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VOLUME:117 No151, JULY 2ND, 2020

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WELCOME BACK First foreign flights arrive but numbers of passengers light

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net TOURISTS and returning residents descended on Lynden Pindling International Airport as commercial international travel resumed yesterday.

Their arrival into the country comes at a time where many US states are seeing a spike in COVID19 cases, including Florida and California. Six flights arrived yesterday.

Luke Skipper, who hails from Florida, said yesterday he came to The Bahamas to return to work. He said he plans to remain in the country for 90 days.

“I work on the yachts

up here, so I was looking forward to coming back to work and coming back to this country. Having to get the COVID test and the health visa and all that good stuff, it wasn’t too bad.”

Describing the process at the airport upon arrival as “pretty easy”, he said: “I mean it was just waiting, having to get your fever checked and all that and all the paperwork, all the health visa and all that but it wasn’t too bad. They made it pretty easy and all that.”

Meanwhile, Bahamian resident Jerry Nissan said the entry process was “smooth but slow”.

SEE PAGE THREE

...AS BRAVE WARNS WE’RE TAKING RISKS

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis slammed the Minnis administration’s COVID19 plans yesterday, saying the government is not doing enough to protect residents as the borders reopen.

He spoke during a PLP press conference the day the country resumed international flights.

He said: “International visitors return via air to The Bahamas today, for the first time in months, even as the United States just yesterday

set a new daily record, with 47,000 new COVID19 cases announced. The Americans’ top infectious disease expert has said that the rate of new infections could soon double to 100,000 a day. Cases in the US have surged by more than 80 percent in the last two weeks.

“Bahamians have - at truly great cost to themselves - done their part to contain the virus in our own country. What they are owed by this government now is a plan to make sure all that has been gained will not be lost.

SEE PAGE THREE

WE’RE HERE ... Passengers show their delight after arriving at LPIA yesterday

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

AG PROBE INTO LAND JUDGES THROW OUT OWNERSHIP CLAIMS MURDER CONVICTION

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMIAN developer yesterday warned new dubious land practices are threatening to “wreak havoc” for the construction and real estate industries.

Franon Wilson, Arawak Homes’ president, said that “significant mischief”

looms after a deed purporting to transfer ownership of a 1,000-acre western New Providence land parcel was accepted for recording in the Registry of Records.

Attorney General Carl Bethel confirmed a government probe has been ordered and he was “awaiting a report” on the matter.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal has quashed the murder sentence of a man who was accused of shooting and killing another man in 2015, after the accused appealed his conviction on the grounds that during the trial the judge failed to give him a good character

direction to which he was “entitled”.

Roscoe Knowles was accused of murdering Robens Simbert on February 24, 2015. During his trial, the prosecution relied on “key evidence” given by an anonymous witness named “Alpha.”

At the time, he identified SEE PAGE FIVE

ANGUISH OF BAHA MAR’S AXED STAFF FRONT PORCH

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

AFTER a wave of layoffs at Baha Mar this week, one former employee said losing her job left her with “anguish in my heart”.

She described her layoff as a heart wrenching process. “I have to go home without the slightest knowledge of where money will come from after I’ve

THE BAHA MAR RESORT spent my severance. All I feel is anguish in my heart,” she said. The former Baha

Mar employee said she was with the company from its inception and feels there should be more consideration given to staff.

“I am not sure what is going on here, but this disengagement exercise seems to have a very long arm. I don’t know who is going to be left when they have finished this exercise. I understand we have been locked down for months, SEE PAGE THREE

BY SIMON SEE PAGE EIGHT

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PAGE 2, Thursday, July 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THE MASK PATROL THE RBPF, Bahamas Red Cross, and the Department of Social Services have been distributing masks in the Blue Hill Road area to assist residents in keeping safe during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Persons resident or visiting The Bahamas are required to wear masks in the interest of controlling community spread of coronavirus.

Photos: Derek Smith/BIS

PLANS UNDERWAY FOR ‘VIRTUAL’ INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS FOR the first time in the nation’s history, Bahamians will not gather en masse to celebrate the country’s independence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, the national independence celebrations committee is preparing a four-hour, made for television, virtual independence programme that will air on Thursday, July 9.

The programme will be produced by Andrew Burrows.

The theme for the 47th independence anniversary is ‘Pressing Onward: A time of Hope, Triumph and Transformation’.

Mark Humes, Fort Charlotte MP and chairman of the committee said this year’s event will be historic because for the first time, Bahamians will not be able to gather for celebrations on Bay Street, at

Government House or at historic Clifford Park – the site of every major independence celebration from the downing of the Union Jack to the raising of the black, aquamarine and gold Bahamas flag in 1973.

This made-for-television special will feature a star-studded cast of young Bahamian sketch comedic artists who are making a splash all over social media.

A special tribute and recognition will be paid to the victims of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19. Those who have lost loved ones to Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 and would like to have them memorialised during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment should send a photograph and a biography of no more than 200 words on their loved ones to email address nationalevents@ bahamas.gov.bs.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 3

ANGUISH OF BAHA MAR’S LAID OFF WORKERS from page one

however, the borders are now open again so there is hope that the guests will come.”

The laid off worker said it is her hope that in the future when other property investors negotiate with government to operate in

The Bahamas, some clause is put in the paperwork to “take care of the employees properly”. She said she was told that when the hotel reopens she can reapply for her job, but she will not be given preferential treatment because of her previous employment.

Meanwhile Mario Almanzar, food and

beverage manager at SLS at Baha Mar, has not been laid off and is hopeful that his employment will remain in place.

“I’ve not gotten any word to say I’ve been laid off,” he said. “I’ve been off from work since March. God has been really good. That’s all that I can sum it up to say.

We were paid a certain

percentage of our salaries

by Baha Mar and the rest

by National Insurance.

It’s not what my salary was, far from it, but it has really been good. God has been good to us that our employer sought to make sure we were okay.

“Kudos to our GM, Axel, for coming together and making this decision. I think

this was a big step and an amazing look for Baha Mar and the SLS brand itself.

They didn’t have to do it.

Businesses are closing without paying their staff, but we got to be home with a salary. This was wonderful.”

Asked what he did to pass the time while furloughed, he said he managed to do some chores around the

house, get some rest and enjoy family time.

Hundreds of resort workers were laid off this week. Baha Mar has said it had to make the difficult, but necessary choice to reduce staff to adequately align with projected business levels.

The resort is expected to reopen in October.

TRAVELLERS had to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 10 days of travel when they arrived at the airport Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

from page one Travellers had to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 10 days of travel and also had temperature checks at the airport.

Despite all this, she said: “It feels great to be home.

I’ve been away for four months. I’m a permanent resident here.”

Asked how long he plans to remain in the country, he replied: “That depends on what other countries do.”

In March, the government closed the country’s borders to all incoming commercial travellers, including Bahamians, in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In an effort aid the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19, the Minnis administration began a phased re-opening of the travel industry last month.

Outlining the protocols for entry into the country, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Bahamian residents and international visitors will be required to produce a negative PCR COVID-19 test upon arrival that must be taken no later than seven days prior to the date of arrival.

He also said ten day old tests will be accepted until July 7.

First foreign flights touch down but numbers light Joanna Babul from Mexico agreed that while the process to get tested for COVID-19 was “difficult”, it was definitely worth the wait.

She said she and her family have been eager to visit The Bahamas and will do anything to protect the health of the country.

“It was difficult because you needed to get tested,” she said. “We’ve been tested many times because we want to know that we’re safe but to know the country is asking you to be safer and to have the time to do the test and be isolated and to come to a safe place, it’s worth it. “…We love The Bahamas. We’re going to be here for a few days only.

We couldn’t wait to come and see your beautiful beaches and know that you’re safe and we’re safe and we’re all tested. We’re super responsible.”

The Tribune also spoke to several Bahamian

residents, who said they were happy to return home after months of being stuck abroad.

Nerissa Davis, for example, said she was stuck in the US since May after leaving the country for medical purposes.

“I’m glad to be home and I’m glad it’s over and God is good,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “…I went for a medical reason, so I stayed inside a lot and as the (cases) began to climb, I just lock down. I left about the end of May. “For me, the process (to return home) was smooth.

I was able to get all the information I needed prior to coming to the airport so I was prepared for all the questions and all that and when we got here everything was just smooth sailing.”

Julyette Allita, who was staying in California during the pandemic, is also happy to be home after several months stuck in the US.

“I definitely missed home. (Being in the US) was alright but definitely it was a little bit different to say the least. It’s something that none of us have really been through but it’s been great and I’m happy to be home. It was a long six months.”

In recent weeks, there have been concerns about a possible resurgence of COVID-19 due to travel resumption. Last week, however, a top local infectious disease expert said The Bahamas can still manage reopening the country without an explosion of COVID-19 cases if protocols are executed properly.

The country has not recorded a new case of the disease in more than two weeks. The count stands at 104 cases, with four active cases and 11 deaths. According to the latest dashboard, 2,424 people have been tested for COVID-19.

WE’RE TAKING RISKS, WARNS PLP LEADER DAVIS from page one The experts on the PLP task force have said from the start that testing has to be at the centre of any plan to keep Bahamians safe.

That is especially true as we move to this more dangerous phase of the pandemic and the country reopens.

Imagine a traveller is getting ready to come here.

Let’s say he gets tested on a Tuesday, gets his negative result on Friday, goes to a crowded party on Saturday night, and flies to The Bahamas on Sunday. Most visitors won’t behave this way. But we have to be prepared that some may.”

“We must be clear about the risks we’re facing,” Mr Davis added. “One Bahamian hotel employee can be infected by one visitor, and days before either experiences symptoms, the virus can begin to spread silently through our communities.

Where is the plan to reduce the danger of this happening? We need to conduct regular and extensive testing of Bahamians who work with or near visitors. Testing is the best tool we have to detect a virus that spreads invisibly. There is no replacement for testing when people can transmit the virus before they experience

any symptoms. European countries are opening their borders to international travellers today, too; I note that travellers from the United States are banned, however. Even some states within the US are requiring fellow citizens traveling from hotspots to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. And yet our government has hardly changed its plans since cases in the United States began surging.”

Mr Davis also knocked the government for letting some interns go at the completion of their medical internship, saying doing so during a pandemic is “stupid and immoral”.

He said: “The prime minister gave one of his national addresses on Sunday. He has stopped doing press conferences because he isn’t willing to answer your questions, questions like: how could you fire doctors during a health emergency, when you should be reinforcing our frontlines instead?

“What is our country’s capacity to test and therefore discover new cases in our communities? What steps has the government taken to expand our ability to conduct on-the-ground contact tracing? How many people have been trained?

What is our ability to isolate positive cases, for visitors and Bahamians? Where are the individualised plans for each of our Family Islands?

These questions are literally a matter of life and death, and yet we have a prime minister who will not answer them. The greater

the crisis, the more essential it is to have a leader who can face the people. Here we are, on our ninth set of emergency measures, with

a prime minister who wants ever greater authority with ever less accountability.”

Editorial View - Page 6

PAGE 4, Thursday, July 2, 2020

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net ONE local bus driver wants the government to rethink the policy of a maximum 50 percent occupancy on jitneys, questioning how this will work for the industry in the long term.

He spoke as public transport resumed for the first time yesterday since the sector was shut down due to COVID-19.

Lamont Rahming, proprietor of Economy Bus Line and Charter Services, said from what he could see the wearing of masks and social distancing was being adhered to by passengers, but he raised concerns on the occupancy restrictions.

