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VOLUME:117 No.160, JULY 16TH, 2020

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OIL DEAL CUTS BPL BILLS 30%

L SOUR CE

FRONT PORCH

BY SIMON SEE PAGE EIGHT

Families windfall as long-term fuel buy saves $150m

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BPL’s newly-executed fuel hedging strategy will save hard-pressed consumers and the wider economy $150m over 18 months, senior officials disclosed yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest and Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, told Tribune Business the strategy represents a win

for BPL’s household and business customers, the government and its fiscal position, and the economy.

Both the government and BPL said the $150m savings will translate into a 30 percent reduction in consumers’ electricity bills when compared to the 18-month period prior to August 2020, as the hedge will eliminate for “the first time ever” the cost volatility created by swings in global oil prices.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

FLIGHT ATTENDANT POSITIVE: TWO NEW ‘TRAVEL INFECTED’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMASAIR flight attendant tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday as health officials announced three new COVID-19 cases in New Providence yesterday, including two with a history of travel.

Since international flights resumed at the beginning of the month, the flight attendant worked flights on July 5 and July 6 that went

into Fort Lauderdale, The Tribune understands.

Florida has emerged as the new epicentre of the coronavirus, recording more than 10,000 new cases yesterday and a record 15,000-plus cases on Sunday. In a press statement, Bahamasair Managing Director Tracy Cooper said that the flight attendant has not been to work since July 6. He said the airline has been in SEE PAGE THREE

WELCOME TO THE BAHAMAS THE CASE against three American tourists who were accused of violating the COVID-19 emergency orders was dismissed yesterday after they said a police officer gave them permission to go onto Cabbage Beach on Independence Day. Report - Page 2 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

GB BUSINESSES IN FEAR PARENTS ASK FOR MORE OF RENEWED LOCKDOWN FACE-TO-FACE LESSONS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE government was yesterday warned that any move to place Grand Bahama back into total lockdown over the recent COVID-19 surge would

be “devastating” for the island’s economy with Carey Leonard, the former Grand Bahama Port Authority in-house attorney, warning another closure “isn’t on” as many businesses “barely survived” the first.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AMID uncertainty surrounding the re-opening of schools, some parents say they want officials to consider resuming face-toface instruction, but with

POLICE RELOCATIONS ‘NOT LINKED TO PARTY’

By TRIBUNE REPORTER DEPUTY Commissioner of Police Ismella DavisDelancey is leading an investigation into a video of people staging a party in a courtroom, according to Police Commissioner Paul Rolle.

“The matter pertaining to the video is being investigated by the deputy commissioner to determine whether or not there is any wrongdoing,”

A VIDEO-grab from the party Commissioner Rolle said yesterday.

Top judiciary officials

are also investigating the video, which appeared to show some court staff. The cell phone video showed several women gyrating to music and holding beverages in the 30-second clip that spread on social media last week. A few men were also caught on camera in the courtroom party.

A statement by Chief Justice Brian Moree and Chief Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson-Pratt on Friday said the

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FOUR

strict health guidelines.

The parents say they do not support the implementation of a blended learning environment.

This comes after Education Minister Jeff Lloyd told reporters on Tuesday SEE PAGE THREE

sport BUDDY AND HIS LIFE IN THE BUBBLE

PAGE 2, Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

‘THIS INCIDENT WILL DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD TO THE COUNTRY’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party blamed Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday after three tourists accused of violating his COVID-19 emergency orders were discharged.

Ikrame Kanane, 25, Rana Kenawy, and Mariam Mohamed Hassen, 18, made headlines when photos showing them scaling a locked fence at Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island last Friday spread on social

media. Yesterday in court they claimed an officer gave them permission to go on a local beach on Independence Day. People across social media were shocked at the discharge. Some said Bahamians would not have been let off so easily. PLP chairman Fred Mitchell said in a statement: “Needless to say, this trial will attract international attention. Tourists who visited the Bahamas because of its advertised sun, sand and sea tourism product were hauled before the courts for enjoying sun,

sand and sea all because of a bad decision by a singular competent authority. This incident will do more harm than good to the country’s tourism product and brand, not to mention our international reputation.

“The PLP again calls on the competent authority to allow expert medical and scientific evidence to drive all of his decisions if he is to expect continued cooperation from an increasingly exasperated and frustrated public.”

Mr Mitchell said the discharge of tourists was an

embarrassment for the government and that the matter was a waste of time and resources for police and the courts.

“So nonsensical are some of these emergency orders by the so-called competent authority that the government is challenged and hard pressed to get the law enforcement officers to enforce some of them or to understand what they are,” he said. “We note the decision of the police to place handcuffs on the persons charged. We have made the point before that the use of

these and other restraints when there appears to be no violence or record of flight seems over the top and may be unconstitutional. In any event it is a terrible image for tourism in the Bahamas.

The tourism ministry must be having a fit.”

Yesterday, Free National Movement Chairman Carl Culmer hit out at the PLP for trying to “gain political points” from a judge’s decision.

“It’s disappointing to see the PLP would try to gain political points on a magistrate making a decision,”

Mr Culmer told this newspaper. “The government’s job is to be the legislator.

Unlike the PLP, the government can’t control the courts. We allow the courts to work without interference. If the PLP was looking around different countries, they would see that many countries are closing their beaches so we can’t bury our heads in the sand and work in a vacuum and don’t expect consequences. All of the prime minister’s decisions are in the best interest of the Bahamian people.”

Rana Kenawy, 21; and Mariam Mohamed Hassen, 18, made headlines after photos showing them scaling a locked fence at the entrance of Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island last Friday spread on social media.

They were also recorded on cell phone video telling a local man that they travelled to The Bahamas for the beach.

Yesterday, the women, from the state of Massachusetts, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes, charged with breaching the COVID-19 emergency powers orders for entering Cabbage Beach on July 10 without the permission of a competent authority.

After Magistrate Forbes read the particulars of the charge brought against them, one of the defendants told him they were actually given permission by an officer named “Smith” who was wearing a “brown uniform” last weekend.

“He would’ve said you could enter the premises?”

Magistrate Forbes asked the defendants. “Yes,” they replied in response.

Attorney Ian Cargill, acting as an amicus curiae — meaning he was not a party to the case but was permitted by the court to give information – also told the magistrate he was informed that a male and female officer told the tourists they would “turn their backs” while the women went on the beach that day.

As a result, Magistrate Forbes said he would dismiss the case since the women alleged they were given consent by an official.

The women were subsequently discharged.

A representative from the US Embassy was also in attendance during the hearing.

Beaches were closed in New Providence, Paradise Island, Grand Bahama and surrounding cays from Thursday night until Monday morning as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday weekend.

THE THREE American tourists - Ikrame Kanane, Rana Kenawy and Mariam Mohamed Hassen - outside court yesterday.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

Police told tourists they could climb over gate to get to beach

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net THREE American tourists who were accused of violating the COVID-19

emergency orders were discharged after they claimed an officer gave them permission to go on a local beach on Independence Day. Ikrame Kanane, 25;

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 3

from page one

Parents ask for more face-to-face lessons

that officials will make an announcement next week on the changes that will be implemented for the upcoming school year.

He said officials are considering implementing a blended learning environment, one that will include class rotation and limited face-to-face instruction.

“We are looking at three models of school reopening, one of which seems to be the more prominent choice that will probably inure to the benefit of students this coming September,” he told reporters outside Cabinet.

“One, full educational instruction, which is unlikely, if we must maintain physical distance and the various health protocols remain in place as they are now.

“Two, what we call a blended or a shift circumstance, where a part of the day or a part of the week some students and another part of the week or day, other students – those who would be otherwise out of instruction classroom will then be transported to a care centre still under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.”

He continued: “And then finally, another model that we’re looking at is 100 percent virtual school.

The middle model…the blended model or the shift system is the one that more than likely we are going to choose to go forward.”

MINISTER: Jeff Lloyd However The Tribune spoke to several parents who said they did not support the particular blended learning model.

One concerned parent, who only wanted to be identified as Mrs Higgs, said she will not support the move due to job restraints.

“I know that this blended environment won’t work for me at all. My husband is on the boat and I am at work. Who will take care of the kids when they are home and should be doing

classes? We now have to consider who is now going to leave their job.

“There is no money to home school or provide a babysitter, so what to do?

School is not a babysitting club but the way it was designed, we relied on it as a safe environment for our kids to be while we are at work.”

Another parent, who asked to be identified as Mrs Smith expressed similar comments to this newspaper, saying she does not believe the model will be particularly effective for students in kindergarten. “(I have) twin boys. They are in K4 going in K5 in September,” she told The Tribune.

“I am not 100 (percent) for (the blended environment) because I feel like the children need to be in the classroom to fully learn. Well, let me speak for the little ones. I don’t think Zoom really worked for their age bracket. Their attention is only there for so long and then of course you have some households

where parents have to work so there is no one to watch the child so that’s another thing.”

As a mother of young children, Mrs Smith also said she would like more clarity on what sort of preventive measures will be taken to ensure that her children remain safe for when the fall semester starts.

“I am more concerned about the risk factors of young children with those masks on all day. First off, it’s hot. Secondly, you could imagine I send my child to school with a blue mask and then he comes home with a green one.”

“Children accidentally bring home sweaters or a book by accident sometimes and so a mask isn’t much difference.”

In March, the government mandated the closure of schools after the country recorded its first COVID19 case, resulting in many local institutions shifting to online classes to allow students to continue their studies at home.

Since then, there has been much uncertainty on how schools across the country will reopen for the fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson said the union has yet to receive a plan or framework from the Ministry of Education for the reopening of schools.

However, in a statement released on Monday, the Ministry of Education said: “... The allegation made that the MOE has no plan for the schools is untrue… persons are also informed that the changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in governments across the world reassessing and fine tuning responses to various aspects of the crisis.

“The Ministry of Education has been no different, and the Department of Education’s staff is currently in the process of crafting its plan for the reopening of the schools, and for the

development of other major plans.”

Mr Lloyd said this week while he understands parents and students are anxious to know the ministry’s plans on the reopening of schools, there is still much uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “...Plans are being finalised this week and an announcement will be made and disseminated across the spectrum of the Bahamas early next week and all parents and students and others will be clearly informed as to what,” he said.

“Bear in mind that as we stand here today, we are looking at more than likely eight weeks before schools open so I know that people are anxious to know how schools are opening and I also would like to invite people to check and see that there’s not a single school system on this planet who can tell you with confirmation and conclusion exactly how schools are going to open in September.”

is community spread and (if it is) greater than ten percent in the population you get a score. This is a moving target. We’ve had to adjust the risk stratification seven times already.

Because the experiences are changing constantly, we have to make the necessary adjustments. What we see at the present time is the spread originating from Bahamians who have travelled to (certain states in the US).”

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health also responded to a social media report that three Royal Bahamas Police Force officers on Grand Bahama tested positive yesterday. In a statement, the ministry said there were no new confirmed cases on Grand Bahama yesterday and the last confirmed case from that island was reported on Tuesday by health officials.

The ministry added that it does not identify names

or workplaces of cases to protect their personal information.

“The public is advised that it is the policy of the Ministry of Health to protect the names of persons and businesses that have been impacted by COVID19 and will not publish the same as this is information is considered strictly private and confidential,” the ministry said.

Flight attendant tests positive as two new ‘travel infected’ added to the list

from page one contact with the Ministry of Health and is following the protocols health officials have outlined.

One airline official, who declined to speak on the record, said there is minimal contact among people on the planes, and cabin services are not provided. The planes undergo enhanced cleaning every time they land, the official said.

Meanwhile, the latest COVID-19 cases include a 51-year-old New Providence woman with no history of travel along with a 57-year-old woman and a 29-year-old woman, both from New Providence with histories of travel.

