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VOLUME:118 No.16, DECEMBER 14, 2020

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER: $1

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PM’S ANTI-OIL STANCE ‘MUSIC TO OUR EARS’ NEWBORN BOY IS ABANDONED NEAR CHURCH

Declaration against drilling delights lobby fighting BPC’s plans

By NEIL HARTNELL and RASHAD ROLLE ENVIRONMENTAL activists spent the weekend celebrating after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed he is “totally against” oil drilling in Bahamian waters.

In a statement which will have shocked Bahamas Petroleum Company, Dr Minnis also suggested the government would have backed out of a controversial oil exploration deal if it could have.

“I am totally against oil drilling in our waters,” Dr Minnis told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Abaco on Friday. “Totally.”

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

Attorney Fred Smith, who represents Waterkeepers Bahamas and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay (Save The Bays), said: “To hear the Prime Minister, who is the heart of the Government, say he is against oil drilling is music to our ears. It is an exquisite expression of transparent fresh air.”

Bahamas Petroleum Company plans for the Stena IceMAX vessel to begin drilling Perseverance One in waters some 90 miles west of Andros, close to the maritime boundary with Cuba, on December 20.

POLICE are still searching for the mother of a newborn baby boy found alive in the back of a local church over the weekend with his umbilical cord still attached.

According to initial reports, shortly after 11am on Saturday, police received a tip from an anonymous caller who told them that construction workers at the Church of the Nazarene had found the infant wrapped in a blanket.

SEE PAGE FIVE

TWO KILLED IN ISLANDS ACCIDENTS

SEE PAGE THREE

CUT-PRICE LAND DEAL FOR YOUNG BUYERS PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the government will offer lots of land valued at $150,000 for about $50,000 to young professionals in the western area of New Providence.

His comment came on Friday during a presentation of land grants ceremony in Crossing Rocks, Abaco.

He said the community will have a swimming pool and a community centre. Dr Minnis did not say where the area will be located, nor when the lots will be available for purchase.

“We’ve identified a

property,” he said. “It will be upscale and the overall value of the land – probably 90 by 100 – and we’ll put in all the infrastructure, community centre, etc. The lands in the west are usually about ($120k to $150k), most are about $150k. We would sell it to the young professionals for about $50,000 or less because it’s really their land. Crown land is really the people’s land, it’s not individuals, it’s the people and we just want to ensure that the people receive their land.

SEE PAGE FOUR

SMILING SIBLINGS

BROTHER and sister Elijah, aged four, and Eliana Skopelja, aged six, on the platform of the national Christmas tree on the night of the official tree lighting ceremony, which was held virtually on Friday.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff

KFC BOSSES DEFEND TRIMMING BONUS

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise warned trade unions over one month ago it was “in absolute survival mode” and may have to close locations or “even shutdown” with revenues off 50 percent.

The fast food outlet and its operating parent, Restaurant (Bahamas) Ltd,

cited COVID-19’s “devastating effect” and the urgent need to make adjustments that cut expenses and conserved cash as it rejected assertions by Obie

Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress president, that it was acting in bad faith over plans to alter the staff’s Christmas bonus.

Documents reveal KFC first reached out to Mr Ferguson, also president of the Bahamas Hotel Managerial Association, on October 29, seeking co-operation over a proposal to pay middle management Christmas bonuses in “installments”.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are urging members of the public to drive with “extreme caution and care” over Christmas after two separate accidents claimed the lives of two men, one in Abaco, the other in Grand Bahama over the weekend. Speed was said to play a factor in both traffic fatalities.

The first incident occurred shortly after 6pm on Saturday. According to reports, police in Grand Bahama were called to a traffic accident on East Sunrise Highway and Waterfall Drive involving a 2004 white Mercedes Benz with a male driver and a red 2012 Honda Accord Coupe with three passengers.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Insight ‘POLICE BEAT ME AND PUT HOT SAUCE IN MY SEE EYES’ PAGE EIGHT

PAGE 2, Monday, December 14, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

JUVENILE INJURED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING

POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding a Saturday shooting that left a juvenile male in hospital.

Officials said shortly after 10am, police received reports of gunshots in the Jack Fish Drive area.

“Officers while responding came across a private vehicle en route to the hospital with a juvenile male suffering from apparent gunshot wounds,” police reported.

“Investigations revealed that a mother and her son were visiting a friend on Jack Fish Drive when a small vehicle with two occupants pulled up and opened fire in their direction, injuring her son.”

The young victim is currently listed in serious condition. Police did not release THE JACK Fish Drive area where Saturday’s the age of the victim. Investigations are shooting took place.

Photo: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff continuing.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 3

PM’s anti-oil stance ‘music to our ears’ from page one

The entire exercise is expected to take between 45-60 days, and the oil explorer has repeatedly argued that - as a non-production well - the chances of any oil spill will be minimal and it will be capped afterwards.

Last week, activists filed an application for judicial review to stop the oil exploration.

On Friday, when asked about concerns about the environmental impact of oil drilling, Dr Minnis said: “I have said that before and that has not changed.

Unfortunately, we were saddled with an agreement that we met there. When we discussed it with the legal department, we were advised that the commitment and everything was signed and basically, we could not get out of it.

“But if we could’ve gotten out of it believe me, I am against totally drilling for oil in our waters.”

BPC’s oil exploration licences were given during the first Christie administration.

Several members of the Progressive Liberal Party have had ties to the company in the past.

Former Prime Minister Perry Christie once served as a consultant to BPC when in opposition. Davis & Co, the law firm of current PLP leader, Philip “Brave” Davis, acted as BPC’s attorneys when it first came to the Bahamas, although it no longer serves in this capacity. Mr Davis has recently indicated his backing for exploratory drilling.

PLP Senator Jobeth Coleby-Davis is also BPC’s in-house attorney.

In a statement over the weekend, PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell blasted Dr Minnis’ comments.

He said: “The Prime

Minister has surely lost it.

In distancing himself from oil drilling in the wake of the drilling rights issues to the Bahamas Petroleum Company - a licence he incidentally approved - his disingenuous words came off as the aimless ramblings of a nincompoop.

“The record clearly shows that upon coming to office in May, 2017, the FNM government knew that a condition of the licence was that BPC had to drill by April 2017 and the delay was caused by the insistence of the PLP that the environmental safeguards in new legislation be put in place. The incoming Minnis administration reviewed the matter and decided to proceed.

“The point is the country is a country of laws. His administration breached other duly signed contracts.

So do not blame the PLP. He must accept responsibility for his own decisions.

“The comments in Abaco will show that in the face of this, the Prime Minister is clueless and once again proves that he doesn’t have the competence to address serious matters on behalf of the Bahamian people.

“The Prime Minister was pandering to his political quacks in the... Save the Bays organisation because he thinks that is the popular thing to do. In the process, the Prime Minister’s credibility and integrity continue to take a vicious public beating due to his habitual duplicity and hypocrisy on any number of national issues.”

For its part, Our Islands, Our Future praised Dr Minnis yesterday for his comments.

“We applaud and commend the Prime Minister for expressing his total opposition to oil drilling and recognising the grave economic and environmental risks that it poses for our country. We view his statements as a game-change for

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis in Abaco at the weekend. the public conversation on this most important issue.

“The Bahamas can be proud that it has an enlightened and progressive leader who not only understands

what is in the best interest of his country, but also aspires to lead the region in navigating the path toward an end to dependence on fossil fuels. The coalition

maintains that the BPC project is a terrible deal for the Bahamas and we hope that the Minnis administration will respect the rule of law with regard to the judicial

review application that seeks to examine whether or not BPC’s licenses and approvals were granted properly.”

• For more, see Business

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis presenting 24 Crown Land grants in Abaco.

PM HOPEFUL COVID CRISIS OVER BEFORE ELECTION RALLIES PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said he hopes by the time the country gets into election mode, the COVID-19 crisis would have ended to enable mass rallies and other typical campaign events.

“I think individuals would have looked around the world in terms of how campaigns would have been, how other countries would have campaigned… we would adjust our models accordingly,” he said.

“But at this point in time we can’t have any mass rallies, those kinds of things,

but by the time we reach election mode or campaign, hopefully we would be outside the COVID pandemic and we will be somewhat back to normal.”

Dr Minnis, speaking to reporters in Abaco on Friday, was also asked to respond to criticism from Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper about the failure to enact campaign finance legislation.

“I think at some point in time I’d hope to see it come to fruition,” he said.

In the lead-up to the 2017 general election, Dr Minnis

made campaign finance reform one of his signature planks.

Attorney General Carl Bethel told The Tribune in 2018 that he presented the Progressive Liberal Party with a draft bill, the Political Parties Registration and Election Financing Bill 2012, that sought to regulate the campaign finances of political parties. However, although both sides agreed the bill needed a lot of work, no progress was made in revising the draft.

Transparency and accountability activists have

long called for campaign finance legislation. In 2012, former Prime Minister Perry Christie said campaign financing had sunk to “repugnant” and sometimes “criminal” levels.

However, his administration did not enact legislation to address those concerns.

The Organisation of American States, which observed this country’s election in 2012, recommended that campaign finance laws be implemented. At the time, the OAS concluded the matter seemed less

important to Bahamian politicians than it did to other stakeholders in the country.

At a separate event on Friday, Dr Minnis also responded to comments from former Prime Minister Perry Christie who last week called for bipartisanship in the COVID-19 decision making process.

Dr Minnis told reporters Mr Christie was “absolutely right” in saying there should be unity, but he pointed out invitations have been extended to the opposition party to be involved.

“We’ve reached out

on many occasions to the medical fraternity that is the medical community, the grouping that’s dealing with the pandemic,” Dr Minnis said.

“We’ve invited the opposition to participate in the presentation the same times as we were informed which meant they would have had just as much information as we would have and they could have given their insight at that particular point in time. They refused to come, so I hope Mr Christie would talk to them.”

PAGE 4, Monday, December 14, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

D’Aguilar: More than 20,000 bought health visas

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar.

Photo: Terrel W Carey/Tribune Staff

26 MORE CASES OVER THE WEEKEND THE Ministry of Health recorded 26 COVID-19 cases between Friday and Saturday.

According to data issued by the ministry on the weekend, 15 cases were recorded on Saturday while 11 were recorded on Friday.

Ministry of Health officials said 25 cases were recorded on Thursday, December 10.

Saturday’s cases included two in New Providence, eight in Grand Bahama, two in Abaco, two in Eleuthera and one in Exuma.

Five of the cases recorded on Friday were in New Providence, four in Grand Bahama, one in Abaco and one was in Eleuthera.

Of Thursday’s cases, ten were in New Providence, 14 in Grand Bahama while

one was listed as location pending.

As of last report, 13 cases were in hospital with one patient in the intensive care unit.

COVID-19 deaths have remained at 163 since early November.

Up to Saturday, the country had 7,674 cases overall.

Of this figure, 1,382 were active while 6,070 cases have recovered.

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said 20,485 people bought travel health visas to enter the country last month as border restrictions were relaxed to encourage tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s the first month,” he told The Tribune yesterday.

“Nothing was really open.

Some of that 20,485 were citizens and residents.”

The number of arrivals for November contrasted sharply with the number of arrivals in November 2019.

That month, there were 618,854 foreign arrivals, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism.

All travellers are required to have a travel health visa to enter the country. “(Arrivals are) going to be down enormously,” Mr D’Aguilar said. “I expect more arrivals this month.

To restart your tourist product you need hotels and airlift and more is coming

on stream this month. We have to create demand for an increase, but that has to be tempered by what’s happening in the United States.”

Just last week, the US recorded more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time as that country wrestles with a surge in cases.

Mr D’Aguilar also confirmed a systems issue on Saturday prevented people from accessing features of the travel health visa portal.

He said Saturday morning, officials responsible for government technological services tried to do “some routine work that unfortunately culminated in the need to shut down the service and reboot it.”

He said: “When they did that at 3am in the morning, the communications link between the platform and payment portal got broken.

Because no one knew, it took a while for programmers to figure out and correct the problem and the correction did not take place until 9pm last night

TOTAL CASES

(Saturday).

“We had to go to a manual process until we sorted out the problem.

Everyone is trying to figure out what went wrong and why it took so long. Technology is great when it works, but it is a bloody nightmare when it doesn’t.”

Mr D’Aguilar said he indicated to officials that this is a “very sensitive time for the country and they should be careful when taking these unplanned actions.” He could not say how many people were affected by the shutdown .

“Yesterday was an extremely trying day,” he said.

“Everybody who applied after 9pm last night, the process was back to normal. I’m advised things are back to normal and I’m sure they are all now finding out why it took so long. I think everybody is sensitive to the fact that if this programme isn’t working people can’t get into the country and it’s a massive inconvenience.”

TOTAL DEATHS

7,674 163 NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES 15 CASES FRIDAY

SATURDAY

GRAND BAHAMA 8 NEW PROVIDENCE 2 ABACO 2 ELEUTHERA 2 EXUMA 1

TOTAL TESTS

46,513

HOSPITALISED

13

11 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE 5 GRAND BAHAMA 4 ABACO 1 ELEUTHERA 1

CASES IN ICU

1

RECOVERED

6,070

CUT-PRICE LAND DEAL FOR YOUNG BUYERS from page one

“They would purchase the property at about $50,000, the property with all the infrastructure would be worth $150,000, which means they would automatically qualify for a mortgage and have their homes built without that great outlay that’s prohibiting most young people from building today.”

He added: “We would allow them to build duty free, so all the materials would be duty free, inclusive of the utilities, refrigerators, stove, microwave, etc. And I think that’s really to give the young professionals a start.

“With this progressive

and aggressive programme that we’re doing – because we want to do development throughout all of the Family Islands now that we’re in this era of Airbnb – we’re encouraging people to take advantage of it. There are a lot of opportunities in the Family Islands, especially (because) of COVID, lots of people want to go to the Family Islands which are COVID-free and we’re encouraging Bahamians to take advantage of it. Once they identify and show that they are serious, we would grant them the land so that they can proceed because just having a lease poses a problem.”

During Friday’s ceremony, Dr Minnis said his government was committed

to ensuring that people of Crossing Rocks – many of whom were forced to relocate following Hurricane Floyd in 1999 – received title deeds to rebuild their properties.

He said in 2019, 56 title deeds were transferred to residents of Crossing Rocks and last week an additional 24 grants were transferred to residents of the community.

“This figure represents more than 60 percent of the properties in Crossing Rocks which were destroyed by the 1999 storm,” he said.

Overall, 140 grants have been finalised for Bahamians under the government’s land grants initiative, Dr Minnis said.

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 5

TWO KILLED IN ISLANDS ACCIDENTS from page one

“Officers of the Fire Department were called to the scene and assisted in the extraction of both drivers using the Jaws of Life”, police said.

“The male driver of the Honda Accord succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced lifeless at the scene by EMS personnel. The other two passengers were all taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital via ambulance, where they are both listed in serious, but stable condition.”

Officials said the driver of the Mercedes Benz was also taken to Rand Memorial Hospital where he is also listed in serious, but stable condition.

Alfonso Pinder, assistant superintendent of police attached to the Traffic Department in Grand Bahama, said the incident brought the number of traffic fatalities on that island to ten for the year.

Speaking to reporters at the scene of the accident, he said: “We want to urge

members of the public to please drive with extreme caution and care.

“We understand that this is the Yuletide season and we want to urge you please if you are visiting family members, please remember that we’re still under COVID-19 and we want you to arrive (to your destination) safely.”

ASP Pinder said police believe speed played a factor in the accident. He also encouraged the public to obey the law and wear their seatbelts.

“Like I said, we’re in the Yuletide season and we know around this period there’s lots of persons who are drinking and celebrating.

“During the COVID-19 (pandemic) we find that folks are in a rush in order not to be caught on the streets during that (curfew) time and we find folks are speeding. So we want to urge you please to drive with extreme caution and care. We also want to urge members of the public to wear seat belts because not wearing seatbelts is against the law.”

The second accident

THE AFTERMATH of the crash in Grand Bahama.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn occurred after 11pm on Saturday in Abaco.

Officials were called to the SC Bootle Highway just east of the little Abaco Bridge, where an accident involving a 2000 T-Rex Queen Truck driven by a male driver occurred.

“The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle that overturned and was ejected from the vehicle,” police reported.

“He was later pronounced dead by doctors at the Marsh Harbour Clinic.”

Hotel workers urged ‘to have responsibility’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis cautioned hotel workers returning to their jobs this month to have “some degree of responsibility”.

After a few days of new COVID-19 cases being in the single digits, the Ministry of Health reported 38 new cases for Wednesday. The ministry noted that of this figure, seven people tested positive onboard a cargo vessel sailing in waters near Grand Bahama.

Dr Minnis said a “slight increase” in cases was expected due to the recent US Thanksgiving holiday and associated travel.

“We knew and we had anticipated that we would see an increase at least 10 to 14 days after the holiday you have in the US, Thanksgiving holiday, and now we’re seeing it ten to 14 days post so we expect a slight increase because of the amount of Bahamians that would’ve travelled there,” Dr Minnis said Friday. “Obviously, some would’ve become infected, but we were prepared for it. We will deal with it appropriately so as to avoid any form of third wave.”

