AROUND DA ISLANDS
MUNROE: CHANGE NAME OF COLUMBUS SCHOOL
AG says time to rename primary school in Nassau
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
ATTORNEY Gen-
eral Wayne Munroe said he would be surprised if Columbus Primary School still bears Christopher Columbus’ name in a year or two, reviving a long-running push to replace colonial-era symbols with honours that better refect Bahamian history.
Mr Munroe told The Tribune he supports changing
the school’s name. His comments follows a years-long debate over whether public institutions should continue honouring Christopher Columbus, the explorer whose statue was smashed outside Government House in 2021 and removed the following year. He raised the prospect in the Senate after Senator Rick Fox asked about the Christopher Columbus statue that once stood
Wife pleads for answers after husband vanishes
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
MORE than a month after Acklins resident Kevin Bizzard vanished, his wife says she was told he called for help as the boat he was travelling in took on water — and she is still waiting to learn whether he is alive or dead.
Dianna Bizzard said her husband disappeared after leaving Abaco on May 30 in what residents told her was a black and white boat. She said a relative later showed her a screenshot from a fshermen’s chat claiming he had called for help because the boat was taking on water.
MISSING - SEE PAGE THREE RENAME - SEE PAGE THREE SEE PAGE
DAVIS WARNS EXTREME HEAT DRIVING UP COST OF LIVING
By JADE RUSSELL Tribune Staff Reporter jrussell@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis warned yesterday that extreme heat is quietly driving up the cost of living for Bahamian
SENATOR RICK FOX
families, saying climate change is already forcing households to spend more on electricity, water, ice, fans and transportation. Speaking at the 4th Annual Bahamas Youth
HEAT - SEE PAGE 11
PRIME Minister Philip Davis speaks at Youth Climate Conference.
FOX CRITICISES PARLIAMENT’S THREE-MONTH BREAK
OPPOSITION Senator Rick Fox criticised Parliament’s three-month break after just weeks of sittings, saying lawmakers had not earned an extended recess while Bahamians continue to work. His criticism came as a review of salaries and allowances for parliamentarians is underway.
Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has called the review long overdue, questioning how much politicians in The Bahamas are paid when compared with the regional salary scales of their counterparts. The Nassau Guardian has reported that a draft amendment to the Parliamentarians Salaries and Allowances Act, which has been circulated to the opposition for consultation, would grant members of Parliament $32,000 a year and senators $16,000 a year in allowances, in addition to their salaries, if passed. Mr Fox questioned the timing of any proposed increase.
A MAROON Nissan sits upturned at the intersection at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier bridge after another late-night accident in a week in which seven people have died in road crashes. Earlier in the day, another vehicle was left overturned in another road traffic accident at Long Wharf by Arawak Cay. See PAGE TWO
Overturned cars in recent traffic accidents
Photo below: Toni Money
AG expects school to drop Columbus from its name
RENAME from page one
outside Government House.
“I think The Bahamas should stay tuned to see if there is a Columbus Primary, if Columbus Primary survives this administration,” Mr Munroe said.
“So the Columbus statute
I’m told, is at the Ministry of Works. It would be a matter to see if Columbus Primary survives this administration.”
The Tribune understands former Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin had initiated a push to rename the school.
The issue resurfaced as senators discussed the fate of the Columbus statue, which was damaged in 2021 and removed in 2022.
Shervandaze “Michael the Archangel” Smith was convicted in 2023 for smashing the statue outside Government House with a sledgehammer.
Mr Smith pleaded guilty to causing damage and trespassing and was sentenced in October 2023. He was ordered to pay $7,050 to avoid prison.
During his arraignment, Mr Smith said he was in his right mind when he damaged the statue and said he did so because of a divine purpose after God touched him. Before sentencing, he was sent for a psychiatric evaluation.
His actions echoed protests elsewhere in the world, including the toppling of statues during the Black Lives Matter movement and the acquittal of the Colston Four in the United Kingdom, the four defendants accused
“I think The Bahamas should stay tuned to see if there is a Columbus Primary, if Columbus Primary survives this administration.”
- Wayne Munroe Attorney General
of toppling the statue of Edward Colston, a former slave-trader and British parliamentarian.
Senator Latrae Rahming said the Ministry of Works removed the Columbus statue and that there is an intent to repurpose and refurbish it. He said no decision has been made on whether the statue will return.
Mr Fox suggested that a statue of a Bahamian should replace the Columbus statue, naming Governor General Cynthia “Mother” Pratt as one
possible candidate.
Reverend Canon S Campbell, chairman of the National Heroes Committee, backed the push to rename Columbus Primary School, saying there are more ftting Bahamian fgures for children to emulate.
“I heard that name of that school was supposed to be changed a very long time ago, years ago, in fact, under the Perry Christie government,” Rev Campbell said.
He said he served at the time on the National
Cultural Development Commission, which recommended several measures to strengthen Bahamian national identity, including renaming the airport, placing Bahamian images on currency and changing the name of Columbus Primary School.
“We wondered why it has taken this long, because really and truly, that should have been done a long time ago, maybe at a time when the government rallied around us and changed
the holiday from Columbus Day to National Heroes Day,” he said. Rev Campbell supported recognition for the Governor General, but said a statue of the Governor General should not be placed at Government House. He said she should instead be honoured in the committee’s proposed National Heroes Park at Clifton, where other notable Bahamians could also be recognised. He also expressed frustration with that project’s
pace, saying the government has already set aside land for the park. Rev Campbell said a more appropriate monument for Government House would honour the Lucayans, the indigenous people who inhabited The Bahamas before Christopher Columbus arrived. He said the Lucayans, “the original Bahamians,” should be recognised because they were the frst people of these islands before being wiped out following European contact.
MISSING BOATER’S WIFE FEARS THE WORST A MONTH AFTER SOS
MISSING from page one
She claimed, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force searched for him that morning but found nothing, a claim The Tribune could not confrm up to press time.
“My problem is right now if he died, if he living, or if he dead,” she said. “If he called for help on the boat and said the boat was taking on water, as they said, defnitely something went wrong.”
“Ain’t nobody see the boat neither him.”
Mrs Bizzard last saw her husband on May 27, when he left Acklins for New Providence. She said he later called to say he had arrived safely and would travel to Abaco that evening.
She said she is unsure why he made the trips, though she believes he travelled to New Providence to visit his brothers. She said he had previously gone to Abaco to repair boats.
“I know he usually fx boat and thing,” she said.
“Last time he went to Abaco was to fx a boat. So, I don’t know, he just tell me he going to Abaco. That’s all he said.”
Mrs Bizzard said her husband later travelled to Abaco and remained there for several days. On May 30, he sent her what became his fnal message before contact was lost.
“I sent a message on WhatsApp. I called on the phone. I don’t know what happened,” she said, adding that his phone no longer rings. “I called the police in Abaco. I spoke with administrator in Abaco.”
Mrs Bizzard said she does not know how her husband travelled to Abaco or whether he went by plane or boat. She said she only heard he was in Marsh Harbour.
“I don’t know what he take to Abaco,” she said.
She said Abaco residents later told her they saw Mr Bizzard leave the island alone in a black and white boat on May 30. Asked whether the boat
belonged to him, Mrs Bizzard said she did not know. She said her husband had previously told her he planned to buy a boat, but never told her whether he had done so.
She said her husband never told her he was leaving Abaco to return to Acklins, though that is what she has since been told.