Asked if officials are considering recommending that travel to and from Florida be banned, Dr Mercleine Dahl-Regis, coordinator of the government’s COVID-19 task

force, suggested on Tuesday that this is not being considered. She said officials are instead using a risk stratification system to determine which tourists can enter the country.

“We determine the risk category for each applicant for a travel visa rather than have a determination of state by state,” she said. “We use a list as published by the World Health Organization where it’s determined where there

Editorial View - Page 6

PAGE 4, Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

ABACO REMAINS IN STATE OF DISREPAIR, SAYS MIGRATION GROUP

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net IN its latest situation report, the International Organisation for Migration says Abaco remains in a state of disrepair.

“The IOM field reports that Abaco remains in a state of disrepair, with many homes lacking sufficient infrastructure to navigate the hurricane season safely,” the organization says in its April to May 2020 report. “There is a shortage of essential building materials; therefore, many homes are still covered with tarpaulins to prevent water from rain entering. Additionally, there is a shortage of affordable rental homes for displaced persons, returnees, and workers hampering the progress of the recovery. The economic impact of Dorian and COVID-19 has been severe, with many families relying on NGOs and International organizations for food, water, and other essential items.

“The Bahamas entered its hurricane season on July 1, 2020, making the need for swift rebuilding solutions critical, and leaving many families and homes vulnerable to any significant weather systems.”

The IOM quoted Sarone Kennedy, a member of the Civil Society Bahamas board, as saying: “The rebuilding process is difficult. Groups of people have come together to ease the burden of families and individuals, but Abaco is far from being the beautiful, serene island it once was.”

The IOM said it launched a re-documentation programme on June 25 to help vulnerable migrants with their naturalisation process.

“IOM hopes to assist up to 100 beneficiaries who will be selected by an independent committee. The selection process will be based on the needs and vulnerabilities of beneficiaries. The final report of this programme will entail experiences, lead times, costs of the documentation process, and will make recommendations of the stakeholders about the process.”

In May the IOM said the Bahamas is not ready for the 2020 hurricane season.

It said emergency shelter capacity is a major weakness. It found that 13 of 25 official shelters were usable and capable of housing just two percent of the population of Abaco and Grand Bahama. It said many of the shelters are built in vulnerable locations.

MEN AT WORK RANDY HART, with the Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar Photos: OPM Communications

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar toured the Goldwynn boutique hotel construction site on West Bay Street yesterday.

Construction on the $120 million project has resumed after a temporary stop due to COVID-19.

When completed, the sixstory property will feature 80 condo-hotel suites and 80 residential condominiums and a rooftop pool.

Amenities will include a beachfront infinity pool, a seaside restaurant, a movie theatre, a theatre for plays and concerts and a spa.

Approximately 80 Bahamians are currently employed on the project during the construction phase. The tour was led

by Randy Hart, vice-president, Wynn Development.

Staff payroll delay at ZNS criticised as ‘disrespectful’

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT ts-cartwright @tribunemedia.net A PAYROLL delay at ZNS has led the union representing staff at the state broadcaster to label management as “disrespectful” due lack of earlier notice about the hiccup.

Staff at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas are paid on the 15th of each month. President of the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union Dino Rolle told The Tribune he was called by

management early yesterday morning and told staff salaries would be late.

“This is so disrespectful,” an irate Mr Rolle said. “I am disappointed that we are at this place where salaries have to be delayed. Unfortunately, the union was just made aware of this delay this morning (Wednesday), the day when salaries should have been paid. I find that most disrespectful. I know that management would have been aware of this delay prior to today and they should have made communication to the union

because we speak to and on behalf of those persons.

“My members have financial obligations just like everyone else. Management should have not just communicated this to them on the day that they were expecting to be paid. And this is one of the cries that I have been getting repeatedly from my members at ZNS that there is a lack of communication from management. I cry shame on them for that because I have tried to ask management over and repeatedly to do better.”

Mr Rolle used Gary

Sinclair, the CEO of BTC, as an example.

He said Mr Sinclair has been in Jamaica, where BTC’s parent company is headquartered, but he communicates with his staff on a weekly basis. He said both the general manager and chairman of ZNS are on the premises daily therefore the staff there should never be lacking for information.

“It is a total lack of respect,” he said. “I have to call it for what it is. My members at the Broadcasting Corporation are sensitive to the times we are in. They realise we are in a

pandemic and that management at ZNS relies on subvention from the government. If there is a delay in that subvention then communicate that to the staff.

“When I was called, management said there was a delay in the transferring of funds. They indicated that the staff might get paid tomorrow due to the delay.”

The Tribune also spoke with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest who responded very briefly on the matter.

He said: “From what I understand it was an administrative issue, but that’s all I can say at the moment.”

A staff member of ZNS told The Tribune that the broadcaster is allegedly continuously late with salaries and on the 15th of each month, most of them cross their fingers that they are paid on time.

“I am not shocked,” the staff member, who did not want to be named, said.

“This happens from time to time. What I am shocked about is that we were actually told on the day that pay would be late. Normally there is nothing said to us and we have to keep checking the bank to see if we got paid. That’s just how disrespectful these people are. We are here doing our work, but when it’s time to get paid, we have to wonder if we are going to get paid.

“I wouldn’t even mention overtime payments. That’s a joke. You work the muchneeded overtime and you either do not get paid or you get paid for it months and months later. But everyone just sucks it up because I guess they need their jobs.”

The union is hopeful that the staff at ZNS will be paid today.

POLICE RELOCATIONS ‘NOT LINKED TO PARTY’ from page one

behaviour does not reflect the standards and professionalism of court staff.

“The Office of the Judiciary is aware of the video circulating on social media showing persons dancing and socialising at an event which is said to have occurred in the Magistrates Court Complex on July 9, 2020,” the statement said.

“In response to this, we wish to advise that an internal enquiry into this incident has been launched to determine what actually occurred in the Magistrates Court building, and the facts and circumstances surrounding the events which are partially captured on the video. Appropriate action will be taken in line with the conclusions of the enquiry.”

Commissioner Rolle said yesterday he has made significant changes to the staff of the Nassau Street

Police Station. He said the changes have nothing to do with the recent court video.

“I transferred eight officers from that station, I left two or three and I transferred in 12 as we are trying to strengthen the security at the court and as you know there was a bus accident and several of the officers who work in the area are presently on sick leave,” he said.

“I made a determination at this time to make the changes as I move all the senior officers throughout the force and the officerin-charge of the court was the only one who was not moved.

“The changes were made on Monday. I just made changes at the Central Police Station, I made changes at tourism, at the Arawak Cay Police Station, at the CID and I decided on Monday to make changes at the court complex. I’m doing a restructuring of the force,” he said.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 5

FINED $1,500 FOR GROWING MARIJUANA PLANTS

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 40-YEAR-OLD man who said he cultivated marijuana plants because he wanted to see how they grew was fined $1,500 in court yesterday.

Devaughn Culmer was charged with cultivating marijuana and being in possession of a quantity of Indian hemp with the intent to supply, after officers found several marijuana plants at his residence on July 13.

The court heard officers went to the residence around 1.30pm armed with a search warrant. When they knocked on the door,

a woman answered and was informed that the officers would be conducting a search of the home in reference to dangerous drugs and firearms. While the officers did not find anything illegal in the house, they discovered 39 marijuana plants — all between the height of one and five feet — in flower pots outside the home.

About 2pm that same day, officers, acting on information, went to Baillou Hill Road where they cautioned and arrested the defendant. In an interview with police at a nearby station, Culmer told officers the plants were his and claimed he had grown them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the prosecution, Culmer also said he knew “people were going to talk, so he just wanted to see what they were going to say”. At the time, Culmer also said he had grown the plants for his personal use to make tea.

When given an opportunity to speak during the hearing yesterday, Culmer told the magistrate he was a “spiritual individual” who only cultivated the plants because he “wanted to see how they grew and learn about (the process) a bit more”. He also insisted he never had any intentions to sell the marijuana and claimed his mother was about to “pull the plants up and discard them

anyway.” Stating he took “full accountability” for his actions, Culmer asked the magistrate for leniency and insisted he would not make the same mistake again.

After accepting Culmer’s guilty pleas, Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes fined him $500 for cultivating the marijuana plants and another $1,000 for having the drugs in his possession to sell. He also warned Culmer if he failed to pay the fines, he would spend two months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Meanwhile, Brian Webb Jr, 30, also appeared before Magistrate Forbes yesterday, after he was charged

with two counts of simple possession.

He pleaded guilty to both counts and was conditionally discharged for 12 months on the agreement that he would attend drug counseling classes at the Department of Social Services.

Prosecutor Claudette McKenzie said around 4.05pm on the day in question, officers on mobile patrol observed two males in a blue Honda Accord acting suspiciously. As a result, they approached the men and conducted a search of their vehicle. Upon doing so, they discovered one silver foil wrap along with a plastic bag under the passenger seat of the car.

According to Inspector McKenzie, both of the items contained a quantity of suspected marijuana. The men were subsequently arrested and taken to the Nassau Street Police Station. When the officers searched Webb Jr’s wallet while he was in custody there, they found another silver foil wrap and clear plastic package containing a quantity of suspected marijuana in his wallet. In an interview with police, Webb Jr also said the marijuana found in the car and the wallet belonged to him. As a result, he was charged for the offence.

Inspector McKenzie said the drugs had an estimated weight of seven grams and a street value of $20.

51-YEAR-OLD REMANDED OVER CLAIMS HE HAD SEX WITH GIRL, 13

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

RICHARD McNeil outside court yesterday

Man, 28, on murder charge

Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 28-YEAR-OLD man was charged with murder in Magistrates Court yesterday. Richard McNeil stood before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with the murder of Don Ramming on July 6.

According to initial police reports, shortly before 6am

on the day in question, a group of people were walking through a track road on Scott Street north of West Street, when they noticed a male lying on the ground with injuries to the head.

The police were called, and when they arrived at the scene, they met the body of a dark male with gunshot wounds to the head. Emergency Medical Services arrived a short time later

and pronounced the victim unresponsive. During the hearing, McNeil was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to October 14 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment.

Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional services until trial. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

A 51-YEAR-OLD MAN was yesterday remanded to prison over allegations he had sex with a minor.

Glenroy Lynes appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with one count of unlawful sexual intercourse, after he was accused of having sex with a 13-yearold girl on July 10.

Lynes was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to October 28 for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Bail was denied and he was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in the interim. He has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Yesterday, Shervin Colebrooke also appeared before Magistrate Forbes after he was accused of indecently assaulting a woman on July 10.

Like Lynes, Colebrooke was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to October 28 for trial for service of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). Bail was denied and he was remanded into custody until that time. He also has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

PAGE 6, Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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A history of travel that could impact our future THERE are three words that show the nature of what we are battling in this latest spike of COVID-19 cases. Those are “history of travel”.

Three new cases were announced yesterday, two of which had a history of travel. A Bahamasair flight attendant is among this week’s crop of COVID-19 cases.

Opening our borders was always going to increase the risk of the virus getting into our country, but according to health experts the cases we are seeing are coming from Bahamians returning from hotspots overseas.

On Tuesday, Dr Merceline DahlRegis said we are seeing spread from Bahamians who have been to those areas where there has been a surge in cases – and that means hotspots in the United States.

In the Ministry of Health press conference, she said she would love to suggest to Bahamians that they shouldn’t travel – but she can’t. Instead, she said people should determine whether travel is really necessary.