The spike in cases comes as Atlantis recently welcomed 2,500 of its employees back to work this week. With other megaresorts preparing to restart operations this month, the

prime minister urged workers to be careful.

“Only thing I would say to those Bahamians that have returned to work to Atlantis, returning to the Pointe, that will be returning to Baha Mar, that they themselves must display some degree of discipline and responsibility,” he said.

“Means that you cannot work in an environment and then as you leave just go party for all you must be very responsible…. that you could possibly introduce infection into your work environment resulting in the entire facility closing down affecting themselves and the economy at large.

“So protocols have been put in place to minimise that but in spite of the protocol

they themselves have some degree of responsibility and I hope that they would all, we would all take it very seriously.”

Dr Minnis spoke to reporters as he toured the Hurricane Hole development on Paradise Island on Friday morning. The first phase of the development was estimated to cost about $70m. The overall project will cost $250m.

Executive chairman and founder of Sterling Global David Kosoy said the facility is expected to be occupied in a residential, commercial, retail capacity

by January. Employment opportunities during the pandemic were one aspect he highlighted about the project.

“No Bahamians were let

go at all and no Bahamian had to go to NIB. All of our people stayed and we did hire people because we went on as if the pandemic will be over because it will be over,” Mr Kosoy said.

“We had a lot of very good people available now because people were let go from other companies and we felt that this was an opportune time even if it was a lag in our balance sheet to pick the cream of the crop and so we probably hired at least six people and I’m talking about senior people... During the construction here, no one was let go.”

The second phase is the marina which is three months ahead of schedule and will open in July.

The prime minister

noted the work showed Bahamians have the capacity to build hotels and mega-resorts at a quality standard.

Dr Minnis added: “They’re building one of the largest mega-yacht facilities within this part of the world and that will be able to accommodate large yachts and we have the potential of becoming the number one mega-yacht destination in the world and those type of guests in the marina they are high-end guests and therefore they can make an even greater contribution to our economy and of course when they visit they will see what else we have to offer and one never knows that they themselves may subsequently invest within The Bahamas.”

NEWBORN BOY IS ABANDONED NEAR CHURCH from page one

“Officers responded and on their arrival, they were shown a male infant with its umbilical cord still attached,” police said.

“The child was taken to hospital for medical attention. Investigations into this matter continue.”

Yesterday, Assistant Superintendent Audley Peters told The Tribune police are not following any new leads at the moment.

Last night, the Department of Social Services said the baby boy appears to be four-days-old. The infant is “resting comfortably in the Children’s Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital,” a statement from the department added.

The statement said pregnant women who may need assistance can reach out to Social Services hotlines free of charge.

“We wish to advise that this incident may not be connected to the COVID19 pandemic because similar incidents have happened before,” the department said.

“Pregnant women, their relatives or friends are advised that there is assistance available through the Department of Social Services Hotlines, 3222763 or 422-2763. This service is provided free of charge.

“The Department of Social Services along with its partners at the Royal Bahamas Police Force

requests the assistance of the public in locating the infant’s mother, so as to ensure that she receives the requisite medical care,” the statement added.

On Saturday, a video showing the young baby crying on the ground sparked outrage on social media. In the short clip, a man could be heard sharing the location of the baby boy with someone over the phone. Speaking

about the incident online, one Facebook user posted: “What is wrong with us as a people in this country? How can we be so cold hearted and heartless to do these unspeakable things? I don’t know your situation, but whoever you are who walked away from that baby...I hope you get the help you surely need. I don’t understand for the life of me how some women can have no

feelings or care towards their own child.”

However, other users empathised with the mother of the young child.

Another Facebook comment read: “I hope that the mother seeks medical

attention. Next, people please be merciful. The mom could be a distressed teenager, from an abusive home. She could have been raped. There are so many possibilities, we should not pass judgement on her.

Let’s pray for her and thank God she did not take the life of the infant. There is plenty of hope for mom.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 919 or the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991.

THE PAINT DEPOT

PAGE 6, Monday, December 14, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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When will this brutality end?

POLICE poured hot sauce in a man’s eyes for a crime he was never charged with. That’s the allegation from Kenton Fines, who claims he was brutalised by officers he says searched his home without a warrant.

If something about that mention of hot sauce sounds familiar, you might remember an incident we reported in February 2019, when three people were reportedly bound and beaten by officers, as well as being fish-bagged, waterboarded and, yes, having hot sauce poured into their eyes.

When a police complaint was filed in that case, the complainants were told that too much time had passed for their case to be dealt with – even though they showed up right away at the first request from police. It was police that took too long to deal with it – not the complainants.

Readers of The Tribune will be familiar with claims of police brutality. At Junkanoo at the end of last year, for example, a video circulated showing police officers clubbing civilians with nightsticks. Another video showed a teenager being slammed on the ground by a police officer at Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium. There was a story in August 2019 of two women who claimed they were assaulted by police in Exuma.

Another video in April 2019 showed an officer slapping a man on a beach.

A month before that, The Tribune published photographs of a man being taken to an ambulance from the Central Detective Unit amid claims he was shocked with a taser and beaten by several officers while in custody.

The list has now been added to by the case of Kenton Files. You can – and should – read his story in today’s Insight.

Officers reportedly searched his home, found nothing, kicked him in the throat, threatened to water board him with ammonia, then later in the police station put a fish bag on his head filled with hot sauce… does this sound familiar?

Mr Fines reported the matter to the police complaints unit in February 2018 – he has seemingly never received a response to any of his letters other than an acknowledgement of the receipt of his complaint.

If this is true, this is not a police action, this is criminal behaviour. Anyone doing this is a criminal in uniform, and they demean the uniform they wear by their

actions. Any officer tolerating such actions is betraying the force’s bond with the people of the nation. Let’s say this plainly, this kind of behaviour if true is torture, nothing less. It’s not just the kind of thing that should bring assault charges, it’s the kind of action that is banned internationally. If a soldier did this on the battlefield, he’d be charged with war crimes.

The failing is not just on the part of the officers who allegedly commit such atrocities. A failure by the police complaints unit to deal with cases such as these is completely unacceptable. For such an action to take place might be the fault of an individual officer, but for it not to be taken seriously and officers to be held accountable by the force shows a tacit acceptance of such tactics. This is not a one-off event, this is institutionalised brutality.

There should never be an occasion when officers resort to torture – whether someone is guilty or as in this case is never even charged. The question is, what will the force do to deal with such cases? To deal with such crimes?

Commissioner Paul Rolle promised change back in June of this year with regard to dealing with breaches of discipline. It’s about time we saw some.

Help for all

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis dangled a dream on Friday to those who don’t have their own homes.

Young professionals could buy land from the government for $50,000 that is worth $150,000. It will be Crown Land made available to give those young people a head start. They would also be able to build duty free. Dr Minnis said: “Crown Land is really the people’s land, it’s not individuals’, it’s the people and we just want to ensure that the people receive their land.”

We are sure those who can afford the $50,000 will be very thankful, but what about those who can’t?

It’s a head start indeed for those already able to put a foot on the ladder, but those who can’t still lag behind.

We don’t doubt this will be helpful to some – but we also need to keep finding a way to lift up those Bahamians who are most in need. What comes next for them, Dr Minnis?

Foreign oil drillers EDITOR, The Tribune.

THERE has been much said about the availability of crude oil deposits, deep underground in this country.

And without an iota of proof.

We have been approached by the group, about their desire to drill. I do not know how this country became one of their targets, but I suspect some Bahamian group made the initiation.

If I were a foreign company wanting to operate the caption in a foreign land. A fair knowledge of the regulations had to be procured.

And whether it could be sufficiently supported by the people of the country? Thus the need to consult with the legal entity, who ought to be able to supply all of what were required, becomes critical?

I would not rush to judgment, by spending millions of dollars in the interim, apparently to be able to claim, that if you turn me down, here is what your country would have to pay, for what we have invested so far? We contend that that is on you.

Legal advice locally available knows and could attest that the Bahamian people, the electorate are bitterly against any project that interferes with their fisheries products.

Legal advice ought to have made the point that before drilling can take place, simply, because the majority of the people are against such a thing.

According to the Bahamian

jurisprudence, a referendum would have to be held?

No one man, or political party can give the go ahead to drill for crude oil in this country, against the wishes of the people/owners of these Rocks & Cays called the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The Constitution of The Bahamas, is the Supreme Law and it lays out how these matters are to be adjudicated.

Now, because of some delay, it is suggested that they are threatening to sue The Bahamas Government, claiming $500m in damages. Would this suggest that they were not operating in good faith in the first instance.

Surely the Bahamian people reserve the “Right” and absolutely so, to say what they will allow, versus what they will disallow? God gave the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to Bahamians, no other nationalities and so they can manage/govern it, as they wished. Not to be forced by a group, any group, and especially, a foreign one, who has already seen their bottom line and thus, has counted the eggs, before hatching.

I confess that The Bahamas has so many good things in it, because the Good Lord has blessed us so, that people all over the world, some shrewd business concerns, are courting opportunities, reserved strictly for The Bahamian people. They have exhausted all of the availability of their

things and now want ours, but that cannot happen?

That devil is a liar.

Speaking as a naturalised Bahamian, a parent, expecting grandfather and one concerned about the plight of unborn Bahamians... I say no to drilling for crude oil in the waters of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. As Bahamians, it is time that we stop seeing the dollar signs, over the greater good and I am not only pointing to the small man, but the many large legal services.

God has asked me to ask the big law firms this question: “For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his one soul?

Or What could he give in exchange for his soul? The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Consider the harm these things can cause the country, ecologically. There are many examples of Alaska oil spill and others that left those areas scarred for life and the livelihood for many of its residents devastated.

Finally, I had a sidebar discussion with my Heavenly Father about this and here is what He had to say: ‘Yes, Cat Island (referring to me).

I saw it and I am on it right away. He said. This was around 3am this morning, Friday December 11th, 2020.

FRANK GILBERT Nassau, December 11, 2020.

A plea to our justice system EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WRITE this as the Stena IceMAX oil drilling ship is heading here to The Bahamas. I write this as a plea to the last people who seem to be able to stop this madness. Given what we know today about the use of fossil fuels, I wonder how we have gotten to this point.

There is now an abundance of evidence that the use of fossil fuels is doing terrible damage to our planet, most especially our climate. And, most critically for us, threatening the very existence of The Bahamas. Yes, it is the eleventh hour. And, I do wish the decision not to drill came sooner. However, it now seems to be out of the hands of the scientists and those voices of reason who object to this very risky and dangerous venture.

It is because of the abundance of very recently emerging science and knowledge that I ask those in positions of power in our judicial system to gather this recent evidence, the most recent data, and give The Bahamas a stay of execution.

Yes, this is what it seems like to me. We no longer lack the data that our planet, especially our own country, is at great peril due specifically to our use of fossil fuels.

The scientists at the major oil companies have known about the realities of climate change for five decades now, but billions of dollars have been spent to mislead the public. This is a fact.

Today, in 2020, we have thousands of scientists globally who are documenting the very disconcerting evidence that our living world is suffering the effects of this continued burning of fossil fuels. There is little doubt now that smoking cigarettes is not good for the human body. Yet, there was a time when even the medical community touted smoking as good for digestion, stress relief, and weight loss. This was in many of our lifetimes.

So too, have there been many, many cases of exoneration of people who were scheduled to be executed for crimes they did not commit.

The judges stayed their executions because of new evidence. Well, there is an abundance of new evidence that sheds a bright light on the realities of fossil fuel use. It is this abundance of evidence, much of it coming to light in the last two years alone, which is equivalent to a doctor’s diagnosis of cancer. Those who study this issue carefully, and have been doing so for many years, know that time is of the essence. It is this sense of urgency, of watching the realities rapidly unfold around us, that is driving those with this knowledge to fight for eliminating the use of fossil fuels.

It has only been in the recent years when the ability to predict and forecast hurricanes has been in existence.

The last few years alone has brought unprecedented abilities to more accurately predict a hurricane’s course.

Some of our forefathers and mothers were not so

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net fortunate to have this information as they set out to sea, into the paths of these deadly hurricanes. Today, armed with this new knowledge, we tell people to evacuate, to seek higher ground, to get out of the way of the impending storm. Not to warn our people of the impending storm would be worse than just irresponsible, it would be criminal. Wouldn’t it?

The arguments being made by BPC, Bahamas Petroleum Corporation, are shallow, dated and do not address the realities faced by the people of The Bahamas.

BPC, and their investors, are preying upon us, leading us to believe that the great risks are worth the pie-in-the-sky monies they say are coming, someday, to The Bahamas.

The truth is, the risks now are so great that the decision to drill for oil in The Bahamas is akin to selling our soul.

We now have no excuse. We now have the undeniable evidence that the burning of fossil fuels is destroying our fabric of life, putting our children’s future smack dab in harm’s way. Is there a greater crime? Is there?

As the judges are apt to say, “Ignorance of the law, is not an excuse to break it.”

So too, our judges can no longer say that they didn’t know the risks to the very existence of The Bahamas in their decision to allow BPC to continue with their drilling. Were the justices in The Bahamas so inclined, they too could know what the scientific reports and prognosis of this very recent data are all pointing to. Perhaps our justices already do know this. While the justices are used to having lawyers feed them the new evidence, what is required now is that we ask the justices to do their own homework on this globally important issue. And, be prepared, for this evidence is coming to us in droves.

The forces arrayed against us, urging us not to do the right thing, are strong, powerful and rich. So too were the forces which profited from slavery. Though clear to anyone with an ounce of decency that enslaving another human being was wrong, it took a few hundred years to abolish this practice, this crime. Think about this for a minute. Think about the political power, the economic power and the power over the legal system that allowed slavery to persist for so long. It is worth a practical comparison.

The oil companies, and by extension their owners and managers, are the most powerful economic and political forces on the planet. If they are acting in our best interest, it would be the first time in history, given the abundance of evidence that the oil companies have done nothing but work to benefit their own profits at the expense of our living world.

We are part and parcel of that living world. The fight against the fossil fuel industry is akin to fighting against

slavery. All decent people must recognise this injustice.

We know the planet is heating up, faster and faster each year. It is beyond discussion. The last few years have been the hottest on record. Look it up.

We know that millions of people die each year from the polluted air we breathe due to burning of fossil fuels. Look it up. We know that the oceans are heating up and that the abundance of marine life is dwindling, due primarily to the burning of fossil fuels. Look it up.

We know that the sea level is rising, faster each year. Threatening the very existence of our island nation. Look it up.

We know that the raging wildfires and super-charged hurricanes are the result of global warming. Look it up.

We know that the most eminent scientists in the world are now using the term Runaway Climate Change. Some of these processes are now no longer linear, but exponential.

We know that the driver for our most existential threat here in The Bahamas is the burning of fossil fuels.

We know these things.

We know them in the same way that we knew slavery was wrong, long before it was abolished. Those paying attention to the facts, knew that smoking was deadly, long before the cigarette companies were forced to admit it. We know the risks to our world, our country, by continuing on our fossilfueled road to hell, but still are stuck on the advertising and misinformation being put out by the oil companies.

I am asking for the Justices in The Bahamas to come together for the good of this nation. There is no greater case to be made for allowing this new evidence to be considered. The environmental assessments done by BPC are outdated and incomplete. There is today, in 2020, an overwhelming abundance of evidence which MUST be considered for justice to prevail. To ignore the most recent science, putting the existence of our entire country in peril, is a crime beyond comprehension.

When considering the duty of the justice system, it is well to remember something. Just before slavery was illegal, it was legal. The Justices who broke from the rest of their peers, going beyond precedent, were those who truly delivered justice. I am trying to imagine the world today, had not these brave Justices voted with their conscience, to do what was right. I am trying to imagine if they only considered the money, ignoring basic human decency.

Drilling for oil in The Bahamas is an irresponsible, dangerous and a completely unjust activity for the people of The Bahamas. It must be stopped. I am pleading with those in power in The Bahamas to stand up and say so.

It is never too late to do the right thing.

Jr

NORMAN TRABULSY Andros December 13, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Man who broke into woman’s home jailed

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net A 24-YEAR-OLD man who broke into a woman’s house was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday.

Remeldo Clarke was arrested after he was accused of breaking into a woman’s Farm Road residence on September 23, 2019.

The prosecution alleged that the accused also attempted to escape from Fox Hill police station and assaulted an officer who was on duty that day.

Clarke originally denied the allegations during a

hearing before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain last year.

However, after spending 15 months on remand, he returned to court on Friday to plead guilty to the charges.

The court was told that on that day, officers, acting on information, proceeded to the complainant’s residence.

Upon arrival, they saw Clarke standing next to a car outside of the home.

The prosecution said the officers also observed another man inside the residence who appeared to be searching it.

They then contacted the owner of the home who

said she had left her residence secured and gave no one permission to enter it.

Both suspects were subsequently arrested and accused of housebreaking.

In an interview with police at the Fox Hill police station, Clarke denied the allegations and claimed that he didn’t know the second man and had only dropped him off at the residence.

