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SCHOOL SHUTDOWN Queen’s College, SAC and St Anne’s revert to virtual tuition after COVID cases

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net THREE private schools have reverted to virtual learning, citing positive COVID-19 cases among either students or staff members.

This comes as the Stephen Dillet School suspended face-to-face learning due to an increase in cases at the school and there could be other schools with cases, suggested Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson.

The school closures come as health officials have noticed an increase in new virus cases in recent weeks.

In letters seen by The Tribune, Saint Augustine’s College and St Anne’s School said they would revert to virtual learning. It was also confirmed that Queen’s College has reverted to virtual learning due to the presence of COVID-19 on the campus.

There will be a briefing today at noon by the Office of the Prime Minister giving an update on COVID-19 and its impact on schools.

In a letter dated May 10, St Anne’s School Principal Nicolette Fountain explained that several members of the school family tested positive for the virus.

SEE PAGE THREE

$100M DEAL DONE

‘EXPECT TO PAY 7% MORE ON BREADBASKET ITEMS’

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

SUPER Value’s top executive said consumers should expect up to a seven percent increase in breadbasket items in the oncoming months.

Debra Symonette, Super Value’s president, told Tribune Business she expects to see an increase in some breadbasket items by between “three to seven percent,” as it is becoming difficult for the company to make a profit on them when the prices are going up internationally but the Price Control Commission forbids them from raising

the price on breadbasket items.

Ms Symonette said: “The thing is the government is looking at the cost of the items to places like us who have to sell items and the prices are constantly increasing for us and if price control restricts us from raising the price to a certain amount then eventually we’re going to incur a loss, or we may not be able to carry the item anymore.”

She added: “We’re hoping that by the end of the year everything starts to settle down and things can be smoothed out, but we can’t say for certain when that will be.”

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper and his team pictured yesterday after the announcement of the $100m deal for the Grand Lucayan Resort with Electra America Hospitality Group.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

Grand Lucayan Resort sold

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ELECTRA America Hospitality Group has made a $100m purchase offer for the Grand Lucayan Resort at Grand Bahama.

Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper, while making the highly anticipated announcement yesterday, said Lucayan Renewal Holdings Ltd entered an agreement

for the sale of the entire hotel property to Electra America Hospitality Group, which is part of a US conglomerate Electra America, with worldwide assets worth $7bn.

The agreement, Mr Cooper said, is subject to a 60-day due diligence period, with closing no later than 120 days.

According to Mr Cooper, Electra has committed to an estimated $300m renovation and construction plan to rebuild the Grand Lucayan

into an environmentally sustainable, luxury resort.

Back in March 2019, Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort and redevelopment of the Freeport Harbour.

An initial investment of $195m, which includes $65m for the purchase of the hotel, was earmarked SEE PAGES FOUR & FIVE

GOVT ‘NOT CALLOUS’ OVER PRICE RISES

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis insisted yesterday that the government was not “callous”, despite its decision to approve price increases of certain breadbasket brands.

He explained that there was little officials could do to offset rising costs sparked by inflation among other factors.

MINISTER of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis.

While acknowledging food inflation as a vexing

issue that plagues countries worldwide, he said the government continues to work feverishly on all fronts to bring some sort of relief to struggling Bahamians, adding the public can expect to hear “some things” very shortly.

This comes as many people struggle to make ends meet after feeling the economic pinch from a spike in food and gas prices.

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE THREE

FRONT PORCH: FRAGILITY OF DEMOCRACY

- SEE PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Thursday, May 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Senators clash over ‘water issues’ in Pinecrest Subdivision

SENATOR Rueben Rahming pictured yesterday.

Photos: Donavan McIntosh/Tribune Staff

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE Official Opposition’s concerns about the Pinecrest Subdivision sparked an argument in the Senate yesterday.

The heated exchange came during Senator Reuben Rahming’s contribution to a resolution to convey three parcels of land on the south side of the Pinecrest Drive to the housing minister.

Mr Rahming raised concerns about reported flooding in the community, an area which he said is known to have “water issues”. He also said there was a need for a proper drainage system to be installed in the community.

The FNM senator also referred to recent comments made by Transport and Housing minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis who told reporters that officials were working on a drainage plan that will be implemented during phase two of the project’s development.

However, Mr Rahming’s remarks prompted a response from Senator Darron Pickstock who described his comments as “misleading”.

Mr Picktock said: “The member is misleading the public by indicating that the plan that the government has in place that which is the drainage plan which would be implemented in phase two simply means that no fill is on the ground as yet in the community and the drainage plan is being implemented into the community so these things will be addressed, but the way he is speaking about it… the minister never said that there was any flooding in the community, okay.”

The FNM senator responded that he never said there was flooding in the area, adding that he had only spoken to what the minister had said about the government’s plans to address flooding concerns.

Senate president LaShell Adderley then asked Mr Rahming whether he had any evidence to support his claims, warning that if he did not, it would be struck from the record.

Ultimately, Senator Rahming withdrew his comments relating to Mrs Coleby-Davis’ interview with reporters on Tuesday.

He was also asked to withdraw the comments he had made “with respect to flooding” in the subdivision.

However, Senator Rahming only went on to show photographs taken of the community after rainwater had settled there.

In response, Ms Adderley said: “Based on the picture I can see from here, I see water. We do not have the definition of flooding. Until you can provide me with a definition of flooding, that will also be struck from the record.”

It was at this point that FNM Senator Darren Henfield rose on a point of order, saying: “The chair is asking the member to define flooding. I find that incredulous… You have to allow us fair debate.”

Following this, Mr Rahming’s remarks relating to

flooding in the area were struck from the record.

Concerns about the housing project surfaced this week after videos circulated on social media, showing partially constructed homes with large puddles of rainwater.

Mrs Coleby-Davis has since defended the integrity of the government’s housing initiative, calling recent criticisms “silliness”.

She said the area was still under construction and has not yet been filled, suggesting this as the reason why water may have settled in some portions of the property.

“It’s not an area that’s been prone to flooding,” the minister told reporters before the weekly Cabinet meeting. “It’s just maybe hard rain where you have some water settled at one portion of the road but that’s been it when we spoke to the residents that presently live there.

They haven’t had much issues with flooding. It’s a construction zone. That typically happens when you have alot of rain and you haven’t provided the fill yet which normally soaks up the water.”’

The government’s drainage plan for the Pinecrest subdivision was also tabled in the Senate yesterday by Mr Pickstock.

“The homes presently under construction are being built on land with elevations between seven and fourteen feet above main sea level,” he told the Senate. “The elevation of the land and drainage plan combined with additional foundation height will make the homes at Pinecrest less vulnerable to flooding from storm surges.”

Mr Pickstock said affordable housing initiatives like Pinecrest is what the former administration should’ve placed greater focus on, adding it was unfortunate that no public homes were built under the Minnis-led government.

“Four years and four months in office and the Minnis FNM government did not put up much as a lemonade stand,” he said. “They were too busy arresting the coconut guys who were trying to make a living.”

SENATOR DARRON PICKSTOCK

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 3

School shutdown from page one

Ms Fountain added that the Ministry of Health and the Contact Tracing Team were contacted and apprised of the situation.

“As a result of the consultation, and out of an abundance of caution, we were advised to impose a seven-day quarantine for all staff and students at St Anne’s School,” the letter said. “This includes the school’s office. We will return to full virtual learning starting tomorrow, Wednesday 11 2022; and we return face-to-face on Wednesday, May 17, 2022.”

“If you or your child exhibits any symptoms, please contact the school and we will in turn forward the information to the contact tracing team. Testing is not recommended before 7 days into the quarantine period as early testing can provide a false negative result.”

The school also will be fully sanitised, she said.

Meanwhile at Saint

Augustine’s College Acting Principal Marici Thompson in a letter said one of the staff members tested positive for the virus and as of May 11 virtual classes would resume until May 18, 2022.

She said: “We will return to campus for full in-person classes on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Students must log on for morning homeroom at 8.30am and must attend all classes. I know this is not an ideal situation for our teachers and students, but out of an abundance of caution, we must take these immediate measures to safeguard our school population. Grade twelve will continue their final exams as scheduled, and in person. Grade nine Art BJC exams will move to Thursday, May 19, until May 24 2022.”

As for Stephen Dillet, the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training advised in a press release that due to an increase in cases at the school and in an effort to “exercise an abundance of caution” all face-to-face

instruction at that school has been suspended “effectively immediately” face-to-face instructions will resume on May 16, 2022.

During May 9-13, students will receive their instructions by the virtual platform. Students are to log into their virtual classes every day to receive instructions.

“In case of students who have difficulty gaining access to the virtual platform, their parents can collect learning packets from the school,” the release said.

The release was posted on the ministry’s Facebook page on Tuesday.

In an audio message sent by the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president Belinda Wilson yesterday, it was confirmed there was some positive cases on Friday as relates to Stephen Dillet Primary School, “We had teachers who went yesterday, Tuesday, to do COVID tests. I’m waiting to get the update on how many of them would’ve

tested positive. I got some information yesterday and I await the update today,” the message said.

She also said that Garvin Tynes, SC McPherson and a few other schools have COVID concerns.

“We’re always concerned about the health and safety of our teachers and by extension our students. So, we see the COVID numbers are rising and we’ve had a few cases at various schools, so we’re also closely monitoring those schools.”

“So, we would’ve had Garvin Tynes, Stephen Dillet, we now have SC McPherson and few other schools that have COVID concerns.

So, we are monitoring them closely, our union executives, in particular our area vice president…he’s been moving around to the schools checking on these matters but we are always concerned because for us it’s safety first.”

Mrs Wilson said the BUT is expected to meet with Ministry of Health and Wellness officials tomorrow.

THE BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president, Belinda Wilson.

GOVT ‘NOT CALLOUS’ OVER PRICE RISES from page one

On Tuesday, Mr Halkitis told reporters that some food retailers had applied to the Price Control Commission to seek approvals to increase their costs for certain breadbasket items, which includes cooking oil, corned beef, evaporated milk, flour and margarine.

However, according to the minister yesterday, only certain food brands carrying those items have been approved for price increases.

“There is no general authorisation in the increase in the price of breadbasket items,” Mr Halkitis told the Senate yesterday. “The situation operates like this – you have items that are in the breadbasket that have price control. For example, the store has corned beef.

You have various brands, you have Libby’s, you have Bevans, you have Grace … you have all these brands and what happens is when an importer imports an item and if his price has gone up, in a nutshell, he applies to the prices commission.

“And so if he is importing for the sake of argument… he applies that his price has gone up on that item, he applies for the margin to be applied on his higher cost of that particular item so when it is said that government authorised an increase in the price of corned beef, it is not every single brand, every corned beef. It is a particular brand.”

Senator Halkitis also responded to critics who questioned why the Davis administration couldn’t just deny wholesalers’ request to increase the costs on certain breadbasket items.

He suggested that if the government was to take that course of action, many wholesalers may decide not to sell certain brands that are more costly to import, leaving locals with limited options.

“Well, two things can happen, over the years, it’s been the practice that that is the practice,” he said.

“People import and apply for the margin to be applied at their higher costs and if you decide to not do it then… you might have to make it whole or do something else for them or they might decide that ‘Well I’m not importing it if I can’t get it’ and the government is not exercising good faith.

This has been the practice since 1971 when price control was introduced and so you can either get individuals stuck with items that they have paid the cost (for) or they might decide well, I’m not going to import and we don’t have the item

on the shelf so it’s a vexing issue, because nobody wants to see the cost go up.

The minister continued: “We are often asked, and I try to be as open and accessible as possible so I could provide these answers and the issue is we import so many things and we experience the inflation. Today, new data is expected to come out in the US, showing that perhaps it has peaked – hopefully and so we can see this matter starting to moderate, but I don’t want the Bahamian public to be left with the impression that the government is unconcerned or that the government is callous. We are limited in the tools in our toolbox to deal with this.

We are exploring a number of things right now and the public will hear some things very shortly, but again, we have to be very measured in everything that we do.”

It is not clear by how much prices on certain breadbasket brands have increased, but according to Mr Halkitis it is only “a matter of cents”.

The government has frequently come under attack from the opposition for its decision to add value added tax on breadbasket items, which was zero rated under the previous administration.

The Free National Movement continued its

criticisms this week, saying the government’s latest move only creates more economic hardship for the Bahamian people.

“The government’s announcement that approval has been given to increase prices on multiple breadbasket items continues to highlight the magnitude of the struggle of thousands of poor, working, middle class Bahamians.

It brings even the need to eliminate VAT on breadbasket items urgently,” FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright said in a recent statement.

“In the midst of skyrocketing food costs in an historic inflationary environment that shows no signs of relenting, the government remains defiant, refusing to bring much needed relief to the Bahamian people by saying VAT on breadbasket items is here to stay. The plight of the Bahamian people continues to be challenged by more ominous clouds of increased consumer prices, greater tightening of the global supply chain and fuel costs rising to now an average of $6.30 a gallon.”

Meanwhile, Senator Michela Barnett-Ellis said in the Senate yesterday Bahamians were waiting for the relief that the government had promised.

DAIRY goods at Super Value yesterday.

Photo: Racardo Thomas/Tribune Staff

PAGE 4, Thursday, May 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Minister hopeful for ‘trickle-down- effect’

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey said the sale of Grand Lucayan Resort will have an “enormous trickle-down effect” on the island and for the Port Lucaya Marketplace.

She is also optimistic that it will position the island to become the events and entertainment capital of The Bahamas.

On Wednesday, Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper announced in Freeport that a buyer had been identified for the resort. Lucayan Renewal Holdings Ltd, a special purpose vehicle that owns the hotel, has entered a sale agreement for $100M with Electra America Hospitality Group.

When asked what this means for Grand Bahama, Ms Moxey said: “It means so much to the people of this island. This property was like the anchor tourist product for the island.”

She indicated that the Port Lucaya Marketplace that is located next door has been significantly affected because of the resort’s closure.

“Port Lucaya Marketplace has not had business that it normally has as a result of the closure of many of the properties. So, the trickle-down effect is enormous.”