The tricky part is the 72-hour loophole where Bahamians can go out of the country and come back in again without a negative test result. Other visitors, Bahamian or otherwise, must show a negative test result. That doesn’t prevent them catching the virus in the time after they have taken a test, of course, and they have ten days in which they could catch the virus rather than 72 hours, but the need to get a valid test

might well focus the mind on the need to stay healthy before flying.

The good news so far is that these cases are being detected. It would be worse if they went unnoticed and began community spread.

But as we monitor the increasing number of cases, we must ask ourselves the question if we need to make any further restrictions on travel.

Should we consider limitations on leaving and returning to the country?

That’s a difficult question – and Dr Dahl-Regis was reluctant to do more than advise Bahamians on that count.

Fingers would inevitably point at foreign arrivals and protest that if visitors can travel then why not Bahamians.

Also, any restrictions should absolutely consider the Bahamians who need to go to the US for medical needs, and so on.

We should bear in mind the weight behind the words of the experts, though, and be very careful about stepping into the heart of the pandemic that awaits across the water.

Miami was named this week as being the new epicentre of the pandemic – and we should consider very carefully if our trips are necessary before we take that double risk, first of catching it and then of spreading it back home.

This pandemic is asking difficult questions of us all, and the answers are literally matters of life and death. It is important that every option is considered – all with the goal of saving lives.

Well done to bright sparks HERE’S something that doesn’t get said every day: Well done, Bahamas Power & Light.

The company’s new fuel hedging strategy will save money all round. It is forecast that electricity bills will be down by about 30 percent.

More, it should stop the ups and downs we face with the changing price of oil. It will also help reduce the drain on our external reserves.

At a time when some good news is sorely needed, this is very welcome indeed. Credit where it is due.

Time to find radical solutions EDITOR, The Tribune IN JUNE The international Monetary Fund projected that the world economy will contract by 4.9%. Two thirds of the world’s governments borrowed US $11 trillion in June alone. The IMF forecast 12 trillion in loss to the global economy in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

The world is beginning to reopen but the rate of infection is increasing in the US, Brazil and India which collectively produce over 20% of global GDP. A major concern is the US which accounts for 26% of infections worldwide according to Johns Hopkins University. The US is the number one consumer nation, so if the US is stumbling economically because of COVID-19, the AFTER officials said people have tried to enter The Bahamas with fake COVID-19 documents, readers posted their responses on tribune242. com.

JackArawak said: “And boaters are coming over without checking in, which is not new, but has a new meaning right now. Either the country is open or it’s not. Perhaps a couple of shiny new cruise ports will save us.”

world economy suffers.

The majority of remittance and tourists for the Bahamas comes from the US, the Bahamas’ number one trading partner.

The Bahamas’ economic needs have increased since COVID-19 pandemic because of increased medical costs, increased unemployment relief and other government assistance and decrease in government revenue. The opening of the tourist industry in a measured way is a start but more than that is required. The IMF forecast the Bahamas’s economy will contract by 8.3% and the consumer price index will be 2.4%.

This spells hard times for many Bahamians who have less income and higher prices. The Bahamas has never had IMF deals but

Mandela had this to say: “The government knew and knows that there is no way for them to control persons entering the country, such a task is way above their mental capacity and ability, so it’s all talk to calm our fears, because if

both the people and the government are skilled at dealing with economic hardship. This time it is different. The global downturn is severe and unusual so the Bahamas will have to make a lot more internal adjustments with less international assistance.

The Bahamas needs to set up a committee that is innovative with radical solutions. There needs to be systemic changes. If the Bahamas treats this situation like all the other economic recessions, the results will be dire. Never in the history of the world has the world been so heavily indebted and experienced a pandemic simultaneously.

BRIAN ELLIS PLUMMER Nassau, July 13, 2020. they cared they would not have opened the borders to USA citizens at this time, not until their virus cases come down to acceptable levels.”

Shonkai posted this: “I think we can open up everything again, just stop alcohol imports, sales, production and use. When I see all these people drinking and brawling at bars.

Even the sight of them shouting in each other’s faces makes me sick.”

It’s sad to see people shackled EDITOR, The Tribune PLEASE allow me to make a comment on a matter that has both puzzled and vexed me considerably for a number of years. I would like to explore the criminalisation of our young (more often black) men and women, who are ceremoniously paraded from outside of the Nassau Street police station or from the holding cells (located on the ground floor) of the Magistrate’s Court building, up the staircase, cumbersomely waddling like newborn penguins into the court house.

My current frustration was sparked by a recent video circulated on social media of a shackled young lady being marched from the Nassau Street station to the Magistrate’s Court and pleading with the escorting officer to be able to use the bathroom to relieve herself.

In the video, this young lady’s plea to use the bathroom, which is one of the most basic of human rights, appeared to annoy the officer and the matter then escalated to the point of shouting and some physicality. This video and many others published on local news highlights the demeaning nature of this policy and begs the question of why it is still being used.

Having been previously employed as a government employee, I spent most days in or around the Magistrates court complex, I know first hand that the court house was built with holding cells (no less than 5 if recollection serves me right ) on the ground floor and that there is access from the holding cells to most if not all of the court rooms via a number of stairway systems. The marching of accused from holding cells or prison buses (hope they aren’t still using those circuses on wheels) to Court is commonly referred to as the bank lane shuffle. The term most likely adopted as prisoners, whose hands and legs were usually bound, would waddle uncomfortably like uncoordinated penguins from the prison bus to the courts. The use of the term Bank Lane shuffle is commonplace, however, what is often overlooked or ignored is the similarities with the shuffle and the march of shackled slaves to the slave houses.

The parade of young innocent (until proven

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net guilty) persons appears to be done all for show on the orders of either police or politicians who wish to demonstrate to the media that they are doing their job, however in times like these the old saying that actions speak louder than words appears to be quite fitting. This long standing practice has been in the playbook of successive governments and despite the obvious degradation faced by those made to do the bank lane shuffle, governments appear intent on maintaining the illusion that by having 12 Police officers walk a shackled human being (officers who could be doing other work) up a flight of stairs, that people somehow believe that they are winning the never ending fight against criminality. To see a human being handcuffed and shackled instantly brings two questions to mind, is this person really innocent if politicians, sorry I meant police officers, felt the need to shackle both their feet and hands and secondly, I wonder if this is how our ancestors were shackled and bound before shipment?

A review of two recent stories provides two interesting examples of how this policy is used. A defendant charged with a non-violent offence involving corruption, was shackled like a wild animal to face charges.

The then defendant, at the time appeared to be ailing and was aided by some of the Officers as he painstakingly hobbled up the staircase, could not be said to have posed any risk of running away. In contrast, fast forward a few months and the then accuser in the case mentioned above, was himself a defendant, was able to leisurely stroll to court using the same route that his former accused had to waddle down. The nature of the offence the defendant was charged with was most serious as they involved breaking safety rules and protocols enacted to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Interestingly enough, the former star witness himself appeared to be a young and fit person, quite capable of eluding officers in a foot chase. Was the fact that he was a star

witness in a clearly political case where a former official was tried before the court meant that he qualified for special treatment or is there something else that necessitated him being treated more favourably than others? This commentary is not aimed at defending the alleged actions of any person or persons but rather to question why we sometimes decide to chain up persons like dogs and walk them in front of a public and media circus and then sometimes we don’t. Justice should be applied equally to all persons, and the fact that we have allowed politics to infest the way in which the police force transfers accused bring into question the independence of their operations. It seems like successive governments have been using the court, an institution that should be independent in all aspects of its functions, as a platform to exact political revenge, to embarrass their opponents and reward their friends.

We have a system in place designed to allow accused persons to safely move from holding cells to the various courts yet I do not understand why we continue taking the risk of shackling persons in the holding cells, walking them outside the building, around to the front and then back inside the building. It seems that if the building is used the way it was designed it would be a much more efficient way for getting persons to court than getting a number of police officers to walk them out through the public.

The policy itself is outdated and in most jurisdictions persons are not shackled as it creates the appearance of guilt before trial, most courts in this country remove the shackles when the person is before the Judge. If there is a safer, easier, more efficient manner of getting this done why are we still allowing our young accused persons to be criminalised before the public before being afforded the opportunity to have a fair trial.

Our citizens have already been marginalised by other facets of society, please stop allowing the judicial system to be used as a tool to continue to kneel on their throats.

MARVIN HANNA Nassau, July 15, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 7

STUDENTS BLAME PROFESSOR FOR NOT BEING ALLOWED TO GRADUATE

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

SOME University of The Bahamas culinary students are up in arms as they were not allowed to graduate last month, claiming a professor failed to submit their course grades in time.

One of the students spoke to The Tribune under condition of anonymity, saying how unfair the decision was when students of another department, who faced the same situation, were reportedly allowed to graduate.

“We feel literally

devastated,” said the culinary student. “It is not our fault if our professor did not send in our grades on time.

We took our course and expect the grades to be submitted and on time. How is that our fault? I don’t think this is fair to us at all.

“We made plans for our lives after UB and this will only hold things up. I honestly thing the university needs to review this situation and come to another conclusion as this is really just not fair.”

The students who took the culinary course said UB told them they have to wait until next year to graduate when grades from

their their class in question have been included with their other grades.

They will be class of 2021, they said.

“They are telling us that we are unable to graduate until next year,” the student continued. “This sets our lives back an entire year. So we will be knocking around until then or taking on employment that is less than what we studied and making less money just because someone else failed to submit our grades on time. It seems to us that we have to suffer because of someone else’s negligence.

“Here’s the thing though.

Another department at UB, unrelated to ours, had a situation with a course just like we are having.

The lecturer did not turn in the grades on time but they were allowed to apply for graduation and was accepted. They had no problem,” the student claimed. “Who made that decision and why couldn’t we be afforded the same courtesy seeing that it is not our fault?”

The culinary student hopes the board of directors at UB get together to rectify the situation. The students are alleging that all of their grades and papers are now

in so it is a simple decision to make.

The Tribune was unable to reach a UB official for comment.

However Daniel Thompson, president of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas, gave a possible reason for the setback.

“These are probably associate’s degree students,” Mr Thompson explained. “What is happening is that a lot of the culinary programmes have a practical component that almost must be done face to face. That is the challenge with culinary courses.

Several of the culinary courses had to be labelled

as ‘incomplete’ because it’s difficult to find a way to run a virtual restaurant (due to the pandemic). We have not found a way to do that.

“That is the situation with most of the practical courses we have. As much as I know, the university is giving them an ‘incomplete’, but I believe the nurses and the culinary students will take these courses this summer before the fall semester starts. I also believe it will just be about three weeks to complete. The university is dragging its feet, I think, but it will be done.”

FEMALE PASSENGER DIES AFTER CAR SHE WAS IN CRASHES

Sewing classes to help the residents PATRICIA Minnis has thrown her support behind the launch of a sewing programme in the Overthe-Hill community, aimed at economic empowerment of residents.

The programme, which provides free sewing classes, was launched on Monday, July 13, at the Centreville Urban Renewal Centre. Minister of Social Services and Urban Development Frankie Campbell, among other officials, was also present.

Mrs Minnis, representing the Office of the Spouse of the Prime Minister, underscored the importance of the programme and other such initiatives.

She announced that from July 20-24 her office will hold food processing classes for women and girls to empower them to make a living.

Mrs Minnis also envisioned plans to duplicate these initiatives throughout the Family Islands. “So we are swapping, switching and looking at various things that happen in this Overthe-Hill community to carry to other communities especially in the Family Islands.

They would love to see the sewing machines as well as the food processing classes going to all our Family Islands,” she said.

The Over-theHill Community

Development Partnership Initiative donated the 10 sewing machines to two Urban Renewal Centres – Centreville and Bain & Grants Town — as part of the launch of a suite of technical and vocational programmes in the inner city. These programmes are designed to attract residents who are unemployed or with low incomes to entrepreneurship and apprenticeship. Residents are encouraged to contact Urban Renewal Centres to apply.