Clarke told the magistrate that he never broke into the house or stole anything. He also claimed that he was not “100 percent sure” what the second man was “dealing with that day”.

In response, Magistrate Swain told Clarke that

based on his explanation, she could not accept his guilty plea.

After this, the accused said he only broke into the complainant’s house because he was “going through things and didn’t have a job”.

As a result, Magistrate Swain said she would sentence Clarke to three years in prison and deduct the 15 months he had already spent on remand from his sentence.

After the sentence was passed down, Clarke became angry and accused the magistrate of forcing him to change his plea. He was subsequently escorted out of the courtroom.

Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 7

MAN DISCHARGED OVER ROADSIDE COCONUT SELLING

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAGISTRATE on Friday discharged a man who was arrested for selling coconuts on the side of the road.

Antonio Glinton, 27, was charged with hawking, after officers found him selling coconut jelly and water on Harrold Road without a valid permit on December 10.

He pleaded guilty during his hearing before Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain.

However, before the

prosecution’s facts were read, Glinton claimed he had already applied for a permit that had not been approved as yet.

During the arraignment, Glinton also told the magistrate the officers who arrested him that day made fun of him and drank all of his coconut water at the police station where he was detained.

After listening to his explanation, Magistrate Swain noted that the accused had made an effort to follow the required procedures. As a result, she granted him an absolute discharge.

MAN FINED $750 OVER MARIJUANA

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

AN ELEUTHERA man who was found with more than $100 worth of marijuana was fined $750 in the Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Police arrested Jared Maycock, 28, after they found 27 grams of Indian hemp in one of his pants pockets on December 8.

He pleaded guilty to one count of simple possession during his hearing before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.

The prosecution said that day, officers observed Maycock playing dominoes. The court was told that at the time of the incident, the accused appeared to look in the direction of officers before acting in a suspicious manner.

Officers then approached Maycock and told him that he would be searched for dangerous drugs and firearms.

During their

investigation, they discovered 27 silver foil wraps each containing a quantity of suspected marijuana, in the accused’s pocket.

Maycock was subsequently arrested and taken to the Harbour Island police station where he admitted to the offence in an interview with police.

During the hearing, Maycock was represented by attorney Ian Cargill.

He told the magistrate his client was a fisherman who was the father of a young child.

He also noted that the accused admitted his guilt from the onset of the investigation and insisted he was remorseful for his actions.

In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told Maycock she hoped the fact that he had to travel from Eleuthera to the capital to appear in court served as a “wake up call” for him.

As a result, she fined the defendant $750 or three months in prison.

HARTLEY Eugene Thompson II on location with the mobile service and the mobile Technical Assistance Centre.

HELPING HAND GOES MOBILE THE Caribbean region’s first mobile Technical Assistance Centres (TAC) offering door-to-door hurricane resilient home repair services have been deployed to the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

The services are offered through two repurposed RV vans donated by Rotary Bahamas Disaster Relief (RBDR) through a disaster grant from The Rotary Foundation.

Implementation is being led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The mobile TAC on Grand Bahama is manned

by Eugene Thompson, an architect with an engineering background who advises homeowners and contractors in their reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Dorian.

The mobile TAC service on Abaco is led by Nick Sims, a structural engineer, who guides those either doing the repairs and reconstruction themselves or employing contractors.

Both are also in charge of inspections and assessment of new structures and repairs under the Small Home Repair Programme.

UNDP representative Denise E Antonio, who is also assigned to The Bahamas, said the TACs would

serve as an innovative model for the delivery of disaster resilience.

She said: “While the pandemic has slowed the rebuilding efforts in Abaco and Grand Bahama we are encouraged that the partnership between the UNDP and the Rotary Club of The Bahamas has outweighed the obstacles creatively and effectively, by supporting homeowners in a safe and practical manner, during this rebuilding phase.”

Bryan Knowles, chairman of Rotary Bahamas Disaster Relief, said: “Rotarians are guided first and foremost by our motto ‘Service Above Self’ and our service is categorised into Areas of Focus, namely, peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literation; economic and community development. We view our help to fellow Bahamians after a disaster like Hurricane Dorian, as our reason for being. Rotarians are a part of the community, lending support to first responders but focusing on long term economic revitalisation of areas hit by disaster, which often makes us the last ones to leave.”

Private Service For Reverend Steven George Strachan, 55 of Pine Tree Drive, Coral Lakes will be held on Thursday, December 17th, 2020 at Lakeview Memorial Gardens John F. Kennedy Drive Nassau, Bahamas. Officiating will be Rev. T.G Morrison assisted by other ministers.

Steven Strachan is loved and cherished by his wife: Shunda Missick Strachan; parents: Rev. Dr. Wilton and Marion Strachan; children: Erin Alyssa, Tyler Alesha and Zayne Richard Steven Strachan; siblings and their Spouses: Evangelist Patricia & Rev. William Weeks; Doctors Sean & Shuntay Strachan; Selwyn Strachan; Simeon & Phillipier Strachan; Desiree & Dr. Julian Gaskin; Conrad & Andrea Missick; Judy & Ken Tucker; Stephanie & Paul Jones; Shanda Neely, Rev. Terrance & Royann Morrison; aunts and uncles: Godfrey & Rev. Sheila Strachan, Minister Japheth & Lilian Strachan, Edsel & Attorney-At-Law Arlene Strachan, Lincoln and Heather Strachan, Rev. Willard & Debra Strachan, Pastor Allan & Ruby Strachan, Othland & Dr. Cheryl Strachan, Eric & Idell Strachan, Pastor Ismae & Bishop B. Wenith Davis, Minister Marva Knowles, Zilpha & Rev. Randy Musgrove, Norma & Marvin Major, Evangelist Velma & Bishop Clifford Petty, Jean & Shadrach Rolle, Wendy & Pastor Clint Laroda, Herbert & Margaret Nixon; Arthur & Tamara Nixon, Gregory & Elva Nixon, Glen & Jennifer Missick, James, Louis, Ron & Oliver Missick, Kathrine Missick, Jean Jones, Racheal Mackey, Clifford and Henry Daxon; nieces and nephews: Jeremiah and Danniell Clarke; Jordan, Chelsea, Christopher, Amorie, Dylan, Seliyah, Symiah and Summer Strachan; Julina, Jared and Jude Gaskin; Lamont Missick, Conra & Gus Moncur; Kristy-Ann Butler; Kendra & Tony Fykes, Kenny & Elizabeth Tucker; Kristen Tucker; god children: Renbert Mortimer, Terran Strachan, Teleichia Deal, Payton Rutherford, Paige and Richea Deveaux; Gabrielle and L.J (Gadville Jr.) McDonald; K.J (Keith Jamal), Keitra and Keiron Lloyd; Anthony Jr. and Antonique Hall; cousins including: Berkley Morley, Danny Morley, Melonie Morley, Sharlene Brown, Magnolia Morley, Dr. Karen McCowan, Bishop Terrance & Minister Shonnie Strachan, Deacon Denise & Lynden Ferguson, Kevin Strachan, Wayne & Ngaire Strachan, Darnell & Jeremy Russell, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kendal & Asaneth Strachan, Michelle & Deon Brown, Lisa & James Anderson, Keith Strachan, Dr. Katjia Strachan, Kahlill & Dania Strachan, Ray & Adrian Davis, Dr. Raquel & Bernard Davis-Hall, Cohen Davis, Rev. Shenique Davis, Dr. Acacia Strachan, Lincoln Strachan Jr., Ashley, Kyle Strachan, Minister Erica Knowles, Melissa Knowles, Marvette Knowles, Minister Dion & Kerlisha Knowles, Destiny Musgrove, Carla Moxey, Samuel Strachan, Willeah Strachan, Twyla & Nehemiah Johnson, Astaire & Lisa Strachan, Dr. Angel Strachan, Erica Strachan, Edmond Strachan, Davardo Strachan, Darcelle Strachan, Anya and Dr. Alexis Cunningham, William McKinney, Kimberley Webb; Shavonn Williams; Mark McKinney and Sgt.1477 Dominic McKinney, Elizabeth Knowles, Harvey Knowles, Wendel Knowles, Ian Knowles, Deanna-Irene, Shakera, John Petty, Milton Nixon, Mario Nixon, Mona Nixon; Indira Godet, Lazano Rolle, Lizinga Rolle; Arthia Nixon, Arthero Nixon, Avanya Nixon; Nadia Nixon, Heather Nixon, Jalisa Nixon, Kiarra Nixon, Charmair Laroda, Calea Laroda, Cadassah Laroda, Cardena Laroda; Christopher Nixon, Dudley Nixon, Prince Nixon, Elvis Nixon and Meichell Nixon; great aunts and uncles: Francina Watson and Pecola Mackey; uncles: William, Junior and Heman Butler Ministerial Brothers and Sisters: Yelverton Cox; Walton Winters; Dwayne Williams; Anthony Sampson; Ulric Smith; Lincoln Deal; Kandise Smith; Clothie Lockhart; Leon Wilson; Leon Johnson; Freddie McKenzie; Sherlyn Hall; Carolyn Rolle; deacons and evangelists: Frank Carey; John Rolle, Sheldon Johnson, Milton Russell, Bradley Cunningham, Anton Minnis, Eric Novel Smith, Hubert Coakley, Anthony Hall, Lois Hall, Princess McKenzie, Joann Pyfrom, Ella Johnson, Loraine Moss; Yvette Coakley, Cypreanna Winters, Josephine Parker, Zammie Williams, Sharon Smith, Inez Knowles, Mildred Johnson, Ramona Wilson, Mitlyne Flower, Fredricka Miller, Harriet Davis, Beth Stewart; The Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. – lota Epsilon Lambda Chapter including: Bro. Kevin Basden and Family, Bro. Ricardo Deveaux and Family, Bro. Andre Moss & Family, Bro. Lynden Maycock & Family, Bro. Peter Rutherford and Family, Bro. Ishmael Smith; Hon. Bro. Shanendon Cartwright, Bro. Bronson Thompson; other family and friends including: Pastor Gadville & Iona McDonald, Mr. & Mrs. Daswald Bevans, Mrs. Pam Duncanson, Rochielle & Sian Bevans, Pedro and Marlene Bain, Daphne Williams, Marlene Hall, Petrell Lloyd and The Marriage and Family Life Ministry, Captain Fernley Palmer and the 14th Nassau Company of the Boys, the entire Zion Baptist East and Shirley Streets Church Family, The Bahamas Primary School Association; Renbert Mortimer Sr., Theresa Mortimer, High Commissioner Elliston Greenslade, Mr. Clement Lightbourne, Henry Farrington, The Security and Intelligence Branch and the Royal Bahamas Police Force; Apostle Clifford Smith & Family; Porsha Roberts and the Roberts Family, Valderine Gardiner, Jacklyn Fraser; Deno Hamilton, Geoffrey Deleveaux, Attorney Cheryl & Dr. Dante Bazard; Sandra & Michael Russell, Mr. & Mrs. John Reckley, Robert & Sherell Cox, Mr. & Mrs. Kelly, Mr. & Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Minerva Bowe and Family, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Lewis and Family, Mr. & Mrs. Chris John and the Coral Lakes Community Association, Ida Burrows, Chequita Johnson, Mr. Lester Fernander and The Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BPL); Ms. Gaynell Rolle and the Department of Inland Revenue; Oscar & Euthalie Woodside, Beverly Pratt & family, Andrea Saunders & Family, Ms. Mary Mitchell and the Treasury Department; Department of Meteorology; National Training Agency; Directors and Staff of Alert International; management and staff of PHA Grand Bahama; Bradley, Jacobi & Marion Bain; Brajaxbra Tennis Family; Melesa Pinder & Family; JBLN; Nicholas & Jessica Guizar; Guizar Tennis Academy; Mrs Knowles & Bahamas Global Academy; Mr. & Mrs. Peter Brown, Pastor Vanda Rahming; Mrs. Minerva Bowe & Family; Mr. & Mrs. David Rahming; Rev. & Mrs. Ian Webb; Alexander & Jacklyn Thompson &Family, Geneva Thompson, Genevive Scavella, (God-Mother); Mrs. Patrinella Deleveaux; Ms. Catherine Butler; Minister Edmund Stubbs, Mrs. Shirley Bonamy & Family; Mr. Fred & Letitia Smith, Ms. Dorethy Smith; Ms. Deidre Smith, Bro. & Sister Darville Walkine & Family, Dec. Godfrey & Kelly Toote; the entire Mount Moriah Baptist Church Family, Mrs. Allerdyce Strachan, Mrs. Miriam Brown, Mrs. Emily Hall & Family, Reverend Dr. Lloyd Smith, Reverend Dr. Philip McPhee; The Zion Baptist United Convention; The National Baptist Convention, The Dames, Rolle and Bullard families of Rolle Town Exuma, Rev. Bernard & Rev Angela Rolle, The Rolle Town Association; Medical Teams of Doctors Hospital, Broward Health Medical Center and Kindred Hospital, Jordan Prince Williams High School Class of 1981 and last but not least Otis Strachan.

Viewing will be held at Zion Baptist Church, East & Shirley Streets on Monday, 14th December, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m and again on Tuesday & Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS

‘Police beat me and put hot sauce in my eyes’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who alleged police beat him and poured hot sauce in his eyes while in custody for a crime he was never charged with is now seeking compensation for the injuries he sustained.

Kenton Fines claims he was brutalised by officers after police searched his Eleuthera home without a warrant and arrested him in connection with an armed robbery and shooting incident that occurred on the island in 2018.

His counsel, Fred Smith, QC, recently filed a writ of summons in the Supreme Court against former Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson and an officer involved in the alleged attack, Ryan Cooper, seeking special, aggravated and exemplary damages for his client, who he contended sustained “traumatic” injuries while in custody.

A copy of the affidavit obtained by The Tribune said that Mr Fines resided in Savannah Sound, Eleuthera at the time of the incident and was employed at a local construction company.

The document claimed that Mr Fines was asleep on the ground in his home around 1am on January 20, 2018, when he was wakened by footsteps, bright lights and a voice exclaiming: “Go Jeep Wrangler where he remained for the 45 minute around the back!”

“The plaintiff immedi- drive to the police staately got up from the floor, tion. Once there, officers walked to the sliding door searched Mr Fines again and opened the curtains,” before processing and placthe court documents read. ing him in a cell.

“The plaintiff asked the “Upon opening the curofficers at the police station tains, the plaintiff saw approximately 15-20 men why he was arrested and wearing plain clothes and being held in a cell. One masks. The men identified of the officers at the police themselves as officers of station told him that the the RBPF and the plaintiff gas station was robbed. In opened the sliding door to response the plaintiff asked ‘What that have to do with let the officers in.”

The summons claimed me?’ He was never given a the officers then forced response and was kept in another occupant of the the cell until the next mornhouse to the floor, before ing,” the writ noted.

“The next day at the handcuffing him and searching the home with- police station, the plainout producing a warrant or tiff noticed a gentleman he informing Mr Fines of the knew as ‘Michael’ being brought into the station and reason for the search.

According to the writ, taken into a small room. after the officers failed to The plaintiff heard Michael find anything illegal in the hollering and screaming home, they took Mr Fines begging the officers not to outside and made him sit in put the bag on his head as his neighbour’s yard while he did not know anything.”

The court documents said handcuffed. He screamed out for help, but was una- this made Mr Fines fear he would be ware that his “unlawfully neighbour ‘In an attempt to assaulted” had also been next. detained by protect himself After the an officer. from the officer’s officers came “The ‘hot sauce attack’, out of the officers room with returned and the plaintiff Michael, they demanded shut his eyes took Mr Fines that the plainout of his cell tiff give them tight. However, and carried the code the officer was him to a small for his cell relentless and told room where phone, but he made refused. As a the plaintiff that he they him sit on the result of his could not keep his refusal, he eyes closed forever.’ floor, before giving him was kicked shackles to in the throat while the officers repeat- put on his feet.

One of the officers then edly demanded his cell phone code,” according to placed a plastic bag on Mr Fines’ head “like a crown” the the court documents. “... Confused, the plain- and said, “Tell us what you tiff asked the officers why know.” When the plaintiff they were there and to said he knew nothing, one explain to him what was of the officers then stepped happening and why. In on the chain connecting the response one of the officers shackles on Mr Fines’ feet, said: “Oh you know what which made it hard for him this about”, to which the to move “Another officer then plaintiff responded “No!” Another one of the offic- started slapping, punching ers also stated that they and kicking the plaintiff in had tracked his phone and his head, about his body another said that he would and even in his scrotum. drop the plaintiff in a hole Also, the fish bag was periand water board him with odically pulled over his head and onto his face limammonia.”

The writ says Mr iting his breathing.

“The plaintiff was in Fines was then placed into the trunk of a white extreme pain from the

unlawful attack by the officers and from struggling to dodge the unlawful blows. He was fighting to gasp for air and feared he would die. The officer then asked the plaintiff if he knew ‘Grace’, to which he responded he did not.

He then left the room and returned with a bottle of Grace hot sauce which baffled the plaintiff.”

The summons said one of the officers then “grabbed” Mr Fines’ head “violently” and poured hot sauce all over his face. He attempted to move, but could not due to the handcuffs and shackles on him.