“From what I have seen so far, yes it seems like

THE TRIBUNE

‘We need to rethink 50% capacity limit’ people (bus passengers) are adhering to social distancing and wearing masks,” said Mr Rahming. “But, I would have to check with my drivers at the end of the day to see if this was carried out with all the passengers.”

A mandate attached to the re-entry of the jitney system is that buses can only operate at 50

percent occupancy to ensure social distancing.

This, Mr Rahming said, will be hard on the pocket.

“The understanding is that you are only able to operate at 50 percent occupancy,” he continued. “That breaks down to approximately 15 passengers. I do think that this is going to be a difficult situation to manage because you have to think of it not only from the temptation of making more money, especially if the driver is thinking, ‘well no police here right now so let me take the chance.’ So the temptation is there but not only that, this all happens when school is closed, thankfully.

“What is going to happen if we are under these same circumstances and school is open? So let’s say school is open and its 7am, are you going to give priority to the student who needs to get to school or the person who needs to get to work? That can cause some issues as well.”

Mr Rahming is hopeful that the government reviews and “adjusts” the occupancy restriction.

“I am not the type to knock anything before I see how it performs but it seems to be quite a challenge,” Mr Rahming said before giving an example of what he thinks could work. “Another one of my

industry partners gave an example that if one takes a flight anywhere in this country, you are going to be on the plane for a minimum of 45 minutes. The airlines in the US are getting some push back as they are not going to do the social distancing thing. They are going to maximise capacity. That’s how you make your money; put people on the bus. So his (the industry partner’s) position was if we are able to enforce the wearing of the mask they should be safe because nobody’s going to be on the bus for such an extended period anyway.”

Mr Rahming also said having less passengers on board will hit bus drivers economically.

“It’s a difficult situation when you have your income potentially cut in half right from the get go,” he

explained. “Of course you are thankful that you are up and running able to earn a living but it’s been hampered significantly. We just have to see how it’s going to work.

“If we are going to be compliant with the protocols of wearing the mask, we think we should be able to still operate at how it was in the past. We will see how it goes. The one thing we are hopeful for is that the administration has shown the ability to pivot if they think that something needs to be corrected so hopefully they will adjust it.”

Mr Rahming explained how some drivers were able to survive with no income during the shutdown.

“Thankfully you would listen to that old adage of putting something aside for a rainy day,” he said. “We were able to do the whole

deferral of payment thing with the banks and just a matter of pinching and stretching whatever cash you had access to. It was a very difficult time considering we had zero income coming in so it made things very, very difficult.

“For us, our staff is registered with the National Insurance Board so they were able to take advantage of that. And, even the other owners, or independent operators were still able to register and take advantage of the NIB payments. So there was some assistance rendered from the government. There were situations where some of these guys would have been not contributing to National Insurance in some cases, but the government still made it available to them.

So some assistance was rendered in that aspect.”

TAXI DRIVERS GLAD TO BE BACK ON THE ROAD

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AFTER months of being out of business due to the COVID-19 restrictions, taxicab drivers say they are happy to resume operations

now that international travel has resumed in the country.

Speaking to reporters outside Lynden Pindling International Airport yesterday, Bahamas Taxicab Union president Wesley Ferguson said while drivers are “elated” to return to

work, they are also taking the necessary precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19, given the spike in cases now occurring across many US states.

He said: “The taxi drivers are definitely elated to be back to work today, although we are proceeding with a bit of caution because you know America, who’s our main source of income, they still remain very sick.

“But, we’re very happy to know that we are one of the first set of public transportation to be back in operations and taxi drivers are excited that they could finally get to some sort of normalcy and to continue to take care of their financial obligations.”

Another taxi driver, who gave his name as Mr Duncombe, expressed similar sentiments to The Tribune.

With thousands being laid off due to the economic uncertainty of COVID-19, Mr Duncombe said he is just grateful to have a job.

He told The Tribune: “Plenty people are suffering, you understand what I’m saying and sometime you go in the store and I know I spent plenty money on food and with nothing coming in, then you could imagine some mothers who have five children or six children what they’re going through.”

Acknowledging that business might be slow for the first few months, Mr Duncombe feels confident drivers will be able to have a strong recovery.

In March, the government

closed the country’s borders to all incoming commercial travelers, including Bahamians, to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The move led to a shutdown of a number of hotels and businesses in the tourism sector, with many saying it will not re-open until the latter part of this year. Public transport was also shut down.

In an effort to restart the country’s tourism industry, the Minnis administration began a phased re-opening of the travel industry last month and commercial international travel to resume July 1.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, during his contribution to the 20202021 budget debate, said taxi drivers are to ensure all passengers wear masks while cab occupancy is to be limited to enable social distancing.

Yesterday, Mr Ferguson assured that drivers had implemented the proper safety protocols and had planned to enforce them.

“The taxi union was very diligent even during the pandemic and during the shutdown. We met with all of the major stakeholders and we put proper safety measures in place and we established new protocols,” he said.

“We met all of the requirements and the taxi drivers are sanitised. They all have masks and all (will be) exercising social distancing and everything that we need for the occasion, we have it and it’s going well.”

BAHAMAS Taxicab Union president Wesley Ferguson

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 5

from page one

MAN, 26, ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER

Knowles as the shooter and claimed that he had known him for three years prior to the incident that transpired that night. The prosecution “boosted” Alpha’s testimony by telling the jury that he had a clean record.

Yesterday, Justices Sir Michael Barnett, Roy Jones and Jon Isaacs ruled that the jury should have been informed that Knowles also had a clean record in order for the proceedings to be fair.

According to a judgment posted on the Court of Appeal’s website, sometime around 2pm and 3pm on the day in question, the prosecution said that Alpha was driving along Meadow Street when he heard five or seven gunshots. At the time, Alpha said he had witnessed a man come out of a short cut leading away from a battery shop and cross Meadow Street.

“The male had a gun in hand and disappeared through Dumping Ground Corner,” the court documents read.

“The witness Alpha identified the male as Skooy who he later identified at the identification parade conducted on March 4, 2015 as the intended appellant.

Witness Alpha reaffirmed that the intended appellant was the one he saw with the gun crossing Meadow

Judges throw out conviction for murder

Street shortly after the gun shots had been heard.

He said that he knew the intended appellant for three years prior to the incident and used to see him at least twice a week.”

Mr Simbert’s lifeless body was found after 2.50pm in a vacant yard off Augusta Street. The site was near the location Alpha said he had seen Knowles leave with a gun right after he had heard gunshots. Still, despite Alpha’s testimony, Knowles denied shooting Mr Simbert and claimed in court that he was home when the incident took place.

In his judgment, Justice Barnett noted that the case “raised the question as to

the obligation of a judge to give the jury a good character direction when the issue was not raised by his defence counsel at the trial.”

“The intended appellant had only one breach of the law and that was a conviction in 2012 for disorderly behaviour. But this fact was not known to the trial judge until the sentencing hearing after the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty,” he stated.

“In this case, the matter is of significant importance as it appears that during his address to the jury counsel for the prosecution told the jury that the witness Alpha on whose evidence the entire prosecution’s case

rested had a ‘clean record’”.

Justice Barnett concluded that it was evident that the jury was told that Alpha had a clean record based on the transcripts of the hearing. Still, he noted that Knowles’ attorney should have reminded the trial judge that Knowles was entitled to a good character direction when the trial judge asked him if there was anything he wanted to be pointed out to the jury that may have been left out.

“We accept that it is settled law that the failure to give a good character direction does not automatically result in the verdict being set aside as being unsafe,” the justices ruled.

“But in this case, the

principal if not only evidence against the intended appellant was the testimony of Alpha. It was a clash of credibility. Just as the prosecution boosted the credibility of Alpha by telling the jury he had a clean record, fairness required that the jury also be told of the intended appellant’s ‘clean record.’

“For this reason, we regard the guilty verdict as unsafe. In the circumstances we will grant the application for an extension of time and allow the appeal against conviction.

The conviction and sentence are quashed. We will hear submissions as to whether this is a proper case for a retrial.”

JAMAICAN WOMAN ADMITS SCISSORS ASSAULT

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A JAMAICAN woman was placed on 12 months’ probation yesterday after she admitted assaulting a man with a dangerous instrument earlier this week.

Shanice Thomas, 27, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney after she was accused of assaulting Patrino Hackshaw with a pair of scissors on June 27.

She pleaded guilty and was fined $500 or six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Thomas was also placed on probation for one year. If she is convicted

of an offence within that time, she will spend six months in prison.

Prosecutor Kendrick Bauld said Mr Hackshaw told officers that Thomas “pulled a knife out and threatened him” when they fell into an argument.

As a result of his complaint, an investigation was launched.

When given an opportunity to speak, Thomas told the magistrate Mr Hackshaw had “told a lie” about her and she was crying because she thought they were friends. She said at the time, she felt like Mr Hackshaw should have approached her so they could resolve their

differences. Thomas added while the two of them were arguing, Mr Hackshaw’s girlfriend “jumped in her face”. She said when she told the woman that she was speaking to Mr Hackshaw and not her, the situation escalated.

“When they was coming at me I rest my hands on (a pair of) scissors on the dresser,” she claimed. “I never pull it out to stab her.

I just reached for it because they were coming for me.”

In another matter, Louvens Jean, 35, appeared before Magistrate McKinney after he was accused of assaulting Brian St Remy with a knife on June 23.

He also pleaded guilty

TEENAGER TO PAY COMPENSATION TO PAIR AFTER THROWING ROCKS

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A TEENAGER was ordered to compensate a man and woman after he admitted to damaging their property when he threw rocks at them during an altercation on Baillou Hill Road last week.

Shervin Oliver, 19, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney charged with assault with a dangerous instrument and two counts of damage.

Oliver was accused of assaulting Mr Stuart with a rock and causing $380 worth of damage to Mr Stuart’s 2008 Ford Ranger on June 22. He was also accused of damaging the glass window of Linda Goodman’s shop, which had a value of $275.

Prosecutor Kendrick Bauld said on the day in

question, Mr Stuart told officers that he was on Baillou Hill Road South when he got into an altercation with Oliver. At the time, Mr Stuart said he did not know Oliver’s name, but was familiar with his face because he had asked him several times to leave his property. Mr Stuart said when he asked Oliver to vacate his premises that day, the defendant picked up rocks and started throwing them at him. Sgt McKenzie said Ms Goodman also told officers that she saw Oliver throwing the rocks at Mr Stuart. He said she also requested police action since one of the rocks Oliver threw broke her glass window.

During the hearing, Oliver told the magistrate that he was at the bus stop on his way to work when Mr Stuart jumped out of

COMMUNITY SERVICE ORDER FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was ordered to complete community service after he pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Gerreth Smith, 26, appeared before Magistrate Sandradee Gardiner after officers seized 12 grams of Indian Hemp from him on June 29.

He pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged on the agreement he would complete 70 hours of community service.

Prosecutor Kenny Thompson said around 11am that day, officers, armed with a search warrant, went to Smith’s home.

Sgt Thompson said upon their arrival, the officers recognised the strong scent of

marijuana emanating from the house. While searching the western bedroom, the officers discovered a clear jar containing a quantity of suspected marijuana. Smith was subsequently arrested and taken to the Drug Enforcement Unit. In an interview with police there, he told officers he had bought the drugs to smoke while he was home. According to the prosecution, the drugs had an estimated street value of $50.