Straw vendors and tenants at Port Lucaya Marketplace were struggling prior to 2019. The lack of foot traffic from Grand Lucayan has resulted in businesses closing in the area.

Straw vendors had complained of the inability to pay rent for their booths due to lack of visitors in the area. After touring the straw market and speaking with vendors, Ms Moxey and Tourism Minister Chester Cooper were able to reinstate the stipend that was provided to them.

In terms of group events, Ms

GRAND Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey yesterday.

Moxey said Grand Lucayan Resort was the premier location.

“When it comes to group business events, this is the place that everyone came to. So, I can’t begin to re-emphasise how

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

important this day is to Grand Bahama Island and the people.

We look forward to this relationship and what it means for the people here,” she said.

Ms Cooper anticipates that the

sale of Grand Lucayan will attract more investor interest to the island.

“The reality is that GB has some very great opportunities.

There are some significant potential properties to be invested in GB. We anticipate it will trigger a spree of other significant investments in hotel and other industries,” he said.

“When I talk about this being the renaissance for the regrowth and rebirth of GB, I believe that is what we are talking about … the message here today is that GB is open for business and we hope to attract even more investors to our shores,” Ms Cooper said.

The minister was then asked about government’s priority about the Grand Bahama International Airport, versus spending $30m for a baseball stadium in New Providence.

Ms Moxey blamed the current situation and condition of the airport on the previous administration.

She said that generators have arrived on the island and that situation is being dealt with.

Mr Cooper, who is also minister responsible for aviation, said that they have received many interests from investors interested in entering PPP to redevelop GBIA into a world class facility. In the meantime, he noted that interim work is currently underway to the airport.

“GB has been neglected for a very long time. We cannot undo the decades of neglect for many of the infrastructural components in GB, but we can do our part and we will,” he said.

“Firstly, let me say building a world-class airport takes time. It has to be properly designed and we have to find the right partner, and build a proper airport, which takes 18 to 24 months.”

Ms Cooper stressed that the condition of the airport hurts him as aviation minister. “I have

told the story over and over of how I come to GB, and I see the absolute decay since Hurricane Dorian. The ravages at the various hangars that stood is a constant reminder of Dorian, and I have been brought to tears about it.

“So, we are going do something about it. And the message today is starting now, we are doing something at Grand Lucayan, and we are doing something there (the airport).”

Mr Cooper said at the end of the day Grand Bahamians are going to be very proud of its main gateway to the island.

He stressed that for two years Bahamas Customs and Bahamas Immigration officers and ticket agents sat in trailers at the airport and “using back houses and porta potties.

“We are doing something about it. I am sorry about the passion, but this grieved me as now the minister responsible for aviation.”

He reported that they have already taken steps to get proposals to rebuild the interiors of the domestic section to ensure that their airport workers are properly accommodated in the short term.

“So, there are interim measures. You (are) going to see more demolition to ensure this place is cleaned up and presentable when our guests and residents arrive here on GBI. They are going to feel welcomed; they are not going to feel like they are arriving to war-torn destination.”

“So, we are committed to making this happen. We are thankful to Russ (Urban of Electra) and his team for the investments they are going to make very shortly. And I tell you GB is going to be that events and entertainment capital of The Bahamas. You will have the resorts to be proud of and an international airport you can be proud of,” Mr Cooper said.

FNM WELCOMES DEAL WITH ‘VERY CAUTIOUS’ OPTIMISM FORMER state finance minister Kwasi Thompson said the announcement that the Davis administration has found a purchaser for the Grand Lucayan is reason for “very cautious” optimism.

Under the former Minnis

administration in 2019, a letter of intent for the hotel’s purchase was signed with Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group.

However, the Davis administration in December 2021 cancelled the deal

citing bad terms negotiated.

Yesterday, in the hours after the announcement that Electra America Hospitality Group made a $100m purchase offer for the hotel, Mr Thompson sought to justify why the Free National Movement’s

attempt at selling the resort did not go through as planned.

Mr Thompson said: “Today’s Grand Lucayan announcement gives us a reason for very cautious optimism. Grand Bahamians have been waiting a very long time to see the full redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan. We have already experienced two memorandum of understandings/letters of intent in recent years.

“We need to see actual development and employment. Grand Bahamians no longer get excited by announcements. We have been there and done that.

However, the devil is always in the details. We await to see the full details of the deal and its benefits for the people of Grand Bahama.”

“The previous FNM

administration took the bold step of purchasing the Grand Lucayan and agreed to sell the hotel to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and the ITM Group. However, due to the pandemic, RCCL and ITM Group requested that the original Heads of Agreement be amended which would have significantly altered the deal. The changes were never fully agreed to by the previous FNM administration.

“The current PLP Administration subsequently cancelled the deal with RCCL and ITM.” He questioned the level of airlift on the island to sustain the hotel.

“We hope to learn more about the details of the deal. The Grand Bahamian public will be interested in learning the details of when will the actual renovations

begin, when and how Bahamians can participate in the redevelopment, what are the number of concessions that will be paid and over what timeframe, and what will happen to the existing employees?

“Also, what forms of new airlift and when will they begin, what is the development plan and timeline, and what is the overall vision for the island’s tourism product? Grand Bahama needs a development that can integrate our cruise potential, bring additional airlift to sustain the redevelopment, and release the untapped potential of the island.”

The former administration purchased the resort in August 2018 for $65m and is said to have spent around $1.2m to $1.5m in operations costs monthly.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 5

ALL smiles yesterday after the announcement of the deal to sell Grand Lucayan Resort to Electra America Hospitality Group.

Photo: Vandyke Hepburn

$100m deal done to sell Grand Lucayan Resort from page one for the first phase of the development which was to have taken place over a 24-month period, under the previous Minnis administration.

In December, the Davis administration cancelled the deal, branding it a bad one.

About 80 percent of the 2,000 construction jobs will go to Bahamians. It is reported that 1,000 permanent jobs will be created.

The official announcement was made yesterday in the hotel’s grand lobby at Manor House. Electra’s Principal and Managing Partner Russell Urban was present and brought remarks.

Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey was also in attendance in addition to the Board of Lucayan Renewal Holdings Ltd. The development plans include a Luxury Lifestyle Hotel with approximately 200 rooms and two-dozen

villas at Lighthouse Pointe, a more than 500-room upscale convention centre, and an all-suite Family Resort with more than 200 condo-hotel style suites.

A refurbished golf course complemented by a new, upscale country club and golf villas also will be featured.

Further, 11 world-class restaurants, ten bars, a spa and fitness facility, amenities for children, event spaces, pools, and water features will be available to guests.

Mr Cooper said he expected the deal to be completed by this summer, with renovations and new construction to begin shortly after.

The project will be phased, and the hotel will remain open as the work progresses and continues.

All renovations and construction are expected to be completed by January 1, 2025.

Mr Cooper said all the properties will have unique

or internationally renowned luxury brands.

“We truly believe Electra will be good for Grand Bahama,” he said.

“Today is the beginning of the renaissance and rebirth of Grand Bahama Island. This is truly a new day for Grand Bahama,” he also said, adding Grand Bahama was on the path to become “Grand again.”

He noted that given the Dorian experience, LRH Ltd has agreed with the buyer to insure the facilitation of the first $10m of hurricane damage in the event of two named storms making landfall within the first five years of its ownership.

Also, as part of the purchase price, Mr Cooper said the company has pledged $5m to the Ministry for Grand Bahama’s new unit, ‘Collab Partnerships for Development” for community projects, and funding for Bahamians to create and grow businesses to enhance the tourism

product, in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Development Corporation.

Electra has also committed to helping assist communities affected by Hurricane Dorian, he said.

Regarding the Grand Bahama airport, Minister Cooper said the government was aware that airlift was a critical component to the island. He noted that the government has committed to the process of rebuilding and reopening a world-class airport facility by 2025.

Absent from the announcement were members from the official Opposition, Free National Movement, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority.

When asked by a reporter whether the official Opposition leader was invited, Minister Cooper said invitations were sent to them.

“We did advise the leader of the opposition and all the members of Parliament in relation to the

announcement today, as well as the president of the GB Port Authority,” Mr Cooper said.

During his official remarks, Mr Cooper noted that when the former Minnis administration purchased the resort in August 2018, it made a series of mistakes that left taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars and an ongoing monthly subsidy of $1.5M per month.

“We always believed in the viability of the property, but did not believe it belonged in the hands of the government,” he said.

Rather, we sought a buyer for the Grand Lucayan that was well resourced, wellintentioned, desired to be a strong community partner, a vision for the resort, and a willing partner in the shared vision for the growth of Grand Bahama.”

He further explained that: “With this sale, to a solid committed partner we will recoup a significant portion of the investment

to people’s money and put Grand Bahama on track to once again be the vibrant entertainment capital of the Bahamas.”

Russell Urban, principal and managing partner of Electra, expressed his optimism about the success of the resort. “The resort is going to be successful; already the hospitality needed to make the resort successful is already in the DNA of The Bahamas – the people are so helpful, so friendly, so attentive, and passionate about their country, and the resort.”

“We became very interested in the resort for a lot of reasons, but the main reason is that we saw an opportunity to reinvent, and we saw this as a very unique opportunity in a world class location to create energy and to revive a community that has been so ravaged over recent years. So, we are very pleased and humbled to be chosen for this amazing opportunity,” he said.

COOPER: DETAILS OF DEAL REVEALED NEXT WEEK

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net ACTING Prime Minister Chester Cooper said he will disclose details of the Minnis administration’s sale deal for the Grand Lucayan Resort that was cancelled by the Davis-Cooper administration after coming to office.

While in Grand Bahama Wednesday, Mr Cooper told reporters he will provide details early next week.

“I will speak to it on Monday, he said after announcing a buyer for Grand Lucayan Resort on Wednesday. Today is about the future. I will talk about the deal that had been in place, and I would provide all the details.”

Mr Cooper, the Minister of Tourism, Investment, and Aviation, criticised the initial deal between the government and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and ITM Group under the Minnis Administration as an “egregiously bad deal”.

Electra America Hospitality Group was selected as the new buyer from among five potential bidders vying to purchase the resort property. The US conglomerate is offering $100M to purchase the Grand Lucaya. They also plan to invest $300M to renovate and redevelop the property. There is a 60-day due diligence period, with

closing no later than 120 days.

When asked about the deciding factor, Mr Cooper told The Tribune that among other things, significant resources were one of the key components in terms of the acquisition and in terms of the renovations.

“We did not want a buyer who would come and ask for owner financing. We wanted a buyer who would pay cash up front for the resort, and close the deal and then begin the construction,” he explained.

He also said that when looking for a partner, they also sought one who is committed first to a shared vision of GB, with a vision for the resort, appropriate resources, and a commitment to community.

“And with all those attributes we found in Electra, we determined they were the winning bidder,” Mr Cooper said.

Russell Urban, Electra principal and managing partner, said they are looking to attract well-known brands at the property. He was also asked whether there would be a name change.

He responded that he suspected that “Grand Lucayan” will be a part of the fabric of the report “no matter what.”

Mr Urban also said they will have a casino operator who will be a part of one of the brands that they choose for the hotel.

PAGE 6, Thursday, May 12, 2022

The Tribune Limited

THE TRIBUNE

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A deal that’s been a long time coming THE announcement of the buyer for the Grand Lucayan Resort has been long coming.

The deal, which will see the resort purchased for $100m by the Electra America Hospitality Group presuming that the due diligence finds no problems, has very much been spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper.

It also takes the place of the previous deal done with Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group.

In sheer numbers, the old deal would have seen the hotel purchased for $65m in that deal as part of an initial investment of $195m which included the redevelopment of Freeport Harbour.

The harbour is no longer linked in the new deal, and comes in at $100m, with a commitment of $300m in renovation and construction costs.

There will be 2,000 construction jobs, with 80 percent of those going to Bahamians, and an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs to be created.

Even the FNM offered “very cautious” optimism over the deal, with former Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson saying: “Grand Bahamians have been waiting a very long time to see the full redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan.”

He also said that “the devil is always in the details” and he’s right – we will all wait to see the full details, but Mr Cooper has promised to reveal the details next week.

If all goes according to plan, however, it is a foundation that Grand Bahama can build on as it starts what seems like the latest in very many recovery attempts.

Grand Bahama has seen many false dawns, and there will be a mixture of delight at the prospect of a deal having been done, and scepticism that we’ve been here before.

It was thought that the Royal Caribbean International deal was the solution previously, but that stalled and stalled, then drifted, then dissolved completely.

That cannot happen again – and we look forward to hearing more about the deal, and more from our country’s new business partners. The managing

partner of Electra has already talked of creating a “world-class location” and looking “to revive a community that has been so ravaged over recent years”.

That’s the right kind of talk, and the right kind of attitude for Grand Bahama.

Now we must make sure we do our due diligence thoroughly – we should remember the albatross that the Oban deal became around the necks of the Minnis administration – and make sure the deal is sealed properly.

If all is as it appears, it’s an opportunity that Grand Bahama can ill afford to lose.

COVID in schools As parents picked up their children from a number of schools yesterday, they received the news that many will have been dreading – it’s back to virtual learning for many students after a series of COVID cases in schools.

First, Stephen Dillet School suspended face-to-face learning – and that’s been followed by Saint Augustine’s College, St Anne’s School and Queen’s College after incidences of COVID-19 on campus.

There will be a briefing today by the Office of the Prime Minister to give a further update with regard to COVID and schools – but as cases have been inching upwards again, this was always a possibility that schools would find themselves in a position to have to close their doors again.

For the health of staff and students, it is the right choice – even if it is one we wish did not have to be taken, especially as we head towards exam season.

Most importantly, it’s a reminder of why we need to keep taking the precautions we have been – wearing masks, keeping our distance, sanitising, limiting contact.

Perhaps it’s too late to stop another wave of school shutdowns, but the more we do that, the likelier it is those doors will open again soon.

We have to play our part, so that the schools can make the most of their role.

CORNELIA Jakobs from Sweden singing ‘Hold Me Closer’ performs during rehearsals at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, yesterday.

Photo: Luca Bruno/AP

Honour thy father and mother EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE fifth commandment is often referred to as the first commandment with a promise: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12.)

