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VOLUME:117 No.116, MAY 12TH, 2020

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GUNNED DOWN Widow of gangster shot dead by cops dies in GB driveby

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net THE wife of a dead alleged gang leader was killed in Freeport yesterday in a shooting that also left a man in hospital with serious injuries.

While her identity was not released by police, sources said she is Kim Smith, wife of Tony Smith, also known as Jamal Penn.

Smith was one of three men shot dead last May when police executed a search warrant at a home in Blair in eastern New Providence.

The Tribune understands Smith was expected to play a key role in the coroner’s inquest into the shooting death of her husband.

According to reports,

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Gaming Operators Association said it has been “left totally confused” by the government’s “discriminatory” policy which blocks web shops from offering curbside services to patrons.

The re-closure of the gaming industry, BGOA said, will further drive up the ballooning unemployment rate — which is set to exceed 30 percent — from an already challenged private sector labour force.

During a national address

on Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said phase 1B of his economic reopening plan was never meant to allow gaming houses to reopen and only applied to retail businesses that could offer curbside pick up and delivery without the need for direct person-to-person physical contact or face-to-face interactions.

“They were never intended to apply to the operations of gaming houses, and this is now made abundantly clear by the provisions of part B of the order,” Dr Minnis SEE PAGE FIVE

THE PASSION IS STILL ABLAZE IN ‘FIREMAN’ BROWN

SEE PAGE EIGHT

‘BREEZES? IT’S BEEN A DELIGHT’

sometime shortly after 3pm yesterday police received reports of gunshots fired in the Limewood Lane area of Grand Bahama. Superintendent Brian Rolle, officer in charge of the island’s CDU, said officers responded and went to Limewood and Oleander Lanes, where they saw a male unconscious, lying on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

He said officers also discovered a deceased woman in a blue vehicle. “Reports are that prior to the police arriving, a dark-coloured, grey or silver Honda vehicle drove past and it is believed that persons in that vehicle fired shots, taking the life of a female who was in the vehicle, and the male, who SEE PAGE SEVEN

GAMING HOUSES CRY FOUL ON SHUTDOWN

FACE-TO-FACE

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

WHILE some Bahamians who have returned home on government repatriation flights on Friday have issues with being quarantined at Breezes resort, one legally blind woman is looking on the bright side.

Nathalie Russell, a legally blind Eleuthera resident, was among 183 people who returned to the country on Friday after weeks stuck in the United States.

SEE PAGE THREE

THE SCENE of the fatal shooting in Grand Bahama yesterday

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

PRISONER WINS EXUMA MURDER APPEAL

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THE Court of Appeal has overturned the 20-year manslaughter sentence of a man who was accused of robbing and killing another man in Exuma six years ago.

Two men, Demetri Rolle and Giordano Rolle Jr, were accused of murdering and stealing a gold chain, a gold watch and a sum of cash from Dwayne Nixon on February 18, 2014.

DEMETRI ROLLE A jury convicted Rolle of the manslaughter and armed robbery of Dwayne

Finnekan on March 10, 2017. On November 23, 2018, he was then sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter and 15 years for armed robbery. Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Rolle Jr was convicted or murder and armed robbery and given a 30-year sentence.

The three years Demetri Rolle spent on remand were deducted from the sentences.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

KEEP YOUR UMBRELLA TO HAND

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

WEATHER officials are monitoring a system moving towards the northwest Bahamas that could potentially develop into a tropical depression this week, becoming the first tropical system of the 2020 season.

Department of Meteorology Basil Dean told The Tribune yesterday: “This system is moving out of SEE PAGE TWO

MRS OBAMA PRAISES PRINCETON FIRST

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net FORMER US First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday added her own tribute to the son of a Bahamian doctor who has made history by becoming the first black valedictorian at Princeton University.

Nicholas Johnson, 22, an operations research and financial engineering major, has been named

NICHOLAS JOHNSON valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2020. This makes him the first student of

African descent to earn the prestigious title in the Ivy League institution’s 274year history.

After news of Nicholas’ achievement broke Mrs Obama issued a statement on social media which read: “This Princeton alum is so proud of you, Nick! Congratulations on becoming valedictorian - and making history. I have a feeling

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE TWO

PETER YOUNG

STIFF UPPER LIPS AS BRITAIN REMEMBERS

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Mrs Obama praises Nicholas’ Princeton triumph from page one this is just the beginning for you, and I cannot wait to see everything yoiu continue to achieve.”

Nicholas’ father, Dr Dexter Johnson, is a Bahamian who currently practices medicine in Ottawa, Canada. He told The Tribune his family was proud of his son for his monumental achievement.

“When Princeton gave him this award we kind of suspected — because we knew Princeton’s history— he was the first black person, but we weren’t sure,” Dr Johnson said.

“It wasn’t confirmed until a week ago when Princeton called him back and told him they had searched their archives high and low looking for another black valedictorian and he was indeed the first one in their history. So we were all ecstatic and the news just went viral.”

Dr Johnson said it took a village to get his son to the position he was in now and emphasised how proud he is of his Bahamian roots.

“I’m a Bahamian with roots going back to Cat Island. I spent the first six years of my life in Arthur’s Town with my grandmother and at the age of seven I moved back to Nassau with my other sister. I went to Oakes Field Primary and then on to St Anne’s High

School and then did my A-levels at St John’s.

“After St John’s, I went off and studied at McGill University. I did my undergraduate in my dental degree there and then I went on to New York Medical College to do my medical degree. So with all of this, it was a pleasure to get to this point where my wife and I would have someone like Nicholas, who then takes things to the next level just smashing barriers.”

Dr Johnson said he believed his son’s accomplishment was a great story for a “small country like The Bahamas,” because it could inspire others to strive for greatness.

“I’d like this story to inspire the youth of the country in particular the young black men,” he said.

“Bahamians are very proud people and it’s just great to know that it took one of our own to finally kick that door down after 274 years. And it’s really an accomplishment standing on the shoulders of many others. My wife’s family are of Jamaican descent, my family are of Bahamian descent and so indeed it takes a village.”

He said his son is an exceptional young man.

“He was the valedictorian at his high school and he also got into quite a few undergraduate schools. All of the Ivy Leagues took him

NICHOLAS Johnson received praise from Michelle Obama yesterday after he made history by becoming the first black valedictorian at Princeton University.

and again when he applied for his PHd he actually got into Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Berkley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and they were all offering him full funded scholarships.”

Dr Johson’s wife, Dr Anita Brown-Johnson, is a medical practitioner of West Indian descent.

She told The Tribune they were “overjoyed” when they first heard that Nicholas was going to be the valedictorian. “We feel so very grateful for all who

have contributed to paving the path to make this possible,” she said.

“Quite frankly, we recognise Nicholas to be a very disciplined, diligent and gifted child from earlier on so we are delighted with the achievement and we also feel so grateful for our forefathers and all of their sacrifices that have led to Nicholas’ achievements as well as our own.”

Dr Brown-Johnson described Nicholas as a “very humble guy.” When asked to describe her son’s

initial reaction to receiving the news, she said: “He has had numerous accomplishments along the way and he’s someone who doesn’t even mention it. If we don’t ask, he sometimes doesn’t even think to tell us. That’s the kind of person he is.

“But this particular news we knew was very well received by him. When he was sharing the news with us you could see the sense of pride and joy. So truly he could not conceal his excitement so we were very happy for him.”

Nicholas himself told the New York Times: “Being Princeton’s first black valedictorian is very empowering, especially given its historical ties to the institution of slavery. I hope this achievement serves as inspiration to black students coming up behind me.”

In 2017, Nicholas participated in Whitman’s exchange programme with

Morningside College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also a recipient of the Class of 1883 English Prize for Freshmen in the School of Engineering, a two-time recipient of the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence and co-recipient with Sommers of the Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award.

In Fall 2019, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Tau Beta Pi in 2018, where he served as president of the Princeton Chapter in 2019. Mr Johnson is also a graduate of Selwyn House School and attended Marianopolis College in Quebec, Canada.

This summer, Nicholas will intern as a hybrid quantitative researcher and software developer at the D E Shaw Group before beginning his PhD studies in operations research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in fall 2020.

Editorial View - Page 6

KEEP YOUR UMBRELLA TO HAND AS TROPICAL SYSTEM MAY HIT from page one the Gulf of Mexico, really across the Florida peninsula which means it must also cross the extreme northwest Bahamas — Bimini,

Grand Bahama and Abaco.

And simultaneously, Florida will be experiencing some of the same type of weather conditions that we’re experiencing here in the Bahamas because of the direction in which this

Death Notice for Elwyn John Ansell, 88

of Eastern Road, Nassau, died on Wednesday 6th May, 2020.

He was a beloved father to Mark Ansell (pre-deceased), Vicki Liddell and Christopher Ansell, grandfather to Jamie Liddell, Emma Liddell and Isla Ansell, father-in-law to Oliver Liddell and Vanessa Ansell. Left to cherish happy memories are the family and friends in both Nassau and England including Maggie Ansell, his brother Peter, nephew Luke, niece Jessica, Judy Ansell, Peter Wagner, Alexis Tsavoussis, Leandra Esfakis, Gary and Dorothy Croft, The Baynham Family, and Alan and Tess Dick.

The family are so appreciative of the wonderful care given to John and would especially like to thank Dr. Eneas Carey, Dr. Ian Kelly and Dr. Indira Grimes. The family would also like to thank the dedicated nurses, carers, and Manager Mr. Clyson Beckford, of Pat’s Senior Citizen’s Home for their care and attention.

Due to the curfew, a Memorial Service will be held at a later date to be announced.

Instead of flowers, donations may be made to BAHAMAS AIR SEA RESCUE ASSOCIATION (BASRA), P.O. Box S.S. 6247, Nassau in John’s memory.

low pressure is moving. So, it’s moving more towards the open waters of the Atlantic once it leaves the Bahamas.”

AccuWeather officials predict that the potential system will encounter favourable weather conditions that possibly lead to tropical development.

“It appears this system, should it form, will likely be lopsided with a considerable amount of dry air on its westward side, closest to the US, and showers and thunderstorms on its eastern side, over the Bahamas,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

However, Mr Dean said officials currently do not see the system posing as a major threat to the country.

He said: “We don’t see it as a major threat because even if it were to develop into a major tropical disturbance, meaning a tropical depression, it will perhaps either form either directly over the northwest Bahamas or as it moves away from the northwest Bahamas. So, by the time it would have gained any significant intensity, it will be out of our forecast area.”

Still, the local meteorologist maintained that officials will continue monitoring the system as well as several others.

“We’re simply forecasting unsettled weather right into the middle of the week as result of those two systems, that is the low-pressure system and the trailing cold front which would be drifting into the central Bahamas later on (Monday night) and (today).”

Mr Dean said this is the start of the rainy season, with wet weather and occasional thunderstorms expected for the next several days. Weather experts have already predicted that the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season will be an above average one, with two to four major hurricanes expected this year.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 3

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

BREEZES? IT’S BEEN A DELIGHT, SAYS RETURNING RESIDENT from page one

Tested for the virus on April 30, Ms Russell said the length of time between that test and her departure to The Bahamas “was scary,” but she did not venture out much in the US and stayed in a home with just two other people who were often separated by rooms.

She and 58 others are now quarantining at a government designated facility — in her case, the Breezes resort in Cable Beach.

Returning to the country to quarantine in a foreign place could be a difficult prospect for a 36-year-old wheelchair-assisted person, but Ms Russell said the government could not have been more accommodating to her needs since the COVID-19 crisis began, a hospitality that has continued since arriving in the country.

“When I found out I was staying in a government facility, I thought to myself, what if I can’t find the shower or the

bathroom,” she said yesterday. “And then listening to people puts me in a panic.

But the airport agents and flight attendants welcomed us and did not show any bias toward us. We cleared immigration at Freeport on Friday and they were ready for us in Nassau. Everyone was friendly. I went to bed and I slept like I was in my own bed.”

Whether returnees are allowed to quarantine in their homes depends, at least in part, on how many people live in their homes.

Ms Russell said when she stays in New Providence, her household includes her mother, father, sister and niece, in addition to herself. Her father, she said, is undergoing radiation therapy for cancer.

“We didn’t want to take the chance and be there even though I know I don’t have COVID-19,” she added.

Ms Russell, who also suffers from diabetes and hypertension, said she encountered problems with her insulin medication in

the US and the Bahamian consulate office in Miami spent $500 to take care of her medication needs. “I was nervous. My friend said I’m proud and I didn’t want to ask for assistance but they didn’t give me a hard time at all,” she said.

She said she is not worried about Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ revelation that a COVID19 positive man flew on the flight that brought her to the Bahamas on Friday, saying Grand Bahama residents were separated from

New Providence residents on the flight.

When she arrived at Breezes, she said people ensured she was given a room on the bottom floor and was shown where the bathroom is. “I got something to eat, which was really good,” she said.

“They checked our temperatures and vitals. The rooms aren’t dirty. Everything is in order. The nurses, the staff, everybody has been really nice. They are organised and were ready for us when we came. It was delightful.”

Infected traveller was not on airline flight list

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net THE man who flew to Grand Bahama on Friday despite testing positive for COVID-19 was one of four people from the same household who were not on Bahamasair’s initial list of people slated to join the government’s repatriation exercise.