She said she has spent weeks searching for answers, contacting the police and
asking residents in Acklins and Abaco whether they have seen him.
Although she last saw her husband on May 27, she did not report him missing to the Acklins Police Station until June 30.
“I was giving him time,” she said. “I say, well okay, if I wait until two weeks and I ain’t hear from him then I have to go back to the police station.”
Breaking down in tears,
Mrs Bizzard said the uncertainty has devastated her.
“I don’t want think, I can’t cook,” she said tearfully. “I miss him. I can’t see him. I can’t hear from him.”
“I want him to return home or I want to hear from him. I want to know where he is. I just want to know where he is.” The couple have been married for nearly four years and have no children together. Mrs Bizzard said
her husband told her he had a child, though she has never met the child.
She said her husband has never disappeared before. She recalled that years ago, he survived after a boat sank and swam ashore before she arranged for a private boat to rescue him.
Mr Bizzard builds boats and works in construction.
Mrs Bizzard described him as kind, helpful and her best friend.
Attorney Genereal Wayne Munroe [inset] with Columbus Primary School pictured behind him.
AG Munroe blames ‘cynicism’ for poor election voter turnout
By KEILE CAMPBELL Tribune Staff Reporter kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
ATTORNEY General Wayne Munroe blamed a “drumbeat of cynicism” for helping depress voter turnout during the recent general election, warning in the Senate that years of negative public commentary could drive Bahamians away from the democratic process.
Mr Munroe cautioned against what he called “negative thinking”, saying the country must be careful about the consequences of repeatedly presenting national affairs in bleak terms.
“Negative thinking has been found scientifically to have adverse consequences on how your neural networks are wired, leads to depression, leads to disassociation,”
Mr Munroe said. “We must be careful that if nationally adopt negative thinking, then it may manifest itself in a number of ways, and so if you keep seeing the cup as half empty, your mind will approach everything in that fashion, and so I am not surprised about low voter turnout.”
Mr Munroe said that for four and a half years he listened to radio commentary he described as “driven by negativity”, arguing that such commentary could discourage people from participating in public life.
“When it succeeds in its purpose, it behooves us to complain about the consequences of our actions, because if you continue to say things, people will seize them and believe them,” he said. “And if they are told constantly
that there’s no purpose in the system, why would you expect them to engage with the system?” He again noted that voter participation in The Bahamas has not fallen as sharply as in some Caribbean countries, where turnout can drop as low as 40 percent, but warned that sustained cynicism could push the country in that direction.
Mr Munroe also defended the Davis administration’s record, saying the government had made substantial progress on long-standing problems that developed over decades.
He said it was unrealistic to expect systemic problems to be solved within one five-year term, arguing that the administration had completed most of the commitments it made to voters.
Moxey urges NTA grads to prepare for $3.5bn investment
By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
GRAND Bahama
Minister Ginger Moxey urged 11 newly certifed National Training Agency graduates to prepare for jobs and business opportunities she said will fow from $3.5bn in investment on Grand Bahama, arguing the island’s economic future depends on building a skilled workforce.
Addressing the agency’s Cohort 20 graduation ceremony at Pelican Bay Resort, Ms Moxey said Grand Bahama is being positioned for major growth in maritime and logistics, events and entertainment, and innovation.
She said the island’s economic transformation will create signifcant
employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, and challenged graduates to take advantage of what she described as a changing economic landscape.
“We are on the move. Things are happening, and the opportunities for you are enormous,” she said. “It can be a job opportunity; it can be a springboard entrepreneurial opportunity.”
Ms Moxey said the graduates entered the National Training Agency as “seekers of opportunity” but were leaving as “qualifed, certifed assets” after completing mandatory workshops and practical skills training.
“This graduation is not a routine ceremony. It is an active launching pad,” she said. “You did the heavy lifting and earned the right to command the arena.”
Ms Moxey said Grand Bahama is being developed as the country’s hub for maritime and logistics, events and entertainment, and innovation. She said the island is positioning itself to attract global investment while encouraging technology-driven solutions.
She said the development of a Young Innovators Club and the government’s Innovate242 initiative are intended to make Grand Bahama a testing ground for innovative solutions and help establish The Bahamas as the Caribbean’s centre for innovation.
She urged the graduates to show professionalism, a strong work ethic and good customer service as they enter the workforce or pursue business opportunities.
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND SENATOR WAYNE MUNROE
GRAND Bahama Minister Ginger Moxey addresses the National Training Agency’s latest graduating cohort. Photos: Vandyke Hepburn
Fox criticises 3-month vacation after just one month in office
By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
RICK Fox accused lawmakers yesterday of preparing to take a threemonth break after only a month in ofce, prompting Attorney General Wayne Munroe to insist that the Senate could be recalled throughout the summer and that senators should be ready to work.
The exchange came after the House of Assembly, which last sat on June 30, adjourned to September 16. The Davis administration was re-elected on May 12, and Parliament opened on May 20.
Mr Fox, a frst-time senator, told the Senate he never imagined receiving “a three-month vacation after one month of work,” saying many Bahamians do not have the luxury of extended time of.
“I don’t even know how to pack for that,” Mr Fox said. “One month. I hope we continue to work, because the Bahamian people will be continuing to work. They don’t get three months of.”
Mr Munroe rejected that characterisation, saying the Senate had not adjourned to a specifc date and could be called back at any time. He said the Senate traditionally adjourns sine die, meaning it can be recalled whenever necessary, unlike an adjournment to a fxed date.
He noted that legislation can originate in the Senate and warned senators they could be summoned back if government business demands it. He said ministers would continue carrying out their duties throughout the summer, and Parliament could be recalled to deal with urgent matters, including legislative requirements tied to international obligations.
Opposition Senator Elsworth Johnson rose on a point of order, accusing Mr Munroe of misleading the chamber by suggesting Mr Fox was wrong.
He argued that although both the Senate and House of Assembly can technically be recalled during a recess, it is customary for the Senate to follow the lower chamber into a summer break.
He pointed to similar criticism after the 2017 general election, when the former Minnis administration announced a summer recess shortly after taking ofce.
In 2017, then Progressive Liberal Party chairman
Bradley Roberts said it was "inexcusable" for the Free National Movement to "take a 10-week vacation" without tabling "one single bill in Parliament."
During the last week of June that year, parliamentarians took a summer break and were scheduled to return
to the House of Assembly on September 13. The Minnis administration had won the May 10, 2017, general election in a landslide.
“The side opposite, when it was announced that we will take the summer break, indicated that we were going on a vacation only just after
receiving a mandate,” Mr Johnson said.
“The spirit and intent of this place is that when the lower house takes a break, it would also follow suit, and we know quite well that over the summer holidays there will be very little of anything coming from the lower house, and so he knows quite well that we will be on a break for the summer.” intends to run, there are rules of this place. He doesn't govern it, and I didn't say that he suggested, but just put that out there, that we quite well know the ordinary average man knows, and we know what will happen today, we'll go on a break. I don’t care what legal or political gymnastics we try to apply to it.”
Mr Fox later returned to the issue.
“I do not know whether any of us have earned or done enough in the last month to deserve a vacation quite yet,” he said.
“That would have been the shortest season I've ever played in. One month. Quite frankly, I was just getting warmed up.”