Before they became some of the richest people in the world these celebrities and entrepreneurs endured hardship and struggles.

Leonardo Dicaprio one of the biggest names in Hollywood, grew up in a drug-torn part of Los Angeles, while Oscar-winner Halle Berry slept in a homeless shelter during her early acting career.

Oprah Winfrey was born into a poor Mississippi family in 1954, but she’s now worth an estimated $2.6 billion.

Roland “Pop” Symonette was one of nine children of Methodist minister Edwin Lofthouse Symonette and his wife Lavania Alethia (née Weech) on the small island settlement of Current, Eleuthera. Although he had only six years of formal education, Symonette became one of the wealthiest men of his generation.

Symonette’s family holdings have never been publicly confirmed.

Education, wise investments, and access to opportunities unavailable to most people make it easy for rich kids to continue making a lot of money. However, there are a few wealthy individuals who truly did work hard to rise above their humble beginnings and become extremely rich.

Adrian Fox is one of these people.

As a child, he grew up in Balls Alley off Shirley Street, living in a small wooden house with twentyeight other family members.

His grandparents, mother, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Sometimes if he were lucky, he would sleep in a bed with several other family members. Other times he would make himself comfortable on the couch or the floor.

His grandparents, who were old school, made sure none of their children went hungry and always had food on the table no matter how simple.

His mother is a single parent who worked as a waitress at one of the hotels on Paradise Island. She did her best to provide not only for her children, but those of her siblings as well.

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net While he was thankful for what he had, even as a little boy, Adrian knew it was insufficient. There had to be more. So he ran errands and did odd jobs for his neighbours to help his mom out. Finally, when he was about ten, he got a job working after school and on weekends as a packing boy at the City Meat Market food store on Village Road, enabling him to help his mom more.

At the age of 15, he left school and was hired as a busboy at the Cafe Martinique. The five-star restaurant on Paradise Island, where he learned the importance of treating others with kindness and respect. Something that helped motivate him to where he is today.

From his first day at work, he knew what he wanted. He would often say to me, “Chief, I can’t wait until I become a waiter because busboys don’t make enough money for me to help my old lady with the bills.

“Yes, I was his manager, so everything said here today is done with authority.”

Because of his devotion to his job, in no time, he became one of the youngest and best waiters in the history of the Cafe Martinique. He was also one of the most requested waiters in the restaurant. You can say he mastered his craft at an early age.

Soon after being promoted to a waiter at the age of 18, Adrian met a guest who introduced him to the art of cigars. During the nineties, smoking cigars, especially Cuban cigars, were very stylish.

Everywhere you turned, men, young and old, even women, were puffing on a Cohiba that cost as much as $50 apiece. While working he would sell cigars to both guests and locals.

The cigar craze was good to him, and the money he made from that and what he made from working in the restaurant provided him with the resources to go into the phone card business. As a young man, Adrian was very prudent. It was during this time he met and formed a partnership with another young man, Sebas Bastian, and shortly after that, the Island Luck web shop became an entity.

The rest is history. He can now attempt to make up for

all of his mom’s sacrifices for her family and give her everything she deserves.

What began as a desire to help his mom made him who he is today.

Thank God for mama.

Many people do not understand or appreciate Adrian’s lifestyle. Still, it is just him demonstrating that no matter how humble your roots are, with determination, you can be whatever you want to be. A message he tries to share everyday.

One day while musing over his past and where he came from, reality sank in.

Where he came from and what he is today must have been from a source more excellent than he could imagine. Luck had nothing to do with it.

The blessing that flowed from his mother’s prayers framed his destiny. Out of this revelation, the notion was conceived to establish the Fox Foundation, a benevolent institution that would contribute to the well-being of the less fortunate.

Presently there are countless persons, men and women, that have benefited from Adrian’s generosity. Not to mention the youths in college, through his scholarship funding or the bicycles, school supplies, and toys he buys for every kid in the Kemp Road area every year, and the thousands of dollars in donations to the elderly and other charitable organisations. The list goes on and on.

Because of his outstanding contribution to humanity, Adrian, who is barely in his fifties has recently been conferred with a doctorate in philanthropy by an international society institution that seeks out people from all over the world known for their acts of charity — giving him the title Dr Adrian Fox. A title that is most deserving.

A special component of his Mantra is to leave the world a better place than he met it. Throughout his climb he made friends with people from all walks of life, rich and poor, and unlike many persons, philanthropist Adrian has not forgotten his roots.

The moral of this story is to honour your parents so that all may go well with you.

God bless you my friend. God bless the Bahamas.

ANTHONY PRATT Nassau, May 11, 2022.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 7

FOUNDATION GIVES $80,000 TO LIVING WATERS CHURCH

THE Fox Foundation on Sunday donated $80,000 to Living Waters Kingdom Ministries.

The sizable donation is to assist the church with its youth and community centre.

The church, at Warren Street, broke ground for the community centre last May.

PAGE 8, Thursday, May 12, 2022 FROM ancient Greece, with its limited democratic franchise, to the present, democracy has always been an idea, a set of principles and values, often codified into law, equally a set of conventions and traditions defined and crafted over centuries, observed and adjudicated by flawed and biased human beings.

Democracy survives, flourishes or declines, because of adherence or lack thereof, to its strictures, boundaries and norms by political leaders, public servants and citizenry. Restraint by those with power is critical to democratic stability and flourishing.

Democracy is fragile. It takes generations to become entrenched in nations and institutions, such as an executive, legislature and judiciary, always requiring restraint on and the balancing of powers to protect a citizenry from the abuse of power and to enhance a greater good.

Democracy often fails, sometimes terribly. But it also succeeds and endures because of its institutions and those who populate its offices, as well as a free press which, like other institutions, also fails, especially when it mostly does the bidding of certain interests, be they economic or political.

Democracy cannot be forced on another country at the barrel of an invaders weaponry. But it can be easily upended, with cancerous effect, by illiberal mindsets and forces, even in the mostly seemingly secure democracy like the United States of America.

Writing earlier this year, commentator Fareed Zakaria exclaimed: “The real scandal of January 6 [the breach of the US capital by armed invaders] is not what happened outside the Capitol alone, it’s what happened inside when a majority of House Republicans voted to overturn the valid results of a presidential election simply to curry favour with thenPresident Donald Trump. It is that vote, not the violence, that almost broke the American system.”

What would have happened or what might happen

if there is a future Republican majority in the House and Senate, who vote “to overturn the valid results of a presidential election”?

Given the hardened or ultra-Trump supporters who may be elected to both chambers, one cannot dismiss the possibility. The American democracy and system is getting sicker and more cancerous through each new primary and electoral cycle.

A political system, such as our parliamentary democracy, is constituted by a complex of shared beliefs and values of a polity. What happens when such beliefs are no longer shared? The majority of Republicans still “believe” that Trump won the presidency. With such a belief, what are possible outcomes?

take for granted that our democracy is immune from illiberal politicians, mindsets or breaches of basic norms, which can be easily eroded and ignored.

Zakaria has also written: “It may be that we have exposed a flaw in the founders’ Constitution. They believed that to create a political system, you did not need to ensure that people acted virtuously. ‘If men were angels,’ James Madison famously wrote, ‘no government would be necessary’.

“But can a system work without human beings acting responsibly, even virtuously? One branch of government, Congress, is supposed to check the other. But today, for Republicans party politics trumps institutional loyalty.

“We often hear that, unlike in fledgling democracies, America’s institutions A liberal democracy are strong. But, as Ralph – not liberal as in progres- Waldo Emerson said, ‘An sive – is a democratic form institution is the lengthened of government committed shadow of one man.’ If to the rule of law, the pro- people abuse them, attack tection of civil liberties, them, disregard them, they individual freedoms and will slowly collapse.”

Is American democrights, and with limits on racy collapsing?

How sick political power.

Democracies do not simply is the American polity? or necessarily survive or How undemocratic has the develop because there are Republican Party in America become?

Will laws and conventhe “lengthtions. Its values ‘Bahamians ened shadow” of must be passed on Donald Trump, from one genera- should never who is both symption to the next take for tom and cause of through care- granted that America’s demoful observance, decline, safeguarding and our democracy cratic return to the rituals. is immune White House?

What hap- from illiberal pens if citizens and others fail politicians, to understand mindsets or and internalise breaches of Because of the basic tenets the country’s of a democracy? basic norms, demographic What happens which can be trends, many in if there is no easily eroded the Republican longer basic Party believe consensus about and ignored.’ they can only win what may be and retain federal true or false? power, including Congress What happens when and the White House, citizens are ill-informed through illiberal means; and make decisions based by disenfranchising voters, mostly on whims and mostly minorities; outrageous emotions, falsehoods and gerrymandering; packing the prejudices? What about Supreme Court with rightmanipulation by demagogic wing originalists; and wedge demigods masquerading as issues concerning race and saviours of a people? attacks on communities such Bahamians should never as gays and lesbians.

FRAGILITY AND POTENTIAL RESILIENCE OF DEMOCRACY be in certain positions of leadership and who still view women as inherently inferior in church and society.

Just as certain democratic values are under grave threat in the United States, democratic health is being tested in places like Brazil, with an upcoming presidential election, the bludgeoning of democracy in Nicaragua, and other authoritarian leaders ignoring and debasing democratic norms.

Disturbingly, even in highly-regarded democracies, certain conventions and values are being tested.

LIBERTIES

TRENDS

In her book, “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured”, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a Christian author and history professor at Calvin University, laments and chronicles the toxic and “militant” masculinity inherent in the Christian right in the United States.

She describes how the majority of American fundamentalists believe that the last presidential election was stolen, and who support the illiberalism and undemocratic stratagems of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, who are committed to white Christian supremacy and nationalism.

Kobes Du Mez writes: “Despite Evangelicals’ frequent claims that the Bible is the source of their social and political commitments, Evangelicalism must be seen as a cultural and political movement rather than a community defined chiefly by theology. Evangelical views on any given issue are facets of this larger cultural identity, and no number of Bible verses will dislodge the greater truths at the heart of it.

“From the start, Evangelical masculinity has been both personal and political.

In learning how to be Christian men, evangelicals also learned how to think about sex, guns, war, borders, Muslims, immigrants, the military, foreign policy, and the nation itself.”

For these fundamentalists, the Gospels of Jesus have been supplanted by a series of narrow and prejudicial cultural ideas that refuse to be interrogated and transformed by the example and person of Jesus Christ.

What similarities are there here at home with fundamentalists who deem it impossible for a man to be able to rape his wife, who believe women should not

PARTYGATE

The Partygate scandal in the United Kingdom involves Prime Minister Boris Johnson breaking COVID-19 protocols during strict lockdowns in the country designed to slow the rapid spread of the virus in order to save lives and protect health.

Britain had a very high rate of infection during much of the pandemic. Most of its citizens abided by the rules and observed protocols limiting the number of people who could gather in various settings, including in households.

Because of the restrictions, many were unable to be with loved ones in person, especially older relatives, as they were dying of the disease and/or related ill-health.

Mr Johnson, his wife, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and various Downing Street staff broke COVID protocols. They have all been fined, with more fines reported to come.

What has angered the public is that Mr Johnson broke the very rules that he adamantly insisted others carefully follow. He broke the rules to enjoy social gatherings, including a birthday party organised by his wife.

The vast majority of citizens and residents in the UK acted responsibly and diligently during the pandemic. When vaccines were finally available, the British public admirably did their duty, getting vaccinated and boosted in high numbers.

That Mr Johnson seemingly so cavalierly broke the rules has enraged many.

Many believe that his repeated breaches, which he consistently denied for many months, were resigning offences. Others believe that the offences were not such that he should resign.

But the Prime Minister’s

THE TRIBUNE

greater offence was that he appears to have repeatedly, and in the minds of many, deliberately misled the House of Commons on several occasions.

Though there is disagreement as to whether the parties should result in Johnson’s resignation, the majority of the British public believes he should resign because they believe he misled Parliament. The Privileges Committee of the Commons is now investigating whether he misled the lower chamber.

The UK Parliament website, referencing Erskine May (1815-1886), who has been referred to as “the Bible of parliamentary procedure”, notes: “The Commons may treat the making of a deliberately misleading statement as a contempt. In 1963, the House resolved that in making a personal statement which contained words which they later admitted not to be true, a former Member had been guilty of a grave contempt.”

Misleading Parliament is a grave offence in the UK, a democracy though having no written constitution, has sought to adhere to various rules, conventions and traditions crafted over centuries.

For many, Johnson’s refusal to resign as prime minister, is a low point. He is surviving in office because of his Tory caucus, which overwhelmingly appear more interested in how they will fare electorally, rather than whether Johnson has blithely ignored a longstanding Westminster convention in one of the world’s oldest parliamentary democracies.

Witting in “i” a few weeks ago, columnist Ian Dunt argued: “No functioning country – on a basic moral, political or constitutional level – could allow Johnson to stay in office. It’s not about his own failings, or party political advantage, or even public outrage. It is foundational. It is about the elementary structures of how liberal democracy operates.

“The government has to abide by the laws that it sets. That is what the rule of law means: that no-one is above the legislation passed by the executive. If that principle no longer pertains, we do not live under the rule of law.

“It is an expression of the basic principles of our society as John Locke or Montesquieu would have understood them… We have been dumped into a crisis about the legitimacy of government and the rule of law.”

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 9

The US and its NATO allies’ Ukraine objectives S

INCE Russia invaded Ukraine three months ago, we have all heard many times about how the US and its NATO allies are carefully walking a tightrope to ensure that Ukraine has a fighting chance to repel the invaders while not acting in such a way that would provoke Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, into even considering launching nuclear weaponry, either on the battlefields of southeastern Europe or against Western targets.

Even as US president Joe Biden famously blurted out in Poland that “Putin cannot be allowed to continue to rule” Russia, the Americans have professed repeatedly that they are not seeking regime change in Moscow. They say they just want Ukraine’s wish for a cease-fire to prevail.

But in recent weeks, the US, UK and other NATO nations have been shipping weapons systems to Ukraine that have real offensive potential. As the Ukrainian fight to defend their country against the Russian bear continues not only to persist but to show signs of intermittently prevailing, headlines are popping up in the national American media that announce a gradual evolution of NATO objectives.