Prior to boarding the flight, the other three people produced a negative COVID-19 test result, The Tribune understands.

Consulate General officials from Florida reportedly told the airline the four were cleared for travel, sources said.

Repatriation exercises on Friday involved two flights from Fort Lauderdale to The Bahamas, the first since the COVID-19 lockdown began weeks ago. The first flight had 88 people who flew directly to New Providence.

The second flight, which departed at 3.20pm, went from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport where 51 passengers disembarked, then flew to New Providence where 44 people disembarked. The man who tested positive and the three other people from his household disembarked during the Freeport leg of the trip.

The Tribune was told that when the four people showed up to Bahamasair’s counter at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport on Friday, the airline’s staff told them they were not on the list provided by the Consulate General

ONE of the repatriation flights which arrived in Nassau last Friday. office in Miami. The family was subsequently referred to representatives of the Consulate General who, upon their arrival, informed Bahamasair that their list included the names of the four people. The four were then added to Bahamsair’s manifest, which is the final list of passengers and crew that is filed before an airline departs.

The Tribune understands that some of Bahamasair’s senior staff were involved

‘MINNIS IS CLUELESS AND OUT OF TOUCH’ PLP leader Philip “Brave” Davis accused Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis of being “clueless” and “out of touch” saying his national address on Sunday was a “study in depression and hopelessness.”

“The prime minister just doesn’t get it,” Mr Davis said in a statement. “He is clueless as to the fate of his people and out of touch with the harsh reality that he has imposed on our people’s lives. What he has said does not alleviate the anxiety being experienced in our communities which is likely to threaten peace and good order.”

Mr Davis also said the government’s relaxation of some COVID-19 restrictions on business last week did not exclude gaming

houses from operating.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said businesses that could offer delivery and curbside services would be allowed to resume operations while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Web shops were among many businesses that reopened as a result, however on Sunday, Dr Minnis said they were excluded from this provision.

“The opening of businesses when announced last week did not exclude gaming,” Mr Davis claimed. “. . .Is there some medical advice to the government which has not been disclosed to us? Then to add insult to injury, people are not allowed to return to their places of worship.

Where is his soul?”

in making arrangements and the airline’s position is that it facilitated the government’s requests as directed by the Consulate General’s Office in Miami and did not play a lead role determining who would be allowed on the flight.

The list Bahamasair had, The Tribune understands, did not contain information about COVID-19 test results.

Bahamasair’s list initially had 190 people, though 183

people ultimately flew with the airline. It is not clear if there were other discrepancies between Bahamasair’s initial list and its manifest.

Linda Mackey, the consul general for The Bahamas in Miami, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said on Sunday an investigation will be launched into how the COVID-19 positive person was allowed on the

flight. The policy is that only people with a negative COVID-19 test result could return to the country.

Dr Minnis also said on Sunday: “Three individuals travelled with this passenger. All four of these individuals have been tested again upon arrival and we are awaiting the test results.

All passengers wore personal protection equipment which decreases the risk of exposure. All passengers on the flight will remain in

quarantine and will continue to be monitored.

Pending the investigation and review of this matter, I have advised the airline and was also advised by the health officials to temporarily suspend the repatriation flights which we will resume as soon as health officials advise.”

It is not clear whether the test results for the four people have come back.

Editorial View - Page 6

PAGE 4, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

WE DON’T WANT ANY TOURISTS HERE, SAY CAT ISLANDERS

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net

WITH no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the island, Cat Island residents are anxious about the inevitable return of domestic and international tourists and do not want visitors on their shores right now.

According to the island’s administrator, Neil Campbell, residents for the most part are obeying the government’s emergency orders and life is continuing as normal as possible given the circumstances.

“For the most part everyone is obeying the orders as they are given,” Mr Campbell said. “We have persons who are involved in various industries like fishing and farming and government services. As the orders exist now, they can attend to

livestock, go into the fields, and the packing house is open for farmers to trade their goods. The economy is existing almost like it existed before.”

A week ago, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced that Ragged Island, Rum Cay, Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay could resume normal commercial activity although curfew and lockdown measures in these areas, like all Family Islands, remain in effect.

Although restrictions have not been relaxed in Cat Island, the residents are very compliant to the orders and are making the best of life as it is now.

“I think because of the type of Family Island that we live in, most of our work ends at approximately 7 o’clock each evening,”

Mr Campbell explained.

“Apart from weekends when people would socialise and go to the Fish Fry and to the stalls that’s how we were. Now if that would have continued, we would end up with COVID-19 hotspots. We have zero cases and we want to keep it that way.

“Even when COVID19 was first announced and before there was a shutdown, the local government engaged people in sanitising efforts at the banks, food stores, dock and various places of business and government buildings. They even went into the schools and sanitised the school rooms and play areas and everything else. So we feel most comfortable that whatever we could have done locally, was done.

And, by the closure of

airport and domestic travel on the planes and mail boats we found that was a safety measure for our benefit.”

Cat Island is known worldwide for its beautiful water and tasty cuisine.

Tourists and Bahamians alike travel to the island and enjoy the local resorts.

“The resort owners are a part of us as well,” Mr Campbell continued. “It’s like a family structure.

Unlike other islands, locals own the resorts here. Like the Cleares, they own the Orange Creek inn; Sammy Ts is a family oriented business; Pompey Rock, Rollezz and even Fernanders Bay owned by Tony Armbrister. So we own our resorts and we are not like the other islands who have foreign owners or companies. Our resort owners live among us.

They are either descendants of the island or they are Cat Islanders themselves who have never left the Cat Island.”

In a time when hotels are laying off staff, resort owners in Cat Island are making a way to keep their staff on.

“The resorts are engaging their staff,” said the island administrator. “They are bringing them in periodically just to clean, do maintenance, landscaping and other things as the prime minister’s orders allow. This allows staff to have some sort of income. So we are very happy towards that end to know people are still engaged, even partially.

And, we are very pleased with our local resort owners who have really tried to hold on to their staff. We applaud them.

“From the other side, the

clientele for these resorts will be determined when the international borders are opened. So that might be of some concern to us, because just how we don’t want other persons to come from New Providence, we won’t want other persons to come from other countries either, while COVID-19 is still around.”

Mr Campbell said based on the many chat groups in Cat Island, the general consensus is Cat Islanders don’t mind the prime minister’s orders being relaxed so they can move around more freely, but they don’t want any outsiders allowed on the island. The island administrator said residents have no problem with Nassau residents and foreign visitors leaving the island to return home, but they do not want anyone coming in.

Budget must be creative, warns Bowe

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Chamber of Commerce chairman said yesterday the government’s 2020/2021 Budget will have to be creative with its limited resources amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Gowon Bowe said as a result of the economic fallout from the virus, the government will either have “to reduce its spending or increase its borrowing.”

Acknowledging the government will have difficult decisions to make in the days and months ahead, Mr Bowe said the Minnis administration will have to become innovative in terms of expenditure “with the limited resources that it has.”

This, he said, includes limiting the amount of loans and grants given to businesses in the country.

He said: “…The government has traditionally seen itself as. . .a provider as opposed to a facilitator and that mindset shift has to move to well as opposed to providing business loans or business grants, can the government look at it in terms of saying ‘well if I know I’m going to spend x amount of money, can I start at advance sales or advance payments.’ “…I think the (government) has to become creative now in terms of ‘well how do I use the money that I’m going to expend in a manner that allows businesses to advance receipt of funds

to, if you will, fund themselves’ and therefore, it doesn’t increase the amount of borrowing I will have to do because I was going to spend that money in any event.”

“So, when I start looking at where I’m going to borrow money, that should be in the areas where I can start seeing (investments) in the economy, but not using the cliché invest.”

He continued: “…

So, for example, they’ve spoken about significant expenditure on airport developments. Well, (I would) focus on those airports able to generate revenue once borders open.

I don’t focus on those airports that will not be.

“If I’m thinking about government building infrastructure, how do I develop buildings etc, that will become rental properties so I will no longer occupy 100 percent of it and allow it to (become) dilapidated.

“I will become effectively an investment property owner, 50 percent of it will be leased out to private tenants and therefore, that will serve two purposes – keep me on my toes in terms of maintaining the building

GOWON BOWE

but more importantly provide a cash flow again to help send some of the cost related with the borrowing that I will take on board.”

With tourism being the country’s leading industry for so many years, Mr Bowe also warned about the risks that come with diversifying the economy.

“We have to be careful about rushing to the government about diversification because I think a lot of persons fail to appreciate what tourism represents for us,” he told The Tribune.

“It is an export to a customer base of like I said seven million people, which is equivalent to probably two million full time residents.

“It is a source of foreign currency so it is our US source, if you will, in terms of the money that we have but most importantly, it is, if you will, a consumer of most of the businesses that have been established, whether directly or indirectly.

“So, when you talk about diversifying the economy, it’s not saying you don’t have other elements we should be considering, but do we have a product or a service that is going to reach two million people in the same way.”

On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the budget his government will issue this month will reflect decisions Bahamians will find painful as COVID19 and the response to the virus causes the unemployment rate to skyrocket and tax revenues to plummet.

Miller told the magistrate he was in Andros for six weeks and was suffering from a bad leg. He claimed he had applied for a letter to get permission to travel to Nassau to seek further medical treatment, but it was taking too long. He added he thought the government was now allowing “anybody who was abroad due to COVID-19 to come home,” because he had misinterpreted the message surrounding the government’s repatriation efforts.

In response, Magistrate Forbes told Miller he should have contacted one of the island’s administrators to confirm whether it was “feasible to travel”.

He also told Miller his trip would be an expensive one and fined him $400 or three months in prison.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the ease of some COVID-19 restrictions on Ragged Island, Rum Cay,

Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay. At the time, he said New Providence residents who are on those islands mentioned will be allowed to return to the capital.

Meanwhile, Valentino Ferguson, 23; Gerez Adderley, 24; Arashio Ramsey, 24, Floydira Dorsette, 22; Regina Thompson, 21; and Brenee Bascom, 20, were charged after they were found near John F Kennedy Drive around 9.50pm on May 8.

The group was heading to a hotel to celebrate Dorsette’s 22nd birthday. All of the defendants pleaded guilty and were each fined $400 or two months in prison. Adderley was also charged with being in possession of dangerous drugs. He pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged for 12 months on the agreement that he would attend drug counselling classes.

WOMAN, 88, PUSHES VIRUS COUNT TO 93

ANOTHER confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced by health officials yesterday, bringing the official count to 93.

The latest case is an 88-year-old woman from New Providence with no history of travel. She is in hospital.

Meanwhile officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine if a person who died on Bimini yesterday had COVID-19. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Delon Brennen said the person was healthy and showed no symptoms, but an autopsy is needed to determine cause of death.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said a COVID-19 positive person flew from Florida to Grand Bahama on a Bahamasair repatriation flight. Government protocol mandates that a person has a negative

test before being allowed back in the country and an investigation is underway to determine how the person was allowed to board the flight.

Dr Minnis said the four people have been retested since arriving in the Bahamas however their test results have not been announced yet.

According to health

officials, there have been eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Grand Bahama, 73 confirmed cases in New Providence, one confirmed case in Cat Cay, and 11 confirmed cases in Bimini. Eleven people have died from the disease while 39 people have recovered.

Six cases are in hospital. Up to press time, 1,634 tests had been completed.

Adderley was represented by attorney Ian Cargill. He told the magistrate his client and her friends had gotten a flat tyre around 8.30pm that night and were less than ten minutes away from their destination.

Attorney Alex Dorsett, who represented Floydira Dorsette, said the defendants were arrested at 9.10pm and not 9.50pm. He claimed one of the officers who arrested the defendants wrote ten minutes to ten instead of ten minutes after nine in the police statement. In response, Magistrate Forbes told the defendants they were putting their families at risk because they all lived in different households and were mingling with one another.

He noted one of them could have been asymptomatic with COVID-19 so they all risked contracting the disease and carrying it back home to other family

members who may be more susceptible to contracting and suffering from the virus.

In another matter, Carl Carroll, 32, was charged after officers found him on Market Street around 12.15am on May 8. He pleaded guilty and was fined $500 or three months in prison. During the hearing, he told Magistrate Forbes that he only violated the curfew because he was trying to get some money from a man who owed him cash.

Officers found Bruce Colebrooke, 36, on Ferguson Street around 8.40pm on May 9, during the weekend lockdown. He pleaded guilty, but told the magistrate he only went outside to go by his sister’s house to get an asthma pump for his 13-year-old daughter who was experiencing breathing issues. He was subsequently fined $250 or one month in prison.

Jerome Neely, 26, was

charged after officers found him near John F Kennedy Drive around 11.05pm on May 8. He pleaded guilty and was fined $300 or two months in prison.

Timothy Johnson, 43, was also charged after he was found on Cordia Street around 9.30pm on May 8. He pleaded guilty, but told the magistrate he only violated the curfew to get some limes from his neighbour because he heard it went well with tea to fight COVID-19. He was subsequently fined $500 or three months in prison.

Justin Williams, 26, was also charged after officers found him at Mackey Street around 7.55pm on May 9.

He pleaded guilty to violating the lockdown and was fined $400 or two months in prison. Prosecutor Mckenzie said at the time of his arrest, Williams told officers he was only outside because he was on his way to visit his aunt.