FNM SENATORS BLAST PM OVER PROPOSED MP SALARY REVIEW
By KEILE CAMPBELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
FNM Senator Elsworth Johnson yesterday accused Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis of shifting his position on parliamentary pay, invoking Mr Davis’ 2017 criticism of proposed salary increases.
Mr Johnson raised the issue during the Senate’s debate on a resolution thanking the Governor General for reading the Speech from the Throne.
The Davis administration has reportedly drafted an amendment to the Act, while Mr Davis has defended a salary and allowance review for parliamentarians as long overdue and questioned whether it is right for Bahamian politicians to be paid what they are when compared with regional salary scales.
Mr Johnson sought to contrast that position with comments Mr Davis made in 2017, when he was opposition leader, after then Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis suggested MPs struggled to live on their salaries.
Mr Davis said at the time that Dr Minnis should “put himself in the shoes of the thousands of Bahamians who live from hand to mouth”.
Mr Johnson was cut short before fully developing his argument, but signalled the opposition’s objection to any proposed increase at this time.
FNM Senator Rick Fox backed Mr Johnson’s efort to raise the issue, arguing that the cost of living was central to the Speech from the Throne and that the timing of the salary discussion was concerning.
“I think any statements made about raising the level of cost of living support for
Bahamian people, I think we all in here are Bahamian and therefore the debate, to your point Senator Rahming, albeit not presented yet to the foor is still now a part of public articles that we’re allowed to bring to this foor,” Mr Fox said. “As we ran previously a few months back, on fghting for the cost of living, fghting for a wage, as we were discussing a minimum wage that fts the cost of living and supports the Bahamian people. I think the timing of this conversation is what is most concerning, because it does not put the Bahamian people frst, but some Bahamian people frst and their concern with many of us here sitting is that we always come frst.”
Mr Fox acknowledged that Bahamian parliamentarians are paid at “the bottom of the scale”, but said the timing of the discussion risked suggesting that politicians were putting themselves ahead of ordinary Bahamians.
Attorney General Wayne Munroe challenged Mr Fox’s comments as inaccurate, arguing that public servants had already received salary increases while parliamentarians had not.
“One may remember the argument when the executive management got their pay increase and it was retroactive, and when it happened for the lower members who were always getting pay increases, they complained that it wasn’t retroactive,” Mr Munroe said. “A fact seldom known is that the secretary to the cabinet is paid more than the prime minister. My permanent secretary is paid more than me. The lawyers in the Ofce of the Attorney General are paid more than the Attorney General, so that’s the context.”
Mr Munroe said the legislation is being drafted in his ofce and has not yet been released for consultation. He said the details of the proposal are not settled.
Mrs Adderley ultimately ruled that the proposed salary review was outside the scope of the Speech from the Throne, saying no section of the address dealt with increasing parliamentarians’
salaries and that no legislation had been brought before Parliament.
“As far as I am aware, I have not been pointed to a section or a paragraph in the Speech from the Throne
that deals with the increase of salaries for parliamentarians,” Mrs Adderley said.
“I think that we’ve already gone sufciently down this road without a mandate to do so.”
FNM SENATOR RICK FOX
FNM SENATOR ELSWORTH JOHNSON
The Tribune Limited
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Are senior civil servants an enemy of the people?
EDITOR, The Tribune.
A FEW months ago, at a PLP staged rally over in Garden Hills, the PM bemoaned the overt fact that senior civil servants, et al, may be obstructionists when it comes to the delivery of commitments made by the political directorate
www.tribune242.com @tribune242
Education matters more than school name
There is a lot of talk about whether we are changing or ignoring history when names are changed – but seldom is the bigger picture taken into account.
Attorney General Wayne Munroe has suggested that Columbus Primary School may be renamed during the current administration, adding “I would be surprised if it’s not gone in a year or two”. At the same time, Mr Munroe argued that we should not forget history – which it could well be said is what is happening with the statue of Christopher Columbus that once stood at Government House before it was smashed in 2021 by Shervandaze “Michael the Archangel” Smith – a crime for which he was fned $7,050 two years later. The statue has been gone from the plinth since 2022 with little sign from government that anyone knew what to do with it other than to leave it lingering in a cupboard at the Ministry of Works.
The lack of action suits those who wanted rid of the statue in the frst place – there was a sizeable petition calling for its removal before it was damaged. But that lack of action frustrates those who want an actual decision to be made instead of just being left in limbo.
If we are talking history, however, we should remember all of that history.
You may know the name Christopher Columbus – but how many of you know the name of William Gordon?
The Rev William Gordon was an Anglican missionary who came to The Bahamas in 1790. He was based in Exuma but also travelled to Cat Island and Long Island, but he struggled to spread the Gospel properly.
As he tried to spread the Word, he grew increasingly concerned about the poverty that people lived in, and the lack of education. He wanted to start schools and get missionaries to come and educate the people – including the slaves. He went on to later become a Justice of the Peace in Eleuthera, but continued to press for education for the people. In 1799, he left after a disagreement – but his campaign bore fruit. The government had begun building churches and schools in the islands.
What does the reverend have to do with this discussion? Well, Columbus Primary School is itself an amalgamation of previous schools – one of which was the William Gordon Primary School, merged with the Columbus Primary School and established in 1999. Buildings have been renamed frequently over the years – and Columbus is not going to disappear from our past just because we are changing the name of a school that has itself changed over the years.
Equally, there is more to the history of the statue of Christopher Columbus than simply a changing understanding of Columbus’ actions and a new recognition of the crimes he perpetrated against the Lucayans when he reached the island of The Bahamas.
The statue itself was a result of a gift to Carmichael Smyth. Smyth was appointed governor of The Bahamas in 1829.
Smyth was an abolitionist when it came to the subject of slavery – and found himself at odds with many white residents when he arrived.
While in The Bahamas, he tried unsuccessfully to abolish corporal punishment for female slaves, and intervened in a case involving runaways from the Lord Rolle estate in Exuma. The magistrates who signed a warrant to punish female slaves among the runaways were suspended by Smyth. The uproar did not stop there, with Smyth also dismissing the police magistrate and several municipal judges.
In gratitude, those who supported Smyth’s actions, especially the black community, donated funds to Smyth to have a monument made. He used the funds to create the statue of Christopher Columbus, or so the story goes in Keith Tinker’s book, “The African Diaspora of The Bahamas”.
The opponents of Smyth refused to let the statue go to Parliament Square –and instead the statue of Queen Victoria was erected there instead. If you take that history into account, maybe it is the statue of Victoria that should be the one removed rather than the one that was created thanks to a gift to a man who opposed the abuse of slaves.
If we are going to talk about changing historic elements within our society, at the very least we ought to talk about the complete history rather than settle for a kneejerk response to the whims of social media.
The crimes of Columbus do not go away because we change a name. But equally the story of our nation is deeper and more resonant than a simple name.
We should also be cautious about what name we choose instead – and avoid choices made for partisan reasons.
What should matter most of course is that the school is properly equipped, that it has a full roster of teachers and staf, that the children are thriving in their studies and any required improvements have been carried out. That is the important thing. If that is not the case, then changing a name is just a distraction from the very mission that the Rev William Gordon set out upon in the frst place.
The senior civil servants and their shadow allies actually, in my opinion, rum and managed the civil service. I know of at least five cases where directives were given to such individuals, in my presence, only to appear to be completely ignored. In cases where Bahamians would have applied for grants of Crown Land or outright purchase, while the application is acknowledged, that, usually is the demise of such applications.