Increasingly, anonymous and even named sources in Western capitals are changing their tune.

They are seeking victory for Ukraine, specifically at the expense of Putin, his imperialistic dreams, and the Russian army.

In the process, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky must be credited with a succession of triumphant personal performances. He has clearly influenced what is looking like an inexorable resolve by NATO to defeat Putin and put to rest any future possibility that he and his military will again threaten NATO – and perhaps non-NATO – nations on his western flank.

There has been relatively little speculation about the three “newly” independent states of the trans-Caucasus region (Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan), or the five independent Muslim Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. What if in the future Putin were to cast a covetous eye in that direction? All eight of these countries, independent for roughly 30 years now, were formerly Soviet provinces, as were Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

Policymakers in Washington, London and Berlin must be mulling these questions. At some point, as Western historians and pundits often remind us these days, an arrogant bully and tyrant such as Putin (or Adolph Hitler, among numerous infamous 20th Century examples) must be forcefully confronted. Otherwise, they will just continue to gobble up weaker neighbours in a ruthless quest for power and influence.

Let’s fast forward ten years. You’re reading a recently-published history of the Russo-Ukraine War. You read that “by May of that year (2022), it was increasingly evident that America and several of its staunchest allies, including Britain, were already at war with Russia. Once they got over the shock of seeing the supposed Russian juggernaut foundering embarrassingly in an inept attempt to quickly overwhelm the Ukrainian army and seize its capital Kyiv, Western generals and policymakers realized that if they gave the Ukrainians the weaponry to defend themselves, Russia could be beaten on the battlefield and humiliated in the eyes of the world. American and Allied involvement steadily increased to the point that Russian defeat became inevitable.”

Does that really sound so far-fetched this morning?

The White House certainly wants you to believe its aims are much more modest. Consider the sinking of the Russian flagship “Moskva” off the Ukrainian coast on April 14, on the day before Good Friday.

A US military source incautiously revealed the other day that American intelligence sources had provided critical assistance to the Ukrainian military in their successful missile launch that doomed the Russian battle cruiser.

Many observers had suspected US involvement, but it had not previously been confirmed, even anonymously.

Here are the two most able and visible Washington spokespersons in the current administration, responding to reporters’ questions about the sinking of the Moskva: “We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case.”

When he was asked about

reports that the U.S. provided intelligence on the Moskva, Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby said Ukraine receives “relevant and timely” intelligence from the U.S., but also gets assistance from other nations and makes its own decisions about how to use it.

“And if they do decide to do something with that intelligence, then they make the decisions about actioning it,” Kirby said.

Do you believe them?

Some are beginning to write publicly about the growing American and Western involvement in Ukraine’s defense.

Perhaps the most surprising evidence of this expanding cooperation is the reported killing so far of 12 Russian generals on the battlefield.

This just doesn’t happen in modern warfare, where the senior general officers are ordinarily back at field headquarters exercising overall command and, importantly, briefing political overseers back home.

Speaking of a news report about the U.S. role in supporting Ukraine’s killing of Russian generals, Kirby said American agencies “do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.”

Really? The Ukrainians are so proficient that they accomplished this decimation of Russian army leadership all without any Western assistance? This is hard to believe.

Strongly undergirding the American administration’s growing support for Ukraine is the fact that there is wide, bipartisan support for Ukraine in Washington, even in an American Congress so divided along partisan lines that agreement the sun sets in the west might take weeks to negotiate.

The American administration has already provided more than $3.4 billion in military assistance, and US forces are actively training Ukrainian troops in the use of howitzers, drones and other hardware in a war now focused on the eastern Donbas region of the country.

The White House recently announced an additional $150 million in military support that included artillery rounds, radar systems capable of detecting artillery projectiles, and other equipment.

Other packages of various kinds of assistance are discussed in the national press

AN UKRAINIAN firefighter works near a destroyed building on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Max Pshybyshevsky) and electronic media every the defeat of Russian forces.

How about China? “So day. Interestingly, one of In defending Ukraine’s far,” US secretary of state the most effective defensive democracy, we stand up for Anthony Blinken told weapons in use by Ukraine our own democracy.” reporters, “we are not Biden signed the Ukraine seeing significant support is a species of “suicide Lend-Lease Act as soon from China for Russian drones” made in Turkey. as it reached his desk this military operations.” Westweek. ern observers also haven’t riting this Meanwhile, West- reported a significant week in the ern Europe is moving to increase in the Chinese Washington reduce or eliminate its huge threat to its “lost province” Post, Representatives Liz dependence on imported of Taiwan.

Cheney, the Republican Russian oil and natural gas.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central congresswoman from WyoWhile there is some Intelligence Agency Direcming, and Jake Auchincloss, grumbling in many Western tor William Burns wisely a liberal Democrat from nations about the pinch in said on Saturday that Putin Massachusetts, who disa- energy prices, popular supbelieves he cannot afford gree on almost everything, port for opposing Putin’s joined forces to further war seems to be holding to lose in Ukraine and cautioned that the West should underline congressional fairly solidly. support for the US war Japan has joined those not ignore the risk of the effort in Ukraine. opposing Putin. Prime Min- use of tactical nuclear weap“The US should rally ister Fumio Kushida warned ons by Moscow.

“We don’t see, as an its NATO allies to make it that Ukraine’s situation community, clear that Putin must not today might be East Asia’s intelligence practical evidence at this benefit from his aggression. crisis tomorrow if Russian We both signed the Ukraine aggression is not stopped. point of Russian planning Democracy Lend-Lease He said Japan would stop for a deployment or even Act which will enable more all advanced technol- use of tactical nuclear weapmateriel support for an ally ogy exports to Russia. His ons,” Burns said.

He cautioned, though, whose cause is existential. defense minister said Japan Our own American secu- would “continue to send as that “the stakes are very rity requires the survival of much support to Ukraine as high for Putin’s Russia.” In other words, watch out.

(Ukrainian) freedom and we can.”

W

PAGE 10, Thursday, May 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

MAN ACCUSED OF MURDER JOGGER VICTIM OF SEX ATTACK AND ATTEMPTED KILLING

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

By PAVEL BAILEY

A MAN was arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Donte Drey Deveaux, 25, stood before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney accused of the murder of 34-yearold father of two, Emmanuel Brown, on May

2 in New Providence. The accused was also accused of the attempted murder of Samuel Joseph on the same day.

Due to the nature of the offence Deveaux was not required to enter a plea in the Magistrate’s Court. He was informed that his case would proceed by way of a Voluntary Bill of Indictment (VBI).

Magistrate McKinney further informed the accused that his case will be heard in the Supreme Court where he can also make a formal application for bail.

Until bail is granted to him, Deveaux will be returned to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. His next court appearance will be on July 28 for service of a VBI.

A WOMAN who was jogging in Western New Providence was pulled into bushes and sexually assaulted, police have said.

While authorities yesterday did not specifically say when the incident took place, they said it occurred in the early morning hours.

A person of interest was being sought, police said in a press statement yesterday.

Ahead of the release, Superintendent Audley Peters told The Tribune an incident fitting similar particulars happened last week.

“Detectives on the island of New Providence are investigating a sexual assault, which occurred in the western district of New Providence, where a female was jogging during the early morning hours. It was during this time, that she was approached by a lone male who pulled her into bushes and sexually assaulted her,” according to yesterday’s release.

This incident follows an alleged rape and assault that took place off Prince Charles Drive in April. The police also released safety tips for women.

“Females are advised to exercise the necessary caution while exercising and to be aware of their

surroundings when arriving at home. On arrival at home, a thorough search of the dwelling should be conducted and ensure that all doors and windows are properly secured.”

In February, police released statistics that revealed that there was a seven percent increase in rapes last year, with 48 matters reported in 2021 and 45 the year before. There was a nominal increase in the category of attempted rapes, with six last year and five in 2020, representing an increase of 20.

Unlawful sexual intercourse declined by 23 percent last year with 125 in 2021 compared to the 163 that were reported in 2020.

TWO CHARGED AFTER COCAINE DISCOVERY

By PAVEL BAILEY

TWO MEN were arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday after being found in possession of cocaine.

Oneil Sturrup, 27, and Dario Duncombe, 28, appeared before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a charge of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.

At around 5.30 on May 10 in New Providence officers on mobile patrol stopped the suspects in a Nissan Cube and upon searching the vehicle

discovered suspected drugs in the centre armrest. These drugs were found in a clear Ziplock bag containing a brown package filled with a reported 11 grams of cocaine.

While Duncombe pleaded not guilty to the offence in court, Sturrup pleaded guilty with explanation.

Sturrup explained to the Magistrate that the drugs in question didn’t belong to him and that he had got into an argument with his cousin who was using drugs in his yard.

The accused claimed that the cocaine found in his

possession belonged to his cousin and that he had only inadvertently put the drugs in his car after their fight.

He also said he explained this situation to the police in a subsequent interview.

Although Sturrup had faced a similar drugs conviction in the past the Magistrate reduced his charges to simple possession because of his early plea of guilt.

Magistrate McKinney then ordered Sturrup to pay a fine of $500 for the offence or risk three months in prison, while Duncombe was discharged for the matter.

OFFICER TESTIFIES IN INDECENT ASSAULT CASE

By PAVEL BAILEY

A POLICE officer gave testimony yesterday during the trial of a 23-year-old man who is accused of indecently assaulting his two nieces.

The accused was in court before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans as officer Indira Taylor testified in his indecent assault trial.

It is alleged that the man committed the offences

against the ten and 12-yearold girls in late October of 2021.

During her testimony, officer Taylor recalled that during the defendant’s official police interview he claimed to have been under the influence during the time of the incident.

At that time, his nieces were allegedly in the room where he slept, however Officer Taylor told the court that the accused claimed he could not recall any further details of the night in

question.

After completing the interview, the officer indicated that she signed the Record of Interview (ROI), but said that the accused refused to sign the document himself.

The accused’s attorney, Milton Cox, then asked officer Taylor if his client had the right to refuse to sign the ROI, to which the officer said “yes”.

The accused’s trial is expected to continue on June 30.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 11

SOARING FROM PARADISE ISLAND TO AN ISLAND PARADISE

By RASHAD ROLLE JUMBO slides, star-studded concerts and luxury suites are a few things that have greeted Atlantis’ guests over the years.

Now, a different kind of amenity has been added to the list of possibilities: an excursion to an idyllic cay.

Atlantis has began a partnership that offers guests a seaplane escape to a cay that bears all the brochureready hallmarks of tasteful Family Island vacations: the lush surrounding greenery, the pristine water and its invitation to snorkel and dive and the ability to get lost in a place that is secluded from large crowds and bustling city noises.

“Atlantis is an amazing resort, amazing people.

Kamalame Cay is exactly the opposite and that’s what makes us family,” says Michael King, part-owner of the cay. “What we celebrate is where we meet in the middle, which is our love of The Bahamas. So this is about celebrating The Bahamas, bringing people together, showing

them unique experiences from different points of view.”

Atlantis launched its partnership with Cocoa Bahama seaplanes and Kamalame Cay last week.

For now, the resort will provide three round-trip flights per week that can carry eight guests per trip.

Audrey Oswell, president and managing director of Atlantis, expects an increase in flights later this year. She told Tribune Business last week that the service to Kamalame Cay has been in the planning stages for a long time.

“This started with Coco,” Mr King said. “Really, looking at ways to help people explore The Bahamas, whether it’s going to see the pigs in Exuma, or the pigs in Spanish Wells or Harbour Island. It’s how do we take a person that arrives in The Bahamas, arrives in New Providence and show them another side of The Bahamas? And Coco kind of came with a mission of how do we carry people from one place to another, so Kamalame is part of that

experience.”

Mr King said a day at Kamalame Cay gives guests a chance to see flamingos on a seaplane, the beauty of Andros, bonefish and more.

“What Andors has to offer is extraordinary,” he said. “Blue holes, flamingos, the great barrier reef, all of these opportunities are afforded to someone to come to Andros…We’re not creating magic, we’re just showing the magic that already exists.”

Kamalame Cay was established 25 years ago as a bone fishing lodge with only a few rooms. Today, Mr King said, it has 50 rooms, three miles of beach, two restaurants and ongoing construction of villas. “(There are) one hundred and forty full and part-time employees,” he said. “We kept everyone employed through the pandemic, we were very fortunate to reopen quickly and strongly so even though we moved some people to part-time we were able to support our team and make sure we looked after their families.”

RASHAD ROLLE, right, during his trip to Kamalame Cay.

PAGE 12, Thursday, May 12, 2022

MARIJUANA HAUL FOUND IN FREEPORT

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama police discovered a large quantity of suspected marijuana valued at $21,000 in the Freeport area.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Rolle said on Tuesday, May 10, shortly before 2pm, a team of officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit, acting on information, went to a track road located on Cantaloupe Street, Pioneers Loop.

While searching the area, officers discovered a clear plastic bag containing a grassy-like substance suspected to be marijuana.

ASP Rolle said the drugs, which weighed 12 pounds, had an estimated street value of $21,000. It was collected and taken to the Drug Enforcement Unit.

He said investigations are continuing into the matter.

THE TRIBUNE

Man guilty of stealing groceries begs for help with drug problem

By PAVEL BAILEY A MAN convicted for stealing groceries begged a Magistrate for help with his drug problem in court yesterday.

Sonny Brown, 36, appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans for stealing from a shop and deceit of an officer.

At around 10.20am on May 10 at Xtra Value on University Drive and Carter Street, store manager Kevin Hanna reported the accused leaving the store suspiciously. After he was stopped Brown was found with $128.40 worth

of groceries stowed away in his waistband.

These recovered items included a Downy firework scent booster, Downy odour defense, Downy unstoppable, 2 Libby’s Vienna sausages and a strawberry and banana fruit juice smoothie.

Earlier the same day at 3:05am, Brown is also alleged to have given false testimony to PC 4441 Davis.

In court, Brown pleaded guilty to the stealing charge, but pleaded not guilty to the charge of deceit.