SAILING FROM ANDROS ENDS WITH $400 FINE

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who sailed from Andros to New Providence on a Boston Whaler to seek medical treatment for an ailing leg during the national curfew was fined $400 yesterday. He was among several people who appeared before Magistrate Andrew Forbes for curfew and lockdown infractions, including a group of young people found by police on their way to a hotel for a birthday party.

Deon Miller, 35, pleaded guilty to violating the national curfew after officers found him on Jaws Beach around 1.30pm on May 8. Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie told the court officers, acting on information, went to the beach where they met a man who told them he had just arrived on a boat from Andros.

During the hearing,

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 5

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

UB ORGANISES EMERGENCY STUDENT FUND

BAHA Mar recently donated 500 care packages to charitable organisations, including the Great Commission Ministries; Lend a Hand Bahamas and Bains and Grants Town Advancement and Patient representative of Dialysis patients PMH and others. “Many of our fellow Bahamians are facing unprecedented challenges as we navigate the effects

of COVID 19 in our community and across the world,” said Robert Sands, chairman of the Baha Mar Resort Foundation. “It is important for us to work hand in hand with our charitable partners and utilise their networks and expertise to bring a bit of aid those that need it most.” Bishop Walter Hanchell from the Great Commission Ministries said: “This contribution

RELIEF TO THOSE IN NEED

is very helpful and we truly appreciate the care and assistance towards our mission to provide food security and relief to those in need throughout The Bahamas.” Pictured left to right: Robert ‘Sandy’ Sands, Mitsy Ann Burrows – Lend a Hand Bahamas,Patrick Kluck – VP of Procurement – Baha Mar, Anna James, Procurement Manager.

UNIVERSITY of The Bahamas has established a special emergency fund to help students affected by COVID-19.

The UB COVID-19 Relief Fund is for students, faculty and staff impacted by the pandemic.

Contributions to this fund will be made available to those in need with a special focus on Family Island students who, as a result of the disaster have had to return to home, UB said in a press release.

UB President Dr Rodney Smith invited support from donors in order to help UB students meet their academic goals.

“We have learned many lessons as a result of the pandemic,” he said. “We have learned that some of our students do not have access to technology, which has become yet another ‘essential’ in today’s world. For many, attending and graduating from University of The Bahamas represents an opportunity, a new beginning, a means to change their lives and the lives of their families. Education represents the way to escape poverty. A way to change the past. We are obligated, therefore, to do whatever we can to ensure the success of all of our students.”

Gaming houses cry foul on shutdown from page one

said on Sunday. “Those provisions specifically state that permission to engage in home delivery and curbside pickup services do not apply to gaming house operators.”

In response, BGOA said in a statement released yesterday: “This seems like ‘deja vu’ when it comes to the domestic gaming industry – another singling out and discriminatory public policy imposed, while other similar sectors are allowed favourable treatment.”

BGOA noted what it calls “preferential treatment” being made by allowing some sectors, like liquor stores, to open using curbside service and delivery.

“It was the public health

officials’ previous recommendation that due to the high level of comorbidity or underlying health conditions (ie hypertension, diabetes) resident amongst a high number of our citizens that consumption of alcohol may have led to an increase risk of COVID-19 cases due to the potential weakening of one’s immune system,” the BGOA statement continued. “We wonder if the data has now changed relative to that public health safety position. This then begs the question of what are the public health concerns for not allowing curbside service for domestic gaming operations, which were limited to deposits, withdrawals, over the counter-ticket sales and bill payments.”

QUIET at Island Luck yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff The BGOA explained that patrons were not allowed to enter any gaming establishment or engage in physical gaming activity other than through online means. It also said that the gaming industry had not been consulted or asked for input as to how it would

have offered curbside or drive-through services.

The BGOA is a nonprofit organisation that represents the majority of the licensees of the domestic gaming industry. Its members include: Island Luck, A Sure Win, Percy’s Island Game, Ultra Games

and Paradise Games. “The domestic gaming industry operators are licensed entities operating in a highly regulated environment and pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes and fees to the government on an annual basis,” BGOA added.

Approximately 3,000 Bahamians are employed in the gaming industry, many of whom, according to BGOA, were excited to return to work, regain their ability to earn an income and meet their personal and family obligations. However, the BGOA said that just after a week of offering curbside and drive-through only services and strictly adhering to the social distancing and sanitation protocols, the hopes of those 3,000 plus employees have been dashed once again.

“If any sector in The Bahamas was more advanced and equipped technologically to offer such a service while maintaining strict adherence to social and sanitation protocols it would be domestic gaming,” the association said.

“The Bahamas Gaming Operators Association (BGOA), therefore, invites the competent authority to meet with the industry to discuss how we can address the government’s intent to ease the economic crisis, in its phased reopening of the economy and adhering to all the public safety protocols, in order to get our employees back to work and mitigate against the rising tide of unemployment and all that it represents.”

PAGE 6, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

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Clear communication must be the lesson IN the wake of the resignation of Health Minister Dr Duane Sands, there were clear lessons to be learned. The slow revelation of more information about how a COVID-19 positive passenger got on board a repatriation flight shows that some skipped those lessons.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis welcomed back the 183 Bahamians and residents who returned to New Providence and Grand Bahama.

He didn’t spell it out in his speech but those passengers came back from Fort Lauderdale on two separate planes. One plane – with 88 people on board – flew directly to New Providence. It was the second plane that had the infected passenger on board.

Dr Minnis said in his speech that the “agreement with those wishing to return is that no one who tested positive for the virus would be allowed on a repatriation flight” – before revealing one passenger was found to be positive after the flight landed.

“Three individuals travelled with this passenger,” said Dr Minnis – but they were not alone. A total of 51 of those – including the infected passenger – disembarked at Freeport. The remaining 44 continued to New Providence. That total, you’ll notice, is 95, not 183, and that’s where a lack of clear speaking doesn’t help. Rather than saying outright there were two planes, it leaves people to work things out.

When Dr Minnis said three individuals travelled with this passenger, it turns out they were a family, three of them having produced a negative test result.

They showed up at the Bahamasair counter on Friday despite not being on the list to travel. Dr Minnis did not mention that in his national address.

Bahamasair had a list of passengers

due to fly – initially 190. Apparently, when these four showed up, Bahamasair contacted the Consulate General’s office who said their list did have the family’s names on – and Bahamasair duly added them to the manifest. Two different lists left a gap that meant that an infected person could get on the plane.

When Dr Sands spoke to the nation about the decision that ultimately led to his resignation, he said two people had entered the country. It turned out to be six people, not two. Somewhere, a lack of clear communication ended up with a minister not knowing how many people had just been let into the country. A lack of clear communication in this new case ended up with an infected passenger on board a plane carrying 95 people.

The outcome of this is at least a temporary end to repatriation flights.

Bahamians abroad will have to wait a little longer because of someone’s decision to put this family on the flight.

We hope that decision will not result in the spread of more cases. The good news is that passengers on the flights wore PPE gear, and all passengers going into quarantine afterwards reduces the risk of carrying it further – but that’s cleaning up the mess afterwards rather than avoiding it to begin with.

The concerns are not just effective communication to the public – although Dr Minnis spoke for more than 50 minutes in his national address to make clear what happened, and the Consul General has yet to speak on the subject.

It is also effective communication within government to be able to make the right decisions – and to eliminate the grey areas that can lead to problems.

These are the things that the resignation ought to have taught us – and it is clear that we still have a distance to go.

Kicking down doors and making The Bahamas proud THE Bahamas can be proud indeed of one of its sons.

Nicholas Johnson has been named the first black valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2020. He’s the son of a Bahamian doctor, Dr Dexter Johnson, who practises in Ottawa, Canada.

Speaking to The Tribune, Dr Johnson’s pride shone through as he talked of his Cat Island roots, growing up in Arthur’s Town and going to St Anne’s High School.

He said his son’s accomplishment was a great story for a country like ours and that it could inspire others to strive for greatness – all the more remarkable for

him being the first black man in Princeton’s history to receive the honour.

He said: “Bahamians are very proud people and it’s just great to know that it took one of our own to finally kick that door down after 274 years.”

It already inspired former First Lady Michelle Obama to share Nicholas’ story with the world on Twitter, congratulating him and saying how as a Princeton alum she was so proud of him. We’ll let her have the last word, with which we can only agree: “I have a feeling this is just the beginning for you, and I cannot wait to see everything you continue to achieve.”

It’s never too late to do the right thing, Dr Minnis EDITOR, The Tribune WHILE listening to the Prime Minister’s address, I was very pleased to hear from his own lips that the web shops are NOT able to restart business under the curbside pickup or home delivery rules, although I’m sure they’ll leave no stone unturned searching for other ways around this edict. Thank you Dr. Minnis, calmer and more

sane minds have prevailed.

On the country’s return to normalcy, if there has to be some form of legalised gambling in the Bahamas to appease the baser desires of our people, I am of the opinion that a National Lottery would more benefit both the Public Purse and the gambling public.

This, rather than allowing the select few to continue the economic and financial rape of our communities

and the exploitation of our poorer people who can least afford it, but are those most vulnerable and afflicted by this scourge.

It is not too late to right this wrong which was underhandedly perpetrated on us by previous governments, it’s never too late to do the right thing!

IAN MABON Nassau, May 11, 2020

In politics, we are mere actors on the stage EDITOR, The Tribune IT IS ironic that on today’s date, a Sunday and Mother’s Day coupled with the third year of the FNM in power, the sky is overcast and it looks like a shower will fall down later. We all know that when it rains the crabs start to walk. The masses of the Bahamian people have woken up from what turned out to be a long and unexpected nightmare.

Minnis and his crew have wreaked economic havoc and Corona-inspired deaths, albeit unintentionally, on the unsuspecting people of The Bahamas.

Minnis and his side kick, Peter Turnquest, obviously, do not know what the hell they are doing or how and when to get us out of this pandemic. In fact, we have yet to hear about a single plan of action to recover the thousands of jobs which were abruptly lost, for ever, when the PM, a man who has never been known for numeracy, woke up one morning and closed the entire nation down at the stroke of a pen.......what is he and the crew doing to devise real means of reconstruction?

The hurricane season is right around the corner.... no visible preparations.

Where is Captain Stephen Russell and NEMA? Where is former Senate President Kaye ForbesSmith? Where is Minister of State Iram Lewis (FNMCentral Grand Bahama)?

After almost one solid year after Dorian dead bodies are still stored in a trailer in Abaco. Many areas of that island are without electricity. A handful of DOME units have been erected and distributed to FNM cronies and pretenders.

Relative to the Duane Sands fiasco there are elements of collective ministerial responsibilities which the Progressive

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net Liberal Party (PLP) must flesh out. I realised years ago that while the FNM surely means well, it and its leadership came to office totally unprepared. The knuckled-headed Minister of Finance is a work in progress as, clearly, he and his team know next to nothing about high finance and economic policies.

God forbid, but The Bahamas is headed for a severe depression the likes of which we have never seen, except you are over 100 years old. Banks and financial institutions, along with the hotel and real estate sectors are in deep trouble and many will go under, literally from the Corona and very bad financial manipulation by Minnis and his people. Our battered economy has been dealt body blows throughout the administration of Minnis and Turnquest.

Carl Bethel used to jet off to Belgium, France and other European nations at taxpayers’ expense and he has yet to bring home any bacon, if only a small piece.

Food security and the supply chains are already under assault and there are no sensible solutions being put forward by Prime Minister Hubert Alexander Minnis. Rome is burning and they are saying “don’t blame us”. Thank God they cannot blame the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) for the abject hell which most of us are catching right now with a larger dosage yet to come.

We have nothing against a certain class and demographics but to appoint a Food Security Panel, headed by a white Bahamian woman, very distinguished by the way, who has never been hungry or

financially challenged in her entire life, is dead wrong and sends the wrong message. One of her parents is former Senate President and a big operative within the FNM. Nothing, prima facie, is wrong with that but the coded message is a dangerous one.

To add insult to injury the PM, in his abundant wisdom has appointed yet another committee headed

by Acting Financial Secretary, Marlon Johnson, and Kenword Kerr, CEO of Providence Management, which has multiple multi-million dollar public/ private sector contracts with the Minnis administration sends a terrible message and could lead one to conclude that the PM has a very shallow bench and that possibly many of the members of his assorted ad hoc committees are being recycled at best.

I have reached out to Minnis, et al, over the years but they are on a run all to themselves and they act and believe as if they will be in power, especially absolutely, for years and years to come. Sir Lynden, et al, probably believed and acted out on the same bogus premises. In politics, like other aspects of life, we are mere actors on the stage.

When called we play our role. After the conclusion, we move off or are thrown off stage to make room for the next actor or actress. In The Bahamas, no matter the encore and the cat calls for me, it is the same. The first and only term of Minnis is winding down, mercifully, and soon the Egyptians whom we see now, we shall soon see no more. To God then, in all things, be the glory.

ORTLAND H. BODIE, JR. Nassau May 10, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 7

Widow of gangster shot dead by cops The Tribune dies in GB driveby A1MAIN

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from page one

THE SCENE at yesterday’s shooting.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

was unconscious and taken by EMS to the hospital,” Supt Rolle said.