“In an attempt to protect himself from the officer’s ‘hot sauce attack’, the plaintiff shut his eyes tight.

However, the officer was relentless and told the plaintiff that he could not keep his eyes closed forever,” the writ noted. “Tired and broken, the plaintiff no longer had the energy to resist the ‘hot sauce attack’.”

The officer allegedly poured more hot sauce into the plastic bag before placing it on Mr Fines’ head. The writ claimed while this was being done, one of them continued to physically assault the plaintiff. The writ said Mr Fines eventually became “numb and unresponsive”, although he was accused of “faking it”.

“The fish bag filled with hot sauce was finally taken off of his face,” the court documents read. “The plaintiff, being finally able to breathe, gained the momentum to try and resist any more unlawful attacks against him the best way he could. He began swinging his feet which hit the legs of a desk in the room and eventually was able to kick the door leaving a hole in the same. “At this point, the unrelenting, abusive officers finally ended their unlawful attack on the plaintiff as they said ‘it was getting messy.’”

Mr Fines was then “dragged” to a bathroom in the station where his hands

were handcuffed between his legs. A pair of short cargo pants were then placed over his head before officers placed it under a running shower several times.

The writ said this caused the plaintiff’s eyes to become “even more irritated, blurry, watery and filled with pus”. After the “attack” ended, the plaintiff was taken back to his cell. At the time, he claimed he “could barely see and was extremely afraid that he had gone blind” since everything around him was white. His feet were also bleeding because of the shackles.

“On Saturday evening, the plaintiff was again taken to a room that had about 15-20 officers who questioned him about a robbery that had taken place. One of the officers told the plaintiff that an employee of the gas station had been shot and killed. As the plaintiff knew the employee from high school, he responded that he was sorry that had

happened to him but that he was not responsible for the robbery or shooting him.

The writ also says: “On Sunday the officers took the plaintiff back to his house to conduct another unlawful search but did not find anything. One of the officers told him ‘You know you gone to jail right?’ to which the third plaintiff responded, ‘How could I go to jail for something I did not do?’

In reply, the officer stated, ‘plenty innocent people in jail.’”

According to the court filing, when they returned to the station, Mr Fines was fingerprinted and eventually taken to a clinic where his eyes were examined and he was told he had conjunctivitis. He was released on January 22, 2018 without being charged for any offence in connection with his arrest.

“On February 1, 2018 the plaintiff reported the matter to the Police Complaints

and Corruption Unit, Police Headquarters, New Providence, Bahamas. The plaintiff’s attorneys (also) wrote the Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson on two occasions... to settle the matter amicably with negative results.

The plaintiff never got a response to any of the letters and merely got a letter acknowledging receipt to his complaint.”

In the writ, Mr Smith insisted his client did not commit the crime in question as other people were taken into custody, charged and taken before the court, while the plaintiff himself, was never charged with the offence.

He said Mr Fines is seeking compensation because the alleged “hot sauce attack” caused him to suffer from “traumatic conjunctivitis” which will affect him in the “long-term”.

A court hearing into the matter is scheduled to commence in April 2021.

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

INSIGHT

Who wants to be a millionaire?

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

seat at the table. It feels like many moons ago, parents in middle-income SOME of you may families were financially remember the famous game able to offer their children show, Who Wants to be a property or finances to Millionaire? where con- give them a start. However, testants answered multiple now, with the cost of living choice questions that would towering over the average allow them to cash in on income of Bahamians, the one million big ones. But middle-class has fallen a who knew being born Baha- few rungs and more parents mian paved an even easier are needing their children path to wealth? We often to stay at home to help hear how our country is so them pay their bills.

The Bahamas isn’t going resource rich our birthright has made each of us million- to evolve this way, much aires. This notion and the less see more millionaires recent controversy among make their fortunes in this local activists and parlia- country.

Despite multiple adminmentarians have certainly istrations acknowledging charged up the political something must be done environment with citizens, about the income disparity, while not in unanimous we are left to agreement on question how what arago- ‘We tell (our serious our nite’s value children) to study leaders are on translates to the subject. in the pockets hard and go to Like his predeof Bahamians, school, maybe cessor, Prime curious about Minister Dr pick up a trade our natural Hubert Minnis and get a job, but resources. has on more Many are of only a few beat than one occathe view that sion spoken of the odds and gain the moment the importance the bill tabled a seat at the table.’ of balancto repeal the ing the scales Ocean Industries Incorpo- within the country. At the rated (Aragonite Mining beginning of this year, when Encouragement) Act was he confidently stated his sent to a Select Commit- intentions to be re-elected tee on Natural Resources, as Prime Minister for a it may have been dead on second term, he also took arrival. There seems to be the opportunity to coma veiled institution in place ment on income inequality that prefers to have citizens among Bahamians. on the lower end of the “I have seven more years economic ladder struggle (left in office)… What I’m while the wealthy share the concentrating now is to spoils. Income equality con- close the gap of inequality tinues to be a problem for to allow more of the poor many Bahamians and those and the indigent to share elected to do something in the wealth,” said Prime about it only look at it as a Minister Dr Minnis. political talking point when Perhaps he would have vying to occupy the House. passed up on a great opporWhile we can credit this tunity to do just that as government for its focus efforts to repeal the natural on supporting small busi- resources bill were stonenesses and addressing the walled. Somehow, my gut ease of doing business, what says we’ll never know. looks to be a different set of The truth of the matter rules that apply to a select is that in many of our lifegroup of Bahamians under- times we may never know cuts our economic potential the true value of the natural and reinforces post-colonial resources in this country as trauma. it is indubitably not a priGiving our sons and ority of past and present daughters the hope to only governments. Adding to secure jobs has not chal- that, the fact that the Bahalenged us to innovate, and mian people cycle through value what our own can the two major parties which produce. We tell them to are both culprits of protectstudy hard and go to school, ing the power brokers in maybe pick up a trade and the country – those sitting get a job, but only a few in Parliament, as well as beat the odds and gain a those with enough money

Death Notice For Judith Taylor, 31

of Nassau, The Bahamas, died on Monday, 7th September, 2020 in Toronto, Canada.

She is survived by her Father: James Taylor; Daughter: Lenique Foster; Nephew: Jeremih Bethel; Sister: Jasmine Taylor; Sisters in Love: Dashneak Evans, Thea Ferguson, Tonyshka Mackey and many others too numerous to mention. Aunts: Ismae Braynen, Daphney Louis; Grand Aunts: Verleane Braynen & Zilpha Mackey; Uncles: Maxwell, Beecham Sr., John Sr., Albert Sr. Edmond and David Sr. Braynen; Roger and Walter Louis; Cousins: Cleo, Alvereze, Terell, Audrey, Sidneka, Vanessa, Questa, Cola, Albert Jr., Beecham Jr., David Jr., Binoy, Whitfield and many other relatives, friends and love ones too numerous to mention.

and clout to fill the seats with the people they support.

And the longer the majority of us stay in this selfinduced trance of political allegiance, we can rest assured we will get the same results.

If Bahamians truly want to become millionaires, it’s going to require work and accountability. Notwithstanding the necessity for our government to ensure that an environment is conducive to all Bahamians having an opportunity to become wealthy, but we also must focus in our roles on what we can control.

With only 0.9 percent of the global population earning the title of being called millionaires, make no mistake, wealth creation is hard work. A great place to start is to first find the information from those that have done it successfully. If you don’t have the type of access locally, look beyond our country. Free content on the internet gives us access to free mentorship.

One great model of success is Warren Buffet. With an estimated net worth of $85.7 billion, we can probably learn a thing or two.

In studying his keys to becoming a millionaire, he suggests a few nuggets for us to digest that I think will be helpful in our pursuits: develop an entrepreneurial mindset early, reinvest your profits, avoid unnecessary debt, live simply and never stop learning.

The most important of all may be the last. Our quest to acquire knowledge should never end, as that is the only way we can unlock the power within us.

THE LOGO for the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which became popular around the world, but could we learn a lesson from real billionaires such as Warren Buffett, below right?

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 PAGE 9

PAGE 10 MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

INSIGHT

EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

Upholding human rights against arbitrary arrest World View

By SIR RONALD SANDERS

THE Government of deleterious effect on tourCanada has taken an ism, business travel and initiative to promote a Dec- eventually on trade and laration by like-minded commerce.

Instead of countries against the use of advancing to a world of arbitrary detention in state- freedom, underpinned by to-state relations. respect for human rights The objective of the and international law, the Declaration is to achieve global community would an end to the practice by recede to an age of lawlesssome states of arbitrarily ness and conflict. arresting, detaining, and The peoples of small sentencing foreign nation- states would be the most als and then bargaining vulnerable and the most with their release to influ- “at risk” if the practice of ence policies or positions of arbitrary arrest, detention their governments. and sentencing prevails.

Arbitrary arrests The governments of small and detentions of for- countries do not have the eign nationals by a military might or ecogovernment is a form of nomic clout to confront institutionalised kidnap- the authorities of powerping. Using the release of ful countries that employ such persons to influence these practices.

Furgovernments amounts ther, small countries do to demanding a ransom. not have the plethora of It is a troubling devel- Embassies and Consulates opment in international around the world that relations, one which is could try to protect their contrary to international nationals. The only tool law and which seeks to available to governments replace legal and diplo- of small states is respect matic norms with a form for international law by all of inter-state blackmail. states.

Apart from severely That is why this Declarainjuring the process of ‘Arbitrary arrests tion proposed

by Canada has peaceful already won and detentions international the endorseof foreign relations, this ment of the kind of behav- nationals by a governments iour directly of Antigua affects inno- government and Barbuda, cent persons is a form of who could institutionalised Guyana and St Lucia. As the be arrested, foreign minisdetained and kidnapping.’ ter of Antigua sentenced and Barbuda, simply to be used as E Paul Chet Greene, put pawns by governments that cannot get their way it in a message to his colthrough international law league foreign ministers and norms. In such condi- of Caribbean Community countries: tions, persons are exposed (CARICOM) to extreme forms of suf- “the Declaration is as fering while their rights much a further layer in the are completely ignored, structure of protection including their right to for small countries, as it a fair and public hear- is for the strengthening ing by a competent, of international cooperaindependent, and impartial tion by all States to end tribunal in instances where arbitrary arrest, detention a state-controlled judiciary or sentencing as means to exercise leverage over sentences them.

Fear of being arbitrar- other governments”. ily arrested would have a International human

‘The Declaration is as much a further layer in the structure of protection for small countries, as it is for the strengthening of international cooperation by all States to end arbitrary arrest, detention or sentencing as means to exercise leverage over other governments.’

E Paul Chet Greene

rights law and instruments, particularly article 9 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), assert that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”. They also set out obligations of states to safeguard these rights. However, the rights for which provision is made in the ICCPR apply to individuals who are within the territory of the country and subject to its jurisdiction.

The problem with all these laws and instruments is that the persons who framed them did not envisage circumstances where governments would abrogate them. Therefore, they provide for no sanctions or international measures against offending governments which use state-controlled machinery to achieve political ends, in this fashion.

The laws certainly did

not contemplate circumstances in which any state would arbitrarily arrest, detain and sentence foreign nationals so as to compel actions by other states.

Canada and the countries that endorse the proposed Declaration, including the United States of America, the 28-nation European Union and nations in Africa and the Caribbean, plan to launch the Declaration on December 17. By then, other countries are expected to join.

The question arises as to why the Declaration is not being presented and pursued within the United Nations framework. Sadly, the answer is that despite the efforts of a progressive Secretary-General in António Guterres, there are members of the UN that are guilty of these unwholesome practices.

They would emasculate the

Declaration, stifling it in their own interest.

It is noteworthy that, in 1991, the UN Commission on Human Rights set up a Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that has been automatically renewed every three years, with a mandate to grapple with the issue. But after all this time, the essential question of dealing with states that deliberately use arbitrary arrest, detention and sentencing as a means of coercing other states, has failed to be addressed adequately.

For those governments that resolutely stand for the human, civil and political rights of peoples, including their own, the Declaration is a strong display of their collective denunciation of those states that violate them.

The majority of Caribbean countries exist and thrive as open economies that encourage and promote tourism, travel, trade

YOUR

and commerce, guaranteeing the rights of foreign nationals in their countries by adherence to international law.

These Caribbean countries are entitled to expect the same regard and protections for the rights of their people in foreign countries.

That’s why the Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations is in the interest of the Caribbean’s people.

• Responses and previous commentaries: www. sirronaldsanders.com

The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United State and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own.

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EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net

DIES FROM COVID VIRUS

INSIGHT from page one

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 PAGE 9

Dr McCartney was a pioneer and inspiration

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

YOUNG and veteran figures in The Bahamas’ psychiatric community gathered for a Zoom session last week to pay tribute to Dr Timothy McCartney – the “father of Bahamian psychology” – who died last month from COVID-19 at 87.

Dr McCartney was the first Bahamian to earn a PhD in psychology.

He worked as a clinical psychologist at the Ministry of Health mostly at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre from 1967 to 1993 before relocating to the United States.

The Zoom tribute event featured a mixture of tributes, dramatisations and even a snippet of a recording from a Dr McCartney interview. Dr McCartney was widely remembered as a pioneer, for his eagerness to help the professional development of his peers, his infectious personality and for his gift as a communicator. He was described as a good cook and a capable musician who liked to tell stories. For some, he played a notable role determining the field of psychology in which they ultimately chose to make their mark.

Dr Carolyn Hanna said she knew Dr McCartney all her life and found him to be like a big brother. She said he was always interested

“I was saddened to learn of the death of Dr Timothy McCartney, who passed away this morning in Florida,” the Prime Minister said. “Born in 1933, Timothy McCartney was an exuberant, generous, kind-hearted man who excelled as a teacher and as a counsellor.

“A deeply spiritual and creative individual, he dedicated his life to the well-being and enrichment of his family, friends, students, clients and colleagues.

“On behalf of the Government and people of The in behaviour and mental taken appropriate action student reading Neuroses Bahamas, and on my own health. back then.” in the Sun and becoming behalf, and that of my wife, Dr Wendy Fernander, In addition to discus- so excited that there was condolences a psychologist and cur- sions about Dr McCartney’s Patricia, anotherI offer Bahamian that was to his wife, Pauline; his rent president of the impact on the field of psy- talking about these things Angela and Lor-to Bahamas Psychologi- chology in The Bahamas, daughters: and bringing these issues his siblings Coramae cal Association which Dr the event was replete with raine; life and, even though I’m Clinton McCartney started in the reflections on who Dr Major, not aWilliam clinicaland psychologist and Ann Can1960s, said Dr McCartney McCartney was as a person. McCartney or a counselling psycholocino; was “undoubtRichard gist,in-laws; I’m grandchildren a community and great-grandchildren edly a pioneer ‘Dr McCartney Adderley psychologist and I feel like numerous in the field of recalled being and I am standingfriends in his and footwas big in psychology in fearful as a colleagues.” steps and his path and I just McCartney had four The Bahamas stature, but 21-year-old of Dr wanted to recognise that deceased), and regionally”. he was a sharing a room children his reach(two is beyond mental grandchildren “He was an with Dr McCa- 18health,” she said.and eight grandchildren. inspiration to gentle giant.’ rtney during a greatOther speakers He and also an Organizational all who had weeklong work was participants included the privilege to know him visit to a Family Island.

Development Consultant, and meet him,” she said.

He said his fears quickly facilitating seminars, work“He was the country’s first proved unfounded. shops and advising national clinical psychologist and “Dr McCartney was big and multinational compathe first chairman of the in stature, but he was a nies in the Caribbean and Bahamas Psychological gentle giant,” he said. “He worldwide.

Association.” made that week fun. I can The late doctor was Dr Michael Neville, with remember almost 40 years a Bahamian pioneer in whom Dr McCartney was later some lessons I learned psychology. He obtained a close friend, wondered from him. First of all, on a doctorate in psycholwhat would have happened the first night he shared ogy from the University if more people in The with me, he said ‘Richard, of Strasbourg in France Bahamas had listened to his you have to pack your own and also studied in the friend. shoe’, it means as a psychol- United States, Switzerland, “He was able to tran- ogist you have to choose Jamaica and England. scend clinical sessions and your destiny and you have Opposition Leader Philip he gave great advice,” he to go after it. The second “Brave” Davis described said. “I remember way lesson was the importance back in the early 80s, he of thinking out of the box Dr McCartney as a trailwas talking about women’s and being creative. And blazer and pioneer in the issues long before anyone finally, he talked about field of mental health. else was. He spoke about the importance of taking “The Bahamas has lost crime back in the 80s, mental health outside of a giant and pioneer in the warning us that we would Sandilands. He said it’s field of psychology and science in all end up with bars and just not about Sandilands, behavioural that the use of violence it’s just not about working the person of Dr Timothy would become political like within four walls.”

Jamaica. No one listened to Dr Niambi Hall Campbell him. That’s a great sadness Dean said she never met Dr because that would have McCartney but felt like she helped so much if people did by engaging his works. had listened to him and “I remember as a graduate

DRTIMOTHY TIMOTHY MCCARTNEY MCCARTNEY DR

McCartney,” said. moderator Mr Davis Rochelle “IBasden, join many in Dr Bahamians Harry Ferere, expressing my sadness at Dr Ava Thompson, Dr his passingClarke, earlier today.