Another objective of the sewing programme is to provide residents with opportunities to explore other entrepreneurial paths

BODY OF MISSING ELDERLY WOMAN FOUND IN POND

THE SCENE where the body of a women was found yesterday. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net THE body of an elderly woman believed to be a person who was reported missing this week was discovered in a pond in South Ocean Village yesterday afternoon.

The Tribune understands the victim is 71-year-old Alberta Russell. However, police did not release the identity of the deceased. Ms Russell was reported to police on Monday as missing after she was last seen at her residence in South Ocean Village at 8.30 am.

Police press liaison officer, ASP Audley Peters said officers discovered the body of an elderly woman shortly after noon yesterday while searching for a female who was reported missing in the area.

“Officers of the Criminal

Investigations Department were in the area of South Ocean as a result of our investigation into a missing person’s complaint that was launched two days ago,” he told reporters at the scene.

“We were searching the area of a pond when they discovered the body of a female submerged. The body was retrieved, and it was confirmed that it was a female.”

He said the deceased appeared to be her 60s.

“However, at this time, we are not able to say who that individual is. We are awaiting that autopsy report to determine the cause of death and the identification by her next of kin,” he added.

When asked if foul play was suspected, he replied: “At the moment, we don’t suspect foul play.”

Ken Nairn, a resident in the community, also told The Tribune he did

not believe foul play was involved. He said he heard the victim had Alzheimer’s disease.

“Yesterday we all got a notification in our area, all the residents that the lady was missing so we all were looking around in the bushes, but we understand that she had amnesia, like she has Alzheimer’s,” he told The Tribune.

“And this morning, I know my neighbour said they saw a white object in the area but they wasn’t too sure and I didn’t really go around there this morning, but then when I saw the officers walking through my yard that’s when I realised that they must have found the body. “…I don’t think it’s any foul play or I would hope not because it would make me feel uncomfortable too because I also have an elderly mom that lives here too.”

MRS PATRICIA MINNIS, wife of the prime minister, visits a sewing programme launched by the Over-the-Hill Community Development Partnership Initiative Photos: Derek Smith/BIS to earn a primary or second stream of income and thus reduce poverty inequality levels and potentially reduce crime.

The key stakeholders are the Over-the-Hill Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister, Urban Renewal, Department of Inland

Revenue and the Small Business Development Centre.

The sewing programme is part of components of the Over-The-Hill Community Development Partnership Initiative launched by the Prime Minister in May 2018.

A WOMAN is dead after a traffic accident on Blue Hill Road on Tuesday night, police said.

Shortly before 9pm, police were called to the scene of a collision between a white Nissan Skyline and a green Nissan March.

An examination of the scene revealed that the occupants of the March needed immediate medical attention. Paramedics were called and examined the unresponsive female passenger, who was later pronounced dead. The female driver was taken to hospital where she is in stable condition.

Police said the coroner visited the scene. The RBPF Traffic Department is investigating this incident.

After a spate of traffic fatalities in recent weeks, police have urged the public to pay attention and adhere to speed limits while driving on the streets.

PAGE 8, Thursday, July 16, 2020

A

MERICA is sick. Some of its worse ills long ago metastasized and are so pervasive that they will only respond to dramatic change. White supremacy is an unyielding and entrenched power and bastion. Long-term demographic change will help to seriously address some of the worst features of white privilege.

The response to the George Floyd killing offers hope of some change but this will likely be limited.

Much of it will be cosmetic, with corporate America rushing to be seen doing the right things. Power does not yield easily and only with unrelenting struggle.

And as throughout US history, including after the abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, there is going to be a backlash to any racial progress made in the next few years.

For a brief period during Reconstruction, some black men attained higher education in tertiary institutions and some were elected to local and state office.

The backlash to the rise of black intelligence and leadership was swift and diabolical. Such leadership and intelligence threatened white power and equally threatened the layers of lies, including pseudo-scientific untruths, about black talent and possibilities.

Whites, including those in Washington DC, were horrified at the idea of being governed by blacks.

White business people and citizens acted quickly to bring such black leadership to an end.

A majority black Washington DC did not attain home rule until 1973, the year of Bahamian independence. The city still has limited rule as the Congress has considerable oversight, jurisdiction and power in the District, which continues to struggle for statehood.

Even after the relentless killing of black men, many white Americans still do not believe or understand the structural and endemic racism which haunts the entire American Project or Experiment.

Colossus Today, the world’s leading superpower is like a bizarre hybrid nation, part military colossus and advanced technological society cum banana republic and failed state.

America still glitters and attracts. Its popular culture - from television and film to rap and country and western - entertains many millions around the world who view the glamour and excitement of America with enthusiasm on their mobile devices. They have also seen the images of George

FRONT PORCH

BY SIMON Floyd being choked to death.

America can still make the dreams of immigrants come true, though in this it has not proven exclusively exceptional. The dreams of immigrants also come true in other countries. Downtown Toronto is but one example of a city made vibrant by the dreams and talents of generations of new arrivals, including an increasing number of Bahamians.

The self-described “indispensable nation”, which many Americans still believe is a “shining city on a hill”, brazenly failed to employ the celebrated ideals of “checks and balances” to rein in the abuse of power of an American President who continues to mock the democracy and the country’s constitution.

Donald Trump came to power because of the country’s antiquated electoral system which overvalues the electoral votes of rural communities and smaller states. Many scholars argue this system is antithetical to a modern democracy and should be replaced.

With his Mussolini-like jutted chin and penchant for revenge on political opponents, Trump intimidated a Republican Senate, which failed to muster a serious trial after his impeachment by the House of Representatives.

His Republican allies in the Senate refused to allow certain witnesses.

Some vowed to acquit him even before they heard any testimony in the upper chamber.

Trump indiscriminately exercised the power of pardon granted the American President, including for individuals who showed no remorse for their crimes.

It is a pardon power that is a vestige of the British monarchy pre-American independence.

Few Bahamians are reflexively anti-American, though there are quite a number who are reflexively pro-American, with little knowledge or concern for the country’s imperialistic, racial and genocidal history, including the decimation of Native Americans.

THE TRIBUNE

From sea to shining sea the US has lost its lustre Relentless

While most have a mixed view of the country, the Trump Presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic and the relentless killing of black men - many unarmed - by police officers has dramatically changed the perception of many Bahamians and non-Americans about the United States.

The boast of exceptionalism which has fuelled America since its inception is an even emptier boast today.

This boast stands in marked contrast with the country’s current meltdown, especially in terms of a health crisis which is worsening, and a US President who regularly debases his office and American democracy, aided and abetted by a Republicancontrolled Senate which has failed to check his abuse of power, including the recent grant of clemency to a close associate convicted of lying to Congress.

The hubris and pride which fuel and exemplify the myth of American exceptionalism is again having deadly results.

This myth has led to many Americans believing they are immune to the deadly effects of the virus.

One tragic example was a young American who went to a COVID-19 party and who refused to wear a mask. He has now succumbed to the virus. He previously boasted that he was free to do what he wanted because he was an American.

Today, America seems a shell of the country many people in the world viewed with some esteem, even while acknowledging the deep-seated problems, hypocrisy and vainglory of the American Colossus.

The Republic has been laid low by a devastating

THE WHITE HOUSE - Today, America seems a shell of the country it used to be pandemic it should have under-developed Third The United States had the been able to respond to World country. ability to utilise a mixture more aggressively and The US, a nation with of therapeutic, medical and effectively. Many health an annual defence budget behavioural measures to experts are alarmed of more than half a trillion limit the spread of COVIDbecause they realize dollars proved a spectacular 19 and to save many lives. that given the country’s failure with contact tracing, Its stunning national failresponse to COVID-19, testing and the mobiliza- ure continues to shock the a more lethal virus would tion of other public health world. have killed even more measures. America also China bears responsibilAmericans and been even has extraordinary industrial ity for its failures in how it more devastating. and manufacturing might. initially responded to the Yet, not every American outbreak. A number of Ill-prepared can get a test. It can take global experts continue to up to a week to receive test question its reporting on One of the more medi- results. Meanwhile, some the number of people inically advanced countries in athletes on professional tially infected. the world, which boasts the teams have been tested But China quickly renowned National Insti- numerous times and vari- responded on many tutes of Health, some of ous celebrities have easy fronts, limiting commuthe best medical centres, access to tests. nity spread which saved including the vaunted mediA Columbia University many lives in the country. cal facilities in Houston, Study in May estimated that While democracies could Texas, and other states, if the US had started limit- not employ the degree of alongside leading medical ing social contacts just one preventative measures as schools and biotech firms, week earlier, approximately China, the former had the was ill-prepared on multi- 35,000 lives could have been capacity, as demonstrated ple fronts. saved during the beginning by Germany and others, The response to COVID- of May. A two week start, to lockdown more quickly 19 from countries like the study estimated, could and to reopen more Vietnam, South Korea have prevented one mil- slowly. and New Zealand made lion cases and prevented the American response approximately 58,000 Why did the American seem more like what one deaths through the early superpower fail? More Next would expect from an part of May. Week

THE TRIBUNE

A

GROWING chorus of observers in the US feels that President Donald Trump is actually trying to lose the upcoming November election.

Why else would he behave so counter to his best reelection prospects? Why else would he do things like issue a pardon to convicted felon Roger Stone?

Or set up a dangerous rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth or a GOP convention headline event in Jacksonville on the anniversary of the Ax Handle murder? Or have his staff actively try to discredit Dr Anthony Fauci, his chief epidemiologist, who is far more trusted than the president himself?

Maybe he can’t help himself. That seems to be at least part of the analysis of this complicated character by his niece, clinical psychologist Dr Mary Trump.

In her best-selling new book, Too Much and Never Enough, she reportedly talks of Trump’s father as an emotionless sociopath who left severe scars on the psyche of his future President son. The book argues the residue of a fraught childhood leads to Trump’s erratic behaviour.

But while the President’s re-election chances continue to circle ever closer to the drain still four months from the election, his opponent seems to be rising inexorably in the polls without doing very much to earn his growing advantage.

Joe Biden regularly condemns Trump’s greatest outrages, delivers a speech or two here and there and issues some position papers.

But he remains mostly out of sight.

An exception occurred earlier this week. Biden spoke with selected reporters for a while in a conversation that was pretty widely reported. In the discussion, the Democratic candidate seemed to believe his election might offer a historic opportunity for transformative change in the US. Biden said: “I do think we’ve reached a point, a real inflection in American history. And I don’t believe it’s unlike what Franklin Roosevelt was met with (when he took office in 1933 during the Great Depression). I think we have an opportunity to make some really systemic changes.”

According to press reports, Biden sees the potential to recast American policy in areas such as the environment, race, health care and federal tax policy. These areas, in addition to introducing legislation that would fund the badly needed, massive upgrades in infrastructure all across the country, would be the areas he would potentially focus on. Of course, all this depends on him winning and his party regaining control of the US Senate.

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 9

Maybe, just maybe, Trump wants to walk away from it STATESIDE with Charlie Harper

CHALLENGER: Joe Biden

to speculation that Biden should, or even may be compelled to, name a black female running mate.

The Floyd killing also was the death knell for the otherwise flourishing vicepresidential candidacy of Minnesota’s senior senator Amy Klobuchar, who earlier in her career had served as prosecutor for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. She had a reputation as being tough on black crime. City and county cops and prosecutors have quietly been feared in the Twin Cities for many years, andsome of that stink stuck to Klobuchar, particularly after city policemen killed Floyd.

