09292022 NEWS AND SPORT

Biggest And Best!

FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE

WAYNE MUNROE: POLICE SHOULD BE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe said yesterday that just as others are presumed inno cent until proven guilty, police should be given the same treatment. His comments came when asked to respond to concerns over the recent fatal police-involved shootings.

On Monday police shot a wanted suspect dead in Gamble Heights after he allegedly pulled a gun on officers. Prior to that inci dent, police said a teenager allegedly involved in an armed robbery was fatally shot on Saturday after pull ing a gun on officers.

Mr Munroe said based

FLOODING, HEAVY RAIN AND WIND HIT GRAND BAHAMA

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis said his admin istration has laid a strong foundation for recovery and future progress during its first year in office, while expressing confidence that it will continue to do so until all its objectives are achieved.

While touting his administra tion’s performance, Mr Davis said while much has been accom plished by the government already, there is still more to be done.

He also took shots at the former governing party’s actions

in office, saying when his adminis tration assumed power last year it found the country in a bad state.

“The country was in a dire state,” he said in the House of Assembly yesterday. “The econ omy was headed for a fiscal cliff. Two billion had been borrowed every year for four years, with no plausible plan for the growing debt. Hospitals remained under extreme pressure, with patients treated in parking lots, severe shortages of doctors and nurses, and regular leaks and flooding in the buildings. Schools were still going back and forth between inperson and online learning, with thousands of students not attend ing classes at all.”

FNM TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION OVER PROCUREMENT ACT

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Free National Movement intends to take legal action against the Davis administration to initiate a judicial review targeting the government’s failure to follow the Public Procurement Act.

FNM Leader Michael Pintard made the revelation to The Tribune yesterday as he pushed back against what he described as the government’s “flimsy”

excuses for not abiding by the law.

Plans to take the legal route came after the FNM exhausted several ave nues, including a written

communication to the prime minister and an attempt to use provisions in the Freedom of Informa tion Act.

However, the latter option yielded no results, as the FOIA’s relevant provisions have yet to be enforced.

The situation was simi lar when the opposition attempted to use the powers of the Public Accounts Committee, with Mr Pin tard telling The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FRONT PORCH: ROOTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY AND REPRESSION

• PM says strong foundation has been laid for future progress and recovery

• Points to social support, reduced duty and affordable housing

• Says country was in ‘dire state’ under former administration

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Photo: Austin Fernander

GRAND Bahama expe rienced flooding, heavy rain, wind and thunder storm conditions from the outer bands of power ful Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Florida yesterday.

There was also some power loss reported.

The National Emer gency Management Agency (NEMA) ordered the acti vation of hurricane shelters yesterday as a tropical storm warning remained in effect for the northwestern

FNM Leader Michael Pintard.

Flooding, heavy rain and wind on Grand Bahama

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Bahamas.

As a precaution, six shelters in Grand Bahama and one in Bimini were opened around 10am to receive people needing to seek shelter.

In Bimini, severe flood ing in the road due to a king tide that was reported in Alice Town and Porgy Bay.

When contacted yes terday morning, Robbie Smith, former chief coun cillor in Bimini, reported that they were experienc ing strong winds.

“Right now, we are getting 40 to 50 mph winds, but not much

rain, however, we expect another burst of rain. We had a lot of rain and wind on Tuesday night,” he said.

Mr Smith said there is

flooding of seawater in the road at the Adminis trator’s Office and Police Station on North Bimini.

“The road is flooded with salt water because the

drain is low and it is letting water in the road. Because of the king tide salt water is in the road. The road to the Administrator’s Office and police station is flooded with salt water and we are waiting for the tide to go down.

“Porgy Bay also had

quite a bit of rain and the drains are low so there is flooding there too. And also, in Alice Town flooding is there. It is self-draining and also goes with the tide,” he explained.

As far as residents, he said, people are taking a “relaxed approach.”

“No one is running around doing anything.

School is closed and streets are not busy. No one has battened up, but some houses have closed their shutters.

“Many residents have been watching it (Hur ricane Ian) from day one to see where it was going so they have taken a more relaxed approach - no one is panicking,” he said.

Mr Smith said busi nesses were still open and operating. There was no power loss when he spoke to this newspaper.

Bimini resident Char lie Wilkinson, of Charlie’s Native Bread, in Bailey Town, said people are still going about their normal daily activities.

“We been getting a lot of rain and wind since Tues day, and also Wednesday morning, but people here are not afraid, and every thing seems normal,” he said.

“Where I live on the baseball field, we have gotten little rain settling there because it is lowlying ground, but I am not concerned.”

Mr Smith said Island Administrator Desiree Ferguson is in New Provi dence due to a death in her family.

In Eight Mile Rock, resident Cherquante Hep burn, of Martin Town, said there has been some flooding outside near where she lives.

“We live on high ground and the water flows under the deck. We are pre pared; we are not scared because we are on high ground,” she said.

Ms Hepburn said her family of seven has pur chased necessary food items. “We have water, canned goods - everything you need to prepare for a tropical storm. We went to get extra water and canned goods. We also have a gas stove to use if power goes off.”

Rochelle Minnis, chief welfare officer at the Department of Social Ser vices who is stationed in West Grand Bahama, said residents who do not feel

safe should report to the shelters.

“We are asking resi dents if they don’t feel safe in their homes or if they fear their homes will flood, to go to the shelters that are open today,” she said.

Grand Bahama Minis ter Ginger Moxey issued a statement, strongly encouraging all residents of Grand Bahama to take heed, make neces sary preparations and pay careful attention to weather reports from the Bahamas Department of Meteorology.

“Grand Bahama can expect life-threatening storm surges, catastrophic winds, heavy rainfall and flooding. Everyone should stay alert and moni tor your local news for updates and directions provided by local officials. Let’s stay safe, take all necessary precautions, be our brother’s and sister’s keeper,” she said.

Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Captain Stephen Russell ordered the activation of shelters in Grand Bahama and Bimini as a precautionary measure against poten tial impacts from tropical storm-force conditions associated with Hurricane Ian.

Captain Russell also announced that flood water rescue teams have been pre-positioned in West End, Grand Bahama, and Alice Town, Bimini, as yet another pre cautionary measure.

A tropical storm warn ing remained in effect for the north-western Baha mas as of noon yesterday with residents of Grand Bahama and Bimini being advised to prepare for the possibility of sustained tropical storm-force winds today.

It stated that resi dents in the remainder of the northwest Baha mas, including Abaco, the Berry Islands, North Andros, New Providence and Eleuthera, could experience winds gusting to gale-force during this period.

It is reported that total rainfall amounts of four to six inches are expected with isolated amounts of up to eight inches through Friday.

As a result, severe, localised flooding is pos sible in low-lying and flood-prone areas.

NEW PROVIDENCE OUTAGES DUE TO EFFECTS FROM IAN

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

PARTS of New Providence experienced power outages yesterday due to weather conditions brought on by Hur ricane Ian.

This came two days after residents in western New Providence experienced similar issues as a result of severe lightning conditions Sunday night, leading into Monday morning.

Around 1pm yesterday, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) advised customers that its teams were working to restore power to a number of affected areas.

The affected areas included: Cumberbatch Avenue, Fox Hill Road South, Thatch Palm (Pinewood), Gladstone Road near Industrial Park, Firetrail, Gambier, Fernander Road, Devonshire, West Bay Street, Coral Harbour (Hop kins Drive and Ocean Drive), Marathon Mall, and the Pinedale Area.

BPL also added that teams were in the field address ing outages on site at Cumberbatch Avenue, Thatch Palm (Pinewood), Marathon Mall, Coral Harbour and Pinedale. However, an estimated restoration time was unavailable.

When asked why these particular areas experienced the power outages, a BPL representative said: “System control reports that these are weather related as we experience the outer bands of Hurricane Ian.”

Weather officials said the northwest Bahamas could encounter rainbands that could produce significant rainfall, gusty winds, thunderstorm activity and potential tornadic activity.

SCENES of flooding in Grand Bahama yesterday.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

First year in office

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However, he said over the last year, his administration has sought to correct past mistakes, help the nation recover from the COVID crisis while also bring ing about transformative changes.

He also detailed an expansive list of what he considers his government’s accomplishments to date, from ridding the country of the COVID-19 emer gency orders to introducing measures to help Bahamians cope with the inflation ary high cost of living.

“Mr Deputy Speaker, Bahamians have really endured one tough year after another,” the prime minister added. “The 2017 shock rises in VAT and other taxes, along with increased unemployment and reduction in support for the most vulnerable, then Dorian, then COVID, and now a global inflation crisis. A great many families are finding themselves struggling, including many who were doing fine before this series of emergencies.

“It has been a priority for my admin istration to offer both compassion and relief, via both social support and empowerment. Our administration is providing substantial support to suc cessful, local feeding programmes run by churches and NGOs. The funding for social assistance increased by 50 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“We have extended tax breaks and concessions in Grand Bahama and Abaco Recovery Zones. We made a $500 lump-sum payment just before Christmas to the unemployed, to provide a little breathing room. My government provided relief grants to vendors in Port Lucaya, Downtown Freeport Farmers’ Market, Eight Mile Rock Fish Fry, and Lucayan Harbour and New Bight Fish Fry. We also provided a financial stipend to surrey drivers.”

He also pointed to the government’s decision to reduce duty on a number of food items and other imports in addition to making housing more affordable for Bahamians.

“In this first year, we made avail able 47 new affordable homes in New Providence. We started Pinecrest, the

first phase of development,” Mr Davis continued. “New housing develop ments in New Providence and Abaco are underway along with a new housing initiative at Ocean Hole in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. We have expanded conces sions to first-time homeowners, which includes the purchasing of land, building and purchasing a house, and renovating existing structures.”

He said the government continues to help with restoration efforts in both Abaco and Grand Bahama.

On the labour front, Mr Davis noted that several outstanding union agree ments were able to be successfully negotiated upon and finalised under his administration.

He said the government is also work ing aggressively to settle outstanding promotions and regularisation for public sector workers.

In terms of safety and security, Prime Minister Davis said his government is introducing a broad range of policies to better protect Bahamians.

He said the government has already started several initiatives in this regard by recruiting more workers to law enforcement agencies among other things.

He revealed that the government plans to launch an extensive streetlights project to ensure that local communities are better lit and also advance legisla tion to strengthen its crime prevention efforts.

“The crime statistics portray a stark picture of violence, gang-related activ ity and general criminality, which has become the fate of many hundreds,” he continued. “...We are in danger of losing a generation, and it is incumbent upon us all to ensure that that does not happen.”

As for the way forward, he said the government will continue to build on the foundation it laid to provide further economic relief and more job opportu nities for all Bahamians.

He said the government will seek to implement measures to improve health care in The Bahamas and “introduce fiscal reforms to improve the manage ment of public finances, along with a number of amendments to deal with some practical issues arising from statu tory requirements. “

Mr Davis added: “Mr Deputy Speaker, ever mindful of the increas ing challenges surrounding issues connected with climate change and the environment, we intend to introduce new legislation and update existing leg islation to improve the various ways in which our natural resources are pro tected, managed and commercialised.”

In his closing remarks, the prime minister reaffirmed his commitment to “upholding integrity and accountability” in his administration and said he had every confidence the opposition party, the Free National Movement, will do the same.

FNM TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION OVER PROCUREMENT ACT

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there was some concern that the committee had not received the responses that it expected certain agencies to provide.

He spoke to this news paper after the official opposition tabled questions to the government in the House of Assembly, several of them targeting the Pro curement Act.

“We, just in the House of Assembly tabled a number of questions, a number of them surrounding the iden tical issue, the violation of the Public Procurement Act and we have asked questions in the House of Assembly during the debate,” Mr Pintard said during an interview at his office on Parliament Street.

“We’ve spoken to mem bers of the media. I have written to the prime minis ter and we have utilised the Public Accounts Commit tee and we have also sought to go through the Freedom of Information Act, but the provisions that empower those who have responsi bility for the Freedom of Information Act, those pro visions are not yet enforced and so that has not been helpful to us.”

He continued: “We have gone through every avenue. I have spoken with two attorneys. We have now received the quote of the retainer for one of those attorneys.

“We are looking now to take legal action with respect to this administra tion and initiate a judicial review so we could deter mine through law exactly why the government is so recalcitrant and refuses to follow.”

The Davis administra tion has said the Public Procurement Act, which was made law under the Minnis administration, is unworkable.

Last month, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the Davis administration planned to rewrite the Public Procurement Act as opposed to amending portions of it to allow for greater transparency and ease of administration.

At the time Mr Pinder told reporters the legisla tion in its current format had several “material issues” that restricted the government’s ability to govern effectively.

Because of this, Mr Pinder said, officials decided to change its approach entirely in deal ing with the bill.