Noel Lamm Jr also appeared before Magistrate Gardiner after he was accused of being in possession of a quantity of Indian hemp and methoxyamphetamine on June 28. He denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to September 17 for trial.

Lamm Jr was released on $1,500 bail in the interim.

his truck with a cutlass.

He claimed that he only “grabbed a rock and threw it” at Mr Stuart’s truck because he was “cursing him out and swinging a cutlass” at him. Oliver added that he only threw the rock at Ms Goodman’s window because she threatened him and told him he would be killed if he came into her yard.

In response, Magistrate McKinney told him that his explanation suggested that his actions were “calculated” and proved that what he did was not a mistake.

After pleading guilty, Oliver was fined $1,000 or six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. He was also ordered to repay both complainants for the damage he caused.

and was fined $1,000 or nine months in prison.

The court heard that Jean got into a dispute with Mr St Remy, his coworker, around 3pm on the day in question. At the time, Mr St Remy told officers that Jean had picked up a knife and swung it at him, which put him in fear for his life. Jean was subsequently arrested and taken to a nearby police station, where he admitted to

being involved in an argument with Mr St Remy. He claimed St Remy had also picked up a rock during the altercation.

“He picked up a rock so I took out the putty knife I use to scrape concrete off the machine,” Jean added when he was given an opportunity to speak yesterday. “I did not have a box cutter. The weapon is still in the bucket at work.”

By FARRAH JOHNSON fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 26-YEAR-OLD MAN was charged with attempted murder yesterday.

Derinardo Mott appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney after he was accused of trying to kill Antoine Williamson on June 17.

According to initial police reports, shortly before 6pm that evening, a man and a woman were sitting outside a residence in the Fox Hill area. Police said when a white Honda Fit drove past them, a male exited the vehicle and opened fire in their direction injuring the man. The victim was transported to hospital for medical treatment.

During the hearing, Mott was also charged with being in possession of a handgun which the prosecution alleged he was going to use to endanger the life of Kendesha Rolle on June 17.

Mott was not required to enter a plea to any of the charges and the matters were adjourned to September 4 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

Yesterday, Mott was also accused of stealing a 2002 HondaFit on June 15.

He denied the allegation and the matter was also adjourned to September 4 for trial.

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Mott, who is represented by attorney Ian Cargill, has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

PAGE 6, Thursday, July 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Job cuts, businesses gone and a long road to recovery THE reopening of our borders might be taken by some to show we’re getting back to normal – but as the comments from Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar show, we’re a long way from that.

He told Tribune Business that he expects the COVID-19 pandemic to affect us “for the next 12-24 months”.

We’ll be honest, we think that’s optimistic.

The problem isn’t just the virus – although that is more than problem enough, having killed more than 518,000 people worldwide as we write this article. Rather, the longer-term effects are the economic ones and the time it will take to rebound from that financial blow.

Think of the businesses such as Luciano’s that are closing their doors never to reopen, and the livelihoods that go with that, from the owner to the workers to the suppliers.

Listen to the voices of those at the sharp end, left without a job, such as the Baha Mar employee who says in today’s Tribune: “I don’t know who is going to be left when they have finished this exercise.”

She talks of having “to go home without the slightest knowledge of where money will come from after I’ve spent my severance” and feeling anguish in her heart.

Think too that this is a new layoff, adding to the long list of those who have already lost their jobs because of this virus. The effects are deep in the Bahamian economy, and wounds that deep do not heal quickly.

Worse, we may be reopening but the virus has far from gone away. There remains no vaccine for the virus yet, and the country where most of our tourists come from is the country seemingly struggling most with a surge in cases.

Alongside that, cruise ships have not returned yet, and we know how popular

a destination The Bahamas is for such ships and visitors.

Mr D’Aguilar also pointed out the disincentive for tourists – in Canada, for example, people returning from abroad face a 14-day quarantine. How many people are going to book a holiday knowing they are going to have to quarantine for two weeks afterwards?

How many will have employers understanding enough to keep paying them in quarantine after a leisure trip abroad?

In the midst of this, PLP leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis has correctly criticised the government over three things – letting hospital interns go at the end of their internship when during a pandemic every pair of hands is needed, the amount of testing in the country not being high enough and, crucially, the failures in communication by the government.

He points out the lack of press conferences by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, which have largely dried up since he accepted the resignation of Health Minister Dr Duane Sands. Mr Davis puts that down to the PM not wanting to answer questions – and it’s hard to disagree with that point considering the only time Dr Minnis has been asked questions in a press conference setting since, he has batted away questions about Dr Sands.

At a time when the economy is in such dire straits and the threat of a resurgence of the pandemic is on our minds, communication is vital. Even moreso when the government is using emergency powers and asking the Bahamian people to trust them with the use of those powers.

We have a long way to go to get back to normal. Until that vaccine is widely available, we cannot truly begin to see our way past this global crisis. It’s time to plan for the worst and hope for the best – but a lot rides on that word hope, for all of us.

Why the people of Green Turtle Cay feel neglected EDITOR, The Tribune TODAY makes Day 304 without power at my residence on Green Turtle Cay. My residence has been repaired and is ready for reconnection to the BPL power grid. We were promised, again last week, that Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) would be coming to do hook-ups this week.

What makes our dilemma worse is that the Green Turtle Cay Foundation and Water Mission purchased a generator to provide electricity capable of providing power to the entire Cay in December 2019. This, after the government refused the Groups’ offer to build a power station on GTC and turn ownership over to BPL. This past week BPL moved that generator from the GTC ferry dock to Coopers Town on mainland Abaco. In exchange, a much smaller generator that does not have the capacity to run all of GTC, was sent to the Cay. This has now caused load shedding on GTC.

Residents of GTC feel used and abused by our government.

Even when we get power, we still have to run our generators and spend additional monies purchasing gas to operate them. Right now, we are spending as much as $50 a day; that sum multiplied by 30 days each month amounts to a hefty monthly electricity bill.

That is all money that could be helping to repair our homes or replace a vehicle.

When is it going to stop?

Years ago, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) took our generator to run Treasure Cay. A few years ago, also, home owners purchased a new Jeep for our police.

The jeep was also taken to Treasure Cay. International homeowners are getting so discouraged and Bahamians are daily getting more embarrassed.

Several foreign homeowners were finally scheduled for electrical inspections this week, after they signed-up on-line.

Many are still overseas in the USA, Canada and elsewhere.

Now they have learned that they are not on the BPL work order for this week because they still need to come into the BPL office in Marsh Harbour, in person, to give final directions including the colour of their houses before being included on work orders for this week.

Some of the homes excluded from this week’s work order are supposed to house volunteer groups that have returned to the Cay to assist in the rebuilding of damaged houses.

One such group is Water Mission. They have been providing potable water to GTC since the 4th of September.

Sometimes we just feel like Nassau has no understanding of what people are facing here in GTC, trying to do it all on our own.

LET DOWN & FRUSTRATED Green Turtle Cay July 1, 2020

Govt fails to inject any real thought EDITOR, The Tribune FROM the very beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, the government has used WHO “guidelines” to justify the decisions they have made.

It seems they are unaware that guidelines are just that, guidelines not mandates.

Guidelines in any scenario should be adjusted to suit the situation, maximise benefits and minimise risks.

They have not done this, but have blindly plodded along inflicting much avoidable pain on the masses, while failing to inject any actual thought into what they were doing.

A little over a month ago I came across a formula, along with other worthwhile articles, published online by Erin Bromage, Phd Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, that seems to explain the chances of being infected by COVID 19 (or any other infection) fairly well. The formula is: successful infection = exposure to virus x time. This simply means that the longer a person is exposed to the virus, the greater their likelihood of becoming infected. The significance of this in relation to the course the country has taken and is about to take from government mandates, cannot be understated.

People are already

me that with appropriate guidelines (masks, spacing and minimal contact time with patrons, etc.) letters@tribunemedia.net fishermen and other outdoor vendors could have returning to the workplace, returned to work a long the country is looking to time ago. Outdoor dining open its borders and the could have been reinprime minister is advocat- stituted some time ago ing for indoor dining and as well. Jitneys may be the reopening of schools. able to transport masked The obvious problem with patrons with windows open this is that in a restau- and buildings with winrant, for instance, patrons dows should open them cannot put food into their occasionally to improve mouths with a mask on. If ventilation, in order to viral particles are released reduce the potential risk of in a closed air conditioned infection as people return environment, the parti- to work. Schools withcles can stay suspended in out windows that can be air for up to three hours, opened, may consider based on past published having outdoor classes reports. This increases the under tents for the time potential exposure time of being. Households could other patrons and work- have returned to beaches, ers, no matter how far without their grills, of apart they are sitting and course, while practising still creates an opportunity safe distancing from others for spread and subsequent a long time ago as well. Of infection. However, if per- course, fines could have sons are outdoors with been implemented against adequate spacing (six obvious lawbreakers! feet) and masks, breeze Unfortunately, in the can easily dissipate any persistent effort to show airborne particles, signifi- who the boss is, there is so cantly reducing exposure much that our medically time and significantly trained decision makers reducing risk of infection. seem oblivious to. Sadly, But this is only common these are simple things sense, for if one sprays air we would expect them freshener in a closed room to know. Things they are versus outdoors one can being paid to know! easily compare the effects of airborne particles in JB those differing environNassau, ments. This suggests to June 27, 2020.

LETTERS

School hours should stay the same EDITOR, The Tribune AS A person who works in the education system I must voice my input about how school should be run when it reopens. It is not feasible for there to be six feet of distance between students in the class room.

Desks should be reasonably spaced but if students are wearing masks and using hand sanitisers this should not be an issue. The main issue should be the number of students in each class.

There should be no more than 25 students in each class. This number allows for adequate spacing in each room.

There is no need for shifts and rotation as many students will not report to school if they are told to come at a later time. Why? Because that is simply the mentality of many of the

students today. They use any opportunity to do what they want to do. School hours should remain the same and once the above mentioned precautions are taken things should go well.

Virtual teaching may allow students to review material however it is not effective for many students. It is for this reason that the ministry of education schools are now holding face to face classes for exams even after all of the talk about the virtual teaching website and the creation of cable channels for lessons.

So many students are left out from virtual learning due to lack of supplies and basic living necessities like light. In addition I have heard many parents say that their children were confused by virtual teaching and did not understand many concepts and they

could not explain the work to them.

Public school children have a totally different reality in most cases than private school children.

And I am sure private school parents are not paying money for their kids to be at home doing work.

Furthermore the government needs to take the pressure off the education and health systems by letting ALL illegals AND their children be sent home.

Teaching…is best done face to face…Some students in other countries went back to school already and there was no need for shifts or rotations.

Let us be practical and take the basic precautions so students can learn effectively.

REEFAH FAITH Nassau, June 30, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 7

Senior policeman warns fraud is on the increase

By EARYEL BOWLEG ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE official revealed yesterday that fraud crimes at various local banks have increased from January 1 as he warned the public against allowing individuals to use their accounts.

Chief Superintendent Matthew Edgecombe of the Financial Crime Investigations Branch, made the revelation while speaking at a Commonwealth Bank press briefing.

ASP Audley Peters said police received reports with respect to individual’s accounts being activated or accessed as well as people attempting to approach customers and engage in money laundering.

At the press conference, Davine Dawkins-Rolle, Commonwealth Bank’s VP of internal audit and credit inspection, also spoke of a phishing scheme that has targeted the bank’s customers.

CSP Edgecombe explained: “From January

1 to now, we’ve seen an increase of such type of fraud that was spoken about and that (is) from various banking institutions.”