When an applicant reaches out for a formal follow up, he/she would be dead lucky to receive the same. Years later, most of the applications are still being ‘processed’. These inordinate delays and turn arounds make the PM, as Minister with responsibility for Crown Land, look bad and ineffective. A PM usually acts on ‘advice’ from the Lands & Surveys Department. That vital department, if ordinary Bahamians are to be empowered financially, by accessing a viable acreage, is in urgent need of digitalisation and modernisation.
In other ministries, such as Agriculture & Fisheries, young Bahamians are encouraged to attend the BAMSI Institute over in Andros, often at great financial sacrifices by themselves and their families. Upon graduation, they find themselves unable to lease or be granted the smallest piece of Crown Land, anywhere in the country, to conduct medium to large scale niche farming. Graduates who do apply or who may seek employment. or apprenticeship within that ministry often does so in vain.
The senior Civil Servants in all governmental
agencies; departments and ministries actually make the critical everyday decisions. They decide who is placed in ‘the dance’ and whose applications, for almost anything, is either granted, seemingly as ‘a favor’ or rejection outright. Mind you, we do have a cadre of ‘good’ civil servants BUR, it has been said, one bad apple could spoil the whole barrel. As one of the economic and personal development hold-back of countless ordinary Bahamians, is this paternalistic attitude of the senior ranks of the civil service. Again, I welcome the appointment of the Hon Sebas Bastian (PLP-Fort Charlotte) as Minister of Innovation; Technology & National Development, along with the Hon. Wayde Watson (PLP-Bain & Grants Town), Minister of State within that critical ministry.
Again, I seek not to lambaste the Civil Service across the board but something, at some point, will have to give. A recent and ongoing issue that many Bahamians have is with The Public Hospital Authority (PHA). There are far too many Health Care Providers and professionals complaining about long overdue payments for services rendered. The PHA publicly acknowledges that funds are owed BUT that the allocated funds for this current fiscal year have already been exhausted!
Surely the management team with the PHA would have/should have anticipated financial shortfalls long before they became an issue? Additional funds could easily have been requested from the Ministry of Health & Wellness and, of course, the Ministry of Finance. Was this done?
Thousands of hapless Bahamians have had
their real estate compulsorily acquired by successive administration ‘in the interest of the public’. All well and good But under the relevant legislation, the administration is duty bound to adequately Compensate the legal owner of such land within a reasonable time frame. As a seasoned Business Consultant and defrocked Lawyer, I have been consulted by scores of such persons and/or their living representatives where they have been waiting for decades to be Compensated as required by law. Usually, the only viable alternative is to institute legal proceedings against the administration. This would usually require one to engage legal counsel at great expense and consumption of time. The Senior Civil Servants, at the stroke of their pens, have the authority to recommend payment of compensation to the Minister with responsibility for Acquisitions. Again, that would be the holder of that office at the given time or the current one today. No sensible Bahamian could or should expect the aforesaid Minister to be personally aware of each and every pending challenges with Crown Land or Compensation for compulsory acquisitions. I would never accuse anyone single Bahamian of being ‘an enemy of the people’ and I do not now do so But clearly, however, our national and personal economic development maybe hindered by what seems to be the long-entrenched modus operandi of a large and intractable civil servants and their minions. The PM, during this upcoming fiscal year, Must, once again Crack The Whip and read The Riot Act to the cadre within the ranks of the Civil Service. To God then, in all things, be the glory.
ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr Nassau, June 26, 2026.
Independence a double-edged sword?
EDITOR, The Tribune. INDEPENDENCE fundamentally transformed CARICOM members from neglected colonial outposts into self-governing nations possessing distinct global voices. Sovereignty empowered these developing states to shed colonial rule, exercise diplomatic autonomy, and drive regional integration. Yet, this hard-won self-rule has simultaneously exposed the Caribbean to deep structural vulnerabilities and the unforgiving realities of global trade, proving that independence came with severe economic trade-offs.
Political self-determination granted member states the freedom to forge independent foreign policies, secure their national borders, and command a unified, collective voice in global forums like the United Nations. This solidarity yielded historic achievements. CARICOM’s unified diplomatic front was crucial in protecting Belize’s borders against external territorial claims during its critical transition to independence. Demonstrating immense geopolitical courage, CARICOM nations collectively broke regional isolation by establishing formal diplomatic relations with Cuba, boldly defying the United States blockade. Long before South Africa’s liberation in 1994, Caribbean nations stood as the world’s most vocal opponents of the racist regime.
CARICOM aggressively leveraged diplomatic pressure, enforced strict economic boycotts, and mandated sports isolation—including severe sanctions against rebel cricket tours—to help cripple the apartheid state. Leadership beyond foreign policy, sovereignty enabled the region to reconstruct unique national identities, independently finance targeted social development initiatives, and replace inherited colonial legal apparatuses with localised systems.
Independence enabled the creation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), fostering the free movement of labor, unifying economic bargaining power, and establishing shared structures like the Caribbean Court of Justice. On the world stage, CARICOM states have established themselves as premier global advocates for climate justice. Facing an existential threat, countries like Belize and Dominica rigorously spearhead international efforts to safeguard critical marine and forest ecosystems. Despite these triumphs, the loss of colonial preferential trade agreements abruptly exposed small Caribbean economies to intense global competition. Decades after independence, the region has struggled to construct an autonomous economic machinery capable of prioritising its own national and collective interests. Instead, member states frequently
find themselves negotiating from a position of subordination with global giants like Europe, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. This structural dependency is compounded by severe, interconnected domestic barriers. Many members grapple with staggering levels of public debt and limited fiscal diversification. The persistent “brain drain” of skilled professionals fleeing to North America and Europe continuously starves local institutions of vital talent. Reflecting a broader Western trend of declining living standards since the 1980s, CARICOM states are plagued by rising crime, persistent poverty, governance failures, and deep social stratification. Ultimately, independence is an ongoing challenge rather than a final destination; it is merely a graduation ceremony. To secure genuine financial independence and elevate our hard-won sovereignty, CARICOM must transition away from external dependence and move aggressively toward internal self-reliance and robust regional interdependence. We must treat self-governance not as a static achievement, but as a commencement exercise that the Caribbean must continually elevate through collective institutional development, strategic education, and lifelong national growth.
BRIAN ELLIS PLUMMER Nassau, June 28, 2026.
16 kids found in squalor shocks Ohio town
By JULIE CARR SMYTH and REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
JUST days after authorities removed 16 siblings from a squalid home and arrested their parents and grandparents, the question looms over their southern Ohio village: How could this have happened, for years, unnoticed, right here?
Neighbours of the family in tiny Hamden, employees at local stores where they shopped and even the investigators who responded to the scene have been left to wonder that aloud and to themselves, and the limited information shared by investigators doesn’t offer a full answer.
The children weren’t enrolled in school, the family moved around over the past two decades, and neighbours said they’d never spotted the kids. The children remained mostly confined to a small room in the house, investigators said, under deplorable conditions.
“Right under our noses and nobody was able to help them sooner,” said Emily Collins, 27, owner of VC Farm & Floral in nearby McArthur. “It’s just crazy that all the wonderful things going on in our little Hallmark town and this is what puts us on the radar. It’s really sad,” said the mother of three, who was compelled to decorate the sidewalk with bright flowers and stars drawn in chalk to cheer herself up. Authorities said they had gone to the home Tuesday on an unrelated investigation and discovered the children — ages 1 1/2 to 18 years old — some of whom were unable to speak.