Mr Pintard rejected these assertions yesterday, saying: “I just think there is

a culture that is endemic in the system and I also think that different agencies and their heads take a cue from the executive and the exec utive have shown a blatant disregard for the law.

“They have used flimsy excuses such as they have intention of amending the law and therefore until they have done so they refuse to comply.

“They claim that it’s unworkable and the provi sions are onerous, which is untrue because in the last administration obviously elements of that law were still in fact used to report, including in cases where people wish to single source a contractor to do work and you want to go through a no-bid process.

“There are provisions that are available for you to act and if there is a need to take some action as in an emergency, the law as it exists was utilised during COVID.

“So, the excuses they have given have been flimsy.

“I just think that the arrangements that they have entered into that they are not comfortable with the public knowing what those arrangements are and I don’t think they feel any obligation to follow the law.

“They have a pathway that they have determined to follow and that’s what they are doing.”

The intended legal action will also seek to make public the settlements the

government has reached with people who sued the state for various reasons.

In recent months the government settled a law suit with Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander and Deputy Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux.

The men filed suits against the government when they were deputy commissioner and assis tant commissioner of police, respectively, after the Minnis administra tion forced them to take vacation leave and later seconded them to minor posts upon their return to active duty.

Details of the settlements have not been made public.

“There will more than likely be other elements that we will look at,” Mr Pintard said yesterday. “One particular decision that they have made that has also caused us some concern and we believe it ought to be challenged in court and that is keep ing secret the settlements that they have entered into, some of which were in court.

“Some we understand the attorneys for those per sons were signalling that they are going to court. So, again what motivated their decisions to award what they did and what was the amount?

“Was the amount justified given what the grievance was that the persons had?”

The Public Procurement Act was partly a response

to long-term criticisms of the country’s procurement processes.

It is intended to shine the light of transparency and accountability across the award of all public sector contracts, thus improving taxpayer value for money and reducing fraud, wast age, and corruption.

It is also supposed to improve procurement effi ciency by having all bids and contract awards han dled through a centralised e-procurement supplier registry, with all companies interested in bidding regis tering with this portal.

MINISTRIES TO LAUNCH CLEAN-UP

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Envi ronment and Natural Resources has partnered with the Ministry of Social Services to launch an extensive clean-up cam paign as part of its efforts to beautify the country.

The rejuvena tion project, said to be the brainchild of Prime Minister Phillip Davis, was announced by Environment and Natural Resources Min ister Vaughn Miller in the House of Assembly yesterday.

He said the initiative will begin Monday and continue until next year in preparation for the coun try’s 50th independence anniversary celebrations.

Mr Miller also said the project is estimated to cost the government over $1.5m.

“Specific concentra tion will be placed on the island of New Providence and our major family of islands. The family of islands will be addressed

in phase one. They are Andros, Bimini, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Exuma and Great Harbour Cay,” he said.

“Mr Deputy Speaker, this revolutionary pro gramme is the brainchild of our leader and Prime Minister Phillip ‘Brave’ Davis, who has a deep con cern for the plight of the average Bahamian, espe cially those who were born and reside in the inner city of Providence, as well as those living through our family of islands.

“Mr Deputy Speaker over the past three years, the Department of Envi ronmental Health Services has made a herculean effort to improve the over all aesthetics throughout our island through a com bination of ways.”

He said these include twice weekly garbage col lection, weekly collection of waste, public education, community cleanups and the removal of derelict vehicles.

“However,” Mr Miller added, “the missing com ponent in all of this is the

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FNM leader Michael Pintard. (File photo)

PRIME Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday.

PHOTO: Austin Fernander

on the information he received in both cases the suspects fired at the police.

“Our system assumes that criminals, people who are put before the courts as criminals are innocent until they’re proven guilty. The police deserve at least that much.

“The public would have seen we’ve upped the use of body cams and dash cams. Police officers are put before the court in circumstances that are appropriate and that will continue to happen. But we will continue to give the police the same benefit of the doubt that we give persons who go before the court charged with crimes,” Mr Munroe said.

However, the lack of public inquests to deter mine the lawfulness of police-involved shootings has also been alarming to some. Two years ago, inquests were initially delayed because of COVID-19.

In April, Mr Munroe confirmed that police related coroner’s inquests had not resumed as the director of public prosecutions has yet to appoint a lawyer to marshal the cases.

When asked about the Coroner’s Court in rela tion to the police involved shootings, Mr Munroe said the police will do their duty whether the court is sitting or not.

“The issue of the Coroner’s Court, it’s just a matter of the court adjudicating who died, where they died, the manner of their death. The Coro ner’s Court does not adjudicate responsibility one way or the other. That’s what the Coroner’s Act says.

“And so, the police will do their duty, whether the Coroner’s Court is sitting or not sitting, they will continue to do it.”

On Tuesday, when contacted for comment, attorney Christina Galanos told The Tribune addressing police-involved killings is urgent because it affects the public’s confidence in the police.

“What is going to happen is that the public confidence in the police force is going to whittle away where persons are being killed by police officers, rightly or wrongly, because there are justifiable police involved killings. But that needs to be properly determined by a court. And if we don’t get down to doing that, sooner or later, the public confidence in the police force and the court system is going to go down - is going to decrease.

“So, I think we need to act with a matter of urgency to get it up and running,” Ms Galanos said on Tuesday.

‘MORE VIGILANCE IN ENFORCING BAIL CONDITIONS’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe says there’s been increased police vigilance as more breaches of bail conditions are coming to light and offenders are facing the courts.

Last week, Police Com missioner Clayton Fernander said police recently charged 38 men who were on bail for serious crimes and were being monitored for breach ing their bail conditions.

He said many suspects on bail for serious crimes intentionally fail to charge their electronic monitoring devices so as to commit more crimes. He made the revela tion during a press briefing at police headquarters.

“Within the week, we charged 38 young men who

were being monitored and are on bail for serious crime - for murder, armed robbery, possession of unlicensed

firearm - who had breached their bail application,” the commissioner said.

Mr Munroe spoke to The Tribune yesterday about the issue.

“The courts grant bail according to the rules that govern the court. The fact that you have more persons before the court for bail breaches is actually a result of more vigilance in polic ing compliance with the bail conditions.

“So, we are now paying greater attention to, are you signing in, are you in when you’re supposed to be, and monitoring the monitors a lot better.

“So you’re bound to catch more people breach ing bail conditions, and the increased number of persons being caught are an indica tion that the system is being

more vigilant to enforcing bail conditions,” Mr Munroe explained.

Additionally, Mr Munroe spoke to the climbing murder count, noting these mur ders are mostly either gang related or domestic related.

He continued: “The antigang unit has been more active; we have a firearms task force.

“We now have the ability to have saturation patrols because we have men and equipment to do it.

“But if people insist on being in gangs and insist on putting themselves in harm’s way, either by firing at the police or at each other, those will continue. And so far as domestic murders go, we have to learn to have better dispute resolution processes.”

UPTAKE OF PAEDIATRIC COVD VACCINE ‘SLOWER THAN EXPECTED’

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville revealed that the uptake of paediatric doses of the COVID-19 vaccine is still not going as well as anticipated.

At last report, there were about 700 doses that had been administered, Mr Darville told The Tribune on Tuesday.

“There seems to be a stronger vaccination hesitancy than in the older population being experienced,” he said.

The uptake of the paediatric vaccines has been moving a little slower than expected. In August, there were only about 320 to 330 reported to be administered.

The Pfizer vaccines were administered for children aged five to 11 on Thursday, July 28, days after 24,000 doses were deliv ered to the country from France through the COVAX facility.

When asked if the ministry had any plans to help encourage more parents to get chil dren vaccinated, Dr Darville noted there

is a plan to provide vaccines to children in school settings along with the public aware ness campaigns that are ongoing.

“There will be no vaccination sites estab lished at schools. We will prepare a schedule of offerings at schools where parents indi cate that they want their children to be vaccinated,” he said.

In August, Dr Darville told The Tribune several factors could have contributed to the slow uptake in the paediatric vaccines.

“It could be a combination of things. One, it could be the fact that kids are moving back and forth, two, the incidents of COVID are very low in the country at this time and we know that when the incidents are low in the country people are less motivated to be vaccinated.

“Three - the issue of the Omicron vari ant seems to be less virulent and so a lot of people are not in hospital sick from COVID and so all of these combined factors could be associated, along with parents travelling, could be associated with the slow uptake with the doses, but they are available,” he

said last month.

Additionally, the mask mandate is sched uled to be lifted on October 1. People will no longer be required to wear a mask in the country except for those accessing health care facilities, visiting senior care homes or in an indoor classroom setting.

However, the lifting of the mask mandate has sparked some mixed reviews, as Super Value owner Rupert Roberts recently told Tribune Business he felt it was “too danger ous” to end the protocol in food stores given that they typically attracted large numbers of shoppers who frequently find themselves in close proximity to one another.

When asked about the mixed reviews from businesses on the mask mandate, Dr Darville said the ministry has made its rec ommendations of wearing the masks clear.

“The ministry has made its recommen dations clear as to the wearing of masks moving forward. Businesses are able to implement whatever measures they desire once those measures do not break the law,” he said.

AMERICAN MAN HAS ONE-YEAR SENTENCE QUASHED, GETS THREE DAYS

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

AN American man who was convicted for pos session of an unlicensed firearm and possession of

ammunition had his oneyear sentence quashed by the Court of Appeal and substituted for a three-day imprisonment.

Ronald Ralph Moore head, Jr, was arrested on

June 21 after being found with a .380 pistol and five live rounds of ammunition in his checked luggage as he attempted to depart the Leonard Thompson Air port in Marsh Harbour,

Abaco.

Moorehead was author ised to possess the firearm as he is the holder of the firearm permit issued in the United States.

Upon his guilty plea, the accused was convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.

However, he spent three days in custody before he applied for and was granted bail pending an appeal citing extreme urgency due to his medical condition of type 1 diabetes.

“I have to constantly wear an insulin pod that I have to change every 36 hours.

“The pod contains 200 units of Hummalog fast acting insulin. My pancreas does not make any insulin at all. The pod that I pres ently have in place now expires on 24th June, 2022 at 5.18pm, which means that I will have to place another pod in at that time. If this isn’t done, then I will need to start administer ing insulin to myself with a needle. Once the pod is off, I cannot eat anything unless I inject myself with insulin,” Moorehead said

in his affidavit.

In support of Moore head’s medical condition, Acting Commissioner of The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services Doan Cleare swore an affi davit stating the facility lacked the resources and manpower to manage his condition.

Moorehead’s attor ney, Christina Galanos appealed his sentence after arguing that the sentences passed were such that a magistrate viewing the circumstances reasonably could not have so decided.

She also noted that the sentences of 12 months’ imprisonment imposed by the magistrate were unduly severe.

Ms Galanos urged the court to allow the appeal and to impose fines on both counts, since, in her view, the court decision for imprisonment would be “tantamount” to a death sentence given her client’s serious medical condition and the inabil ity of BDCS to properly manage and treat that condition.

In response, Justice Jon Issacs, Justice Crane-Scott,

Justice Sir Brian Moree said this is an unusual case in that BDCS has informed the court that it does not have the resources or manpower to adequately treat and care for the accused given his particular requirements to manage his diabetic condition.

After deliberation, it was ruled that the appeal would be allowed and the sentences of 12 months imposed by the magistrate on both counts will be sub stituted to a sentence of three days’ imprisonment on each count.

“It is an extremely rare case where the institution which is responsible for the incarceration of con victed persons informs the court that it lacks the capacity to properly manage and attend to the medical requirements of a specific person if he is given a custodial sentence,” the judgement said.

The judgement explained the outcome in this case does not mean that offenders generally will be meted out with the same or similar punish ment in the future.

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe.

BUT president: Ensure there are sufficient teachers in Family Islands

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BELINDA Wilson, who was recently re-elected president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers, called on the Min istry of Education to ensure there are sufficient teachers in Family Islands, particularly in Abaco.

Several months after teachers, par ents and students gathered outside the Patrick J Bethel High School in Abaco with picket signs protesting the lack of a sufficient number of teachers at a school of more than 500 students, there are still concerns with the shortage of teachers.

This also comes more than six months after Education Minister Glenys Hanna Martin promised action during a PTA meeting in Abaco on February 2 and one month following her statements that officials are in the process of hiring teachers as they seek to address short ages in critical areas in core subjects.

Mrs Wilson said there must be improvement in recruitment and pro cessing of new teachers going forward.

“The Ministry of Education must ensure that there are sufficient teach ers for the schools in the Family Islands. There must be improvement in recruit ment and processing of new teachers going forward,” she said.