In addition to admitting to the grocery theft the accused said that he had a drug problem. Brown then begged the court for help

with his drug addiction saying he “brings shame to his family”.

He also told the magistrate that his daughter’s schoolmates call him a “crackhead” and that his wife had already tried to get him help for his cocaine addiction.

The magistrate told Brown to take up his own personal accountability, saying that he needs to get himself help. She went on to say that he is a grown man and that the country is already struggling to recover from the pandemic and hurricane Dorian.

Magistrate Vogt-Evans indicated that Brown had already been in court three

times on similar charges with the last one resulting in a $500 fine. In view of his drug problem, the magistrate elected to give the accused a conditional discharge.

As such, Brown is expected to attend drug

counseling courses for one year. Failure to comply will result in a $250 fine or six months in prison.

The prosecution elected to withdraw the accused’s deceit charge.

The case was adjourned for mention on July 1.

By PAVEL BAILEY

total of $4,400 from the RBC account of Marquez Thompson.

In court, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

As Major had no antecedents the Magistrate granted him $5,000 bail with one or two sureties, on condition that he sign in at Carmichael Police Station on the last Sunday of every month.

Major’s case was adjourned to August 4.

BAIL GRANTED IN $4K BANK THEFT CASE A MAN was granted bail in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday after being accused of stealing over $4,000 from a local Royal Bank of Canada account.

Dowin Major, 50, stood before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn VogtEvans on a charge of stealing.

Between July 13 and August 31, 2021 Major is alleged to have stolen a

EASTER may have come and gone, but the Kiwanis Club of Pinewood has hailed the success of an event it held for youngsters.

In a statement, the club said: “Kiwanis Club of Pinewood Signature project held its second annual Easter Egg Hunt at Isaiah Taylor Park, Pinewood.

This popular event drew many excited kids from

Pinewood and other neighbourhoods.

“One thousand plastic Easter eggs, filled with candy, prizes, and money, were scattered in the field just waiting to be scooped up by the kids and dropped into their Easter baskets.

The kids had fun! The parents had fun! And, of course, the Easter bunny made an appearance to the delight of everyone.”

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THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 13

Reporter killed during Israeli raid in West Bank JERUSALEM Associated Press

VETERAN Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, one of the satellite channel’s best-known reporters, was shot and killed on Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. The broadcaster and two reporters who were with her blamed Israeli forces.

Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, promised a transparent investigation, and said he was in touch with US and Palestinian officials. The Israeli military initially suggested that Abu Akleh might have been killed by stray fire from Palestinians, but Gantz was more cautious Wednesday evening. “We are trying to figure out exactly what happened,” he said. “I don’t have final conclusions.”

He said Israel asked the Palestinian medical team that performed a preliminary autopsy to hand over the fatal bullet for further examination. The head of the Palestinian forensics institute, Rayan al-Ali, said earlier Wednesday that the bullet was deformed, and that he could not yet determine who fired it.

Abu Akleh’s death could draw new scrutiny of Israel’s military justice system, which is being examined as part of a war crimes probe conducted by the International Criminal Court. It also threatened to further strain often rocky relations between the army and the

JOURNALISTS surround the body of Shireen Abu Akleh, a journalist for Al Jazeera network, in the West Bank town of Jenin, on Wednesday.

Photo: Majdi Mohammed/AP international media.

Abu Akleh, 51, was a respected and familiar face in the Middle East, known for her coverage on Al Jazeera Arabic of the harsh realities of Israel’s open-ended military occupation of the Palestinians, now in its 55th year. She was widely recognised in the West Bank and was also a US citizen.

Her death reverberated across SHIREEN ABU AKLEH the region. Arab governments conautonomy government, Abu demned the killing.

There was also an outpouring of Akleh’s body, draped in a Palestingrief in the West Bank. In Ramal- ian flag and covered by a wreath lah, the seat of the Palestinian of flowers, was carried through

downtown streets.

Hundreds chanted, “with our spirit, with our blood, we will redeem you, Shireen.”

On Thursday, a procession was to take the body for burial in Jerusalem, where Abu Akleh was born.

In east Jerusalem, dozens of mourners gathered at the family home to honor her. Lina Abu Akleh, her niece, called her “my best friend, my second mom, my companion”.

“I never thought this day would come, where the news would be about her and she won’t be the one covering the news,” she said.

At one point, a group of Israeli police entered the home, where they were immediately met with shouts of “killers” and “occupiers” and chants to “get out.” It was not immediately clear why the police came, and the officers quickly left.

Palestinians gathered outside the family’s house on Wednesday evening, some holding Palestinian flags and posters with the journalist’s photo. When the group walked toward a main thoroughfare, Israeli police tried to stop them. Scuffles ensued. Five Palestinians were hurt and about half a dozen were detained.

Abu Akleh was killed by a shot to the head while on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, known as a bastion of militants. Israel has conducted near-daily raids in Jenin in recent weeks following a series of deadly attacks inside Israel carried out by militants from the area.

COVID ON THE RISE - AND SOME SCHOOLS BRING BACK MASKS CAMBRIDGE, Massachussets Associated Press

US COVID-19 cases are up, leading a smattering of school districts, particularly in the Northeast, to bring back mask mandates and recommendations for the first time since the omicron winter surge ended and as the country approaches one million deaths in the pandemic.

The return of masking in schools

is not nearly as widespread as earlier in the pandemic, particularly as the public’s worries over the virus have ebbed. But districts in Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have brought masks back, with a few in Massachusetts also recommending them even as the school year enters its final weeks.

Maine’s largest school district, in Portland, said this week masks would return, with Superintendent Xavier Botana saying that was the

“safest course at this time” amid rising cases. Bangor, Maine, schools also brought back a universal mask requirement.

High schools in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and in Montclair, New Jersey, a commuter suburb of New York City, also announced a return to masking, albeit temporarily through this week. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of the counties in the country considered

to have “high” levels of COVID-19 are in the Northeast.

In parts of Massachusetts that have seen high levels of COVID19 transmission, authorities are also recommending masks in schools.

Reactions have ranged from supportive to angry. On the Facebook page of Woodland Hills High School in suburban Pittsburgh, one woman called the change “#insane.”

UKRAINE TO HOLD WAR CRIMES TRIAL

UKRAINE’S top prosecutor disclosed plans for the first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier, as fighting raged in the east and south and the Kremlin left open the possibility of annexing a corner of the country it seized early in the invasion.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said her office charged Sgt Vadin Shyshimarin, 21, in the killing of an unarmed 62-year-old civilian who was gunned down while riding a bicycle in February, four days into the war.

Shyshimarin, who served with a tank unit, was accused of firing through a car window on the man in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka. Venediktova said the soldier could get up to 15 years in prison.

NORTH KOREA CONFIRMS FIRST COVID OUTBREAK NORTH Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown yesterday to control its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that spread to nearly every place in the world.

The size of the outbreak wasn’t immediately known, but it could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say the North, by its rare admission of an outbreak, may be seeking aid.

The official Korean Central News Agency said tests of samples collected Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the omicron variant.

SPORTS PAGE 14

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022

Curry, page 17

‘We are going to have to play together’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

T

he Phoenix Suns have an opportunity to clinch a second consecutive berth to the Western Conference Finals but Deandre Ayton said he expects tonight’s game six matchup to be one of the toughest in the series.

“We just got to go in level headed, we can’t walk in thinking we won the game already,” he said. “Those dudes are going to be desperate. The crowd is going to be in it and we are going to have to play together the way we did in game five [when we go to] Dallas.”

Ayton finished with 20 points (9-13 field goals) and nine rebounds as the Suns took a 3-2 series lead with a dominant 110-80 win Tuesday night at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Game six is set for tonight at 9:30pm local time at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

The home team has won the first five games.

DEANDRE AYTON LOOKS AHEAD TO GAME 6 AGAINST MAVERICKS

A Phoenix win will mark the first time the Suns have advanced to back-to-back Western Conference finals since the 2004-2006 seasons. both wins for the In the round one Mavericks. In game matchup against the three he posted 16 New Orleans Pelipoints, 11 rebounds cans, Ayton averaged DEANDRE AYTON (AP) and two blocks, fol20.5 points and 9.8 lowed by 14 points rebounds per game on 70 percent and 11 rebounds in game four. shooting from the field, with 10 The Suns’ offence made a conblocked shots and 19 assists. centrated effort to get Ayton His numbers are down across involved early. the board in the conference semi“Guys were looking for me finals against the Mavericks thus down there,” he said. “Even when far, averaging 16.8 points and 8.4 I had minor little tweaks around rebounds per game on 57 per- the rim they kept telling me - ‘Yo cent shooting from the field with DA, that’s what we want, keep just three blocked shots and four putting pressure on these boys’ assists.

It felt good and it made me want He opened the series with 25 to play a lot more defence on the points and eight rebounds in a other end.”

121-114 Phoenix win, but strugThe Suns led just 49-47 at the gled in foul trouble in another half but opened the third on an Phoenix win in game two with a 11-4 run. They forced 12 Pelicans playoff low nine points and three turnovers in the period to pull rebounds in just 18 minutes. away for good. “Defence, that’s He had back-to-back doubles what got us going,” Ayton said. for the first time this playoffs, “We were running, got stops,

closed out possessions and this game I felt that we were on the offensive boards a lot. Our guards were getting a lot of tap outs and all that stuff just generates so much energy and momentum plays. One possession we had three opportunities, but we were so happy with the second effort and the crowd got into it.”

The series has not been short on its share of theatrics. Both Luka Doncic and Chris Paul have had run-ins with fans of the opposing team. Tuesday night concluded with the Mavericks’ Marquese Chriss and the Suns’ Bismack Biyombo both ejected after a late game altercation.

“It’s intense, a lot of barking out there. It comes with the game. Guys going at each other, it’s the highest level,” Ayton said.

“We know the type of defeat we had in Dallas [in game four] and we weren’t happy. It wasn’t a fun

Jazz hits his 6th home run of season

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Jacob Stallings hit a goahead single in the ninth, Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr followed with a threerun homer and the Miami Marlins used an eight-run final inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-3 yesterday.

Miami controlled most of the game until the eighth, when pinch hitter Jordan Luplow connected for a tying two-run homer against Marlins reliever Steven Okert.

Miami responded quickly — and decisively — off Mark Melancon.

Stallings came into the game hitting just .183 but came up big in the ninth, hitting a single that put the Marlins back in front.

Chisholm then drove a low pitch out to leftcentre, barely clearing the wall for a three-run blast that pushed Miami’s lead to 7-3.

It has been a rough stretch for Melancon (0-4), the veteran closer who signed a $14 million, two-year deal with the Diamondbacks during the offseason. He has

MARLINS USE 8-RUN NINTH TO BLOW PAST D-BACKS 11-3 surrendered eight runs over his last three outings.

Avisaíl García capped the ninth with another three-run shot off J.B. Wendelken.

It was García’s second at-bat of the inning — he started the rally with a walk.

Joey Wendle got the Marlins on the board in the first with a two-run shot down the right-field line that landed in the visitor’s bullpen.

Miami tacked on another run in the second on an RBI single from Stallings.

Luplow’s homer denied a win for Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara, who permitted one run and two hits over seven innings.

D-backs rookie Alek Thomas hit his first career homer in the third, a solo shot over the 413-foot sign in centre, but that was the team’s only hit until

plane ride, practice was intense, coaches got on us a little bit and this was our response.”

In addition to winning the turnover battle, Phoenix limited Dallas to just 25 percent from three-point range (8-32), after a blistering 45 percent (20-44) in game four.

The Mavericks lead all postseason teams in three-point attempts, makes, and are shooting 37 percent overall from long range.

“They will live and die by the three. They have great shooters over there, you just have to have a certain sense of urgency closing out to them because they can put the ball on the floor as well and have you in a blender closing out being late on passes,” he said. “So I think the communication was there [in game five]. At the end of the day we accepted the challenge man, the one-on-one guarding, staying in front of the ball.”

IAN LEWIS MAKES SINGLE A DEBUT

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MIAMI Marlins’ Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr watches the flight of his three-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Ross D Franklin) the seventh. The MarThe D-backs had their runs over five innings. The lins avoided a three-game three-game winning streak right-hander has been one sweep and won for just the snapped. of baseball’s best pitchers second time in their past Arizona starter Mer11 games. rill Kelly gave up three SEE PAGE 18

MIAMI Marlins prospect Ian Lewis made his debut in Single-A baseball and provided an immediate boost to the Jupiter Hammerheads lineup in one of their highest scoring games of the season thus far.

Lewis went 2-5 with an RBI, stolen base and a run scored in the Hammerheads’ 9-3 win over the Bradenton LEWIS Marauders at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.

In the bottom of the second inning, Lewis singled on a fly ball to score Jose Salas. Both Lewis and Kahil Watson would eventually score on a throwing error to give the Hammerheads a 6-1 lead.

SEE PAGE 18

Nadal bounces back PGA Championship from loss to Alcaraz, delivers strongest beats Isner in Rome field for majors ROME (AP) — Once is enough when it comes to beating Rafael Nadal on a clay court.

Throughout his career, Nadal has never lost consecutive matches on his favorite surface and the Spaniard extended that perfect record on Wednesday by beating John Isner 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round of the Italian Open.

Nadal was coming off a loss to 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Open quarterfinals last week. After a first-round bye, he improved to 44-0 in matches on clay following a loss on the surface.

Perhaps more importantly, Nadal regained some confidence as he works his way back from a rib stress fracture that kept him out for six weeks before the tournament in Madrid.

While he would clearly love

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

RAFAEL Nadal serves the ball to John Isner during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament yesterday.

(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) to add to his record total of 10 Italian Open titles, Nadal’s bigger objective is regaining his top form in time for the French Open, which starts in less than two

weeks. Nadal has won 13 of his 21 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.

SEE PAGE 18

EVEN if Lanto Griffin was thinking only about the next shot, his 32 over the final nine holes of the Wells Fargo Championship made him the last man to qualify for the PGA Championship.

Maybe.

It’s hard to tell with the PGA of America, which lacks the transparency of the other majors but makes amends by delivering the strongest field every year.