Nelson Dr Jewel “A trailblazer in his Taylor, and Carolyn field locally and the perRoberts. sonification of Bahamian Dr McCartney obtained exceptionalism a doctorate internationin psycholally, Dr McCartney was ogy from the University of the first Bahamian to earn Strasbourg in France and studieddegree in the in United a also doctorate psyStates, Switzerland, Jamaica chology.

His broad and and England.

Heand wasdevela disseminal research tinguished of opment workProfessor include the book ‘Neurosis Under the Sun’, his extensive analyses on Bahamian sexuality and work on the impact of the use of marijuana.”

In 1969, Dr McCartney was awarded the Sir Victor Sassoon Golden Heart Award. And, that same year he published his first book, “Neuroses in the Sun”, which explored mental health issues in The Bahamas and Bahamian mores.

In 1971, he published, “Bahamian Sexuality” and more recently in 2013 he jointly authored “U-Turn” with his dear friend and colleague, psychiatrist, Dr Michael Neville.

“I am just devastated,” Dr Neville said. “He was such a good friend. We are all going to miss him. We

worked for and many Management the years Paul together at Sandilands.

In Hersey Chair in Leadership my view I don’t think The at the H Wayne Huizenga Bahamas realized School of ever Business and what a brilliant personNova they Entrepreneurship, had here.

Southeastern University, “Even though he got cerFort Lauderdale, Florida tain awards here, a lot in of where he was awarded his awards were the moreExcelfrom 1998 and 1999, the commulenceinternational in Teaching Award.

In nity He awarded won the 2008,than the here.

School him theHeart Professor ofhere, the Golden Award YearI Award he that retired but don’t and know he as Professor Emeritus. ever got national honours.

A great sense of humour was one of his gifts. That’s what made him such an amazing teacher. The ability to teach with humour.”

Dr McCartney was a distinguished Professor of Management and the Paul Hersey Chair in Leadership at the H Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was awarded in 1998 and 1999, the Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2008, the School awarded him the Professor of the Year Award and he retired professor emeritus.

Apart from excelling in the field of psychology and teaching, he was an astute musician – a gifted pianist.

PAGE 12, Monday, December 14, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

Virus vaccine distribution begins across United States PORTAGE, Michigan Associated Press THE first of many freezer-packed COVID19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.

The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, ushers in the biggest vaccination effort in US history — one that health officials hope the American public will embrace, even as some have voiced initial skepticism or worry. The first of two shots are expected to be given in the coming week to health care workers and nursing home residents.

Quick transport is key for the vaccine, especially since this one must be stored at extremely low temperatures — about 94 degrees below zero. Early Sunday, workers at Pfizer — dressed in fluorescent yellow clothing,

hard hats and gloves — wasted no time as they packed vials into boxes.

They scanned the packages and then placed them into freezer cases with dry ice. The vaccines were then taken from Pfizer’s Portage, Michigan, facility to Gerald R Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, where the first cargo plane took off amid what airport officials called a “jubilant” mood.

“This is a historic day,” said Richard W Smith, who oversees operations in the Americas for FedEx Express, which is delivering 630-some packages of vaccine to distribution sites across the country. The United Parcel Service also is transporting a share of the vaccine.

Helping with the transport of the vaccine has special meaning to Bruce Smith, a FedEx package handler at the Grand Rapids airport, whose older sister, Queen, died after she contracted the coronavirus in May. She was

BOXES containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Portage, Michigan, yesterday.

Photo: Morry Gash/AP hospitalised in Georgia one day after he saw her on a video chat, and they never spoke again.

“I think she would be

ecstatic to know that something that has ravaged our family — that a family member is going to be part of such a big project,” said

Smith, 58, whose nephew, Queen’s son, also got sick and is still undergoing therapy for stroke-like symptoms. “It is very, very important.”

Tracked with GPS-enabled sensors, the initial shipments were expected to contain about 3 million doses, with many more to come. Federal officials say the first shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine will be staggered, arriving in 145 distribution centers Monday, with another 425 sites getting shipments Tuesday, and the remaining 66 on Wednesday. Doses of the vaccine, co-developed by German partner BioNTech, are given out based on each state’s adult population. Then the states decide where they go first.

In California, where health care workers will be among the first to be vaccinated, state health officials are prioritising hospitals that have adequate storage capacity, serve high-risk populations and have the ability to vaccinate people quickly.

Initial surveys have found that even some health care workers don’t want to be first in line. Dr. Graham Snyder, who’s led the vaccine task force at Pennsylvania health care giant UPMC, estimates that about half of its employees are willing to get the vaccine as soon as it’s offered.

But many health officials expect enthusiasm to grow.

“There’s that thought that maybe they don’t have to be so afraid to come to work if they can be vaccinated and be immune,” said Dr Sandra Kemmerly, medical director of hospital

quality at the 40-hospital Oschner Health System in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Employees approved for the first round are getting texts and emails directing them to schedule their initial injection, she said.

Enough vaccine is being saved so that each person who gets the first dose of vaccine can get a second shot a few weeks later.

A survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about half of Americans want to get the vaccine as soon as possible.

Another quarter aren’t sure, while the remaining quarter say they aren’t interested.

Some simply oppose vaccines in general. Others are concerned that the vaccines have been rushed and want to see how the rollout goes.

Dr Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the FDA, which approved the Pfizer vaccine Friday, has repeatedly insisted that the agency’s decision was based on science, not politics, despite a White House threat to fire him if the vaccine wasn’t approved before Saturday.

Speaking to Fox News yesterday, Dr Moncef Slaoui, chief science adviser to Operation Warp Speed, a US effort to get vaccines developed quickly, also said he is “very concerned” about the skepticism about the vaccine in some circles.

“Unfortunately ... there’s been a confusion between how thorough and scientific and factual the work that has been done is, and the perception that people are thinking that we cut corners...,” Slaoui said. “I can guarantee you that no such things have happened.”

VANDALS TEAR BANNERS FROM BLACK CHURCHES WASHINGTON Associated Press

VANDALS tore down a Black Lives Matter banner and sign from two historic Black churches in downtown Washington and set the banner ablaze as nighttime clashes Saturday between pro-Donald Trump supporters and counterdemonstrators erupted into violence and arrests.

Police yesterday said they were investigating the incidents at the Asbury United Methodist Church and Metropolitan AME Church as potential hate crimes, which one religious leader likened to a cross burning.

“This weekend, we saw forces of hate seeking to use destruction and intimidation to tear us apart,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said yesterday. “We will not let that happen.”

A video posted on Twitter showed a group of men appearing to take down a BLM sign at the Metropolitan AME Church as others in the crowd shout, “Whose streets?

Our streets.” Another video showed people pouring an accelerant on a BLM banner and setting it ablaze in the street as others cheered and cursed antifa.

Someone walks up about a minute later and uses a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

“It pained me especially to see our name, Asbury, in flames,” the Rev Dr Ianther M Mills, the senior pastor at Asbury church said in a statement yesterday. “For me it was reminiscent of cross burnings. Seeing this act on video made me both indignant and determined to fight the evil that has reared its ugly head.”

“We will move forward, undaunted in our assurance that Black Lives Matter and we are obligated to continue to shout that truth without ceasing,” she added.

Leaders of the Black Lives Matter organisation decried the attacks on the churches, partly faulting police for allowing white supremacists to “run rampant”.

April Goggans, a lead organiser for Black Lives Matter’s DC chapter, accused Bowser of “sitting silent and comfortable in your home as Trump send his goons in to brutalise your citizens”. She said the mayor’s statement was meaningless without action.

A spokesperson for DC police said that it was taking the offenses seriously and actively investigating.

SPORTS PAGE 13

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020

Hield scores 23, Ayton earns double double

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

C

havano “Buddy” Hield and Deandre Ayton got off to strong showings in their respective preseason debuts as the NBA 2020-21 campaign begins.

Hield finished with a game high 23 points in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers while Ayton finished with a double double - 11 points and 14 rebounds - in a loss to the Utah Jazz.

Hield’s 23 points came on 8-17 shooting from the field and 5-11 from three-point range in just 23 minutes during Friday’s 127-102 loss to the Trail Blazers.

In the shortest offseason in NBA history, the Kings just had approximately three months between its final game in the Orlando bubble to end the 2019-20 season and its preseason debut in the 2020-21 season.

Hield said he used the time off to gain size and strength.

“I think it’s my mom’s cooking, that’s why I bulked up,” Hield joked with reporters following the game. “She’s been with me the whole time after I left the bubble.

I just got a body fat test, I put on a

CHAVANO HIELD

DEANDRE AYTON

lot of muscle but us, with this pace we’re playing, that will be gone in two weeks.”

Hield also noted that he looks to improve defensively. “[They] said I can’t play defence so the challenge for me is to go out there and prove myself. I worked on my agility this offseason so I just go out there and try to compete,” Hield said. “My teammates, they may not need me to be a great defensive player, but they need me to be good enough for the team rather than try to get beat off the dribble and try to contain my man.”

Kings’ head coach Luke Walton said Hield had some of the few individual defensive highlights on

the night. He also added that Hield has been one of the best players in camp after a pre-camp interview when he said the fifth year guard would have to earn his spot as a starter alongside point guard De’Aron Fox. Ayton also played limited minutes (22) in the Suns’ 119-105 loss on the road to the Utah Jazz. He shot 5-11 from the field and 10 of his 14 rebounds were on the defensive end of the floor.

Expectations loom large for Ayton after he averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 55 percent from the field in just 38 games in his second season.

The Suns’ roster overhaul has

been highlighted by the addition of point guard Chris Paul, a move many pundits expect to benefit Ayton’s development.

“I think he’s gonna be a force,” Suns franchise guard Devin Booker said following the game. “I think with Chris leading him and communicating with him the whole time, alongside myself drawing gravity to open things up for him.”

Paul (rest) did not play in last weekend’s opener and without the team’s point guard on the floor, Ayton had few catches on what is expected to be an effective pick and roll attack.

“I like when he’s aggressive. He can shoot it in spots, but when he puts it on the ground and puts his body on somebody he’s tough to guard. They’re gonna have to foul him,” he said. “You’ve seen spurts of that tonight and you’re going to see so because we’re gonna continue to stay on him and make sure he’s being Dominayton.”

The Kings open their regular season on December 23 against the Denver Nuggets while the Suns also open the regular season on December 23 against the Dallas Mavericks. Hield and Ayton will go head-to-head when their teams play a back-to-back, December 26 and 27.

Harvey scores career high 10 points in win

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net AHMARD Harvey had the best game of his collegiate career while several Bahamian players made their NCAA Division I basketball debuts this week after their programmes got off to late starts due to schedule adjustments and COVID-19 protocols.

Harvey, the sophomore guard for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, finished with a career high 10 points in his team’s 103-45 win over Greensboro College Saturday night at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina.

Harvey went 5-6 from the field in just 10 minutes.

Phillip McKenzie had his second consecutive game scoring in double figures for the Houston Baptist Huskies.

The senior wing finished with a season high 14 points, (5-7 field goals) in a season high 21 minutes of his team’s 93-60 win over Champion Christian Friday evening inside Sharp Gym in Houston, Texas.

McKenzie previously scored 10 points in an 84-64 loss to Rice.

Sammy Hunter and the Ole Miss Rebels opened their season with an 80-45 win over Jackson State.

Hunter finished with three points

but played just over three minutes.

In a 78-58 over UNC-Wilmington at the Pavilion in Oxford Mississippi on Saturday.

Garvin Clarke and the Akron Zips opened their season with a 97-49 win over Cedarville at the James Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio. Clarke made his only three point attempt.

In a matchup of Bahamians on the court and on the sidelines, Yolette McPhee-McCuin continues to lead her Ole Miss Rebels women’s basketball programme to an undefeated season thus far.

The Rebels defeated Mississippi Valley State 86-46 at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi.

“Grateful for the opportunity we had to play this game. I don’t take it for granted. I understand the environment we’re in,” McPheeMcCuin said. “Happy with our defensive effort in the second half.”

Senior point guard Valerie Nesbitt finished with five points, three assists and two steals off the bench in 17 minutes.

On the opposing side, Annya Moss finished with nine points for Mississippi Valley State.

Moss is averaging 12.5 points per game in her junior season.

She opened the season with 16 points in an 85-60 loss to Murray State.

World Indoor Championships postponed

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the world of sports and track and field in particular has already heightened with the postponement of World Athletics’ 2021 World Indoor Championships.

World Athletics, formerly the International Amateur Athletic Federation, announced last week they have agreed with the organizers of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing (19-21

PAGE 15

March 2021) to postpone the event to March 2023.

“Whilst we have been liaising with the Organizing Committee and the Chinese Athletics Association to evaluate the staging over the last few weeks, given the current global situation, there is still significant uncertainty about the state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early part of 2021,” World Athletics disclosed in a press release.

World Athletics, the governing body for the sport worldwide, further revealed that because of the safety of their athletes and

technical officials, they must duly consider the risks in bringing a large group of people to attend the event under the pandemic situation and fully respect and carry out the pandemic prevention policy of the host country.

“The indoor season for athletics falls within a narrow calendar window (up to the end of March) so it is not possible to extend the event to later in the year,” World Athletics stated.

“We would like Nanjing to be the host of our World Indoor Championships given the extensive

planning and preparation they have put into this event so have agreed they will stage the event one year after the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022.”

The World Indoors might be postponed, but World Athletics will still go ahead with its 2021 World Indoor Tour which comprises 26 meetings spread across 12 countries in Europe and North America.

The World Indoor Tour will kick off at the end of January to the end of February 2021.

LASHANN HIGGS POSTS DOUBLE DOUBLE IN LOSS

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net HARBOUR Island native Lashann Higgs continues to produce impressive numbers, but it’s not all equating to victories for the slumping Socinsa Bembibre in the Spanish Women’s Basketball League.

On Saturday night, Higgs posted a double/double with a side high 17 points and game high 11 rebounds as Bembibre lost a close 61-59 encounter to ASEFA Estudiantes in Madrid.

“I felt as if we competed very hard and we just came up short-handed unfortunately,” Higgs said.

“We performed well and I’m proud of my team for that.”

Higgs, the 5-foot, 9-inch guard out of the University of Texas, played 36 minutes in the game, shooting 4-of11 or 36.4 percent from the field, was 2-for-4 (50%) from behind the three-point arch and 3-for-4 (75%) from the free throw line.

The 25-year-old rookie professional player pulled down 10 of her 11 rebounds on the defensive end,

SEE PAGE 18

‘GOATMAN’ ROLLE DIES AT 73

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE local boxing fraternity mourns the loss of another one of its outstanding members, Henry ‘Goatman’ Rolle, who passed ROLLE away on Saturday, December 5.

Pat’ the Centreville Assassin’ Strachan said Rolle, 73, was a dedicated and outstanding trainer, who assisted many of the top amateur and professional boxers, both locally and internationally.

“He was one of our more outstanding trainers,” Strachan said. “He trained Baby Rolle, a former Bahamian light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. He also trained Slick Brown, a former cruiserweight champion of the Bahamas.

SEE PAGE 18

PAGE 14, Monday, December 14, 2020

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Draws for Liverpool, Spurs cap tough weekend for EPL powers

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer LIVERPOOL manager Jürgen Klopp had just seen his team fall behind after getting outplayed in the opening 25 minutes by a supposed contender for relegation, and he’d had enough.

“WAKE UP!” Klopp barked to his players, his chest out and his teeth gritted.

Liverpool ended up escaping from Craven Cottage with a 1-1 draw against Fulham thanks to a late penalty by Mohamed Salah but it was hardly the stuff of champions from Klopp’s team. They weren’t alone, in what has proved a tough weekend for the Premier League’s likely title candidates. And for Arsenal, too.

Earlier yesterday, Tottenham, the league leader, was held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace.

On Saturday, Chelsea lost for just the second time in the league this season, 1-0 at Everton, and the two Manchester clubs played out a drab 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

If this was some kind of hangover from the teams’ latest midweek exertions in European competition, then the schedule is only going to get more hectic now English soccer is entering the festive period where the show goes on unlike with many leagues on the continent.

“I don’t want to make excuses — I’ll let you all talk about that and the amount of games players are playing, especially European teams,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said. “We’ve just got to prepare and play whenever we’re told. That’s all we can do.”

at Southampton. Goals

by Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and substitute Nathan Redmond consigned United to an 11th loss so far, leaving Chris Wilder’s beleaguered side in last place on one point — five behind nearest team West Bromwich Albion.

Southampton, meanwhile, is a beneficiary of the poor returns this weekend from the league powerhouses and has climbed to fourth, just two points behind Tottenham and Liverpool.

Just above Southampton is Leicester, which beat Brighton 3-0 at home as James Maddison scored either side of a clinically taken goal by Jamie Vardy.

LIVERPOOL’S MOHAMED SALAH, left, scores his side’s first goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League soccer match against Fulham at Craven Cottage stadium in London yesterday.