“There are teachers who are recent graduates who are still waiting to be hired and posted in a school. It is very

important that teachers be posted in a timely manner because students are missing so many hours of instruc tion. Abaco should be a priority simply because of the negative impact of Hurricane Dorian coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mrs Wilson said.

Last week, Education Director Mar cellus Taylor said officials are confident that they will be able to tackle the short age of teachers in Abaco amid concerns over the issue.

He explained that currently the ministry has deployed 25 teachers to Abaco who are on the ground at Pat rick J Bethel High School. However, Mr Taylor said the ministry intends to add substitute teachers where they can until they are able to complete the process of getting permanent teachers within the schools.

Last week, Mrs Wilson was re-elected to her post.

Mrs Wilson told The Tribune at the time that she intended to make this three-year term her last time occupying the office.

WELL-KNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER INJURED AFTER AMBULANCE HITS CAR

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

A WELL-KNOWN Baha mian photographer is in hospital awaiting surgery after serious leg injuries and the complete write-off of his car after an ambulance slammed into his vehicle last week.

Shortly after 3pm on September 19, Franklyn Ferguson, a former pho tographer for The Tribune newspaper as well as sev eral other news agencies, said he was hit by a Doc tors Hospital ambulance while travelling on West Bay Street.

After being hit, Mr Fergu son said he was disoriented and several bystanders called an ambulance from Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), which is where he remains now.

When he spoke to this newspaper on Tuesday, he said he was awaiting surgery for two fractures on his left leg.

“I’m told (my car) it’s a write-off, I can’t see it, because I can’t walk. The wrecker driver called me twice, he got my number. His concern was for his pay ment. I could not talk about

my vehicle or anything, you know I’m in hospital,” Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson said though he has not heard anything from any officials of Doc tors Hospital as yet, several kind family and friends, including Arawak Homes Chairman Franklyn Wilson have offered support during this time.

“Two of my cousins have been involved in my care. My sister is mainly respon sible and my very dear close friend Franklyn Wilson has offered that whatever needs to be done, he will make it happen,” Mr Ferguson said.

When contacted for com ment, a representative from Doctors Hospital said the matter is being investigated by police.

The hospital official said the accident took place while the ambulance was headed to an emergency.

They added that the facil ity did not have a contact number for Mr Ferguson and did not know the he was the person injured in the incident.

“My understanding is that our persons were also taken to be seen and exam ined in hospital as a result of the impact,” the hospital

representative said. “There were separate ambulances that took everybody that was involved in the accident to their respective facilities.

“At the time, the police would have been on scene, they would have been taking statements and then medi cal treatment would have been provided to the various people on the scene. Our crew also had to go to the hospital to be examined. The ambulance was incapable of being driven, it actually had to be towed. My understand ing is that it had to be towed from the scene.”

The hospital repre sentative continued: “The ambulance was called out to an emergency, it was head ing out to that call with its lights and sirens on, when it was involved in an acci dent with a little white van looking truck, I can’t say more than that. Like I said we can’t respond more, because we’re still waiting on the police to finish their investigation.”

Mr Ferguson has been a trained professional pho tographer for over 50 years, with experience from vari ous news agencies and now has his own business, Fergu son Franklyn Photography.

Although Police were con tacted they did not provide information on the accident up to press time.

MINISTRIES TO LAUNCH CLEAN-UP

FROM PAGE THREE

(former) government’s neglect to convert the properties the depart ment would’ve cleared into useful green spaces into community centres and inner-city housing com plexes by identifying the owners with the view the building to acquiring these unoccupied lots.”

In New Providence, he said contracted workers will begin in Fox Hill and then move on to other com munities like Free Town, Centreville, Englerston and Bain and Grant’s Town and Fort Charlotte.

He said officials will focus on the removal of derelict vehicles in these communi ties and also the acquisition of vacant properties for the erection of community cen tres and parks among other recreational facilities.

He continued: “Imme diately following this exercise, the Ministry of Social Services with the Office of Urban Renewal Commission will move into the aforementioned constituencies with their teams, identifying from within those constituencies

to carry out roadside clean ing as well as to clean vacant lots as necessary and much more.

“As I mentioned, Baha mians should be aware that over the past three years, the Department of Environmental Health Ser vices has moved over 8,500 derelict vehicles from com munities throughout The Bahamas, and it’s estimated that the activities embarked for phase one of the project in New Providence alone, the cost over $1.1 million and for our Family Islands over $400,000.”

Other community upgrades will include enhanced street lighting, replacement of worn-out street signs and repairs to the water system.

Following Mr Miller’s contribution, Free National Movement Leader Michael Pintard asked who will be awarded the contracts and whether the contracts will go through a tender process.

In response, Minister Miller said: “Rest assured that whatever guidelines or regulations are in place, we will abide by that.”

BUT President Belinda Wilson.

The Tribune Limited

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What happens when a hurricane hunter’s plane plunges into the eyewall of a storm

(THE CONVERSATION) As Hurricane Ian intensified on its way toward the Flor ida coast, hurricane hunters were in the sky doing something almost unimaginable: flying through the centre of the storm. With each pass, the scientists aboard these planes take measurements that satellites can’t and send them to forecasters at the National Hurri cane Center.

Jason Dunion, a University of Miami meteorologist, leads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2022 hurricane field programme. He described the technology the team is using to gauge hurricane behaviour in real time and the experience aboard a P-3 Orion as it plunges through the eyewall of a hurricane.

What happens aboard a hurricane hunter when you fly into a storm?

Basically, we’re take a flying laboratory into the heart of the hurricane, all the way up to Category 5s. While we’re flying, we’re crunching data and sending it to forecasters and climate modelers.

In the P-3s, we routinely cut through the middle of the storm, right into the eye. Pic ture an X pattern – we keep cutting through the storm multiple times during a mission. These might be developing storms, or they might be Category 5s.

We’re typically flying at an altitude of around 10,000 feet, about a quarter of the way between the ocean surface and the top of the storm. We want to cut through the roughest part of the storm because we’re trying to measure the strongest winds for the Hurricane Center.

That has to be intense. Can you describe what scientists are experiencing on these flights?

My most intense flight was Dorian in 2019. The storm was near the Bahamas and rap idly intensifying to a very strong Category 5 storm, with winds around 185 mph. It felt like being a feather in the wind.

When we were coming through the eye wall of Dorian, it was all seat belts. You can lose a few hundred feet in a couple of sec onds if you have a down draft, or you can hit an updraft and gain a few hundred feet in a matter of seconds. It’s a lot like a roll ercoaster ride, only you don’t know exactly when the next up or down is coming.

At one point, we had G-forces of 3 to 4 Gs. That’s what astronauts experience during a rocket launch. We can also get zero G for a few seconds, and anything that’s not strapped down will float off.

Even in the rough parts of the storm, sci entists like myself are busy on computers working up the data. A technician in the back may have launched a dropsonde from the belly of the plane, and we’re checking the quality of the data and sending it off to modeling centres and the National Hurri cane Center.

What are you learning about hurricanes from these flights?

One of our goals is to better understand why storms rapidly intensify.

Rapid intensification is when a storm increases in speed by 35 mph in just a day. That equates to going from Category 1 to a major Category 3 storm in a short period of time. Ida (2021), Dorian (2019) and Michael (2018) are just a few recent hurricanes that rapidly intensified. When that happens near land, it can catch people unprepared, and that gets dangerous fast.

Since rapid intensification can happen in a really short time span, we have to be out there with the hurricane hunters taking measurements while the storm is coming together.

So far, rapid intensification is hard to pre dict. We might start to see the ingredients quickly coming together: Is the ocean warm to a great depth? Is the atmosphere nice and juicy, with a lot of moisture around the storm? Are the winds favourable? We also look at the inner core: What does the struc ture of the storm look like, and is it starting to consolidate?

Satellites can offer forecasters a basic view, but we need to get our hurricane hunt ers into the storm itself to really pick the hurricane apart.

What does a storm look like when it’s rap idly intensifying?

Hurricanes like to stand up straight –think of a spinning top. So, one thing we look for is alignment.

A storm that isn’t yet fully together might have low-level circulation, a few kilometres above the ocean, that isn’t lined up with its mid-level circulation 6 or 7 kilometres up.

That isn’t a very healthy storm. But a few hours later, we might fly back into the storm and notice that the two centres are more lined up. That’s a sign that it could rapidly intensify.

We also look at the boundary layer, the area just above the ocean. Hurricanes

breathe: They draw air in at low levels, the air rushes up at the eyewall, and then it vents out at the top of the storm and away from the centre. That’s why we get those huge updrafts in the eyewall.

So we might watch our dropsonde or tail doppler radar data for how the winds are flowing at the boundary layer. Is that really moist air rushing in toward the centre of the storm? If the boundary layer is deep, the storm can also take a bigger inhale.

We also look at the structure. A lot of times the storm looks healthy on satellite, but we’ll get in with the radar and the struc ture is sloppy or the eye may be filled with clouds, which tells us the storm isn’t quite ready to rapidly intensify. But, during that flight, we might start to see the structure change pretty quickly.

Air in, up and out – the breathing – is a great way to diagnose a storm. If that breath ing looks healthy, it can be a good sign of an intensifying storm.

What instruments do you use to measure and forecast hurricane behaviour?

We need instruments that not only meas ure the atmosphere but also the ocean. The winds can steer a storm or tear it apart, but the ocean heat and moisture are its fuel.

We use dropsondes to measure tempera ture, humidity, pressure and wind speed, and send back data every 15 feet or so all the way to the ocean surface. All of that data goes to the National Hurricane Center and to modeling centres so they can get a better representation of the atmosphere.

One P-3 has a laser – a CRL, or compact rotational raman LiDAR – that can measure temperature, humidity and aerosols from the aircraft all the way down to the ocean surface. It can give us a sense of how juicy the atmosphere is, so how conducive it is for feeding a storm. The CRL operates con tinuously over the entire flight track, so you get this beautiful curtain below the aircraft showing the temperature and humidity.

The planes also have tail doppler radars, which measure how moisture droplets in the air are blowing to determine how the wind is behaving. That gives us a 3D look at the wind field, like an X-ray of the storm. You can’t get that from a satellite.

We also launch ocean probes call AXBTs –aircraft expendable bathythermograph – out ahead of the storm. These probes measure the water temperature down several hun dred feet. Typically, a surface temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) and above is favourable for a hurricane, but the depth of that heat is also important.

If you have warm ocean water that’s maybe 85 F at the surface, but just 50 feet down the water is quite a bit colder, the hurricane is going to mix in that cold water pretty quickly and weaken the storm. But deep warm water, like we find in eddies in the Gulf of Mexico, provides extra energy that can fuel a storm.

This year, we’re also testing a new technol ogy – small drones that we can launch out of the belly of a P-3. They have about a 7- to 9-foot wingspan and are basically a weather station with wings.

One of these drones dropped in the eye could measuring pressure changes, which indicate whether a storm is getting stronger. If we could drop a drone in the eyewall and have it orbit there, it could measure where the strongest winds are – that’s another important detail for forecasters. We also don’t have a lot of measurements in the boundary layer because it’s not a safe place for a plane to fly.

You also targeted the Cabo Verde islands off Africa for the first time this year. What are you looking for there?

The Cabo Verde Islands are in the Atlan tic’s hurricane nursery. The seedlings of hurricanes come off Africa, and we’re trying to determine the tipping points for these dis turbances to form into storms.

Over half the named storms we get in the Atlantic come from this nursery, including about 80% of the major hurricanes, so it’s important, even though the disturbances are maybe seven to 10 days ahead of a hurricane forming.

In Africa, a lot of thunderstorms develop along the Sahara desert’s southern border with the cooler, moister Sahel region in the summer. The temperature difference can cause ripples to develop in the atmosphere that we call tropical waves. Some of those tropical waves are the precursors for hurri canes. However, the Saharan air layer – huge dust storms that come rolling off Africa every three to five days or so – can suppress a hurricane. These storms peak from June to mid-August. After that, tropical distur bances have a better chance of reaching the Caribbean.

(This article is by Jason Dunion of the University of Miami)

THE

Continuous blacklisting of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas by the European Union

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Once again, I approach your reader’s desire to be heard on a matter that usurps itself - in a manner of adverse-ascendancy by the EU and without justification, I might add. A subject that I am anticipating will garner much buzz, as the political directorate has made the complaint known - and on the highest global level at the United Nations Secu rity Council (UNSC) in New York recently.