The senior police official said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The male victim was transported by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition. The incident brings the island’s murder count to six for the year, according to The Tribune’s records, and is the 24th nationwide.

Last May, police shot and killed three men in a home off Eastern Road on a Friday morning. At the time, police said the men opened fire at officers who were trying to execute a search warrant.

Tony Smith, said to be the alleged leader of the “Border Boys” gang, was one of the victims. He had been acquitted of several murder charges before his death. Kim Smith and three others were arrested and charged last year with drug possession with intent supply, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of ammunition in connection to the Blair incident.

Supt Rolle is appealing to members of the public who have information concerning yesterday’s incident to assist police with their investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call 242-3503106 through 12, 911/919, or call the nearest police station.

from page one Last week, Justices Maureen Crane-Scott, Roy Jones and Milton Evans quashed the sentence after ruling the judge who heard Rolle’s case should not have admitted the record of the interview and the statement of offence into evidence during the trial.

“There are a number of grounds filed by the appellant, but the first two grounds are of note,” the judgement notes. “The first one is that learned judge erred in law and in fact when she wrongfully admitted the record of interview and

statement of the offence; and, secondly, the learned judge failed, based on the circumstances of the case, to give the reasons for her decision to admit the record of interview into evidence.

“After full submissions on this matter, counsel for the Crown has conceded that the failure of the judge to provide reasons in the circumstances of this case was an error which goes to the root and, as a result, both grounds one and two should be acceded to in that in the circumstances of this case the record of interview and the statement should not have been admitted into evidence.”

The counsel for the Crown also conceded that there was no other evidence that could be used against Rolle during the trial. They also agreed that it was not a “proper case for a retrial.”

“Therefore, in the circumstances of this case, based on the concession of the Crown, we accede to the application to extend time, we allow the appeal and quash the conviction and sentence, and we do not order a retrial,” the justices concluded.

“Unless the appellant is being held for some other purpose, he would be eligible to be released from prison.”

Body discoverd at Long Island

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net A LONG Island resident made a grisly discovery when he found a man’s partly decomposed body on the weekend.

According to a police report, a Millers resident was walking on the shoreline of Simms, Long Island shortly after 5pm Saturday when he came across the remains. Foul play is not suspected in this incident, police said.

In a post to his Facebook page, Long Island MP Adrian Gibson said police recovered the body Sunday evening. He said it appeared the corpse “washed ashore.”

He added: “Police extracted the body from the rough, surrounding terrain with the assistance of an excavator and escorted the remains to the local morgue.

“According to reports (administrator), the body appears to have been exposed to sun and saltwater for a period and appears to be that of a black male.”

Earlier this month, police said they were searching for six people who reportedly swam ashore on Friday May 1 after their vessel erupted into flames off Stella Maris a day prior.

An official told The Tribune at the time that the group was located somewhere in the Simms

settlement of Long Island.

“The search continues for (those) six persons,” the official, who did not want to be identified, said previously. The group along with three others were reportedly en route to Haiti from New Providence when — according to those on board — a woman passenger allegedly suffering from a non-COVID-19 related illness died. The dead passenger was reportedly left on board the vessel.

Yesterday police in Long Island could not say if the man is suspected to be one of the boat’s passengers.

Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

PAIR CHARGED AFTER SHOOTING INCIDENT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net TWO Freeport men were charged in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with last week’s shooting incident. Reynaldo Hudson, 23, of No 13A Tasmin Circle, and Larry Artillus, 23, of

No 94 Bonefish Street, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson in Court One on two counts of possession of a firearm with intent by means to endanger life.

It is alleged that on May 7 at Freeport, the men were in possession of a firearm with intent to endanger the life of two men.

Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, children in here

The pair pleaded not guilty to the charges. They were remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until August 27 for trial.

Hudson was also charged separately for threats of death. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the matter was also adjourned to August 27 for trial.

PAGES

WORDS: KHRISNA RUSSELL

PICTURES: TERREL W CAREY SR

ABOVE: A door riddled with bullet holes. Below, the house where the incident happened and, right, a blood-stained door.

Families dispute police account of deadly dawn raid “DON’T shoot, children in here!” a young boy has recounted as being among the last words of one of three men fatally shot by police on Friday.

When officers stormed the sprawling pink and white house just off Eastern Road in the early morning raid, there were six children inside.

Two of them, with the permission of relatives, gave a chilling account of

what unfolded when the armed officers entered the house where they slept.

The Tribune has decided not to reveal any identifying factors related to the boys in order to preserve their identities.

“He looked at me and took his last breath and mummy was crying,” the younger of the two boys said. “The police came and he did say, ‘don’t shoot my children in here’.

“I thought my daddy would be around until I was 18,” he said sadly.

“He was saying don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” the

older boy said. “He was holding me and police start saying, ‘put the boy down’, so he put me down and the police come up the stairs

and round him and shoot him in his back.

“And I had blood on my clothes ‘cause I fell down in the blood on the floor.”

Asked if they trusted th police, both boys said th did not. In the aftermath the fatal shootings, bloo stains and bullet hol feature prominently at th Newgate and Commo wealth Road house whe relatives yesterday que tioned why police alleged ambushed “unarmed Jamaal Penn, Valentin Pratt and Trevor Cooper.

SEE PAGE THR

DAVIS BUDGET HOW The Tribune reported theFEARS shootings lastCUTS MayAND TAXES

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

Prisoner wins murder appeal

HOUS & 16 HOM E

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER

into a recession. At a press conference at the PLP’s headquarters, Mr Davis said his party has no confidence in the Free National Movement’s ability to effectively and practically manage the public’s finances.

He said this is “because they have missed critical fiscal targets for the last two budgetary cycles and because they have failed to present realistic budget estimates”.

SEE PAGE SIX

BPL BLAMES BAD WEATHER FOR OUTAGES

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

BAD weather was blamed as the cause of Bahamas Power and Light power outages in New Providence’s on Mother’s Day. A statement from the company said: “Over

OPPOSITION leader Philip Davis yesterday released predictions for the upcoming 2019-2020 budget, questioning if there will be an increase in taxes as well as a drastic cut to recurrent and capital expenditure.

The Progressive Liberal Party leader insisted the government’s options for the budget are limited

OPPOSITION leader Philip Davis

INSIGHT FRED SMITH: USE RB. WE ARE

NOT THE ENEMY the past 24 hours, inclem- issues including a downed SEE PAGE SEV ent weather interrupted high-voltage power line. electricity services in a Although power has been number of places across restored to all feeders the island of New Provi- at this time, we are still dence, including the dealing with a few isoeast. In addition to lightlated issues that require Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper ning strikes, teams were attention. We thank our mobilised to restore sup- customers as always for plies in the wake of such their patience.” and further forecasted economic challenges will hasten the country’s descent

PAGE 8, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

The passion’s still ablaze in ‘Fireman’ Brown HE IS one of the most beloved track stars in the country. He is a husband, father and a coach, having mentored hundreds of kids in The Bahamas and in America. He has travelled the world and has stood on an Olympic pedestal with a gold medal. Yet, Chris “Fireman” Brown is one of the humblest people you could meet. This island boy believes in God, family and country and during the COVID-19 lockdown, he has grown even more committed and focused to the things he loves.

Had it not been for the onslaught of a global pandemic, Chris would be headed to Tokyo for the summer Olympics in two months’ time. He was ready to bring the fire to the track and run for his country once again before hanging up his cleats, at least from the Olympic field. But he will have to wait until next year. The idea of having thousands of the world’s greatest athletes come together - and hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands - is a nightmare for pandemic experts. An event like the Olympics could cause a major resurgence of COVID-19 all around the world.

With this in mind, the event has been delayed and athletes around the globe will have more time to prepare. For some, they are in perfect form and ready to compete and the delay can cause a bit of anxiety.

Others are recouping from injuries, or felt they needed more time to train so they are breathing a sigh of relief.

Chris looks at life a little differently. He leans on his spirituality as a guide and compass in life. He makes his major moves, he says, when he gets a word from God. “I wanted to run in the Olympics once more; now it’s been moved to 2021, I still want to, and that may be the final one unless the Lord says he wants me to focus on something different,” he said.

“I have accomplished so much and for my next move, I am waiting on his guidance. Although mankind may try to stop things in different ways, I will stay focused. As they say, who God bless, no man curse.”

And he certainly has been blessed. He won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He has won four World Championship medals in the 400 metre relay. That’s in addition to winning numerous medals in individual contests. The Olympic achievement was a big one for The Bahamas.

He ran the 4 × 400 m relay with Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller. They beat the defending champions the United States, marking the first Olympic men’s gold medal in any athletics event for The Bahamas and the first American loss in that race at the Olympics since 1972. The four were dubbed “The Golden Knights”.

Chris also won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. His two Olympic bronze medals were won in Sydney in 2000 and in Rio

de Janiero in 2016. He has had the privilege of serving as the flag bearer for The Bahamas at the Olympics, a role he performed with pride.

“The support of my country has been the driving force behind a lot of my success,” said Chris.

“Knowing that so many people are pulling for me… it means the world. I come home and I feel the love.

They named a street after me. I have been to dinners with the dignitaries that run the country. People have celebrated me and have shown appreciation.

“What can I say but, thank you! Whatever my calling may be, the next step, my next role, I just look to continue to carry my country and lift it up.

I just want to be a beacon, soaring through the sky, carrying the banner as high as I can get it. I want to see the legacy continue to be carried by the young people of The Bahamas.”

Chris’ love of country compelled him to create the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational – an elite track and field meet that hosted over a hundred athletes, coaches and managers for a worldclass professional event. It was held in 2013 and again in 2016 and for Chris, it was a way to show off his beautiful country to the world, while giving his fellow stellar athletes an opportunity to see how venues like The Bahamas are just as viable to host competitions. In fact, The Bahamas became host to the 2014 and 2015 IAAF World Relays, where Chris and his teammates won silver in the men’s 4x400 metres.

When he’s not preparing for international track meets, Chris is busy working as the assistant track coach at Clayton State University, a Division 2 institution in Georgia, USA. With school closed because of COVID-19, Chris is busy working from home participating in university meetings, recruiting new athletes and working one-on-one with current student athletes to ensure they are sticking to their regimen despite the change in school routine.

He balances his daily work with his family responsibilities as a husband and father-of-three.

He and his wife Faith have been doing what many families are faced with during this time – balancing working from home with having to homeschool their children – Emerald, ten, Zora, eight and Shiloh, four.

Chris joked: “It’s like having a tornado, hurricane and tsunami in your house at the same time!” But I had to ask him – what else could he expect to be the product of a man who has brought so much heat to the track, while putting out his competitor’s fires that he earned the nickname “Fireman”.

“We make it work by setting up a work station for everyone and when they are there, they know they have to put in some work in some form or fashion.

But we let them go outside and play; we let them take a break whenever they get

CHRIS adores his Bahamian fans.

Their cheers give him life. Here, he is pictured with a flaming background to reflect his nickname.

Graphic: Sidda Communications

antsy. We know that it’s a whole new adjustment and we can’t operate like it’s the school system.”

Chris and Faith named their two daughters and their son with Biblical inspiration. They want to give their children a strong spiritual foundation, as well as a strong cultural one. The family regularly visits The Bahamas which the children love. They have even gone to Chris’ hometown, Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera.

There, he was raised by his parents Harcourt and Nola Brown, who raised their seven children in the quaint but beautiful south Eleuthera settlement. Chris grew up being close with his

siblings and on the island, he says, everyone knew each other. His children also love watching the Junkanoo parade in Nassau and love Bahamian food.

They are also privileged to have a strong cultural background on their mother’s side. Faith’s mother is from Nigeria and her father, who passed away just a few weeks ago, is from Ghana. The family plans to make the trip to the motherland one day to see all the family members who are undoubtedly anxious to meet them.

Until then, Chris plans to continue instilling into his children the morals and values that made him who

he is – a humble island boy who has, in his own right, conquered the world.

“A part of the key to my success has has been not being distracted – staying focused,” he said, adding he

has enjoyed having mentors around him and people who wanted to see him do well.

“I love my country and I love doing what I do, and if I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change anything.”

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 9

WHAT CAN WE IN THE BAHAMAS LEARN FROM JOHNSON? ON the thesis that the COVID-19 pandemic respects no boundaries and that we are all in this together, it is generally agreed each country can learn from the experience of others even though local conditions will vary. So I wonder whether policy-makers here at home will wish to look for any helpful pointers from Boris Johnson’s address to the British nation on Sunday setting out the government’s plans for easing the lockdown. It drew an audience of more than 27 million.

In Britain’s response and the

need for clarity in the message there may be lessons to be learnt that are applicable to this country.

While stressing the need to re-open the country, Mr Johnson stated it could be disastrous to ease restrictions too quickly because of the danger of a second wave of the virus. So a phased approach was vital and he announced, in particular, that people were now encouraged to return to their places of employment if they were unable to work from home; for example, in construction and manufacturing.

The

Peter Young column LAST week’s commemorations and celebrations in Britain of the landmark 75th anniversary of VE-Day have been described as a joyous demonstration of national pride.

May 8, 1945 marked the end of the Second World War in Europe - and being in the coronavirus lockdown did not stop people paying tribute to those who had saved them from the tyranny of Nazi Germany. In the words of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he urged his fellow countrymen and women to take inspiration from the generation that had won the war, “We are free because of everything they did”.