Seven were taken to hospitals, including one who was in critical condition, investigators said. Their current conditions weren’t immediately known Thursday. Child welfare officials have temporary custody of the children.
Lawyers: Let the case ‘play out’
Four people who are the children’s parents and grandparents were arrested on child endangerment charges. Gary Siders Jr., 36, Gary Siders, 73, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Christina Siders, 67, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment. Bond was set at $300,000 each.
The children’s mother, Elizabeth Siders, married their father Gary Siders Jr. when she was 15, and all of the children are theirs, her attorney, Thomas Stolly, told The Associated Press. She was “crying and exhausted” when he met with her on Thursday, Stolly said.
“In fact, my client’s first question to me when I walked into the jail and introduced myself was about her kids. She asked if her children were OK, she asked if I knew where they were, and she asked when she’d be able to see them again,” Stolly said. He wasn’t able to answer those questions, “but I thought it was telling that her first concern was not, ‘When can I get out of jail,’ but was ‘Are my children OK.’”
Stolly said his client told him that all of the children were born in area hospitals and she considers herself a fulltime mom. She left high school after the 11th grade, he said, and Gary Siders Jr. was driving for Door Dash and looking for another job, he said.
Stolly said the prosecutor’s office has not yet shared their evidence with him, but so far he hasn’t seen anything that supports Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s description of the family as “pure evil.”
“Evil requires malice, and I did not see any malice in Elizabeth,” Stolly said.
He added: “I think that this is more so a case of isolation than a case of evil, and I think that there’s an important distinction there. Because if that’s all you know -- and you have to think someone at 15 years old doesn’t know a whole lot about being an adult, about being a mother, about being a wife — and that’s been your worldview for the past 17 or 18 years, you get shaped by that.”
Stolly said Elizabeth didn’t characterize herself as a victim, but “I think it may be too early to actually determine what was going on there.”
“While the headlines may be sensational, there’s a real human component to this and so I would ask people to give this process time to play out,” Stolly said.
An attorney for the elder Siders also urged the public to wait before passing judgment.
“We ask that the community at large, as well as anyone who might have an interest in this case, to take a deep breath, step back, and let the case play out and the facts play out,” Dorian Baum told The Associated Press.
Attorneys for Siders Jr. and Christina Siders declined to comment.
Little traffic on home’s rural road
A man who lives three houses down from the Siders family said he had seen “no kids at all” there.
“It’s a sad situation,” said Joseph Stewart, 60, who has lived in the “quiet neighbourhood” for six years.
Man acquitted of sexual assault against 13-year-old
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was acquitted yesterday of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2024, while the case against his bus driver co-accused, who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-yearold girl that same day, will continue next week.
Shaveney Taylor, 20, was present as Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez instructed a jury to fnd him not guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse.
The direction came after the jury heard more than a week of testimony in the matter. Justice WeechGomez did not tell the jury the reason for her direction.
Taylor was told he was free to go as long as he had no other matters before the court.
Meanwhile, Taylor’s co-accused, Tremiko Dean, 27, was told that his trial on two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse will continue next week, when the defence is expected to begin its case.
Dean, a bus driver, is accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl twice between January 2, 2024, and March 10, 2024, in New Providence.
Authorities wouldn’t publicly share the nature of the other investigation that led them to the house Tuesday. However, court records show a warrant was issued for Siders Jr. that day on misdemeanour indecent exposure charges related to alleged incidents on four days in May. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, windows and doors at the formerly wide-open home, about 60 miles (97 kilometres) southeast of Columbus, had been boarded up. Police tape and piles of refuse remained.
The previous day, a door was ajar and heaps of trash and children’s toys were visible inside. A wood deck and the backyard were filled with discarded tires, a high chair and other debris.
The house sits on a road tucked alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains to a rail yard in the village of fewer than 1,000 residents. The closest neighbours are separated by trees and thick brush, but the house is easily visible from the road.
Kids not seen in schools
Investigators said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades and that it looks like they avoided creating a medical or governmental paper trail. The Vinton County Local School District, the only district in the area, said it has no records indicating that any of the children were ever enrolled.
“These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,” Wilson, the state attorney general, said Wednesday.
The children’s absence from school, and the apparent lack of regular visits with medical professionals, likely contributed to keeping the dire situation unknown, said Jacqueline Yahn, an associate professor at Ohio University.
“When kids are isolated or not participating, you don’t have someone who’s trained to know the clues,” said Yahn, who specializes in rural education and poverty.
“A well-check is called that for a reason: They’re checking for well-being and development.”
Investigators were reviewing whether the family was reported to any children’s services agencies in the past.
The children spent most of their time in a room that was roughly 12 feet by 12 feet (3.5 meters by 3.5 meters), according to investigators, who noted that human waste was all around.
“They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible,” Wilson said.
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl twice in New Providence this year was remanded to prison yesterday.
Prosecutors allege Jamal Naissance, 24, had unlawful sexual intercourse with the underaged girl sometime
Shaneka Carey and Betty Wilson are prosecuting the case.
Moses Bain represented Dean, while Keith Seymour represented Taylor.
Taylor had been accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-yearold girl on March 10, 2024. One of the alleged assaults took place at one of the defendants’ residences, while another allegedly occurred in a bus parked at a gas station. A medical report said the 14-year-old complainant was admitted to the hospital on March 11, 2024, and treated with antiretrovirals. The complainant’s mother previously testifed that the girl remained in the hospital for three months. The mother also claimed that, to her knowledge, the child had a vaginal infection.
24-year-old accused of sexually assaulting teen girl
between May 27 and 29. The accused allegedly had unlawful sexual intercourse with the same girl again on June 25.
Naissance was not required to enter a plea to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse when he appeared before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. He was told his matter would proceed to the Supreme Court through a voluntary bill of indictment. Naissance was also informed of his right to apply for bail in the higher court. He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until service of his VBI on October 8.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Kendrick Bauld prosecuted the case, while Alphonso Lewis represented the accused.
68-year-old gets $7,000 bail on indecent assault charge
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 68-YEAR-OLD man accused of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old woman in New Providence last week was granted bail. Prosecutors allege Gregory Neely, 68, inappropriately touched the young woman on June 28.
Neely pleaded not guilty to indecent assault when he appeared before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. Assistant Superintendent of Police Kendrick Bauld, the prosecutor, raised no objection to bail but asked that conditions be attached.
Neely’s bail was set at $7,000 with one or two sureties. He must sign in at the Nassau Street Police Station every Friday by 7pm and will be ftted with a monitoring device. Neely returns for trial on September 25.
Accused granted bail over FNM headquarters break-in
By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Staff Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN was charged yesterday with breaking into the Free National Movement headquarters on St Michael Road and stealing $1,590 worth of property last week.
Prosecutors allege Michael Woodside, 34, broke into an FNM building and stole a 21-speed Begasso bicycle, an
assortment of beer and a case of chicken leg quarters belonging to Gadville McDonald sometime between June 24 and 27.
During the same incident, Woodside allegedly caused $1,070 worth of damage to the front and back doors, a security screen door and locks at the building. Woodside pleaded not guilty to shopbreaking, stealing, receiving and damage when he appeared
before Magistrate Abigail Farrington. Woodside’s bail was set at $3,500 with one or two sureties. Under the terms of his bail, he must sign in at the East Street South Police Station every Thursday by 6pm. He will also be ftted with a monitoring device.