The abhorrence of what amounts to no more or less than a system - an adverse and corrupt ill-conceived economic and political ploy whose objectives appear to have been tailored to bring destruction to the Financial Services’ Regulatory Regime and prospective international business to our country - a crafty and wicked set of schemes, such as – Do these or you’ll be blacklisted - the continuous threats against a third world country - The Bahamas - is being perpe trated by the political body of the European Union. With the recent instruc tions handed down by the EU and on the tail of The Bahamas having to go to Par liament and debate, repeal and create new laws to regu late the secta because the EU has told The Bahamas to pass these laws - impressed upon it by this foreign group - and each time we had complied bringing changed legislation the EU would make other requests of The

We, the People, see the regulatory imperatives levied against the Commonwealth Of The Bahamas not only as duress, designed to instill fear, threats - to dictate to the people of a sovereign nation, but has left a bitter taste in the mouths of this God-fearing nation whose people were left feeling that we are being unfairly tar geted, this disproportionate tagging when those countries or states advancing/practis ing questionable-business and lacking proper fiduci ary obligations, were never approached to change any thing or to account, etc?

I am convinced that it would be foolhardy for the people of this Common wealth of The Bahamas to want to continue in this vein and with this level of interna tional political abuses taking place and involving a group, this European Union who should know better - the same rights they have man aged their economic financial affairs and to be able to do so without external or

international hindrance, ie, from the Commonwealth of The Bahamas applies and ought to, but this is not the case, sadly.

Finally, Powers that be, let us make an inquiry into who or what many European citizens or businesses domi ciled within our borders - and move to strike them from our country? This should neutral ise the powers or perceived control that the EU has over our small country, the Com monwealth of The Bahamas.

Often, we find countries of the world undergoing so much poverty and we tend to blame the citizens when, on the contrary, there were external forces at work undermining the very core of how and what were their means of survival. This EU is that External Force, to which I refer.

And they should be made to pay for the deeds done by them to the unsuspecting countries like our Bahamas.

I said unsuspectingly, but perhaps their interests were deliberate and very targeted based on hard facts as they coveted what was natural for us – globally known for very good and honest business dealings - a country excel lent for a vacation, rest and leisure, but at the same time as a country dominated by people of colour, etc?

Submitted with love and for what it is worth.

FRANK GILBERT Nassau, September 27, 2022.

Prognosis is denial? Agree or disagree?

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Successive governments duly elected (sometimes I wonder how) exclaimed this land of ours was the best little country to every other claim of excellence and I wonder.

Daily headlines one-two murders - illegal this and that right under the noise conveni ently seemingly not discovered until it can be tailored into a political incident, but ’til then business as usual - how can you have 200 presumed large homes built in Abaco post Dorian and not a soul saw them - how? How can you have squatters, not a few, but numerous and it is a likelihood if you look well enough you will find more and more, but officials never see them.

Finances - here totally amazing we are told our loyal foreign buyer of our US Dollar Bonds are not worried, but since election 2021 their value has decreased by 50%. I can’t believe that they are not wor ried and will presumably buy again.

Everything thought about just announced no plans as yet is the best and already world famous - don’t lie, but that’s true.

Is it inferiority - insecurity or simply refusal to accept the honest to God truth?

Did that excellent Tourism slogan It’s Better’ - you know the rest - psyche us out and we think we don’t have to be competi tive, we don’t have to excel, we can dish up anything and the visitor idiot will buy - is it?

Education billions spent and look? Oh, yes, Rhodes scholars Drs of this and that MBA’s by the drayload, but average joe blow Bahamian right out of school what can he do and what is he/she qualified to do? Check with FIR’s they will tell you the real story - not nice, again in denial.

Raw hard truth, facts mean nothing seemingly again denial of the truth.

General Orders breached every minute and no one cares, Ministers stand at Min istry assemblies and give congratulatory remarks they are the best - not accept the truth, again denial.

Hundreds of places of worship - 50 per cent, if that, attend any of them and we say We Christian - bend the obvious. I suggest again denial refusing to accept the truth.

D ROLLE Nassau, September 28, 2022.

Bahamas - ever changing the “goal posts.” This shifty dis position by EU, we believe, is deliberate because many of the services offered by The Bahamas, they do too - and over the years - we have seen a noticeable decline in Inter national Business, especially from EU countries, etc.

letters@tribunemedia.net

HURRICANE Ian pictured from the International Space Station just south of Cuba gaining strength and heading toward Florida on Wednesday. (NASA via AP)

Govt set to sign agreement for the ‘betterment’ of Junkanoo

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN agreement between the gov ernment, the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) and the National Junkanoo Committee (NJC) is expected to be signed in the coming days to allow for the “betterment” of future Junkanoo parades.

This is according to Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The signing will be held as the Jun kanoo groups prepare for their return to Bay Street after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yesterday, Mr Bowleg said it is anticipated that the upcoming Jun kanoo season will be an exciting and lively one.

“In December of this year, the greatest show on earth is set to return, which is Junkanoo,” Mr Bowleg told parliamentarians. “I am happy to say that since 2011 to today that the min istry and the JCNP and the National Junkanoo Committee have been oper ating on an unsigned agreement.

“With negotiations at the assistance from my colleague from Centreville and the AG’s office, I can truly say that in a matter of days this administra tion will be signing an agreement with the JCNP and the National Junkanoo Committee for the betterment of Jun kanoo moving forward.”

He also said: “With the assistance of the Cabinet appointed National Junkanoo Committee, a number of

workshops were held on the Family islands, including Andros, Abaco and Eleuthera and Exuma and Cat Island and Grand Bahama with the goal of developing the skill level of those par taking in the festivities.

“Each island has been encouraged to establish a Junkanoo association if it does not already have one in exist ence and assistance has been given to registered Junkanoo groups in regards to establishing themselves as a business so that opportunities for funding, donations and support will be increased.”

He also revealed the government’s plans to increase seed funding for the Family Islands, from $3,500 to $9,000.

This comes after the Davis admin istration earlier this month granted $928,500 in seed funding to Junkanoo groups for them to make a comeback on Bay Street.

According to officials, about $30,000 will be going to seven A groups; $15,000 to 17 B groups, $1,500 to 21 D groups and $2,000 to 19 F or Fun category groups.

Several Junkanoo groups have said while they are grateful for the spon sorship from the government, more funding is always needed.

Still, the groups said they are look ing forward to the return of this year’s parades.

MAN ACCUSED OF UNLAWFUL SEX WITH GIRL, 12

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was charged in Magistrate’s Court yester day for having unlawful sex with a 12-year-old girl in Andros.

Calvin Sweeting Sr, 65, represented by Ian Car gill and Ryszard Hummes, faced Magistrate Shaka Serville on charges of

unlawful sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

He is accused of having sex with the child on July 28 in Mangrove Cay, Andros.

He is further accused of indecently assaulting the girl.

Due to the gravity of the offence, Sweeting was not required to enter a plea in court.

He was told that his matter would proceed to

the Supreme Court by a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

However, Sweeting’s counsel objected to the indecent assault charge saying that the second charge is implicitly sub sumed by the first, to which the magistrate noted the assertion.

Magistrate Serville told the accused that as he lacked the jurisdiction to

assign him bail, Sweeting would have to apply for it in the higher court.

He was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Before being taken into remand, Sweeting was allowed a brief moment with relatives who had trav elled to the capital for his arraignment.

Sweeting’s VBI is set for service on November 25.

PSYCHIATRIC REPORT REQUESTED FOR MAN WHO ESCAPED CUSTODY

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE accused who escaped custody at Mag istrate’s Court last week has had his arraignment delayed by the chief mag istrate as she awaits an official psychiatric report.

This escape led to a two-day manhunt for the accused before police cap tured him on Sunday.

London Rahming, 25, represented by Bjorn Ferguson, stood before Chief Magistrate Joyann

Ferguson-Pratt charged with escape.

On September 23 Rah ming was sentenced to 15 months in custody for vio lating his Supreme Court bail on attempted murder charges by Senior Magis trate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.

Later that day at around 5pm it is said the accused managed to escape the cell block area of the complex while awaiting transport to the Bahamas Department of Correc tional Services (BDCS).

In his latest court

appearance, Rahming was seen with his right arm still placed in wrappings he applied himself, using what he says was a clean sock.

The chief magistrate con firmed and noted that the accused had been seen by a doctor for his injuries as part of a prior court order.

Magistrate FergusonPratt then requested that a psychiatric report of the accused be made. Until she has an assessment of Rah ming’s mental capacity she will be unable to take his plea in the matter.

In the interim Rahming will be returned to BDCS, during which time the magistrate warned him not to act out. The accused’s counsel then raised con cerns over his client’s safety in prison. Rahming has claimed that he and his brother have received death threats. While the accused says that he fears for his life the court offi cially noted the threats made against him and his family.

Rahming’s case was adjourned to November 16.

ONE YEAR SENTENCE FOR SHOP BREAKING, STEALING

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A LONG island man was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting to breaking into and stealing from a local medical laboratory.

Terrance Hutchinson, 62, stood before Magistrate Kendra Kelly on charges of shop breaking, stealing and receiving.

Between September 24-25 during the hours of 9pm to 6am, Hutchinson broke into the Bonaventure Medical Laboratory on Queen’s Highway, Deadman’s Cay. Once inside the lab he then stole $868 in cash.

In court the accused pleaded guilty to the offence, resulting in the receiving charge attached being with drawn as he admitted to the theft of the cash.

The magistrate sentenced Hutchinson to serve a year at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for the shopbreaking charge. He also got a six-month sen tence for theft, to be served concurrently.

MAN ADMITS CUTTING PI FENCE TO GET TO BEACH

By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN was placed on probation after admitting to cutting a chain link fence on Paradise Island to get to a beach.

Ambrose Nixon, 46, faced Magistrate Shaka Serville on two counts of damage.

On September 24 Nixon intentionally made two cuts into a chain link fence belonging to Atlantis resort barring access to a beach.

This caused an estimated $131.64 worth of damage.

Upon Nixon’s arrest he admitted to the crime and also confessed to cutting the fence twice.

In court after electing to continue the matter before the magistrate, the accused pleaded guilty to the offence.

Nixon then explained that he thought the area was available for public beach access, adding he was unaware the area in ques tion was sold to Atlantis. He also said that during his inquiries on the day in question no one knew who put the fence up.

As part of his sentencing Magistrate Serville placed Nixon on a conditional discharge.

Under these terms the accused was ordered not to trespass on private property and given probation for six months.

Nixon is also expected to compensate the resort $135 for their damaged property, for which he will have to return to court to make res titution on October 3.

The defendant’s matter is adjourned for a report on March 29, 2023.

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YOUTH, Sports and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg. (File photo)

– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

MANY of the roots of gender inequality and dis crimination are ancient prejudices often prescribed and reinforced by censori ous religious strictures, most especially today, driven by religious fundamentalism and toxic masculinity.

There is an analog between racial superiority and male superiority: feelings of inse curity redirected toward those who are made to feel inferior by those rigidly needing to retain power and control over others, whether minorities or women.

The Bahamas is one of the few countries in the world

and in the region that has yet to outlaw marital rape and still has not granted certain women full constitutional

equality to automatically pass on citizenship to certain children.

The two issues are inex tricably linked, revealing structures and mindsets of prejudice by mostly men and some women, who still deem women inherently inferior. Moreover, they also reveal the cage of a certain mascu linity in which many men are trapped.

Political leaders are afraid to change the law on mari tal rape for fear of political backlash.

While more Bahamians may support changing the law than some years ago, many Bahamians do not sup port the change. Thankfully, there are women’s groups and others who are cam paigning for greater equality.

Some religious leaders are defiantly opposed to the change, while others, like the

Rev. T. G. Morrison, have declared that rape is rape, and “should not be given special protection simply because it occurs in the pri vacy of a marital woman on bed.”

One religious leader, who appears uncomfortable with outlawing marital rape, noted that marriage is an institution ordained by God.

In a modern pluralistic society, marriage may be seen as a gift from God.

It is also a civic institution that evolved over millennia.

The reverend gentleman seems to believe that mar riage is a static institution, failing to appreciate how it has evolved, including in Western civilization.

Further, many of our laws have roots in ancient Roman law and English common law.

Moreover, those who have a static understanding of marriage, based on the Hebrew Scriptures, might recall that polygamy was legal in ancient times. Should we revert to polygamy in 2022?

Earlier this year, Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder offered a theology of marital love and com plementarity rooted in a more enlightened Christian anthropology based on the radical dignity of the human person – male and female – made in the image and like ness of God.

The Archbishop stated:

“This relationship is one of complementarity, not own ership. No person can be the possession of another. Human dignity does not allow this. The legacy of slavery and its abolition has surely taught us this lesson.

“It is from this perspective that the Catholic Church in The Bahamas addresses the proposed legislation amend ing the Sexual Offences Act.

VIOLENCE

“When an individual is forced to engage in sexual activity against his or her will, the perpetrator does violence to the dignity and value of the human person created in the image and likeness of God.