No one was immune from the impact of the 1939-45 conflict that engulfed the world. For Britain alone, the number of casualties was huge, with nearly 400,000 members of the armed forces and 70,000 civilians losing their lives.

In the summer of 1940 the outlook seemed bleak.

Most of Europe had been conquered by Germany and only Britain, under wartime leader Winston Churchill, stood alone and firm in the face of a threatened invasion. But Hitler later called this off following the successful Battle of Britain won in the air against the Luftwaffe and a bombing campaign which failed to break the will of the British people. Then, the chances of ultimate victory appeared slim if not unimaginable. But, after America entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the final result of the war could have been in no further doubt however long it took.

The sheer joy, jubilation and relief at the ending of the war in Europe in 1945 - and liberation of the continent from occupation by Nazi Germany - was tempered by the knowledge that hostilities in the Pacific were still going on. It was not until Japan surrendered three months later that the global conflict finally came to an end. So, in the midst of their jubilation on VE-Day, people were torn at the thought of friends and relations in the Far East under the threat of further fighting and the continuing hellish conditions of Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.

It was also a time of reflection about the sacrifices

of so many during six long years of conflict.

In contrast to last week’s events, Britain’s commemorations and celebrations of the 50th anniversary of VE-Day were against a vastly different background. Having led - at the official level under the direction of government ministers - the planning and running of the civilian side of these in 1995, I found it interesting to compare the relatively easy time we had of it then with the difficulties this year’s organisers faced as a result of the confining restraints of coronavirus social distancing.

For the 50th anniversary, among various public events we organised a large exhibition and concert in Hyde Park in central London to reflect life in wartime Britain. We also re-created the scene on May 8, 1945 when the King and Queen and the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, accompanied by Churchill, appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in front of huge and ecstatic crowds. Fifty years later to the day, The Queen, together with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, stood on the same balcony in front of another massive cheering crowd - estimated by the police to have been over 100,000 - that reached well down The Mall towards Trafalgar Square. This was followed by a fly-past of Second World War vintage aircraft and of the famous Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team.

Last week, however, such large gatherings were not possible. There could be no parades of veterans, who were not allowed to celebrate in groups.

Nor was there the traditional memorial concert in the Royal Albert Hall which is normally packed to the rafters, including, of course, the veterans themselves and their families.

So, this time it was limited to a chorus of wartime music in an empty building with no audience, and wellknown singer Katherine Jenkins giving a rendition - for the TV cameras only - of Forces’ sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn’s rousing wartime song “We’ll Meet Again”.

This year, members of the public had clearly decided that, even if Britain was in

But everything was conditional on keeping the R level – the reproduction rate of the infection – below 1. He said that, if the infection rate continued to drop, the country could be gradually reopened, but social distancing would be essential.

It is interesting that in Britain new ways of keeping workplaces ‘COVID-secure’ are already emerging – for example, installation of screens to protect workers, extra facilities for hand washing, one-way walking systems within buildings, controlled

BRITISH PM Boris Johnson

use of bathrooms and closure of canteens.

It is clear that, until a treatment and a vaccine have been developed, social distancing measures will have to be maintained, and the key will be to find a way of enforcing them. So, if the infection rate continues to be at a low enough level to be considered acceptable in the circumstances, it is hard to see how a continuing lockdown can be justified.

But, inevitably, this will remain a matter of careful and informed judgement.

Stiff upper lips as Britain remembers and vows: we’ll meet again (just not for a little bit)

CROWDS gather to celebrate VE Day in Piccadilly Circus in London on May 8, 1945 lockdown, they would not be denied their own way of remembering and celebrating, so the spirit of 1945 was exuberantly reproduced.

Across the country, Britons organised patriotic tea parties, at socially acceptable distances, and decorated their houses and streets

with Union Flags while celebrating from their doorsteps – and then they were invited to open all doors and windows and take part in a national singalong of “We’ll Meet Again”. But equally important, of course, were the official commemoration ceremonies around the

country – again respecting social distancing -- including a poignant wreath laying and a nationwide two minutes’ silence led by the Prince of Wales.

The emphasis throughout has been on peace and reconciliation in the spirit of Churchill’s famous dictum

- In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill. This was reflected in what was perhaps the most important event of all; namely, The Queen’s VE-Day speech to the nation and to the Commonwealth, including, of course, The Bahamas, of which as a Realm she is Head of State.

The Bahamas made a significant contribution to both world wars.

This has been extensively recorded for posterity and I commend the supplement entitled ‘Called to Arms’ published in The Tribune on November 9, 2018 as well as a commemorative booklet produced by the Department of Archives in 1985 about the nation’s involvement in these conflicts. It may be invidious to single out any individual Bahamian, but Sir Etienne Dupuch himself served in the First World War and has been described by the British Legion Bahamas Branch as an ‘exemplary war hero’.

The Queen delivered her address exactly 75 years - reportedly, to the hour, minute and second - after her father King George VI’s speech on VE-Day. Her address has been described as ‘electric’. Stressing the importance of the message ‘never give up and never despair’, The Queen paid tribute to Britain’s lockdown spirit. While saluting the Second World War heroes and praising them for their sacrifice, she said they would have recognised and admired their country’s response to today’s pandemic, not least that people supported and protected one another.

Her warm words that “our streets are not empty; they are filled with love and the care that we have for each other” will surely have been a comfort and inspiration to so many.

YET ANOTHER COMMAND PERFORMANCE BY THE QUEEN

QUEEN Elizabeth addresses the Commonwealth on the 75th anniversary of VE Day,

LAST week’s VE-Day speech by The Queen was notable as her second address to the nation during the coronavirus crisis, together with her special and moving message at Easter which served as a rallying call in the midst of the pandemic. The first one was on April 5 when she said that, if Britain remained resolute, ‘we will overcome’ the virus. This was itself only the fifth time during her 68-year reign that she had made a special address of this sort. Her annual televised speech on Christmas Day is, of course, unrelated and has become something of an institution that people look forward to while settling down in front of the TV with happy anticipation after a sumptuous Christmas lunch.

The Queen has also been in the news recently

because she celebrated her 94th birthday on April 21.

This year she insisted that in the present circumstances it should be a low-key affair.

For the first time during her reign, there was no 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, nor any other celebratory events which she deemed to be inappropriate.

It also comes as no surprise that her official birthday in June (usually the second weekend of the month) - when the Trooping the Colour ceremony takes place and attracts enormous crowds on Horse Guards Parade in London - has been cancelled in its traditional form this year. Those interested in the history of the British monarchy may be aware that in 1748 King George II, who was born in the month of November, decreed that that there should be a military

parade and public celebration annually to celebrate the Sovereign’s birthday.

But, because the English weather was unsuitable for this purpose in November, it should be held in the summer month of June.

As everybody in Britain knows, The Queen’s words carry great weight.

In her capacity as Head of State she remains above the political fray and is seen as a unifying force in a way to which politicians cannot aspire. People trust her wise words and believe what she says. In the VE-Day context, it is also worth noting that she herself is a veteran of the Second World War, having served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) and was trained in vehicle maintenance, while Prince Philip served with distinction in the Royal Navy during the war.

PAGE 10, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

BLACK DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO TAKE OVER ARBERY SHOOTING CASE SAVANNAH, Georgia Associated Press

GEORGIA’S attorney general yesterday appointed a black district attorney to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last

week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based more than 300 miles from the community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with

GREGORY McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor. “In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin

Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. It was not known yestrerday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. .

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

NEW VIRUS TEST A STEP TOWARD MASS SCREENING WASHINGTON Associated Press

LEFT: A man gets a hair cut at a salon outside Paris yesterday; above: Visitors enter the Disneyland theme park in Shanghai as it reopened; right: Protesters in Massachusetts display placards against the shutdown.

Nations are ‘driving blind’ as they reopen NEW YORK Associated Press

A TOP world health official yesterday warned that countries are essentially driving blind in reopening their economies without setting up strong contact tracing to beat back flare-ups of the coronavirus.

The warning came as France and Belgium emerged from lockdowns, the Netherlands sent children back to school, and many US states pressed ahead by lifting business restrictions. In California, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company’s 10,000-worker electric car factory near San Francisco was operating yesterday in defiance of coronavirus health orders that closed non-essential businesses.

Authorities have cautioned that the scourge could come back with a vengeance without widespread testing and tracing of infected people’s contacts with others.

Fears of infection spikes in countries that have loosened up were borne out in recent days in Germany, where new clusters were linked to three slaughterhouses; in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the crisis started; and in South Korea, where a single nightclub customer was linked to 85 new cases.

The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, said that robust contact tracing measures adopted by Germany and South Korea provide hope that those countries can detect and stop virus clusters before they get out of control.

But he said other nations exiting their lockdowns have not effectively employed contact tracing investigators who contact people who test positive, track down their contacts and get them into quarantine before they can spread the virus. The coronavirus can spread before people feel sick, making

it important to act quickly. Ryan declined to name specific countries.

“Shutting your eyes and trying to drive through this blind is about as silly an equation as I’ve seen,” Ryan said. “And I’m really concerned that certain countries are setting themselves up for some seriously blind driving over the next few months.”

At the White House, President Donald Trump declared: “We have met the moment, and we have prevailed.” He said later that he was referring to to virus testing and insisted all Americans who want tests can get them even though experts say that capacity does not exist. Only yesterday did his administration say it believed it had enough tests to mount a nationwide testing campaign to address significant death rates in nursing homes and other senior care facilities.

Worldwide, the virus has infected a confirmed 4.1 million people and

killed more than 280,000, including over 150,000 in Europe and about 80,000 in the U.S., according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Experts believe those numbers understate the outbreak’s true toll.

More than 10,000 people are involved in contact tracing in Germany, a country of 83 million, or about one-quarter the size of the United States. In the US, where health officials will watch closely in coming days for any resurgence of the virus two weeks after states began gradually reopening, contact tracing is a patchwork of approaches and readiness levels.

States are hiring and tracing contact tracers and experts say hundreds of thousands will be needed across the country.

Apple, Google, some US states and European countries developing contact-tracing apps that show whether someone crossed paths with an infected person.

A NEW type of coronavirus test offers a cheaper, quicker way to screen for infections, moving the US toward the kind of mass screening that experts say is essential to returning millions of Americans to school and work.

But the first so-called antigen test — announced on Saturday by the Food and Drug Administration — is not quite the kind sought by top government health officials. It is less accurate than the current gold standard for testing and can only be run on specialised equipment.

“It is too early to tell,” said lab researcher Patricia Simner of Johns Hopkins University, assessing the test’s impact. “It certainly has the potential to aid in more widespread testing.”

The test from Quidel Corp screens for new infections but in a different way.

It looks for protein traces of the virus — known as antigens. The same approach is used in rapid tests for flu, strep throat and other infections that are run at the hospital or doctor’s office. They represent a trade-off, sacrificing some of the accuracy of more rigorous tests for quicker results at a lower cost. “They allow you to dramatically expand testing and they’re very cheap,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner.

But he acknowledged antigen testing’s reduced accuracy: “They’re going to miss some patients who have COVID.” Previously, the only way to diagnose active infections was a test that detects the genetic material of the virus. While highly accurate, most of those tests take hours to develop on machines mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities. Abbott Laboratories makes a 15-minute version of the genetic test that runs on its portable machine, but it only does one sample at a time.

CONFUSION IN BRITAIN AFTER IMF APPROVES $2.77 BILLION TO ABOUT-FACE ON WEARING MASKS HELP EGYPT WITH VIRUS FALLOUT LONDON Associated Press

CAIRO Associated Press

THE British government yesterday performed an about-face on masks, telling people to cover their mouth and nose in shops, buses and subway trains.

The change came as part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the “first careful measures” to lift a nationwide lockdown imposed seven weeks ago to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

A 50-page government document outlining cautious steps to ease restrictions said “people should aim to wear a face-covering in enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible and they come into contact with others that they do not normally meet, for example on public transport or in some shops.”

That is a recommendation rather than a rule, and people won’t be penalized

THE International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend Egypt $2.77 billion in emergency assistance to deal with the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic, its executive board said yesterday.

Egyptian government officials had requested a one-year bailout loan package last month, as the historic economic shutdown takes a heavy toll on the Arab world’s most populous country. “The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically disrupted people’s lives, livelihoods, and economic conditions in Egypt … resulting in an urgent balance of payments need,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, First Deputy Managing Director and acting Chair of the IMF. Although Egypt, which has recorded 9,746 COVID-19 infections and

SOCIAL distancing at London’s Victoria station yesterday if they don’t wear a mask.

The government outlined a three-stage approach to ending lockdown, beginning Wednesday with a relaxing of limits on outdoor activity. People in England may take unlimited amounts of exercise, rather than just one trip out a day, and may sit and sunbathe outdoors.

Driving to a park or beach will be permitted, and golf courses and tennis courts can reopen.

If there is no new spike in infections, that will

be followed in June by a return to class for some young school pupils, the reopening of nonessential shops and the return of televised sports, played behind closed doors. A third stage, penciled in for July at the soonest, would see the gradual reopening of restaurants, cafes, pubs, hairdressers and other businesses.

Johnson said that “if the alert level begins to rise we will have no hesitation in putting on the brakes.”