(Neil Hall/Pool via AP) SALAH TO As it was, there was no Bobby De Cordova-Reid end. Aubameyang inadvertTHE RESCUE harm done by the chamgave Fulham the lead in the ently glanced a Burnley Salah moved to 13 goals 25th minute with one of a corner past his goalkeeper, pions for what was one of their sloppiest displays of for the season in all com- series of chances created Bernd Leno, for what the season. Liverpool ends petitions with Liverpool’s by the home team in a one- proved to be the deciding the weekend in second 79th-minute equaliser at sided first half. goal in the 73rd minute at place after 12 games, tied on Fulham, with the Egypt forLiverpool played the Emirates Stadium. ward scoring for the third second half with two cen25 points with Tottenham.

Arsenal was a man down The pair meet at Anfield straight game. tral midfielders — Fabinho by that point after Xhaka Liverpool looked to be and Henderson — at center was shown a straight red on Wednesday in the headline fixture in a midweek heading for the second loss back after Joel Matip went card for grabbing Burnley’s round of games in the Pre- of its title defence, when a off with a back issue.

Ashley Westwood by the mier League where rotation shot by Georginio WijnalMatip had been the only throat. might be heavy across the dum at a free kick struck fit, senior centre half availArsenal is languishing in the outstretched elbow of able to Klopp, with Virgil 15th place on just 13 points, division.

Arsenal can no longer Fulham substitute Abou- van Dijk and Joe Gomez and has scored only 10 goals be described as a title con- bakar Kamara, who was out with long-term injuries. all campaign. tender but was another jumping in the defensive team playing after a Euro- wall.

AUBAMEYANG BLUNT A penalty was awarded pean match in midweek.

OWN-GOAL BLADES Mikel Arteta’s team fell and Salah struck his Arsenal captain PierreSheffield United became to the worst defeat of the attempt low and down the Emerick Aubameyang the first Premier League lot, 1-0 at home to Burnley middle, with goalkeeper has been struggling to find team since Queens Park after going down to 10 men Alphonse Areola getting a the net this season. He did Rangers in 2012 to fail to following Granit Xhaka’s hand to the ball but unable against Burnley, but unfor- win any of its first 12 games to keep it out. red card. tunately it was at the wrong in a season after losing 3-0

SWITZERLAND’s Roger Federer makes a forehand return to Tennys Sandgren of the US during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, January 28, 2020.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Virus casts shadow over AP’s pictures of the year in Asia

By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The year of the virus.

From sports to festivals, natural disasters to protests, hardly a moment of 2020 captured by the photojournalists of The Associated Press in Asia was free of the specter of the disease that rampaged first across the region, and then the world.

Take, for instance, a picture from mid-January, before the pandemic gained regional traction, of a Hindu pilgrim in the water near where the Ganges empties into the Bay of Bengal.

There is a peaceful timelessness as the man stretches out a hand toward a glowing sun that hovers like a suspended orange ball just above the watery horizon; this could be from a century ago, a millennium, even. Looking back at it

11 months later, however, after the widespread misery and death that followed, it’s hard to shake a lingering feeling of foreboding.

Many of these images capture not only what those experiencing an extraordinary moment must have felt; they also carry a sense of the universal, of a shared flash of understanding in an otherwise bewildering and brutal year, regardless of how specific or individual the circumstances of each picture might be.

Japanese cheerleaders are caught mid-dance, frozen in a kinetic burst of choreography and energy, pompoms flashing, hair streaming — before empty baseball stands. A little Nepalese girl is the focus of intense attention as she stands masked, her hands raised above her head, her eyes closed in a grimace, and is sprayed with

disinfectant by men in headto-toe protective gear. An Indonesian bride’s latex-gloved finger receives a ring from her latex-gloved groom.

Throughout, there’s a unifying unease: the visceral fear of illness; the sometimes futile, sometimes surreal measures taken to keep an invisible foe at bay; the prevalence of objects that divide people from each other — masks, gloves, protective clothing and barriers of all sorts.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that amid so much turmoil, there was no beauty. AP photographers found poignant episodes of daily life that may illuminate as much about the people living in this massive, diverse region as any pictures of misery or discord.

Dozens of homes in a Mumbai slum are lit up in the

black of night with bursts of glaring electricity during celebrations for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, each sparkling scene etching a slice of life as compelling as an old still-life painting.

A man in the Philippines lounges in a hammock strung in the trees over the tops of tombs in a deserted cemetery.

Even that most humdrum of activities — the selfie — operated under the shadow of the virus.

In a picture of two masked women taking a shot of themselves in front of some Olympic rings in Tokyo, it is impossible not to remember that the world’s premier sporting event was canceled by the virus — and, as we enter a new year, the games still hang, along with much of what we once considered normal, in the balance for next summer, too.

UNSTOPPABLE PARTNERSHIP There’s just no stopping Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

They teamed up for a goal for the 12th time this season, as Kane opened the scoring for Tottenham at Palace by collecting a pass from Son and smashing a fierce, swerving shot from about 30 meters that goalkeeper Vicente Guaita lost track of.

Only Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, with 13, have combined for more goals in a single top-flight season than Kane and Son. That came in the 1994-95 title-winning campaign for Blackburn.

Guaita made amends with two outstanding saves, denying first Kane and then Eric Dier at a free kick, to preserve a point for Palace after Jeffrey Schlupp’s 81stminute equalizer at Selhurst Park.

Tottenham’s only loss this season remains against Everton on the opening weekend.

NEW ZEALAND BEATS WEST INDIES IN 2ND TEST, SWEEPS SERIES 2-0 WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand joined Australia atop world cricket’s test rankings today when it beat the West Indies by an innings and 12 runs in the second test to sweep the two-match series.

The West Indies resumed their second innings at 244-6 on the fourth day, trailing New Zealand by 85 runs after following on 329 behind.

The tourists were eventually out for 317, their highest innings total of the series.

New Zealand made a positive start Monday after a short rain delay, dismissing West Indies captain Jason Holder for 61 in the fourth over of the day and ending his 82-run partnership with Joshua Da Silva.

Holder was bowled by Tim Southee with a fuller ball which straightened and beat the outside edge of the bat.

Alzarri Joseph hit two sixes and three fours in a bright innings of 24 before being caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper B.J. Watling from Southee’s bowling. That gave Southee his seventh wicket of the match, lifting his test tally to 296 wickets.

He is poised to become the third New Zealander after Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori to take 300 test wickets. Wicketkeeper Da Silva posted his first half century from 77 balls in his test debut before falling lbw to Neil Wagner.

That heralded the end of the innings.

Last man Shannon Gabriel was bowled for a duck by Wagner shortly afterward.

The 2-0 series win lifted New Zealand level with Australia on 116 points in first place on the ICC world test team rankings.

New Zealand also moved past England into third place in the world test championship standings.

SPORTS

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Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 15

WORLD heavyweight boxing champion Britain’s Anthony Joshua, right, punches challenger Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev during their title fight at Wembley Arena in London on Saturday.

Fury awaits as Joshua KOs Pulev to retain heavyweight belts

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer BY rediscovering the thrill of a brutal knockout, Anthony Joshua cleared the way to a shot at being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

With a big right hand that sent Kubrat Pulev, a durable but one-dimensional Bulgarian, to the canvas for a third and final time, Joshua secured a dominant ninth-round win in his UK homecoming on Saturday to retain the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

It wasn’t long before the inevitable question was thrown at him: is WBC champion Tyson Fury next in what would be an allBritish blockbuster to unify the four titles in boxing’s marquee division?

“Whoever has got the belt, I’d love to compete with them,” Joshua said. “If that is Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury.”

If that felt a slightly noncommittal response — and it was taken that way by Fury in a video message he released moments later — Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, left no room for debate.

“We know what we have to do starting from tomorrow: to make the Tyson Fury fight straightaway,” Hearn said, a big grin on his face.

“It’s the only fight to be made in boxing. It’s the biggest fight in boxing.”

An agreement in principle has already been reached on a two-fight deal between the two Britons for 2021. It just needed Joshua to dispatch Pulev in the first defence of his titles since regaining them in a rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia a year ago.

He did so in impressive fashion, mixing patience with his renowned power to subdue and then dismantle Pulev in front of the first crowd for a British boxing fight since the coronavirus outbreak. Only 1,000 spectators — a number that included boxing royalty in Floyd Mayweather — were allowed inside London’s Wembley Arena because of government restrictions on the amount of people

allowed into sporting events, and they witnessed a one-sided fight.

After sizing up Pulev by taking a cautious approach in the opening two rounds, Joshua went on the attack in the third and made his 39-year-old opponent stumble with a right hook that saw Pulev stagger to the corner and turn his back, forcing an eight-count.

Pulev smiled at Joshua, but was soon sliding down the ropes and onto the canvas after a flurry of punches that ended with a fierce right uppercut by Joshua.

Pulev got up and showed resolve to stay in a fight he was always behind in, with Joshua intent on picking the right moment and not leave himself open.

Joshua always had the measure of Pulev, using the left jab and his longer reach to great effect and hurting Pulev with repeated uppercuts that quickly became his go-to punch.

It was the right uppercut that knocked Pulev down again near the end of the ninth round. The end was nigh for Pulev, who got up but walked right onto a huge right hand that sent him shuddering to the canvas.

The fight was stopped with two seconds to go in the round, Pulev was beaten for only the second time in his career after a 2014 stoppage by Wladimir Klitschko, and Joshua raised his right arm into the air to celebrate his 24th win in 25 fights since turning professional after winning Olympic gold in 2012.

It was Joshua’s first knockout since he last fought in Britain, against Alexander Povetkin in September 2018, and it was brutal power punch when it came.

The last heavyweight boxer to be undisputed champion was Lennox Lewis — another to fight under the British flag — in 1999.

Joshua was hardly forthcoming in calling out Fury in his post-fight comments, preferring instead to thank the crowd and the British people for their support in a tough year.

WORLD Heavyweight boxing champion Britain’s Anthony Joshua celebrates after beating Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev to win their heavyweight title fight at Wembley Arena in London Saturday.

WORLD Heavyweight boxing champion Britain’s Anthony Joshua lands a blow on Pulev.

Photos: Andrew Couldridge/Pool via AP) “Since I came into this game in 2013, I have been chasing all the belts,” Joshua said. “I have been dealing with mandatories.

Of course I want the challenge — it’s not about the opponent, it’s about the legacy and the belts.”

It was left to Fury to deliver the trash-talk in an expletive-laden video message he uploaded on Twitter, saying Joshua “went around the bushes” when asked if he wanted to

the fight. “I want the fight, I want the fight next,” said Fury, who was wearing a Christmas sweater for the occasion.

“I’ll knock him out inside three rounds.”

Fury’s US promoter, Bob Arum, said he’d start today on working to put the fight together.

“It looks like the stage is set,” he tweeted, “for the biggest heavyweight championship fight since Ali-Frazier in 1971.”

BRITAIN’S ANTHONY JOSHUA, right, punches Pulev.

RUSSIA’S KREMLEV DEFIES OLYMPIC CONCERN TO WIN BOXING VOTE

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Umar Kremlev of Russia was elected president of the troubled International Boxing Association on Saturday despite concerns of Olympic officials about his candidacy.

The governing body, known as AIBA, said Kremlev won more than 57 percent of the vote in a fivecandidate contest involving 155 national federations.

The International Olympic Committee last year stripped the AIBA of its responsibility to organise boxing at the Summer Games amid concerns over the integrity of Olympic bouts, governance and finance.

It is far from clear that Kremlev’s victory will help solve AIBA’s main challenge — regaining that recognition before the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Boxing will take place at the Tokyo Olympics which open next July, but the IOC has cut AIBA out of organising the men’s and women’s tournaments and qualifying events next year.

“The question of recognition of AIBA will only be reviewed after the (Tokyo) Olympic Games,” the IOC said Saturday in a statement noting Kremlev’s victory.

IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed this week that AIBA had been made “well aware” of the Olympic body’s concerns about some candidates, who he did not identify but was

understood to include Kremlev.

“I am the most clean candidate,” Kremlev said in translated comments at a virtual news conference broadcast from Moscow.

“There is no concern about my candidacy and my history.”

The IOC had been sceptical about Kremlev’s offer last year to clear AIBA’s $16 million debts if the sport’s Olympic status was retained.

Kremlev has been head of the Russian Boxing Federation since 2017.

“Getting rid of AIBA’s debt will be the first priority,” Kremlev told voters on Saturday, in a statement released by the governing body based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“My administration will aim to raise $50 million within two years, all of which will be used to rebuild AIBA.” Kremlev said at the news conference he would begin announcing agreements with sponsors next week, and predicted it would take three or four months to enact reforms that could persuade the IOC to reinstate AIBA. Kremlev will complete the presidential term of Gafur Rakhimov, who American authorities allege is involved with international heroin trafficking.

Rakhimov has denied wrongdoing.

Rakhimov resigned months after being elected two years ago by AIBA members who defied IOC warnings not to pick him.

Kremlev’s win was sealed when the contest was down to three candidates. He got 86 votes against 45 for Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands and 19 for AIBA’s interim president, Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco.

Russians are now presidents of three governing bodies of Summer Games sports.

Billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Vladimir Lisin lead fencing and shooting, respectively.

Usmanov is known to have a good relationship with Bach, a German lawyer who won a gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Usmanov spent $8.8 million at auction last year on a document written in the

late-19th century by IOC founder Pierre de Coubertin, and donated it to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

Asked Saturday if he could enlist Usmanov’s help to rebuild AIBA’s relationship with the IOC and Bach, Kremlev acknowledged: “We are friends. But I am not going to benefit from my personal connections.”

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MAHOMES, CHIEFS CLINCH AFC WEST WITH 33-27 WIN OVER DOLPHINS

By PAUL GEREFFI Associated Press MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes took a 30-yard sack before he got the Kansas City Chiefs going in the right direction.

The Chiefs overcame a 10-point deficit and four turnovers yesterday to clinch their fifth consecutive AFC West title by beating Miami 33-27.

Mahomes took the longest sack in the NFL in five years and was picked off three times, his first multiinterception game in more than two years. But he threw for 393 yards and two scores to help the Chiefs (12-1) earn their eighth consecutive victory.

It was the Chiefs’ second consecutive comeback at Hard Rock Stadium, where they won the Super Bowl in

February despite Mahomes’ two interceptions.

“We won the Super Bowl here and just clinched the AFC West — it seems every time we leave this stadium we have a hat about something we accomplished,” Mahomes said. “The (bad) part, it seems, is like I have half my interceptions at this stadium.”

With Miami’s loss, the Pittsburgh Steelers clinched a playoff spot.

Tyreek Hill ran through the Dolphins’ secondary and behind it, scoring on a 32-yard run and a 44-yard reception when Mahomes hit him in stride at the goal line.

Travis Kelce had eight catches for 136 yards and a touchdown, Mecole Hardman scored untouched on a 67-yard punt return, and Kansas City’s defence was stout against Tua

DOLPHINS tight end Durham Smythe (81), right, congratulates tight end Mike Gesicki (88) after Gesicki scored a touchdown, during the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

(AP Photos/Wilfredo Lee)

KANSAS City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) and Miami Dolphins outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) go after the football after Mahomes fumbled the snap, during the first half yesterday. The Chiefs recovered the ball.

Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ injury-riddled offence.

Chris Jones sacked the rookie for a safety for a 30-10 lead, and the Chiefs set a team record with their 10th road win in a row.

“Glad to get the win and get out of here,” coach Andy Reid said. “That’s a good football team.”

Kansas City reached 12 wins for the third consecutive season, the longest streak in club history, and has the best 13-game record in franchise history, good for another division title.

“It’s a great accomplishment, fifth time in a row,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said. “One of our goals going back a decade or so was to build a team that could consistently compete for championships, and Andy and his staff have done a great job. There’s a lot still in front of us, but today was a big step.”

The Dolphins (8-5) hurt their playoff prospects by losing for only the second time in the past nine games.

Despite Miami’s bounty of takeaways, the Chiefs scored 30 consecutive points.

“This is an explosive team, and they went on a run there,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “It was a quick spurt. That’s how they’re built; they go on runs. They went on one there. We collected ourselves, and I thought our guys did a good job of that.

We played with poise and got ourselves back in the game.”

Tagovailoa passed for 316 yards and two scores to Mike Gesicki, but also threw his first career interception, which came on his 154th attempt on a long pass that deflected off receiver Jakeem Grant.

That was the Dolphins’ lone turnover, while their defence kept coming up with the ball.

Xavien Howard made an interception for the fifth game in a row, and Mahomes’ interception total for the season rose to five.

The Kansas City QB also was tripped up by Jerome Baker on a 30-yard sack.

But the Chiefs mounted touchdown drives of 75 and 72 yards in the second quarter to take a 14-10 halftime lead, and then used their superior speed to pull away.

Tagovailoa led touchdown drives of 80 and 75 yards to cut the margin to six points with 4:25 left, before the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker kicked a 46-yard field goal with a minute left.

After a Miami field goal, the Chiefs recovered an onside kick to seal the win.

“We had many opportunities offensively,” Tagovailoa said. “I wasn’t able to execute those plays.

