a three-way contest for two remaining semifinal places.

“We’re really pleased.

Obviously the job was to come here and get the two points and qualify for the semifinals,” England captain Heather Knight said.

“I probably would have liked a few more runs — 250 or 260 — but the wicket was pretty slow and they made it hard for us to score.”

India set South Africa a more challenging total,

reaching 274-7 as it batted first at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Smitri Mandhana made 71 and set the tone of the innings with her opening partner Shafali Verma who made 53 from 46 balls.

Mithali Raj made 68 and Harmanpreet Kaur 48.

South Africa then pulled off the second-highest successful run chase at a World Cup. Laura Wolfaardt, the leading scorer at the tournament, made 80 to set the platform for the innings.

But it fell to du Preez, who has been short of runs in recent matches, to guide her team home.

“It means the world,” du Preez said.

“It’s been a tough few weeks when I haven’t contributed the way I would like. But to do it when it matters and take the momentum to the semifinal, I’d take that every day of the week.”

West Indies crush England in 3rd test to win series 1-0 ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — West Indies crushed England by 10 wickets in the third and final cricket test yesterday to win the series 1-0.

The hosts needed only 4.5 overs on Day 4 for their batters to reach the winning target in Grenada.

West Indies finished on 28-0 in the second innings after earlier dismissing England for 120.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was 20 not out and John Campbell undefeated on 6.

When England resumed on 103-8, it was already on the brink of defeat with a lead of only 10 runs with just two wickets in hand in its second innings. The

visitors lasted another 11 overs in the opening session with Kemar Roach (2-10 off 9.2 overs) taking both England wickets — Chris Woakes (19) and Jack Leach (4).

It took almost 45 minutes for West Indies to break up England’s ninth-wicket partnership, with a stunning reaction catch from Jason Holder doing the job.

Woakes middled Roach’s first ball as it went down the leg side and Holder flung out a hand and plucked the ball out of the air at leg gully. No. 11 Saqib Mahmood, who hit a defiant 49 in the first innings, was 3 not out.

West Indies medium-pacer Kyle Mayers started the day with

WEST Indies’ Kemar Roach successfully appeals for the wicket of England’s Jack Leach during day four yesterday.

(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan) an incredible 5-9 from 13 overs, a maiden five-for, but went for five in his first over on Sunday and finished with 5-18 from 17 overs. The

batting allrounder was unwanted for the first two tests — both draws — and he replaced spinner Veerasammy Permaul with the aim of strengthening the batting.

The result means England’s failure to win a test series in the Caribbean in 18 years carries on.

It is likely to extend the debate over Joe Root’s suitability as captain, despite his superb batting form with two centuries in the series.

After England’s latest defeat, and a 4-0 Ashes humiliation in Australia, Root indicated he still wants to stay on as captain.

“I think I made it quite clear at the start of this game and

throughout this tour I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward,” Root told BT Sport. “I will control what I can. I don’t think it’s ever in your hands.

I feel like the group are very much behind me, we’re doing a lot of really good things and we just need to turn that into results now.”

West Indies enjoyed its first test series win at home since 2019. That was when England last visited.

West Indies had an intimidating 93-run lead on the first innings after making England bat.

England scored 204 and 120, and West Indies 297 and 28-0.

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POTCAKEMAN TRIATHLON TURNED OUT TO BE ‘GREAT EVENT’ AT JAWS BEACH THE 2020/2022 Potcakeman Triathlon took place at Jaws Beach, Nassau, Bahamas on a beautiful Sunday morning. “Many thanks to all the organisers, volunteers, participants, sponsors, and the beneficiary BAARK for a great event,” according to a press release.

Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 19

PAGE 20, Monday, March 28, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson makes history

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net VETERAN versatile player Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson made history on Saturday when she became the first female to win the presidency of the Bahamas Softball Federation.

She became the eighth president of the governing body for the sport in the country during the annual general meeting and election of officers when she secured 16 votes to beat out umpire-in-chief Thomas Sears, who garnered just four votes and manager Alphonso “Chicken” Albury with the other two.

In being elected, she follows the list of men who served, including Michael Moss, Churchill TenerKnowles, Austin Knowles, Neko Grant, deceased Greg Christie, Romell Knowles, Burket Dorsett and immediate past president Ted Miller.

The elections came on the heels of the New Providence Softball Association elections that took place a week ago.

Both elections were delayed because of the restrictions imposed for COVID-19 over the past two years.

“I’m very humbled and looking forward to serving

BECOMES FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT OF BAHAMAS SOFTBALL FEDERATION the softball community and of course, the Bahamas at large,” Isaacs-Dotson said.

“It’s indeed humbling and I want to say thank you to all who supported me and I look forward to their continued support.