He pleaded with people to be careful in allowing others to use their account as it has been found that some people have been committing illegal acts under the guise of making a deposit on someone else’s account.

“Don’t allow people to use your account. That’s your personal account and many persons we’ve

spoke to said ‘A friend ask me to use my account to deposit some monies. A friend asked me to just use my account to send some money to a family member someplace else’ – that is a no-no,” he warned.

“I just want to warn the Bahamian public don’t become a victim or participate in something that would hurt you in the end because during our investigation as we find out that you may have assisted somebody, you maybe charged with money

laundering, a number fraud offences, which may land you in jail.”

He added: “Whatever goes through your banking account, you could be held liable criminally or civilly.

So all I’m here to say is that please be aware of what you are doing.”

In terms of the phishing scheme, Ms Dawkins-Rolle said some customers received suspicious emails - many of them being in the form of an alert. The alert would indicate a banking transaction

failed but had a link directing customers to a page that looked like the bank’s website where customers entered their online information. This would be sent to a fraudster who used the details to access that account to make transfer to other customers of the bank.

Last August, police warned about a “trend of fraudulent activities” happening. These included third party transfer fraud, credit card fraud, fraudulent cheques and sham marriages.

CLEAN-UP OF EQUINOR OIL SPILL DELAYED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE oil spill clean-up at the Equinor South Riding Point facility in East Grand Bahama seems to have slowed down over the past several months, with some areas of the forest still covered with oil.

It is believed the COVID19 pandemic which forced the shutdown of the economy in late March could have been the reason for the suspension of the cleanup operations by Equinor officials.

When contacted, aspokesman said Equinor remains committed to its clean-up operations in East End. “Equinor has, ever since the oil spill resulting from Hurricane Dorian, shown strong commitment to the cleaning-up operations. The work has been performed in close cooperation with the Bahamian government and related agencies. We do not comment on any litigation involving the company nor do we speculate if litigation will be brought against the company,” the official said.

The Tribune understands

environmental activists at Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas were scheduled to visit the site yesterday to see for themselves the condition of the surrounding environment and areas that were affected.

Last September, 55,000 barrels (2.3 million gallons) were spilled at the Equinor terminal during Hurricane Dorian, which tore off the dome caps from two of the four storage tanks containing oil. A large area of the nearby forest, north of the terminal, was significantly affected. A total of 1.8m

‘LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE VIRUS UNTIL VACCINE FOUND’ READERS have been posting their reactions to the stories making the news on tribune242.com.

After Baha Mar started terminating hundreds of workers just as flights were resuming, IslandSplendor said: “COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere, soon, and the country already has a 40% unemployment rate. Continuing to keep the borders closed is not economically sound. At this point, the best thing to do is learn to live with the virus until a vaccine is available. Follow protocols: Wear your masks, keep safe distances, wash your hands (or use sanitisers) and constantly clean surfaces.”

But TimesUp had this to say about the borders reopening: “This decision must have been a desperate last resort. It seems apparent that the need for US dollars has overridden the risk of loss of life. A few dollars will come in but . . . As one of the most unhealthy countries in the world we are undoubtedly going to be hit hard!

“Community transmission will begin again, out islands will be unable to cope, eventually Nassau wont be able to airlift enough patients. Local economy will go back into lockdown. There is no learning to live with this in our country, outside of Nassau it is impossible to provide serious respiratory care to any significant amount of people. Ultimately Bahamians will die from this decision.”

Super Value’s president, Rupert Roberts, is urging the government to clarify how it will tackle leftover single-use plastic products.

That prompted this comment from Ohdrap4: “I just do not see why they could not be sold in packs of 50 as garbage bags. Garbage bags continue to be sold and they too harm the environment. Watch now, they will collect it and then there will be an uproar when they are dumped or burned because they cannot be recycled

anyway. I now have to buy 4 gallon bags to dispose of animal waste anyway.”

And this from GodSpeed: “Selling bags was completely unnecessary, if they have to get rid of them then just keep giving them away for free until all are gone, pretty simple.”

Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

EQUINOR’s South Riding Point facility in East Grand Bahama barrels were being stored at the facility at the time.

Described as a “catastrophic spill” by environmental activists, the company was urged to commence an immediate clean-up of the spill and the surrounding environment. It has been recently reported that close to 60,000 barrels of oil and

water have been recovered.

However, Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas have made three visits to the site in June.

In a recent video, Fred Smith of Save the Bays is seen in the affected forest area, expressing concern over remnants of oil still left there. According to Equinor’s website, the

monitoring of water wells will continue throughout 2020. Some 27 wells were drilled in the area for testing of groundwater. As of January 2020, the company reported there had been no sign of contamination of groundwater as a result of testing conducted by independent contractors and third-party laboratories.

PAGE 8, Thursday, July 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Don’t dare relax - behave like fools and we’ll pay a deadly price IN ONE of his most ominous warnings since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pleaded with world leaders and the international community: “Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.” He warned: “The worst is yet to come” if governments fail to more fully implement certain strategies, including aggressive contact tracing.

In the United States, which has four percent of the world’s population and a staggering 25 percent of the deaths from COVID-19, Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), warned this week that new infections in the US could increase to 100,000 a day if the country failed to bring the current surge under control.

The temperate Fauci, who has headed the NIAID since 1984 and is one the leading global experts in his field, told the US Congress: “We’ve really got to do something about that and we need to deal with it quickly. It could get very bad.”

He stressed the surge was a result of some jurisdictions reopening too quickly and by people refusing to follow various

FRONT PORCH

BY SIMON health measures and guidelines. A report in Politico noted: “[Fauci] suggested that people who ignored social distancing and didn’t wear face coverings have contributed to community spread, even in states that have closely followed reopening guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control.

Like other pandemics, COVID-19 has exposed: sociological realities and substrates, extraordinary human sacrifice and depraved selfishness, all manner of magical thinking, the glaring weaknesses and strengths of the global order and nationstates, the vulnerability of the poor and marginalised and the thoughtfulness and sagacity, idiocy and

stupidity of various politicians, journalists and others.

EXPOSED Observing leaders globally during the pandemic, a good friend who is a former journalist and student of history, noted the difference between catastrophe and control and progress in fighting the virus is leadership. The virus has exposed the strengths and deficits of leaders at home and abroad.

Despite some missteps, he praised the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and poured scorn on the feeble, flip-flopping and adolescent antics of Opposition Leader Philip Davis, who has been a showcase of inadequacy in a time of national crisis.

The Bahamas and many other states quickly imposed lockdowns, curfews, mandatory mask wearing and other measures, helping to arrest community spread, even as other jurisdictions, including a number of US states were slow and less comprehensive and forceful in promoting life-saving measures.

Despite the overwhelming success thus far at home, there is a cadre of shamelessly dishonest figures, some masquerading as “fair and balanced”, who rarely acknowledge any success by the Minnis Administration

during the pandemic but who gleefully pounce on any error because it serves their benighted interests and obvious agendas.

But the country has more important matters to attend than those whose narrow agendas and seething biases were regularly, near instantly, telegraphed in certain social media posts before they were spread through other media.

Because Bahamians have not experienced the mass deaths, the mass graves, body bags on streets and in makeshift containers acting as morgue freezers, massively overrun hospitals, scores of obituaries in the newspapers and the spectre of unrelenting death and disease, many of us have indulged in constant bellyaching, winging and whining about the most minor matters.

One friend noted how hard the pandemic has hit scores of Bahamians who have lost jobs and livelihoods and the tens of thousands who are being fed on a daily basis by the Government.

She contrasted this with some of her associates and friends, still employed and doing financially well, who endlessly whined and complained about various inconveniences, including their inability to find their regular brand of coffee.

The depth of selfishness and self-absorption by some during this pandemic is alarming but not surprising, especially by some of the chronic bourgeois complainers who have not lifted their moral gaze above their gated mindsets and creature comforts.

RESPONSIBILITY One of the ideological mindsets exposed by COVID-19 is the fierce

DR ANTHONY FAUCI, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases

and unbending libertarianism of some, especially in the United States. While many people have libertarian leanings on certain matters of personal choice, they appreciate the need to balance individual rights and freedom with social responsibility.

As Dr Fauci has repeatedly noted: “I think we need to emphasise the responsibility we have as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic and that we all have to play a part in that.”

The extreme culture of “rugged individualism” and libertarianism in America has often surprised other cultures with a greater communitarian spirit. But during COVID-19, the extreme version of this American-styled libertarianism is infecting and harming others.

In Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, many citizens accepted their governments had the responsibility and legal and moral obligation to ensure that citizens wore face coverings, even when some may not have always observed the requirements.

But in the United States, the notion that the government could or should require an individual to wear a face covering to protect others was seen as an anathema and a dangerous affront to individual liberty.

The deadly illogic: “I have a right to infect and to potentially kill others as long as I can do what I want!”

The pugnaciously puerile and pathologically non-empathetic and narcissistic American President served as the perfect embodiment of an extreme libertarianism that has left America in the depth of a despair and disaster, so much of which was avoidable.

At the federal level in the US and in many states, the failure to employ a consistent and aggressive policy about wearing face coverings is killing people, including a higher rate of African Americans and Latinos.

There have been many responsible young people around the world who have adhered to COVID19 measures, though scores have ignored the warnings about their health, short and potentially long-term, and how they are affecting others and doing damage to their respective economies and societies. There appears to be a bizarre solipsism in the consciousness of many.

SELFISH Observing the cavalier behaviour of younger Americans in Arizona after a period of lockdown was eased, a university professor in the state described as “selfish social Darwinists” those young people who were crowding bars and other venues and not wearing face coverings.

A US cable news programme interviewed a robust and athletic young Arizonian, who admitted that one of his relatives became very ill because of COVID-19. When asked by the reporter why he was out partying and not wearing a face covering, the young man shrugged his shoulders with little explanation. He self-servingly said that a mask was a “placebo”.

Dr Minnis and other leaders have made strong and repeated pleas to their citizens and especially young people about the health measures required to keep them and their societies safe. While many are abiding by these measures, many refuse to or have become quite relaxed.

As The Bahamas continues to reopen we are about to see a major sociological experiment unfold.

While governments need to encourage citizens, enforcement is as critical.

Imagine if there was no enforcement of other laws such as traffic codes. It would be chaos. This is our human condition. Likewise, the world is already seeing the chaos and the mounting infection rate and death toll in jurisdictions cavalier or too relaxed about preventative COVID-19 measures.

We live next door to Florida, where the pandemic is raging out of control. Yet some Bahamians are intent on travelling overseas, while others here at home are partying big time at certain venues and ignoring the very measures which arrested community spread at home. The government may eventually re-impose certain measures.

The worst of the pandemic is yet to come in many countries. Is the worst also yet to come in The Bahamas?

The COVID-19 virus thrives on foolish behaviour, stupidity and wanton ignorance by human hosts, who may help each other to live or condemn others to potential misery and death.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 9

NYET, IT’S FAKE NEWS AGAIN SAYS THE PRESIDENT FOR most of his presidency, Donald Trump’s allies and critics alike have wondered whether his next outrage would finally weaken some of the solid support he has continued to receive from the Republican Party and from the 35-40 percent of overall voters who are consistently described as his base of support.

Would it be the sheer

rudeness, callousness and prejudice that suffuses so many of his outrageous tweets? Perhaps his grossly insensitive response to the race riot in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 – “There are fine people on both sides?” How about the nearly 20,000 public lies that have been chronicled by respected, responsible news media?