When the final field was announced Monday — one of the 156 spots is set aside for the winner of the AT&T Byron Nelson if he’s not already eligible — the PGA Championship was assured of having the top 100 players in the world, provided they all play.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson is still on the list, though that’s not breaking news.

While out of public view since he managed to offend the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded rival league he’s been promoting, there’s been no official word

whether Lefty will be at Southern Hills next week.

More promising are the prospects of Tiger Woods, the last winner at Southern Hills.

And still listed somewhere between “questionable” and “doubtful” if golf had an injury report is Bryson DeChambeau, who only last week had stitches removed after surgery on his left hand.

No one doubts the PGA Championship has the strongest field.

Even with three past champions tied for last in the world ranking, and 20 professionals who spend more hours running their golf clubs than grinding on their short games.

It’s how it arrives at its field that remains a mystery.

The goal is to have the top 100 in the world. It just doesn’t say that anywhere in the criteria.

There are places for major champions, top finishers from last year’s PGA Championship, PGA Tour winners over the last year, recent Ryder Cup players

SEE PAGE 19

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 15

TEAM BLACK MARLINS SWIM CLUB MAKING BIG SPLASH WITH SUPPORT OF CWCO MAKING a big splash in the pool is a new local swim club with just 14 months under its belt, and already gold medal sanctioned.

The Black Marlins Swim Club, supported by Consolidated Water (Bahamas) Limited (CWCO), made a winning debut at the 50th National Swimming Championships, and hosted its first Annual Sprint Invitational and had two of its nine members that participated in those events go on to compete in the recent CARIFTA Games in Barbados.

The Black Marlins team thrilled the Bahamian CARIFTA audience as Caden Wells secured three gold medals in individual events and two gold medals in the relays. Jake Thompson, one of the senior team captains, returned home with both a gold and silver medal.

Henderson Cash, general manager at sponsor company CWCO, commended the Black Marlins Swim Club for their stellar achievements as a new club - already having 53 registered swimmers and impressive performances.

The reverse osmosis water supplier’s donation helped to cover all costs associated with hosting the Black Marlins Swim Club’s first meet. CWCO’s funds went toward the rental of the swim facilities, tables, chairs, volunteer t-shirts and refreshments, as well as trophies and medals for all event winners.

“In such a short time, you have been able to create four competitive groups and bring home medals for The Bahamas.

CWCO is especially proud of the swim club members that secured high point and runner-up trophies in many of the categories, Caden and Jake for their CARIFTA performances and Bahamian athletes overall,” said Mr Cash.

Consolidated Water (Bahamas) Limited is always proud to sponsor opportunities geared toward the development of young people. Prior to this recent donation to Black Marlins Swim Club, the water supplier has donated to SC McPherson Junior High School’s Annual Interschool Mathematics Competition, the Royal Bahamas Police Force Dependents’ Trust,

CWCO sponsor company, general manager Henderson Cash with associates Jeffery Burrows, Mrs Welliya Cargill and Robert Ferguson, presented a cheque to Black Marlins Swim Club secretary Mrs Danielle Sweeting-Wilson, who expressed thanks for the much-needed donation. Shown, from left to right, are Burrows, CWCO operations supervisor Cargill, CWCO accounts manager Sweeting-Wilson, Black Marlins Swim Club secretary Henderson Cash, CWCO general manager. Robert Ferguson, CWCO maintenance supervisor can be seen in the back row.

Lightning Aquatics, and other community events.

Mrs Sweeting-Wilson, the Black Marlins Swim Club secretary, thanked CWCO for supporting the swim club’s efforts.

“We appreciate the partnership and support of our sponsors like CWCO, and

hope that we can make the partnership a longstanding one, which will help us to continue to encourage our swimmers to do their very best both athletically and academically, in a fun environment,” she said.

The Black Marlins Swim Club is run by an executive

board, made up of parents of swimmers from varying groups.

The swim club encourages its swimmers to not only enjoy the sport, but to succeed and push athletically as well as academically.

Consolidated Water (Bahamas) Limited

(CWCO) recently supported the Black Marlins Swim Club. Team members Caden Wells and Jake Thompson together brought home six gold medals and a silver medal following their participation in the CARIFTA Games hosted in Barbados.

MATCHDAY: Tottenham hosts Arsenal, Madrid plays in Spain

ARSENAL’S EDDIE NKETIAH, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match against Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium, in London, May 8.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A LOOK at what’s happening in European soccer today: ENGLAND In one of the biggest north London derbies in years, Tottenham hosts Arsenal for a match between rivals looking to snatch a Champions League qualification place. With three games left for each team, Arsenal is in fourth place and four points clear of fifth-place Tottenham in the race for a top-four finish. If Arsenal wins, it will secure a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2017.

This season is Arsenal’s first without European competition in 25 years. A win for Tottenham would trim the gap to one point and leave Arsenal vulnerable because of its tougher runin. Arsenal finishes with games against Newcastle away and Everton at home

SPAIN Spanish league champion Real Madrid is back at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for a match against second-to-last-place Levante. Madrid already has its focus on the May 28 Champions League final against Liverpool, and coach Carlo Ancelotti said he will continue to rotate his squad to try to have all of his players peaking at the European final in Paris.

Levante remains alive in the fight against relegation in the Spanish league, sitting six points from safety with three games left. Sixthplace Real Sociedad and seventh-place Villarreal are still fighting for the final European places.

Sociedad hosts Cádiz, which is three points outside of the relegation zone, while Villarreal is at midtable Rayo Vallecano.

TOTTENHAM’S SON HEUNGMIN, left, celebrates with his teammate Harry Kane after scoring his side’s opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, on May 7.

(AP Photo/Jon Super) while Tottenham’s last two games are against Burnley and Norwich — two teams in the bottom four.

DÉMARE SPRINTS TO WIN 5TH STAGE OF GIRO, LÓPEZ STAYS IN PINK MESSINA, Sicily (AP) — French cyclist Arnaud Démare won a bunch sprint at the end of the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday and Juan Pedro López kept hold of the leader’s pink jersey.

Démare, who rides for Groupama–FDJ, edged Fernando Gaviria at the end of the 174-kilometre (108-mile) route from Catania to Messina after sprint favourites Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan had been dropped earlier in the day.

Giacomo Nizzolo was third.

Démare also struggled on the climb but his team managed to eventually get him back to the peloton.

It was a sixth stage win in the Giro for the 30-yearold Démare but his first win of the year after a difficult start to 2022.

“My victory today means that in cycling we must never give up,” Démare said. “The sprint has been fluid from my point of view, even though it might have appeared chaotic. I’ve been patient before I launched the sprint.

“I lost a fair bit of time up the hill but my teammates have done a great job to bring me back quickly in the downhill. Then we worked hard to maintain Cavendish and Ewan behind.”

Most of the overall contenders crossed the line together. López maintained his 39-second advantage over Lennard Kämna after moving into the overall lead on Tuesday. Rein Taaramäe was third, 58 seconds behind López.

“I don’t believe the moment, it’s the first day of my life with the maglia rosa,” López said. “A lot of riders say to me, ‘Congratulations, enjoy, enjoy the day, enjoy the moment,’ and for sure I enjoy the moment because it’s one of the best days of my life.”

Meanwhile, one of the outside favourites, two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali, announced he will retire from the sport at the end of the year. An emotional Nibali, who is one of only seven riders in history to have won all three grand tours, made the announcement after arriving in his hometown.

The 37-year-old Nibali is nicknamed “The Shark of Messina.”

Five riders escaped early in the day but they were caught after 100 kilometres (62 miles). The main drama happened on the only climb of the day, a second-category ascent up to Portella Mandrazi.

With Cavendish and Ewan dropped, the peloton upped the pace and they were unable to catch up.

Cavendish’s Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team put in a solid effort but the high speed of the peloton eventually forced them to give up hope of closing the gap.

Cavendish and Ewan crossed the line almost 12 minutes behind the sprint.

The day finished earlier than most to allow the teams to take the ferry to the Italian mainland for today’s sixth stage from Palmi to Scalea, along a mainly flat 192-kilometre (119-mile) route with a fourth-category climb early in the stage.

The Giro finishes on May 29 in Verona.

PAGE 16, Thursday, May 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

Nikola Jokic captures 2nd straight NBA MVP title

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic plays for Denver. And for Serbia.

Both places can once again make the same claim: For the second consecutive season, they’re home to the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

The league announced last night that Jokic won back-to-back MVP awards.

The Nuggets’ big man is the second consecutive international player to win two in a row, after Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo — from Greece — was honored in 2019 and 2020.

This marks the first time international players have won the award in four consecutive seasons.

Canada’s Steve Nash went back-to-back for Phoenix in 2005 and 2006, followed by Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki for Dallas in 2007.

International players finished 1-2-3. Jokic got 65 first-place votes and 875 points from the panel of writers and broadcasters.

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was second with 26 firstplace votes and 706 points; Antetokounmpo was third, with nine first-place votes and 595 points. Devin Booker of Phoenix wound up fourth.

“I don’t know what else you can say about Nikola at this point,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said in a statement. “He’s consistently improved his game, he’s consistently proven people wrong when they doubt him and he’s consistently the best player on the floor night in and night out.”

The 27-year-old Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists on a team that was missing two max players in Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr (back) and won 48 games. The do-it-all centre nicknamed “Joker” created a new category, too, in becoming the first NBA player to eclipse 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season.

He’s now a member of another rare club — the 13th player to win back-toback NBA MVP awards.

He joined the likes of Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James (twice), Nash, Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice). Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill

DENVER Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic walks off the court after the team’s loss in Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on April 27, 2022. The Warriors won the series.

(AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn) Russell each won the award in three straight seasons.

Jokic was caught by surprise, too, as he rode in behind his horse on a twowheeled cart at his stable in Serbia. Malone was waiting to hug him. Same with president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.

“It was a real emotional moment for me,” Jokic said in an interview on the TNT broadcast.

“Amazing.”

Jokic was taken by the Nuggets with the 41st pick in the 2014 draft. His selection that day flashed across the bottom of the television screen during a Taco Bell commercial.

He’s come a long way.

He’s eligible for a supermax extension that could guarantee him nearly $254 million over five seasons starting with 2023-24.

This will all dawn on him — down the road.

“Probably when I’m old, fat and grumpy, hopefully I’m going to remember and I’m going tell my kids, ‘Back in the days I was really good playing basketball,’” Jokic said.

James extended his record, too — 19 years in the league, 19 years of getting at least one vote in the MVP balloting (a fifthplace vote). Nobody has gotten votes in more seasons, or obviously, in more consecutive seasons than James.

Despite their disastrous season — the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t even make the play-in tournament — James’ numbers remained among the league’s best.

The 37-year-old averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, moving past Karl Malone for No. 2 on the all-time scoring list and into position to pass Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time leader late next season.

James has seen the game change during his 19 seasons. He was part of the last USA Basketball team that didn’t win Olympic gold — the squad that went to Athens in 2004 — and even was convinced then that the game was only getting stronger around the world. Jokic is further proof of that happening.

He’s not demonstrating it by himself, either. Antetokounmpo and Embiid have more than done their part.

Dallas’ Luka Doncic (fifth in the MVP vote) is already a EuroLeague champion and certainly seems like he’ll win at least one NBA MVP award before he’s done.

They are the new class of international greats, following in the footsteps of Nowitzki, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Pau and Marc Gasol, Yao Ming and others.

The debate will rage about which international player — either now or all-time — is the best, but Antetokounmpo (two MVP’s and a championship) and now Jokic (two MVP’s after being a second-round pick) have surely entered the chat.

Canada got a championship in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title. That night, the Canadian flag was soaked in champagne, Pascal Siakam danced with the flag of Cameroon

around his shoulders, team President Masai Ujiri did interviews with a Nigerian scarf around his neck, and they were only a few of the Raptors with deep international ties.

It’s not inconceivable that five international players could be lottery picks in next month’s draft. And there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t see France’s Victor Wembanyama — a 7-foot-2 player with guard skills — as the certain No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft right now.

Those newcomers will want to be like Jokic.

They’ll want to be the MVP, and he’s just the latest name to show those kids from around the world that it’s possible.

“If it’s not me, who is it?” Jokic responded when asked if he considered himself the longest of long shots.

“There’s no way that I would come to the NBA and play basketball from this city and from this stable, basically. Now I’m playing basketball in the best league in the world and playing at a high level.”

BOB LANIER, NBA FORCE WHO LEFT BIG SHOES TO FILL, DIES AT 73 (AP) — BOB Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, has died.

He was 73.

The NBA said Lanier died Tuesday after a short illness. The Hall of Famer had worked for the league as a global ambassador.

The Athletic reported in 2019 that Lanier was being treated for bladder cancer.

Lanier played 14 seasons with the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks and averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds for his career.

He is third on the Pistons’ career list in both points and rebounds. Detroit drafted Lanier with the No. 1 overall pick in 1970 after he led St. Bonaventure to the Final Four.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Lanier was among the most talented centres in league history, and added that his accomplishments went far beyond what he did on the court.

“For more than 30 years, Bob served as our global ambassador and as a special assistant to David Stern and then me, travelling the world to teach the game’s values and make a positive impact on young people everywhere,” Silver said in a statement. “It was a labour of love for Bob, who was one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever been around.”

At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, Lanier was considered a big man during his time and used that bulk to his advantage.

“Bob Lanier will always be one of the big men of basketball,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement posted on social media. “Not just because of the size of his body but because of the size of his heart.”

Lanier went into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. But his boat-size shoes got there ahead of him, with a display of his bronzed sneakers in the shrine. He was known for wearing size 22 shoes, although that was disputed in 1989 by a Converse representative, who told The Atlanta Constitution that Lanier wore size 18 1/2.

“The 22 he was reputed to wear was a Korean size,” shoe rep Gary Stoken said.

A FOR FUTURE WITH TEAM, NETS WANT MORE COMMITMENT FROM IRVING NEW YORK (AP) — Kyrie Irving may have to show the Brooklyn Nets he’s more than a great basketball player if he wants a future with the team.

General manager Sean Marks made it clear yesterday that Irving will have to prove a commitment to being available to his team that wasn’t there this season.