Woodside returns for trial on August 12.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Kendrick Bauld prosecuted the case.
ITEMS including a high chair are seen in a home where authorities say they removed 16 children and arrested four adults in Hamden, Ohio, Wednesday.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Diane Phillips
Honour or honor? Organise or organize?
The King’s English or the American-ease?
What’s a Bahamian to do?
THE English language is a bear at the best of times. So many words that sound the same yet have totally different meanings: plane, plain. Pain, pane. Here and hear or where and wear. Vein and vain. Knight and night. Heir and air.
there or is there not a ‘u’ in honour, glamour, favour or humour? And how do you spell the word that means to arrange people, things or events – do you organise with an ‘s’ or do you organize with a ‘z’?
on their machine was being gravely overused while the letter ‘z’ was rarely clicked. They both sounded the same so they substituted one for the other and it stuck.
newsmaker foating around, the AP Stylebook editors selected the most culturally appropriate and easy to
Estimates put the number of words in the English language at somewhere between 470,000 and a million, and with numbers like that it’s not surprising there’s overlap. Ever since the frst English person sounded out the letters, English has been as complicated, complex, confusing, and convoluted a language as any that has ever been conceived. Just speaking it is hard enough for the English or for the Americans who inherited it and made it their own. But for us Bahamians, it’s even worse. We’re caught in the middle -- halfway between the language of the
land that’s a hop, skip, and 35-minute plane ride away, and the land across the pond that left us its judicial and political heritage. We listen to the music of one and elect our government based on rules of the other. We depend on visitors from one and fy the fag of the other. It’s no wonder we are confused about how to spell.
Bahamas caught in the middle
The two countries that contribute to the culture we call our own both speak English. They just can’t agree on how to spell it.
This is not a simple pronunciation distinction like
For those who say using an ‘s’ is the right way, you may be surprised at its origin. What you defend as essentially and authentically English and the absolute British proper spelling is not originally British at all. It was, apparently, borrowed from the French during a hiatus in the series of AngloFrench wars that began with the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and lasted well into the modern day.
But the question remains – if the British were satisfed with the ‘s’ they borrowed from the French, why did it change to ‘z’ when it reached American shores?
The answer may come as
the difference between potato and po-tot-o, the former with a loud ‘A’ and the latter pronounced like the description of a human between infancy and childhood. This goes right to the root of who you think should rule the way you spell everyday words. Is
Once that reached the Associated Press (AP), it was a done deal.
Since the late 1800s, AP, the global news operation and the world’s most prolifc storyteller, has set the style for what serves as accepted language –grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, even changes in words considered acceptable for formal use. AP is to the printed form of words what Prada is to fashion – the standard bearer for the present age, even if some fnd it distasteful at best and loathsome at worst.
Coveted AP stylebooks
While the original AP style books were created for internal usage among its many news bureaus and reporters around the world, by the 1950s the AP Stylebook had become a must-have in offces, boardrooms, and classrooms around the world.
AP Stylebook editors were quick on their feet, adapting to change in technology and
another surprise. It stems from how the news industry tells a story. Long before the days of digital, old-fashioned typesetters pounded out the keys to set type on heavy metal equipment. At some point, someone is believed to have realized that the ‘s’
By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — A skyscraper-scaling daredevil told police that he and his girlfriend climbed the Empire State Building's antenna and unfurled a banner about love and peace because he wanted to "do something special" for their engagement, prosecutors said Thursday at the couple's arraignment on felony reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges.
The couple, who go by Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, said little as they left court, though Beerkus responded to a journalist's question about the stunt by saying: "We believe in love."
Authorities said the two — who were the subject of the 2024 Netfix documentary " Skywalkers: A Love Story " about their "rooftopping" exploits and
what all reporters used from then on, whether it was the original spelling or not. AP cleared up the confusion and Moslem became Muslim. The idea of a single style book for something as complicated as language was novel and it was a huge unplanned success story. Though initially restricted for newsrooms, millions of copies have since been sold. I still have my frst copy
harmful or reckless behaviour. (Or is that behavior?) People, AP says, are not illegal, therefore they cannot be illegal immigrants. They may be in a place without the legal right to be there, but… anyway, you get the point. AP did not state that using the words ‘illegal immigrant’ was an illegal act. It’s not a legal body, just an advisory service for how we speak and how we tell our story. It was just a change in expression based on a fact that could, coincidentally, help create a softer, gentler culture by speaking in less derogatory terms about others.
culture, initially updating the approved style every two years, and, later, annually.
As typewriters gave way to word processors and word processors gave way to personal computers, two spaces between sentences gave way to a single space. Paragraph indentations shrunk from fve spaces to two. Newsprint shrank. Words like texting, iPhone, and social networking appeared faster in the AP Stylebook than they could be changed in the printed dictionary, though AP always had a dictionary partner.
Power of the AP decision
Where there could be more than one spelling of the name of a national leader or
from when I was a reporter more than 40 years ago back in the day, when lowly reporters didn’t earn the right to such a treasure. Someone, I cannot remember who, gave me theirs. It was an honour then, and it remains an honor today.
Changing an ‘s’ to a ‘z’ is more noticeable in The Bahamas where we feel conficted about the correct spelling of a word. But we still use the phrase “illegal immigrant” when AP declared that after 9/11 (another AP phrase added to the dictionary) the world would be a better place if our language did not label people as illegal. Guns can be illegal, drugs can be illegal, so can many acts of
If AP Stylebook says it no longer sanctions the use of words like ‘illegal immigrant’ since people cannot be illegal, they can only perform illegal acts, the absence of such a derogatory phrase may eventually lessen the tension in the air.
Of course, it does not resolve the outstanding, scratch-your-head dilemma about the words like honour or glamour or favour for Bahamians, a people born of multiple cultures with differences in spelling that are just a sliver of a much larger picture of what sets us apart from each other.
On the other hand, with all the serious issues facing humankind, the debate over an ‘s’ or a ‘z’ seems pretty petty, but it might be worthy of a convo over a coffee klatch. Or is that a chat over crumpets and tea?
budding romance — created not only a spectacle but a danger by ascending the famed skyscraper's broadcast antenna Wednesday. After reaching the top, 1,454 feet (443 meters) above midtown Manhattan, the climbers displayed a black banner reading: "When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace," news helicopter video showed. Then they collected the banner and descended to a slightly lower ledge, where an apparently successful marriage proposal unfolded. Nikolau posted images of the escapade on her social media accounts, including a photo that modeled an engagement-style ring above a bird's-eye view of Manhattan.
Police waited about a half-hour for the antenna to be powered down before Emergency Services Unit ofcers started ascending
and eventually intercepted the climbers on their way down, according to the complaint, which noted the danger to ofcers who climbed about 1,250 feet (381 meters) above the ground. The court document identifed the two by their formal names, Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov.
"Skywalkers: A Love Story" follows Beerkus, now 32, and Nikolau, 33, as they make often unauthorized ascents of tall structures, sometimes posing as construction workers to sneak in. The court complaint said police found a broken lock on a security door on the Empire State Building's restricted-access 104th foor, which provides access to the antenna. The highest public foor is the 102nd, where there's an observation deck. Going higher requires a key
card, according to the court complaint. The Empire State Building's management has called the climb "unauthorized" but hasn't answered questions about what interactions, if any, the daredevils had with security workers. Visitors to the skyscraper are screened and told not to bring large packages, sports equipment, costumes or masks, among other items. Beerkus and Nikolau were released without bail, in accordance with New York laws that restrict when monetary bail can be set. Their attorney, Jason Krinsky, said outside court that once prosecutors provide evidence, he and his clients would assess it and determine next steps. "What a way to propose — something you can only dream of," Krinsky said. "So you've got to, you know, give him some credit for that."