There has been some public pressure on Biden to choose a black woman as his running mate. Listen to Rep. James Clyburn, the South Carolina congressman whose support clinched Biden’s campaignchanging primary election victory February 29: “I and several others have expressed our feeling that it would be great for him to select a black woman,” Clyburn said in May. “But that is not a must. That is just what I think would be a great thing to do. (Biden) must be guided by his head and his heart.”

And Al Sharpton, who’s on TV almost as much as Trump these days and who has replaced Jesse Jackson as the minister who is most in demand at funerals and public events of symbolic significance in the continuing American civil rights movement, said this: “I told Biden I would prefer a black woman but that I’m not making an ultimatum. I think he’ll make the right judgement.”

These African American leaders are careful with their words. But reading them, you do get the feeling if Biden picks a white (or non-black) running mate, he might have some explaining to do.

bloody murder as soon as ICE issued its decree.

Harvard and MIT led the way in filing suit against Trump’s order, but they were quickly followed by many other schools. A group of 20 schools in the American West, including Stanford, USC and Cal Tech, filed their own suit. 20 state attorney generals had also lodged challenges to the ICE decree.

The Trump administration backed down in an

indirect way. They simply did not contest the Harvard/MIT suit in a Boston federal court. A spokesman for a group representing national academic leaders said “we are grateful the administration agreed to drop this poorly designed policy regarding international students. The Trump administration just had a clunker.”

It wasn’t the first one. It won’t be the last.

While things look fairly good at the moment for the Democrats in several tightly contested races, that could change. A gain of three seats for the Dems would allow Biden’s vice president to break ties. Who will be that vice president? When Biden has been in the news lately, it has often been due to speculation about his choice of a running mate.

He pledged months ago to name a woman as his VP choice. Biden would make known his choice early in August. The Democratic convention begins, mostly virtually, August 17. There has been no lack of public commentary on this issue.

Biden has said from the beginning he is looking for someone who shares his overall approach to governing and who would be prepared for the presidency from the beginning of his administration. He has also said he would prefer a running mate with strengths that complement his own.

It’s becoming quite a parlour game to figure out what this means for the women who are supposed to be the leading candidates.

Since George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis at the end of May, the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired massive protests and garner daily headlines. This has led

WHITE HOUSE WALKS AWAY FROM A REAL CLUNKER

THE Trump administration, which has not made a habit of it, backed down quietly on Tuesday from a boneheaded decision.

That decision would have negatively impacted a lot of Bahamian and other international students in the US. On July 6, Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office had issued a rule that would have required international students to transfer to a school holding in-person classes. Otherwise, they would face deportation from the US because their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic.

Since many American colleges and universities are being appropriately cautious in reopening their campuses for the fall semester with COVID-19 cases spiking in many states including Florida, tens of thousands of foreign students at US universities would have needed to leave the US almost immediately.

Lives and lifetime plans would have been turned upside down overnight.

Academia screamed

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IS President Donald Trump actually trying to lose the upcoming November election?

Nonetheless, public opinion polls for months have registered voters’ views on whether Biden needs to select a black woman as vice-president. By threeto-one margins, voters overall have said it doesn’t matter to them. Many black voters, and especially black women, have said the key to this election is ridding

the country of Trump. Who occupies second place on the Democratic ticket is less important to this key constituency.

Biden’s decision on choosing a white or nonwhite running mate is in some ways comparable with his decision on selecting a liberal firebrand like Elizabeth Warren or someone

more moderate and middle of the road. It will be a largely political calculation tinged with personal compatibility.

And if history holds true, who his eventual running mate is will make less difference in the outcome of the election than the headlines between now and midAugust will make it seem.

PAGE 10, Thursday, July 16, 2020

by JEFFREY MILLER Associate Professor, Hospitality Management, Colorado State University IN JANUARY 2015, food sales at US restaurants overtook those at grocery stores for the first time.

Most thought this marked a permanent shift in the American meal.

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, that trend took a U-turn. Restaurant revenue cratered, while shoppers emptied grocery shelves stocking up on food to cook at home. And with sales of pantry items soaring, shoppers found themselves reaching for an old reliable.

In April, sales of Kraft macaroni and cheese were up 27 percent from the same time last year. General Mills, the maker of Annie’s mac and cheese, has seen a similar bump.

The cheap, boxed meal has long been a poster child for processed food. While it’s often dismissed as stuff for kids, a lot of adults secretly savour it. As I tell my own students, we love to bad mouth processed foods – usually while our mouths are full of it. It’s also played an important role in kitchen science, wars and women’s liberation.

Solving the age-old problem of spoiled cheese People have eaten pasta and cheese together for hundreds of years. Clifford Wright, the doyen of Mediterranean food history, says the first written recipe for macaroni and cheese was created in the court of the king of Naples in the 13th century, while the first reference in an English language cookbook likely appeared in Elizabeth Raffald’s 1769 book “The Experienced English Housekeeper.”

An internet search for macaroni and cheese recipes will turn up over five million hits, but many still prefer to get theirs in a box – the kind with pasta that comes in shapes ranging from shells to Pokemon characters,

THE TRIBUNE

Mac and cheese - the poster child for processed food accompanied by a packet of powdered cheese sauce.

Boxed macaroni and cheese was one outcome of the quest for ways to keep cheese longer. Some cheese gets better as it ages – a well-aged cheddar is one of life’s delights – but once most cheeses hit their prime, they tend to quickly go bad. Before household refrigeration became common, many retailers wouldn’t even stock cheese in the summer because it spoiled so quickly.

because you could get two boxes and spend only one ration point. With meat hard to come by, the cheap main dish substitute was a hit.

When natural was nasty

Processed cheese solved this age-old problem Credit for inventing processed cheese should go to a pair of Swiss food chemists named Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler who, in 1913, were looking for a way to improve the shelf life of Emmenthaler cheese using sodium citrate. When they heated up the treated cheese, they noticed it melted better as well. But Chicago cheese salesman James L. Kraft was awarded the first patent for processed cheese in 1916.

Kraft understood the spoilage problem and had tried various solutions to it.

He tried putting it tin foil packages, sealing it in jars, even canning it. But none of these solutions caught on with the public.

He eventually realized that the same bacteria that made cheese age nicely was also the bacteria that

MAC and cheese continues to be devoured in good times and bad ultimately caused it to go bad. So he took some cheddar cheese scraps, heated them to kill the bacteria, ground them up with some sodium phosphate as an emulsifier and voila – Kraft processed cheese was born.

These early processed cheeses were similar to the processed American cheese slices we see in the stores today, though wrapping slices individually didn’t happen for another 40 years. Kraft’s first big customer was the US Army, which bought more than six million pounds of the stuff to feed soldiers in World War I. A number of variations appeared in the following years, including Velveeta and Cheez Whiz.

The product was a hit, but Kraft wanted to find more ways to sell processed cheese, and eventually came up with the idea to make a powdered base.

The packet in the box of macaroni and cheese is essentially a cheese sauce that has been partially defatted and dehydrated.

When you make it, you’re adding back the fat and the liquid when you mix in the milk and butter.

In 1937, Kraft debuted its boxed macaroni and cheese, which it sold for 19 cents and contained four servings.

Its slogan was “make a meal for four in nine minutes,” and the product got a big lift with American consumers during World War II

Today, food that’s simple, pure and natural is all the craze, while disdain for processed foods is practically a credo among sophisticated consumers.

But when Kraft’s different forms of processed cheese came out, they found widespread acceptance despite their strange textures. The fact that it wasn’t natural didn’t seem to bother consumers at all.

In fact, as international food historian Rachel Laudan has noted, back then, “natural was something quite nasty.” She describes fresh milk as warm and “unmistakably a bodily secretion”. Throughout the history of cookery, most recipes aimed to transform an unappetizing raw product into something delightful and delectable.

So for most consumers, processed foods were a godsend. They kept well, tended to be easily digestible and, most importantly, they tasted good. Many of them could be easily prepared, freeing women from spending entire days cooking and giving them more time to pursue professions and avocations.

In some ways, processed foods were also healthier.

They could be fortified with vitamins and minerals, and, in an era before everyone had access to mechanical refrigeration, the fact that they kept well meant consumers were less likely to contract diseases from spoiled, rotten foods.

Pasteurization of dairy products virtually eliminated diseases like undulant fever, while foods processed and canned in large factories were less likely to harbour food-borne illnesses that could crop up due to faulty or improperly sanitized equipment used by home canners.

Given today’s marketing emphasis on the fresh, local and natural, one might think that processed foods are going the way of the dinosaur. But this isn’t the case. Almost all the processed foods invented in the 20th century are still being produced in one form or another. While you may not see much Tang on American shelves, it’s hugely popular in the Middle East and Central and South America.

And mac and cheese – with roughly seven million boxes of Kraft’s version sold each week – continues to be devoured in good times and bad. Whether it recalls happier, simpler times or feeds a family on a shoestring budget, the DayGlo orange dinner is here to stay.

theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 11

POLICE VIDEO CAPTURES DISTRAUGHT FLOYD

MINNEAPOLIS Associated Press

BODY-CAMERA footage made public yesterday from two Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest captured a panicked and fearful Floyd pleading with the officers in the minutes before his death, saying “I’m not a bad guy!” as they tried to wrestle him into a squad car.

“I’m not that kind of guy,” Floyd says as he struggles against the officers. “I just had COVID, man, I don’t want to go back to that.” An onlooker pleads with Floyd to stop struggling, saying, “You can’t win!” Floyd replies, “I don’t want to win!”

A few minutes later, with Floyd now facedown on the street, the cameras record his fading voice, still occasionally saying, “I can’t breathe” before he goes still.

Though transcripts of the footage were released earlier, the video itself is the fullest public view yet of Floyd’s interaction with the officers who were later

charged in his death. It also captures an apparent lack of urgency to render aid to Floyd for long minutes after he stopped moving.

The recordings from Officers Thomas Lane and J. Kueng are part of the criminal case against them and two other officers in Floyd’s May 25 death. Derek Chauvin, who held his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, is charged with second-degree murder. Lane, Kueng and another officer, Tou Thao, are charged with aiding and abetting.

All four officers were fired the day after Floyd died. Journalists and members of the public were allowed to view the footage Wednesday by appointment.

Judge Peter Cahill, without explanation, has declined to allow publication of the video.

The footage shows the officers’ view of a death already widely seen on a bystander’s cellphone video, which set off tumultuous protests in Minneapolis that quickly spread around the world and sparked a national reckoning on race and policing.

Floyd appears distraught from the moment officers ask him to step out of his vehicle near a south Minneapolis corner grocery, where he was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. When Floyd did not immediately display his hands, Lane pulled his gun, leading Floyd to say he had been shot before.

Floyd’s hands are soon handcuffed behind his back, and he grows more anxious, telling the officers that he’s claustrophobic and pleading with them not to put him in the back of a squad car.

In the struggle, Floyd loses a shoe. What appears to be Chauvin’s chest-mounted body camera winds up underneath the squad car, and Floyd eventually winds up on the pavement with the officers holding him down.

Chauvin and Kueng each grip one of Floyd’s handcuffed hands to hold them in position behind his back, with Kueng’s knee appearing to press on Floyd’s bottom or just below. Lane is at Floyd’s feet.

The officers sound clinical as

Cases rise in US as world gets worried MIAMI Associated Press ARIZONA, Texas and Florida together reported about 25,000 new coronavirus cases yesterday as restrictions aimed at combating the spread of the pandemic took hold in the United States and around the world in an unsettling sign reminiscent of the dark days of April.

The face-covering mandates, lockdowns, health checks and quarantine orders underscored the reality that the number of infections is continuing to tick upward in parts of the world and that a return to normalcy may be farther off than many leaders had envisioned just weeks ago.