This is the result. We ran out of time.”

EARLY SPUTTERING Mahomes had a rough start. He threw an interception, bobbled a snap and took the big sack to set up the Dolphins’ first touchdown. Then Eric Rowe intercepted Mahomes to set up a field goal for a 10-0 Miami lead. Baker

corralled Mahomes on a third-and-12 play. Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah forced Mahomes into full retreat, and when the quarterback tried to turn the corner around Baker, he was tripped up at the 3-yard line. Baker finished with 2½ sacks.

Howard, who leads the NFL with nine interceptions, made a spectacular one-handed grab of a pass intended for Hill in the end zone.

INJURIES Chiefs: T Mike Remmers (back) left the game in the second half.

Dolphins: LBs Kyle Van Noy (hip) and Elandon Roberts (chest) were inactive. Gesicki (shoulder) and WRs Grant (leg) and DeVante Parker (left leg) went to the sideline.

UP NEXT Chiefs: They play Sunday at New Orleans.

Dolphins: They play host Sunday to the New England Patriots, who won when the teams met in the season opener.

No. 1 Alabama Report: Cleveland Indians changing cruises into name after 105 years SEC title game, Florida stumbles

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer

By JOHN ZENOR AP Sports Writer ALABAMA did its part to set up a Southeastern Conference championship game between two College Football Playoff contenders.

No. 11 Florida didn’t hold up its own end, stumbling to an upset loss to LSU in a game settled on dueling long field goals and a costly penalty.

Now the unanimous No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide (10-0) confronts a Florida team trying to overcome an emotional hangover from that loss.

It dealt a potentially fatal blow to the Gators’ hopes of making the College Football Playoffs.

“I expect us to have a great week of practice, have a lot of energy and a lot of excitement,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said Sunday. “This is what you work for, the opportunity to go play in this game.

“So I don’t know how much of an effect that will have on us.”

Florida (8-2) did lose in painful fashion.

The Gators fell 37-34 to the Tigers after Cade York’s 57-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining amid a dense fog.

Florida’s Marco Wilson was flagged for throwing tight end Kole Taylor’s shoe down the field after what would have been a big third-down stop.

Florida still had a chance to tie, but Evan McPherson’s 51-yard field

goal attempt went wide left on the final play.

Alabama had no such drama in polishing off the regular season with a 52-3 romp over Arkansas to remain on track for a certain playoff berth with a win — and maybe even a competitive loss.

“I feared that our players might be looking forward to the SEC Championship game in terms of playing up at Arkansas,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. “I was really pleased that ... we didn’t start out great, but we played pretty well in the game.

“I think it’s a challenge for any coach with any team when you’re in that situation.”

The game Saturday in Atlanta won’t quite pit two Top 10 teams against each other, but it matches up explosive offenses and Heisman Trophy candidates at quarterback.

Kyle Trask, who had three turnovers in the second quarter against LSU, directs the nation’s top passing offense. Mac Jones and Alabama have the No. 6 passing team.

The Tide is third in scoring and the Gators 12th.

It’s a reprisal of the 2008 and 2009 FloridaAlabama title games that featured 1 versus 2 matchups. The teams split them, with Florida winning 31-20 and then Alabama getting even, 32-13.

Each time the winner went on to win the national title.

Those

scores seem like defensive struggles given how explosive both offenses are.

“Obviously they’ve got talent at every position all over the field,” Mullen said. “There aren’t a lot of weaknesses in any aspect of their game. Obviously, they can put up a lot of points offensively. They can do it in their running game. “They can do it in the short passing game where they’re getting their athletes in space and let them go make big plays. Or they can do it with shots deep down the field.”

Saban, in understated fashion, on the Gators: “They’ve certainly made their share of explosive plays this year, that’s for sure.”

But now the Gators and Wilson have to regroup and repair their psyches after their second three-point loss of the season. Mullen said there was plenty of blame to go around besides Wilson’s lapse in judgment.

“That’s certainly not the reason we lost the game,” he said. “There were many, many factors that went into that.”

Both teams are hoping to get injured players back. Florida star tight end Kyle Pitts missed the LSU game with an undisclosed injury. “Talking to our trainers, they expect him to be cleared to play this week,” Mullen said.

Saban is hoping that linebacker Christian Harris can return from a shoulder injury.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after 105 years.

Citing three people familiar with the decision, The New York Times reported last night that the team is moving away from a name considered racist for decades.

The Indians have been internally discussing a potential name change for months.

A team spokesman told The Associated Press the franchise has no immediate comment on the report.

The Times said the team could make a formal announcement later this week. It’s not known when the name change will take affect or if the team has settled on a new moniker.

Cleveland’s move away from Indians follows a similar decision earlier this year by the NFL’s Washington Football Team, which was previously known as the Redskins.

For years, Native American groups and others have protested against Cleveland’s use of Indians as its name as well as other imagery used by the American League charter franchise founded in 1901.

Last year, the team removed the contentious

‘I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT AND BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT BEFORE WE PUT OUT THAT STATEMENT. I KNOW IN THE PAST, WHEN I’VE BEEN ASKED ABOUT, WHETHER IT’S OUR NAME OR THE CHIEF WAHOO, I THINK I WOULD USUALLY ANSWER AND SAY I KNOW THAT WE’RE NEVER TRYING TO BE DISRESPECTFUL. AND I STILL FEEL THAT WAY. BUT I DON’T THINK THAT’S A GOOD ENOUGH ANSWER TODAY. I THINK IT’S TIME TO MOVE FORWARD. IT’S A VERY DIFFICULT SUBJECT. IT’S ALSO DELICATE.’ — Indians manager Terry Francona

Chief Wahoo logo from its caps and jerseys, but the smiling, cartoonish mascot has remained popular and merchandise is still sold bearing its image.

The Indians have dealt with a backlash from fans upset over Chief Wahoo’s removal and the club is certain to hear more with the decision to change its name.

“Oh no! What is going on?” President Donald Trump tweeted. “This is not good news, even for “Indians”. Cancel culture at work!”

In July, just hours after Washington’s plans became known after being pressured by several sponsors, including FedEx which holds naming rights to the football’s team’s stadium, Cleveland owner Paul Dolan released a statement saying the team would review “the best path forward with our team name.”

In the months since, the team has consulted players, front office members, coaching staff, community leaders, share holders and Native American groups.

A few days after Dolan’s statement, Indians manager Terry Francona said it was time to “move forward” with the name change.

“I’ve been thinking about it and been thinking about it before we put out that statement,” said Francona, who has been with the club since 2013. “I know in the past, when I’ve been asked about, whether it’s our name or the Chief Wahoo, I think I would usually answer and say I know that we’re never trying to be disrespectful.

“And I still feel that way.

But I don’t think that’s a good enough answer today.

I think it’s time to move forward. It’s a very difficult subject. It’s also delicate.”

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SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 17

Rodgers-led Packers beat Lions 31-24, clinch NFC North title DETROIT (AP) — Aaron Rodgers ran for a tiebreaking score in the third quarter and threw three touchdown passes and the Packers clinched the NFC North title yesterday.

The Packers (10-3) knocked Matthew Stafford out of the game with a rib injury in the fourth quarter and went on to win their third straight game and second straight division championship. The Packers clinched the division with the win and Minnesota’s loss to Tampa Bay earlier in the day.

The Packers’ win combined with the Saints’ loss in Philadelphia gives Green Bay the top seed in the NFC. The teams are both 10-3, but the Packers beat the Saints earlier this season.

Detroit (5-8) scored first and pulled into a tie late in the second quarter, but simply couldn’t stop Rodgers. The two-time MVP completed his first eight passes for 119 yards and two scores. Rodgers finished 26 of 33 for 290 yards, three TDs and did not throw an interception for a third straight game. He ran 6 yards, untouched, to put the Packers ahead 21-14 for his 30th career rushing TD to break Tobin Rote’s team record for a quarterback.

Green Bay receiver Davante Adams also broke a franchise record. He extended his touchdown reception streak to eight games, turning a short pass from Rodgers into a 56-yard TD in the first quarter. Adams broke the franchise record set by Hall of Famer Don Hutson, who had a pair of seven-game streaks in the 1940s. He finished with seven catches for 115 yards and Green Bay tight end Robert Tonyan had his ninth TD reception of the season.

Stafford went toward the team’s locker room in the fourth, returned to the field to throw some passes, then retreated out of view again.

EAGLES 24, SAINTS 21 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts ran for 106 yards and threw for 167 and one touchdown, Miles Sanders had 115 yards rushing and a pair of scores. The Eagles (4-8-1) snapped a four-game losing streak and stayed within reach in the woeful NFC East.

The Saints (10-3) had won nine in a row and were 8-0 over the past two seasons without Drew Brees before running into the inspired Eagles. The loss dropped the Saints to the No. 2 seed in the NFC behind Green Bay, but they already have secured a playoff berth.

Hurts was 17 of 30 in his first career start after replacing Carson Wentz.

He fumbled late in the fourth quarter. The 2019 Heisman Trophy runnerup began the season as the third-string quarterback. He was elevated to backup in Week 2 and took a few snaps each week until Wentz was benched during a 30-16 loss at Green Bay last Sunday.

Taysom Hill was 28 of 38 for 291 yards, two TDs, one interception and was sacked five times by Philly.

Sanders brook loose for an 82-yard TD run in the second quarter, giving the Eagles a 17-0 lead. It was the fourth-longest run in franchise history. Sanders has three runs of 70-plus yards since October. He had a 74-yard TD run against Pittsburgh and a 74-yard run against Baltimore.

WASHINGTON 23, 49ERS 15 GLENDALE, Ariz.

(AP) — Rookies Chase Young and Kamren Curl scored defensive touchdowns and Washington grabbed sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

Washington (6-7) has won four straight games and is one game ahead of the New York Giants. It is Washington’s first fourgame winning streak since 2016.

GREEN Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws during the first half against the Detroit Lions yesterday in Detroit.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Washington can thank its young, impressive defense for this win. The team took a 13-7 lead at halftime after Young scooped up a fumble, shook off a tackle and ran 47 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown with 1:11 left in the second quarter. It was Young’s first professional touchdown.

Even at 264 pounds, the No. 2 overall pick easily outran the San Francisco offense into the end zone, palming the football in his left hand as he cruised past the pylon.

Curl delivered Washington’s next huge moment on the final play of the third quarter. He snagged a pass from Nick Mullens and ran 76 yards the other way for a 23-7 advantage. Curl was the team’s seventh-round pick this year.

Washington is the first team to get defensive touchdowns from two rookies in the same game since the Rams against the Texans in 2013.

The game was in Arizona because of coronavirus restrictions in the 49ers’ home county of Santa Clara. The 49ers (5-8) have lost five of their past six games.

COLTS 44, RAIDERS 27 LAS VEGAS (AP) — T.Y. Hilton caught two touchdown passes from Philip Rivers and Jonathan Taylor rushed for a careerbest 150 yards and two scores.

Rivers passed for 244 yards and Taylor had a key 62-yard TD run for the Colts (9-4), who racked up 456 total yards while scoring on seven of their first eight drives in their fourth victory in five games.

Safety Khari Willis clinched the win with a 53-yard interception return for his first career touchdown with 5:22 to play. Indianapolis stayed securely in one of the conference’s wild-card spots and remained atop the AFC South alongside Tennessee, which has a better divisional record for now.

Derek Carr passed for 316 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Raiders (7-6), who have lost three of four after a strong start to their relocation season.

Foster Moreau and Nelson Agholor made TD catches in the first half, but the offense couldn’t keep up while Indianapolis marched up and down the field to little resistance.

SEAHAWKS 40, JETS 3 SEATTLE (AP) — Russell Wilson threw four more touchdowns passes to give him a career-high with 36 for the season before finally resting in the fourth quarter.

Seattle (9-4) rebounded exactly as it hoped after last week’s surprisingly poor

offensive performance in its loss to the New York Giants, and stayed even with the Los Angeles Rams on top of the NFC West.

Wilson threw touchdowns to Freddie Swain and DK Metcalf in the first half, and added TD tosses to Will Dissly and David Moore in the third quarter.

It was his fifth game this season with at least four TD passes. Metcalf commandeered a TV broadcast camera as part of his TD celebration after catching a 5-yard TD in the second quarter, his 10th of the season.

Wilson finished 21 of 27 for 206 yards and checked out late in the third quarter, giving way to former Jets QB Geno Smith for his first action since joining Seattle last season.

For the Jets, it was another miserable day in their forgettable season.

Days after firing defensive coordinator Gregg Williams after the collapse at the end of last week’s loss to Las Vegas, the Jets (0-13) showed little resistance on defense and little excitement on offense as they lost their franchise-record 13th straight.

CARDINALS 26, GIANTS 7 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Haason Reddick had a franchise-record five sacks and three forced fumbles as the Cardinals spoiled the return of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and moved back into an NFC playoff spot.

Kyler Murray added a touchdown pass as Arizona (7-6) snapped a three-game skid and ended a four-game winning streak that had moved the Giants (5-8) to the top of the NFC East.

Mike Nugent came off the practice squad and added his first four field goals in more than a year, and Kenyan Drake scored on a 1-yard dive as Arizona won for only the second time in six games.

The Cardinals finished with eight sacks. Reddick broke the team mark of 4 1/2 by Curtis Greer on Dec. 18, 1983 against the Eagles Murray went 24 of 35 for 244 yards and ran 13 times for 47. DeAndre Hopkins had nine catches for 136 yards.

TITANS 31, JAGUARS 10 JACKSONVILLE, Tenn.

(AP) — Derrick Henry ran for 215 yards and two touchdowns, his best performance in five trips to his hometown area, and the Titans handed the Jaguars a 12th consecutive loss. It was Henry’s fourth game with at least 200 yards and two scores, setting an NFL record he previously shared with Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Henry also topped the century mark for the ninth consecutive road game,

leaving him one shy of the NFL mark set by Sanders over the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

Enjoying a big performance about 25 miles from his hometown of Yulee was something new for Henry.

He hadn’t reached triple digits rushing in any of his four previous games in Jacksonville. He managed just 13 yards as a rookie in 2016, followed by outings of 92, 57 and 44 yards in front of friends and family.

He didn’t even need a full half to surpass all those outings Sunday against the Jaguars (1-12).

Henry had 170 yards on 17 carries in the first 30 minutes, including a 36-yard touchdown run. He added a 47-yard scamper early in the third as the Titans (9-4) started to pull away.

Jaguars running back James Robinson became the first rookie in NFL history to top 1,000 yards in the first 14 weeks of a season. He also became the fourth undrafted rookie in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards rushing, joining Indianapolis’ Dominic Rhodes (1,104 in 2001), Denver’s Phillip Lindsay (1,037 in 2018) and Tampa Bay’s LeGarrette Blount (1,007 in 2010).

COWBOYS 30, BENGALS 7 CINCINNATI (AP) — Andy Dalton was good enough in his return to Cincinnati, tossing two touchdown passes. Cincinnati greatly contributed to the cause of its longtime quarterback, who was playing in Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since he was cast aside by the team before the season. The Bengals fumbled the ball away on their first three drives, one fumble returned for a touchdown, and leading to 17 first-half points by the Cowboys (4-9). That was all they needed.

Dalton was serviceable, going 16 for 23 for 185 yards, as the Cowboys stayed in contention in the weak NFC East. He threw an 11-yard, second-quarter touchdown to Amari Cooper, and hit Tony Pollard for a 7-yard score with 2:00 left in the game.

On the first Cincinnati drive, running back Giovani Bernard fumbled for the first time in 830 carries, leading to a Dallas field goal. The Bengals were driving on the next series when running back Trayveon Williams’ fumble was recovered by linebacker Aldon Smith and returned 78 yards for a touchdown.

BRONCOS 32, PANTHERS 27 CHRLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drew Lock threw for 280 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, and Diontae Spencer returned a punt 83 yards for his first career score.

Lock connected on touchdown throws of 49

and 37 yards to rookie KJ Hamler and also threw scoring strikes to Nick Vannett and Tim Patrick to help the Broncos snap a twogame slide. Hamler, the team’s second-round draft pick, twice beat veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas for touchdowns.

The Broncos (5-8) sacked Teddy Bridgewater four times, including one by Dre’Mont Jones on Carolina’s final possession in which the Panthers turned over the ball on downs.

Bridgewater threw for 283 yards for the Panthers (4-9), who have lost seven of their last eight.

BEARS 36, TEXANS 7 CHICAGO (AP) — Mitchell Trubisky threw three touchdown passes to outplay Deshaun Watson in their first meeting since they entered the NFL, and the Bears snapped a sixgame losing streak.

David Montgomery ran for an 80-yard touchdown on Chicago’s first play from scrimmage, helping the Bears stopped their worst skid since the 2002 team dropped eight in a row to match a franchise record.

The Bears (6-7) sacked Watson seven times, including a safety by Khalil Mack, to tie a career high for the Texans quarterback.

General manager Ryan Pace’s decision to draft Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick in 2017 when he could have gone with Watson or Patrick Mahomes drew even more attention than usual during the week. But on Sunday at least, Chicago’s quarterback delivered.