Would it be his flagrant

indifference to the rule of law, or to the most basic tenets of the national interest he has taken an oath to uphold, or to the public health of the nation as it suffers through an unprecedented pandemic?

The list goes on. And the reprehensible political hypocrites who continue to publicly defend the President have shown clearly they are interested solely in

their own re-election prospects and that everything else is secondary. In this, they behave just like their president does.

Now we have the latest outrage. It seems Trump may have known for months of a Russian-financed bounty programme to incentivise the killing by the Taliban of US troops serving in Afghanistan, and that the

PRESIDENT TRUMP

US President has done nothing in response to sanction Russia or its President Vladimir Putin.

We are now hearing the customary loud sanctimony from elected Republicans.

Trump is crying “fake news!” It’s fair to wonder if there will be anything more this time than the customary sanctimonious blather from the President’s allies and apologists.

Both sides should be STATESIDE mindful of the lesson from Delaware just ask Mike Castle

with Charlie Harper

MIKE Castle will celebrate his 81st birthday today. Who is he and why does his example offer a significant message for members of the political party that opposed him for almost 50 years?

Castle is one of the most successful Republican politicians ever from the state of Delaware. But when he ran for the US Senate in 2010, he suffered one of the most unexpected political defeats in that state’s history.

The story of Castle’s defeat serves as a stark warning for the major US political parties in this consequential but topsy-turvy election year. To understand why, we need to look at Castle and his state.

The tiny state of Delaware has long enjoyed its reputation as a corporate tax haven. It is sometimes called the “State of DuPont” due to the large influence in its affairs of the locally based DuPont Corporation, until recently the world’s largest chemical company.

While Wilmington, the state’s biggest city by far, enjoys some regional importance, it remains true that many of Delaware’s most ambitious young professionals migrate to the north to find their destiny in nearby Philadelphia.

The state’s gorgeous Atlantic coastline attracts many of the wealthy and influential residents of Washington DC and Baltimore to its beaches when the weather is warm. But this curious combined exodus of young professional talent and the annual seasonal arrival of older professional visitors leaves the state without a distinct identity. And its small size makes it susceptible to fringe political movements.

Delaware currently ranks 49th in land mass and 46th in population among US states. It is one of several states whose constitutional allotment of US senators (two) exceeds its House delegation (one), because the latter is apportioned by population. Delaware normally enjoys little national political significance.

But as we know, Delaware has given us the Democratic nominee for President in 2020. And as he shelters at home from the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Biden has reintroduced his state to millions of voters.

Let’s turn to Mike Castle, whose political destiny was poised to take a major positive turn in 2008 when presidential candidate Barack Obama chose erstwhile rival Biden as his running mate.

Castle had by then defied the political odds to build an impressive political career as a Republican in mostly Democratic Delaware, starting in the state

general assembly in 1967 and rising through the ranks until he was elected governor in 1985. He was chosen as the state’s only congressman in 1993 and still occupied that position when Obama picked Biden and created a US Senate vacancy 16 years later.

What happened next provides an illustrative lesson for Democrats today.

Castle, a GOP stalwart and hugely popular politician in a blue state, was poised to win a Senate seat in a 2010 special election to succeed Biden. But it never happened.

Instead, Christine O’Donnell happened.

O’Donnell is the cautionary tale for both major political parties, but especially for today’s Democratic Party.

The Democrats look poised to build on their 2018 success by winning back the White House and perhaps even strengthening their House majority and recapturing control of the US Senate.

But danger lurks on their left flank, just as it did from the right flank for the Republicans a decade ago.

In an America now yearning for centrist normalcy, the Democratic left continues to endanger overall party prospects by pushing candidates whose views take them out of the safe political midstream, and who may founder in the general election coming in four months.

Back in 2010, O’Donnell emerged from political obscurity to challenge Castle in the Delaware GOP senate primary. Her effort was strongly and loudly endorsed by the Tea Party movement, as well as by some organisations who reflexively support female candidates.

O’Donnell raised a lot of money in a short time.

Castle and his Republican establishment backers were stunned and rose to the challenge a bit late. Everything was going so well for them - and then it wasn’t.

The Tea Party had showed its strength with candidates around the US a dozen years ago, but none was as notorious as O’Donnell.

She had actually admitted that “I dabbled into witchcraft - I never joined a coven, but I did dabble into witchcraft.

“One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn’t know it,” she said. “We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.”

O’Donnell even expressed support for sexual premarital abstinence and opposition to the use of condoms and masturbation.

O’Donnell won the primary. She then promptly suffered a smashing 17-point defeat in the general election.

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SUPPORTERS of President Donald Trump cheer at a weekend campaign rally The lesson for this year’s Democrats is to watch out for their left flank. The election season has already seen long-time staunchly liberal New York area congressman Eliot Engel unhorsed in a Democratic primary vote by a black school administrator who was endorsed by Alexandra Octavio-Cortez and other Green New Deal advocates.

The Democrats will hold their seat with AOC and they’ll also almost certainly retain Engel’s old seat in November’s election. But in other races, for instance in Kentucky, the Democrats were worried.

Their establishment candidate was heavily challenged in the Kentucky Senate primary by an AOC - Bernie Sanders - and

Elizabeth Warren-endorsed candidate from the left. The Democratic Party establishment felt that Charles Booker, an African American who campaigned on radical police reform, Green New Deal and universal free health care, could not possibly unseat incumbent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, which gave

Donald Trump a 30-point victory margin four years ago.

The Democratic Party preferred Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel and the first woman to fly the F-18 fighter jet in combat. (The F-18 has been used by the Navy’s Blue Angels since 1986 in their celebrated flight exhibitions.) She is also an accomplished fundraiser and a moderate centrist seemingly more in tune than Booker with deep red Kentucky. The Democrats believed McGrath would give them at least a puncher’s chance against the ageing McConnell.

In the current era of mail-in voting, this weekold primary race was just called on Tuesday. McGrath was declared the winner, by a slim two-percentage point margin from over a half million votes cast. The national Democratic Party breathed a sigh of relief.

But there will be other challenges from the left, and the central party will not always prevail.

As Mike Castle tries to blow out the 81 candles on his birthday cake today, his example is a reminder to both national parties to hope that fringe candidates don’t win their party’s nomination in highly contested districts. It can often end very badly for them if they do.

PAGE 10, Thursday, July 2, 2020

by David Chae, Auburn University, Leoandra Onnie Rogers, Northwestern University and Tiffany Yip, Fordham University THOUGH race and racism are at the top of Americans’ public discussion, most white parents don’t talk about those issues with their kids.

Research on how white parents discuss race with their children is sparse.

However, past research has shown that conversations about race, much less racism, are rare, even when these issues are highly visible – for example, during the Ferguson protests in 2014.

One study found that even though 81 percent of white mothers believed it was important to have such discussions, only 62 percent of them reported actually doing so. Of those who said they did, however, fewer than one-third of those people could actually recall a specific conversation.

THE TRIBUNE

Most white parents don’t talk about racism with their kids

Teaching generations To understand the issue more deeply, we examined surveys of more than 2,000 adults ages 18 and older, collected from May 21 to June 14, 2020, in four major US cities – Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York. We were seeking to understand how people’s views on race were influenced by their parents.

It was part of an ongoing study looking at how people’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have been shaped by their race.

Our initial findings indicate that among white respondents, 65% said their parents had “never” or “rarely” had conversations with them about racism when they were children.

In general, we found that younger white people were more likely to have parents who talked with them about about racism compared to those in older generations.

Surprisingly, however, those in the youngest age group – 18- to 25-year-olds – were less likely to have parents

A CROWD of protesters, including many white people, march to support of Black Lives Matter who talked with them about racism “very often” (only seven percent), compared with 26 to 40-year-olds (16 percent) and to those 41 to 55 years old (12 percent).

We found that those whose parents talked with them about racism were themselves more likely to talk with their own children about it. However, even during this period of unrest, 27 percent of white parents of children between 6 and 11 years old told us they “never” talked with their kids about the need for racial equality.

Another 15 percent said these conversations were “rare,” and 34 percent said they happened “on occasion.”

Research shows that the

relatively small number of white parents who do discuss race with their children often use what are sometimes called “colourblind” approaches that downplay racism’s significance in American society.

These conversations usually involve emphasising the sameness between all people, and minimise or deny the idea of differences between races. Typical themes include “not seeing race” or “treating everyone the same,” which ignore or even reject the existence of white privilege and racism.

These discussions can promote a myth of meritocracy that claims anyone can succeed in the US regardless of their race – a belief shared by 57 percent of the

white respondents in our survey. The problem with this colourblindness is that it ignores how racism is embedded in society – for example, in where people live and what kinds of jobs and educational opportunities people have.

Sometimes conversations can also be explicitly or implicitly racist, relying on racial stereotypes premised on the idea of inherent differences between race groups.

Seldom are conversations anti-racist. An anti-racism dialog with children involves acknowledging racial inequalities and the historical and current reasons why they exist. They also include talking about ways a child could help

actively undo racism and how not to be a bystander when they see racism being perpetrated.

Our data showed that white people who were taught by their parents about opposing racism and what our survey called the “importance of fighting for racial equality” were supportive of doing more to help racial minority groups hit harder

by COVID-19.

By contrast, people whose parents had never or rarely talked to them about anti-racism were more likely to feel that racial minorities are themselves at fault for their higher death rates from COVID-19.

We also found that parents’ discussions with their

kids helped them grow up to have more nuanced views on other aspects of racism in the US. Three-quarters of adults who had, as children, talked with their parents “very often” about racism said that racial minorities do not have the same opportunities as whites. A similar share, 69 percent, of them said race plays a major role in the types of social services that people receive, such as health care or daycare. And 69 percent also agreed that race plays an important role in who gets sent to prison.

But of the adults whose parents “never” or “rarely” talked with them about racism, fewer than half – 47 percent – said racial minorities have different opportunities than whites. Similarly, fewer than half of these people felt that race plays a role in the types of social services people receive or in incarceration – 49 percent and 48 percent, respectively.

Resisting racism, challenging racist societal structures and advocating for equity have been an uphill battle shouldered predominantly by individuals, families and communities of colour. Our research indicates that the more white parents talk with their children about the realities of American racism, the more aware those kids are, as adults, of inequalities in American life. theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 11

‘Knuckleheads’ blamed for spike PHOENIX Associated Press CALIFORNIA closed down bars, theatres and indoor restaurant dining all over again across most of the state yesrterday, and Arizona’s outbreak grew more severe by nearly every measure, as the surging coronavirus crisis across the South and West sent a shudder through the country.

The run-up in confirmed cases has been blamed in part on what’s been called “knucklehead behavior”

by Americans not wearing masks or obeying other social-distancing rules as economies reopened from coast to coast over the past two months.

“The bottom line is the spread of this virus continues at a rate that is particularly concerning,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in dramatically expanding the round of closings he announced over the weekend.

The shutdown announcement, which came just ahead of what is expected to be a busy Fourth of July weekend that could fuel the spread of the virus, applies to 19 counties encompassing nearly three-quarters of California’s 40 million people, including Los Angeles County.

Confirmed cases in California have increased nearly 50% over the past two weeks, and COVID-19 hospitalisations have gone up 43%. Newsom reported nearly 5,900 new cases and 110 more deaths in 24 hours. With one of the biggest weekends of the summer approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to wear face coverings at the beach, though not in the water.