PRESIDENT Abdel Fattah el-Sissi 533 deaths, has not yet seen an outbreak on the scale of the one sweeping the US, its case count is rising and critical sources of income are vanishing.

Tourism, which accounts for some 12% of Egypt’s gross domestic product, has ground to a halt. Remittances from Egyptian workers abroad, another 10% of GDP, have dropped and the global downturn jeopardizes revenue from the Suez Canal. Schools, mosques, museums and the country’s famed archeological sites have been

shuttered. One in three Egyptians were already living in poverty before the outbreak, according to government figures.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly had described the loan as a way to protect foreign currency reserves and hard-won gains over years of significant economic reforms and austerity measures.

Egypt secured a $12 billion bailout package from the IMF in 2016 in exchange for floating the currency, slashing key subsidies and imposing a value-added tax.

The painful steps won President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi praise from Cairo’s western backers and bankers. But the policies have squeezed the poor and middle class.

In its statement, the IMF said that even with the loan, Egypt needs a boost from multilateral and bilateral creditors to close its payment gap and bring the economy back from the edge.

SPORTS

SECTION E

PAGE 16

TUESDAY, MAY 12TH, 2020

BOC set to form Athletes’ Welfare Commission

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

I

n a bid to assist athletes get over the coronavirus pandemic, the Bahamas Olympic Committee has decided to form an Athletes’ Welfare Commission.

The commission, whose responsibility will be to assist athletes in whatever they need to move forward, will be headed by one of the BOC’s vice presidents, Roy Colebrook.

“The commission will be in direct contact with athletes who are Olympic bound and their federations to see what assistance

they require,” said BOC president Rommel Knowles.

“We know that the majority of athletes will be looking for financial assistance and for those athletes that do, we will assist as best as we can.

“But we also know that some of the athletes might need physiological training to get through this pandemic. Some might just need someone to talk to. Maybe they might need to speak to a fitness expert to ensure that they are staying fit. Whatever the needs are from the Welfare Commission, we want to be able to be there for them.”

The commission, fully staffed and managed by a committee, will

function directly out of the BOC’s Secretariat on Soldier Road.

Knowles, however, said they are vetting the other members who will be considered for inclusion on the committee. Once the list is completed, he said a more formal announcement will be made by the BOC. Colebrook, who has served as the chef de mission for a number of national teams, including the past two Olympic Games in 2012 in London, England, and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, said he’s ready for the task of assisting the athletes as best as he knows how.

“The commission will be formed to assist the athletes in those tough times,” Colebrook said. “What we plan to do with the athletes’ commission is to form the bylaws as it pertains to the assistance that we will be able to give to the athletes.”

The commission, according to Colebrook, is a work in progress, but he’s eager to work with the elite athletes again as he has done in the past.

“I want to encourage the athletes to stay safe and just remember that this pandemic will not last forever,” he pointed out. “This pandemic will last for a while, but the athletes have to stay focused and stay committed

to their training because when we come out of this, everything will be on. So we want our athletes to stay focused and committed to their training.

“We will get through this and the Bahamas Olympic Committee want to make sure that they are there to lend them a helping hand in the process.”

Colebrook, a businessman and former hotel union executive, also serves as the president of the Bahamas Cycling Federation, a member of the BOC. In October, 2018, he was also the latest Bahamian to earn his master’s degree in sports management at the IOC’s Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Radshad commits to Panthers

AGENT SEEKS WILLIAMSON’S ANSWERS ON IMPROPER BENEFITS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net RADSHAD Davis will conclude his collegiate basketball career playing the closest he has been to the Bahamas since he left years ago to complete his high school education.

Davis will transfer to the Florida International University Panthers as a graduate transfer for the upcoming fall campaign and will be immediately eligible to play this season.

Davis has opted to transfer from the TexasArlington Mavericks following a two-year stint in the Sun Belt Conference.

The 6’4” wing chose FIU over several programmes that expressed interest, including BYU, SIU, Portland State, New Orleans, James Madison, Morehead State, Morgan State, New Mexico State and others.

Last season, FIU finished the season at 19-13 and concluded the season with a win in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament.

The Panthers were ranked fifth in the tournament and advanced to the quarter-finals after they defeated the 12th seeded Rice Owls 85-76. It was FIU’s first at the C-USA Tournament since 2015.

Last season, the Mavericks were eliminated in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament as their season came to an end with a loss to Coastal Carolina and fellow Bahamian Ahmard Harvey. Davis finished with seven points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. He

RADSHAD Davis will transfer to the Florida International University Panthers as a graduate transfer for the upcoming fall campaign and will be immediately eligible to play this season. concluded his final season with the Mavericks with averages of 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on the season.

He posted two double doubles on the season highlighted by a seasonhigh 19 points and a career high 14 rebounds to lead UTA to a 78-58 win over the Warhawks in

the second meeting of the season. He also reached a personal milestone in the game when he highlighted his stellar performance by reaching 1,000 career points.

As a junior last season, he averaged 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He finished second on the team in field-goal

percentage at 51 per cent and shot 78 per cent from the free-throw line. Prior to UTA, he played at the JuCo level with the Missouri State UniversityWest Plains Grizzlies.

As a sophomore, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game against all opponents. He finished

second in the region in both scoring and rebounding. He also received All-Region 16 first team.

Davis starred locally for the CC Sweeting Cobras when he was named Hugh Campbell MVP in his 10th grade year. He matriculated to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas.

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer

THE marketing agent who has sued NBA rookie Zion Williamson wants the former Duke star to answer questions about whether he received improper benefits before playing his lone season with the Blue Devils.

Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford filed a lawsuit last summer in a Florida court, accusing Williamson and the agency now representing him of breach of contract. That came after Williamson had filed his own lawsuit a week earlier in North Carolina to terminate a five-year contract with Prime Sports after moving to Creative Artists Agency LLC. In a court filing last week in the Florida lawsuit, Ford’s attorneys submitted a list of questions that include asking whether Williamson or anyone on his behalf had sought or accepted “money, benefits, favours or other things of value” to sign with Duke.

The filings — which offer no evidence of wrongdoing

by Williamson or his family — seek answers within 30 days to establish facts under oath in the pretrial discovery process.

The questions reference Williamson’s mother and step-father as well as apparel companies

SEE PAGE 14

Who should/should not be allowed to utilise local facilities?

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WHILE Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has opened the door for professional athletes to resume training amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the Bahamas Olympic Committee is seeking further clarification as to who should and should not be allowed to utilise the local facilities.

In a letter dated May 11 and addressed to its membership, the BOC wrote that they are seeking clarity on professional athletes and for an extension and or consideration for athletes who have world, regional, collegiate and Olympic qualifiers over the next 12 months.

“In the interim, we ask that you and your membership continue to practice the protocols as advised by our health officials and listen to the updates provided by the Ministry of Health,” the BOC wrote. “We will monitor in conjunction with all of our partners globally, including the Ministry of Sports and will advise you as they become available.”

BOC president Rommel Knowles, said since Minnis

announcement last week, they have discovered that there are a number of athletes who are seeking permission to resume their training for their collegiate, regional and major international competition.

“Training for the Olympic qualifiers is a high priority for the athletes, some of whom are not professional athletes,” Knowles said. “So we ask the Prime Minister to give them some priority as well. We know that there are some swimmers who are home, who would like to get in the pool to do some drills.

“We also know that there are some athletes who are in college who are home and would like to have access to the track facilities.

So we want to be able to get some clarity as to who is eligible to utilise the training facilities, rather than just saying professional athletes when there are only a few of them at home.”

While the professional athletes are taking advantage of the opportunity to train at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium for the World Athletics’ outdoor season that could possibly start in August, the local swimmers are hoping to get into the pool

at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex in preparation for their season.

However, it’s understood that the Bahamas Swimming Federation is contemplating scrapping its Royal Bank of Canada’s National Swimming Championships, scheduled for June 18-21. The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ Nationals was also set for June, but that has been called off.

World Athletics has reserved a weekend in August for its member countries to hold their National Championships, but BAAA president Drumeco Archer has indicated that they will not be able to host their nationals at that time, considering that the Bahamas government has closed off borders for travel.

The majority of the senior athletes are based in the United States and while many of them are doing minimum training, Archer said they also have their youth and junior nationals to consider and the majority of those athletes are not training as a result of the 24-hour curfew and weekend lockdowns implemented by the government to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Once the government fully opens up the economy,

Knowles said there will have to be some serious consideration on the landscape of sports, not just in the country, but worldwide as a result of the social distancing and the limitation in contact sports.

“For those sports that have 10 or more persons on the field of play at any one particular time, we will have to look at how do we encourage social distancing,” Knowles said. “We have to ensure that everybody wears their masks and we may have to look at some form of testing to ensure that persons are not coming into the arena contaminated.”

Already, the International Olympic Committee has postponed the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, to August 2021.

The IOC is now in the process of amending its qualification process to take into consideration those athletes who were on the borderline before sports was suspended worldwide in March.

Knowles said it’s going to be a challenge for contact sports to survive in the new regime that will be established.

“We are going to have to implement stiffer rules and regulations to protect the athletes first of all,” he said. “We will have to look at

whether the arena can and will hold fans using the social distancing rule or do we go ahead and have sporting events without the fans.

“We will be discussing all of these details with the individual federations, making sure that they are all comfortable and the athletes are safe. The whole landscape of sports has changed and so we have to adopt to those, changing for the betterment of sports in the future.”

With two major sporting bodies on the path to having athletes qualified for the Olympics next year, Knowles said the BOC is in discussion with the BAAA and the BSF on what level of assistance will be provided to ensure that their competitors are properly prepared for the Olympics.

He also noted that the Bahamas Judo Federation, Bahamas Amateur Boxing Federation and Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association is also being considered because they all have the potential of having at least one competitor qualified for the games as well.

“We want to help them to be able to get through this process once we get out of this pandemic,” Knowles said.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 13

A BREAKFAST IN ‘95 PLAYED A ROLE IN JORDAN’S RETURN TO BULLS

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer B.J. Armstrong might have played a role in the Chicago Bulls getting their 1996, 1997 and 1998 titles — even though he wasn’t on those teams.

Armstrong was the person who, at a breakfast chat over pancakes in Chicago, nudged Michael Jordan to stop by the Bulls’ practice facility one morning late in the 199495 season to go see his old teammates. Before long, Jordan ended his retirement; the Bulls won three more titles in Jordan’s second stint with the franchise.

Jordan’s first retirement in 1993, the murder of his father James, his stint in minor league baseball and — after a gentle push by Armstrong, who takes no credit for Jordan’s return — his comeback were among the themes in the latest installments of the ESPN and Netflix documentary “The Last Dance,” a 10-part series that showed episodes seven and eight on Sunday night.

“I’ve never thought about it, to be honest with you,” Armstrong, the longtime NBA guard and three-time NBA champion with the

Bulls who is now a California-based sports agent, told The Associated Press.

“I just wanted to be a good friend and I just saw something in him. When you see someone who really loves something ... he loved it. He didn’t like it. He loved it. That’s who he was. And out of respect to the game of basketball, I wanted to be a good friend.”

Sensing the time was right, Armstrong suggested Jordan to go to practice with him that day under the auspices of just seeing the guys. Then Jordan went back for another practice.

Then another. Before long, Jordan’s baseball days were done. He was back.

“I just got him, he got me, and we got each other and you did what was needed,” said Armstrong, who helped the Bulls win titles in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

“I didn’t need to tell anyone or talk about it or anything. That’s just what happened. I was just happy for him because I know what the game of basketball meant to him and meant to his life. He kept basketball in a sacred space and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jordan retired in October 1993, not long after the murder of his father and

CHICAGO Bulls Scottie Pippen, left, and B.J. Armstrong walk up court during a break in the action in the third quarter of their semi-final playoff game against the New York Knicks on May 20, 1994. Armstrong earned three rings with the Bulls, as part of their NBA championship teams in 1991, 1992 and 1993. (AP) with the Bulls having just won their third consecutive title.

The first season of Jordan’s hiatus became Armstrong’s best season, in

terms of numbers. He set career-highs in points (14.8) and minutes (33.8) per game, started all 82 regularseason games for the first time, plus was a starter in what became his only AllStar appearance. He was a fan favourite, finishing third in All-Star voting that year behind only Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

Armstrong didn’t replace Jordan in the Bulls’ lineup — he played point guard, while Pete Myers became the answer to the ‘who took Jordan’s starting shooting guard spot?’ trivia question — but he did assume a much bigger role, and did so with Jordan encouraging him with occasional phone calls.

And when Armstrong was named the All-Star starter, Jordan was the first person to call him with congratulations.

“He was so happy for me,” Armstrong said. “I wasn’t playing to be an AllStar, but when he called, it meant the world to me then and it means the world to me now. I know what it means to have a friend and I always tried to be a good friend.”

Unwittingly, Armstrong may have been a friend again in the 1998 playoffs — when he was with

Charlotte, playing against Jordan and the Bulls in what would become their last title run. Armstrong hit what became a game-winning shot in Game 2 of that series for Charlotte in Chicago, and Jordan didn’t like seeing his former teammate celebrating. He took it as a slight, and he always turned slights into fuel.