Trubisky buried the Texans (4-9) in the first half, throwing for three TDs as the Bears grabbed a 30-7 lead. Facing one of the NFL’s worst defenses, he completed 24 of 33 passes for 267 yards. He had a 126.7 rating in his third start since returning to the lineup with Nick Foles (hip and glute) injured.

Montgomery tied the fourth-longest run in franchise history and finished with a season-high 113 yards on 11 carries.

Allen Robinson caught nine passes for 123 yards, matching a season high and giving him 1,027 for the season. It’s the second straight year he has reached 1,000 yards.

CHARGERS 20, FALCONS 17 INGLEWOOD, Calif (AP) — Michael Badgley hit a 43-yard field goal as time expired. Los Angeles got the ball on its 26 after Michael Davis picked off Matt Ryan’s pass intended for Calvin Ridley.

Justin Herbert’s completions of 15 yards to Hunter Henry and 25 yards to Tyron Johnson got LA into Badgley’s range. Badgley split the uprights for the second winning kick of his career.

BILLS IMPROVE TO 10-3 WITH 26-15 WIN OVER STEELERS ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and safety Taron Johnson returned an interception 51 yards for a score in the Buffalo Bills’ 26-15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last night.

The Bills won for the sixth time in seven outings, and inched closer to claiming their first AFC East title since 1995 and third playoff berth in four seasons. Buffalo can clinch both as early as tonight if Baltimore loses to Cleveland.

In four years under coach Sean McDermott, Buffalo has gone from being a team that endured a 17-year playoff drought, which ended in 2017, to an AFC contender.

The Steelers provided Buffalo even more incentive when a TikTok video filmed before the game of Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster dancing on the Bills logo during pre-game warmups.

“I ain’t going to lie,” Poyer said. “Seeing them dancing on our logo pregame and seeing all that, that turns you up a little.

You come to play with a little extra fire.”

The AFC North-leading Steelers (11-2) have lost consecutive games in six days following a 23-17 loss to Washington, and dropped a game behind the AFC-leading Kansas City Chiefs (12-1).

Pittsburgh was still able to clinch its first playoff berth in three years before kickoff by virtue of the Dolphins’ 33-27 loss to Kansas City earlier in the day.

Herbert was 36 of 44 for 243 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Austin Ekeler had 146 scrimmage yards (79 rushing, 67 receiving) as Los Angeles (4-9) snapped a two-game losing streak.

Ryan completed 21 of 32 passes for 224 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Ridley, who went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, had eight receptions for 124 yards and a score. The Falcons (4-9) were without four starters, including star wide receiver Julio Jones.

BUCCANEERS 26, VIKINGS 14 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Brady tossed TD passes of 48 yards to Scotty Miller and 2 yards to Rob Gronkowski to rebound from losing two straight home games entering Tampa Bay’s bye. Ronald Jones had a 1-yard TD run and Ryan Succop kicked field goals of 18 and 48 yards.

The Bucs (8-5) lost three of four games to division title contenders leading into last week’s bye, including a pair of 27-24 losses at home to the Rams and reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs. They entered Sunday holding the sixth playoff spot in the NFC, with the Vikings (6-7) nipping at their heels after winning five of six following a 1-5 start.

Tampa Bay sacked Kirk Cousins six times, the last producing a fumble that ended any chance of a rally in the closing minutes. Cousins finished 24 of 37 passing for 225 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Dalvin Cook rushed for 102 yards on 22 carries, but Minnesota chances were undermined by another poor performance by kicker Dan Bailey, who missed an extra point and three field goals.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sat in the stands, wearing a face covering. The Super Bowl will be held at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7.

SPORTS

PAGE 18, Monday, December 14, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

US WOMEN’S OPEN PUSHED OVER TO TODAY BECAUSE OF THUNDERSTORMS

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer HOUSTON (AP) — The latest US Women’s Open on the calendar will last one more day because of relentless rain that drenched Champions Golf Club and forced the USGA to suspend the final round until today.

Hinako Shibuno of Japan, who had a oneshot lead as she goes for a second major, never teed off.

The USGA moved up tee times as early as possible Sunday because of the forecast, and the final round was just over an hour

old when thunderstorms in the area caused play to be stopped.

It never resumed, with about three-quarters of an inch of rain falling before there was no point in trying to restart.

The turf in the December climate doesn’t drain as quickly.

Plus, heavy rain soaked the course Friday after the second round. There was standing water across Champions even during spells when the rain subsided.

The US Women’s Open was postponed from early June because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be the first Monday finish for the US Women’s Open since So Yeon Ryu won at The Broadmoor in Colorado in 2011.

Shibuno won the Women’s British Open last year in her major championship debut — and her first tournament outside Japan — and is bidding to become the third woman to win two majors the first time playing them.

Se Ri Pak was the most recent in 1998 at the LPGA Championship and US Women’s Open.

She was at 4-under 209, one shot ahead of Amy Olson, the 28-year-old from North Dakota who has not

won in her seven years on the LPGA Tour. Only two other players, Moriya Jutanugarn and Ji Yeong Kim2, were under par.

Ariya Jutanugarn, a twotime major champion and former No. 1 player in the world, made birdie on her first hole before play was stopped. That pulled her within five shots of the lead.

Forty-two players from the 66 who made the cut had finished at least one hole. The most anyone played was six holes. They will pick up where they left off today; the USGA decided against calling the final round a wash and starting over.

HINAKO SHIBUNO, of Japan, hits off the 16th tee during the third round of the US Women’s Open golf tournament on Saturday in Houston.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

WESTWOOD IS EUROPE’S NO 1 AGAIN AFTER DRAMATIC DUBAI FINISH

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer AS Matt Fitzpatrick lined up a short putt to win his second World Tour Championship, Lee Westwood was embracing his fiancée in the scoring tent in celebration of a notable achievement of his own.

Moments earlier amid a dramatic end to the most bizarre of years on the European Tour, Westwood — at the venerable age of 47 — had been confirmed as the oldest winner of the seasonlong Race to Dubai title.

He would be finishing a season as the tour’s No. 1 player for a third time in his career, 20 years after the first. And, soon, he’d be hoisting the giant Harry Vardon Trophy high, despite having a sore back that nearly forced him to withdraw at the start of the week.

“I got my back back to pretty decent,” Westwood said with a smile. “Now I’ve had to lift that massive trophy and strained it again.”

It was worth the pain.

In what turned into a suspenseful final round in the

season-ending event at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates, Fitzpatrick birdied the first four holes and held on grimly on the back nine to shoot 4-under 68 and win the World Tour Championship by one stroke from Westwood.

Westwood also shot 68 after getting up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie at the last hole, which left him in contention to win the Race to Dubai title at the expense of Fitzpatrick and Patrick Reed — the former Masters champion looking to become the first American to be the European Tour’s No. 1.

Westwood needed a collapse from some of his rivals over the final holes on the Earth Course, and that’s what transpired.

Reed would have been Race to Dubai champion by finishing in outright third place or higher, but bogeys at the 16th and 17th saw him lose out.

Still, chipping in from the fringe at No. 18, Reed shot 70 and finish tied for third with Viktor Hovland (69), ultimately two shots behind Fitzpatrick.

That left Laurie Canter, playing in the final group with Fitzpatrick,

as the only player who could deny Westwood outright second place.

However, Canter pulled his tee shot at the par-3 17th and required two shots just to get the ball up the bank and onto the green.

The Englishman made doublebogey there and only parred the last, when he needed eagle to finish alongside Westwood.

Westwood was watching the action unfold on TV from inside the scoring tent next to his caddie, fiancée Helen, when he was confirmed as Race to Dubai champion. They hugged each other, their emotions partially covered by the fact they were wearing face masks.

He is five years older than the previous oldest winner — Colin Montgomerie, who was 42 when he won the last of his eight titles in 2005 — and ended up triumphing by a measly 17.8 points from Fitzpatrick.

“The most satisfying thing is doing it under pressure when it matters,” Westwood said. “You know, coming out this week knowing nothing but a win or second will do, and pulling it off, really.”

Westwood won what was formerly known as the Order of Merit title for the first time 20 years ago at Valderrama, and again in 2009 in Dubai.

A former top-ranked player, Westwood is renowned for being one of the greatest golfers never to win a major but there’s no doubting his status as an elder statesman on the European Tour.

Still a champion, too.

And now, he was reminded, with a great chance of securing a place in the European team for next year’s postponed Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. It would be his 11th appearance in golf’s biggest team event.

“The Ryder Cup would be great if I got in again,” Westwood said, before hesitating. “I would love to play again but at some point I’m hoping the captaincy will be offered to me. I would love to do that.

“At certain times, you’ve got to move into different chapters of your life. It’s nice to watch these young kids play, they tear it up out there. I enjoyed the Ryder Cup last time out when I was vicecaptain. It’s a lot less pressure

‘EXPLOSIVE’ DURANT SCORES 15 IN 1ST PRESEASON GAME WITH NETS (AP) — KEVIN Durant still can score in bunches.

The four-time NBA scoring champion returned from a lengthy injury absence to score 15 points in his debut with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.

Durant ruptured the Achilles tendon in his right leg during the 2019 NBA Finals. He left the Golden State Warriors after that season and joined the Nets, but he missed the entire 2019-20 season while recovering, delaying his chance to play with close friend Kyrie Irving.

Durant played just under 24 minutes as Brooklyn beat the Washington Wizards 119114 in its preseason opener.

“It felt great to be back in the routine and be back on the floor and feel like a player again,” Durant said.

“It felt great. Everybody’s texting and calling and asking me how I’m feeling.

I can’t wait until that’s over with so I can get back in the swing of things and just feel like one of the guys again.”

Durant looked confident as he donned No. 7 instead of the familiar No. 35 he had worn for Oklahoma City and Golden State. His first basket on Sunday was a driving two-handed dunk.

“It’s one thing to come back,” said Steve Nash, the Nets’ new coach. “It’s another thing to come back and look as explosive and mobile and skillful as he has after a long layoff. I’m incredibly proud of him.”

Durant and Irving played the first nine minutes, 27 seconds of the game together.

Durant scored 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting during that stretch while Irving scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting to help the Nets take a 30-18 lead.

Late in the first half, Irving threw a long pass to Durant, whose reverse layup gave the Nets a 58-35 lead. Brooklyn’s largest lead was 26 points in

the second quarter. Irving finished with 18 points in just over 17 minutes in his own return, having been limited to 20 games last season because of a shoulder injury.

“That’s one of the perks of this position, is you get to coach two incredible players,” Nash said. “Ky was super sharp and Kevin, after such an extensive layoff was very good and close to being incredible.”

The Nets shot 63.9% in the first half to take a 68-50 lead at the break.

Durant played about six minutes in the second half and Irving didn’t play at all.

The Wizards took advantage and even took the lead briefly in the fourth quarter before Brooklyn regained control late.

Durant said he felt good after the game, but he wouldn’t say he was back to his old self.

“I can’t tell after one preseason game,” he said. “I felt good. I want to play at the highest level of basketball, the highest intensity of basketball, and it’s not in the preseason. But it’s a good first step.”

Russell Westbrook did not play in what would have been his debut for the Wizards after being traded in a deal that sent John Wall to Houston. Bradley Beal also rested for Washington.

Rui Hachimura scored 18 points and Raul Neto added 17 for Washington. Deni Avdija, the ninth overall pick in the 2020 draft, scored 15 points for the Wizards.

There are six more games Monday.

Sunday’s games: LAKERS 131, CLIPPERS 106 At Los Angeles, the defending champion Lakers rolled while LeBron James and Anthony Davis rested.

Talen Horton-Tucker had 33 points and 10 rebounds, and Kyle Kuzma added 25 points for the Lakers. New

BROOKLYN Nets forward Kevin Durant (7) passes during the first half of a preseason game against the Washington Wizards yesterday in New York.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens) RJ Barrett scored 25 Laker Montrezl Harell had 19 points and 11 rebounds points and Julius Randle had 18 for the Knicks. against his former team.

Alec Burks finished with Lou Williams led the Clippers with 12 points 15 points for New York, and Kawhi Leonard added which defeated the Pistons 11 points in just under 18 on Friday.

BULLS 104, minutes.

ROCKETS 91 The Lakers also beat the At Chicago, Zach LaVine Clippers on Friday. scored 23 points and Coby HAWKS 116, White added 20 as Billy MAGIC 107 At Atlanta, Trae Young Donovan got his first prescored 21 points and Bogdan season coaching win with Bogdanovic added 18 as the the Bulls. Donovan led the Hawks got their first presea- Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs last season. son win.

John Wall scored 21 points Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points and De’Andre Hunter for the Rockets, who shot added 15 for Atlanta, which just 34.5%. DeMarcus Cousmade 17 3-pointers. Young ins scored 10 points in just and Bogdanovic each made over 17 minutes.

The Rockets beat the Bulls four 3s.

Markelle Fultz scored by 21 on Friday.

KINGS 121, 21 points and rookie Cole TRAIL BLAZERS 106 Anthony added 16 for the At Portland, Richaun Magic.

Aaron Gordon scored 15 points and Nikola Holmes and Kyle Guy scored 14 points apiece to Vucevic had 14 for Orlando.

The Magic defeated the lead eight Sacramento playHawks 116-112 in Atlanta on ers in double figures.

De’Aaron Fox added 13 Friday. points for Sacramento.

PISTONS 99, Harry Giles had 19 points KNICKS 91 At Detroit, Sekou Doum- and 13 rebounds for Portbouya scored 23 points to land. Gary Trent Jr. scored help the Pistons notch their 17 points, Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 and CJ McCollum first preseason win.

Doumbouya, the 19-year- added 13 for the Trail Blazold forward who averaged ers. Damian Lillard scored 6.4 points last season, made 8 just three points and only took three shots in limited of 11 shots.

Derrick Rose scored 11 action.

Portland won by 25 when points and Blake Griffin the teams met on Friday. added 10 for the Pistons.

than having to hit the greens and hole the putts yourself.”

The baby-faced Fitzpatrick is one of those young guys, with the 26-year-old Englishman now a two-time winner of the World Tour Championship by backing up his victory in 2016.

“All I was bothered about this week was winning,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I turned up obviously 16th, so the Race to Dubai didn’t really enter my head, if I’m honest.”

It was a spectacular finish to a season that saw the European Tour suspended between March and July because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Once play resumed, 27 events were held back-to-back, with players having to live and perform in bio-secure bubbles.

The first of those 27 events was the British Masters, hosted by Westwood in northern England.

“It didn’t look good for a period of time there, and we played every week pretty much,” Westwood said.

“That’s a phenomenal achievement with what’s going on to get those tournaments on.”

LASHANN from PAGE 13 dished out a pair of assists and stripped one ball, while committing two fouls and turning the ball over three times.

“I’m always excited to improve,” she said. “It let’s me know that my hard work is paying off and I will continue to work on my game.”

With the loss, Bembibre dropped to 2-12 to match the same win-loss record as Zamarat at the bottom of the 16-team standings. They will play again on Saturday against IDK Estudiantes in the last of three games left this year.

That will be followed by a match-up against Gernika on Tuesday, December 22. Their year-ending finale will be played on Sunday, December 27 against Gran Canaria.

In 2021, their first game will be played on Sunday, January 3 against Zaragoza. They will play 11 more games through the remainder of the regular season that will wrap up on Saturday, March 27 when they take on Estudiantes.

“It’s a tough league to play in,” Higgs noted.

“Regardless of the circumstances, we work hard and will continue to work hard and improve individually and as a team.”

Despite the team’s dismal showing, Higgs is having a great season offensively. She is sitting sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game.

As for her individual performance, Higgs said she simply wants to “stay consistent and aggressive the entire game, every game.”

GOATMAN from PAGE 13 “Although I was in my teens back then, I saw the training and conditioning that Goatman took Baby Boy Rolle through that enabled him to go the full distance with John Conteh (for the Commonwealth British Empire light heavyweight title on October 23, 1973 in Ice Rink Nottingham) and gave him one hell of a fight.”

Strachan, speaking on behalf of the Retired Boxers Association of which he is the chairman, said Rolle sacrificed for good of the sport and provided instructions to boxers, even if they were not apart of his team.

“Back then, the Nassau Stadium was the place for the top fighters to train in the 1970s and 1980s,” Strachan said. “He worked with everybody who needed his assistance.”

Strachan also recalled Rolle working with the late Mohammed Ali, the former world boxing heavyweight champion, as a sparring partner whenever he was called upon to travel to the United States.

“Goatman was one of those persons who represented the country very well,” Strachan pointed out.

“He was one of the true guys in professional boxing. He will be sorely missed. I could see him and Baby Boy Rolle strolling into the gym in the 1970s to train. I know Goatman. He was a few years older than I am, but I trained along with him and in the same environment.

He knew boxing. He was a great trainer.”

THE TRIBUNE

Monday, December 14, 2020, PAGE 19

PAGE 20, MONDAY, DECEMBER 14th, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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Being Bound To Swear To The Dogmas Of No Master

Director Basden & the Department of Meteorology team say that Bahamas Aviation, Climate & Severe Weather Network’s System is “ ....the Answer to Their Prayers!!”

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