Meanwhile, a masked Vice President Mike Pence paid a visit to Arizona, where cases have spiked

VOLUNTEERS prepare to hand out kits to residents living in COVID-19 hotspots around Miami since stay-at-home orders expired in mid-May. The state reported record single-day highs for new cases (almost 4,900), deaths (88), ER visits (close to 1,300) and the number of people in the hospital (nearly 2,900).

In Florida, the biggest hospital in the hardest-hit county, Miami’s Jackson Health System, scaled back elective surgeries and other procedures as it and others around the state braced for an influx of victims.

Florida recorded more than 6,500 new cases — down from around 9,000 on some days last week, but still alarming — and a running total

of over 3,500 deaths. Counties in South Florida are closing beaches to fend off large July Fourth crowds that could spread the virus.

“Too many people were crowding into restaurants late at night, turning these establishments into breeding grounds for this deadly virus,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in forbidding restaurants with seating for more than eight people from serving customers inside from midnight to 6 a.m.

Louisiana saw its biggest daily spike since April, reporting 2,100 new cases in 24 hours. Georgia set a new daily record with nearly 3,000

MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES PLANS A VIRTUAL NATIONAL CONVENTION NEW YORK Associated Press

SPURRED by broad public support for the Black Lives Matter movement, thousands of black activists from across the US will hold a virtual convention in August to produce a new political agenda that seeks to build on the success of the protests that followed George Floyd’s death.

The 2020 Black National Convention will take place August 28 via a live broadcast. It will feature conversations,

performances and other events designed to develop a set of demands ahead of the November general election.

The convention is being organised by the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 150 organisations. In 2016, the coalition released its “Vision for Black Lives” platform, which called for public divestment from mass incarceration and for adoption of policies that can improve conditions in Black America.

“What this convention will do is create a black liberation agenda that is not a duplication of the Vision for Black Lives, but really is rooted as a set of demands for progress,” said Jessica Byrd, who leads the Electoral Justice Project.

At the end of the convention, participants will ratify a revised platform that will serve as a set of demands for the first 100 days of a new presidential administration, Byrd said.

Participants also will have access to model state and local legislation.

UK OFFERS 3M HONG KONGERS A HOME LONDON Associated Press

BRITAIN yesterday announced it was extending residency rights for up to 3m Hong Kongers eligible for the British National Overseas passport, stressing it would uphold its historic duty to the former British colony after Beijing imposed new national security laws in the city.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers that amid widespread concerns about Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong

Kong, the UK was changing its immigration rules to give people who are connected to Britain by virtue of the city’s status as a former British colony a special route to citizenship.

Eligible individuals from Hong Kong currently can come to the UK for six months without a visa.

Under the new policy, they will have the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they will be allowed to apply for settled status and then again for citizenship.

Hong Kongers who were

born after the end of British rule in 1997 are not eligible, meaning that in effect, many of the city’s young student activists who are most at risk of arrest under the new law cannot take advantage of the British offer.

The announcement came hours after China imposed a sweeping new national security law in Hong Kong that Britain calls a flagrant breach of China’s international obligations and a “clear and serious violation” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

new cases. Texas did too, with new infections skyrocketing past 8,000 in a single day for the first time.

The soaring numbers across the Sunbelt have raised fears that many other states could see the same phenomenon if they reopen too, and that people from the South and West could spread the virus to other regions. Some distant states and cities that seemed to have tamed their outbreaks, including Colorado, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey, backtracked on some of their reopening plans for bars and restaurants as they watched the crisis unfold.

I LOOK LIKE THE LONE RANGER, SAYS TRUMP, THE MASK FAN WASHINGTON Associated Press AFTER long resisting wearing a mask in public, President Donald Trump last night said he thinks it makes him look like the Lone Ranger — and he likes it. “I’m all for masks.

I think masks are good,” Trump said. “People have seen me wearing one.”

Trump’s comments came a day after Republican lawmakers suggested that he wear a mask in public to set a good example for Americans. “If I were in a tight situation with people, I would absolutely,” Trump said. He has long resisted being photographed in a mask. In early April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures were difficult to maintain.

Trump immediately undercut the CDC guidance by flatly stating that he wouldn’t be following it, suggesting it would be unseemly for the commander in chief to wear a mask as he meets with heads of state.

Yesterday, he sounded a different tone, saying, “I had a mask on. I sort of liked the way I looked. OK. I thought it was OK. It was a dark black mask, and I thought it looked OK. “It looked like the Lone Ranger,” he continued, a reference to the fictional law-and-order character from the American Old West who wore a black eye mask. “I have no problem with that, and if people feel good about it, they should do it.”

SPORTS SECTION E

NBA, PAGE 15

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

New baseball stadium ‘will be very live with events’

CHISHOLM, FOX NAMED TO POOL OF UP TO 60 PLAYERS

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

T

he proposed plan for the development of the new Andre Rodgers National Baseball Complex will feature a stadium that includes opportunities for local baseball to take advantage of the stadium’s amenities.

Project architect Michael Foster (right) touted the stadium’s multi-purpose capability that can benefit local baseball and generate revenue through event hosting. “The line I have been using ‘more than a stadium’ insinuates this structure can make money in different ways from the sport of baseball just from the amount of local kids playing the game. For instance, we have about 2,000 youth baseball players, but no batting cages in this country.

“Add softball and others who need batting facilities.

You can come here and your club can rent the cages for an hour. The going rate is about $35-$40 in the US, I don’t know what we will charge here but the bottom line is we will have equipment in place that makes money. These help pay for the maintenance for the structure,” Foster said.

“We also help keep the maintenance cost down by the technology we are putting in. You keep those things down and start to create revenue, you create a better balance on expenditure. In my opinion, you will have more interest in concerts and event opportunities for people who want to be outdoors, the money will come from there. It was a good idea to build a structure that helps to make money for itself.”

The stadium also includes 17,000 square feet of office space for the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Culture. It seats 4,500 for baseball games but can hold 8,000-9,000 for concerts or other events.

“In my initial planning, I spoke to the then government and told them, all of the stadiums I visited, they

put in the seats and everything else was a waste of space. I said to them to consider that if they were going to build office space for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, that they may consider having it designed in such a way that we can utilise the space and angles beneath the seats for 17,000 square feet of office space,” Foster said.

“Again, it’s more than a stadium. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, they control the whole facility but that will be their specific office area. We have baseball facilities, locker rooms and management for any event.

“When we talk about it being more than a stadium we have a setup where you can have major concerts in an amphitheatre type of style. We can do a number of things here. We have corporate boxes for any event as well as eight batting cages that we imagine will be in use by local baseball. Those batting cages will probably be the largest revenue generator with

MEMBERS of the press, media can be seen on a tour of the new baseball stadium yesterday.

Photos by Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff everything we see happening with the BBA and the local leagues.”

Sam Rodgers, president of the Bahamas Baseball Association, said his organisation still hopes to see the investment of additional fields to make the Bahamas a feasible destination

for baseball events at every level from Major League Baseball to youth tournaments and showcases.

“Everything is looking good, everything seems to be in place, I just would hope that during the course of moving forward that they will continue to

look at us having two or three more ballparks on to this complex because if we hold international tournaments, this one park wouldn’t be enough. Even if the MLB or WBC comes here to play, we should

SEE PAGE 14

MAJOR League Baseball is set to make its return and several Bahamian prospects have joined their team’s player pool in training camp for the shortened 2020 season.

As members of their team’s respective 40-man rosters, Jazz Chisholm of the Miami Marlins and Lucius Fox of the Tampa Bay Rays were named to each team’s player pool of up to 60 players that can be used throughout the season.

The 60 players will be invited to training camp and active rosters will include 30 players. After two weeks the roster will be reduced to 28 and after a period of two weeks, a final cut of 26 players.

The Marlins’ pool will participate in workouts both at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, and the alternate training site at the Miami Marlins Player Development Complex in Jupiter, Florida. The Rays will conduct workouts with one group at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida, and their alternate training site in Port Charlotte, Florida.

The 2020 MLB season will feature a shortened 60-game season played over 66 days. Players will report to training camp on July 1 and opening day will be hosted July 24.

The regular season is expected to conclude by late September and the playoffs will begin in October. A player must be on an official roster in order to be eligible for the playoff roster.

In addition to the shortened season, the MLB will feature several rule changes, most notably the use of the designated hitter in both leagues and beginning extra innings with a runner on second base.

Chisholm, the 22-year-old shortstop, was set to make his 2020 debut in AAA baseball with the Wichita

SEE PAGE 14

Franco commits to join Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net FRANCO Miller Jr ended his time in the transfer portal and committed to join the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles to continue his collegiate basketball career.

Miller’s tenure with the Ole Miss Rebels came to an end in March when he announced he would be leaving the programme.

He will have three years of eligibility remaining in his NCAA career. “We are excited to add a student and player of Franco’s calibre to our programme. He is an experienced guard who can play the point guard position or slide over to the wing as a scorer,” said Eagles head coach Michael Fly. “The coaching staff at Ole Miss was extremely complimentary of Franco on and off the court.

With three years of eligibility, his addition should strengthen our backcourt for the foreseeable future in combination with our other newcomers and young players.”

According to the Eagles, Miller becomes the sixth newcomer for the Eagles roster heading into the 2020-21 season, joining four early signees and one graduate transfer.

The Eagles will return 70-per cent of its scoring back in the line-up along with seven players who saw significant action in 25-or-more games during the 2019-20 season.

FGCU competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference. They come off a 10-22 season that concluded with a loss in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. FGCU is best known for their run in the 2013 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, their first since moving up to Division I. They became the first 15th seed to advance to the Sweet 16.

Miller’s tenure with the Ole Miss Rebels came this offseason when he announced his intention to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal.

Miller played sparingly last season as a redshirt freshman and appeared in just 13 games.

In those few appearances, he reached double figures in minutes just three times.

He scored four points in his season debut against Alabama State, but would go scoreless for the remainder of the season.

Despite falling out of the rotation, Miller made an impact off the court and was named to the 2020 SEC Men’s Basketball Community Service Team. The only

FRANCO MILLER JR freshman to receive the recognition. His community service résumé participated in Adopt-aBasket, which gives food items to families in need during the Thanksgiving season. As part of Reading with the Rebels, he has visited several local schools to promote the importance of reading while sharing some of

his favourite books. His biggest activity was coordinating a campus-wide Hurricane Dorian relief drive to help those affected by the devastating hurricane that hit his native country of the Bahamas.”

He also joined a team visit to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital and helped raise more than $10,000 as part of the first #SinkCancer event at Ole Miss.

Miller had his true freshman season cut short due to a stress fracture in his kneecap that eventually led to surgery. He was granted a medical redshirt.

While sidelined he was one of eight Rebels that silently protested by kneeling during the American national anthem in response to Confederacy rallies hosted near the stadium in February 2019. Minutes before the Rebels’ tipped off against the Bulldogs he joined teammates KJ Buffen, DC Davis, Brian Halums, Luis Rodriguez, Devontae Shuler, Bruce Stevens and Breein Tyree by taking a knee during the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Miller chose the Rebels over the Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Minnesota Golden Gophers and Towson Tigers.

The 6’3”, 200-pound guard previously received offers from

Hofstra, Montana State, Wyoming, St Bonaventure and Illinois at Chicago.

Following his tenure for the Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons, Miller played at Crestwood Prep in Ontario, Canada. He led the Lions to the National Preparatory Association playoffs.

While there, he averaged 25.8 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game, 5.2 assists per game and 3.3 steals per game. He broke the 40-point threshold twice throughout the year, tallying a game-high 42 points versus Thetford Academy and scoring 40 points against the Toronto Basketball Club.