“I felt like B.J. should know better,” Jordan says early in Episode 8. “If you’re going to high-five and talk trash, now I have a bone to pick with you. I’m supposed to kill this guy.

I’m supposed to dominate this guy. And from that point, I did.”

The Bulls didn’t lose again in that series. Armstrong — who got plenty of defensive attention from Jordan over those next three games — has no regrets.

“Whenever you start a series, you’ve got to let the other person know you’re there for a fight,” Armstrong said. “Michael knew exactly what was happening. I knew exactly what was happening. I don’t know if anyone else did ...

He didn’t guard the point guards. He went there.”

The final two episodes of the documentary series will debut on May 17.

BUDGET CRUNCH COULD IMPACT HOW COLLEGE TEAMS OPT TO TRAVEL

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer WHEN college sports teams finally return to play, they might not be travelling quite as far as they did for road games before the pandemic.

The cancellation of the NCAA Tournament has produced a budget crunch that leaves colleges everywhere looking for cost-saving measures.

One simple step is to cut back on travel.

That’s easier for some schools than others.

Chattanooga announced last month that any 2020-21 away games that hadn’t already been scheduled must be played within 150 miles of its campus in southeastern Tennessee. The teams also need to return to campus the day of the game to avoid any lodging costs. “They understand it was a one-year situation,” Chattanooga athletic director Mark Wharton said of his coaches’ reaction. “I made it clear that after we get through all this and we feel fairly healthy for ‘21-22, we’d go back within reason and go to the model we were at before.”

Wharton said Chattanooga’s entire football schedule and about 60 per cent of the nonconference schedule for basketball had been put together before the new restriction.

Wharton added that exceptions would be offered for any “guarantee games” in which the school earns enough money from making the trip to compensate for travel expenses.

While other schools haven’t specified a maximum distance for road games, they are trying to make their trips as short as possible. This doesn’t apply to football

because those schedules generally are put together years in advance.

Arranging a schedule that includes mostly regional opponents is logical for programmes such as Chattanooga and Northern Illinois that are close to other schools.

Frazier noted his Mid-American Conference school is within driving distance of several potential nonconference opponents in the Horizon League and Big East Conference, among others.

A look at a map helps explain why Wharton instituted his 150mile measure for Chattanooga.

Other schools don’t have that luxury.

“A 150-mile radius isn’t going to do anything for us here in Montana,” Montana athletic director Kent Haslam said.

“Some people can’t even get to a Walmart within 150 miles.”

Because his school isn’t near many other Division I colleges, Haslam must find other ways to reduce travel costs.

Maybe that involves taking a bus to places where they’d typically fly. Perhaps they find other ways to reduce game-day expenses.

Street ball scene on hiatus, including NYC’s iconic courts

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer NO sounds of bouncing balls. No scuffing of sneakers against dusty concrete.

No whipping of basketballs as they fall through nylon nets or metallic ringing of balls careening off rims.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a stillness that those who best know the New York street ball scene could never have imagined.

In the six weeks since New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s actions, iconic street ball landmarks such as Rucker Park in Harlem, Brooklyn’s Gersh Park, “The Cage” on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village, Dyckman Park in Washington Heights and others have all been void of the typical soundtrack that help usher in the spring warmup across the five boroughs.

“Normally before people go to work in the morning they are factoring in what game they are going to see that evening when they get home,” said Rafer Alston, who played for six NBA teams and owes most of his basketball stardom to street ball. “It’s the ‘it’ thing to do in the summertime in New York City.”

The silence is being heard and felt around the country, playing out in similar scenes on other legendary outdoor courts from coast to coast.

But Rucker Park is special.

It was there that a young Alston earned the nickname “Skip To My Lou” from one of the court’s emcees because of the way he skipped his way up the court before shaking off defenders with his pinpoint dribbling.

NBA stars from each decade stretching back to the 1950s have wowed Rucker Park crowds, including Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Their cameos have

been both planned and impromptu, such as when Durant played there during the 2011 NBA lockout and scored 66 points in a game.

Alston would go on to drop his sneakers on the national landscape by starring in the first And1 Mixtape Tour in the late 1990s. That tour brought a culture that had largely been underground in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Oakland and Venice Beach to a national audience.

He can’t fathom what a summer without street ball would do to the city.

“It will be tough for them to digest,” Alston, now 43, said in a phone interview from his home in Houston.

“Summer basketball in the park, whether a tournament or playing pickup — it’s a way of life for us.”

Damian Pitts hasn’t been able to get over the silence.

“It just shows the severity of things,” said Pitts, a 41-year-old Brooklyn native who serves as the commissioner of Gersh Park, which hosts the annual NY Vs. NY tournament. “I went by the park the other day. It looks bare. ... Sometimes you’ve got kids trying to get into the basketball court with just a basketball, throwing it against the backboard.”

On March 26 de Blasio ordered the rims at 80 playground basketball courts around the city removed because people who used them weren’t adhering to warnings to avoid activities that involved people being in close proximity to one another.

The action came just days after Governor Andrew Cuomo directly chastised the lack of social distancing at playgrounds.

“I play basketball.

There’s no concept of social distancing while playing basketball. It doesn’t exist,” Cuomo said.

“You can’t stay six feet away from a person playing basketball. You can, but then you’re a lousy basketball player and you’re going

to lose. You just cannot do that.”

New York state’s current stay-at-home order is set to expire Friday as Phase 1 in a plan by the governor to begin gradually reopening the state. Three more phases are planned after that, though recreation activities aren’t set to be addressed until the fourth and final phase.

It’s left open the lingering possibility that city’s hallowed outdoor courts,

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which are as much a part of New York’s basketball culture as the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, could remain silenced into summer, threatening annual leagues and events.

No group may be feeling the interruption of that lifeblood like New York’s youth, who not only utilise the basketball courts for recreation, but their parks for other after school activities. Anthony Geathers grew up in Brooklyn

and served two tours as a machine gunner in Afghanistan before returning home and rekindling his love for photography. He has spent the past five years chronicling every aspect of street ball from the games to sneaker trends.

Through his lens he sees a community in survival mode that’s had one of its chief outlets taken away.

“From West 4th all the way to 34th Street until you hit Harlem it is completely

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empty,” Geathers said. “It’s a ghost town. If you wanted to film a movie right now, you could do it.”

While opening the courts would be just a small step, Geathers believes the return of basketball could serve as a big lift to the spirits of the community.

“Kids are trying to be outside right now,” he said.

“People are still trying to deal with situation and survive the best way they can and still live.”

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PREMIER LEAGUE BOOST: GOV’T AIMS FOR RETURN OF SPORT IN JUNE LONDON (AP) — The path to the Premier League resuming was eased yesterday by the government saying elite sports will be allowed to resume in England in June if there is no new spike in coronavirus infections.

While spectators will not be allowed into stadiums for some time, the British government embracing the return of professional sports stands in contrast to rulings by French and Dutch authorities who have banned any events until September.

The announcement from Boris

Johnson’s administration came as Premier League clubs held a conference call about the logistics involved in restarting the competition amid divisions over a plan to use neutral venues for all games.

When the league was halted two months ago, Liverpool was 25 points clear with nine games remaining.

Now the national lockdown that was imposed in March and led to the shut down of sports is starting to be lifted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Step two of the government roadmap for easing the lockdown restrictions includes “permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast.

This while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact.”

“To aid planning,” the document added, “the government’s current aim is that the second step will be made no earlier than Monday 1 June, subject to these conditions being satisfied. ... Organisations should prepare accordingly.”

NEW ZEALAND RESUMES SUPER RUGBY WITHOUT FANS ON JUNE 13

The Premier League and other sports organisers will now be waiting to hear when the government will allow the resumption of group training by athletes, even as social distancing regulations are maintained in wider society.

The challenge containing the coronavirus without a vaccine will mean sports will be staged without fans. The government said permitting large crowds in stadiums again “may only be fully possible significantly later depending on the reduction in numbers of infections.”

WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN: ANOTHER PGA MAJOR, TRIPLE CROWN RACE

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer WHILE NASCAR will resume its season with live racing and the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer is part of a televised charity skins match, the sports calendar still remains mostly on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Associated Press takes a look at some of the live sporting events that had been scheduled the week of May 11-17: SECOND CROWN: Pimlico is getting a much-needed facelift and will remain the home of the Preakness, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown that is usually run on the third Saturday of May. War of Will won at the Maryland track last year. There is still no new date for this year’s Preakness. The Kentucky Derby was pushed back from the first Saturday in May to Labour Day weekend in September.

ANOTHER MAJOR: Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson, major champions who have reached No. 1 in the world, will be part of a $3 million charity skins match on Sunday, when the final round of the PGA Championship in San Francisco was supposed to be played. Brooks Koepka won his second PGA Championship in a row last year, holding on after nearly losing his record sevenshot lead at Bethpage Black. He will get a chance for three in a row August 6-9.

TRIVIA BREAK: Only one golfer other than Koepka has won the PGA Championship

JOCKEY Tyler Gaffalione, right, reacts aboard War of Will as they cross the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, on May 18, 2019. The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown would have been this week if not for the coronavirus pandemic. There is still no new date for the race. (AP) in back-to-back years since the tournament became a stroke-play event in 1958. Who was the other golfer who accomplished that feat? (Answer at bottom).

MLB: Gerrit Cole won 35 games and had 602 strikeouts the past two seasons for the Houston Astros before a record $324 million, nine-year free agent deal with the Yankees. New York was scheduled next weekend to be in Houston for the first time since last season’s AL Championship Series. Cole was second in the AL Cy Young voting last season, behind then-Astros teammate Justin Verlander.

NASCAR: This was supposed to be the week of NASCAR AllStar Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Instead, the series is resuming its season after a twomonth hiatus with a Cup Series race Sunday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, and then another one three nights later.

NBA: The second round of the playoffs would have been winding down and moving into the conference finals.

NHL: The final four teams would still be playing, with the conference finals in full swing.

TENNIS: The Italian Open would have been the last

significant clay-court tuneup ahead of the French Open, which has been postponed until September. Rafael Nadal won his ninth trophy in Italy a year ago, before going on to claim his recordextending 12th championship in Paris. Serena Williams has won the Italian Open four times but withdrew in 2019 before she was supposed to face her older sister, Venus, in the second round, citing an injured left knee.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship back-to-back in 2006 and 2007, after also doing so in 1999 and 2000.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A domestic tournament involving New Zealand’s five Super Rugby teams will begin on June 13 after the New Zealand government yesterday loosened restrictions on sporting competitions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament is called Super Rugby Aotearoa and involves the Auckland-based Blues, Hamilton-based Chiefs, Wellington-based Hurricanes, Christchurch-based Crusaders and Dunedin-based Highlanders. Players will be given four weeks to prepare.

Teams will play each other home and away over 10 weeks, with two matches per weekend in empty stadiums. While New Zealand moved Monday to Alert Level 2, mostly ending a five-week national lockdown, restrictions remain on the size of public gatherings. Fans will not be able to return to stadiums until those guidelines are further relaxed.

New Zealand Rugby chief medical officer Karen Rasmussen said strict safety protocols, worked out in consultation with the government, will be applied. Players and team officials will face daily symptom and temperature checks and there will be stringent hygiene and cleaning requirements.

Contact tracing systems will be put in place and anyone showing symptoms of Covid-19 will be required to self-isolate and be tested. “A major factor will be ensuring we control who enters the team bubbles and that we have necessary measures in place to mitigate against any risk to the health of all team members, as well as the health of their families and the wider community,” said Rasmussen. “Team members will be asked to minimise their contacts outside of the team environment and their family bubbles.”

ZION WILLIAMSON from PAGE 12

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Nike – which outfits the Blue Devils team – and Adidas. The questions include whether he received any improper benefits from an agent between January 2014 and his April 2019 announcement that he would go pro.

In a filing Friday in the North Carolina suit, Ford’s attorneys say Williamson or people on his behalf had “engaged in conduct that rendered … him ineligible to be or remain a student-athlete” before Williamson had met Ford to discuss endorsement deals. It offers no specific evidence for the claim.

Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld declined to comment on the filings since the school isn’t a party to either lawsuit. Schoenfeld also referred to a previous statement that the school has reviewed Williamson’s eligibility and found no concerns.

“As soon as Duke was made aware of any allegation that might have affected Zion Williamson’s eligibility, we conducted a thorough and objective investigation which was directed by individuals outside the athletics department,” he said in January.

“We found no evidence to support any allegation. Zion thrived as both a student and an athlete at Duke, and always conducted himself with integrity and purpose.”

An email from The Associated Press requesting comment from Williamson’s agents at CAA, Austin Brown and Lisa Joseph-Metelus, was forwarded to Jeremy Watkins, a spokesman for Williamson attorney Jeffrey Klein.

Watkins referred questions to Duke’s statement and declined additional comment.

Both Brown and Joseph-Metelus are named as individual defendants in Ford’s lawsuit.

The legal battles surrounding the No. 1 overall NBA draft pick also include another Florida lawsuit, this one filed in April by a former college basketball player.

According to the lawsuit, Cedriquze Johnson said Prime Sports failed to provide agreed-upon compensation for his “instrumental” work in facilitating a relationship between Prime Sports and Williamson’s family “within the confines of NCAA eligibility regulations.”

Williamson is not named in Johnson’s lawsuit.