Alabama will begin requiring face masks after the state reported a pandemic-high of 40 deaths in a single day. In Texas, which again set a record Wednesday for confirmed new cases with nearly 10,800, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has increasingly emphasised face coverings as the state’s way out of avoiding another lockdown, which he has not ruled out.

Among the sternest measures were in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo added to a list totaling 22 states whose visitors will be required to quarantine for 14 days if they visit the tri-state region. Outof-state travelers arriving in New York airports from those states face a $2,000 fine and a mandatory quarantine order if they fail to fill out a tracing form.

A WOMEN winces as she’s tested for COVID-19 in Boston yesterday The broad reach of the virus has brought scrutiny to governors’ decisions.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a first-term Republican governor who has backed one of the country’s most aggressive reopening plans, became the first U.S. governor to announce that he had tested positive for COVID19. He plans to quarantine at home.

Stitt, who has resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself, attended President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa last month, which health experts have said likely contributed to a surge

I BETRAYED MYSELF AND MY PEOPLE, SAYS VIOLA ACTOR Viola Davis says she feels like she “betrayed myself and my people” in 2011 film The Help. Set in 1960s Mississippi, it was nominated for multiple Oscars but Viola says it was “created in the filter and the cesspool of systemic racism”.

The film was “invested in the idea of what it means to be black” but catered “to the white audience”.

It’s based on a 2009 book that has been accused of perpetuating a “white saviour” narrative - when black characters are marginalised for the benefit of a white hero who “saves” them.

Viola plays a maid who helps Emma Stone’s journalist character expose racism in the community and this isn’t the first time she’s said she regrets the role. “There’s no one who’s

not entertained by The Help. But there’s a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn’t ready to [tell the whole truth],” Viola told Vanity Fair.

She says she took the role because she was hoping it would make her “pop”. “I was that journeyman actor, trying to get in.”

Viola praised the film’s white writer-director, Tate Taylor, and the majorityfemale cast that included Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, whose performance won her an Oscar for best supporting actress. “I cannot tell you the love I have for these women, and the love they have for me. But with any movie - are people ready for the truth?”

in coronavirus cases there, though Stitt said he’s confident he didn’t contract the virus at the gathering.

“As far as where he became infected, it’s really unknown,” Oklahoma Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said.

Florida broke the 300,000 barrier on confirmed cases yesterday, reporting 10,181 new ones as its daily average death rate continues to rise. Major cities in Florida have imposed mask rules, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a statewide order, arguing those are best decided on and enforced locally.

VICTIM: George Floyd the minutes tick by. “I think he’s passing out,” one officer says.

“You guys all right, though?” someone asks. “Yeah — good so far,” says one. Another — apparently Lane — says: “My knee might be a little scratched, but I’ll survive.” Kueng reaches out with a free hand to pull a pebble from the police SUV’s tire tread and toss it to the street.

Lane did not sound particularly

worried the first time he asked Chauvin whether they should roll Floyd on his side and suggested that Floyd might be in delirium.

People in the crowd can be heard expressing fear for Floyd’s condition, asking whether he had a pulse and was breathing.

A couple of minutes later, Lane sounds a bit more concerned when he asks again about rolling Floyd onto his side. The officers go quiet but show no apparent urgency as Kueng checks for a pulse and says he cannot find one.

Lane’s camera shows him following an unresponsive Floyd on a stretcher into an ambulance, where EMTs instructed him to perform CPR. The video shows Lane performing constant chest compressions by hand with no visible results.

The ambulance parks a few blocks away from the store for several minutes while Lane and the EMTs work on Floyd, rather than heading straight to the hospital, even though they all know that Floyd is in full cardiac arrest, as indicated by dispatcher audio.

SPORTS ‘Bubble Buddy’ SECTION E

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

C

havano “Buddy” Hield spoke to the media for the first time since his return to practice with his Sacramento Kings and discussed his experience with COVID-19 and life in the NBA bubble.

Hield completed his first practice sessions with the Kings on Tuesday and spoke to reporters on a video call from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

He noted that he experienced just mild symptoms of the disease after he tested positive, but was more concerned with the well-being of his close friends and family members.

“I wasn’t scared or nothing like that,” Hield said. I tested positive and I was just concerned for the people around me like my daughter and my girl and my family.

I didn’t want nobody getting infected by it,” Hield said. “I didn’t want my carelessness causing someone to lose their life or something like that. So, I was warning people I was around.”

Hield returned to the court on June 11 for competitive play for the first time since March when the pandemic sidelined the NBA. The Kings sharpshooter participated in the Skinz League Tournament at the Hive Sports Complex in Edmond, Oklahoma.

“I wouldn’t do nothing differently, “ Hield said. “I’ve just got to be more careful with where I’ve been. Know my surroundings better.”

Hield and teammate Jabari Parker, who also returned to practice Tuesday, cleared NBA protocol but were not able to participate in full contact portions of practice. “It was great having those guys back, good energy with them, they’re excited to be on the court around the guys again,” said Kings head coach Luke Walton.

The Kings will scrimmage three times, with the first occurring on July 22. They begin the official seeding games and NBA restart on July 31 when they are slated to face the San Antonio Spurs.

The remainder of the Kings’ schedule includes matchups against the Orlando Magic (August 2), Dallas Mavericks (August 4), New Orleans Pelicans (August 6), Brooklyn Nets (August 7), Houston Rockets (August 9), Pelicans (August 11), and Los Angeles Lakers (August 13).

TIGER, PAGE 13

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

LOCAL BASKETBALL LEAGUES READY TO RETURN TO COURT

Chavano Hield speaks to media about life in the NBA bubble

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SACRAMENTO Kings guard Buddy Hield (24) in the first half against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, January 7 in Phoenix.

Hield completed his first practice sessions with the Kings on Tuesday and spoke to reporters on a video call from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

LOCAL basketball is ready to return to the court and complete their 2020 season.

Both the New Providence Basketball Association and the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association presidents said their league’s have adhered to all necessary COVID-19 protocols and are ready to resume the playoffs pending government approval at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

The NPBA was one game into its semi-final round when the league suspended play in March.

President James Price said when the league resumes play, the semifinals will restart at 0-0 records and both remaining rounds will be reduced.

“We want the players and fans to know that we will continue our season from the semi-finals where we stopped and into the championship.

“We decided we will shorten both series. We will reduce the championship series from best-of-seven to best-of-five and the semifinals to best of three,” he said.

“Everyone knows that AF [Adderley] is used for multiple purposes so we have limited time. Right now we are adhering to all the protocols under FIBA and under the Bahamas guidelines. We have all that in place, we are just waiting for a firm date to be set in place so that we can use the gym.”

In one Division I semifinal, the Commonwealth Bank Giants will face the Breezes High Flyers and in the other, the Rockets will face the University of The Bahamas Mingoes.

In the Division II, the Sun Oil Rockets will face Leno’s Eagles Nest in one half of the semi-final.

In the NPWBA, the Discount Distributors Rockets

SEE PAGE 13

Bahamas teams in FIBA Under-17 Skills Challenge

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net A NEW initiative by FIBA will give the Bahamas another opportunity to compete at the international level against top basketball prospects throughout the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bahamas Basketball Federation has entered both boys’ and girls’ teams to qualify in the FIBA Under-17 Skills Challenge, August 10-16.

FIBA established the competition as a means for its member federations to bring their youth teams together for a training camp and allow players to enjoy a competitive activity without travelling internationally.

Marvin Henfield has been named the head coach of both teams and announced that registration is now open at bbfbasketball.com for players interested in securing a spot in the open tryouts.

“As of July 16, athletes and their parents will be able to go to the BBF website to register and learn more about the event. Registration will close on July 23 and at that point we will notify the athletes of their tryout opportunity the following day on the 24th.

They will compete in specific trial

blocks based on their last names,” he said. “Our first tryout phase will commence July 25 and will be until the 27th. Phase two will be July 29-30 and the final team selection will be July 31. The roster will be submitted August 3.”

Throughout the process, the tryout sessions and team practices will adhere to FIBA, BBF and Government of The Bahamas COVID-19 guidelines.

“We have created COVID safe guidelines that we have implemented to be in compliance with all necessary rules and regulations. We have determined that the maximum number of athletes that will be in the gym at any points for a tryout will be 20.

“Each of the athletes will go through a check-in process at the door. Each will be asked a series of five questions - the standard COVID screening questions - and we have a checklist we have prepared and athletes will have to answer no to each question. They will also have the temperature taken. “If an athlete answers yes to any question they will not be allowed to participate. They will go through this process with every scheduled activity, which includes the tryouts as well as when we begin practices,” Henfield said.

“They will not be required to wear masks in the gym but

THE BAHAMAS Basketball Federation has entered both boys’ and girls’ teams to qualify in the FIBA Under-17 Skills Challenge August 10-16. must adhere to social distancing guidelines. They must stand six feet apart when inactive, and 12 feet apart when active. At no time will more than four athletes be using the court at one time.

Coaches and support staff will have their temperature taken, will

have masks at all times during on schedule training.”

The qualification round will be hosted at the respective federation’s chosen location and the final will take place on August 17.

The Bahamas is vying for one of five spots open in the final.

“Fifteen countries have already been identified in the final. Five additional countries will be added to that list and I am very hopeful and intent on the Bahamas being added to that list of five for the finals. I think we as the Bahamas will have an unique opportunity to advance farther than we ever have in international basketball.”

Players will display a set of skills through a course of challenges dispersed across the full length of the court.

The player starts at baseline, dribbles 15 feet and will have three attempts to make a pass through a passing cone.

If they are successful, they will receive one point. They will then make a layup on the same, dribble around five cones to the opposite end of the floor and take a jumpshot from behind the free throw line. If they are successful on the first attempt they will be awarded two points. If they miss they will have to get their rebound, make a layup and then go full length of the court to the three-point line to attempt a three pointer.

If they make it on the first attempt they will be awarded three points. If they miss they have to get the rebound and pass it to the next team member in line and the next four will continue the process.

The maximum number of points scored by an individual on a given round is six points. A team can score a maximum of 30 points. The total score will be subtracted from total time in seconds and the team with the lowest time wins.

“If you’ve ever seen the NBA Skills Challenge, it is similar to that. There is a total selection of 24 athletes that can comprise a team. During the skills challenge, any five of those athletes would have to be nominated to participate,” Henfield said.

“Each member federation will compete at the same time in their respective facilities so it’s much like having a game where the clock stops at the same time.”

The BBF looks to field the most comprehensive team possible with provisions made for Family Island players to compete virtually.

“With this COVID experience, we still want to access the best talent we have and we are in this to win this. We have also comprised a format that we will

SEE PAGE 13

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 13

Woods, DeChambeau attract attention for different reasons

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau pounded shots along the front nine of Muirfield Village, a nine-hole practice round yesterday that no doubt would have attracted a capacity crowd if spectators were allowed at the Memorial.

They are gobbling up most of the attention in golf, for entirely different reasons.

One of them because he’s Woods.

The other because he’s unlike anyone else in the game.

DeChambeau has everyone talking, whether it’s his super-sized physique, how hard he swings the driver, how far he is hitting the golf ball or his beliefs — which can sound like boasts — that he’s changing the way the game is played.

Even the tournament host is curious.

“Bryson’s golf swing is not a fluid golf swing,” Jack Nicklaus said.

“Bryson’s golf swing is pretty much pretty firm going back and firm coming through with a lot of body rotation. It’s a little different than a lot of guys. And can you believe the power

he’s getting from that? I mean, it’s unbelievable.

“I, for one, I want to watch him play a little bit,” Nicklaus added. “I’d like to see what he does and how he’s actually doing that because he’s obviously doing something right. The ball is going a long way.