“When forced sexual activity takes place within the context of marriage, the biblical understanding of marriage is distorted and the relationship between hus band and wife is ruptured.

“Such sexual activity is not conjugal love and is rightly seen as a crime against the dignity of the human person.”

That this is so morally obvious stands in contrast to those clerics and others who must somehow believe that a man’s supposed right to dominate his wife supersedes what should be a covenant of love and mutual respect.

If a wife is lying sick in bed or is hospitalized, and does not want or feel able to engage in sex, does a husband have a right to force her to have sex? Suppose a wife has had a stroke or is in a coma or is immobilized. Should she be required to have sex?

The need and fevered desire by some men to control

a wife is rooted in negative conceptions of masculin ity. Authentic masculinity at its best includes virtues and traits such as: responsibility, strength, mutuality, equality, courage, genuine friendship, honesty, kindness, compas sion and others.

Hegemonic masculin ity, evidenced by many men who believe that a woman cannot be raped in a mar riage, is primarily about male domination, privilege and authority over a woman, often resulting in violence and oppression.

This toxic and faux mas

“Misogyny and gender inequality are typically based on how many men feel in relationship to a woman, placing their machismo – aggressive masculine pride –and power needs and desire for control above the dignity of a fellow human being who happens to be female.”

culinity is embodied by men like Donald Trump, who lives in a psychological cage about what it means to be a man. Many men, including some here at home, are attracted to Trump’s domineering, bully ing, angry male persona.

Trump’s bellicose and seething attacks on Barack Obama are about race and the latter’s authentic masculinity.

Trump’s primitive and hegemonic masculinity is reminiscent of when some men in the 1980s used to hold their genitals in public as if they were about to drop off or were somehow at risk of dismemberment.

The recent forum on mari tal rape and the killing of a woman in Iran, who wore her hijab loosely in public, showcase similar misogynis tic attitudes. On September 16, 22-year-old Masha Amini was accused by Iran’s moral ity police of publicly violating a dress code.

There are strict rules in the Islamic Republic “on dress, behaviour and mixing between the sexes in public”. The dress and other free doms of women are strictly curtailed.

She was arrested and alleg edly brutally beaten while in police custody.

State officials allege she died of heart failure, after falling in the police station and two days in a coma. Her family believes this is a fabri cation to cover up the cause of her death.

Iran has erupted in anger in many cities since her death, with at least 75 people killed and counting in protests across the country in defiance of the Islamic Republic’s ruing Muslim clerics.

Iran is being run by mostly archconservative, old,

doctrinaire men who main tain their kleptocratic cum theocratic regime through repression and brutality. The economic blockade of Iran by the U.S. has played a major part in Iran’s myriad problems.

But, the corruption, incompetence, theological rigidity in the interpretation of Islamic law and tradition, and unwillingness to reform by the ruling elite, enrages many Iranians, especially younger generations, who desperately want to see the backs of the literally old guard, who are mostly at fault for the dire state of the country.

A recent Economist article reported:

“Amini’s death has become a rallying cry, sparking pro tests across dozens of cities and towns, including the capital Tehran. Women have taken to the streets, brazenly removing their required head coverings and burning them as others record the protests on cell phones.”

Iran, the ancient Persian civilization, is historically a cosmopolitan nation with a storied history and brilliant accomplishments in the sci ences, the arts and literature and other fields. The country is being shackled by religious fundamentalism.

REBELLING

A new generation of women is rebelling against the structures of oppression, including unequal treatment of women. One woman pro testing the killing of Amini asked a question that may be global in nature: Are men so weak and unable to control themselves that women have to cover up their body and hair to avoid attacks?

The Economist also noted: “In 2002, 15 Saudi girls were burned to death at their school, after morality police prevented them from escap ing a fire because they were not wearing abayas, loose robes worn for modesty.”

Misogyny and gender ine quality are typically based on how many men feel in rela tionship to a woman, placing their machismo – aggressive masculine pride – and power needs and desire for control above the dignity of a fellow human being who happens to be female.

Strong men secure in their masculinity do not require such domination and con trol, which is the preserve of men less secure about them selves, desperately needing to appease their feelings of inadequacy and insecurity, often through bluster, bellig erence and bellicosity.

In many cultures, a woman is still primarily judged by many men and women by how she looks, while a man is often judged as being a “true man” by how aggressive he is, no matter what may be his other unappealing traits.

If more men were to break free of their small hard cages of toxicity, they may liberate themselves and other such men, while also helping to free more women from the cages of inequality, prejudice and discrimination.

“Masculinity is a hard, small cage, and we put boys inside this cage.”

A POLICE motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of a young woman who had been detained for violating the country’s conservative dress code, in downtown Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo)

Put the beer in the fridge, it’s almost election game time

AMERICAN

voters have about six weeks to wait before the next Congressional elec tions. Pundits, operatives and commentators from across the political spec trum are all weighing in on what they think is going to happen. It all makes for interesting speculation and if you basically see politics as theatre, it’s almost as much fun to read and listen to all this pontification as it is to follow your favourite NFL team. Politics also has winners and losers and end less speculation, just like football.

For most of the past two years, the conventional wisdom has been the Dem ocrats were heading for a drubbing this year. This probably all started with the fact that, as one pundit wrote, “twice-impeached, corrupt, selfish, seditious, antidemocratic, mendacious and just all-around vil lainous Donald Trump” managed to garner over 74 million votes in the 2020 presidential election. He even won 43 percent of the electoral college delegates – the same electoral college whose final ratification of the election results a mob incited by Trump tried to disrupt by staging the worst armed assault on the US capitol in 200 years.

If 74 million people were willing to support Trump after experiencing his pecu liar brand of governing for four years, why wouldn’t they continue to support him in opposition, where he could snipe at his successor with impunity? It’s a ques tion that has overshadowed the entire political process for the past two years.

Furthermore, recent newly elected Democraticand Republican - Presidents have suffered dramatic losses at the ballot box in each of the congressional mid-term elections fol lowing their elections. Bill Clinton in 1994 and Barack Obama in 2010 both got clobbered by Republican House Speaker Newt Ging rich and the GOP-affiliated Tea Party respectively in those elections. George HW Bush, his son George W and Trump himself also all got

punished on election day at a similar point in their administrations.

Just over a month from now is the next time a newly-elected Democrat faces a similar test. US President Joe Biden has stumbled out of the gate, first following bad advice and trying to re-heat a stale immigration policy left over from the Obama years and then impulsively disengag ing the military American involvement in Afghani stan almost literally over a weekend, stranding many loyal local supporters there.

Biden’s approval ratings at the polls sagged, dropping into the 30s before a recent pallid comeback.

Furthermore, Republi cans achieved a less than anticipated but still prob ably significant win as state legislatures all over the country succeeded in mar ginally improving GOP chances in congressional races by redistricting and jerrymandering electoral districts.

According to the con ventional wisdom, the Democrats were in fingerin-the-dike mode looking to the upcoming elections, trying to merely stem the red tide and limit the damage voters seemed certain to inflict on their current majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Things appear to be dif ferent now. Consider Liz Cheney, daughter of the GOP Vice-President from 2001-2009 and until 2021 the third-ranking Republi can member of Congress.

Speaking at an event in the deep blue stronghold of Austin, Texas, she said she would do whatever she

could do to ensure Trump “never gets close to the presidency again”. Asked if that meant she would campaign for Democrats against Trump and acolytes like Arizona Senate candi date Kari Lake, Cheney said “yes”.

“What are we going to do to make sure that our kids know what it means to have peaceful transfers of power?” she said when asked about the January 6 insurrection and her own possible run for the White House. “And what are we going to do to make sure that we don’t contribute to the unravelling of the republic? ... That’s what I’m focused on.”

Cheney doesn’t just speak for herself. The Bush family, Utah senator and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other so-called “traditional” Republican politicians and donors have been harshly critical of Trump and his allies.

Similarly inclined is a group of mostly secondtier Republicans who have formed a political action committee called The Lin coln Project. This group created and ran on TV sev eral ads attacking Trump during the 2020 campaign and eventually endorsed Biden. One of their ads called Trump a fraud and a draft dodger for evading the military draft during the Vietnam War. They freely quoted former Defence Secretary Jim Mattis saying Trump was “unfit for the presidency”.

Some Republicans are clearly done with Trump and Trumpism. How will they vote in November when so many Republican Senate candidates were chosen in primary elec tions dominated by Trump endorsements? And what do we make of some of those candidates? Here’s a quick look at a few of those whose races are rated as most competitive.

Pennsylvania. This Senate seat, now held by retiring Republican Pat Toomey, looked like a probable Democratic pick-up as long as 18 months ago. The Key stone State, which shocked everyone by voting for Trump in 2016, is dominated politically by its bookend

metropolises in Philadel phia and Pittsburgh. Both are Democratic strongholds. In 2022, current Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running for the Dems.

Fetterman, despite having been sidelined for several months by a stroke earlier this year, is still favoured to win. As we have discussed here previously, this giant, rumpled man is an inher ently skilled campaigner and politician. People con nect with him. His opponent is a TV doctor who has not lived in Pennsylvania for very many years, has no prior useful or relevant experience and hasn’t so far proven to be especially effective as a campaigner.

D Mehmet Oz, a TurkishAmerican, is buoyed mostly by Trump’s endorsement. It would be regarded by many as a major upset and surprise if Oz prevailed in November.

Wisconsin. The Repub lican incumbent here is a former plastics and polymer

executive named Ron John son who was first elected to the Senate in the GOP tsunami victory wave of 2010. He has often acknowl edged ties to the Tea Party.

Johnson’s record in the Senate has been, for many Wisconsin voters, frankly embarrassing.

As chair of the Senate Homeland Security Com mittee, Johnson blithely oversaw multiple investiga tions into Trump’s political opponents, including Joe Biden. There was wide spread speculation Johnson would reflexively act posi tively on any suggestion about a political investiga tion that originated in the Trump White House. These never proved anything.

For example, in Septem ber 2020, after saying for months he was undertaking an investigation that would demonstrate Biden’s “unfit ness for office”, Johnson quietly released a report that found no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdo ing by Biden in relation to Ukraine. Johnson has firmly tied his politics to Trump.

Consider that Johnson has said there was nothing wrong when Trump asked China three years ago to start an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden.

Johnson voted against establishing the Jan 6 com mission. In the wake of the January 6 riots and John son’s dismissive response to those riots, the Milwau kee Journal Sentinel called for Johnson to resign or be expelled from Congress.

Johnson is running for a third term in the US Senate.

His opponent is 35-yearold Mandela Barnes, the incumbent Lieutenant Gov ernor of Wisconsin. His parents were an auto worker and a school teacher. Barnes is black and unmarried. He was selected after the cur rent governor, Tony Evers, surprised many by choos ing not to oppose Johnson. Barnes doesn’t have a gaudy college degree and served in the state legislature for four years.

Wisconsin has never elected a black senator. But it has elected a truly dan gerous demagogue – Joe McCarthy, whose bigotry, ignorance and ruthless ness sparked the infamous Communist witch hunt that plagued the US in the early 1950s and ruined many illustrious careers in vari ous fields. The polls say this election, which is very closely watched, is hard to forecast.

Georgia. Two black men are facing each other. The Democratic incumbent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, has preached from the same Atlanta pulpit that launched the transformative career of Dr Martin Luther King.

He won an unexpired term two years ago and has made his presence felt in the Senate with some stirring oratory despite his lack of seniority.

His opponent is a legend arily great football halfback who is a neophyte politi cian. Hershel Walker is not well prepared to run for the Senate. But he got Trump’s endorsement, and that’s often decisive in the GOP these days.

THE US Capitol Building.

US President Joe Biden.

FORMER US President Donald Trump.

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamped southwest Flor ida on Wednesday, turning streets into rivers, knock ing out power to 1.8 million people and threatening catastrophic damage further inland.

A coastal sheriff’s office reported that it was get ting many calls from people trapped in homes. The hur ricane’s centre struck near Cayo Costa, a protected bar rier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers.

Mark Pritchett stepped outside his home in Venice around the time the

hurricane churned ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, about 35 miles (56 kilome tres) to the south. He called it “terrifying.”

“I literally couldn’t stand against the wind,” Pritch ett wrote in a text message. “Rain shooting like needles. My street is a river. Limbs and trees down. And the worst is yet to come.”

The Category 4 storm slammed the coast with 150 mph (241 kph) winds and pushed a wall of storm surge accumulated during its slow march over the Gulf. More than 1.8 million Florida homes and businesses were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us. Nearly every home and business in three counties was without power.

The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the coun try’s electrical grid.

About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before Ian hit, but by law no one could be forced to flee.

News anchors at Fort Myers television station WINK had to abandon their usual desk and continue storm coverage from another location in their newsroom because water was pushing into their building near the Caloosahatchee River.