Photo: AP
Photo: Die Buchdruckerei by Daniel Chodowiecki/wikipedia
TWO people stand on the tip of the antenna of the Empire State Building in New York while holding a banner on Wednesday, July 1, 2026.
Photo: WABC-TV via AP
Eric Wiberg • Lighthouses
Cay Sal Bank and Old Bahama Channel lighthouses
FROM a letter by Sir George Pocock to the Secretary of the Admiralty in July 1762. A feet of British ships described carefully entering the Old Bahama Channel from Cay Sal, led by a New Providence pilot using Lord Anson’s charts, and on the advice of a very diligent and careful Captain Elphington and Captain Lindsay of HMS Trent, with ships HMS Alarm and HMS Echo, HMS Barbadoes, HMS Bonetta, and HMS Richmond. “
Between Cape Lobos and Cayo comfto,” they describe, “they kept good frelights on each Cayo for our directions.”
Early in 1840, the US and British authorities issued a joint statement in the press regarding Her Majesty’s government having established a light house at Salt Cay Bank.
On February 15, the light was lit, atop a base 46 feet above high water, a tower 54 feet high, holding a fxed light almost 360 degrees around and visible for nine miles. Customs Collector WT Hamlyn describes tides up to three feet, with strong currents, and the proximity of Water and Double-headed Shot Cays. The light is 100 feet above sea level and visible for 14 miles.
The leading light of the massive triangle of shallows named Cay Sal Bank is situated on Cay Sal, in the Double-Headed Shot Cays. It was the third one completed by the Imperial Light Service (ILS) in 1839, yet soon thereafter it was needed less, as motorized ships became more reliable and better able than sailing ships to avoid the current-laced reefs. One of the earliest wrecks on Cay Sal Bank is said to be the feet under a Spanish admiral trying to work north from Havana to Spain when adverse winds drove them ashore in 1733.
In 1856, Superintendent of Lighthouses, James Long, wrote from Nassau that the Cay Sal Light had been extinguished and was replaced by a temporary light in January 1856, but that the new light was not as visible as the prior one. In 1879 a change for the light at North Elbow Cay Light was issued, underscoring the importance of these lights to navigation and commerce.
An 1895 New York Herald article is entitled “A Nest of British Islets: Salt Key Bank is a British Posession, Lighted by a British Lighthouse – a Convenient
Station for Smugglers and Insurgents,” referring to its flter-like position straddling
Cay Sal.
In 1958, both Bahamas California Oil and Bahamas
Cay Sal Bank. He claimed that a schooner named Dellie at Key West supplied him
to Nassau. Then a Dutch steamer named Andania under Captain Vonderlin ran
waters from Cuba to the US. One smuggler mused that with so many cays, the lighthouse had been given many names by smugglers, and revolutionaries, and refugees. These reefs were so deadly that in hurricanes one schooner, Invincible, saw 20 wrecks nearby in the Florida Keys. “Talk about the key to the gulf,” said one old salt. “What is Key West or Dry Tortugas compared with Salt Key Bank?” He sang praise of the lawlessness of the bank, saying that unless a Royal Navy happened to make a pass through, “there are no British authorities here higher than the lighthouse keeper.” He described the many cays as ideal for “temporary refuge” in “unprotected British territory for “smugglers under pressure, or revolutionists.”
According to Annie Potts, Cuban immigrants seeking to land in the US still use the light as a place to rest roughly half way. “Many rafts and small boat wrecks on Cay Sal Island. The lighthouse on Elbow Cay usually has a few jugs of water and some food stashed in the base of the light tower…. [which] is decorated with the names of many who have attempted the journey.”
A Cold War period in 1954 was made hot when Cuban patrol ships entered Bahamian waters to capture 19 Cubans at Anguilla Cay in Cay Sal Bank. A headline read that the tranquility of the Bahamas was broken by its proximity to Cuba in such tense times as the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 48 hours 27 new refugees were found in
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce donate $26M to charities ahead of wedding
Gulf Oil announced their intention to drill exploratory oil wells in Cay Sal Bank, a practice that continues into recent time. Bahamians mused on how the refugees had been fsherman and professional mariners, but were replaced by amateurs, many of whom had never been to sea.
In March 1817, a pirate schooner captured a valuable Dutch ship off Cay Sal Bank, took the treasure, and after being barbarous to them, set the hapless Dutch men adrift. The following year the George Amistad of Baltimore was overcome by the pirate ship Young Spartan. In 1822, a brig named Aurilla from New York to New Orleans was taken with several women. The pirates anchored her at Cay Sal Bank, tortured the men and were cruel to the women. Many were the atrocities meted out to victims of pirates. As a result, governments and governors showed no mercy to the brigands they apprehended.
In 1854, Captain R. Leavitt on the brigantine Globe from New York was run aground at Dog Rocks on Cay Sal Bank, and the next day a brig named Ada of Maine took many of the men off the Globe. However, the captain stuck with his ship and the barque Helen helped him save her, Then the wrecker named Sarah under salvor Captain Fernander towed her to Nassau, saving the cargo of hides.
In 1896, a Cuban revolutionary in Key West denied that he had been supplied with weapons by a British ship named HMS Pelican at
By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have donated $26 million to charities this week ahead of their Friday wedding at Madison Square Garden.
The donations were spread out across 20 local and national charities, according to Swift's publicist, with many located in areas where the couple has deep ties. The announcement did not include any mention of Swift and Kelce's wedding, but a law enforcement offcial briefed on security plans has told AP that the wedding will be held Friday, with a smaller rehearsal dinner Thursday night.
Nine of the selected organizations are based in New York, ranging from the Food Bank For NYC, City Harvest, to Musical
of Yellow Elder Gardens, New Providence, Bahamas will be held on Saturday, July 4th, 2026, 11:00a.m. at Bahamas Holy Bible Mission, Bahama Avenue, New Providence. Offciating by Reverend Henry L. Rolle assisted by other ministers of the gospel. Internment will follow in the Southern Cemetery, Cowpen and Spikenard Roads.
Family and friends may pay their last respects at St. Ambrose Funeral Home, No.34 Arundel Street, New Providence on (TODAY) Friday, 3rd July, 2026 at 11:00 am - 4:00 pm.
instead. It was a time of intrigue, two years before the Spanish-American War broke out.
In October of 1914, the principal light keeper of Cay Sal Lighthouse, Mr. Selathiel W Roberts was killed while on duty in his 49th year of life and after many years of service. The news arrived in Nassau via Havana. The Miami Herald reported in 1994 how “Cay Sal Bank has become a popular stopover point for Cuban refugees on their way to the Florida Keys,” noting that the only inhabitants were seven RBDF members on Cay Sal itself.
Late in 1870 the US Consul in Nassau reported that at Cay Sal Bank the bark WK Brown was wrecked during a hurricane, with some of its cargo saved. Six other ships were smashed there as well, with none of the crew surviving and their cargo also lost. In 1853, Captain Blein aboard a ship named Victoria, en route from Spain to Havana wrecked in Cay Sal, with the crew saved and the captain endeavoring to save some cargo.