“But now the work actually begins and whether it’s man or woman, the work has to be done because I’ve chosen to become the president and I’m proud to be the first woman and I hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations and we can accomplish a lot during our term together as an executive team.”

During Saturday’s elections conducted by Dorsett and observed by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s Director of Sports, Timothy Munnings, Isaacs-Dotson’s entire slate went in, but not without

THE newly elected Bahamas Softball Federation board, led by president Jennifer Isaacs-Dotson, second from left in front row next to Director of Sports Tim Munnings, come together after their elections on Saturday. some challenges from the slate that Sears had assembled.

Eleuthera’s Johnnie Butler won first vice president 18-3 over Kendal Ferguson from Exuma, while Arthur Johnson captured the second VP 11-7 over Daphanie McKinney with immediate past NPSA president Desiree Taylor collecting four.

Grand Bahamian Helena Cooper took the third vice president spot 14-8 over Fuilton ‘Papa Doc’ Bowleg, Marvin ‘Toogie’ Wood emerged as the fourth vice

ANTHONIQUE STRACHAN, of The Bahamas, walks away after competing in a women’s 60 metres heat at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 18.

STRACHAN FROM PAGE 15

sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah - could only say: “I have no idea.”

Running out of lane three, the 28-year-old Strachan got off to a flying start out of the blocks and she was able to maintain her position through the straightaway race.

Jamaica’s Sashalee Forbes faded to second in 11.24 and Jodean Williams got third in 11.54.

Prior to Strachan’s performance, the six other women who have achieved that feat were national record holder Chandra Sturrup with 10.84 (July 5, 2005), Sevatheda Fynes did 10.91 (on July 2, 1999), Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie clocked 10.91 (July 27, 2002), Eldece Clarke ran 10.96 (April 29, 2000), Pauline Davis posted 10.97 (July 21, 2000) and Shaunae Miller-Uibo did 10.98 (July 24, 2020).

Just shy of achieving that feat is Tynia Gaither, who has produced a personal best of 11.02 - April 24, 2021.

While Strachan - who also produced a PB of 22.32 in the 200m in 2013 - was making headlines in Jamaica, the other Bahamians in action were competing at various meets across the United States of America over the weekend.

At the 94th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at the Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, Gaither, representing Adidas, got third place in the women’s invitational 100m in 11.23.

Gabrielle Thomas, competing for New Balance, won the race in 10.92 and was followed closely behind

by Tamara Clark, also of Adidas, in 10.94.

Gaither also competed in the 200m where she placed fourth in 22.46.

Thomas again won the race in 21.69 with Clark second in 21.72.

Keni Harrison, the winner of the invitational 100m hurdles, came in third in 22.19.

Also at the meet, Doneisha Anderson was scheduled to run on the third leg of the University of Florida women’s 4 x 400m relay team that included Talitha Diggs, Taylor Manson and Cailtan Tate, but they didn’t finish the race.

Smith victorious in North Carolina In leading the way for the Bahamian connection at Ohio State, sophomore Oscar Smith pulled off a victory in the men’s 110 metres hurdles in 13.73 at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His nearest rival was Cameron Murray, a junior at North Carolina State, in 13.90.

Shaun Miller Jr, also of Ohio State, was second in the men’s high jump, with the same height of 7-feet, 1/2-inch or 2.15 metres that was posted by Buffalo’s senior Brandon Burke, who won the event on fewer knockdowns.

Also at the meet was Florida International University’s sophomore Rhema Otabor, who placed second in the women’s javelin with a heave of 183-11 (56.07,).

Keira McCarrell, a senior at Auburn, won with a toss of 185-7 (56.56m).

Colebrooke in Florida As the lone Bahamian competing at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational at the Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Florida, Andre Colebrook had to settle for 13th place in the men’s 400m in 49.68.

president 18-4 over Nacara Curtis and former Bahamas Government Departmental Association president Thora Sweeting won the fifth vice president post 13-8 over Sherwin Major.

Jeannie ‘Bubbles’ Minus is the new secretary, posting a 14-7 decision over Erikia Albury, while Martha Edgecombe captured the assistant secretary post, winning with 14 over McKinney’s four and Albury’s one.

Corey Burrows is now the new treasurer, edging out incumbent Jeffery ‘Beef’

Henfield 11-9, but Henfield will be back as he will assume the post of assistant treasurer.

“I have a very diverse executive team, all who possess various strengths and we have to utilise that and utilise everyone in the best position to do things that they are actually better at to fit into,” Isaacs-Dotson pointed out.

“We will meet as an executive and come up with our goals.

“I have some ideas that I want to see accomplished, particularly youth

development and, of course, ensuring that Family Island Associations are all active and up and running.”

Just as important on their agenda will be an aggressive fund-raising plan to ensure that they are in a position to push the BSF forward in all of its undertakings over the next three years.