While north of the border, Miller earned first-team AllCanada NPA honours, first team All-CISAA accolades and Universal Hoops First Team AllCanada recognition.

His play also earned him a spot in the prestigious Allen Iverson Roundball Classic as well as the Signature All-Canadian Showcase.

At the local level with the Tabernacle Baptist Falcons, Miller had a senior season filled with accolades highlighted when he was named as the Most Valuable Player of the 34th Annual Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 13

MATCHDAY: LIVERPOOL PLAYS DETHRONED CHAMPIONS MANCHESTER CITY (AP) — A look at what’s happening in European soccer today: ENGLAND Liverpool plays its first game as Premier League champion away at the side it dethroned — Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side is well placed to finish runnerup, sitting eight points ahead of Leicester, so the priority is winning the FA Cup and Champions League. Tottenham, which lost last season’s Champions League final, is struggling to qualify for next year’s edition. Jose

Mourinho’s side is at Sheffield United in today’s other game, sitting seven points behind fifthplace Manchester United.

SPAIN Riding a five-match winning streak after the pandemic break, Real Madrid hosts Getafe looking to open a four-point lead over second-place Barcelona in the Spanish league. The Catalan club stumbled again earlier this week when it was held by Atlético Madrid to a 2-2 draw at home.

Sxith-place Getafe can move

within two points of the final qualification spot for the Champions League if it pulls off a victory against its Madrid neighbour.

Eibar tries to move further from the relegation zone when it hosts midtable Osasuna, while struggling Real Sociedad tries to keep alive its hopes of qualifying for a European competition when it hosts last-place Espanyol.

ITALY Two of the in-form teams in Serie A meet when Atalanta hosts Napoli. Atalanta is pushing Inter

Milan hard for third place and will be looking to cut the gap back to four points with a seventh successive Serie A win.

But Napoli has won two straight in the league since beating Juventus for the Italian Cup title as it continues its resurgence under coach Gennaro Gattuso.

It also won its three matches before soccer was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic. A win would see Napoli move level on points with fifth-place Roma if the capital side loses at home to relegation-threatened Udinese.

Chelsea, Leicester losses open up Champions League chase

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer

LONDON (AP) — With Leicester and Chelsea both losing, the race for European spots is heating up in the Premier League.

Leicester once looked certain of returning to the Champions League, but is now winless in four games after a 2-1 loss to Everton yesterday. Only Chelsea’s 3-2 loss at West Ham kept Leicester in third place — ahead of Frank Lampard’s side by one point.

Manchester United and Wolverhampton are only two points behind Chelsea with six games remaining of a season that resumed two weeks ago after the three-month pandemic-enforced break.

Even north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will have renewed — if fainter — hopes of returning to Europe’s elite competition.

After beating last-place Norwich 4-0, Arsenal moved within six points of United in fifth place, which will secure a Champions League spot if Manchester City’s two-season European ban is upheld.

Tottenham could move within four points of United with a victory at Sheffield United today.

The game that completes the 32nd round today is Liverpool travelling to Manchester City for its first game since dethroning Pep Guardiola’s side as champions.

LEICESTER SLUMP Four years after its shock run to the title, Leicester had been enjoying another standout season. Until January at least.

When the Foxes beat Newcastle on New Year’s Day, they were 15 points clear of sixth place.

Now they are only three in front of Wolverhampton.

Leicester has only won two of its 11 league games since January 1, with five losses.

The latest came after Richarlison struck 10 minutes in and Gylfi Sigurdsson doubled Everton’s lead six minutes later with a penalty. Kelechi Iheanacho’s second half-goal couldn’t spark a Leicester recovery.

“How we have performed for the best part of this season has got us into a strong position,” Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said.

“Our form hasn’t been the best for a period now but we still have it in our hands to achieve what would be a dream for us, getting into the top four. But we can only get that if the performance is right.

WEST Ham’s manager David Moyes watches his team from the sidelines as bubbles drift through the air, which are tradition blown when West Ham United take to the pitch, during the English Premier League soccer match against Chelsea yesterday.

(Michael Regan/Pool via AP) WEST HAM BOOST West Ham turned around a night of frustration against Chelsea to seal a victory that moved the side three points clear of the relegation zone.

Tomas Soucek was denied an opener for offside after a lengthy VAR review. But his goal from another corner did stand in firsthalf stoppage time to cancel out a penalty converted by Willian after Christian Pulisic was tripped.

Michail Antonio put the hosts in front at the start of the second half and Willian looked like recovering a point for Chelsea

when he netted for a second time in the 72nd minute.

But Andriy Yarmolenko completed a counterattack to end a run of three successive losses since before the season was suspended.

It ended Chelsea’s three-match winning run in the league.

“We had an opportunity to move third,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. “If there’s moments when you switch off you are going to encourage teams on. It’s been there. I’m very aware of it. The players then have to show that extra mentality, that extra bit.”

GERMANY Werder Bremen faces a fresh fight to stay in the Bundesliga as it hosts second-division Heidenheim in the first leg of their promotion-relegation playoff. Werder avoided automatic relegation Saturday by beating Cologne 6-1 on the final day to overtake Fortuna Düsseldorf, which dropped into the second tier. Werder has been in the top division since 1981.

Heidenheim comes from a small city in southern Germany and has never played in the top flight. The second leg is Monday.

VILLARREAL MOVES CLOSER TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT IN SPAIN GERARD Moreno scored a pair of first-half goals as Villarreal defeated 10-man Real Betis 2-0 yesterday to move closer to a Champions League spot in the Spanish league.

It was Villarreal’s fifth win in six matches after the pandemic break, moving it three points being fourthplace Sevilla with five rounds remaining. It is two points ahead of sixth-place Getafe, which visits leader Real Madrid today.

It is the first time this season Villarreal has been as high as fifth in the league standings. A 2-2 draw against Sevilla at home was Villarreal’s only setback after the league resumed last month.

VALENCIA’S FALL Valencia lost 2-0 to Athletic Bilbao at home for its third straight defeat, dropping to 10th place and moving further away from the qualification spots for the European competitions.

It was the team’s first match since coach Albert Celades was fired on Monday. The team’s only win since the league resumed came against midtable Osasuna. Raúl García scored a goal in each half for Athletic, which moved to seventh place with its second consecutive win.

PAGE 14, Thursday, July 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

AP SOURCE: NFL CUTTING PRESEASON IN HALF, PUSHING BACK START

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer THE NFL will cut its preseason in half and push back the start of exhibition play so teams have more time to train following a virtual offseason made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity because

the league hasn’t announced that the preseason will be cut from four games to two.

Players are still discussing with their union whether to ask for cancellation of all preseason games, according to two people familiar with their thinking. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision hasn’t been made.

The pandemic forced teams to conduct their entire offseason programmes via videoconference.

So, teams will be gathering together for the first time when training camps open July 28.

Minus the usual mini-camps, on-field practices and in-person weight training from April to June, players’ conditioning won’t be what it normally is.

So, eliminating the first week of preseason games August 13-16 will give them more time to ratchet up their football fitness.

Teams will now play exhibitions August 20-24 and August 27-31

during what were originally the second and third weeks of exhibition play, with all 32 teams playing one home and one road game.

Most of those games will remain the same as originally scheduled, although some matchups in that second slate will have to be changed so every team gets a game at home.

The exhibition finales on September 3 were also scrapped, giving teams more time to get ready for the regular season,

which opens September 10 with Houston at Kansas City.

There are no changes to the regular season schedule.

The league continues to draw up protocols, not only for COVID-19 mitigation but for ramping up practices during the first few weeks of training camp.

The annual Hall of Fame Game pitting Pittsburgh and Dallas on August 6 was recently scrapped as the induction ceremonies were pushed back to 2021.

Analysis: No Wimbledon, jumbled season, ‘Big 4’ legacies

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer IT is a complete guessing game, but it’s still fun to discuss: Will the legacies of the four most prominent and successful tennis players of today — and maybe ever — be affected by the coronavirus-interrupted 2020 season?

And how will Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — known as the Big Three of the men’s game — along with Serena Williams, fare whenever they do return to competition? (Federer is out until 2021 after twice needing arthroscopic knee surgery.)

Call them the Big Four.

They rule their sport, on and off the court, and have done so to such an extent that no matter how many wins and losses might come the rest of the way, their places in history are secure.

Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in the professional era.

Federer has a men’s-record 20, Nadal 19 and Djokovic 17; no other man has more than 14.

They drive interest among tennis fans and nonfans, alike.

Let’s be honest: What happens with them matters more than with other players, particularly when Williams is trying to equal Margaret Court’s all-era mark of 24 majors, and when Nadal and Djokovic are closing in on Federer.

Also intriguing: Their ages. Federer and Williams turn 39 soon; Nadal is 34, Djokovic 33.

“It could be like, ‘Huh, I really enjoy spending time at home.’ They’re not in the rat race. There’s no momentum. So emotionally and mentally, they could think, ‘Ugh, do I really want to do this again? Do I really

want to start up with training? Can I really, 100%, be focused?’” said Chris Evert, an 18-time major champion.

“Or, on the other side of the coin, they could have a sense of urgency and think, ‘OK, I really need to appreciate my tennis for another year or so and I need to achieve my goals now. I’m not getting any younger.’”

Wimbledon should have been happening right now but was called off for the first time since 1945 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sanctioned tennis has been suspended since March and, as of now, is scheduled to resume in August; the US Open begins the last day of that month. The French Open, postponed in May, is now slated to start September 27, two weeks after the US Open ends.

“It’s much easier to (get) a body ready (that is) 21 years old, than a body that

STADIUM from PAGE 12 have other fields for them to practice on individually, so I would hope that the powers that be decide to implement the other three or four fields that were scheduled to be built,” Rodgers said.

“The BBA has had a lot of engagement from people in South America and the Caribbean that want to come here and play baseball. For us to do that, we will need additional parks to host any size tournament.”

He also added that he plans to reach out to the National Sports Authority to lobby for Bahamian collegiate and professional baseball players to train at home at proper facilities in the offseason.

Under the first phase, the baseball stadium is built to Major League Baseball and World Baseball Softball Confederation standards for players, fans and media amenities.

Phase two is set to include additional fields in the immediate area adjacent to the stadium.

“We are about 70-80 completed. On the building, probably more than that.

When I say those percentages, the last 20-30, most will cover our external works, the field, parking, landscaping, and so forth,” Foster said. “There has been much interest around the world to play here. The Bahamas sits in a unique

ROMANIA’s Simona Halep walks away with her trophy after defeating Serena Williams, left, in the women’s singles final match on day 12 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 13, 2019.

(AP Photo/Tim Ireland) is 34 years old. That is 100 per cent.

But at the same time, a 34-year-old body and mind have much more experience than a body and mind of 21 years old. So I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Nadal said.

“In general terms, it’s better for a young guy, because all this period of time that we lost, a young guy has plenty of time to recover.

“An older guy, in terms of ‘timing,’” Nadal said, using his fingers to signal quotation marks, “we lost the same amount of time, (but) in terms of perspective, it’s different. Because losing a year at 34 or 36 or 33, is not

the same as losing a year at 20, when you have all your career in front of you.”

Perhaps Nadal skips the hard courts of New York, where he’s the defending champion, to be better rested and prepared for the red clay of Paris, where he could match Federer’s 20 Slam triumphs with No. 13 at Roland Garros.

Maybe Djokovic opts to go to the US Open after sounding negative about it, figuring an absent Nadal ups his own chances.