In 1890, a ship threaded between the Elbow Cay Light in Cay Sal Bank near Double-Headed-Shot Cays and the water shallowed so quickly it became a light green colour near the tall light tower. They crossed the 60-mile bank into the Old Bahama Channel, where they found Cay Lobos Light. In 1862, when Union State ran aground south of Double-headed Shot Cays and sank in three hours, the wrecking schooner Ocean Monarch brought the crew
ashore with a cargo of meat, cotton, and rice. American wreckers from the Florida Keys in a ship named Americana were frst on the scene.
In 1863, a steamer named Marion under captain Johnson wrecked there too. Fortunately, Mr. JB Squires was building a building attached to the lighthouse and saved much of the ship’s cargo. Some passengers went to Nassau and others to Cuba, while some elected to stay in tents until rescued.
In April 1868, the forlorn crew of the schooner Loyal Scranton were taken off the poop deck of their ship wrecked near Salt Cay, by the brig Phillip Larabee. The ship and its cargo, from New York to Alabama, were all lost.
In 1870 the lighthouse tender Richmond was de-masted off Cay Sal Light station. It limped to Water Cay. HMS Philomel towed the lighthouse schooner Richmond to Nassau where Captain Stuart said that in the hurricane of 6 October 1869, “it blew so furiously as to drive the sea over the cay 40 feet in height, and nothing could be seen half a mile.”
Louis Lourie from Corsica foated to the lighthouse on a board. He was from the Victoria of Spain, one of seven vessels lost nearby and 83 men are believed to have been killed on six ships. The sky as the hurricane approached was described by Stuart, whose vessel lost all its masts, as “like a black wall.”
In 1956, a British paper wrote that Cuba’s pre-Castro leader, Batista, wanted to “ensure that aggressions against Cuba do not come from Sal Cay in the
Mentors, a nonproft that connects music teachers with students in need.
Just how much each charity received was not disclosed.
Other charities refected where Swift and Kelce have also called home, including the Rhode Island Community Food Bank — where Swift owns an estate in Watch Hill — and the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri — where Kelce plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
A handful of national groups also received money: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a book giveaway program spearheaded by the music legend; the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Feeding America.
The large donations ahead of Swift and Kelce's wedding is reminiscent of charitable gifts the couple has given in the past.
light of the seizure of arms deposited there.” Complicating enforcement there, an American developer named Clarence Moody purchased a 99-year lease at Cay Sal, intending to build a fshing and vacation resort there, which he indeed began, and was often interrupted by folks in distress or in misdeeds.
In mid-1840 a big ship with painted ports was seen abound at Cay Sal Lighthouse, and another one with all her rigging had seven wrecking ships at its side like piglets to a sow, a dozen miles south of Gun Cay, Bimini.
In 1994, a charter boat named Eagle took Americans from Florida to Cay Say Bank and a Palm Beach Post writer observed jugs of water and food left for refugees from Cuba and overfights from American civilians looking for refugees from Communist Cuba to help. In mid-2015, the US Coast Guard described the region as wild west, with 2,600 refugees intercepted in half a year and 4,000 expected for the year. If Cubans arrived with wet feet – via water – they could apply for citizenship, whereas Haitians were generally denied that right and sent home under a law known as “wet foot/dry foot policy.”
Wrecker J. Newton Wilson spent half of 1876 aboard the ship Plover at Cay Sal Light. He had a crew of Bahamian divers who worked for Captain Bob Growler, who said he had a lease on the islands. They dove on half a dozen or more wrecks, salvaging anchors, brass, copper and other valuables. They also found the carcass of a ship named Golden Fontana, the skull of an alleged escaped slave, and an upside-down Baltimore sailing vessel named Union. That ship’s sugar cargo from Matanzas Cuba had disintegrated, but they managed to pry some valuables from the ship, which had drifted from Lavanderas Reef in the Old Bahama Channel. The survivors were in apprehension of sharks, Cuban contrabandistas, or smugglers, and Florida Cay or even Bahama wreckers. Wilson said there were wrecks aplenty off Cay Sal. He spoke glowingly of turtles laying eggs, bird rookeries, and abundant wildlife. Such a windswept and isolated place – no one born there, so many dying there in purgatory in the triangle between three nations.
Swift, a billionaire, gave millions to food banks ahead of her Eras Tour stops, while Kelce has been recognized by the Chiefs for winning "charity challenges" and operating his own nonproft.
Swift and Kelce have been in a relationship since 2023, enthralling millions around the world. Their relationship have been documented in countless shots of Swift celebrating at Chiefs games and fan videos of Kelce dancing along at Swift's Eras concert tour as it traveled the globe. In 2025, they announced their engagement with the caption but have remained mum on wedding details.
Yet buzz has remained high around New York's MSG, with multiple trucks and crews going in and out delivering materials for what is expected to be an elaborate event.
KANSAS City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, right, is congratulated by Taylor Swift as they celebrate the Chiefs’ victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship NFL football game, Jan. 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.
File
Davis says climate change taxing Bahamian households
HEAT from page one
Climate Conference at the University of The Bahamas, Mr Davis said blistering heat is no longer a distant threat, but a worsening burden on homes, public services and national infrastructure.
Scores of students attended the conference, which focused on how young people can help protect the environment for future generations.
Mr Davis said unprecedented heatwaves across Europe have triggered public health emergencies, disrupted schools and transport systems, strained electricity grids and worsened fres and drought.
He noted that preliminary estimates linked roughly a thousand excess deaths each in Spain and France to the extreme heat. Across the American
Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, he said, feelslike temperatures have reached between 100 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Bahamas has also endured periods of excessive heat. Last month, the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Department of Meteorology issued a heat health bulletin warning that heat index values between 102 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit were expected in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Bimini, the Berry Islands, Andros and Eleuthera.
Mr Davis said Bahamas Power and Light pointed to the strain of early heat, along with equipment faults, as a factor in outages experienced in early June.
“For our families, that heat is more than discomfort – it is an added cost of living,” he said. “More electricity, more water
existential threat of climate change worsens each day we do not take sufcient action.”
Mr Davis said world leaders have failed to do enough to confront the climate crisis, but told students their involvement gives him hope.
“And while the leaders of global superpowers consistently fail to do what it takes to sufciently address the dangers posed by climate change, I fnd hope and strength to carry on this fght each time I see young people like you, ready and willing to put in the work and make a diference in whatever way you can,” he said.
Mr Davis applauded students for their commitment to addressing climate change, saying climate activism is not limited to marching in the streets or delivering lofty speeches, but includes daily decisions to love and protect The Bahamas.
Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis satnding with awardees during the Fourth Annual Bahamass
Youth Climate Change Conference.
Photos: Nikia Charlton
Bahamas Striping Group launches 7th
THE BAHAMAS Striping Group of Companies launched its seventh annual Let’s Make a Difference Initiative, which will feed 15,000 people this Thanksgiving and provide a free swimming programme at the Fox Hill and Mount community centres. The group aims to feed 50,000 people by the end of 2026. Minister of Agriculture Jomo Campbell praised the effort, confirming the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation will continue its support. Campbell and BAIC General Manager Troy Samson pledged fresh fruit for students in the swimming programme. BAIC has supplied hundreds of pounds of produce to the initiative since 2023.
Photos: Shawn Hanna