Johnson had a relationship with Williamson’s family dating to the 6-foot-7, 285-pound prospect’s high school career, according to the lawsuit.

THE TRIBUNE

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, PAGE 15

If games resume, athletes will ‘need to know when to peak’

By CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer MAKING it safe for America’s professional sports teams to start playing games is one thing.

Making sure athletes are in game shape is another.

The coronavirus pandemic brought sports to a halt, but stay-at-home orders are starting to be eased and a handful of NBA teams are opening practice facilities.

For players, the difference between merely working out and playing games will be a significant jump, and experts say things shouldn’t be rushed. With athletes unable to simulate game or even practice activity at home, they will need time before resuming competition.

“Whatever the amount of time is, just know that players will have the input and say so because we’re the ones that’s playing, and that comes first,” said Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association. “We don’t ever want to put guys in a situation where their injury risk is high. It varies from player to player. But it’s at least got to be three to four weeks.”

Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego said players could be at different points based on their access to equipment.

“There’s veterans out there that may have a court in their home, in their facility and they’re probably a little bit more ready to go than others,” he said. “I think we’re talking weeks.

This isn’t something where after one week these guys are ready to go.”

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said

on multiple occasions he believes a two- to-threeweek training camp would be needed before the season resumes. Many hockey teams have had trainers send at-home workout routines to players, but few if any have been on the ice in months.

“As much as I could mentally be in game mode, your body’s not ready for it if you don’t get a full offseason of training and if you don’t get to play a long training camp with like seven exhibition games,” Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “If you only get a week training camp with a couple exhibition games, you’re going to ruin your body.”

Edmonton Oilers forward Alex Chiasson said it is on the athlete to be ready.

“That’s going to be on us,” he said. “We’re professional athletes. We’ve got to make sure we prepare.

It’s not easy, but it is what it is, and we’ve got to deal with the situation as best as we can.”

While basketball and hockey were nearing their playoffs, baseball was in spring training when sports were shut down. It created a particular wrinkle for pitchers, who tend to train methodically toward full games.

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzore said he expects another period that resembles spring training before games are played.

“The most important part of any spring training is preparation for your pitchers, especially your starting pitchers,” Rizzore said.

“Whenever you have to expedite a spring training, that’s probably the most

OKLAHOMA City Thunder’s Chris Paul plays against the Boston Celtics during an NBA basketball game in Boston on March 8, 2020. Making it safe for America’s professional sports teams to start playing games is one thing. Making sure athletes are in game shape is another. Experts say nothing should be rushed. Athletes in the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball all indicate that a few weeks of training is necessary before any games.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) impactful decision that you have to make: how to ramp them up.”

Baltimore Orioles GM Mike Elias agreed.

“When baseball does come back, you have to worry about guys going a very small number of innings,” he said.

“I don’t know that we’ve come up with a solution to that. ... The public health guidelines makes it tough to do it without a training staff and coaches. Some of the pitchers are throwing into nets in their backyards and hitters are hitting off the tee.”

Tampa Bay catcher Mike Zunino said the pitchers were his biggest concern.

“The biggest worry is injuries,” he said. “It’s one of those things, I think guys are staying in shape, they’re throwing now.

Hopefully a few weeks is enough. I think we’ll have

to be smart as the season opens to keep guys fresh.”

Dr Mike Reinold, senior medical adviser for the Chicago White Sox, said the challenge for pitchers has been how to at least maintain what they gained from their previous spring training progression.

“It will take around three weeks to get a starting pitcher likely ramped up to five innings, but that assumes that they have done the work to maintain themselves and are ready to even start that progression,” he said.

Reinold said preparing is complicated because there is no return date set: “They need to know when to peak.”

“That’s a big, important concept when we’re trying to get our athletes ready for a competitive season that they’re building for,” he said. “This is the first

time in my career that we’ve ever not had that.”

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said assessing each player’s condition after the layoff will be a key part of getting things rolling again. He said those conversations are happening even now.

“We don’t need a softtissue (injury) because guys were a little bit behind,” he said. “That’s why the openness of the player and the conversations we’re having now are so important so we have a baseline coming in.”

Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns said a second preseason probably wouldn’t need to be too long once it’s deemed safe. “Once it’s safe, we can turn this thing on pretty quickly,” he said.

Elias agreed: “We will be ready, and baseball will be ready for America when America is ready for us.”

FIBA SETS DATES FOR 2023 BASKETBALL WORLD CUP MIES, Switzerland (AP) — FIBA has set the dates for the next Basketball World Cup, announcing yesterday that the 2023 event will take place from August 25 through September 10 of that year.

Group games will be played in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines. The final phase, including the medal games, will be played in Manila.

It will be the first time that the World Cup, formerly called the world championships, will be played across multiple countries.

Pre-qualifying games for the 2023 World Cup started in February.

FIBA plans to have the qualifying field down to 80 teams by November 2021, and those nations will be pared down to the 32 World Cup-bound teams by February 2023.

Spain is the defending champion, beating Argentina for the title in Beijing last August.

PAGE 16, Tuesday, May 12, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

AP source: MLB owners okay plan that could lead to July start

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball owners gave the go-ahead yesterday to making a proposal to the players’ union that could lead to the coronavirus-delayed season starting around the Fourth of July weekend in ballparks without fans, a plan that envisioned expanding the designated hitter to the National League for 2020.

Spring training could start in early to mid-June, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the plan were not announced.

MLB officials are slated to make a presentation to the union today.

An agreement with the players’ association is needed, and talks are expected to be difficult — especially over a proposal for a revenue split that would be unprecedented for baseball.

“Bear with me, but it feels like we’ve zoomed past the most important aspect of any MLB restart plan: health protections for players, families, staff, stadium workers and the workforce it would require to resume a season,” Washington pitcher Sean Doolittle tweeted.

“What’s the plan to ethically acquire enough tests? ... What’s the protocol if a player, staff member, or worker contracts the virus?”

Each team would play about 82 regular-season games: against opponents in its own division plus interleague matchups limited to AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL

ORIOLE Park at Camden Yards is closed on what would’ve been Opening Day in Baltimore, Md. on March 26. Whenever baseball returns because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s an element that might come into play like never before: the sound of silence. (AP) Central and AL West vs.

NL West.

Postseason play would be expanded from 10 clubs to 14 by doubling wild cards in each league to four. Teams would prefer to play at their regular-season ballparks but would switch to spring training stadiums or neutral sites if medical and government approvals can’t be obtained for games at home. Toronto might have to play home games in Dunedin, Florida.

“We’ll see where we will be in July,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is the home of five MLB clubs and who has talked with baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. “We certainly look forward to Major League Baseball and all sports resuming. But again, the question is when and that will be determined on the basis of public health and public safety and the spread of this virus.”

The All-Star Game, scheduled for Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July 14, likely would be called off.

Teams will propose that players receive the percentage of their 2020 salaries based on a 50-50 split of revenues MLB receives during the regular-season and postseason, which likely will be among the most contentious aspects of the proposal during negotiations with the players’ association.

That proposal would take into account fans being able to return to ballparks at some point, perhaps with a small percentage of seats sold at first and then gradually increasing.

Baseball players have refused to consider even the frameworks for the type of revenue splits that have been agreed to by unions in the NFL, NBA and NHL. The last attempt by baseball owners to gain a salary cap with a revenue split led to a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years.

Rosters would be expanded from 26 to around 30. With minor leagues shuttered, there

likely will be the addition of about 20 players per club akin to the NFL’s practice squad.

Teams would have the option of holding the resumption of spring training at home or at their facilities in Florida and Arizona. Most teams based in Florida appear to be leaning toward that option, while Arizona-based clubs are inclined to work out at home rather than deal with June heat in the Phoenix area.

Players and teams agreed to a deal on March 26 that called for each player to receive only a portion of salary, determined by what percentage of a 162-game schedule is played. As part of that deal, if no season is played each player would receive 2020 service time matching what the player earned in 2019. But that deal is contingent there being no restrictions on mass gatherings at the federal, state, city and local level; no relevant travel restrictions in the US and Canada; and Commissioner Rob Manfred after

consulting the union and medical expects, determines there is no risk to playing in front of fans at regular-season ballparks.

Players and teams committed to “discuss in good faith the economic feasibility of playing games in the absence of spectators or at appropriate neutral sites.”

Manfred has said about 40 per cent of MLB revenue is tied to gate, including concessions, parking, ballpark advertising, luxury suites and programmes.

Union officials and players have cited the March 26 agreement as setting economic terms and say they have no inclination for additional cuts. Players are more interested in medical protocols and testing designed to protect them from and detect the new coronavirus. The proposal will detail the plan for dealing with players and staff who test positive. Because players accrue salaries for the regular season only and not for spring training or the postseason, the union may counter by asking for more regular-season games during negotiations that could significantly alter or possibly even scuttle the restart plan.

The DH was adopted by the American League for the 1973 season but has been resisted by National League owners. The players’ union has favoured it because it would create more jobs for high-paying hitters in their 30s, by MLB has looked at it as an economic issue.

Money, however, has disappeared as a DH issue at this stage for 2020 because nearly all veteran players have agreed to contracts.

Yasiel Puig is the most notable exception.

TAGOVAILOA (AP)

AP SOURCE: TAGOVAILOA SIGNS $30.275 MILLION, 4-YEAR DEAL

By STEVEN WINE AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) — Now Tua Tagovailoa can pay for that Cadillac Escalade he gave his mom.

The new Miami Dolphins quarterback signed a $30.275 million, fouryear guaranteed contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press yesterday.

The contract includes a $19.6 million signing bonus, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Dolphins hadn’t announced the deal.

Tagovailoa posted a video on Mother’s Day that showed him surprising his mother, Diane, with a black SUV. Last month the Dolphins selected Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick in the draft. They are optimistic he’ll recover fully from a hip injury that ended his Alabama career in midNovember and hoping he’ll become a franchise quarterback.

Tagovailoa says doctors have indicated he’s on schedule for a return in 2020. His No. 1 jersey is among the best-selling in the NFL since it was assigned to him last week.

UKRAINE SOCCER OFFICIAL TARGETED BY FIFA, UEFA INVESTIGATORS

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — The highestranking soccer official in Ukraine has been the target of FIFA and UEFA investigators regarding millions of dollars in development money paid to his national federation.

UEFA executive committee member Andriy Pavelko cooperated with the European soccer body’s probe and denied any wrongdoing, according to a reply he wrote to the FIFA ethics committee.

The leaked letter was published on Twitter by a magazine writer in Switzerland and confirmed by The Associated Press.

“I am more than happy to keep you apprised of any and all developments in the UEFA investigation and Swiss court proceedings,” the Ukrainian soccer federation president wrote to

FIFA investigator Maria Claudia Rojas in the October 2019 letter.

Pavelko stated in the letter that he had corresponded with investigators from UEFA since September 2018 to explain separate multi-million euro (dollar) payments it sent in 2017 to the Ukrainian federation.

UEFA said Monday it does not comment to confirm or deny details of possible investigations.

In the Swiss proceeding Pavelko referred to, he was interviewed last year by a regional prosecutor after a writer from L’illustré magazine claimed to have received death threats by telephone from Ukraine.

The magazine had published allegations about money sent by UEFA to Ukraine.

The magazine also revealed this month that Pavelko had resigned from his position on the FIFA disciplinary committee. “Much of the information in the article

... is twisted and does not correspond to the reality,” Pavelko said Monday in an email to the AP. FIFA said in a statement that Pavelko left the disciplinary committee in mid-February.

At that time, he was under a separate FIFA ethics investigation not linked to financial matters.

FIFA said a plea bargain was finalised in April for Pavelko to pay a fine. That ethics investigation had been opened in August 2018 for “publicly criticising a decision” taken by his thencolleagues on the disciplinary committee several weeks earlier at the World Cup. Pavelko had objected to a FIFA ruling that warned Croatia defender Domagoj Vida for comments in a video released online after beating World Cup host Russia in the quarter-finals.

Vida spoke positively about Ukraine, where he had played for Dynamo Kyiv.

“(Pavelko) agreed to pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,300) for his conduct and this is the only subject of the plea bargain agreement signed with him,” FIFA stated.

“None of these facts have any relation with other matters that might be or might have been under investigation by police authorities and/or by football governing bodies in relation with Mr Pavelko’s activities as a football official.”

It is unclear if FIFA’s questions to Pavelko last year about Ukrainian federation finances became a formally opened ethics investigation.

Pavelko’s letter to Rojas stated she had no jurisdiction because it was “not directly related to FIFA matters.”

“It is in fact directly related to a UEFA matter — specifically the use of UEFA funding and an alleged threat against a journalist

regarding allegations about the use of such UEFA funding,” Pavelko wrote to the FIFA investigator last October.

In the letter to FIFA, Pavelko said media reports of a $4 million UEFA loan to the Ukrainian federation in July 2017 were wrong, and that it was an advance payment of four million euros ($4.27 million) from broadcast rights.

He also provided answers previously given to UEFA about his federation’s links to a company in the United Arab Emirates for a project to build artificial turf fields.

Pavelko said 4.5 million euros ($4.81 million) in funding from UEFA in 2017 was untouched while a training centre project stalled when a land deal fell through.

The money was kept in federation accounts at three different banks “depending on the currency,” he wrote.