And he’s playing well with it.”

DeChambeau faces a stacked field at the Memorial — nine of the top 10 in the world, 43 out of the top 50 — while coming off a victory two weeks ago when he pummelled Detroit Golf Club with his driver.

He has seven straight top-10 finishes dating to March, before COVID-19 shut down the tour. Since its return, DeChambeau has hit 29 tee shots of 350 yards or longer.

Woods is 44 and still has plenty of pop.

“There was a couple holes he hit 320, 325,” said DeChambeau, 26. “I’m like, ‘That’s pretty good for his age.’”

Yesterday wasn’t the first time they have practiced together.

Woods is intrigued by a different way of playing, which is why a generation ago he used to practice early with Bubba Watson to see not just his length but the shape in his shots.

TIGER Woods hits out of a bunker on the 15th hole during a practice round for the Memorial golf tournament on Tuesday in Dublin, Ohio.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings) How quickly the converHe’s not about to change.

DeChambeau brings an “I hit it far enough,” element of physics to his sation has changed. Now approach, taking into it’s not about slow play as Johnson said. “And until account air density and much as it is muscle mass, a I feel like I need to hit it ball speed approaching 200 further to compete or beat ground force.

A year ago, they were mph and whether this is the these guys, then that’s what I’ll do. But for right now, I playing together in the way everyone should play.

Dustin Johnson, who feel like if I’m playing my Memorial when DeChambeau was given a bad time won the last time he played game, he can hit it as far for taking too long over a at the Travelers Champi- as he wants to, and I don’t shot. He was furious, and onship, has ample power. think he’s going to beat later claimed the PGA Asked what would happen me.”

Woods has always been Tour was going about it if he swung as hard as the wrong way. He said it DeChambeau, he replied: about power, and so much should take into account “I’d probably hurt some- more. It’s why he has won how fast a player walks to thing. And I would find half 82 times on the PGA Tour of them.” and has a chance at the the ball.

Memorial — where he has won five times — to break the career victory record he shares with Sam Snead.

When he started, Woods and John Daly were the biggest hitters.

Technology has changed all that, starting with launch monitors that have led to sonar devices that allow players to optimise everything. What amazed Woods was not so much the distance but the accuracy that goes with it.

“Let’s look at the fact that he’s hitting it as straight as he is,” Woods said. “That’s part of the most difficult thing to do. The further you hit it, the more the tangent goes more crooked. So the fact that he’s figured that out and has been able to rein in the foul balls to me has been equally as impressive as his gains off the tee.”

The next question is whether that will work at Muirfield Village, which figures to be the toughest test since golf resumed at shorter courses with minimal rough and softer greens. This is the second straight tournament at the course Nicklaus built.

Greens are being replaced after this week, so there’s no fear of getting them super slick to the point of dying. The rough is thicker.

There are more hazards.

COLUMN: TIGER’S RETURN DOESN’T MEAN A RETURN TO NORMAL

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The PGA Tour has been back for five weeks and already has delivered a tournament scoring record one week, a former No. 1 winning another week, two sudden-death playoffs and a player who grew by two shirt sizes to try to change the game.

And it still felt as though something was missing.

Or someone.

That changed a few minutes past 7am Tuesday when Tiger Woods pulled his courtesy car into the parking lot at Muirfield Village, changed his shoes and began preparations for his first PGA Tour event in five months.

He was wearing a mask.

The return of Woods is not the return to normal, except for those watching on television.

Woods had an idea of what to expect from seeing empty golf courses at Colonial and Harbour Town and even last week at Muirfield

Village. He has heard from friends on tour how eerie it is with no fans, no cheering.

“It’s a very different world out here not to have the distractions, the noise, the excitement, the energy that the fans bring,” Woods said. “It’s just a silent and different world.”

And it’s going to stay that way.

The PGA Tour returned June 11, and the Memorial was supposed to be the first tournament with fans, at 20 per cent capacity, until coronavirus cases began to spike and the prudent action was to play it safe.

The “Nicklaus Club” hospitality tent is still to the right of the 16th tee. A small grandstand overlooks the 18th green. There wasn’t time to dismantle them.

Four more tournaments announced Monday they won’t have spectators, all the way through the Tour Championship to end the FedEx Cup season.

They’re still playing, though. And now, so is Woods.

“I think he was starting to get a little sassy,” Justin Thomas said over the weekend. “I was telling him he’s scared to come out and play against all of us when he’s sitting at home, just trying to give him a hard time. But yeah, we’re excited to have him out.”

Woods and Thomas played the back nine Tuesday morning with just over a dozen people watching, mainly media. That’s not entirely new for Woods.

The final round of his victory in Japan had no spectators because of flooding.

The third round of the AT&T National in 2012 had no fans because of a freak wind storm that toppled 75-foot trees at Congressional.

They were back the next day. They won’t be at Muirfield Village all week.

They will be missing as Woods, a five-time winner of the tournament Jack Nicklaus built, goes after his 83rd career victory to break the PGA Tour record he shares with Sam Snead.

LOCAL BASKETBALL LEAGUES READY TO RETURN TO COURT FROM PAGE 12 and the Bees Trucking Destroyers will vie for the 2020 title. “We are in our championship phase. We are just awaiting the okay to finish our finals,” league president Devon Johnson said. “Hopefully we will start within another two weeks. We are looking forward to seeing the fans back and to seeing the championship round.”

Bahamas Basketball Federation President Mario Bowleg said the league has complied with the return to play protocols established by basketball’s international governing body.

“The federation has drafted a letter to the Ministry of Youth Sports and

Culture who will then receive authorisation from the higher powers to ensure we have all protocols and standards in place before we commence play. We have met the standard that was set by FIBA which is the same standards the NBA has to follow when they restart their season,” he said. “We do believe that if we decide to allow fans, once approved by the authorities, that those limited fans will practice social distancing. It’s not as if we just want to go out there and bounce the ball, we want to adhere to the protocols put in place by the higher authorities.”

Dates have been established, but the federation awaits government approval before a proper

timeline can be established.

“We have a date, we don’t think it will be difficult to get approval once the competent authorities see the protocols we have in place,” Bowleg said.

“We are prepared with temperature checks and sanitisation throughout the gym to ensure this pandemic will not be spread throughout the game of basketball. The medical personnel and equipment is there so we are ready to go.”

Both leagues have been active off the court since the pandemic forced the suspension of play.

The NPBA distributed care packages to its players, coaches, managers, referees and table officials during the quarantine.

BAHAMAS TEAMS IN FIBA U-17 SKILLS CHALLENGE FROM PAGE 12

submit to the federation for virtual tryouts for Family Island athletes. In order for us to be entirely inclusive, it requires us to be far more exhaustive than the timeframe that we have allows. It is our hope to access all the best athletes that we can in the timeframe that we have allotted to us.”

FIBA created the Skills Challenge after the

Under-17 Basketball World Cup and 2020 Youth World competitions were postponed due to the pandemic.

“We decided to offer an opportunity to players of this age category to gather with their national team to train and compete without the need for international travel. Several national federations plan to organise a training camp for this age group in the coming months, taking into account

local restrictions and in accordance with the FIBA Guide to returning to basketball,” FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said.

“Therefore, we considered that FIBA U-17 Skills Challenge 2020 could provide a motivation and an additional incentive for these young players, but also the possibility to strengthen their ties in the national team.”

Woods was last seen at a PGA Tour event on February 16 at Riviera, where he shot 77 and finished in last place. His back felt stiff in the cold weather.

He skipped the next four weeks to be in shape for the Masters, and then the pandemic happened.

Woods has barely been seen at all this year.

That much was clear when Woods was asked about his chances of winning after a five-month layoff. His intentions are to win, just like always. Can he do it this week? He went just over two months without playing last fall and won in his first tournament back at the Zozo Championship.

“Whether that plays out come Sunday, hopefully that will be the case,” he said. “It was that one particular week — well, three tournaments ago at Zozo.

There’s no reason I can’t do it again this week.”

Three tournaments ago for Woods was nearly nine months ago.

Any tournament would love to have Woods in the

field, but in this environment, does it even matter?

It’s not like ticket sales would explode because there are no tickets to sell.

So it becomes a TV show, and that’s not bad, either.

The real adjustment for Woods is how he handles the silence. He has fed off the gallery longer than he’s been a pro. He was asked if he would have to go back to his Stanford days for the last time it was just him and other players on the course.

“Well, even in college I had a few people following,” he said with a laugh.

The chip-in from behind the 16th hole when he won the Memorial in 2012? The chip he made for par off the 14th green when he won in 1999?

Any birdie he’s ever made at Muirfield Village?

They all were followed by the loudest cheers.

“For most of my career, pretty much almost every competitive playing round that I’ve been involved in, I’ve had people around me, spectators yelling, a lot of movement inside the

gallery with camera crews and media,” Woods said.

That was his world.

Not long after Nick Faldo helped Woods into the green jacket at the 1997 Masters, part of him wondered if that was the only major Woods could win.

Faldo’s point was that while the course suited him, Augusta National was the only major that kept the horde of media at a distance. As it turned out, Faldo later realised, that became an asset.

“Everyone joining him now on the weekend at a major goes into his world.

That’s Tiger’s arena,” Faldo said in a 2007 interview.

“Other guys will step into that arena one week and go back out.

“He’s there all the time.

And good luck coming into his world.”

It’s a different world now, a phrase Woods used five times Tuesday.

It’s everyone’s world.

But just seeing him at Muirfield Village gave the golf world a slight sense of normalcy.

PAGE 14, Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

IOC POSTPONES DAKAR YOUTH OLYMPICS BY FOUR YEARS TO 2026

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — The 2022 Dakar Youth Olympics were postponed by four years on Wednesday, in further fallout from delaying the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the decision was discussed two days ago in a telephone conversation with Senegal President Macky Sall. It means Africa will have to wait until 2026 for the continent’s first Olympic hosting duty.

“This was really too heavy workload for everybody,” Bach said during an online news conference, citing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics now opening one year later.

The Beijing Winter Olympics are due to be held in February 2022.

“We would have had to master five (Olympic) Games in just three years,” Bach said.

Bach dismissed a suggestion that a similar postponement for a full four-year Olympic cycle was an option for Tokyo, if the global health crisis persists.

The situations “cannot be compared in any way,” the IOC leader

said. “We are and we remain fully committed to celebrate Tokyo 2020 next year in July and August.”

Addressing other issues, Bach also noted the financial and organisational strain on governing bodies of Olympic sports and the 206 national Olympic bodies because of the pandemic.

Around $100 million in loans and donations have now been distributed to help sports bodies through a severe cash shortfall this year.

The IOC said $63 million has gone to governing bodies and a further $37 million has gone to national Olympic committees.

The IOC said it can distribute up to $300 million to help “support the actions of the Olympic Movement.”

Also, Bach said the IOC will not “rewrite history” when it comes to perhaps his most controversial predecessor, the late Avery Brundage, whose position in the organisation’s history has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks.

The only American to lead the IOC, from 1952-72, has long been criticised for holding racist views and being a Nazi sympathiser at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Last month, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, which

houses an extensive collection donated by Brundage, removed his bust from display amid a reevaluation of racial injustice in the United States.

The museum’s director told the New York Times Brundage was “a hateful person.”

“The role of Mr Brundage has been the focus of many studies and his history is pretty clear and has been evaluated,” Bach said yesterday.

“So we see no reason to rewrite history at this moment,” said Bach.

In 1975, Brundage was the first recipient of the IOC’s Gold Olympic Order.

5 SUBSTITUTES INTERIM RULE IN SOCCER EXTENDED BY ONE YEAR

ARSENAL’s David Luiz grabs Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, foreground and left, during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, yesterday.