Though expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it marches inland at about 9 mph (14 kph), Ian’s hurricane force winds were likely to be felt well into central Florida. Hours after landfall, top

sustained winds had dropped to 125 mph (205 kph), making it a Category 3 hur ricane. Still, storm surges as high as 6 feet (2 metres) were expected on the opposite side of the state, in northeast Florida.

“This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, urging people in Ian’s path along the Atlantic coast to rush to the safest possible shelter and stay there.

Jackson Boone left his home near the Gulf coast and hunkered down at his law office in Venice with employ ees and their pets. Boone at one point opened a door to howling wind and rain flying sideways.

“We’re seeing tree damage, horizontal rain, very high wind,” Boone said by phone. “We have a 50-plusyear-old oak tree that has toppled over.”

In Naples, the first floor of a fire station was inundated with about 3 feet (1 metre) of water and firefighters worked to salvage gear from a firetruck stuck outside the garage in even deeper water, a video posted by the Naples Fire Department showed. Naples is in Collier County, where the sheriff’s depart ment reported on Facebook that it was getting “a sig nificant number of calls of people trapped by water in their homes” and that it would prioritise reaching people “reporting life threat ening medical emergencies in deep water.”

Ian’s strength at landfall tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane when measured by wind speed to strike the U.S. Among the other storms was Hurricane Charley, which hit nearly the same spot on Flor ida’s coast in August 2004, killing 10 people and inflict ing $14 billion in damage.

Ian had strengthened rap idly overnight, prompting Fort Myers handyman Tom Hawver to abandon his plan to weather the hurricane at home. He headed across the state to Fort Lauderdale.

“We were going to stay and then just decided when

we got up, and they said 155 mph winds,” Hawver said.

“We don’t have a generator. I just don’t see the advantage of sitting there in the dark, in a hot house, watching water come in.”

Florida residents rushed ahead of landfall to board up homes, stash precious belongings on upper floors and join long lines of cars leaving the shore.

Some decided to try and ride out the storm. Jared Lewis, a Tampa delivery driver, said his home has withstood hurricanes in the past, though not as powerful as Ian.

“It is kind of scary, makes you a bit anxious,” Lewis said. “After the last year of not having any, now you go to a Category 4 or 5. We are more used to the 2s and 3s.”

Ian made landfall more than 100 miles (160 kilome tres) south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing the densely populated Tampa Bay area from its first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

Flash floods were possible all across Florida. Hazards include the polluted leftovers of Florida’s phosphate ferti liser mining industry, more than 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive waste contained

in enormous ponds that could overflow in heavy rains.

The federal government sent 300 ambulances with medical teams and was ready to truck in 3.7 million meals and 3.5 million litres of water once the storm passes.

“We’ll be there to help you clean up and rebuild, to help Florida get moving again,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday. “And we’ll be there every step of the way. That’s my absolute commit ment to the people of the state of Florida.”

DeSantis has requested Biden grant a Major Disaster Declaration for all 67 of the state’s counties, which would open a range of federal assistance for residents and funding for public infrastruc ture repairs.

DeSantis has also requested Biden allow FEMA to provide a 100% federal cost share for debris removal and emergency pro tective measures for 60 days.

The governors of Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all preemp tively declared states of emergency. Forecasters pre dicted Ian will turn toward those states as a tropical storm, likely dumping more flooding rains into the week end, after crossing Florida.

FIREFIGHTERS looking out at the firetruck that stands in water from the storm surge from Hurricane Ian on Wednesday in Naples, Florida. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida as a massive Category 4 storm.

(Naples Fire Department via AP)

Judge’s historic 61

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 home runs in a season, going deep for the New York Yankees against the Toronto Blue Jays last night.

The 30-year-old slugger drove a full-count pitch from Tim Mayza over the left-field fence in the seventh inning at Rogers Centre - the Yankees won the game 8-3.

Judge moved past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league mark until Maris broke it in 1961. All three stars reached those huge numbers play ing for the Yankees.

Barry Bonds holds the big league record of 73 for the San Francisco Giants in 2001.

Judge had gone seven games without a home run — his longest drought

Ties Maris’ AL home run record

this season was nine in mid-August. This was the Yankees’ 155th game of the season, leaving them seven more in the regular season.

Judge began the day hit ting .314 with 128 RBIs, also the top totals in the AL. He has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

Maris hit No. 61 for the Yankees on October 1, 1961, against Boston Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard.

Maris’ mark has been exceeded six times, but all have been tainted by the stench of steroids.

Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs for the St Louis Cardinals in 1998 and 65

MCPHEE-MCCUIN AND REBELS LOOK ‘TO GO TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT EVERY YEAR’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

EXPECTATIONS loom large for Yolett McPheeMcCuin and her Ole Miss Rebels women’s basket ball team for the upcoming 2022-23 campaign.

The Rebels have improved each year under McPhee-McCuin’s tenure and, after a season that produced the programme’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 15 years, that con tinued development, that continuous improvement was a major talking point of media day.

“We are just continuing to rebuild not as much as like at first, we were trying to rebuild completely. Now we are just trying to recon struct,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I think that is the goal to expand from where we were and to where we are trying to go. Which is to be a programme that is expected to go to the NCAA tournament every year and beyond.”

The 2021-22 season came to an end for Ole Miss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to South Dakota.

Ole Miss concluded the season 23-9, 10-8 in the SEC to earn an at-large bid and the no.7 seed in the Wichita Region. It was their first NCAA Tourna ment appearance in 15 years.

McPhee-McCuin led Ole Miss to its first top 25 ranking since 2007. The season was highlighted by a 13-game win streak, the third longest win streak in programme history. It also included wins over three ranked opponents.

In conference postsea son play, Ole Miss earned its first SEC Tournament Semifinal game appearance in 29 years.

The Rebels also found themselves slotted in the national polls with its first AP Poll appearance since 2007, when Ole Miss came in at No. 24 on January 24.

On the heels of a record-setting season and a new contract exten sion, McPhee-McCuin has landed another star-stud ded recruiting class for her Ole Miss Rebels women’s basketball programme.

McPhee-McCuin’s incoming class includes highly touted freshman prospects and some of the

top rated transfers in the portal.

“This group has a quiet confidence. I think my teams in the past have been very loud. This group is more so quiet, they do believe in themselves. One thing that is unique with this group too is that they have experience in the NCAA Tournament here at Ole Miss so that is the expectation. Last year we

Dolphins take 3-0 record to Cincy to face resurgent Bengals

By MITCH STACY AP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI (AP)

— The Miami Dolphins outlasted the Buffalo Bills last week to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2018.

The early going for the Cincinnati Bengals has been surprising, too, but in a different way.

The defending AFC champions lost their first two games before rediscov ering their 2021 chemistry and beating the New York Jets 27-12 on Sunday.

The Dolphins snuck out of last week’s hyped show down with a 21-19 win over the Bills thanks to some clock mismanagement at

DEANDRE AYTON: ‘WHAT’S SAID IS ALREADY SAID’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE relationship between Phoenix Suns centre Deandre Ayton and head coach Monty Wil liams continues to be a point of contention for the franchise.

Following a bitter end to the 2021-22 season and a lengthy contract negotia tion in the offseason, Ayton addressed the relationship between the two on the first day of training camp.

Ayton appeared in only 17 minutes of the Suns’ 123-90 elimination loss to the Dallas Mavericks in game seven of the Western Conference semifinals last season.

Tagovailoa

the end. Buffalo ran out of time trailing by two points and trying to get in position for a potential game-winning field goal.

The Dolphins and Ben gals won’t have long to ponder the nature of their important wins. They have to come right back and

play each other in Cincin nati on “Thursday Night Football.”

“It’s something that every player I think in the NFL looks forward to because those are the games that everyone’s watching, and we’re well aware of that,” Miami linebacker Duke Riley said. “So I think it’s going to be a great game, AFC matchup. And it’s going to be a fun one.”

The short week didn’t come at a good time for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has a sore back and ankle that has limited him in practice. He also took a big hit in last

were trying to paint the picture and say this is what it’s going to be like, and this group is like ‘coach we are going to the tournament’ that is the expectation,” she said. “This group works pretty hard as well and they get along pretty well. I think every year if I were to bring the same team it would be a different group you know the same people. Because you know time,

maturity, experiences so I don’t think it’s much differ ent from any team because every group would bring their own personality and character. But we definitely have a solid blend of per sonalities and characters you all will meet.”

The class was recently bolstered by the sign ing of highly touted 6’4” freshman centre J’Adore Young. The class also includes four star freshman Ayanna Thompson along with transfers Marquesha Davis, Elauna Eaton, Rita Igbokwe, Broke Moore, Tyia Singleton, Myah Taylor and international prospect Marta Ostojic from Croatia.

Ole Miss also returns a solid trio of experience, including starters Madison Scott and Snudda Collins, as well as the SEC’s SixthWoman of the Year in Angel Baker.

McPhee-McCuin joined the Rebels in 2018 with expectations to rebuild a programme that struggled in recent years and was in the cellar of the SEC. This offseason, she signed a contract extension that will see her remain at the helm through the 2026 season.

He finished with just five points, four rebounds and Williams told report ers postgame that Ayton’s limited playing time was the result of an “internal” decision. “I haven’t spoken to him at all, ever since the game,” Ayton said when asked about the relation ship between the two. “I can show him better than I can tell him. It’s life. Nobody cares about the uncomfortable nature of it, it’s how you perform and what you bring to the table. What’s said is already said.”

Following a lengthy restricted free agency

RACIST ABUSE OF RICHARLISON SHOWS FIFA STILL HAS WORK TO DO

By JAMES ROBSON AP Sports Writer

MANCHESTER, Eng land (AP) — When FIFA president Gianni Infantino dashed from Geneva to Paris to watch World Cup favourite Brazil in its final warmup game before Qatar, he cannot have expected to be confronted by such visual proof of the racism

Messi 2 goals, accosted twice, Argentina tops Jamaica 3-0

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Lionel Messi responded to an in-game, on-field request for a signature with a signature goal.

Messi scored two goals and was twice accosted by fans running on the field as Argentina extended its unbeaten streak to 35 matches over three years by beating Jamaica 3-0 on Tuesday night in its nextto-last World Cup warmup match.

“You have to enjoy Messi,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “No matter your country, every one does. I’m his coach, but I would buy a ticket to see him.”

Julián Álvarez put Argentina ahead in the 13th minute. Messi entered in the 56th and increased

his career total to 90 goals in 164 international appearances with his 17th multigoal game.

“There are no words to describe what he is,” Álva rez said. “Playing five, 10 minutes or all the match, he manages to do amazing things.”

A fan sprinted onto the field in the 65th minute and tried to take Messi’s photo.

Messi stood and watched the spectator being subdued

at his feet while the fan still tried to snap an image with his cell phone.

The six-time world player of the year, three months past his 35th birth day, doubled the lead when he beat Andrew Blake to the goalkeeper’s left on a 23-yard left-foot shot in the 86th minute after driving forward following a giveand-go with Giovani Lo Celso.

After his first goal, Messi was approached by a bare chested fan who asked him to sign his back, and he started to scrawl a signature as three guards tackled the fan and more swarmed in.

Messi got another goal three minutes later after he was pulled down by Adrian Mariappa just outside the penalty area. Messi sent the kick through the defensive

YOLETT McPhee-McCuin and her Ole Miss women’s basketball team continue to improve each year, after a season that produced the programme’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 15 years.

NEW York Yankees’ Aaron Judge runs the bases after hitting his 61st home run of the season, off Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Tim Mayza, left, during the seventh inning last night in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

STEPHEN SEARS JR AND X-MEN REMAIN UNDEFEATED IN THE AUS

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

STEPHEN Sears Jr got his first start of the season and his St Francis Xavier X-Men won an early matchup of undefeated teams in Atlantic Univer sity Sport Football.

The X-Men, currently ranked no.8 in Canada’s U Sports standings, improved to 4-0 with a 26-7 win over Mount Allison to hand the Mounties their first loss of the season last weekend.

Sears, in his debut season with the programme, got the start at left tackle to anchor an offensive line

that gained 434 total yards.

“I got the news the Monday before the game, they said that I would have an oppor tunity to compete for the starting spot and I secured it,” he said.

“I knew I was ready for the challenge so I had a strong mindset, and was not going to hang my head down if I messed a play up.”

The X-Men allowed just a single sack and X-Men Silas Fagnan passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns while Malcolm Bussy rushed for 80 yards.