In accepting his defeat, Sears congratulated the new executive board, headed by the first female president Isaacs-Dotson.

He wished them every success in elevating softball in the country.

ANTHONIQUE Strachan walks away after competing in a 60 metres heat.

(AP Photos/Petr David Josek)

ON THE REPLAY: Anthonique Strachan leads Jamaican Sashalee Forbes through the finish line during the 100m at the Wolmer Speedfest in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday. As the outdoor season officially got underway, Strachan lowered her decade-old lifetime best for the victory.

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Monday, March 28, 2022, PAGE 21

Prince William and wife Kate race on the high seas at Montagu DESPITE the inclement weather, it was a momentous day for the crew on both the Susan Chase and the Ants Nest as they entertained The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton - in a special regatta sailed in Montagu Bay on Friday.

As it turned out, they finished at the two ends of the spectrum in the one-lap race with Prince William on board Susan Chase, skippered by Stefan Knowles, taking bragging rights over Kate Middleton and Ants Nest, skippered by Lee Armbrister.

The other Class B boats that made up the fleet were second place finisher Old Boy, skippered by Roger Forbes, third went to the Cobra skippered

by Dwayne Higgins and the Barbarian, skippered

by Delworth Gibson, was fourth.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge participated in the event as a part of their Royal eight-day tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas from Thursday to Sunday.

For Knowles, getting to spend less than an hour with Prince William on his boat gave him a much better appreciation for Prince William.

“I got the impression that Prince William wasn’t a social person, but he was really down to earth,” Knowles said.

“He was very likeable and he enjoyed the time we spent together.”

After letting Prince William pull up their anchor at the start of the race, Knowles said he allowed him to eventually captain the boat and he enjoyed himself.

“He told us that he didn’t have as much sailing experience as his wife, but he was surprised that we still wanted to sail because of the inclement weather,” Knowles said. “But I told him he brought this weather straight from England. Yesterday (Friday) was Bahamian weather and tomorrow (Sunday) will be Bahamian weather.

But today, it was British weather. He only laughed.”

And while they got a good joke about the weather, Knowles said Prince William was even more stunned when he realised how far the Susan Chase was ahead of the rest of the field in the onelap race. “He didn’t know because he was skipping the boat,” Knowles said.

“He said ‘wow, where’s my wife’. I told him not to worry, she’s in last place. He was really shocked. But he had a jolly good time.”

In preparation for the regatta, Knowles said he and his brother, Mark, had a lot of work to do on the boat since it was sitting on dry dock for the past two years because of the coronavirus pandemic and there was no actual sailing event.

But he noted that they discovered that there was so much more to be done and while they couldn’t get it all done in time for the regatta, they did enough to make the boat seaworthy.

“We will take the boat back into the yard and get the rest of the work done to it,” he said. “But everybody was quite pleased about sailing again, especially because it was a race for the Duke and Duchess.

“Like I told some people in a conversation a few days ago, when we got hit

by Hurricane Joaquin in 2015 in Long Island, the first boat that arrived was the Royal Navy, so we have to be very careful who we align ourselves with as a country and who we keep and who we get rid of.”

While there won’t be any National Family Island Regatta in George Town, Exuma, this year for the third consecutive year because of COVID19, Knowles said they are eagerly looking forward to participating in C and E Class regattas in Exuma at the end of April.

And following that, the Long Island Sailing Association is expected to bring back their regatta in Salt Pond, Long Island, over the Labour Day holiday during the first weekend in June.

“We already have a lot of private funding for it, but we’re just waiting on the funding we will receive from the Regatta Desk,” he said.

“Once we get full support from the government, we’re good to go. A lot of people have been calling me asking about places to stay because apparently a lot of places are already booked up,” Knowles said.

“Once they heard that we are going to have the regatta, people started booking their accommodations.”

Regattas, according to Knowles, are back and after the Royal event in Montagu Bay, they are looking forward to all the excitement with the return of the regattas around the Family Islands.

CROWN

said he wanted to continue serving them through the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 countries with historical links to Britain.

The queen has been head of the Commonwealth throughout her reign and Prince Charles, William’s father, is her designated successor.

William recognised that he may not follow in their footsteps.

“Who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn’t what is on my mind,” he said. “What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can.”

FROM PAGE 15 for the damage caused by slavery. During a speech in Jamaica, William expressed his “profound sorrow” for slavery but stopped short of offering an apology.

William recognised the changing nature of the connections between Britain and its former colonies during a speech Friday night in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

“We support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” William said. “Relationships evolve.

Friendship endures.”

Whatever the former colonies decide about their continuing relationship with the crown, William

Photos by Patrick Hanna

THE DUKE and Duchess of Cambridge - Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton - on the Royal Bahamas Defence Force boat.