After Irving missed almost all the Nets’ home games because he refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, Marks said talks about a potential contract extension this summer will need to include an evaluation of his dedication to play unless he’s injured.

“I think those are going to be discussions,” Marks said.

“It’s a team sport and you need everybody out there on the court.”

The Nets rarely had that during a disappointing season that saw an NBA championship favourite finish seventh in the Eastern Conference and get swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.

They began the season playing without Irving, deciding they didn’t want him to be a part-time player.

They eventually brought him back in December to play road games only — a decision Marks wouldn’t second-guess — with Irving

unable to play in New York because of the city’s mandate requiring vaccination to perform in public venues.

An exemption to the mandate made him available for all games in late March, but by then the Nets were climbing out of a huge hole and had to win a playin game just to reach the postseason.

Irving is eligible for an extension this summer and said he sees himself remaining in Brooklyn alongside Kevin Durant, who signed an extension last summer.

He said after the season he saw those two players “managing this franchise together” alongside Marks and owner Joe Tsai.

Marks said they haven’t had any contract discussions yet with Irving but said the Nets know what they’re looking for.

“We’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball and be available,” Marks said. “And that goes not only for Kyrie but for everybody here.”

Irving has an option for almost $37 million next season, but could seek an extension that would pay him an additional $185 million over four years. His play seems worthy of it, as Irving averaged 27.4 points last season, which would

GENERAL manager Sean Marks has made it clear that Kyrie Irving will have to prove a commitment to being available to his team that wasn’t there this season. (AP) have ranked eighth in the league.

But he played only 29 games in the second straight season in which he missed time when he wasn’t hurt. Irving took a leave of absence from the team during the 2020-21 season, missing nine games for personal reasons.

This time, Marks acknowledged that Irving’s absences put an extra workload on Durant. He said the Nets need to have deep discussions after this season, including about their players’ intentions. Irving never

specified why he wouldn’t get vaccinated, saying it was a personal choice.

“What drives them? Do they want to be part of this? Are they motivated by something that maybe is not good for the whole team?” Marks said. “So those are questions we’re going to have to ask ourselves and also the players that we want to bring back in here.”

Marks provided good news on Ben Simmons, whom he said is already feeling better after having back surgery last week to

relieve pain from a herniated disk. Simmons never played for the Nets after they acquired the former No. 1 pick from Philadelphia in February.

With Durant, Irving and Simmons, the Nets would have three potential stars who could quickly get them to where they thought they could be this season. But Marks didn’t commit to Irving being part of the future, while also noting that Irving has his own decisions to make.

He also said he hasn’t talked to Durant about the

All-Star forward’s feelings about a long-term partnership with Irving. The two are close friends who came to Brooklyn together in 2019.

Marks said he expects at some point he would talk to Durant, Tsai and coach Steve Nash about any potential free agent.

“But at the end of the day, I mean more often than not, it’s myself making those decisions,” Marks said, “and it’s not me going to Kevin and saying: ‘Do you want this person? Do you want that person? Do you want that guy?’ I don’t think that’s fair to place that on Kevin.

“Now, is he surprised by anything? Absolutely not, because he will know ahead of time what we’re doing, what we plan on doing with, to be honest with the entire roster.”

Marks predicted last summer that both Irving and James Harden would be inked to extensions by the time the Nets opened the season. Harden didn’t sign one, eventually soured on Brooklyn and was sent to Philadelphia in the swap for Simmons.

Now Irving’s future is uncertain, so Marks will make no more predictions.

“We’ll just wait and at the appropriate time we’ll make those decisions,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 17

Holiday stops Celtics’ last 2 plays, Bucks take 3-2 lead

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer

MEMPHIS Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, centre, watches the game from the sidelines in the first half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball second-round playoff series agaainst the Golden State Warriors last night.

(AP Photo/Karen Pulfer Focht)

GRIZZLIES ROUT WARRIORS 134-95 TO AVOID ELIMINATION, FORCE GAME 6

By TERESA M WALKER AP Sports Writer MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr, Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones each scored 21 points and the Memphis Grizzlies routed the Golden State Warriors 134-95 last night to avoid elimination and force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal.

Dillon Brooks added 12 points for Memphis.

Ziaire Williams and Brandon Clarke had 11 apiece and De’Anthony Melton 10. Steven Adams had 13 rebounds, six offensive.

The Grizzlies never trailed, turning in their best performance of this series to pull to 3-2 even with All-Star guard Ja Morant sitting out his second straight game because of a bone bruise in his right knee. They improved to 4-11 when facing elimination.

Memphis scored 77 points in the first half, the most in franchise postseason history.

The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 55 in the third quarter, threatening the three biggest postseason blowouts in NBA history.

Their 52-point lead after three tied for the largest in a playoff game in the past 70 years. When Memphis fans chanted “Whoop That

Trick! Whoop That Trick!” early in the fourth, Stephen Curry laughed on the court laughing while Draymond Green swung a towel in unison with the crowd.

Game 6 is Friday night in San Francisco, where the Warriors have won five straight playoff games and their last seven overall.

Klay Thompson led Golden State with 19 points, Jonathan Kuminga added 17, Curry had 14 and Damion Lee and Moses Moody each had 10.

The Warriors lost for the first time with assistant Mike Brown filling in for coach Steve Kerr, who missed his second straight game since testing positive for COVID before Game 4.

The Grizzlies got back to doing the things that helped the post the second-best record during the regular season.

They outrebounded Golden State and dominated on the offensive boards.

They forced plenty of turnovers and got their best production from the bench of this series.

Golden State, thanks to Poole coming off the bench, had outscored Memphis’ reserves each of the first four games.

Facing elimination, the Grizzlies had a 28-8 edge through the first two

quarters and finished with a 52-35 margin.

Memphis led 38-28 at the end of the first quarter and continued a 24-8 run into the second quarter to go up 53-36. They finished the second on a 20-4 run, including 14 straight, to outscore Golden State 39-22 for a 77-50 lead at halftime.

Then the Grizzlies opened the third quarter outscoring Golden State 20-6, prompting fans to start chanting “Whoop That Trick.”

Memphis just pushing, outscoring Golden State 42-17 in the third for a 119-67 lead going into the fourth.

Brown benched most of his starters by 3:44 of the third, and Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins followed to start the fourth resting up for a flight to California and Game 6.

TIP-INS Warriors: The 77 points allowed in the first half matched the most allowed all season. They also gave up 77 on January 13 at Milwaukee. ... The Warriors also fell to 12-4 in Game 5s since 2015.

Nemanja Bjelica started the third quarter in place of Jonathan Kuminga.

Bjelica had played only four minutes in this series. ... Otto Porter Jr played 12 minutes before being sidelined by a sore right foot.

Grizzlies: They matched their most first-half points, also scoring 77 against New Orleans on March 8.

They did it by outscoring Golden State 24-5 on second-chance points with a 18-4 edge on the offensive boards.

POSTSEASON BLOWOUTS The Bucks also led Philadelphia by 52 (124-72) on March 30, 1970. Denver beat New Orleans by 58 on April 27, 2009, matching the margin Minneapolis beat St Louis on March 19, 1956. Golden State beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 56 on April 21, 1973.

GRIZZLIES’ D Memphis scored 25 points off turnovers in the first half — most by any team in the 1st half over the last 25 postseasons.

The Warriors had been averaging 19 turnovers a game in this series and had 14 by halftime and finished with 20.

BROWN’S FIRST LOSS Brown, the next coach of the Sacramento Kings, had been 12-0 coaching the Warriors in the postseason, winning 11 straight in the 2017 playoffs.

He also won Game 4 when the Warriors took the lead for the first time with 45.7 seconds left to pull out a win for a 3-1 series lead.

BOSTON (AP) — Bobby Portis made a putback off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw with 15 seconds left, Jrue Holiday snuffed Marcus Smart on Boston’s final two possessions and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Celtics 110107 last night to take a 3-2 series lead.

Antetokounmpo had 40 points and 11 rebounds, Holiday finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Portis added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the defending NBA champion Bucks.

Milwaukee has a chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference semifinal in Game 6 at home Friday night. The Celtics need a win to force a decisive seventh game back in Boston on Sunday.

The Celtics led by 14 in the fourth quarter before the Bucks closed the gap, tying it at 105 on Holiday’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. Jayson Tatum, who scored 34 points in all, hit a pair of free throws to give Boston the lead.

Antetokounmpo went to the the line with a chance to tie it and made the first, then Portis grabbed the rebound of the second and put it in off the backboard to give Milwaukee its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Smart drove to the basket but Holiday blocked him and came away with the ball, throwing it off Smart while falling out of bounds.

Pat Connaughton made a pair of free throws with six seconds left, then Holiday stole the ball from Smart on his desperation dash for a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

The Bucks have won two of the three games in Boston to swipe homecourt advantage.

Antetokounmpo had his best shooting game of the series, going 16 for 27, but he also committed seven turnovers.

Jaylen Brown scored 26 points for Boston, 16 of them in the third — and 12 of those in the last four minutes of the quarter, when Boston turned a 71-68 edge into a 12-point lead.

BUCKS guard Jrue Holiday (21) blocks a shot by Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) in the final seconds of play in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal last night.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa) The Bucks scored nine of the game’s first 11 points, but Boston closed the gap midway through the quarter. The Celtics ran off 11 straight points early in the second, capped by a Marcus Smart steal, tossed ahead to Brown for an alley-oop to Tatum that brought the crowd to its feet.

But the Bucks scored 17 of the next 24 points to make it 58-55 with nine minutes left in third.

INJURED The Celtics were without big man Robert Williams III for the second straight game — and the fourth time this postseason — because of left knee soreness. He had been listed as questionable before being ruled out pregame.

Milwaukee remained without Khris Middleton, who has done some oncourt work as he attempts to come back from a sprained left knee. He has not played since April 20 in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Bulls.

“He’s done a little bit on the court and we’re feeling good about where he is and optimistic,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“But it’s kind of the same update it’s been for the last handful of days.”

Milwaukee guard George Hill (abdominal soreness) did play.

76ers, Mavericks try and stave off elimination in Game 6 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid took a shot to the face that not even his mask could help him absorb. He went down in a heap and stayed on the court in pain until he could compose himself.

Game 5 would get worse in so many ways for Embiid and the 76ers.

There was the Heat’s 35-point win that pushed them to the brink of a series win. Embiid was completely banged up. His thumb. His eye.

Add a bruised ego.

Embid, the NBA scoring champion, craved the MVP award that went to Denver’s Nikola Jokic for the second straight season.

Embiid was an MVP finalist for the second straight season — but fell short again of the NBA’s highest regular-season individual honour.

“That’s two years in a row I put myself in that position,” Embiid said.

“It didn’t happen. It’s almost like at this point, it’s whatever. Last year, I campaigned about it. This year, I answered questions when I was asked. In the next few years until I retire, to me, I don’t know what else I have to do to win it. It’s whatever. It’s about focusing,

not that I wasn’t focusing in the bigger picture, but it’s really time to really put all my energy into the bigger picture, which is to win the whole thing.”

Hold up, retire in the next few years?

OK, that’s a topic for down the road, or at least the end of this season which could come for the Sixers as early as tonight. The Heat hold a 3-2 series lead after a blowout Game 5 win. The Phoenix Suns also lead the Dallas Mavericks 3-2 on the strength of a 30-point Game 5 victory.

The good news for the 76ers and Mavericks, Game 6s are both at home.

The bad?

The percentages are not in their favour. Teams in NBA history that win Game 5 for a 3-2 series lead wind up advancing 82.2% of the time. Embiid and the 76ers, and Luka Doncic and the Mavericks look to stave off elimination and move on with Game 7 wins and advance to the conference finals. The home team has won every game in both series. The Suns lost in the NBA Finals last season.

“At a certain point, it just comes down to grit. Want to,” Suns guard Chris Paul said.

76ERS centre Joel Embiid (21) wipes his face during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night in Miami.

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Thursday’s games: HEAT AT 76ERS Heat lead 3-2. Game 6. 7 p.m. EDT, ESPN — NEED TO KNOW: Blowout city. The 76ers lost Game 1 by 14 points, Game 2 by 16 and Game 3 by 35. Yikes. How low could they go if they lose again to Miami? Should the Heat build an early doubledigit lead, keep an eye on the Sixers. Will they let the game get out of hand or put up a fight and force Game 7?

— KEEP AN EYE ON: James Harden. “The Beard” showed in Game 5 a sensational Game 4 was more an aberration in his short tenure with the Sixers than something to build on for the postseason. Harden has 46 turnovers in the postseason and was a whopping minus-29 in Game 5.

— INJURY WATCH: Easy. Embiid. If injuries continue to wear down the center, the Heat will likely win the series. And history says, Miami will win in a blowout.

— PRESSURE IS ON: Let’s flip a coin. Heads, 76ers. Tails, 76ers. Hey, it’s the 76ers! Lose and the season is over. Win, and maybe, just maybe, a healthy-ish Sixers team can pull out a Game 7 win on the road. After all, the Hawks did it to Philly in the second round last season.

SUNS AT MAVERICKS Suns lead 3-2. Game 6.

9:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN — NEED TO KNOW: The Mavericks have been sloppy.

Dallas, which had a season-low nine assists in Game 5, committed a mindboggling 12 turnovers in a third quarter (33-14) that decided Game 5 and could end up deciding the series.

The Suns had a 17-0 run in the quarter.

— KEEP AN EYE ON: Doncic. He was terrible from 3-point range again (2 of 8 after 1 of 10 in Game 4). The difference was, he assisted on eight of the 20 Dallas 3s in Game 4. He had 11 assists in Game 4, two in Game 5.

— INJURY WATCH: Suns F Torrey Craig (right elbow contusion) was available to play in Game 5.

— PRESSURE IS ON: Dallas. The supporting cast failed Dallas again, or Dallas failed in getting them involved. Doncic and Jalen Brunson combined for 40 shots.

The secondary scorers who have been so important in various victories combined for just 16.

Spencer Dinwiddie’s struggles continues. He was great in a couple of games without Doncic in the regular season, and good in the first three games against Utah. Since, he’s averaging 8.5 points and shooting 34%.