“The first two drives of the third quarter stood out to me where we scored on passing touchdowns. The pass protection held up,” Sears said. “USports is a bit

RACIST ABUSE OF RICHARLISON SHOWS FIFA STILL HAS WORK TO DO

FROM PAGE 11

that continues to infect soccer. Not least because the sport’s world governing body disbanded its anti-rac ism task force — declaring it had “completely fulfilled its temporary mission” — shortly after Infantino was elected in 2016.

FIFA has implemented a detailed strategy to combat all forms of discrimina tion, but the incident at the Parc des Princes on Tues day, when a banana was thrown at Richarlison as he celebrated scoring a 19thminute goal in Brazil’s 5-1 win against Tunisia, showed just how much work is still to be done.

The Everton striker later tweeted: “As long as it’s ‘blah blah blah’ and they don’t punish, it will con tinue like this, happening every day and everywhere. No time bro!”

In a statement, FIFA condemned the incident, saying: “First and foremost, FIFA strongly rejects any form of racism and violence and has a very clear zero tolerance stance against such behaviour in football.

“FIFA will investigate the

DOLPHINS

FROM PAGE 11

week’s game that left him temporarily woozy, but

incident in yesterday’s game in Paris.”

Earlier that day, Infan tino had been in Geneva to discuss human rightsrelated matters and their relation to soccer with Fed erico Villegas of the United Nations.

Later on, he witnessed first-hand the latest instance of racism and discrimina tion, which is prompting such concern within the sport. Leading players have called out online abuse — but there have also been high-profile episodes within stadiums, with FIFA hand ing Hungary a two-game stadium ban and a fine of almost $205,000 after Eng land players were subjected to racist abuse during a World Cup qualifier in Budapest last September.

UEFA also sanctioned Hungary for discrimina tory behaviour during Euro 2020. It raises the ques tion of whether there will be similar occurrences in Qatar at FIFA’s showpiece occasion.

The FARE network, an anti-discrimination organi sation which works with FIFA and UEFA to investi gate cases of discriminatory

he returned to the game. Tagovailoa is listed as ques tionable for Thursday. If he can’t go, backup Teddy Bridgewater will play.

behaviour by fans, does not believe there is particular cause for concern within stadiums at the World Cup. But executive director Piara Powar says “interna tional football has a huge problem.”

“There will be a lot of close monitoring of far right and racist banners (in Qatar). They will be taken down within minutes,” Powar told The Associ ated Press. “There will be specific analysts in security boxes. There will be a lot of people watching out for these things.”

“I’ve been up here getting treatment, doing everything I can to get as close to 100 percent as possible,” Tago vailoa said Tuesday.

The 24-year-old former Alabama star has been sharp, completing 71 per cent of his passes and throwing eight touchdown passes through three games.

That’s half his total from 13 games last season. His 925 passing yards are second in the NFL this season to the Bills’ Josh Allen.

Miami coach Mike McDaniel said there’s no ideal way to prepare for another game in three days.

“Our team very much understands that Thursday night games do great things for the league in terms of fans are able to see a Thurs day night game and all the revenue that it brings, but it’s a challenge nonethe less,” McDaniel said.

“And there’s no perfect formula. You got to sleep, you got to eat right, hon estly, you’ve got to rest. But the bottom line is, both teams are on short weeks. It’s out of the norm. You only do it once a year, so you’re not going to be used to it.”

BENGALS BOUNCE

BACK

After losses in the first two weeks, quarterback Joe Burrow told everyone to just relax because the Ben gals would come around.

Joey Franchise was right. He threw three touchdown passes, the overhauled offensive line worked well together, and the defence held the Jets to four field goals in the win.

FOURTH-QUARTER FOCUS

The Dolphins have used the fourth quar ter to mount comebacks in Week 2 and Week 3.

more fast-paced and physi cal. But it’s football at the end of the day. It was fun out there to be honest.”

Both drives concluded in deep touchdown passes to wide receiver Zachary Houde.

St FX head into a bye this weekend and will next see action on October 8 as they host Bishop’s for a 3pm tilt in Antigonish.

“The season is going great so far,” Sears said, “Our running game is solid and passing is coming along on offence.

Our defence has been holding it down.”

Sears is the latest colle giate football prospect to

follow the pipeline from The Bahamas to playing the game at the highest level in Canada.

He committed to the X-Men of the Atlantic University Sport Confer ence following his standout tenure with the Holland College Hurricanes.

Sears was named the Hurricanes’ 2021 Offensive Lineman of the Year when the team announced its annual athletic awards in the postseason.

The business administra tion major was also named an Atlantic Football League All-Star offensive lineman after his second season with the programme.

He said the transition to competing at a higher level has been a welcome chal lenge thus far.

The X-Men are the reigning 2021 AUS foot ball champions and have advanced to the national semifinal.

“It’s been great, a bit more fast-paced, a tough schedule football wise with more meetings and practices and as always learning a new system is a bit challenging.

“But I’m used to every thing now and I love it,” he said.

“A lot of talented ath letes on one team going at it in practice and games.”

FARE has contacted FIFA regarding the Richar lison incident.

“The wilful act of taking a banana and throwing it at black player after scoring a goal is breathtaking,” Powar added. “When we’re reminded what the act means — it is dehumanising.”

Richarlison’s tweet pointed to his own lack of faith in soccer’s authorities to deal with racism.

On Wednesday, his club, Tottenham, voiced its sup port for the forward. “We are disgusted by the racist

On Sunday, running back Chase Edmonds scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, but most importantly, the Dol phins kept Allen and the Bills out of the end zone in the second half. Miami’s two key defensive stops in the final 10 minutes of the game — one a turnover on downs, and another key tackle inbounds to help the game time expire — sealed the win.

WATCH FOR WADDLE

For all of the praise that WR Tyreek Hill has gotten, justifiably, for his immediate on-field impact since joining the Dolphins, Jaylen Waddle has been just as productive so far this season. Waddle has two straight 100-plus yard receiving games and actu ally leads the Dolphins in total yards (321) and touch downs (three).

In just his second season, Waddle has 123 recep tions through 19 games, the second most of any player in their first 20 games.

HE SAID IT

Burrow was asked what he thought of the alternate uniforms the Bengals will wear tonight, all white with — for the first time — white helmets with black tiger stripes.

“I’ll play in trash bags,” Burrow said. “I don’t really care what we wear out there.”

TALKING TRASH

Hill stirred up some con troversy this week after he called out Bengals corner back Eli Apple. Hill and Apple faced each other in the playoffs last year when Hill played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I can’t wait to go against Eli Apple,” Hill said. “I owe you, boy. I owe you.

abuse of Richarlison at last night’s game between Brazil and Tunisia,” it tweeted.

“This has no place in foot ball, or anywhere. We stand with you, Richy.”

Former Chelsea player Paul Canoville was sub jected to racist abuse from fans of his own club during his career — and believes today’s stars will eventually take extreme measures in protest.

“It’s hard hearing about racism,” he told AP. “The truth is it’s happening throughout the world.

Racism is a large problem in

I’m here. The Cheetah is here. That’s it.”

Apple stayed quiet about it Tuesday, but fellow cor nerback Chidobe Awuzie laughed it off.

football and a huge prob lem in society.

“When I was warming up I’d hear fans calling me a monkey and throwing bananas. It’s telling me I am an animal.

“The players will walk off the pitch. That will be a statement.

“I can see that. It will be a team with black players saying, “Enough is enough. Why should I play in these conditions?’

“Some people think that’s giving in. I don’t think it’s giving in — it’s standing up.”

“It’s football. It’s enter tainment,” he said. “That’s what people want to hear. It was funny. We were all laughing about it. It’s a competition.”

STEPHEN Sears Jr

TUNISIA’S GHAYLEN CHAALELI, right, duels for the ball with Brazil’s Richarlison during the international friendly soccer match between Brazil and Tunisia at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Unbeaten Dolphins kick off Week 4 as underdogs vs Bengals

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer

TUA Tagovailoa and the unbeaten Miami Dolphins are underdogs in Week 4.

The Dolphins (3-0) kick off this week’s schedule against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals (1-2) on “Thursday Night Football.”

The Bengals are 3 1/2point favourites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

If a victory over the Buf falo Bills wasn’t convincing enough, perhaps a win over the defending AFC cham pion Bengals would prove the Dolphins are legitimate contenders.

“There are still some doubters, but we don’t really pay attention too much,” Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert said. “We just go out here and do what we got to do at the end of the day. Whether if it’s against a tough opponent or a not-so tough opponent, each week is a different challenge and each week is a differ ent opportunity for us to grow.”

Tagovailoa is trying to play with an injured back on short rest. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would be questionable in a typical week. Miami has a capable backup in Teddy Bridgewa ter if needed.

Tagovailoa’s uncertainty makes this one easier to predict.

BENGALS 26-20

Denver (plus 2 1/2) at Las Vegas The Raiders are too tal ented to be stay winless after winning 10 games last season. Russell Wilson still hasn’t found a rhythm in Denver’s offense and rookie coach Nathan iel Hackett has made several head-scratching decisions. It’s an oppor tunity for Raiders coach Josh McDaniels to get his first win since Nov. 14, 2010, when he coached the Broncos.

BEST BET: RAIDERS 24-19

Arizona (plus 2) at Carolina The Cardinals have struggled in the first half and need to start games the way they finish them. They’ve won nine straight

road games in the regu lar season. Kyler Murray should outduel Baker Mayfield in the battle between former Oklahoma quarterbacks.

UPSET SPECIAL:

CARDINALS 26-20 Los Angeles Chargers (minus 5 1/2) at Houston Justin Herbert is play ing hurt, the Chargers are banged-up and they were blown out by the Jaguars last week. The winless Texans have been outscored a combined 30-0 in the fourth quarter this season.

CHARGERS 30-16 Jacksonville (plus 6 1/2) at Philadelphia Jalen Hurts and the Eagles are rolling. They dominated Carson Wentz last week and have another reunion against coach Doug Pederson, who led them to the franchise’s only Super Bowl title.

EAGLES 27-17 Los Angeles Rams (plus 2 1/2) at San Francisco

The 49ers have owned the Rams the past three years, winning six straight,

though Los Angeles beat San Francisco in the NFC championship game.

49ERS 23-20 Minnesota (minus 2 1/2) at New Orleans

The Saints, especially Jameis Winston, need to stop turning the ball over. The Vikings are still find ing their offensive groove under new coach Kevin O’Connell.

SAINTS 23-20 Jets (plus 3 1/2) at Pittsburgh The Steelers are sput tering offensively under Mitch Trubisky. The Jets have held a lead for just 22 seconds.

STEELERS 21-17 Cleveland (minus 1 1/2) at Atlanta Jacoby Brissett is prov ing he’s more than a game-manager for the Browns, who rely on Nick Chubb and an excellent ground game.

BROWNS 27-19 Washington (plus 3 1/2) at Dallas Cooper Rush is 2-0 fill ing in for Dak Prescott this season. Carson Wentz

tries to bounce back from a beatdown against the Eagles to face another familiar opponent.

COWBOYS 23-21

New England (plus 10) at Green Bay

After beating Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, the Packers face the reeling Patriots.

PACKERS 30-13 Buffalo (minus 3) at Baltimore Josh Allen and the Bills ran out of time last week in an exhausting game in Miami. Lamar Jackson is off to an MVP-caliber start.

BILLS 27-26 Seattle (plus 4 1/2) at Detroit

The Lions are better than their 1-2 record. The Seahawks are exactly where they should be.

LIONS 30-17 Kansas City (minus 1 1/2) at Tampa Bay

The Buccaneers are in hurricane upheaval, strug gling on offense and facing a team seeking to get even for its loss in the Super Bowl two years ago.

CHIEFS 24-21

wall and just to the right arm of a sprawling Blake for his ninth free-kick goal for Argentina.

Messi scored four goals in Argentina’s two World Cup warmups this month, giving him 16 career goals in the United States.

Fans erupted in applause less than a minute into the second half when Messi walked with teammates to a corner and started to warm up. A large percentage of the crowd appeared more focused on Messi stretching than they did the action on the field, and fans stood and made the stadium rumble when he entered for Lau taro Martínez and took the captain’s armband from Angel Di Maria.

Messi, who won his first senior title for Argentina at last year’s Copa Amé rica, still has more speed and quicker acceleration than most and his addition energised Argentina in the second half. He also forced Blake to make a pair of diving saves.

Many in the sellout crowd of 25,000 in Red Bull Arena wore blue-andwhite-striped Albiceleste jerseys, making it feel like an Argentina home game. Public address announce ments were primarily in Spanish and ribbon boards flashed “Vamos Argentina!”

Álvarez put Argentina ahead after Nicolás Tagliaf ico passed from the flank to Martínez, who spun around Leon Bailey to open space and centred to the 22-year-old Álvarez. He slotted past Blake for his second goal in 11 international appearances.