(Paul Childs/Pool via AP)

Liverpool loses, Manchester City out-shot on unusual night in EPL

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer AS the longest ever English soccer season rumbles on, some unusual things are starting to happen in the Premier League.

Take yesterday, for example.

Virgil van Dijk made a mistake for Liverpool.

Manchester City got out-shot at home by a relegation candidate.

Jose Mourinho finally won a league game at St James’ Park.

Maybe that’s what playing in empty, soulless stadiums in July does to players. A 12-month season certainly looked like it was starting to catch up with some in the Premier League, including already-crowned champion Liverpool.

A 2-1 loss at Arsenal meant another potential record slipped out of reach for Jürgen Klopp’s team, which can no longer beat

Manchester City’s all-time leading points haul for a single top-flight season of 100. Liverpool has 93 points with two matches remaining — against Chelsea and Newcastle — so can’t even get to a century, a milestone which appeared a certainty when the league restarted last month.

The goals conceded were embarrassing on Liverpool’s part, with a sloppy back pass by the usually flawless Van Dijk — of all people — gifting Alexandre Lacazette an equaliser before goalkeeper Alisson’s poor pass out from his area eventually resulted in Reiss Nelson scoring the winner. Sadio Mane had put Liverpool ahead.

The loss came a few days after Liverpool was held 1-1 at home by Burnley to end its bid to go a full league season with a 100 per cent home record.

Records were always simply a nice bonus for

Klopp, though. The big thing was winning a first league title in 30 years, and the feeling will be no less sweet for Liverpool’s players when they lift the trophy in the iconic Kop stand after the match against Chelsea at Anfield next week.

Man City, 18 points behind Liverpool in second place, also has little to play for in the league, and it showed against relegationthreatened Bournemouth.

City fielded a weakened team ahead of an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal on Saturday and ended up being outplayed by Bournemouth, which had 14 shots to City’s eight. It was the most shots given up by City at home since Pep Guardiola took over in 2016.

First-half goals by David Silva — a perfect free kick, which glanced the underside of the crossbar as it went in — and Gabriel Jesus still were enough for

City to claim a win, though Bournemouth had great chances to equalise even after David Brooks pulled one back in the 88th.

Bournemouth stayed three points from safety with two games remaining and has played a match more than the two teams above them, West Ham and Watford.

WAIT OVER At the eighth attempt, Jose Mourinho finally has a league victory away to Newcastle.

The Tottenham manager saw his team win 3-1 to move into seventh place and continue its push for Europa League qualification. Even as Chelsea and Manchester United manager, Mourinho had found St James’ Park a bogey ground.

Harry Kane scored twice — taking the England captain past 200 goals in his club career — to add to the opener by Son Heung-min.

Serge Aurier started for Tottenham, just two days after the death of his brother, Christopher, in France.

WOLVES DENIED A finish in the top four seems beyond Wolverhampton, which conceded a goal from a penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Burnley.

Chris Wood slammed home the spot kick to leave sixth-place Wolves three points behind both Leicester and Manchester United, holding a much inferior goal difference and having played an extra game.

Leicester and United play today, against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace respectively.

Raul Jimenez had put Wolves ahead with a brilliant volley from the edge of the area in the 76th minute, his 17th league goal of the season.

ZURICH (AP) — An interim rule allowing soccer teams to use five substitutes per match during the schedule congestion caused by the coronavirus pandemic was extended yesterday through next season.

Soccer’s law-making panel, known as IFAB, said the option of using two extra replacements would continue in the 2020-21 season and for national team competitions into next August, when the Tokyo Olympic tournaments end.

The decision fulfils some goals in a proposal by FIFA in April which wanted to extend the rule through 2021 for all national team games and calendar-year domestic leagues.

FIFA said its plan would help prevent some injuries caused by “potential player overload” as competitions catch up with a backlog of games.

IFAB cited “the impact on player welfare of competitions being played in a condensed period and in different weather conditions.”

Competition organisers have the option of letting their teams use five substitutes instead of three in 90 minutes, and a sixth in knockout games that go to extra time.

Teams are still limited to three stoppages of play in 90 minutes to make the changes.

PRZYBYLKO’S GOAL GIVES PHILADELPHIA A 2-1 VICTORY OVER MIAMI LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — Kacper Przybylko scored in the 63rd minute and the Philadelphia Union held off Inter Miami for a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night in the MLS is Back tournament.

It was Union’s second win in two games in the World Cup-style tournament played without fans at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World. The victory secured a spot in the knockout round.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, July 16, 2020, PAGE 15

UB BASKETBALL BEGINS TO PREP FOR UPCOMING SEASON THE University of the Bahamas Mingoes men’s basketball team has started conditioning in preparation for the upcoming season — whenever it happens.

Following COVID19 protocols, the team has been working out on Goodman’s Bay during the morning. Under the eye of head coach Bacchus Rolle, assistant coach Lavar Johnson and head athletic trainer Sasha Johnson, the team has been focusing on building conditioning and endurance.

The team hit the beach Wednesday morning going through foot drills, core building and aerobic endurance by running the beach.

Coach Rolle said the team is very excited about being back to basketball.

“It feels really good to be back to our normal in that we out conditioning and knocking it out early in the morning and get it out of the way. Some of the guys haven’t worked out that much during the quarantine and lockdown so they are feeling the burn.

With the guys being young and resilient, we anticipate them bouncing back very quickly.”

He added the team is going to change a bit for the better. “We are looking good this year with some good recruits,” he said.

“This isn’t even the entire team and we are having a good time getting back in shape.”

As the country returns to the new normal, UB Athletics has instituted strict rules in relation to COVID-19.

“We are in UB Athletics’s phase three that allows the athletes to participate in outdoor workouts,” Johnson said.

“We are making sure they observe social distancing, no hand shaking, every athlete brings their own water bottle and towel. We want to protect them from the COVID-19.”

UB men’s basketball team members work out at Goodman’s Bay on July 5 as the team gets ready for the upcoming season.

(UB Athletics) Phase three of UB’s return to play protocol that follows worldwide best practices allows for small group training with minimal contact. This phase also calls for student-athletes, coaches and trainers to self-monitor for COVID19 symptoms along with constant temperature monitoring. There is also no contact between athletes in phase three.

The final phase - phase four - allows for full team training with no restrictions on contact. Temperature monitoring will continue.

Student-athletes can share equipment but will continue to use personal water bottles and towels.

During this final phase, equipment will also be disinfected on a rigorous and continuous basis.

Johnson added that they are very strict in the application of these protocols.

“The well-being of the athlete is paramount in this

case,” she said. “We don’t want anyone to get sick so we are complying as strict as possible with the guys. Of course this is a new normal for them so it’s taking some adjustment and constant reminder but they are being very compliant.”

The Mingoes compete in 11 disciplines, including men’s and women’s track and field indoor/outdoor, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s volleyball, women’s softball, men’s basketball, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s judo.

PAGE 16, Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Inside bubble, NBA players have plenty of options

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) — Every team in the NBA bubble has played golf. Most have had at least a few players go fishing. Some have taken boats out. Bowling is available for a few hours most nights. The barbers arrive for the first time later this week. And the walking trail is pretty much always occupied by coaches or players.

On occasion at Walt Disney World, basketball even gets played.

This is the NBA’s home away from home for the foreseeable future — and efforts are being made to make the time here fun.

The so-called bubble in Central Florida is where 22 teams have settled for about a week now, where they all will remain for another month and where teams that make the playoffs will be for considerably longer.

“We’re trying to just live our life,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Have our best Disney life.”

This summer away from home isn’t ideal, for obvious reasons. Players and coaches are away from their families, many teams are missing players or other personnel because of the coronavirus, and there are daily reminders that even this well-isolated world was created during a pandemic. Medical personnel — wearing gowns, masks, gloves and plastic visors — are arriving to place a swab in everyone’s mouth and two more in

their nasal passages for the next COVID-19 test.

But the league is trying to make the days at Disney go a little faster, with activities available almost around the clock. And players are making the best of things; Denver even turned an off day into time for a full-team pool workout this week.

“I don’t think you can ever build enough ‘we,’ enough togetherness,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

Golf has been the freetime hit so far; a new private driving range just for NBA player use is scheduled to open Saturday, just to keep up with their demand.

A few players — including some who don’t even play golf regularly, like Miami’s Goran Dragic — figured they might as well try to learn the game.

“It’ll be good for me mentally to have something else to think about during the downtime,” said Dragic, whose wife and children returned home to the family’s native Slovenia yesterday.

“So, I had my golf clubs sent here, just to try something new.”

And, of course, there’s the food.

Panned by some players upon arrival, the fare in quarantine wasn’t quite the level that NBA types are used to seeing but has generally gotten decent reviews since. Those still in quarantine at Disney get three meals dropped off outside their door each day, with an array of items to choose from in those bags.

OLADIPO BACKTRACKS ON SITTING OUT REST OF SEASON WITH PACERS

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

UTAH Jazz centre Rudy Gobert shoots during practice before a NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns in Salt Lake City on February 24. Gobert is standing tall, even after having coronavirus and dealing with an enormous amount of scorn after being diagnosed. He was the first NBA player to test positive for the virus and that prompted many to blame him for the league’s shutdown in response to the pandemic. (AP) Teams have meal rooms set up with menus that were developed in cooperation with their own staffs and dietitians. And when all else fails, there are delivery options and room service offering everything from bisques to steaks to flourless chocolate cakes.

“If you’re talking about it being a five-star restaurant, no, but if you talk about it being good food that you can eat and enjoy, I think it is,” New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said.

“We’re not eating off of fine china, but we’re also eating off of biodegradable containers which I think is very smart to do.

“Obviously, we’re not eating with silverware because that poses a threat as far as spreading the virus also.”

The NBA even developed an app for the Disney life.

Every team was assigned a liaison to help book outings and handle needs, and the app includes everything from how to get food delivered to how to book extra practice time.

There’s a page within the app that allows players to report violations of health protocols, such as someone not wearing a mask, as well as links to mental health resources and even details on how players can register to vote if they haven’t already.

In short, there are many ways to keep busy in the bubble.

“I brought my bike — it’s yet to leave the room, but the thought is nice, hopefully someday I get

on it,” Rivers said. “We’ve got a lot to do. It’s still not normal, but that’s fine with us. Again, we’re going to live the best Disney life that we can.”

Brooklyn’s newly signed Jamal Crawford, who will be the oldest player in the restart at 40 — a bit ahead of fellow 40-year-old Udonis Haslem of Miami — practiced with the Nets for the first time yesterday.

The NBA slightly amended some protocols to address concerns some teams have about false positive tests for the coronavirus, adding review of an antibody test as part of the return-to-play path.

The league made that announcement in a memo obtained by The Associated Press and other outlets.

VICTOR Oladipo is having second thoughts about calling it a season.

If all goes well over the next two weeks, the Indiana Pacers just might get their two-time All-Star back.

Twelve days after announcing he would sit out because of concerns over his surgically repaired right knee, Oladipo told reporters yesterday the workouts in Orlando, Florida, have forced him to rethink his decision.

“It was hard for me to assess where I was,” Oladipo said.

“But being able to come down here and practice with my guys at a high level, I think there’s a strong possibility that I might play. I want to be smart because I want to play the next 10 years.”

Oladipo’s presence could give the Pacers a big boost when the season resumes, especially with starting guard Malcolm Brogdon also expected to be healthy.

Indiana is scheduled to play three scrimmage games before facing Philadelphia on August 1, the first of eight regular-season games.

First-round playoff games are set to begin August 17.

Oladipo told team officials last week he would only practice — not play — when the team arrived in Florida.