Federer’s best shot to add to his total probably would be at Wimbledon, where he’s won eight times. Hard to say how many more attempts he’ll get.

Williams, meanwhile, made it to the finals at four of the past seven Grand Slam tournaments, going 0-4. And even if she surprisingly bowed out in the third round at the Australian Open in January, there’s little reason to believe she couldn’t make another run, especially at the US Open, where she is a six-time champion and was the runner-up in 2018 and 2019.

As for the prolonged break, Williams said: “I felt like my body needed it, even though I didn’t want it.

And now I’m feeling better than ever. I’m feeling more relaxed, more fit. Now I’m just like: Now I can go out and play real tennis.”

SAM RODGERS, president of the Bahamas Baseball Association, speaks at the new stadium yesterday when members of the press, media toured the new stadium.

Photos by Terrel W Carey Sr/ Tribune Staff

location where we are blessed. They are baseball heavy in the south of us, in the Caribbean as well as in the north of us. We have had interest from Major League ball clubs, we have had interest from college ball clubs, youth tournaments, showcases, so we anticipate this facility will be very live with events.”

Foster also addressed issues that have been the subject of public discourse in regard to the construction of the stadium.

“Let’s address the orientation of the stadium - there is no location on that field where the sun will be in your face. We heard a rumour about the

MLB from PAGE 12 Wind Surge of the Pacific Coast League and the AAA affiliate of the Marlins. The No.3 ranked prospect in the organisation was listed at No.66 overall among the top 100 Prospects by MLB Pipeline. He made nine spring training appearances and hit .308 with three RBI, one home run, scored four runs, with a 1.115 OPS and two stolen bases.

Last season, Chisholm was named the top defensive shortstop in the Double-A Southwest League and his advancement to

stadium being the wrong way but let me make this very clear, it has nothing to do with the orientation of the stadium. The first and primary thing we addressed is safety, and the first thing in player safety is that no sun glare will be in the ballplayers’ face. I would be happy to be here at 1pm or 4pm and walk to every position on the field, look at the direction the ball will come free and see if the sun is obstructing your view,” he said. “The outfield wall is 400 feet dead centre and 320 feet in the corners. The closest house is 250 beyond that. We will have full screens and the trajectory of a ball will have difficulty

Double-A baseball produced a Southern League All-Star selection after he led all the league’s shortstops with 21 home runs and 173 total bases. Chisholm has continued to make strides for the organisation this season as he progresses toward the major leagues.

He was among the top prospects from each Major League Baseball organisation represented at the Rookie Career Development Programme in Miami, Florida.

Each organisation sends their top prospects expected to reach the big leagues in the near future to sit through sessions aimed at easing their transition. Sessions included ones on media training,

clearing the roof and getting into the street. The concerns about the stadium orientation and being close to the road we would like to clear all of that up.”

Originally, construction on the stadium began in August 2016 and was to be completed by November 2017. After several work stoppages and delays in the process, construction resumed in 2018. During her contribution to the 2020-2021 national budget debate in the House of Assembly last month, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Lanisha Rolle said she was advised the stadium will be completed by December of this year.

That timeline appears to be in jeopardy as the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the shipping and construction process.

“The entire team is trying to evaluate what the damages are. We know there

clubhouse relationships, drugs in baseball, inclusion and financial planning, and others. He was also present at the Marlins’ annual Fanfest which gave fans their first opportunity to interact with the 2020 roster.\ Fox, 22, has been listed at shortstop for the duration of his career but saw time at centrefield, second and third during Spring Training.

He is listed as an infielder/outfielder for the 2020 player pool.

He was also set to make his 2020 debut in AAA baseball with the Durham Bulls of the International League and the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Fox is currently listed as the No.24 prospect

are damages, it has happened worldwide and in every business, so the contractor has now lost 17-18 weeks and we have to imagine there is some cost to that. It has slowed us down a lot and set back the schedule quite a bit. We are still trying to restructure a schedule that will somehow say to us that at the end of the year or early in the next year we will be relatively completed, but right now we are in the process of organising. Anytime a contractor leaves the site and has to come back, he has to remobilise, and remobilisation means money.

Everything has a cost,” Foster said. “There are still parts that are still overseas to be shipped. A lot of that is still in the process of being ordered or shipped.

You can imagine now that you would have done business 17-18 weeks ago and you can’t seem to clear or

in the Rays organisation. “He’s maintained strong on-base skills as he’s climbed the ladder thanks to a penchant for walking and knows how to use his plus speed on the bases. After recording at least 25 steals in each of his first three seasons, Fox swiped a career-high 39 bags in 2019,” according to MLB Pipeline.

“One of the better athletes in Tampa Bay’s system, Fox is a rangy, above-average defensive shortstop with good hands and an above-average arm. That the Rays began to increase his versatility with reps at both second (13 games) and third base (nine) in 2019 suggests a potential

matriculate that material or those processes to the site. All of that has to be restructured, reorganised, reordered, or maybe shipping replanned. That costs money, but we are working to understand what those damages are.”

Woslee Construction is the main contractor of the project.

Foster revealed that the project features a strong Bahamian connection. “The design team is All-Bahamian. The only foreigners we have are the people who fabricated the steels that were designed by our engineers. We have that talent here and I’m very proud of that.” he said. “This is a project that is being done primarily

by Bahamians and when completed, it will be a stateof-the-art event that will be the envy of the Caribbean.

It’s taking shape and will be a beauty to behold.”

bench role for Fox.” Fox received league wide recognition and was awarded “Best Hustler” for his baserunning ability when the league announced its Postseason Awards. He spent 15 games last season with the Bulls, but spent the bulk of the year with the Montgomery Biscuits in the Double A Southern League. He went on to lead the Southern League with 39 stolen bases. In 112 games this season across both leagues (104 with the Biscuits) Fox hit .221 with a .331 OBP and a .657 OPS. He totalled 90 hits including 16 doubles, nine triples, three home runs, 34 RBIs, and scored 66 runs.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 2, 2020, PAGE 15

Asterisk on NBA title? Coaches and players say not a chance

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer THE 2020 NBA champion, if one is crowned, will have emerged as the ultimate winner from a season that lasted more than a full year from start to finish. A season that saw political unrest between the NBA and China, the deaths of David Stern and Kobe Bryant, racial issues across the nation and, if that wasn’t enough, a pandemic.

It is a season like none other.

So, an asterisk-bearing champion? Not a chance.

To the teams in the NBA, this championship might be the toughest one ever claimed.

It’ll come after more than three months of living in a quasibubble at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida, after an entire postseason is played without fans, with most if not all that time spent away from friends and family.

And only one of the 22 teams headed to Disney will be able to say it was absolutely worth the trouble.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say that there’s going to be, like, a star next to this championship,” Milwaukee forward and reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I feel like at the end of the day this is going to be like the toughest championship you could ever win because the circumstances are really, really tough right now. So, whoever wants it more is going to be able to go out there and take it.”

He’s not alone in feeling that way.

Most of the 22 teams that will be headed to the Disney campus next week — the first arrivals are scheduled for July 7 — spent yesterday beginning Phase 3 of the NBA’s restart process. Workouts are still individual, but now mandatory. No team can practice or play 5-on-5 until arriving at Disney. Teams won’t be back together, all at once, in person, until getting to Central Florida.

It has been daunting and won’t get any easier. That’s why Los

Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel — whose team was in China when the political issues this fall, took the enormous emotional hit that followed Bryant’s death, has championed societal change during these troubled times in the country and has had players infected with the coronavirus — wholeheartedly agrees with Antetokounmpo’s stance.

“Our team has been through a lot this year,” Vogel said. “And we’ve endured, and we’ve come out strong each time we’ve faced adversity. I don’t know about other teams but if we were able to come through all of this and achieve the ultimate prize, I do think it deserves a harder-thanordinary asterisk. If you’re going to put an asterisk on it, I don’t think it weakens it at all.”

There are elements of the restart that are not easy for anyone involved, such as the isolation from the outside world, the daily testing, the highly restrictive rules that the NBA put in place after consultation with health officials with hopes of keeping everyone safe.

Denver coach Michael Malone said that will prove someone’s championship mettle.

“If you’re able to go into a bubble to be isolated from your friends and family, to have no home court advantage, to have a league interruption of four months, and you’re able to spend 90 days and come out of there a champion, I think this will be the toughest championship ever won,” Malone said.

“There’s no asterisk. You win an NBA championship anytime, it’s a hell of an accomplishment.

But in these circumstances, these unprecedented times, with everything going on ... I think it will be a remarkable accomplishment.”

Some may argue otherwise, but the 1999 championship by San Antonio after a 50-game regular season and the 2012 championship by Miami after a 66-game season — both shortened because of labour strife in the league — come with no formal asterisk attached.

COLLEGE players scrimmage during an NBA pre-draft basketball camp at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Kissimmee, Florida. Most of the 22 remaining NBA teams were taking the court for the first mandatory workouts in nearly four months yesterday as the league continued prepping for the restart of the season at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida. Workouts are still individual in nature, but are no longer voluntary.

(AP Photo/John Raoux) This NBA season will see the 22 remaining teams all play between 71 and 75 games before the playoffs, and the league’s plan is for a full four-round, bestof-seven-throughout postseason.

No one is being gifted a title this season. “I saw (Houston guard) Austin Rivers said today, you know that the idea of an asterisk next to this championship, I think he said it exactly right,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said yesterday.

“This is going to be a super unique situation and whoever wins it’s going to really earn it.”

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers — Austin’s father

— relayed a recent conversation he had with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said if anything, the team that wins this title merits more than an asterisk.

“He said the team that wins this will deserve a gold star, not an asterisk,” Rivers said.

“If you think about the mental toughness it’s going to take ... it’s going to come down to talent.

It’s going to come down to teams trying to get back together and play together.

“There’s going to be so many things that are thrown at us that we don’t even know yet.

It’s really going to be a mental toughness challenge.”

KINGS HEAD COACH WALTON: HIELD ‘DOING MUCH BETTER’ (AP) — Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton says guard Chavano “Buddy” Hield, centre Alex Len and forward Jabari Parker are “doing much better” while being tested every other day.

Parker has been cleared to end his self-isolation following a positive test for the coronavirus.

Walton also spoke to Parker about handling himself in public after photos surfaced last week of the forward playing tennis without a mask following his positive test.

Len and Hield recently announced they contracted the coronavirus.

No players have told Walton they don’t want to take part as the Kings (28-36) prepare to play their final eight games in Orlando beginning at the end of this month.

“This is a grown men’s league,” Walton said on a call yesterday.

“We talk to our guys but you can’t make them do anything. All we can do is encourage them to follow the guidelines that we’ve all been given: Do your best to social distance, wear a face mask when you’re out, wash your hands as often as possible, stay away from shaking hands, those type of things.”

One of Walton’s top priorities now is “making sure everyone’s comfortable” — which will mean players bringing their own workout gear and leaving an extra pair of shoes that stay at the practice facility or arena.

— Houston’s Thabo Sefolosha is opting out of the NBA’s restart in Orlando, a person familiar with the decision has told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity yesterday because the decision hasn’t been announced.

Sefolosha is in his first season with the Rockets. He averaged 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 41 games.

The 36-year-old is a 15-year NBA veteran who has also played for Utah, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Chicago.

The Rockets are scheduled to resume the season against the Dallas Mavericks on July 31.

PAGE 16, Thursday, July 2, 2020

THE TRIBUNE