PAGE 18, Thursday, May 12, 2022

THE TRIBUNE

TYLER PINDER COMMITS TO REDLANDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUGARS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net JUNIOR national basketball team standout Tyler Pinder will begin his athletic and academic collegiate career with the Redlands Community College Cougars.

“I found a new home,” said Pinder, the Miami Prep Tornadoes product, when he made his official announcement on social media.

Cougars head coach, José Molina Negron, added: “Extremely excited to add Tyler to our family. Very talented guard.”

Located in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Cougars compete in NJCAA Division I - Region II. They finished 15-16, 7-9 in the conference.

Pinder reclassified to the class of 2022 and spent his post grad season with a new programme, the Tornadoes in Miami, Florida.

JUNIOR national basketball team standout Tyler Pinder has found a new home as he gets ready to start his athletic and academic collegiate career with Redlands Community College Cougars.

Miami Prep had an accolade-filled 2021-22 season

where they captured the Florida Sun Basketball

Conference. South Division Championship. They were

ranked no.1 in the regular season and advanced to both the FSBC Final Four and the Big Shots Prep National Final. “[Pinder] is a can’t miss D1 Recruit,” Miami Prep said in a statement. “This combo guard is super skilled with tremendous scoring ability. Lights out shooter, super off the dribble and bounce.”

Pinder a 6’2” sharpshooting guard, spent his previous season at Broken Arrow, a Class 6A programme in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

In his final season with the programme, he surpassed 200 three pointers made in his high school career and also won the Tulsa World’s Player of the Week award.

He began the week with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists in an 86-51 win over Bartlesville. He followed with 18 points and 10 assists in an 80-58 win over No. 9 ranked Bixby

LEWIS

SKY HOLD LIBERTY TO 17 FIRST-HALF POINTS IN 83-50 WIN

FROM PAGE 14 rankings for their respective franchises. He is now listed as the Marlins’ no.12 ranked prospect after concluding last season at no.23.

After the pandemic delayed his debut on the diamond by a year, Lewis had an immediate impact the following season and was recognised by the Marlins’ organisation as one of the top performers in its farm system.

Lewis was named the Florida Complex League MVP when the Marlins named their Minor League Award winners for the 2021 season.

In his first season of professional baseball, he played 43 games, predominantly at second base in the FCL. He hit .302, with a .354 OBP, slugging .497 and an .851 OBP. He had an FCL leading five triples, three home runs, 10 doubles, nine stolen bases, 45 hits, 27 RBI and 24 runs scored. He began his season with a brief assignment in the Dominican Summer League before the team eventually reassigned him to the Florida Complex League six days later on June 28. He hit a tworun homer in his pro debut against the FCL Mets on June 29.

“A switch-hitter with a quick swing from both sides of the plate, he has gotten stronger since signing and opened eyes by displaying at least average power in his debut. His hand-eye coordination and patient approach allow him to make consistent contact, though he’ll have to prove he can handle quality breaking balls at higher levels,” Lewis’ MLB Pipeline analysis said. “With his well above-average speed, Lewis is a base-stealing threat and covers ground in the middle infield.

The Marlins believe he has the actions and solid arm strength to handle shortstop, though he probably won’t get much of a chance as he rises through the Minors alongside Kahlil Watson and Jose Salas.

“Lewis spent most of last summer at second base, where his quick hands help him turn double plays, and can become an average or better defender as he develops more consistency.”

NADAL

FROM PAGE 14 When the match finished, Nadal headed straight to the practice court to hit more balls. He explained that he’s a “bit in a rush” to find his best form “as soon as possible.”

“I need to work as much as I can,” Nadal said. “The match today was not that demanding physically.”

It was essentially decided during one brief stretch.

Nadal struggled on his serve at 3-3 in the first set, missing a forehand into the net then double-faulting

and concluded the week with 14 points in a 61-50 win over No. 10 Jenks to bring an end to the team’s seven-game winning streak.

Pinder previously played at Redemption Life Tabernacle Christian Prep in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

His 2019-20 season was highlighted by being named one of the top performers at the Stars and Stripes High School Basketball Showcase in Houston, Texas.

Pinder finished with a tournament high 46 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals in a win over JL Academy.

At the national team level, Pinder was a member of Team Bahamas as they won the bronze medal at last summer’s FIBA Centrobasket Under-17 Championship for Men in Puerto Rico. He averaged 11.2 points per game and was the tournament’s top three-point shooter at 48.3 percent from beyond the arc.

MIAMI Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr, right, celebrates his three-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Marlins’ Jacob Stallings, middle, and Bryan De La Cruz, left, during the ninth inning of a baseball game last night in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Ross D Franklin)

JAZZ

FROM PAGE 14 through the first five weeks of the season with a 1.22 ERA, but he struggled in his first two innings.

FINALLY, BEER PREVAILS D-backs designated hitter Seth Beer snapped an 0-for37 streak with a single in the seventh.

Beer got off to a great start this season — hitting a game-winning homer on opening day — but has been in a prolonged funk. It was his first hit since April 22.

TRAINER’S ROOM Marlins: Wendle left in the third inning with right hamstring tightness.

UP NEXT Marlins: Return home for a nine-game homestand starting Friday with a threegame series against the Brewers. The Marlins will start RHP Pablo Lopez (4-1, 1.00 ERA) in the first game.

The Brewers will counter with RHP Corbin Burnes (1-2, 1.86 ERA).

Diamondbacks: Open a three-game series against the Cubs on Friday. RHP Zach Davies (1-1, 3.34 ERA) will be on the mound for the first game. The visiting Cubs will start LHP Drew Smyly (1-3, 3.04 ERA).

to set up break points for Isner. But the American made unforced errors on both of his break-point opportunities and Nadal eventually held.

In the following game, Nadal broke Isner’s serve when the 6-foot-10 American missed a comfortable forehand volley into the net. Nadal then held at love to close out the first set and broke Isner’s serve in the opening game of the second.

“I finished better than I started — without a doubt,” Nadal said.

“He had some chances on the returns. I was in

CHICAGO (AP) — Dana Evans scored 15 points, Rebekah Gardner added 14 and the Chicago Sky cruised past the New York Liberty 83-50 last night.

Chicago led 36-17 at halftime after holding New York to 20% shooting, including 1 of 12 from 3-point range. It was the lowest point total in a half since Connecticut had 15 on September 1, 2015.

The Sky opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 28-point lead at 49-21, and New York reached 50 points on Jocelyn Willoughby’s layup with 20.2 seconds left in the fourth.

Candace Parker added 11 points and Emma Meesseman scored 10 for Chicago (1-1). Parker and Meesseman each had six rebounds and four assists.

Chicago was 10 of 22 from 3-point range, with three apiece from Evans and Parker, while New York was just 20 of 60 from the field.

DREAM HOLD OFF SPARKS BEHIND HOWARD’S 21 PTS

MARLINS’ Erik Gonzalez (9) celebrates his run scored against the Diamondbacks with Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr, left, and Jacob Stallings, right, during the ninth inning yesterday in Phoenix.

The Marlins won 11-3.

MARLINS’ Jazz Chisholm Jr (2) celebrates with Marlins’ Avisail Garcia, second from right, as they run off the field with Marlins’ Bryan De La Cruz, right, and Jesus Sanchez, left, after the final out of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday in Phoenix.

(AP Photos/Ross D Franklin)

his hands in that moment.

Lucky that he missed those shots.”

Nadal improved to 19-0 against Americans on clay, having been forced to a deciding set only twice — both times by Isner, who pushed Nadal to five sets at the 2011 French Open and three sets at the 2015 Monte Carlo Masters.

Up next, Nadal meets Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian he beat at the same stage last year in a grueling three-set comeback victory in which the Spaniard saved two match points. “Super lucky,” Nadal said, reflecting back

to playing Shapovalov last year.

“I know how dangerous he is. I need to play better than today.”

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, playing only his second tournament after more than a year out following two surgeries on his left foot, edged Laslo Djere 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-4 to set up a meeting with top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

“It’s going to be really difficult for me, because I’m not ready to compete — I think — at that level,” Wawrinka said of facing Djokovic.

“But it’s what I need.

I need those challenges.

I need to push myself as much as I can to keep improving.”

Wawrinka had loud support from a packed crowd on the picturesque Pietrangeli court, which is lined with statues.

“The reason why after two surgeries, one year out, I’m still playing tennis at 37 years old is to live those moments as much as I can,” Wawrinka said.

“I’m enjoying it a lot.”

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev, who was routed by Alcaraz in the Madrid final on Sunday,

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Rookie Rhyne Howard scored 21 points, including five of Atlanta’s 13 3-pointers, and the Dream held off the Los Angeles Sparks 77-75 last night.

Howard made a 3-pointer in the corner with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter for a seven-point lead, but Atlanta did not score again.

The No. 1 pick in the draft was called for a charge with 16.3 seconds left for Atlanta’s third straight possession with a turnover.

After a timeout, Los Angeles had two chances in the closing seconds, but Chiney Ogwumike missed a contested layup in the paint and Nneka Ogwumike was off on a jumper at the buzzer.

Howard also grabbed eight rebounds. Megan Walker added 11 points, and Kristy Wallace and Cheyenne Parker each had 10 points for Atlanta (2-0).

beat Sebastian Baez 7-6 (6), 6-3 to end the Argentine qualifier’s eight-match winning streak.

Also, Stefanos Tsitsipas saved two match points before getting past Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4).

And last but not least, Marcos Giron, an American qualifier, picked up his fourth win and five days by beating 2020 finalist Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 7-6 (4).

In an all-Italian matchup during the night session on Campo Centrale, 20-yearold Jannik Sinner beat 34-year-old Fabio Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Stay tuned.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, May 12, 2022, PAGE 19

SHOWN, left to right, are Christian Knowles, vice president and director of funding at Rotary Club of East Nassau, and David Van Onselen, RF vice president of financial advisory services.

RF gives back with charity golf tourney LOCAL golf enthusiasts are gearing up for the 35th Annual Charity GolfTournament hosted by the Rotary Club of East Nassau & The Scout Association of The Bahamas.

RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd has signed on as the title sponsor for the tournament which will take place on May 16 at the One & Only Ocean Club Golf Course.

The tourney has been one of the club’s primary fundraising activities for the past 35 years, collectively raising over $3.5 million for numerous charities throughout The Bahamas.

One hundred percent of the net proceeds raised will be donated to Rotary Club of East Nassau’s RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Limited RF House, East Hill Street, PO Box N4853, Nassau, The Bahamas sponsored community service organisations and The Scout Association of The Bahamas. Recent recipients have included Fox Hill Run Feeding Programme, Project Read and the Bahamas National Trust.

“RF is proud to partner with Rotary on this initiative which raises funding for multiple charitable causes

around the country,” mentioned David Van Onselen, RF vice president of financial advisory services. “This is particularly important after the events of the pandemic and the strain that many are still feeling.”

RF is donating $10,000 to the initiative and looks forward to a day of lighthearted competition.

About RF Since its inception in 1997, RF has been committed to helping our clients create and manage wealth.

We are your regional private bank connecting clients in The Bahamas, Barbados and the Cayman Islands with the best in local and international investments.

Collectively, we have helped clients raise in excess of USD $2billion in capital and we have $2 billion plus assets under administration.

Offering a wide range of investment products and services, our financial solutions are designed to help individuals and corporate clients meet and achieve their investment goals.

These include mutual funds, investment management, investment banking, group and personal pension plans, personal retirement

PGA

America went well beyond the top 100 in the world.

That was to protect against someone moving into the top 100 after this week.

Added were Daniel van Tonder (103) and Justin Harding (104) of South Africa, Ryan Fox (106) of New Zealand, Laurie Canter (107) and Sam Horsfield (110) of England and Kazuki Higa (112) of Japan. All but Harding and Canter are playing their respective tours this week and would have a chance to crack the top 100.

Taking them meant passing over players beyond 70th on the PGA points list — Brendan Steele, Beau Hossler, Kramer Hickok, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Schenk, Russell Knox and Scott Stallings.

Then again, as PGA Tour members they had ample opportunity to qualify.

The surprise was skipping in the world ranking Adrian Meronk (113) — he would have been the first Polish player in PGA Championship history — and Joel Dahmen (114) to offer an exemption to Bio Kim, who won last week on the Asian Tour. It was Kim’s first win since the Korea Golf Association suspended him one year (down from the original three-year ban) for flipping off the crowd after a phone camera went off during his swing in the final round of a tournament he won.

For those who missed out, the ball was always in their hands, as it was for Griffin. No one ever shows up at a major and notices who didn’t qualify. All the right players are there, even if some US fans don’t know much about them.

Perhaps that’s only fitting.

Go back to the 1970s and ‘80s, the PGA Championship felt like a closed shop to international players.

Sam Torrance won 14 times on the European Tour and played in five Ryder Cups before his first appearance in the PGA Championship.

FROM PAGE 14 still in the top 100 and a PGA Tour money list from the last 12 months. And then there are “special exemptions.”

One of these days, the PGA of America will get around to calling it what it is: a category to fill the field with the top 100 players in the world who aren’t already in.

Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer for the PGA of America, tipped his hand last year when 99 of the top 100 — Matthew Wolff was missing — played at Kiawah Island.

“It’s something we pride ourselves on at the PGA Championship, that we have the strongest field as measured by the Official World Golf Ranking,” Haigh said.

The special exemptions are not only about the world ranking. Henrik Stenson and Zach Johnson received exemptions, just like current Ryder Cup captains before them. Billy Horschel was among those who received an exemption before the PGA points list (money list) was finalised.

That takes us back to Griffin.

He was 82nd on the PGA points list (the top 70 qualify) and No. 107 in the world ranking a week ago.

Griffin was in a five-way tie for 19th going into the final round Sunday and shot 67 for a three-way tie for sixth.

That moved him to No. 96 in the world, and the difference of $193,140 put him at No. 74 in PGA points.

According to the final category, the PGA points list is used to fill the field.

Griffin was first in line for that, while also being among the top 100 in the ranking. Without that 67, he would have been outside of both lists.

Most curious about this year’s use of “special exemptions” is the PGA of

accounts, stock brokerage, trust and estate planning, educational investment accounts.

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