Heading to its 13th straight World Cup,

Argentina seeks to add to championships it won in 1978 with Mario Kempes and 1986 with Diego Mara dona. Argentina has one remaining friendly, against the United Arab Emirates on November 16 at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emir ates. At the World Cup in Qatar, Argentina opens against Saudi Arabia, which tied the United States 0-0 in an exhibition Tuesday, and then plays Mexico and Poland.

Argentina has 25 wins, including one on penalty kicks, and 10 draws since a 2-0 loss to Brazil at the Copa América on July 2, 2019.

Scaloni made eight changes from the starting lineup in Friday’s 3-0 win over 80th-ranked Honduras at Miami Gardens, Florida, inserting Di Maria and Gio vani Lo Celso. Emiliano Martínez replaced Gerón imo Rulli.

The Reggae Boyz, who finished sixth among eight nations in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, played in jerseys without names, in con trast to Argentina. Jamaica started a first-choice lineup in its first match under new coach Heimir Hall grímsson that included Premier Leaguers Michail Antonio, Leon Bailey and Bobby Decordova-Reid and Blake, a Philadelphia Union standout.

process, Ayton officially inked a four-year, $133 million contract in July to return to the Suns.

A highly coveted restricted free agent target, Ayton signed a maximum offer sheet on July 14 with the Indiana Pacers and within moments, the Suns matched the offer to retain the no.1 overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft.

“Yea I’m alright,” Ayton responded when asked if he’s happy to be back with the Suns. “When I’m in between those lines, man, I just work. I know I’m not playing for myself. I have an organisation across my chest and a name on my back I have to represent, I’m just here to work.”

Williams downplayed any perceived tension between the two and indicated it was a standard practice this off season to give his players “space” during the offsea son. “I think one on ones are always needed between guys I’ve been around for awhile. “Some guys need it and some guys don’t. I’ll identify that as the season progresses,” Williams said.

“I’ll talk to everybody as I always do during camp and it won’t be an issue at all.”

Tennessee (plus 3 1/2) at Indianapolis

Matt Ryan rallied the Colts to their first win of the season in a comeback victory over the Chiefs. Now, he gets his first taste of this AFC South rivalry.

COLTS 24-21 Chicago (plus 3 1/2) at New York Giants

The Bears have won two games without test ing Justin Fields too much. He’s thrown only 45 passes. The Giants have a short week after a tough loss at home to Dallas on Monday night.

GIANTS 22-16

2022 RECORD

Last Week: Straight up: 10-6. Against spread: 10-6. Season: Straight up: 27-21. Against spread: 24-24.

Best Bet: Straight up: 1-0. Against spread: 1-0. Season: Straight up: 2-1. Against spread: 2-1. Upset Special: Straight up: 1-0. Against spread: 1-0.Season: Straight up: 1-2. Against spread: 1-2

In his fourth season, Ayton averaged 17.2 points on a career high 63 per cent from the field and 10.2 rebounds per game in 58 appearances.

Both sides reiterated that the improvement on the court will be the most important thing for the upcoming season.

“I think the thing that people don’t see is how much he’s been in the gym and how much better he’s gotten this summer. I think having all that stuff behind him has given him a sense of relief. I think when play ers know you want them around and value them, it gives them confidence. That doesn’t mean you don’t have situations that come up — that’s part of coaching and part of being on a really good team with competitive players,” Williams said.

“There wasn’t a scenario where we felt like he wasn’t going to be around. He’s too good of a player and he’s a good dude. There’s times where you bump heads on certain issues, but that doesn’t define a person in totality. I think some times that stuff just gets blown out of proportion and rightfully so when you don’t know all the facts.”

Nine Bahamian collegiate tennis players get prepared for fall season

BAHAMAS Lawn Tennis Association col legiate tennis athletes are getting prepared for the 2022-23 season and a number of the players have seen pre-season action with their respective colleges.

There are approximately nine athletes who are on the tennis college circuit.

Jacobi Bain, of the Xavier of University Loui siana (XULA) Gold Rush, was awarded the NAIA South Region rookie award for his performance for the 2021-22 season.

Jacobi went 20-7 in sin gles and 26-9 in doubles last year. Kicking off his 202223 season at the HBCU National Tournament in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in a season opener.

In singles, Bain who was seeded 3rd, played well but lost in his first singles match against Jonasz Dziopak 3-6, 0-6.

He obtained success in doubles with partner Woody.

Jacobi and Woody cap tured the doubles title 6-3 over Du Preez and Bajracharya of Ala bama State at the HBCU National Championships.

JUDGE

FROM PAGE 11

the following year, and Bonds topped him. Sammy Sosa had 66, 65 and 63 during a four-season span starting in 1998.

McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Bonds and Sosa denied knowingly using perform ing-enhancing drugs.

Major League Baseball started testing with penal ties for PEDs in 2004, and some fans — perhaps many — until now have consid ered Maris the holder of the “clean” record.

Among the tallest batters in major league history, the 6-foot-7 Judge burst on the scene on August 13, 2016, homering off the railing above Yankee Stadium’s centre-field sports bar and into the netting above Monument Park.

He followed Tyler Austin to the plate and they become the first teammates to homer in their first major league at-bats in the same game.

Judge hit 52 homers with 114 RBIs the following year and was a unanimous winner of the AL Rookie of the Year award. Inju ries limited him during the following three seasons, and he rebounded to hit 39 homers with 98 RBIs in 2021.

As he approached his last season before free agent eligibility, Judge on opening day turned down the Yan kees’ offer of an eight-year contract worth from $230.5 million to $234.5 million. The proposal included an average of $30.5 million

The duo, seeded no.1, advanced to the semifinals after an impressive firstround win over Amadike and Lan 6-1. They won in the quarterfinals 6-4 over Alvaraz and Caraballo of Tennessee State.

Congratulations on the Regional rookie award for the south region and your doubles title at the recent HBCU Tournament Jacobi.

Donte Armbrister and partner Emiliano Jorquera won the Elon Fall Invi tational Powell Doubles Tournament for the Hamp ton University Pirates.

Donte and Emiliano won over Steveker and McNa mara of Queens 6-4.

In the next round, they won 7-5 over Moskovitz and Johns of the University of North Carolina Greens boro (UNC G), in the Finals they were victorious over Bharathy and Sneed from Central 7-5.

In singles, Donte made it to the quarters with a win over Oliver Saarinen of Central and fought hard against Blanco 4-6 6-7. He lost in the second round 2-6 6-7 to Blanco NC A&T.

At the Christopher New port University (CNU) Fall Invitational held the prior

week, Donte Armbrister was perfect going 4-0 in sin gles and doubles against the competition.

Against the host univer sity CNU, Donte defeated Ahun Vodela 6-4, 6-3 and in #1 Doubles Donte with partner Ange-Kevin defeated Strause and Truong 8-5.

Against North Carolina Weslayan, Donte won 6-2, 6-4 in singles and 8-4 in #2 doubles with partner Emil iano Jorquera.

Elana Mackey and Mars Hill Lions competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Divi sion II Southeast Regional Championships.

In singles, Elana won over Ami Miya of Cat awba 7-5, 1-6,6-1. She then defeated the #16 seed Cardenas from Newberry 6-0,6-7, 7-5. Elana then went on to win over Labat from Columbus State 6-2, 6-3.

In the round of 16 Elana faced the 6th seed Dana Heimen losing in a hardfought match 4-6, 4-6.

In doubles, Elana part nered with Kadiri losing 4-8 to Pugina and Whelan of Lenoir-Ryne University. Wonderful advancement in

the ITA regional champion ships Elana.

Sydney Clarke, with the University of Alabama at Birmingham(UAB) Blazers, competed in the Samford round-robin.

Sydney defeated Karen Yibirin of Middle Tennesee State University 6-0, 6-1 and Sean Mullen of Tulane 6-4,6-0.

In doubles, Sydney Clarke and Annalisa Smith won over Samford’s Nanere and Mares 7-5 and come back with partner Ratkic from 0-5 down to win against Tulane’s Mullen and Walther 7-5.

Sydney and UAB opened up their fall season in Austin Peay Tournament where Sydney won over Arbelaz Maria 6-0, 6-2 and had some well-fought matches where she lost against Emma Honore of Murray State (MuR) 1-6, 4-6, Coco Bosman of UT Martin College (UTC) 3-6, 2-6 and 8-1 0-6, 7-10 Melody Hefti of Austin Peay State University (APSU).

In doubles Sydney and partner Mackenzie White won over Torrealba and Lascheck of APSU 6-4. Sydney also teamed up

with Annalisa Smith defeat ing Bosmanand Billman of UTC 6-2.

Sydney would rack up another doubles win with Alexandra da Silva over CU’s Sungatullina and Mendez 6-1.

Abigail Simms and the Indiana Warriors, coming off a 2022 season capturing back-to-back WHAC Con ference Championships, started the season opener at Goshen College.

Playing in no.2 Singles, Abigail won over Aliaga 6-0, 6-0 and in the no.1 dou bles with Carvahlo defeated Aliaga 6-4. The team won 6-0 against Goshen.

In the Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) Fall classic, Abigail and part ner Echavaria lost to the host IWU’s Antezana and Munoz in doubles 2-6.

Kofi Bowe and Shatonya Missick are expected to see action when Johnson C Smith University (JCSU) face Elana Mackey and Mars Hill University this week.

And Anthony Burrows Jr will make his debut for the University of MissouriSt Louis (UMSL) Tritons against Missouri Baptist on October 7.

Peyton Anderson is also in her debut for the Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) Mustangs.

In singles, Peyton played against Nemmers of MSU Moorhead 6-4, 7-5. SMSU also faced Nebraska Kear ney in fall season play.

Peyton teamed up with Roz Oye in doubles falling 2-6, in singles, she also lost 0-6, 3-6 to Plachy Clare. SMSU also faced Min nesota State University where Peyton and Roz won 6-0 in #3 doubles but lost in singles 0-6, 6-2, 1-6 in a hard-fought match.

In an official release, BLTA executives said:

“We are excited for our returning athletes and our new athletes who will be adjusting to the college scene. We pray that you all are successful on the courts and in the classroom. You can follow the athletes online as they continue in their fall preseason.

“We congratulate once again Joshua Turnquest, Sierra Donaldson, Han nah-Joy Simms, and Afrika Smith, who graduated last season and wish them well as they undertake their varied pursuits.”

annually from 2023-29, with his salary this year to be either the $17 million offered by the team in arbi tration or the $21 million requested by the player.

An agreement was reached in June on a $19 million, one-year deal, and Judge heads into this offseason likely to get a contract from the Yankees or another team for $300

million or more, perhaps topping $400 million.

Judge hit six homers in April, 12 in May and 11 in June. He earned his fourth All-Star selection and entered the break with 33 homers. He had 13 homers in July and dropped to nine in August, when injuries left him less protected in the batting order and pitch ers walked him 25 times.

He became just the fifth player to hold a share of the AL season record. Nap Lajoie hit 14 in the AL’s first season as a major league in 1901, and Phila delphia Athletics teammate Socks Seabold had 16 the next year, a mark that stood until Babe Ruth hit 29 in 1919.

Ruth set the record four times in all, with 54 in 1920,

59 in 1921 and 60 in 1927, a mark that stood until Maris’ 61 in 1961.

Maris was at 35 in July 1961 during the first season each team’s schedule increased from 154 games to 162, and baseball Com missioner Ford Frick ruled if anyone topped Ruth in more than 154 games “there would have to be some dis tinctive mark in the record

books to show that Babe Ruth’s record was set under a 154-game schedule.” That “distinctive mark” became known as an “asterisk” and it remained until September 4, 1991, when a committee on sta tistical accuracy chaired by Commissioner Fay Vincent voted unanimously to rec ognise Maris as the record holder.

NEW York Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits a two-run home run, his 61st homer of the season, during the seventh inning of the team’s baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday in Toronto.

(Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

FARAH PULLS OUT OF LONDON MARATHON

LONDON (AP) — Fourtime Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has pulled out of Sunday’s London Marathon because of a hip injury.

The 39-year-old Farah said he injured his right hip in training and will not be fit in time for the race.

“I’ve been training really hard over the past few months and I’d got myself back into good shape and was feeling pretty optimis tic about being able to put in a good performance,” the British runner said.

“However, over the past 10 days I’ve been feeling

pain and tightness in my right hip. I’ve had extensive

physio and treatment and done everything I can to be on the start line but it hasn’t improved enough to com pete on Sunday.”

Farah, who won Olympic gold in the 5,000 and 10,000metre races in London and Rio de Janeiro, was set to compete in his first mara thon since 2019.

He won the warmup race The Big Half earlier this month.

Farah said he still hopes to run in the 2023 London Marathon, when the race switches back to its tradi tional date in April.

MO Farah (AP)